Ayame (InuYasha)

Ayame (菖蒲) is a fictional character in the anime series InuYasha.

Overview
Ayame is a female wolf demon and leader of the white wolf tribe who grew up in the mountains. She is the granddaughter of the wolf elder and leader. She has lived with him ever since her parents died. Later on, her tribe is attacked by demons, and she and Koga have to fight them off. This starts the Shichinintai saga.

She always wears a purple iris in her hair that Koga gave her when she was young and contains spiritual powers.

When she was very young, Koga rescued her from being devoured by The Birds of Paradise and promised to marry her when she grew up. As Koga took Ayame home, she told him about how she was going into the mountains to train with her grandfather. He said when she got back from the mountains, that he would marry her. He did this to reassure her that everything was going to be okay.

When he said this, Ayame spotted a lunar rainbow. This moment remained in Ayame's heart forever, but not Koga's. Ayame stayed and trained in the mountains until she was older. She came back one day, holding him to his promise, but as he currently loves Kagome he has denied recalling his promise at first.

Ayame dislikes Kagome because she feels that Koga has feelings for Kagome, and she especially does not like her name due to the resemblance in sound; at one point when she and Kagome meet, she screams "I don't like your name, it's so close to mine!" But Ayame eventually realizes Kagome only likes Koga as a friend.

In the anime Ayame then realizes that Koga has to avenge his tribe (earlier on, Kagura killed them) and tells him to go and avenge them after they are attacked by a demon who seeks the jewel shards. And with a farewell, Ayame leaves to the northern mountains to train. Ayame vows that she will train herself to see jewel shards like Kagome and become worthy of Koga's affection.

Personality
Ayame admires Koga's strength and courage, but she is strong in her own right. In general her outside personality is that of a determined, cute, spunky, and high strung girl who listens to her elders with great respect. At times she is sensitive and caring even with those who she does not seem to like. For example, at first Ayame does not seem to like Kagome because Koga sees her a possible bride to be for him, but later on in the anime she begins to be more friendly towards Kagome and begins to respect, admire, and value her personality and intelligence. An example of this in the anime is after Koga says, "be careful," Ayame replies, "Kagome said that too," with a sad, small smile. This is a sign that she was taking Kagome's words with value and care.

Character development
Ayame is a character that was made specifically for the anime. Ayame is very sweet towards Koga, but bitter towards Kagome (they are supposed to be "rivals").

Abilities and attacks
Ayame throws out grass and leaves that can slice through demons, and with this she has helped save Hakkaku and Ginta, two of Koga's wolves, from demons. She has a special Leaves & Wind attack along with her two swords that is capable destroying multiple demons. Like other wolf demons, she also uses wolves for her attacks and defense. Ayame appears to have speed and agility nearly on par with Koga's. How she accomplishes these feats without the assistance of jewel shards has never been revealed.

Trivia

 * In the anime, Ayame only appears in three episodes (83, 84, 102).
 * Ayame was also sometimes spelled "Hiame" or "Iame" due to misconceptions. Her name was spelled "Iome" in credits of the English dub.