Relations: In Related to Sesshoumaru » His Companions: Jaken
Please note that this section may contain spoilers sprinkled throughout. Several pictures to illustrate Jaken's biography will be added here soon. For more Jaken greatness, visit the shrine dedicated to him and join the fanlisting here if you like him!
Name: Jaken (no known last name) His name roughly translates as wicked heart or "evil point of view"
Age: Never mentioned but I'm assuming that he's older than Sesshoumaru. He looks like he's not young and he's heard to mumble about his old age every once in a while. He also seems to be from the same "generation" as Myouga, who's been around since way back when Sesshoumaru's and Inuyasha's father was still alive.
Race: Full Youkai- I think specifically some kind of a toad or frog youkai though I'm not entirely sure because I can't place where it was mentioned. He has also been speculated to be a kappa or an imp demon. At the time of writing this, there is no confirmation on what he is yet.
Seiyuu: Nagashima Kouichi (Not sure what other voices he's done as I could not find any info on him except for the fact that he's Jaken's seiyuu.)
Family: No known family or relatives were ever mentioned, but in the later episodes, we get a glimpse of Jaken's life before he dedicated his life to serving Sesshoumaru. Apparently, he was a lord and ruler of his kind with a whole field of followers bowing to him. Quite "up there" in terms of status, it seems. Please note that this was only covered in the anime and not the manga. Other than that, the closest person we can describe as "family" these days would probably be Sesshoumaru.
Entrance: Jaken was first introduced together with Sesshoumaru in the Anime Episode 5 and Manga Volume 2. At the time, he was traveling with Sesshoumaru in search of Inutaisho's tomb for the Tessaiga. He was seen carrying the Nintoujou staff, aka Staff of Heads, which consists of two heads- one of an old woman and one of an old man. This magical staff apparently plays an important part in detecting the hidden location of Sesshoumaru's father's grave. However, the staff is most often used by Jaken to spit fire when fighting with enemies.
Personality: As a role in the series, Jaken is basically Sesshoumaru's retainer and a very loyal one at that. Though often viewed as annoying by most fans of the series, Jaken actually provides quite a majority of comical moments where Sesshoumaru's scenes are concerned. In the series itself, Jaken seems not to be very well-liked either. Most people either ignore him or forget that he's even there to begin with. In fact, he gets bullied quite a bit by the Inuyasha crew. That in itself is often a source of entertainment in between flashes of Sesshoumaru's battles.
Although Jaken isn't generally treated nicely by others, he doesn't seem to care much about what other people think of him. His entire view point is usually zoomed in and focused on Sesshoumaru alone. Gaining Sesshoumaru's approval is very important to him and it's obvious that he desperately seeks the praise of his master though he typically gets none. :p He takes great pride in being with Sesshoumaru and in being a faithful, important servant to his master. Regardless of how dangerous a situation can be or how afraid he is, Jaken continues to follow Sesshoumaru and his orders throughout the series. Sucking up to Sesshoumaru is definitely one of Jaken's specialties. Around everyone else, however, he's just a grumpy little demon.
Following Sesshoumaru around all these years has apparently allowed him to learn more about Sesshoumaru's personality than most. Sometimes he can be heard making a comment to Rin, providing insights on Sesshoumaru's character. He can also read Sesshoumaru's clipped orders and facial expressions much better than others. Sometimes all Sesshoumaru would need to say is "Jaken" and Jaken would seem to know what his master is asking of him. Of course he also realizes that Sesshoumaru's character is quite a mystery as even he doesn't always know what Sesshoumaru's purpose is in doing certain things.
Relation to Sesshoumaru:
As mentioned above, Jaken is and continues to be Sesshoumaru's most loyal servant. His greatest woe would be the fact that he doesn't seem to be valued by Sesshoumaru. In fact, he can often be heard whining about it. How he came about to being Sesshoumaru's servant and why he continues to stay with his master even when he's treated badly had always been a mystery until the anime episode 79. In this episode, we first catch a glimpse of his past and learn how he came to meet Sesshoumaru. Please note that the following synopsis only took place in the anime and not the manga.
In this episode, we're introduced to a different Jaken. Instead of being a groveling servant of Sesshoumaru's, he actually sat atop a throne with a field of Jaken-look-a-likes minions hailing him as a great ruler of their kind. Then one day, a nearby demon suddenly attacked him and his people. They were having some trouble when the battle was suddenly interrupted by Sesshoumaru, who happened to passing by. The demon was apparently in Sesshoumaru's way and would not move when he commanded her to. Sesshoumaru basically solved the issue by effortlessly killing the demon, which in turn saved Jaken and his clan. Jaken described the moment and his first impression of Sesshoumaru as the most incredible and beautiful person he has ever seen. Yes, it seems Jaken has become a fan-youkai upon meeting Sesshoumaru. :)
From that moment on, Jaken decided to leave his position as the ruler of his clan in order to follow Sesshoumaru as his servant. His people were greatly confused and tried to stop him, but Jaken's mind was apparently made up with the intention of repaying Sesshoumaru for saving his life. Jaken continued to follow Sesshoumaru until they reached a waterfall. Here, Sesshoumaru paused and reached behind the wall of water to retrieve a staff. He gives this staff to Jaken and told him that Jaken may follow him if he's able to use it. Jaken takes the staff gratefully and has since proved that he could use it. However, it was never explained as to what the true significance of the staff was. It's obviously important as Sesshoumaru has once told Jaken that he would kill him if he loses the staff. This was after Jaken had shortly misplaced the staff.
After all those years, it seems Jaken has been given another job in his role as Sesshoumaru's servant. Yes, his responsiblities now include looking after Rin and making sure she's safe. Needless to say, caring after a human little girl is not something he prefers to do. Jaken can often be heard grumbling and complaining about Rin though he has no choice but to follow Sesshoumaru's orders, less he gets punished. The moments of interaction between Rin and Jaken are often hilarious. As the series progresses, they've sort of become a team of their own especially when Sesshoumaru goes off by himself to take care of whatever business is at hand. I like to think that Rin's grown on him more than he cares to admit. :)
-Content Last Updated: August 30, 2004