Inu-Yasha Naraku and the question of love

Or he'll just try to kill you a lot so he doesn't have to think about you.... Where did you get the idea that Naraku loves anyone other than himself?

 

Dear Kogarashi,

The concept of Naraku loving someone is something one must immortalize in the mind. Imagination and understanding can lead to a theory about a topic as the such. If you cannot use your imagination and if you cannot believe that someone (even Naraku) cannot love another being, then you, sir/madam, are not understanding of the creatures that inhabit this earth we call humans (or in Naraku's case, demons). Thank you for your time.

Sincerely,
~*~Polaris~*~

 

Dear Polaris,

I would appreciate it if you would not insult my intelligence in a public forum. I am quite capable of using my imagination, thank you very much, as evidenced by the many artwork and writing pieces I've created over the years, and several of my ongoing projects.

That said, I think you're missing the point completely, and unfortunately, your word choice (very verbose with little substance) only serves to emphasize my thoughts here.

Naraku is a youkai, hon. True, youkai (Japanese demons) aren't like the western concept of demons where all are bad. There are quite a few good ones. But Naraku, in case you haven't noticed, is hate and lust and evil incarnate. The only thing he cares about is himself and furthering his power (by obtaining the tainted shikon jewel). There is no capacity for love in that cold, killing husk of his. He tricked Inuyasha and Kikyo into fighting each other. He put the air void in the hand of Miroku's grandfather. He tricked Sango's family and then killed them off, then tricked Sango into going after Inuyasha. He brought back Kohaku as a walking corpse and had him fight his own sister.

Spoiler: Kohaku

He ordered Kohaku to kill Sango in later episodes, then also ordered him to kill Rin while Rin was captive.

Spoiler: later episodes

The biggest issue is, though, that, once able to discard his human side, he killed off Kikyo, who was the closest person who might possibly (not likely) have held some place in his heart. Naraku was obsessed with her, but more importantly, he was obsessed with killing her. He finally achieved this end, and is bent about collecting the last shikon shard and killing all who stand in his way, and you still believe he is capable of real love?

I'm sorry. Perhaps if Naraku were human, I'd accept your reasoning that it might be possible for Naraku to love someone. But Naraku is no longer human. He is a youkai, and one of the most evil youkai at that. He is a crippled, vicious, lustful human thief who willingly gave his body to demons so that he could pursue Kikyo for his own evil ends. And then he sought to rid himself of that obsession (and of Kikyo herself). As Kikyo--when in the clay husk--is essentially anger incarnate (true, with some of her former compassion), so is Naraku evil incarnate. The difference is, Onigumo (Naraku before his transformation) had no compassion in him to begin with.

I will leave it at that now, except for this one last note:

I do not appreciate insults, public or private, of anyone or by anyone in the forum I moderate. I don't care how eloquently you word your insult, an insult is still an insult. Consider this your first official warning. Just because someone doesn't share the same opinion as you gives you no right to denounce their opinion, their imagination, and their intelligence. Keep that in mind next time.

~Kogarashi
Inuyasha forum moderator

And that's "ma'am" to you.

 

dear kogarashi,

oh tho you pose an excellent and very distintive odservational opinon, im afraid i have to decline. you are right naraku is evil, but onigumo also gave his body to gain mobility so he could have kikiyo. now he must have had feelings for her (kikiyo) if he wanted her and naraku is half demon and still has the same feelings for her, there for naraku is capible of feeling compassion and probily other emotions. my opinon is that i think naraku is a little/alot miss guided.

yours truly,

nikki1234

 

Nikki:

I think you might be a bit misguided on Naraku's supposed feelings for Kikyo. Naraku's never HAD any emotional attraction towards Kikyo, unless you count lust as a "compassionate emotion". The only thing Onigumo wanted with Kikyo was erm, well we won't go there, and Naraku is not much different. He doesn't have any feelings for Kikyo either other then the same lust that Onigumo possessed, and even that has toned down some. It is this same lust that keeps him from killing Kikyo, because Onigumo's heart still lusts after her. Without Onigumo's heart (which by the way is basically an evil incarnate black hole), there would be nothing to keep Naraku from achieving one of his main goals, to become a complete demon.

 

kagome's arrow:

We have no idea of onigumo's past, now do we? He could have had feel for another when he was young. There is something we can agree on tho, is that sesshomaru and naraku are cruel, am i right?, but sesshomaru has feeling for rin and jaken. If he didn't he wouldn't broutin her and jaken back to life and sesshomaru is all demon, naraku is only half . Sesshomaru has feeling so what makes you think naraku doesnt? And ferther more, if all onigumo wanted was... um... that!!! Then he wouldn't care whom it was with, so there must be deeper emotions.

 

We do know that Onigumo was a bandit, and a fairly evil one at that. Although this does not preclude him having true, loving feelings for someone, it really does lower the possibility. Also, the meaning of his name is Demon/Ogre Spider. In general, people are not given names like that without good reason.

I hesitate to say that Sesshoumaru and Naraku are both cruel. Sesshoumaru is cold and opportunistic, and he has very little care in regards for human life, but he does take care of his lackeys (Jakken and Rin). I think he also cares for Inuyasha, though he doesn't want to admit it. What older brother really does want to admit that they feel something kind towards their younger siblings (especially in a family relationship of that sort)?

Naraku uses people, manipulates people, doesn't care who gets hurt or what gets destroyed as long as he gets what he wants. This is cruelty, and it makes him very different than Sesshoumaru. Sesshoumaru doesn't take actual hostages as far as I've seen; Noface was working with him then betrayed him, which is why he killed her. Naraku on the other hand, constantly uses hostages and hostage-like situations to further manipulate people.

Actually...no. Onigumo wanted Kikyo. He lusted after her; he was fixated on her. Because of this lust/fixation, he wouldn't want anybody else because they wouldn't be Kikyo. In a sense, he was a stalker. He had chosen his victim.

~Shadrach Anki

 

Dear All,
Naraku is evil incarnate. He could never love anything. Nothing capable of love would make siblings fight each other like that. (Sango-Kohaku) And noone capable of love would kill off the person he loved for no good reason.

sincerly,
Miko

 

I don't think that he loves some one or care ppl...
the only thing he cares about..it's him self..he's kinda selfish..!^^

 

wow, my letter format has started quite a trend.

but anyways, my apologies if I offended you, Kogarashi. I didn't mean for it to be offensive, I'm just not good with people, frankly. everyone is entitled for his/her opinion, and I will accept that. I didn't mean for this all to become a melee` of insults and hate or whatnot. once again, I'm sorry.

 

Fine, I understand, Polaris. I would recommend that you choose your words carefully next time. Re-read them to make sure you are being objective and not insulting. Certainly don't question someone's imagination or intelligence based off of their personal opinion.

Beyond that, I accept your own opinion as yours, but I do not agree with it. And Shadowbard and Kagome's Arrow have pretty much covered anything I'd put up in response to nikki1234.

I am interested to see where this discussion goes.

 

wait wait.!!! How can I forgotte it!!! :anger2: Naraku was once Onigumo..right?! :catgirl: and Onigumo loves Kikyou...once..! :sweat2: :catgirl: so perhaps...Naraku still have a littel bit love in him... but honest..I don't think so. now I had think about it..! :sweat: :dizzy2:

Like I wrote b4...he's selfish! :catgirl:

 

I doubt that Onigumo's feelings for Kikyo could be classified as love. Lust, certainly, but love? Not really. There was too much violence involved for it to be love.

~Shadrach Anki

 

well well..u have right...
Kikyou is complicated charater...there are so many things with her I don't understand.! :sweat: :catgirl:

back 2 the topsic....Naraku has no love.........if he loves sothing or somebody..it will probadly b him self! :catgirl:

 

While I still stand by my position that NARAKU hasn't the emotional capacity to feel love, I may have to change my belief when it comes to Onigumo.

No, I haven't been misguided into believing that Onigumo was a decent, loving man, because I know perfectly well that not only was he a bandit, but he also possessed a great lust toward Kikyo, so great that he wound up selling his soul to demons. People don't generally act like that without reason, but something Nikki said caused me to think a bit.

We never know (and we may never know) of Onigumo's past. This is getting into the debate over whether or not enviornment corrupts, but it's possible that Onigumo may have suffered some immense emotional trauma in his past which in turn led to his malicious acts. It's also possible that he could've sufferred from a psychological disease...we may never know.

But Naraku? No, that guy is incapable of loving anybody but himself and that blasted Shikon Jewel.

 

I find it highly unlikely than any human would be utterly incapable of love, unless they were afflicted by a severe mental and emotional condition. I've got to agree that it's entirely possible that Onigumo had the capacity for love, at least at one point.

Now, whether he was still capable of love at the time at which he abandoned his body and Naraku was created... That's questionable. He doesn't show anything that I would equate to love in regards to Kikyo. What he seems to feel for her is a posessive, selfish, violent lust. If that was his legacy to Naraku, it seems fairly impossible that Naraku could ever love, unless one includes love of ambition and power.

But then again... I would argue that love of self is a prerequisite to love of others, or vice versa. How can one be acceptant of oneself and at the same time, be incapable of loving another person? This presents two possibilities: the first is that Naraku could learn to love, as he is an independant being who has become something more than Onigumo (and seeks freedom from the lust he inherited), thus indicating that he is not entirely bound by the circumstances of his creation; the second is that Naraku is as hateful towards himself as he is towards everything else. This latter option might explain his desire for the Shikon Jewel, which he would perceive as something that could make him "better".

 

I'd have to go with the second one there, Dilandau. Naraku constantly seems to be attempting to find ways to better himself, whether ridding himself of his "dirty" human heart, or trying to collect the entire Shikon Jewel to turn himself into a full-blooded demon. He never seems to be too pleased with the ammount of power he holds, and he as much as stated once that the thing that irks him to no end is the fact that he knows Kikyo's power surpasses his own. (And yes, I know about his actions in regards to Kikyo in the later episodes, I'm just making a point).

I just can't seem to imagine the Naraku that we've all come to hate LOVING somebody (other then himself) though I suppose it is possible over a period of time (a LONG period of time). At least, that's the Naraku we know now. However

Spoiler: Naraku

Once Naraku rids himself of Onigumo's heart (which is the only tie he had to the human race) he's not only able to kill Kikyo, who was the only person who he MAY have felt ANYTHING for (though it wasn't much more then lust), but his demeanor appears to be almost MORE malicious then before. While I agree that any human may be capable of feeling love for another, I can't say the same for a demon whose existence spawned primarily from the lust and jealous hatred of a human life (and who now is absent of any trace of human life).

 

Whoa. Wait a moment, even though I do insult people, I don't want to offend you by saying this. I agree with Polaris on this one, because actually, Naraku was created from other demons, yes, but his base is still human, so there is a fact that he is still human and even though I really don't want to admit it. All humans no matter how hard they might try, love. Even in the most evil(est) of hearts one will somehow find love due to many stupid hormonish blah.I hate that fact..... But it's true. I've tried all the way, to never luv but it doesn't work, so good day to you m'lady, and I'll be off.

 

Ah, but still. I would do that and I still have a heart, no? He's the villan, just think, and I think he does have a reason for killing his love no? Maybe to get her away from someone else, *nudge, nudge*.

 

Please tell me you're not serious. Whether or not you could IMAGINE doing such a thing, you're telling me that you seriously, honest to goodness could easily manipulate people the way Naraku seems to enjoy? Naraku took control of Sango's BROTHER and made him MURDER THEIR FATHER, not to mention attempt to murder Sango herself. Do you realize the implications this would have on their lives and the lives of their family and friends?

If you can honestly tell me that you could commit acts as heinous as Naraku's without feeling even a tiny bit of remorse, I'll show you a very, very twisted person.

Have I missed something here? Naraku never intended to murder Kikyo (whilst she was still alive), his original intent was to murder Inuyasha (in order to obtain the Shikon Jewel and Kikyo along with it). Kikyo's death was an unfortunate effect of his plan because he hadn't counted on Kikyo's pure soul to resist being corrupted by tainting the Shikon Jewel.

Spoiler: Kikyo and Naraku

If you're far enough in the series to have seen Naraku murder Kikyo, then you'll know that whatever connections Naraku has to his human base have been severed. The minute he rid himself of his human heart, which was the only thing that may POSSIBLY have even had the potential to feel love, he was easily able to murder Kikyo, the only woman who (arguably) MIGHT have held a special place in his heart. How could you say somebody like that is even capable of love? Sure any human has the capabilities, but Naraku is no longer human, and while some demons *might* possess the potential to feel love, Naraku most obviously does not.