Kikiyo’s Other Reincarnation

In honor of the Inuyasha getting a sequel, I’m gonna share this c theory that 13-year-old me came up with. This theory doesn’t even have that much evidence backing it. I just thought it would be fun.

But on the off chance that you’re reading this post and haven’t watched Inuyasha, here’s a quick summary of the show.

On her 15th birthday, average girl Kagome is pulled through a magic well and finds herself 500 years in the past during Japan’s Feudal Era. Apparently, Japan was overrun with demons at the time, and Kagome had the misfortune being born with the coveted Shikon no Tama, a sacred jewel that grants the holder immense power.

Soon she frees Inuyasha, a dog half-demon tsundere, from an enchanted arrow that put him to sleep for 50 years. As it turns out, Kagome is the reincarnation of his ex, Kikyo, who struck him with that arrow. When she died, Kikyo was cremated with the jewel, and that how it ended Kagome. It doesn’t take long for Inuyasha and Kagome to develop feelings for each other, for Kagome to shatter the sacred jewel, and begin the quest that takes over the rest of the show.

A couple of episodes in, a demon attempts to resurrect Kikyo because she and Kagome can sense the whereabouts of the jewel. This attempt initially failed because Kikyo’s soul is already in a new vessel and can’t be summoned into the waiting clay replica. The demon has to remove the soul from Kagome’s body to bring back Kikyo. While Kagome gets back most of her soul, Kikyo runs off with just enough spend the rest of the series as Kagome’s romantic rival.

Did you notice the problem? Kikyo can’t be resurrected because her soul is in another body, but Kagome is from the future. There should have been two souls: one that was in Kagome’s body and one that has to wait 500 years for Kagome’s parents to even meet. But the story tells us that the soul that should be floating around isn’t. So that leads me with one simple conclusion.

Kikyo must have another reincarnation running around in Feudal Japan.

Now that led me to the question of “who”. While in actuality, Kikyo’s soul could have ended up anywhere, but I have a guess.

Demon Slayer Sango

Characters who knew Kikyo love to talk about how much Kagome looks like her. Personally, I’ve never seen it, so I had to take their word for it. But the first time I saw Sango, I immediately notice her striking resemblance to Kikyo. Honestly, I thought she was Kikyo before they said otherwise. (To be fair, Inuyasha suffers from Same Face Syndrome, a lot of people look the same.)

While Sango wasn’t born with the Sacred Jewel in her side, her home village was beside the birthplace of the Sacred Jewel. From the day of her birth, Sango’s life was interwoven with that of the Sacred Jewel.

Sango’s life parallels Kikyo and Kagome’s lives in many ways.

All three women are older sisters with a younger sibling at around the same age difference.

Before confronting Inuyasha, all three women were told not to trust him. (Kikyo was told to eliminate all demons who seek out the Sacred Jewel, Kagome was warned not to release him from the tree, and Sango tricked into trying to kill him).

Even though her relationship with Inuyasha isn’t as romantic as Kikyo and Kagome’s with him, they do share camaraderie and closeness that leads to a great friendship. (Maybe their souls are always destined to get along without the need for a romance between them.)

Kagome and Sango’s friendship can even be attributed to them sharing the same soul. Kikyo and Kagome are at constant odds because Kikyo sees Kagome as an attempt to replace her and from that point they were enemies. Sango and Kagome had no such rivalry and were able to form a close friendship. You could say they were kindred sprites (pun intended).

The Wrap Up

One loose end that I couldn’t answer with my theory is that the Shikon no Tama isn’t reborn in Sango. Or it was till I found this on the Wikia:

According to Rumiko Takahashi in the InuYasha Profiles, the Sacred Jewel resurfaces or revives every five hundred years or so.

Shikon no Tama, Inuyash WikiaI

So in conclusion, there isn’t anything saying that Sango can’t be Kikyo’s reincarnation, so I can’t technically be wrong. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

This was kind of fun. I have a couple of other theories bumping around in my head (some even have some real evidence), so I might make like Matpat do more posts like this in the future.

…I don’t have a good sign off, I’ll just say, see ya!