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"little brother", if he is so disgusted with him? In the manga and the series, he refers to him more as "little brother" when they are face to face, than he does by his given name.

Let's discuss this.....
-Their father died -ultimately, although already seriously injured due to the fight with Ryuukotsei, trying to protect InuYasha, named him and gave him and his mother protective clothing to flee in, and Sesshomaru didn't care.
-He supposedly hates him for the fact he is a half breed.
-He supposedly hates the fact that they share their mutual father's blood.
-He supposedly hates the fact that InuYasha's mother was human/ningen.
-He hates the fact that InuYasha is the one that can wield Tetsaiuga, and he can't even touch it without having burns left on his hand.
-He has had ample opportunities to kill InuYasha, but given the perfect chance when Inuyasha was transformed and unable to defend himself, he stopped. Stated "he isn't himself"... come on - if you want to kill the half-breed that is an insult to the family name, why stop there?
-He has never attempted to kill InuYasha out of hand- he could have sneaked up on him plenty of times and killed him and didn't.

Now, why is that? Maybe he doesn't really hate InuYasha as much as he maintains, because he is his "little brother."

Yes, Sesshoumaru hated Inuyasha for who he was: a "shameful" fusion between youkai and human blood and also the remnants of the love that the Inu no Taishou and Izayoi shared. Sesshoumaru resented Inuyasha because he felt that his father favored him more over himself, and was angry, hurt, and incredibly jealous.

Yet, when it boils down to that very fact that Inuyasha shares the same blood as his own, Sesshoumaru cannot deny that they are indeed half brothers and thus acknowledges, albeit grudgingly, Inuyasha as family. Also, if you were to listen to Ken Narita's interpretation of Sesshoumaru's voice and/or read the manga, you'd see that Sesshoumaru tends to "spit" the words out. ViZ's translation of Takahashi's manga sometimes has "little brother" written in italics.

Thus, earlier on in the manga Sesshoumaru was forced to accept the "shameful" fact that the hanyou which he loathed so much was indeed his brother. Later through the Meidou Zangetsuha arc in the manga, all of this changes. Sesshoumaru comes to learn what it truely feels to lose something he holds so dear (Rin and Kagura) to himself. And I think that through this he somehow got a whiff of the large amounts of pain and suffering Inuyasha went through his whole life just because of his genetics... but that's all for another topic.

Now another reason why Sesshoumaru resented Inuyasha so much was because he pinned the blame of his father's death on him. Back in those days, Sesshoumaru was like any typical high-status youkai. He was aloof and thus looked down on "weaker beings" as though they were insects. Through learning that his father - his idol and role model - fell in love with a human woman and fathered a hanyou child no less, Sesshoumaru felt a dent in his ego.

Sesshoumaru always believed that youkai were stronger than humans above all, and revered his father with the belief that nothing, no humans or youkai could ever beat him. Inevitably, from what Myouga Ji-chan explained in the canon manga/anime, the Inu no Taishou died from the wounds inflicted by Ryuukotsei a dragon youkai. It is my belief that Sesshoumaru could not bring himself to believe the story and decided that something must have weakened his father. Initially, Sesshoumaru always found humans to be weak, so he came to the conclusion that Izayoi was the one who weakened his father and hence was the cause of his death. Because of that he also put the blame on Inuyasha.

Again, the Meidou Zangetsuha arc was the Inu no Taishou's last lesson to Sesshoumaru about the facts of life. By passing on the Meidou technique to his eldest son and then forcing him to give that to his younger brother, the Inu no Taishou taught Sesshoumaru that youkai - like humans - will eventually perish. He also wanted him to shed the idea of being bigoted and prejudiced.

... Whoa! eek That was like an essay! I guess you asked one question and got a whole analysis on Sesshoumaru's personality and nature. Maybe you should re-name this this thread "Sesshoumaru 101."

I believe that he refures to Inu-Yasha as 'little brother' more because on some level way down deep he accepts Inuyasha. Though I don't know why...That is a question I want anwered. Why inuyasha is such a baka is beyond me.

Not really. Up until Sesshoumaru's recent character development, he always thought humans and hanyou to be below him. He would have been cold and indifferent to Inuyasha as much as he had been in the series. WIth the Inu no Taishou still alive, it could be entirely possible that Sesshoumaru could have hated him more.

No, Inupapa would not have left to be with Izayoi, he would have taken her back to the castle, and raised InuYasha there, with Sesshomaru. But I think there would still be resentment- but held in more, until Inupapa finally died. Izayoi would only be around for a little while anyway, being human. Then it would just be the 3 dog demons!

If Sesshomaru-sama's father didn't die the swords wouldn't have been inhereited, i get that, but what is the thing with the 'get along' thing. If Sesshomaru-sama doesn't want to get along with Inuyasha-sama, thats not his fault! He's a flippin half-demon! In the movie where (Move spoiler: Sesshomaru-sama and Inuyasha-sama work together because there lives are in danger.) But it's so weird that their father wants them to get along! Sesshomaru-sama let Rin into his life for one purpose: (manga spoiler: She wanted to help him and he brought her back to life, she just followed him and he let her.) And that's the oly reason, but the thing is, Sesshomaru-sama hates his little brother (Oh gawd, now I'm starting to call him 'little brother') because he inhereited the Tetsiauga, but I don't think thats the only reason. I think its because he is also his half-brother, half-demon. He is not his full brother because of both the women their father fell in love with because they are not realated! 3nodding

...I didn't know I could type this much and not have my fingers get sore! biggrin

You think that Sesshomaru really cares for Inuyasha, maybe on some level likes him? OMG, has the demon world come to an end?

I think that Sesshomaru doesn't kill Inuyasha because he wouldn't have anyone else to bully and to try to kill and release his fury on. sweatdrop