What is it about Sesshomaru, that we all adore him so much? The reasons are bound to be endless, and I was just curious as to what some of them are.

He's one of my all-time favorite characters in anime now. I think he was just a mere mini micro moment away from stealing the story away from you know who. ^_^

Sesshoumaru is not that special if you think about it.

I think my reasoning is that he is the anime / traditional story telling troupe of 'dude that is antagonist and sometimes or permanently works with our heroes'

Because before InuYasha came into my life there was Vegeta from Dragonball Z, and before that Ken from Digimon Adventure 2.

Fiction is loaded with these kind of characters, but then again....

Actually maybe it's not comparable. Cause those kinds of characters either have tragic back stories or interesting details that make them more human than the villains yet more interesting than the heroes.

Sesshoumaru is kind of like... I don't even know. Good question.

Both as an Anti-Hero and as a character that didn't make me want to gouge my ears out, Sesshoumaru would have made a great main for a spin-off series. At least in my opinion.

Inuyasha grated on my nerves, more so early on, but that first impression ruined any amount of growing he did later in the series. Sesshoumaru however was exactly what you expected him to be. Powerful ahole with a god complex that is brought back down but is still pretty much the same. He's also a very blank character which makes any changes to his character passably explainable, to a degree obviously.

All that together makes him not only far more usable in fanfiction but it allows for a far greater range of stories that stick pretty close to his cannon character. It's kind of a personal thing, but I like character to at least act like they're supposed too.

Pretty to look at
Isn't a blabbermouth, so this reads as "mysterious"
Is arrogant with talent to back it up
Had a seemingly crappy father that played favorites
Doesn't try to be something he's not
Sticks to his convictions but shows growth as a character throughout the series
Takes care of a human girl that does not look like his dead ex-girlfriend

Lots of things... lol

As for fanfiction, I think the character embodies that 'tall and mysterious' trope female readers typically fall in love with.

Unfortunately, the brash guy that ends up saving the day is more acceptable as a hero than the guy that hardly gives a damn.
Inuyasha had his moments, but Sesshoumaru was more interesting with lead potential. I ended up dumping the manga once Takahashi started powering Inuyasha up for no reason. I think Sesshoumaru was the side character she didn't expect fans to love so much. The anime has many faults, but at least they gave him more screen time.

Uhh surface reasons; He's pretty, he's cool, he's intelligent, he can fight with only one arm, he's an antihero, and he has a real nice voice in both the dubbed and subbed version.

Deeper reasons!: I really like how proud he is. He has a superiority complex, and yes he's knocked down a peg or two through the series but he still retains this sense of pride. I also find it really nice that he learns to accept 'some' humans, and that the character development of him caring for Rin is all done without words pretty much. He's still a jerk, but an interesting jerk.

I'm more fond of his character after fanfiction tbh. I love that some people portray him as this stern, stoic, calculated figure, and then others interpret his silent moments as chances for him to daydream. Like he'd be staring majestically into the distance and outwardly he looks awesome and a deep thinker, but inside he's like - '...the tops of those trees look uneven. It displeases me.'

And then there's the other side of it where writers have explored his motives/backstory and given him so much depth. I'm glad I read fanfiction for his character.

I used to read only Inu/Kag, particularly Sueric's work on ff.net. But then...

It's all Vyncent's fault. I ran across "Unworthy One" (rated MA, NO YIMs!) on ff.net and never once looked back.

From there I found 'A Single Spark' and was hooked even further. When the time came that Miss K was creating Dokuga, I'd already made so many friends with Sess/Kag authors that it was impossible to think of any other fandom.

Vyncent's portrayal of Sesshoumaru was a shocker to me, having read only Inu/Kag - and not many of those authors delve that deeply into his character. Moving onward, I kept seeing new and different sides of the Demon Lord that I'd never considered when watching the anime. Then, people keyed into certain things that Takahashi-sama did with the manga and it opened my eyes even further into the possibility that there was more than even she had let on about Sesshoumaru.

So... yeah. Total fangirl.