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The Shikon no Tama (四魂の玉; lit. Jewel of Four Souls) or
"Shikon jewel", is a magical jewel in the anime
Inuyasha that was created by the battle of the great
miko (priestess) Midoriko and powerful
youkai (demons.) The balance of energies created a jewel in which they
are always battling with neither winning over the other and which has
great powers that can be used for good or for evil.
Physically, it is a sphere that appears to be made of some sort of
crystalline material prior to the accident that shattered it. When
purified, the jewel is a soft pink color, however the more tainted the
soul and wishes of the person holding it, the more the color turns to a
lurid black-violet. It is somewhere between a marble and a ping-pong ball
in size when complete, but the shards of the Shikon-no-Tama are irregular
in size and shape.
Before the series begins,
Kikyo was entrusted with its guardianship, but it leads to her
untimely demise and Inuyasha (who loved her) being sealed to a tree for 50
years, both because of
Naraku's deception. The jewel was burned with
Kikyo and only returned through a reincarnation of Kikyo,
Kagome coming back from the future because of the Jewel's power.
Kagome eventually unsealed Inuyasha, however the jewel was lost to a
demon-crow. In attempting to retrieve it by shooting the crow with an
arrow, Kagome accidentally shatters the jewel, which is now in thousands
of shards (Shikon no Kakera). Inuyasha-tachi (Inuyasha,
Miroku,
Kagome,
Shippo and
Sango) are attempting to collect the shards and stop
Naraku.
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