Kikyo served as a shrine priestess tasked with purifying and guarding the Shikon Jewel in Feudal Era Japan. Born with potent spiritual powers, she trained rigorously from childhood alongside her younger sister Kaede, adhering to strict purification rituals essential for her role as a miko. This duty demanded she suppress all human emotions and desires, especially romantic love, to maintain spiritual purity. Rival priestess Tsubaki explicitly warned that falling in love would weaken her powers and lead to a violent death, a warning Kikyo initially dismissed, confident she would never experience such feelings. Her life irrevocably changed upon encountering Inuyasha, a half-demon seeking the Shikon Jewel to become fully demonic. Despite initial conflict, Kikyo recognized their shared isolation and gradually developed romantic feelings for him. This emotional awakening directly compromised her spiritual strength, consistent with historical miko traditions linking power retention to sexual purity. Her weakened state manifested when she failed to detect an imminent demon attack, resulting in Kaede losing an eye. Desiring an ordinary life, Kikyo proposed using the Shikon Jewel to transform Inuyasha into a human, believing this act would purify the jewel and free her from her duties. Their plan was sabotaged by Naraku, a demonic entity born from the bandit Onigumo, whom Kikyo had secretly nursed back to health. Consumed by twisted obsession and jealousy, Naraku manipulated Inuyasha and Kikyo into believing each had betrayed the other. Mortally wounded and believing Inuyasha attacked her, Kikyo used her final strength to seal him to the Sacred Tree with a sacred arrow instead of killing him. She instructed Kaede to burn her body and the jewel. However, her lingering hatred corrupted the jewel, ensuring its eventual return, while her desire to see Inuyasha again influenced its reincarnation through Kagome Higurashi, her modern-day counterpart. Fifty years later, the demon ogress Urasue resurrected Kikyo, crafting a body from grave soil and Kikyo's ashes. This artificial form required souls to sustain itself, compelling Kikyo to absorb the souls of deceased women via her Shinidamachū (soul collectors). Initially driven by unresolved hatred, she attempted to kill Inuyasha but was thwarted when Kagome's soul, partially reclaimed from Kikyo's body, disrupted the attack. Surviving this encounter, Kikyo wandered as a being trapped between life and death, burdened by her cursed existence. She provided medical aid to villagers yet grappled with the moral conflict of consuming souls to maintain her false life, a point reinforced by a monk who confronted her about the unnaturalness of her presence. After uncovering Naraku's role in her death, Kikyo redirected her lingering anguish towards defeating him and permanently purging the Shikon Jewel. Her pursuit involved forming strategic, often distrustful, alliances with adversaries like Naraku's incarnations when it served her goal. Her existence as a resurrected entity fundamentally shaped her actions—simultaneously aiding the living while navigating the ethical compromises required to sustain her clay body. This unresolved state persisted until her final demise, where she accepted her fate and passed on with peace.