So what breed is Sesshoumaru? I gather that Inuyasha is an Akita (judging from the ears), but what is Sesshoumaru?

You'd think they would be the same considering they had the same father. At least that's just what I believe. Even though the brother's had different mothers of obvious different species, I think Sesshomaru's mother was most likely the same breed as the brother's father, so that would still mean Inuyasha and Sesshomaru are the same breed of dog.

www.dokuga.com/forum/6-general-discussion/21164-what-kind-of-dog-species-is-sesshomaru. I remebered seeing a thread about this awhile ago and found it for ya. Hope it helps.

Yah that's been debated in the thread that Cathryin posted. Personally I dunno. Sesshy is a youkai. He's more likely to be an ancestral breed of dog that all other ordinary domestic dogs come from. I mean he would be related to the wolf-clans too. They're canines, but could be older, since humans theorise that all domestic dogs are descended from wolves. I dunno. Making a speculation but there it is.

~ Pyre

P.S: You also have to remember that the various breeds of domestic dogs have been bred by man and not by nature. So Sesshy is unlikely to be any kind of domestic dog, no matter what he looks like. Common ancestors, maybe, but common breeds? I dunno. That's something to ask Takahashi-sensei.

Who says that there are supposed to be different breeds of inuyoukai that correlate with breeds of domestic dogs, anyways? This is one of those details that I don't think Rumiko Takahashi was really concerned about when she was designing these characters. She probably didn't think it would be an issue because of the fact that Inuyasha is half human, and it wouldn't be surprising if his more obvious inuyoukai features looked different than a full-blooded inuyoukai's features. More importantly, I think the reason behind Inuyasha's pointy ears has less to do with his breed and more to do with the fact that he might have looked a little silly if he had big floppy ears, like Sesshoumaru's when he is in his true form. Go ahead, get an image of it in your mind and try not to burst out laughing.

If you look at his puppy form, I think it resembles this. en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shisa.... with some tweeks

if i remember correctly, RT actually said that Inuyasha was Shibainu. Those the pointy ears. She actually put thought into the main characters, it's those that she didnt view as that important that got the shaft. Kagome being the name of a more then famous childrens sound about demon's being after you, is only a small example. i think in the long run she is a big picture type person, and has someone kinda help to make it from point to point. because hoensly anyone that's ever read it or even watched it can point out MANY flaws in the idea scheme/execution of Inuyasha.

If you read or look into it, Sess and Naraku were originally supposed to have been opposites, meaning that Narau as the adversary was only supposed to be a mini arc, much like the band of seven, or the Thunder brothers, panther devas, etc. And Sess was supposed to end up as the big bad demon through out the manga.

Somewhere in there she changed her mind so that it was hanyou vs hanyou, and sess becoems a supporting cast member.

sugar0o wrote:

If you read or look into it, Sess and Naraku were originally supposed to have been opposites, meaning that Narau as the adversary was only supposed to be a mini arc, much like the band of seven, or the Thunder brothers, panther devas, etc. And Sess was supposed to end up as the big bad demon through out the manga.

Somewhere in there she changed her mind so that it was hanyou vs hanyou, and sess becoems a supporting cast member.

I totally didn't know that.. I could see that with the way Sess was introduced, but I like the way it turned out with hanyou vs. Hanyou and all that.

RT said that IY was based on an akita.

As regards Sesshoumaru's role in the manga,RT gave an answer in interview her 35th anniversary of her first appearance in Shoenen Sunday

Q: I was asking about the supporting cast being more important than the main characters earlier. Is there a character that you feel has taken over in that sense?

A: Well Ryunosuke in Urusei Yatsura. And after awhile Sesshomaru in Inuyasha. I think that as the series went on those were characters who moved the story forward more and more.

Hmmm, if I'm going to forget any talk or interviews and base my opinion solely on experience (I'm a veterinarian technician by day, nerd by night)I am going to have to go with this:

Since Sesshoumaru and InuYasha are half-brothers on their father's side, it is plausible that Sesshoumaru, himself, is a mix breed, if you'd like to consider his mother being a different breed from Inu No Taisho.

That being said, Sesshoumaru's commanding, stoic and dominant personally really fits the Akita breed. All the Akitas I've come into contact with were strong and stoic. Lack of an experienced owner can also lead to aggression against humans, lol. The only thing that never convinced me is both Inu No Taisho and Sesshoumaru's demon form. Akitas or Shibas look nothing like it. I'd say the closest would be a white Saluki or something similar. They are also strong, intelligent and stoic in personality, but they are gentle in nature and can be timid . . . not our Sesshoumaru.

Inuyasha, however, reminds me of a Shiba Inu. Had one at work today too. Complained, complained, complained as soon as he hit the table. Yodeled loudly throughout the whole clinic and we didn't even get to the vaccines yet, lol. They are very vocal about anything that displeases them, but are otherwise aloof/standoffish; they like few and ignore everyone else. I also think the cute, fluffy ears of Shibas are more fitting to InuYasha's character. I tweaked my Shiba patient's ears numerously today because they were too cute to ignore!!

In the end, I am hardly convinced that RT had any particular breed in mind when designing these characters and, instead, used traits of multiple breeds she felt fit her characters best. So in actuality, the Inu clan could be nothing but a bunch of mutts after all. <ducks from flying tomatoes>

If RT was inspired by dogs from our world then I would say that Inuyasha is an Akita and Sesshomaru an Akbash.

I don´t know if i found this link here or at another fansite but after I read this i thought ´Yeah, that´s Sesshomaru for you`.

www.dooziedog.com/dog_breeds/akbash_dog/


Emiko wrote:
In the end, I am hardly convinced that RT had any particular breed in mind when designing these characters and, instead, used traits of multiple breeds she felt fit her characters best. So in actuality, the Inu clan could be nothing but a bunch of mutts after all.

This is also a possibility.
So that is my opinion^^