If you watched Inuyasha as a kid and rewatched it today, it might have more body-horror and nightmare fuel than you remember. Most of the anime takes place in feudal-era Japan where there are tons of Yōkai, which are supernatural creatures from Japanese folklore. In Inuyasha, and often times in other anime, they are translated as demons in English.
In a world of demons, magic, and more, there is a lot for a child to be scared of. Regular human villagers in Inuyasha often live in fear and die like ants under the paw of a giant demon. Some were way more horrifying than others though. They may not have scared older viewers, but some young kids found certain characters to be frightening. Here is a list of ten intimidating characters.
10 Sesshomaru's True Form
Inuyasha's half-brother is a full demon. He is pretty racist against humans and has a lot of daddy issues. Like their father, he is a dog demon. Usually, he looks like a pretty elf man. He has long white hair, a moon mark on his forehead, and pointed ears. That is not his true form though. His true form is monstrous.
It is a giant dog that could easily swallow a human whole. Its eyes are blood crimson and it always has this maniac-smile on its face! Sesshomaru is usually a calm character, but the way his true form is designed looks like shows an inner-beast that we don't typically see.
9 Naraku
This list would not be true without the main villain himself. Naraku is intimidating for many reasons. His powers are disgusting. He is a bug-man with tentacles, spider legs, and all that other nightmarish imagery. His flesh often comes apart, moves on its own, and digests other beings!
The fact that is personality is just pure evil does not help his case. He is one of those villains with no mercy, no emotion, and just cares about power. If a fan ever met him, they know they are doomed. Besides his powers and personality, he is a master manipulator who made Inuyasha and Kikyo turn against each other.
8 Ginkotsu
The Band of Seven were some of the best villains of the series. They were seven mercenaries that Naraku brings back to life to fight off Inuyasha. They were all intimidating in their way. However, it's not every day you see someone who is part tank and part man. Ginkotsu is that.
His character design fun and insane considering he is existing in the feudal era when tanks are far from being invented. You get very little of this character's personality other than the fact that he is down for killing mercilessly.
7 Saint Hakushin
This character appeared in the Band of Seven arc as well. Saint Hakushin is an undead priest who was buried alive on purpose. However, during the process, he realized he didn't want to die. His character is actually based on a real practice from history called Sokushinbutsu.
What made this character so intimidating was the fact that he looked creepy. Despite never moving, you feel like he is unpredictable. His eyes are inhuman, his skin is dead, but he is alive somehow in that awful state.
6 Inuyasha's Demon Form
Heroes having a dark side is big, especially in anime. Inuyasha has a demon form that makes him an unthinking killing machine. He is the strongest member of his party, so once this occurs, it's basically chaos for everyone. His eyes glow red, his fangs grow, his claws sharpen, he no longer recognizes his friends. and just has an instinct to attack anyone.
5 The Cursed Noh Mask
This mask was actually adapted to be a little more kid-friendly in the anime, which is saying a lot since it still scares even older viewers. It is a mask that feeds on people to create a body for itself. It is gross, as the body is a blackish blob made from absorbed dead people. One of the worst parts is also that this mask appears in the modern world, not feudal Japan! It eats policemen and firemen and they are gone forever.
The mask was way worse in the manga, as the comic shows the mask eating some young people, and it gets a flesh body with human faces and limbs on it. While this mask was no major villain, it certainly made a mark on the show in terms of dark content.
4 Naraku's Incarnations
Besides Naraku himself, a lot of his incarnations were horrifying. Kagura was lucky compared to some of these abominations. There was Goshinki, who was a giant purple ogre who could read minds. There was Kageromaru, which was basically a parasite with a human face. There was the infant, who could mind control people. Then there was Muso, who stole people's faces until Naraku absorbed him back in a horrifying manner! It makes us wonder if the parts of Naraku are even worse than his whole.
3 Mistress Centipede
Mistress Centipede is pretty unforgettable if you go into Inuyasha without knowing what you are in for. She is the first demon both Kagome and the audience meet, and she is a real scary woman. She has a giant centipede body and the torso of a human woman. She just gets worse as the episode goes on, becoming less and less human by showing fangs, losing her skin, and growing more arms.
Also, she is massive! Her body does a ton of damage to Keade's village.
2 Urasue
Despite looking human, this demon woman scared a lot of viewers. Her design was just unsettling. It is hinted that she may have been born human but used necromancy and magic to become a demon, kind of like how Onigumo became Naraku.
She is the one who brings Kikyo back from the dead. She dies immediately after, so she is definitely not the most intimidating one on this list. However, her creepy face is not easily forgotten.
1 All The Lesser Demons
By "lesser demons," we mean demons in the background. While they may be weak to Inuyasha or Sesshomaru, human villagers are constantly eaten and killed by these monsters. They look awful, often resembling spiders, centipedes, titans, ogres, and more.
As kids, we loved how intimidating even the lesser demons looked. The world was so fantastic and dangerous and the background demons really showed that.