Shippo is a young fox demon from Inuyasha's time who lost his family to other demons. His main goal when he first meets Inuyasha and Kagome is to steal the Shikon shards they have with them to help him become strong in order to defeat the two Thunder brothers that killed his father and took his father's pelt.

Fox demons are known for their shape-shifting abilities, and how they like to play tricks. Shippo's no exception, and he can transform himself into basically any form he wishes, though sometimes his transformations are rather incomplete. When he first meets Kagome and Inuyasha, he tries to intimidate them by turning into a huge pink ball. He can turn into various other things, such as a bow, a rat, and images of other people. He can also use this ability to create "toys" such as a toy top that can expand and be used as a distraction. He can also split himself into many different parts to help him confuse and enemy, and can send out little "help" signals via this illusion. Shippou has another unique ability, Fox Fire, which is a blue fire that he uses to attack. Since he's very young, his attacks usually don't do much more than allow him time to escape from enemies.

After meeting up with Inuyasha and Kagome, and being saved by Inuyasha, he decided to stay with the group since he's lost both his parents anyway. He is nothing more than an annoyance to Inuyasha, but Kagome takes kindly to him and Shippo starts to see her as a mother figure.