Characters
Renkotsu
Renkotsu's appearance can be deceiving, even to the most perceptive of people. He resembles and impersonates a Buddhist monk but there is nothing holy about this killer from the Band of Seven.
Renkotsu was brought back to life like the other members of the Band of Seven, and functions as a second-in-command. He calls the shots when Bankotsu is absent and the remaining members follow his orders without question. He sends Ginkotsu to finish Inuyasha and the others, and soon takes matters into his own hands. Renkotsu impersonates a Buddhist monk and says he will care for the poisoned members of Inuyasha's party while he fights off the rampaging Ginkotsu. Soon enough his true colors are revealed when he sets fire to the temple where Miroku, Sango, Shippo and Kagome are recovering.
Like the other psychotics in the Band of Seven, Renkotsu's unique psychological disorder is pyromania. He has the ability to manipulate flames using a set of wires attached to a special glove he wears and carries many explosive devices, including a rudimentary form of dynamite.
Renkotsu is the best strategist and most intelligent characters in the entire series. He is the first to realize that Kagome can see Shikon shards, and soon makes it his mission to destroy her. He worries that Bankotsu will discover that he stole Kagome's shards and kept them for himself. When Bankotsu discovers this, Renkotsu is warned not to step out of line again, but after Ginkotsu's death he steals his Shikon shard and uses it to heal his wounds. It does not take Renkotsu long to realize that Bankotsu will kill him when he finds out that he has done this, so he plots to kill Koga and steal the two Shikon shards that are in his legs to ensure he will be powerful enough to kill Bankotsu himself.
As Renkotsu's thirst for power increases, he begins to turn against his brothers in the Band of Seven. He manipulates Jakotsu into fighting Inuyasha in hopes that Jakotsu will die and he will be able to take his Shikon shard. His plan works perfectly and Renkotsu removes Jakotsu's shard and watches unsympathetically as he dies. Renkotsu never gets to test his power though- as soon as he emerges from Mount Hakurei Bankotsu realizes what has happened and kills him immediately. Bankotsu has no sympathy for a traitor who kills his own men for more power.
The Meaning Behind the Name - 煉骨
"Ren" is written with the kanji that basically means "to shapes something over a fire" (metalworking, ironworking, that sort of thing). This, of course, refers to his penchant for pyromania. The "kotsu" character is "skeleton" or "remains". Each of the Band of Seven have the latter character in their names, which relates to the fact that they are actually undead.
Voices:
Tomokazu Sugita
Brian Drummond