Kikyou was born to a middle class family in a small village during the Sengoku Jidia period (1600-1700 AD). Her family background is unknown besides that she has a younger sister, Kaede. Kikyou was the priestess of her village from the time she was old enough to be one and was given the responsibility of caring for the sick, protecting the village from youkai [demons] and other duties expected of a miko [priestess] of her time. Because of her duties of protecting and caring for the village and the villagers, Kikyou was left alone due to her priorites. She was a well-respected miko, and because of it she was excluded from the experiences and situations most young women her age were subjected to; love, marriage and men. Miko [priestesses] are expected to take a vow of chastity and because of this, Kikyou was forbidden to have any sort of a relationship with men. Kikyou was lonely mainly because of her status and it caused her to spend most of her time with the children of the village, caring and enteraining them. Also, Kikyou had been warned by Tsubaki [Episode 147-148: A Fateful Love song Before We Met]

Tsubaki:'A miko shows her true power when she throws away her feelings. But as a woman, you will probably fall in love.'
Kikyou: 'Me? Fall in love?'
Tsubaki: 'Do not forget. Do not fall in love. Do not be loved by a man. If you ever meet such a man, you will die an unnatural death.'
Kikyou:: 'I'll keep that mind.'

At this moment, Tsubaki [the same dark priestess as we saw earlier in the series] placed a curse on Kikyou. A curse that would cause Kikyou's death if she ever fell in love. The curse would take away her powers and cause her death. Kikyou disregarded the curse, unworried about it because of the fact she believed she would never fall in love. Kikyou's life became one of utter solitude with the introduction of the Shikon no Tama [Jewel of Four Souls]. Neighbouring taijya [demon slayers] came to Kikyou's village and with them, they brought the Shikon no Tama. They pleaded Kikyou to purify and care for the jewel for they could no longer house it in their village.The Shikon no Tama attracted youkai and ningen alike to it because of its powerful aura. The taijya found themselves tiring from the frequent attacks upon their homes as the aura of the jewel became more powerful as it became more corrupted from lack of purifiction. Kikyou swore to protect the jewel unto her last breath and from then on, cared for the jewel and her village.

Kikyou was more then capable to manage the jewel and the youkai; her powers enabled her to keep the jewel at its purest and also allowed her to vanquish all youkai who tried to overcome her and steal it. Yet even with her busy life, Kikyou was alone and left for want of a friend. She had a restricted life that demanded more of her and she was always giving yet never recieving. However that all changed when Kikyou met InuYasha; a hanyou [human] who on their first meeting was in his ningen [human] form due to the new moon predicament for hanyou. Hanyou were regarded as vermin during their time and InuYasha was seen as inferior to Kikyou because of her miko status.

But the two lovers continued to love and protect each other and with it, Kikyou's powers began to fade leaving herself, the village and the jewel open for an attack.

Kikyou continued caring and attending to the jewel, her village and its people for a whole year until she turned seventeen. Lonely and an outcast, Kikyou was set apart from her village because of her status as a high-ranking miko and her legendary spiritual powers. After meeting InuYasha on several different occassions, Kikyou began to desire to have a relationship with InuYasha as any normal girl her age would. When InuYasha and Kagome became a couple, the miko fell deeply in love with the hanyou and continued seeing him.

However, the relationship was strained at times due to Kikyou's hectic schedule caring for the village, villagers and the Shikon no Tama. The miko then came to the conclusion that if InuYasha were to wish upon the Shikon no Tama to become a ningen, the wish would rid of the jewel's powers and allow the couple to live as a normal pairing would. Kikyou asked InuYasha if would like to become a ningen to be with her. InuYasha agreed.

The two agreed to meet each other the next day to make the wish together. Yet on the day the two were supposed to meet, a hanyou called Naraku intervened. He was a shape-shifter and flawlessly took on the forms of the lovers, preteending to be Kikyou to InuYasha and InuYasha to Kikyou.

Delivering a fatal blow to Kikyou on her shoulder when she let her guard down while in the form of InuYasha, he told her that he [InuYasha] had never loved her and had only want the jewel. Taking the Shikon no Tama from Kikyou, Naraku left in InuYasha's form saying he would destroy her village and thanked her, leaving a stunned and furious miko behind.

Later, InuYasha met the false Kikyou who was yet again Naraku in disguise. The false Kikyou had screamed, 'Die InuYasha', and shot arrows at the hanyou as he waited by the Goshinbuko [Tree of Time]. Furious and believing the real Kikyou had tried to kill him, InuYasha attacked the village and stole the jewel from its temple.

At that moment, the two lovers saw each other for the first real time that day. Kikyou saw InuYasha stealing the jewel, believing he had betrayed her. InuYasha did not notice Kikyou's bleeding shoulder while he flew in the air, ready to make an escape. Targeting the fleeing hanyou, Kikyou shot her arrow and pinned him to a tree. Kikyou died a few minutes later from her wound, demanding the jewel to be burned with her body for then it would not be able to harm the world any more. The tragic miko then left the world, leaving her youngest sister, Kaede alone and her people behind. Her body was burnt with the Shikon no Tama as ordered. She brought the jewel with her soul to the after life; intending to save her people and the innocent even in death. Her soul lay in the after-life for fifty years, believing she had been betrayed by her only love and friend.