Shishiwakamaru is a demon competitor in the Dark Tournament, with a name riffed off Ushiwakamura, a legendary historical general whose stories show up in Noh theater. His signature item, the Cape of No Return, draws from the Hagoromo—another Noh staple.
When he first appears, he's introduced as one of YuYu Hakusho's most sadistic characters, someone who genuinely loves violence and has zero patience for what he calls hypocritical pacifism. "Violence is my meat, and wickedness my ambrosia," he's said, and he means it. That said, he's shown moments of being more sympathetic to the heroes—though usually when it benefits him, much like Hiei's style of self-interest.
The Dark Tournament gave Shishiwakamaru a surprising amount of female fans, who call him "Waka" affectionately. He's actually said he fought in the tournament partly to please them, which speaks to a vain side beneath all the evil posturing. He's one of the few demons from that arc who actually sticks around afterward.
His abilities center on two things: the Cape of No Return, which can send anything it touches to anywhere, even other dimensions, and his blade called the Banshee Shriek. The weapon can steal souls and throw them back at opponents as attacks or shields.
During the tournament, he fights Kuwabara using the cape, then takes on Genkai—who beats him decisively by stealing some of his power and hitting him with her Spirit Reflection Blast. Genkai then trains him, boosting him from upper C-class all the way to upper A-class. He enters the Makai Tournament afterward hoping to build on his newfound fame, makes it past the preliminaries, but doesn't go much further.
In his tiny demon form, he's usually spotted perched on Suzuki's shoulder.
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
