You may think that Inuyasha & Co. saved the day by defeating Naraku and putting an end to the Shikon no Tama, but they wouldn’t have gotten very far without a certain bug-eyed demon blacksmith. Not much is known about our beloved Toutousai—except that he is without question the most badass geezer in the entire Inu-verse. (Sorry, Granny Kaede. Sorry, not sorry, Myouga.)
What we do know is that Toutousai is ancient—seriously just how old is this guy?? Even after a thousand years, the Inu no Taishou was still lookin’ fine—armed with an impractically long smelting hammer, and accompanied by a teleporting, three-eyed cow named Mou-Mou.
Not so visible to the naked eye are his balls of absolute steel, which he demonstrates time and again by routinely pissing off Inuyasha and by refusing to forge the evil sword Tokijin at Sesshoumaru’s behest.
But to appreciate the true heroism of this legendary swordsmith we have to go further back in time. It was Toutousai, after all, who first forged Tessaiga and Tenseiga from Inupapa’s fangs. I think it’s safe to say that without those two swords Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru would have been fighting Naraku bare-handed like idiots.
Not only that, but whenever the Inu brothers got themselves into a pickle—either through misuse, abuse, or ignorance of their swords—Toutousai was there to bail them out. When Inuyasha failed to unleash the Kaze no Kizu, Toutousai teleported the whole crew to safety. When Tessaiga was broken, Toutousai reforged it using one of Inuyasha’s fangs. When Tokijin was destroyed and Sesshoumaru needed a new weapon to defeat Mouryoumaru, Toutousai unlocked Tenseiga’s Meidou Zangetsuha technique for him.
Without Toutousai, the Inu-taichi would have gotten wiped out by any number of youkai hordes, Inuyasha’s demon blood would have consumed him, and Sesshoumaru would never have gained the abilities he needed to realize his full potential as a daiyoukai. And Naraku, of course, would have obtained the Shikon no Tama and enslaved the world.
But most of all, Toutousai saved the day with his humor. Without his cock-eyed stare, random appearances, wise-cracks, and general old-man buffoonery, the world of Inuyasha would have been a much less funny place.