He's
the "Mighty Leader of the Dogs" that is referred to so many
times in the manga,
yet only appears once, as a flashback. And in the form of a giant cow-eating
dog, no less...
Just my ramblings on Inuyasha's father's name. Or... the lack of one thereof.
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What exactly IS Inuyasha's father called in the series?
Officially, in the manga and the anime series, Inu-papa is simply referred to as "Inuyasha no Chichi" (Inuyasha's Father), or "Inu-no-taisho" (Dog-Leader). He is actually also never called "Inutaisho" at all, that was a condensed version of his name that somehow came about from English-speaking fans.
Sesshoumaru will call him "chichi-ue," an old, respectful term to use for one's father, while Inuyasha will refer to him simply as "chichi" or "oyaji," which mean father and old man, respectively.
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What about this "Touga/Toga-ou" name that's been floating around? Isn't that his name?
His name actually IS NOT Touga. On the production material created for Tenka Hadou no Ken, he was given that name for production purposes, so that the staff could have a character name to refer to.
The name "Touga-ou" also appeared on early trailers for the film and on early tracklistings for the third movie OST, but the name never DID make it to any official printed material at all. The track listing on the soundtrack, and Inuyasha's father's name, was ultimately changed from "Touga-ou no Negai" and released as "Chichi no Negai."
On the movie program, and any other movie material that was released, the dad bears the title Inuyasha no Chichi, which simply means "Inuyasha's Father." He is never called Touga-ou in the movie. Inuyasha's mother, however, is officially given the name "Izayoi" for the movie, which both appears on printed material (ie. the movie pamphlets and soundtrack), and in the credits.
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So WHY do you call him "Inu-papa?"
The nickname I've become fond of, "Inu-papa," actually wasn't some random cutsey name picked out of the blue. It actually begins in much the way the nickname for Sesshoumaru's shoulder-fur thing ("mokomoko-sama") began, in that it was a candid reference to the character made by the creators and staff involved with Inuyasha. (Incidentally, mokomoko-sama's reference began when Rumiko Takahashi called the fur by that name in an interview on Web Sunday.)
Inu-papa's nickname started with the December 2003 Anime Scramble episode which featured Japanese seiyuu Kappei Yamaguchi (Inuyasha), Noriko Hidaka (Kikyou), Ken Narita (Sesshoumaru), and Yuuichi Nagashima (Jaken), promoting the third film. As they began talking about the movie, Kappei and Noriko began referring to Inuaysha's father as "Inu-papa." The name stuck for some of us, and frankly, even if Inu-papa DOES get a name, this little Kuro will almost refuse to call him anything else but Inu-papa.
If Kappei and company call Inuyasha's father Inu-papa, I'm going to call him that, too. ;)
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What do Japanese fans call Inuyasha's father?
Yes, fans in Japan have just as much a "dillemma" about this naming thing than English-speaking fans do. The name I most commonly see him called in Japanese is "Inu-chichi." Loosely translated, it could mean "Inu-papa." I also do see him sometimes called by "Touga," although not as often as the more generic "Inu-no-chichi" or "Inu-chichi."
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