Tōtōsai

File:Toutosai.jpg

Tōtōsai as he appears in the anime.

Tōtōsai (刀々斎) is a character in the manga and anime series InuYasha. He is often seen riding on a 3-eyed flying yōkai-ox named Mō-Mō (猛々). Tōtōsai spends most of his time at his forge, located within a volcano, where he works to create and repair his customer's swords.

Tōtōsai, whose name translates to "Sword Ceremony-Preparer", is the old man who created both Tessaiga and Tenseiga, the swords which belong to InuYasha and Sesshomaru, respectively. He was a friend of InuYasha's and Sesshomaru's father (Inu no Taishou), who entrusted Tōtōsai with helping his two sons master their respective swords. He knows very well the techniques that the swords are capable of and he is somewhat disappointed it takes InuYasha so long to realize and control the Tessaiga, while amazed how Sesshomaru masters both them on a single attempt. He is often absent-minded and will abruptly forget what is happening, much to InuYasha's rage and annoyance. He occasionally argues with InuYasha on how he uses the sword, and scolds him for his misuse of it and for throwing it away at times in battle. When he first meets InuYasha, he battles him to test if he should be the one wielding the sword. He is a pyrokinetic and has a rather long hammer which he uses, along with his pyrokinesis, to makes swords or repair them.

Tōtōsai, much like Myōga, comes off as a cowardly old man; However, this may be because he simply wants to avoid a needless fight. This is shown in a specific manga issue where Sesshomaru and InuYasha are battling. In order to save InuYasha, Tōtōsai distracts Sesshomaru by breathing fire at him, right after telling Kagome and the others to get InuYasha to safety (though he manages to escape unscathed as well). He also assists the group many other times, telling them useful information and repairing the Tessaiga and Sango's Hiraikotsu when they break; he can also be seen fixing Miroku's holy staff during the credits of the second movie. However, his loyalty lies more with his swords than with the group itself. During one occasion, he strengthens Sesshomaru's Tenseiga and makes it into a usable (and very powerful) weapon.

His age is currently unknown, although he is estimated to be over 1000 years old since he was around even before InuYasha and Sesshoumaru were born - who was around for approximately 1000 years, plus the 50 years that InuYasha was pinned to the tree by Kikyo's arrow - which makes him a very old man. It is very possible that he is, in fact, a fire demon because of his ability to create fire and his notable long life.