Shikon no Tama facts for kids
The Shikon no Tama (which means The Jewel of Four Souls in English) is a special, fictional magic jewel from the popular anime and manga series called InuYasha. It's called the Jewel of Four Souls because it holds four different parts of a soul:
- Aramitama (which means Courage)
- Nigimitama (which means Friendship)
- Kushimitama (which means Wisdom)
- Sakimitama (which means Love)
These four parts of a soul make the jewel incredibly powerful. Anyone who has it can become very strong.
Long ago, a powerful priestess named Midoriko was fighting a very strong demon. When she was about to die, she combined her four soul parts with the demon's soul. She did this to make the demon good and pure. By doing this, she gave up her own life and defeated the demon. This amazing event created the Shikon Jewel.
Inside the jewel, Midoriko's soul and the demon's soul are still fighting each other. How the jewel acts depends on who has it. If Midoriko's side is winning, the jewel becomes pure and good. If the demon's side is winning, the jewel becomes impure and bad. Many creatures and people want this jewel because it can give them incredible power. They can use it to do anything they wish, like how Naraku wanted to use it to become a full demon.
After many battles between demons and humans, Sango's grandpa, Shako, found the jewel. He got it from an evil demon called Mistress Centipede. Because it had been with Mistress Centipede, the jewel was impure. Shako took the jewel to Kikyo, a powerful priestess. Only Kikyo's pure priestess powers could clean the jewel and make it good again.
But then, Kikyo was badly hurt by Naraku, who wanted the jewel. As she was dying, she wanted the jewel to be destroyed with her. However, Kagome, who is Kikyo's reincarnation (meaning she's like Kikyo reborn), got the jewel. When Kagome went near an old well, the bones of Mistress Centipede inside the well came alive because of the jewel's power. Kagome was pulled into the well and sent back to the past, where all these events happened. By accident, Kagome shattered the jewel when she shot an arrow at a crow that had swallowed it. Now, she and Inuyasha must find all the pieces before evil creatures get them.
Fake Shikon Jewels
Some people tried to make their own Shikon Jewels. They wanted the power without having to find all the real pieces. One such person was Izumo. He was a half-demon who turned into a demon at night and a human during the day. Izumo was a very smart alchemist, which means he knew how to make things using special chemistry. He loved nature and the world.
Izumo knew how to create a Shikon Jewel. A frog-demon and some other demons captured him. They wanted him to make fake Shikon Jewels for them. Izumo agreed and made many copies of the jewel. However, these copies only had a little bit of power. Izumo told the frog-demon that to make the copies as strong as the real jewel, they needed to collect the souls of people who had the four special qualities:
- Aramitama (Courage)
- Nigimitama (Friendship)
- Kushimitama (Wisdom)
- Sakimitama (Love)
When Inuyasha and his friends came to rescue Izumo, he planned to capture them. This was because his friends had the very souls he needed to make a powerful fake Shikon Jewel.
Inuyasha had the soul of Aramitama (Courage). Shippo had Nigimitama (Friendship). Miroku had Kushimitama (Wisdom), and Sango had Sakimitama (Love). Kagome tried to save her friends, who were trapped inside frog eggs made by the frog-demon. In the end, the frog-demon was defeated, and Izumo was also defeated in his half-demon form. Kagome felt sad for Izumo, but they continued their adventure anyway.
Images for kids
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Cardback for the Inuyasha Trading Card Game.
See also
In Spanish: InuYasha para niños
