Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba: Hashira / Characters

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaHashira

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/hashira_meeting.png

"Destroyer of Demons"^note

The Hashira^noteliterally Pillars are the Demon Slayer Corps's nine most powerful warriors. They answer directly to Kagaya Ubuyashiki.

open/close all folders

As a Group

Adaptation Dye-Job: The Marks. Muichiro is the first Hashira to manifest it after Tanjiro started the whole chain of mark awakenings within the series, with that a special colored illustration made by Gotoge showed Muichiro’s mark was red just like Tanjiro’s, settling that the marks were the same color regardless of Breathing Style, however, the official digital colored manga went and gave Muichiro’s mark a clear blue tint in a later portrayal, starting a theme where the digital colored manga would give all marks colorful variations linked to the breathing style each Hashira has. The anime stuck with Gotouge’s original scheme, the Mark is red across all those who achieve it.
Animal Motifs: Muichiro seems to think so, as when asked on his opinion on the other Hashira, he compares them to animals, with the exception of Giyu who he compares to a decorative ornament. Shinobu's a swallow, Tengen's a monkey, Obanai's a wild cat, Gyomei's a bear, Rengoku's an owl, Mitsuri's a pink chick, and Sanemi's a wolf.
Astonishingly Appropriate Appearance: Each of their appearances fits their respective Breathing technique well, such as their hair and eye colors, the way they wear their uniforms (whether they're slightly different or completely customized), and their Nichirin blade designs.
Asskicking Leads to Leadership: The Hashira get to their positions by being goddamn good at their jobs. You either kill a total of 50 demons or kill one of the Twelve Kizuki. Neither are easy tasks.
Badass Creed: All of their weapons are engraved with the kanji for Akki Messatsu (悪鬼滅殺), which can literally be translated as "Demon Destruction".
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: Shinobu is the only one who is relatively normal, pretty much everyone else is some kind of weirdo.
Color-Coded for Your Convenience: In merchandise, the Hashira are usually associated with a specific color.
- Giyu and Tengen are associated with dark blue, although the latter is usually more of a navy shade.
- Shinobu is associated with purple.
- Kyojuro is associated with red.
- Mitsuri is associated with pink.
- Muichiro is associated with turquoise.
- Obanai is associated with periwinkle.
- Sanemi is associated with lime green.
- Gyomei is associated with dark amber.
Combat Pragmatist: Hashira, like all Demon Slayers, do not fight fair. They will pull out all the stops to kill a demon if they prove to be particuarly powerful and dangerous. This strategy is what leads to Muzan's defeat, as the surviving members of the group all take full advantage of whatever openings they can find, while the Demon Lord is suffering from multiple drugs.
Dark and Troubled Past: With the exception of Rengoku and Mitsuri, nearly most of the Hashiras suffer traumatic pasts that still haunts them and caused massive changes in their personalities and outlooks. Each of the Hashira's details can be found in their folders and they are not pleasant to hear about.
Demon Slaying: Their profession of choice.
Dwindling Party: The series truly shows that Anyone Can Die when it comes to them. Less than halfway into the series Rengoku dies, and during the Infinity Castle Arc, they are almost entirely wiped out, leaving only Giyu and Sanemi, two badly injured and permanently disfigured survivors. Prior to the final battles in the Infinity Castle, Uzui retired from the Hashira after he lost a hand and an eye on a mission. He also lives on to the end.
Elemental Motifs: Rengoku explains that the "breathings" of each Hashira are derived from the basic elements of flame, water, wind, stone, and lightning. However, volume 17's extra chapters further elaborate that the elemental effects that appear from their techniques aren't actually produced by their techniques, rather it's a visualization generated by the viewer's interpretation of their techniques.
Elemental Personalities: Played With. Though their respective breathing styles aren't actual Elemental Powers and are merely modeled after the elements, they each fit with a characteristic trait of each Hashira. The romantic Mitsuri uses Love Breathing while calm and serene Giyu uses Water Breathing. The grounded Gyomei uses Stone Breathing and Sanemi, who has a tempestuous nature, uses Wind Breathing. Muichiro is enigmatic and mysterious, fitting with the Mist Breathing, Hot-Blooded Kyojuro uses Flame Breathing and Obanai, cold as a serpent, uses Serpent Breathing. Shinobu talks with courtesy (generally) but venomously (especially with demons), fitting with the poison-based Insect Breathing, and Uzui the Sound Breathing expert has a tendency to be loud and flamboyant, despite also being a ninja.
Fantastic Racism: Justified big time. Given that 6 out of the 9 Hashira have incredibly traumatic backstories involving demons, who are usually either feral monsters or violent sadists, most if not all the Hashira consider all demons as a scourge to be eradicated at all costs. This comes into conflict with the Kamados, as except for Mitsuri and Muichiro, all see Nezuko as a threat to be executed upon first meeting her. They begin to change to attitude when many fight alongside Nezuko, and later Tamayo and Yushiro.
Heroism Won't Pay the Bills: Averted. The Hashira get paid as much as they want.
Hidden Depths: Almost all the Hashira have personality traits that one wouldn't assume at first due to their eccentric or irrational behavior.
Impossibly Cool Weapon: Giyu, Kyojuro, Muichiro, and Sanemi are the only Hashira with typical katanas. Everyone else has strange but incredibly interesting custom weapons to better suit their breathing style.
Improbable Age: They are all quite young for their level of authority, with the oldest being a mere 27 years old. This can be justified since demon slaying likely has an extremely high mortality rate that doesn't usually lead to long lives and would become increasingly dangerous after the physical prime of your life. Two of the three surviving retired Hashira at the start of the story happen to be elderly, however.
Inspector Javert: Initially, they persecuted Tanjiro and Nezuko for the latter being a demon. Even Giyu, one of the only ones who stood up for Nezuko, was prepared to kill her before he realized that she was different from other demons.
Last-Name Basis: Most of them refer to each other by their surnames, with the exception of Mitsuri, who calls the youngest Hashira "Shinobu-chan" and "Muichiro-kun," and the Kocho sisters, since Shinobu uses "Nee-san" on Kanae and Kanae calls Shinobu by name.
Marked Change: Throughout the series, several Hashira awaken Power Tattoos that resemble the element of their chosen Breathing style on their bodies, known as Demon Slayer Marks, which greatly enhances their abilities at the cost of intense physical strain. It is noted that the user's heart rate skyrockets past 200 bpm and their temperature rises to at least 39° C/102.2° F while the mark is active. In the past, it was recorded that the marks are capable of "spreading" to others if one is awakened, as was the case with Yoriichi, and Amane Ubuyashiki speculates that the same is happening in the present due to Tanjiro.
Marked to Die: According to Kokushibo, a former Demon Slayer-turned demon, any swordsman who awakens one of the aforementioned marks is destined to die before the age of 25 due to the incredible strain it puts on the body. In the cases of people older than 25 like Himejima, the time they only have left to live last for even only ''hours''.
Master Swordsman: The Hashira are the strongest swordsmen of the Demon Slayer Corps, and each one is a master of their respective Breathing technique.
Meaningful Name: Hashira, literally Pillar, are named as such because they are clearly the cornerstone and foundational power of the Demon Slayer Corps, many of the lower ranking slayers tend to die often but the Hashira are likely to live through many ordeals thanks to their strength, providing the face and morale the Corps need; also the reason there are 9 seats in this Elite Group is due the kanji for Hashira (柱) containing nine strokes, as such each member is one part of the symbol.
Not Afraid to Die: Each Hashira engages in battle over the course of the story, but no matter which one it is or who they face, not a single one shows fear at the prospect of dying. Gyomei even asserts this characteristic in chapter 170:
Gyomei: ...as long as you are in the Demon Slayer Corps there is no guarantee you will live to tomorrow. Why would I cling to life at this point? No one becomes a Hashira with such half-hearted determination.
Sad Clown/Shell-Shocked Veteran: Notwithstanding their skill and wisdom, the outright childish eccentricities of the Hashiras are more than likely coping mechanisms built against the trauma of their constant titanic battles. Even the (comparatively) emotionally well adjusted Rengoku and Mitsuri (the latter of whom alone among the band of elite warriors hails from a warm, loving, happy and functional family) must amplify their already genuine optimism to often comical levels, in order to not crack under the insurmountable pressure of witnessing so much blood, sorrow, death and grotesque horror every night.
Superior Successor: Throughout the story the current Hashira generation starts to stack up several decisive victories against Muzan's forces, including the Twelve Kizuki; when they begin to actually win against Upper Ranks it is solidified they are the best Hashira generation in centuries, as the Demon Slayer Mark surge among several Hashira by the time Kokushibo falls, the Twelve Kizuki system is effectively destroyed, and Muzan is killed for good, it is set in stone that this Hashira generation was the very best after Yoriichi's time; even if they never became as strong as him, the Demon Slayers finally fulfilled their duty, Kokushibo himself couldn't help but praise Gyomei as reaching the peak of martial arts, with Sanemi being well equipped according to him as well.
Technicolor Eyes: Oh boy, do they have them, some of which coincide with Exotic Eye Designs.
- Giyu has piercing dark blue eyes.
- Mitsuri has lime green eyes
- Gyomei's eyes are a solid white, to represent his blindness
- Obanai has heterochromia, with his left eye being light blue, and the right eye being gold.
- Sanemi's eyes are a muffled purple with a swirly pattern.
- Kyojuro is a big example. He has red eyes with golden outline, and white pupils.
- Shinobu's eyes are a gradient with purple on the top and black on the bottom
- Muichiro has aquamarine colored eyes.
- Tengen's eyes are maroon.
- Former Hashira, Kanae Kocho has lavender eyes that have white spots, making them look sparkly.
Troubled Sympathetic Bigot: Their strong hatred for all demons usually stems from their Dark and Troubled Past, as barring Kyojuro, Tengen, and Mitsuri, they have either lost family members and loved ones or in Obanai's case had a demon responsible for their past misery.
Two Girls to a Team: There are only two female Hashira out of nine total.
Undying Loyalty: The Hashira are shown to be gravely loyal to their leader, Kagaya Ubuyashiki, showing him nothing more but love and respect for him. When he sacrifices himself to weaken Muzan, the remaining Hashira are shown to be sadden and/or angered by his death, such as in the case of Sanemi and Gyomei.
Why Won't You Die?: In the final battle against Muzan, the surviving Hashira take ridiculous amount of damage, having limbs torn off, sustaining enormous injuries, getting permanently and brutally mangled all while dying of massive blood lost yet they refuse to die and let Muzan escape, prompting him to keep asking why won't these puny humans just die already?!
Women Are Wiser: During Tanjiro's trial, the two female Hashira are among the more sensible members of the group (save for Giyu, who already knows the full story), while most of the males are willing to jump the gun and demand that Tanjiro and Giyu be punished for harboring a demon. Although, Mitsuri does more out of kindness, as she's The Ditz of the group. However it's hard to fault them since they've never really seen or heard of a benign demon and Shinobu tried to kill Nezuko prior to the trial before the Kasugai Crows came with the orders to bring Tanjiro and Nezuko back.
Would Hurt a Child: With the exception of Mitsuri and Muichiro, all Hashira were perfectly willing to behead Nezuko upon first meeting her, with some going as far as suggesting to execute Tanjiro along with her. Justified as they are demon slayers after all.
X-Ray Vision: Several of the Hashira develop the ability to access the "Transparent World", allowing them to see within the bodies of others. This is mainly used to identify internal weaknesses or increase reaction speeds by allowing the user to see their opponent's muscles contract the moment they are about to attack.

Present Hashira

Giyu Tomioka

Voiced by: Takahiro Sakurai (Japanese), Johnny Yong Bosch (English)^{Other VA}
Live actor: Reo Honda (Stage Play)

"He whose peerless, cold judgment guides him in slaying demons."

"The meek have no power and no options! The strong will crush them in every way! Demons might know how to cure your little sister... But... No demon will respect your whining and begging! And for that matter, I don't respect you either! That's reality!"

The Water Hashira. When Tanjiro was thirteen, he convinced Giyu not to kill Nezuko. In response, Giyu sent Tanjiro to his former teacher Urokodaki to be trained.

Advertised Extra: While hardly a minor character, a lot of official merchandise and sources (including Shonen Jump's official Japanese website) bills him alongside the main quartet, even though he spends the middle portion of the series heavily Out of Focus.
An Arm and a Leg: Loses his right arm in the battle against Muzan.
Back-to-Back Badasses: He adopts this pose with Sanemi during the final battle after both their blades turn red.
Blocking Stops All Damage: Giyu created an 11th Form for Water Breathing, known as Dead Calm, which is an absolute defensive sword stance portrayed with the visuals of a still body of water and complete silence. The technique is strong enough that even the strongest attack of the Lower Rank 5 demon of the Twelve Kizuki was unable to bypass it; Giyu usually counterattacks with an offensive form immediately after he negates his opponent's attack. During the Infinity Castle arc, where Giyu's strength is higher than its ever been, Dead Calm is used as context to show the true strength of the Upper-3, Akaza, when the demon's ultimate attack partially bypasses the breathing technique.
Broken Tears: Following Muzan's defeat, Giyu cries after seeing that Tanjiro is dead. Shortly after Tanjiro turns into a demon, he cries again during the fight against Demon Tanjiro while thinking that Tanjiro should die as a human and not as a demon.
Character Development: Spending more time with Tanjiro had helped Giyu overcome his guilt for his sister and Sabito and instead build a strong resolve to fight for their sakes. And Giyu slowly, but surely becomes more expressive and outgoing thanks to Tanjiro.
The Comically Serious: When Shinobu tells him that people don't like him, he states with a straight face that he is not hated by people (showing that he is bothered by this despite his aloof personality), much to Tanjiro's shock.
Dark and Troubled Past: And a tragic one too. Back when he was a young child, he had an older sister named Tsutako. The two seem to have no parents, so they pretty much grew up together. One day, his home was attacked by demons and Tsutako sacrificed herself to protect him. He later try to tell the villagers that a demon killed her, but they labelled him as mentally ill, and was sent to a doctor, who was a relative of his. This caused Giyu to run away and during his journey, he nearly die on a mountain, but was luckily saved by Urokodaki. Giyu then met Sabito, and the two became fast friends due to their similarities. However, during the Final Selection, Giyu was injured by a demon and Sabito rescued him, but tragically lost his life. This caused Giyu to suffer from guilt from both his sister's and his friend's deaths, as well as feeling inferior to Sabito, as Giyu believed he would've been a far more better Water Hashira than he is.
A Day in the Limelight: He has a two chapter spin-off that follows him on a demon hunt a few days after meeting Tanjiro and Nezuko.
Defrosting Ice King: After Tanjiro managed to open his heart.
Elemental Eye Colors: He has dark blue eyes and is a master of the Water Breathing.
Establishing Character Moment: He gives Tanjiro a "The Reason You Suck" Speech about how Tanjiro is too weak and naive to protect anyone, then follows that with an Internal Monologue expressing how he regrets not arriving in time to save Tanjiro's family, showing that despite his cold and cynical nature, he has a Hidden Heart of Gold.
Fashionable Asymmetry: His haori is noticeably asymmetrical; one half is a solid rose color, while the other is green, yellow, and orange with a geometric print. Both halves of the haori belonged to people who were important to him: the solid half belonged to his late sister Tsutako, while the patterned half belonged to his deceased friend Sabito.
Fire-Forged Friends: Though he isolates himself from his fellow Hashira for most of the story, Giyu eventually becomes good friends with his fellow surviving Hashira, Uzui and Sanemi. His relationship with the former is so good that he even got to hold Uzui's firstborn child, as revealed in the second databook.
The Friend Nobody Likes: Seemingly played straight at first as Shinobu outright tells him that all of the other Hashira dislike him. It seems to take him aback a little bit. The fact that he goes out on a limb to vouch for Nezuko doesn't endear him to people like Sanemi and Obanai. It later turns out that this is mostly self-inflicted, since Giyu's belief that he's unworthy of his status as a Hashira causes him to isolate himself from the others.
- Subverted after the release of Fanbook 2. The sections describing each Hashira's opinion of their colleagues reveals that at least four of the other eight Hashira all have fairly positive opinions of him, including Shinobu herself.
Handicapped Badass: A broken blade or a missing arm isn't going to slow down Giyu's mission to exterminate all demons, as Akaza, Muzan, and Demon Tanjiro learn the hard way.
Headbutt of Love: Platonic-example. As Tanjiro's corpse is about to fall to the ground, Giyu holds his head to his to keep Tanjiro still until Nezuko can see him.
Heroic Self-Deprecation: Giyu lives with the belief that he is not worthy of being the Water Hashira and standing with the other Hashira after he survives the selection, because of Sabito. Saying that he is underselling his abilities as a Hashira is an understatement, seeing as he is strong enough to trivialize demons as strong as a Lower Rank and even hold his own against Upper-3 Akaza. Kagaya, Shinobu, and Tanjiro try to get him to dispose of this mindset, with Tanjiro eventually succeeding.
Hidden Depths: Who would've guessed that the stoic and unwavering Giyu would be a man with deep self-loathing issues and Imposter Syndrome?
Hidden Heart of Gold: Under his stoicism, Giyu is a kind man. He harshly lectures Tanjiro for what he sees as blind naivete, while inwardly sympathizing with his situation and regrets that he didn't arrive in time to save his family from the attack.
Important Haircut: After the final battle, he cut off his ponytail, signifying that he is now free of the burdens of his past and Demon Slaying.
Inadequate Inheritor: Giyu believes he is unsuited to be the Water Hashira and that he took the position from a more worthy successor. He later elaborates that Sabito, another pupil trained by Urokodaki at the time, should have been the Water Hashira, while Giyu only survived the selection because of Sabito protecting him. This is combined with his grief at Sabito's sacrifice and the perception that he did not pass the selection on his own merits. This fact haunts Giyu and makes him doubt his worth as a Hashira, rejecting his position as Urokodaki's successor. However, this dissatisfaction is what leads him to recognize Tanjiro as a potential student worthy of Urokodaki's mantle.
Irony: The fox mask Urokodaki gave to him as a protective charm was destroyed early on from the same injury that sidelined Giyu during his selection. This ended up keeping the demon with a grudge against Urokodaki from singling him out as a pupil of Urokodaki, like what happened with Sabito.
Jack of All Stats: This is expected of those who train under the Water Breathing style as it teaches about balance. However, since Giyu has more experience, he's stronger and faster than other students of the Water Breathing style and is able to endure battles for a longer duration. He easily defeats Rui and is able to go toe-to-toe against Akaza, showing that Giyu is a strong swordsman.
Leitmotif: Has his own unique motif in the anime, an elegant theme that highlights his composed and stoic nature.
Making a Splash: He is the Water Hashira and has completely mastered the use of Water Breathing.
Mercy Kill: Giyu orders the remaining Demon Corps to burn the demon Tanjiro in the sun because he would rather have him die as a human than as a demon, but fails as Tanjiro becomes resistant to sunlight.
No-Sell: He has the ability called "Nagi" (Lull) that cancels all abilities around him.
No Social Skills: Giyu is a generally good fellow, but he has a hard time getting along with most of the Hashira because they view him in a different manner and he has difficulty truly expressing what he really feels. It is only Tanjiro who Giyu interacts with and can talk normally to.
Not So Above It All: Recent chapters reveal that he's on the same wavelength as Tanjiro when it comes to silliness, and is perfectly capable of goofing off in spite of the stoic mask he puts on.
- Chapter 131 has Giyu join Tanjiro in a speed eating contest.
- The thought of him being The Friend Nobody Likes really does bother him.
Not So Stoic: The first time he presently loses his cool is when he attempts to kill Nezuko and chews out Tanjiro for being such a naive fool, even angrily screaming at him that he cannot save his sister.
- When Tanjiro angrily rushes at Sanemi after he stabs Nezuko, he raises his voice and announces that Kagaya is coming, momentarily distracting the Wind Hashira.
- During the beginning of the Infinity Castle Arc, when the Kasugai crows announce Shinobu's death, Giyu is visibly shaken at the news. This is the only time he is shown to meaningfully react to the death of a Hashira throughout the entire manga.
- He is greatly angered during the fight against Akaza and vowed to protect Tanjiro when he got injured and Akaza tried to go after him. It shows that with despite his aloof disposition, Giyu is not a man to be messed with, will definitely protect his loved ones even if he had to make hard choices along the way, and he is not definitely numb about the misfortunes that happened in his life.
- After Muzan's death, Giyu finds Tanjiro and does not feel his pulse; he cries and says that he is always saved by others and internally apologises to the Kamado siblings. After Tanjiro turns into a demon, Giyu, despite ordering everyone to kill Tanjiro, cries in remorse.
- He cries Tears of Joy along side everyone else once Tanjiro is human again.
One-Hit Kill: Easily kills Rui, whom Tanjiro and Nezuko had spent a previous episode nearly dying to defeat, with a technique that he created himself.
Only Friend: Tanjiro is the only person he really interacts with since Tanjiro is the one who reaches out to him. Shinobu is also one since she is the Hashira who has the best relationship with him. Sabito was also his best friend as well since both had been in similar situations in the past.
Out of Focus: After the first arc, he mostly fades away until the Mount Natagumo arc and Tanjiro's trial, then only reappears during the Hashira Training arc and the last arcs.
Perpetual Frowner: Giyu always has a serious and unemotional expression on his face. He only smiled for a total of four times in the manga.
Poor Communication Kills: Or rather poor communication does not make friends. He has a hard time speaking about his imposter syndrome and crippling survivor's guilt, instead choosing to simply say that he's not like the other Hashira. This causes his comrades to either be confused and distant, or believe he is a heartless snob who thinks he's above them. Only Shinobu is aware of what he is really like, although even she is not fully aware of what Giyu means.
Power Tattoo: Giyu awakens his Demon Slayer Mark during the fight with Akaza, which manifests as a water stream-like design on the left side of his face.
The Quiet One: The most quiet of the Hashira. He even told Akaza during their fight that he hates talking.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: Gives Tanjiro one, calling him weak and naive after Tanjiro begs him to spare Nezuko.
Seppuku: He and Urokodaki have vowed to cut open their own stomachs in apology if Nezuko attacks a human. Thankfully, this doesn't seem to be the case anymore now that Nezuko can walk in sunlight and was given Tamayo's medicine to turn her back into a human.
Slipknot Ponytail: During his fight with Akaza, his ponytail comes off after being delivered a blow from him.
Sole Survivor: Before Tanjiro, he was the only one of Urokodaki's pupils that survived the selection due to having been saved by Sabito after having been injured early on.
The Stoic: Normally expressionless. Albeit he is far from being the most hostile of the Hashira, he is indeed the most antisocial and withdrawn, which, according to Shinobu, has earned him no friends.
Signature Move: The Fourth Form: Striking Tide is his most frequently used technique.
Survivor's Guilt: Twice. Giyu lost his family in a demon attack and only survived because his older sister hid him. Later, Sabito saved him during the Final Selection by killing the demons after he was badly injured, but died in the process.
Took a Level in Cheerfulness: Implied by the last chapters, as he is shown to smile more often.
Tragic Keepsake: The asymmetrical haori he wears was made from two different haori that belonged to deceased loved ones. The red half belonged to his older sister Tsutako, and the patterned half belonged to his deceased friend Sabito.
Used to Be a Sweet Kid: A few years ago prior to the current events of the story, Giyu was once a happy and kind young boy who loved his big sister. After a demon attack, he became friends with Sabito, another young lad who also went through a similar situation. Both young boys bonded very well and became best friends. However, upon their Final Selection test to becoming Demon Slayers, Sabito risked his life to save Giyu and the other members of their group. Feeling guilty for not being able to do enough to save Sabito, Giyu grew up bitter and lonely, until he finally met Tanjiro, who managed to open his heart and reminded him to fight for the sake of his big sister and Sabito.
When He Smiles: When Giyu is faced with his Trademark Favorite Food, he tends to light up. Shinobu, the sole witness, found the sight of Giyu beaming to be impressive and unsettling at the same time.
- At the end of the manga, he smiles a lot more, signifying that he's begun to move on from his past and let go of his self-hate.
The Worf Barrage: Giyu's own creation, the 11th Water Breathing form: Dead Calm is introduced as an ultimate defense to counterattack measure capable of completely negating even a Lower Rank's strongest attack with much ease, as it was shown against Rui; come the Infinity Castle arc, where Giyu has grown a lot stronger thanks to the Hashira Training and later awakening his Mark, and the best way to show Akaza's ultimate technique: Blue Silver Chaotic Afterglow is extremely strong is to bypass Giyu's Dead Calm.
Wrecked Weapon: He gets his sword broken by Akaza's hands. Even so, he's still able to fight against Akaza and Muzan without the sword's tip. However, he eventually needs to replace it with the sword of a fallen Water Breathing slayer, as the broken blade wasn't enough against Muzan.

Shinobu Kocho

Voiced by: Saori Hayami (Japanese), Erika Harlacher (English)^{Other VA}

"She whose peerless dances deliver poisonous bites."

"Of the Hashira, I'm the only one who can't cuff off a demon's head.... But I can make poisons that can kill demons. Impressive, isn't it?"

The Insect Hashira, younger sister of Kanae Kocho, and second oldest adopted sister and mentor of Kanao Tsuyuri. Shinobu is known for being the weakest but skilled and intelligent Hashira, being able to use poison to kill demons.

Action Girl: One of the two female Hashira, and she backs up her rank.
Animal Eyes: Her eyes have a grid pattern that resembles a butterfly's compound eyes, which ties into her overall butterfly motif.
Animal Motifs: Butterflies, since her family name Kocho contains the kanji for "butterfly". She wears a butterfly-shaped hair ornament on the back of her head, her haori is designed to resemble butterfly wings, and even her consuming large amounts of wisteria to make her flesh toxic to demons parallels the monarch butterfly's toxicity caused by its consumption of milkweed. In the manga, her eyes are also depicted with a grid pattern that resembles a butterfly's compound eyes.
Animal-Themed Fighting Style: Shinobu's Insect Breathing Style mimics insects, specifically their flight and lethal stings. Shinobu developed this style to compensate for her lack of physical strength and durability.
Beware the Nice Ones: She's generally friendly and kind to most people she meets, but she can also be very passive-aggressive when someone annoys her and when it comes to fighting demons, she doesn't show even the slightest bit of empathy. She especially loses her cool when facing her nemesis Doma.
Blade Spam: Her technique, Dance Of The Dragonfly, uses rapid thrusts with her sword and each thrust injects poison into the demon opponent.
Character Shilling: In order not to let early statements about Shinobu being the physically weakest Hashira (which she herself claims at first) diminish her true worth as an elite Demon Slayer, Gotouge starts informing some actual feats of strength on Shinobu's belt later on, such as she being one of the most agile Hashira, and specifically having the best fencing prowess amongst them.
Cool Big Sis: She acts like Kanao's big sister in addition to being her mentor.
Cool Sword: Her sword is unique in that it doesn't have a cutting edge and is shaped more like a rod, but it ends in a needle-like tip that allows her to inject poison into a demon's body. Her sword's sheath is also modified to mix poison and coat her sword in it.
Clothing Damage: Doma slashes her haori in half as she narrowly dodges his attack to land a final blow.
Creepy Good: Her aloof Dissonant Serenity coupled with her cruel and sadistic attitude towards demons, her eyes permanently locked in a Thousand-Yard Stare and her use of poison to inflict agonizingly slow and painful deaths make her one of the creepiest human characters on the show, more disturbing than most demons. However she's also perhaps the kindest Hashira and, despite her unyielding hatred towards demons, one of the few willing to give Nezuko a chance.
Dark and Troubled Past: When she was young, she and Kanae were raised in a loving and caring household, living happily with their parents. Unfortunately, their parents were tragically killed by a demon, right in front of Shinobu and Kanae, and they would've lost their lives too if it wasn't for the arrival of Gyomei, who killed the demon and rescue the Kocho sisters. Due to this, they both joined the Demon Slayer corps. Years later, she would lose her eldest sister at the hands of Doma. She'd also outlive all of her Tsugukos, except Kanao, and the families of her apprentices under her care. This caused Shinobu to have a personal hatred towards demons, to which she hides under a friendly facade, similar to Kanae.
Dead Sidekick: On top of losing her sister and the rest of their family, Shinobu had several tsugukos prior to Kanao that ended up getting killed by demons on her watch, which only added to her brokenness.
Defiant to the End: Her dying words to Doma? "Go to hell!" And she's later proven right, even telling Doma he's a miserable creature undeserving of her thoughts.
Earn Your Happy Ending: More like earn your bittersweet ending, unfortunately. After avenging her sister Kanae by poisoning Doma for Kanao and Inosuke to finish, her spirit is finally content and tells Doma's spirit her final thoughts about him. Her spirit later encourages Kanao before happily moving on to heaven with Kanae and reuniting with their parents together by warmly embracing one another. The epilogue also heavily implies she and Kanae are reincarnated as students — finally getting the peaceful life she deserves.
Elemental Eye Colors: Purple eyes and a Breathing technique that uses poison.
Elemental Hair Colors: Her black hair has a purple gradient and her Insect Breathing incorporates poison.
Empty Eyes: Shinobu's irises noticeably have no pupils, although in the manga they have a grid pattern mimicking an insect's compound eyes, which goes hand in hand with her butterfly motif.
Establishing Character Moment: During Shinobu's fight with the Older Sister spider demon, she cheerfully asks the demon how many people she's killed, and when the demon lies about it, Shinobu kills her with her poisoned sword, the smile never leaving her face. This shows that Shinobu is a Stepford Smiler with a consuming hatred for demons.
Foil: To Giyu. Shinobu is an outwardly cheerful person who has suppressed her anger, while Giyu is outwardly cold with a Hidden Heart of Gold. It's driven home during Shinobu's first scene, where she proposes that she hopes humans and demons can become friends, while Giyu dismisses that as naive; ironically, Shinobu hates demons, while Giyu spared Nezuko's life.
Fragile Speedster: Shinobu has no real durability and can't take hits. Despite this, she's the fastest of the Hashira.
Graceful Ladies Like Purple: Shinobu has black-to-purple ombre hair, eyes and a purple tinted Slayer uniform, she also has a very soft, serene demeanor and is fairly elegant, even when fighting
Heroic Sacrifice: Shinobu, realizing that she likely stands no chance in battle against the Upper-2, consumes tons of Wisteria Flower poison to make her body toxic, knowing that if she loses, Doma's voracious appetite regarding women will make it so he is unable to resist eating her. As a result, he would be susceptible to the high dosage of toxin within Shinobu's body, allowing Kanao to finish him off. It takes help from Inosuke, but it works.
Hidden Depths: She's considerably a more angry and and impatient person than how she portrays herself, which balances out with her profound innate kindness. Flashbacks to when she was younger show that she wasn't always the dissonantly serene Perpetual Smiler she is now, and was much more willing to show other emotions like anger or frustration.
Hidden Weapons: Poisoned blades in her sandals.
His Quirk Lives On: Much of Shinobu's seemingly positive demeanor is really her taking on aspects of her deceased older sister Kanae's personality, as flashbacks show that she was more serious and impatient when she was younger. She wants to emulate her sister's positivity as much as she can, since that was what inspired her.
Hope Crusher: An incredibly rare and atypical example of one on the heroic side of things, using the fine art of hope crushing against bastards who deserve it, claiming that she would be willing to spare Big Sister Spider and become friends with her... before admitting that she would only do that after subjecting the demon to unrelenting Cold-Blooded Torture for every single person she has ever killed.
Hospital Hottie: A attractive young woman whose residence is the de facto hospital of the Demon Slayer Corps. She's also skilled at making both medicines and poisons.
Lady of War: Shinobu is a soft-spoken and tranquil Hashira, with her Insect Breathing focused on precise thrusts that can metaphorically appear as a swarm of butterflies. Her Breathing forms are even called dances.
Leitmotif: Has her own theme in the anime like Giyu, being an intense, techno beat combined with a genuinely sinister sounding orchestral element. Outside combat, it sounds even creepier, as seen when she interrogates the Elder Sister Spider Demon.
Life Isn't Fair: She tells Tanjiro that she resents the fact that her sister had to die due to her kindness towards demons when Tanjiro is very much the same as her sister, but was blessed with Nezuko. However, she tells him that she expects that he makes sure that said kindness is not futile, as it's the same as her sister's.
Make Them Rot: Shinobu's wisteria poison has the grotesque and painful effect of making demons decay before dying.
Manipulative Bitch: She is able to easily manipulate people into doing what she wants, such as getting Zenitsu and Inosuke to take training seriously. Although, it's not a villainous example because she's not a bad person.
Master Poisoner: She makes up for her lack of physical strength with her skill in concocting wisteria poisons that can kill demons within minutes, which she can inject into a demon's body with her uniquely-made sword. She's also skilled with pharmaceuticals in general.
Master Swordsman: Word of God describes her as the most technically proficient duelist in the entire corps.
Meaningful Appearance: A very subtle example. With the spots along its rim, her outfit specifically resembles the wings of a monarch butterfly, while its color scheme is reminiscent of milkweed, which the monarch feeds on. The plant is toxic, and feeding on it makes the monarch toxic in turn, similarly to how Shinobu uses wisteria to make her demon-slaying poisons. It also foreshadows her failsafe plan's method of killing Doma.
Mentor Occupational Hazard: Kanao's mentor, and like many mentors, ends up killed right in front of Kanao by Doma. Shinobu is also an inversion, noting that Kanao is the only one of her tsuguko to survive.
Nice Girl: Shinobu is an interesting case; outwardly, she's arguably the nicest Hashira at first glance, but this thin exterior of exaggerated friendliness barely conceals an interior boiling with cold deviousness, venomous sarcasm, and seething rage. Go past that layer, however, and you'll find a warm core of sorrowful-kindness, with a desire to make the world a better place as genuine as that of Rengoku and Mitsuri's.
No Body Left Behind: Due to being absorbed by Doma, who disintegrated after death like demons do, Shinobu's body was never recovered or given a proper burial.
No Sense of Personal Space: Has a habit of getting very close to people when talking to them.
Not So Stoic: Her calm stoicism vanishes when she faces Doma, her sister's killer.
Obliviously Beautiful: Played with. It's noted by Zenitsu that Shinobu is overwhelmingly beautiful and stunning enough that she could easily make a living on her looks alone. She seldom takes advantage of these attributes at all until her fight with Doma, where she lures him to consume her wisteria-poison-doused body as a failsafe plan after losing the battle.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: She drops her smily demeanor when facing Doma, who she recognizes as her sister's killer. In an iconic panel, she furiously grips her haori and snarls at the demon, with veins popping out her hands and head.
Pay Evil unto Evil: Shinobu toys with the 'Big Sister' spider demon, promising they can be 'friends' if she lets Shinobu torture her for the people she's killed. Given her feelings about demons, it's likely Shinobu was trying to freak her out before killing her.
Perpetual Smiler: It's rare when Shinobu isn't sweetly smiling, even though she hides a lot of anger behind it.
Poisonous Person: As part of her plan to avenge her older sister, Shinobu constantly consumed wisteria poison for a year in order to have her body become an equivalent dose of 37 kilograms of wisteria poison, lethal for most demons and powerful enough to weaken Doma after it sets in.
Precision F-Strike: Though initially brash and plainspoken, the death of her sister caused Shinobu to assume a demeanor reminiscent of Kanae's, maintaining a gentle smile, never raising her voice or using outright profanity, despite her continuous burning rage. This persona is mostly dropped when she encounters Doma, yelling her hatred of him and telling him to rot in hell. This trope comes fully into play upon their brief reunion in death, where she responds to his offer accompany him to hell with her brightest smile and replies, "After you, you worthless bastard".
Proud Beauty: Shinobu knows that young boys find her to be a cutie and weaponizes that fact; affectionately holding Zenitsu's hands with an angelic smile while encouraging him to do his best. This naturally causes the poor lad to go absolutely ga-ga with joy and train harder than Tanjiro in spite of being more greivously injured than he is.
Purple Is Powerful: Most of her color scheme is purple, and despite not being physically strong, she has her speed, smarts, cleverness and knowledge in poison make her a very powerful fighter
Reverse Psychology: Uses this on Inosuke with excellent results. When training him to maintain constant Total Concentration breathing, she pleasantly informs him that it's perfectly fine that he can't do something so infinitesimally easy as this despite seeming so strong. He starts training immediately.
Sacrificial Lion: She is the first notable casualty of the Infinity Castle Arc, unless you count Kagaya's Heroic Sacrifice before the Corps were transported to the Infinity Castle. Her death raises stakes significantly and signals that for the first time since Kyojuro, major characters are at genuine risk of death.
Sad Clown: Moreso than the other Hashira, Shinobu is a warrior at war with herself; wearing a transparent mask of mischievous joy that poorly hides her venomous rage and cynical bitterness towards the world. This viciousness in turn is a stronger mask for an ultimately sad but kind woman; who is afraid the world of kindness that she and her sister hopes for is nothing but a naive and impossible dream.
Sibling Yin-Yang: Kanae was a constantly cheerful and caring Nice Girl, who held compassion for everyone, even demons. Shinobu on the other was more jumpy and brash, and held an extreme hatred for demons. After Kanae's death, Shinobu adopted a mixed personality, where she behaved in her elder sister's cheerful demeanor, but still hated demons with an intense anger.
Silk Hiding Steel: She's constantly smiling and always acts ladylike and polite, but she shows no mercy when fighting demons and there's a lot of pent-up anger behind her smile. She can also be good at manipulating people to do what she wants, like using reverse psychology on Inosuke and taking advantage of Zenitsu's weakness for cute girls in order for both of them to take their training seriously.
The Smart Girl: Especially when it comes to pharmaceuticals.
Stepford Smiler: A downplayed version of the Unstable type; she's not hiding mental instability, but anger and resentment towards demons. She still smiles through it because she knows it's what her beloved older sister would have wanted... even though her older sister died because of this kindness.
Sugary Malice: When dealing with the sister spider demon, Shinobu puts on a forgiving and friendly front when she has no intention of letting the demon live.
Thanatos Gambit: Chapter 162 reveals Shinobu developed a plan for herself to get eaten by Doma in the event that she lost a fight against him, knowing he's a glutton with an appetite for women... so after enough time, Doma would feel the effects of a 37 kilograms dose of wisteria poison (an amount lethal for demons) from the inside.
The Thing That Would Not Leave: The second light novel spin-off titled "One-Winged Butterfly" reveals that, ever since she and Kanae lost their parents and were left orphaned, they chose to live with Gyomei Himejima, refusing to leave his house while wishing that he introduces them to the Demon Slayer Corps. Not only Gyomei was reluctant to accept them into his house, but he also wished that they move on and live happy lives instead of risking them as Demon Slayers. It was only after they've been able to move the boulder he presented as a challenge for them that he accepted the two girls.
Tranquil Fury: In spite of her cheerful demeanor, Tanjiro sensed from talking to her that she's actually in a constant state of anger. She confirms this, and has been this way ever since her sister was killed.
Tragic Keepsake: Kanae’s haori (coat) was passed down to Shinobu after she died.
Troll: She's legitimately able to get under Giyu's skin.
Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Rengoku accompanying Tanjiro and his team on the Mugen Train mission was Shinobu's suggestion. He becomes the first Hashira to die because of it.
Weapon Twirling: In the anime adaptation, Shinobu does a particularly flashy and well-animated sword twirl before sheathing it after she kills the Sister Spider Demon.
Weak, but Skilled: Physically, she's the weakest Hashira, as she doesn't even have the strength to decapitate a demon. But her speed, intelligence, and arsenal of poisons make up for it.

Kyojuro Rengoku

Voiced by: Satoshi Hino, Mariya Ise (child) (Japanese), Mark Whitten, Ryan Bartley (child) (English)^{Other VA}

"He whose peerless spirit burns with the hot fire of pride."

"He said it was pointless. But! My passion won't die because of that! The flames in my heart will never ever disappear! I'll never be disheartened."

The Flame Hashira. Kyojuro is known for being a cheerful, polite, and well-mannered Hashira with a strong sense of justice. He would later be sent on a mission on the Mugen Train, where he quickly bonded with Tanjiro, Zenistu, and Inosuke, promising that he'll become their mentor.

A Day in the Limelight:
- The only Hashira to get a special chapter of his made exclusively by Gotoge Koyoharu, in addition to the Gaiden short, which was drawn by another artist (Ryouji Hirano) but co-authored by him and Gotoge.
- He gets a filler episode that revolves around him fighting a demon called the Slasher.
Accidental Misnaming: Kyojuro gets Tanjiro and Inosuke's names wrong, calling them Mizoguchi and Inogashira respectively.
The Ace: Kyojuro was the full package; strong, fast and a master of his breathing form. If he had any weakness whatsoever, like many of the other Pillars are noted to have, it's left utterly unsaid and clearly never impacted his fighting. Rengoku was so amazing in life that after his passing, other Hashira admired him and strived to be like him.
Animal Battle Aura: When he used the 5th Form: Flame Tiger, he unleashes a barrage of slashes that uses the form of a large flaming tiger. And when he used 9th Form: Rengoku, he unleashes a a powerful dashing slash that uses the form of a large flaming dragon.
Arc Hero: Of the Mugen Train Arc.
Big Brother Mentor: He was previously Mitsuri's mentor (her Love Breathing is an offshoot from his Flame Breathing) and he also briefly, but enthusiastically, acts as one to Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke. Bonus points for being an actual big brother.
Big Eater: Kyojuro’s first contact with Tanjiro, Zenitsu and Inosuke in the Mugen Train has the trio meeting him as he eats copious amounts of meal servings, dozens of boxes in a row; Kyojuro’s appetite matches that of Mitsuri.
But I Read a Book About It: How he learned swordsmanship and Flame Breathing after his father stopped teaching him. He quickly did the training and gained experience to back it up.
Character Catchphrase:
- One that Tanjiro took to heart and recalls to get through times of crisis in battle.
"Set your heart ablaze!"
- He also has a habit of saying this whenever he eats something delicious.
"UMAI!"
Code of Honour: Rengoku lives by the values instilled in him by his mother, firmly believing it is his duty to protect others. He is also pretty firm about the code of the Demon Slayer Corps but will allow exceptions if Ubuyashiki decides on it.
Cool Big Bro: Both to his younger brother Senjuro and to the main trio, and both parties really look up to him. He also acted as one to Mitsuri in his spin-off.
Curtains Match the Windows: His gold and red eyes are the same color as his two-toned hair.
Dead Person Conversation: During an anime original scene, his spirit seemingly appears to give Uzui encouragement and to ask him to take care of Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke for him.
Defiant to the End: No matter how many times Akaza offered Kyojuro a chance at a longer life as a demon, he shoots down the offer every single time, preferring to go down fighting as a human.
Dying Moment of Awesome: Even with Akaza's hand stuck through his guts, he nearly chops off the demon's head and gives every last ounce of energy to put fear into Upper-3.
Ear Ache: He ruptured his own eardrums during his first-ever mission, possibly explains why he speaks so loud.
Elemental Eye Colors: Gold and red eyes and uses the Flame Breathing.
Elemental Hair Colors: His spiky, two-toned red and yellow hair looks, of course, like flames.
Evolving Attack: This is how Rengoku's Flame Breathing works. Every time he uses his techniques, they grow stronger through every next use, making his fighting style a very powerful one.
Exotic Eye Designs: His eyes are notable for always being wide open, displaying his red eyes with golden outline, and white pupils.
Eye Scream: He loses his left eye to Akaza during the battle against him.
Face Death with Dignity: Kyojuro being the kind hearted badass he is, spends his final moments trying to keep up the morale of his trainees and never shows a single hint of fear after it becomes clear that he's about to die.
Family Business: The Flame Hashira, like his father and several past generations of Rengoku family members dating back to at least the time Kokushibo was human, potentially 300 years ago; Kyojuro says that the Flame Breathing style always produces a Hashira with no exception, so it seems the Rengoku family pretty much has an extensive record of Hashira in their pedigree.
Go Out with a Smile: He dies peacefully by the sides of his friends and trainees, smiling proudly at them.
Hereditary Hairstyle: His father and younger brother both share his red and yellow hair.
Heroic Lineage: Rengoku's family has been part of the Demon Slayer Corps for over 400 years, as evidenced by who can only be his ancestor (judging by the hair) being the first Demon Slayer that Yoriichi met and later becoming the first Flame Breather. Additionally, every generation of his family has produced a Flame Hashira. He is the last one.
Heroic Willpower: When one of the children recruited by Lower -1 tries to destroy his spiritual core, he briefly overcomes the magical sleep he's put under, enough to defend himself.
Hidden Depths: The dream world cast by Enmu sheds some light on Kyojuro’s past. He has always been diligent and duty-bound, but he comes from a position where he had to become the sole emotional steadfast figure of his family after his mother died by succumbing to illness, as well as his father losing himself to alcohol as a result from that and losing faith in his swordsmanship; Kyojuro had to be strong for his brother who felt useless due not having the talent to be a swordsman and having a father who became a wreck that just yelled at his sons, while he himself had nobody else to rely on. With all that, Kyojuro doesn’t falter, really becoming a man who isn’t held back by his family issues, not once blaming his father for anything, even if the visualization of his subconscious core implies that really deep down Kyojuro had some fragility he had to hide deep within.
Hot-Blooded: Kyojuro is quite loud and energetic, especially during his first appearance and when eating in the train. It's to the point that his subconcious is on fire and his spiritual core is bright red.
Hot Blooded Sideburns: Kyojuro’s are so extreme in that his long side-burns actually look like flames due to how his hair is styled and colored like fire.
Humble Hero: Kyojuro is kind, polite and refuses to hold himself above others.
Ideal Hero: Rengoku embodies what it should mean to be a Demon Slayer, displaying incredible strength and skill that inspires others to grow stronger, unwavering courage and conviction to protect the innocent, a friendly and encouraging personality that puts others at ease and an open-minded point of view that allowed him to easily accept Nezuko despite his initial misgivings. The other Hashira deeply respect him for his qualities, and are all left shocked and heartbroken by his death, showing how much he had affected each of them personally. Tengen Uzui even uses Rengoku's memory to give himself and Tanjiro strength during the battle with Upper Rank 6.
Lightning Bruiser: Rengoku's got a great balance of offense, defense, and speed. His moves are very powerful and hit hard, he's got great speed to move around and attack fast, and he can take many hits and continue fighting in prolonged battles.
Loved by All: All the other Hashira love him, and they're all devastated to hear about his death at the hands of Akaza.
- In the anime, when Tanjiro asked the other Hashira what they thought of him, their reviews are positively glowing. Only Shinobu has anything approaching criticism towards him and even then it's more that she and him aren't always on the same wavelength.
Master Swordsman: He's one of the best swordsmen in the organization and able to keep up with Upper Rank 3 Akaza for the entirety of their battle.
Meaningful Name: His surname means "purgatory", fitting for a user of Flame Breathing.
Mentor Occupational Hazard: Is killed within a day of deciding he'll mentor the boys. He was previously Mitsuri's mentor as well, and she's horrified by the news of his death.
The Nicknamer: For Tanjiro and Inosuke, Kyojuro at least bothered to try remember their names... in order to get them wrong, in Zenitsu's case Kyojuro never even called him by name, the only time he directly addresses Zenitsu, Kyojuro calls him "golden boy" during his final words of encouragement, before passing away.
Nice Guy: Up there with Tanjiro as the nicest character in the entire series. Despite initially wanting Tanjiro to be punished for traveling with a demon, he quickly warms up to the Kamado siblings during the Infinity Train arc, and says that Nezuko, by fighting to protect humans, is part of the Demon Slayer Corps.
No Indoor Voice: In Japanese, he has a tendency to speak very loudly, even if the situation doesn't call for it. Especially when enjoying a meal.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: With the above in mind, however, one surefire way to know Kyojuro means business is when he lowers his tone and speaks calmly.
The Paragon: Kyojuro is ultimately the example of what a brave, committed Demon Slayer really is, unabashedly a hero in a series with more grim or more comedic characters than him; after the Mugen Train several key points across following arcs are used to show how many fellow Hashira he has inspired in some way or form, even those stronger than Kyojuro commend how focused and successful he was in actually saving people than just scoring kills against demons, the latter which is something many slayers prioritize since they consider killing demons as saving others in retrospect anyway. Kyojuro expressed his heroics always in a way to show others it can be done too, never putting himself on a pedestal, his duty was to be a pathway to elevate others to his level and above to have as many demon slayers available to help others in need. It is no coincidence Tanjiro bonds with Kyojuro so easily and his presence lingers over Tanjiro's growth as a character through much of the series, the ideals of saving first moreso than killing demons and that the many can become stronger together are also shared by Tanjiro.
Perpetual Smiler: Downplayed. He's quite capable of other facial expressions, but as a man who's thoroughly in love with life, that wide-eyed smile of delight in his profile picture above is his default.
Personality Power: He's the Hashira most associated with fire, and he definitely has the personality to match.
Playing with Fire: He is the Flame Hashira with mastery over Flame Breathing. Although he doesn't produce actual fire, his Flame Breathing techniques are so powerful that he creates heat in the air and surroundings and his demon opponents feel like they have been burned when his techniques land.
Polite Villains, Rude Heroes: The rude hero to Akaza's polite villain. Although it's a downplayed example as although not rude, he makes it very clear to the well-mannered demon that he despises him and will never see eye-to-eye with him.
Respected by the Respected: The present events in the series showed Kyojuro was very respected by his Hashira colleagues, after his death other Hashira expressed how much of an exemplary Hashira he was, the special oneshot chapter made by Gotouge after the series ended, detailing the days short before Kyojuro became Hashira by killing a Lower-2, showed the Hashira at the time didn’t think much of him when Kyojuro was just a Hashira candidate, he had to build up the reputation he has in the main story.
Running Gag: Kyojuro’s odd stare, when he first interacts with Tanjiro in the Mugen Train he looks through the scenery all the time, with Tanjiro comically asking what he is even looking at instead of his face; Kyojuro only looks directly at Tanjiro with good warmth after Tanjiro successfuly kills Enmu and when Kyojuro is about to die.
Sacrificial Lion: First major death in the series, being killed by Akaza at the end of the Mugen Train Arc. His death ends up hanging over the rest of the story.
Sibling Yin-Yang: Kyojuro is a bombastic and loud swordsman known for his extroverted behavior and being a Perpetual Smiler. On the other hand, his younger brother Senjuro is a quiet Shrinking Violet who does domestic chores due to his inability to take up swordsmanship.
Small Role, Big Impact: Kyojuro is the first Hashira that the main trio (Tanjiro, Zenitsu and Inosuke) are officially drafted on a mission with. Kyojuro dies on that same mission, but he leaves quite the impression on Tanjiro, both as a mentor figure and friend; while not performers of the same Breathing, Flame and Sun had its synergy, with Tanjiro first thinking Kyojuro would have the answers to know more about his new Breathing, but even if the Breathings weren't the same, Kyojurou's flaming determination became a part of Tanjiro quite literally, as Kyojuro's original sword guard was preserved and then embedded on Tanjiro's fourth sword in the series. Kyojuro's death is also the first one Inosuke reacts to with proper sorrow.
Stepford Smiler: More functional than most examples. As shown in his backstory, when his father dismissed his (pretty impressive) achievement of becoming a Hashira, Kyojuro was definitely saddened. Then he semi-forced himself to keep up his cheerful attitude in order the comfort his younger brother. Also, considering his somewhat gloomy-looking subconscious, it's safe to suggest that his usually cheerful attitude is at least partly him forcing himself to act so to keep others' spirits up.
Too Clever by Half: After he wakes up in the Mugen Train arc, he locks down the rear cars and orders Tanjiro to systematically search for Enmu's true neck in each section of the train moving forward as the weak spot could conceivably be anywhere on the locomotive. When relayed this command by Tanjiro, Inosuke scoffs at the idea, and rashly charges for the engine room, reasoning that if the train itself is the demon, then the car at the very front should logically be its head. Despite Enmu having been a tricky and devious opponent up until this point, this assumption that seems to be too obvious to be true turns out to be correct.
Too Good for This Sinful Earth: He is easily of (if not the) purest Hashira, also the first one to die.
Trademark Favorite Food: He loves sweet potatoes and eats foods that include sweet potatoes in their ingredients.
Uncanny Family Resemblance: Is the spitting image of his father, to the point that Hairo and Tomi mistake him for Shinjuro.
Unusual Eyebrows: Of the fiery, forked variety.
Villain Respect: All demons who were perished by his hand tend to recall their deaths positively, calling him cool.
Worthy Opponent: He saw Hairo as one during their battle.
X-Ray Vision: Rengoku displays the ability to see within Tanjiro's body and identify his internal injuries after the fight aboard the Infinity Train. This is quite similar to the "Transparent World" ability that other Hashira would later develop, but how Rengoku can do this is never given a proper explanation as he dies shortly afterwards.

Tengen Uzui

Voiced by: Katsuyuki Konishi (Japanese), Ray Chase (English)^{Other VA}

"He who charges across the battlefield in peerless flamboyance."

^{Tengen after (spoiler warning)}

"Do I look like someone with any talent? See, this country is vast. It's teeming with people who'd blow your mind. Some are complete enigmas. Some can take up a sword and become a Hashira in two months. Me, chosen? Don't give me that crap! Just how many lives do you think I've let slip through my fingers until now?"

The Sound Hashira and the only Ninja of the group. Tengen is known for being a flashy and stylish ninja, with the tendency of saying Flamboyant to everyone and everything. Despite coming across as an arrogant and ego-driven man, there are actually more depths to him than meets the eye.

Abusive Parents: Let's just say his father wasn't exactly the best parent Tengen had, since he would literally place him and his other siblings through hellish training and even force them to kill each other without knowing who they are, due to wearing masks at the time. Tengen had over nine siblings. Only he and his younger brother remained, and while his brother adopted his father's twisted mindset of the shinobi clan, Tengen was disgusted with his father's actions and his mindset, and left the clan with his wives.
An Arm and a Leg: Loses his left hand to Daki and Gyutaro.
Affectionate Gesture to the Head: Tengen is shown drumming his fingers as he pats the heads of Suma and Makio during their reunion, a gesture that leaves both wives flustered and blushing.
A God Am I: Mostly Played for Laughs. He tells his underlings in the corps that he is a god and they are human trash. A god of "flashiness" and "festivals", to be specific.
Agent Peacock: Positively obsessed with flamboyance. This includes adding pieces of gemstones onto his clothing to add to his flamboyance.
Arc Hero: Of the Red-Light District Arc.
Awesomeness by Analysis: Tengen has developed a unique combat strategy that he refers to as a 'Score'. It is utilized by analyzing his opponent's movements and breaking them down by sound, finding a rhythm to their attacks that he can map out like a musical score and then disrupt when he anticipates an opening.
Babies Ever After: Though we never see any of his wives pregnant, the second databook confirms that his firstborn comes along sometime after the final battle.
Berserk Button: He doesn't like it when people have a problem with his polygamous marriage, and questioning it is a sure way to piss him off. The only person he seems to tolerate this from is Rengoku.
Blasé Boast: He confirms Gyutaro's assessment of him rather coolly, stating that he is "a flashy, glamorous ladies' man. I even have three wives." Of course, this is just to screw with him.
Bling of War: Despite being a shinobi-themed demon slayer, Tengen is a self-proclaimed god of festivities who’s all about flamboyance. His forehead protector is adorned with jewels and his arms are adorned with four massive golden bracelets, two on each arm.
Boisterous Bruiser: Not quite as exuberant as Inosuke or Rengoku, but still quite loud and proud in battle. Though in his case, it's more for the attention and glory than the thrill of the fight.
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: As a ninja, not a Hashira. Many slayers are a bit eccentric, but one look at his rank and build and it's obvious he's skilled. What's shocking is how good he is as a shinobi. Despite his flamboyance and boisterousness, infiltration and reconnaissance are Serious Business and his stealth skills are second to none.
Camp Straight: A self-proclaimed elegant, flamboyant ladies' man. Case in point, he's Happily Married to three wives.
Career-Ending Injury: The loss of his left hand and eye greatly impede his ability to serve as a Hashira, so he chooses to retire and take a supporting role on the sidelines, still assisting the Demon Slayer Corps in any way he can.
Character Catchphrase: He loves referring to anything and everything as "Flamboyant". Season 2 seems to change it to "flashy".
Covert Pervert: He never outwardly shows any signs of perversity in the actual story, which is impressive considering he has three wives and fights a Stripperific demon, but in the guidebook, when looking at his opinions of his fellow Hashira, when asked about what he thinks of Shinobu and Mitsuri, he randomly says that he thinks they have nice butts. However, an alternate translation has him claiming they have wide hips good for birthing instead, which can either be interpreted as being just as lecherous, or an antiquated but well-meaning comment.
Dark and Troubled Past: Tengen was born into a family of nine children, all of whom were Ninja. Three of his siblings died before they even reached ten due to their father's overzealous training. He later lost more of siblings due to their father forcing them to kill each other, without any knowledge of who they were fighting due to wearing masks, with Tengen discovering his father's horrible trick after he killed two of his siblings. Tengen's father wanted him and his younger brother to adapt his mindset that in order to save their clan, they need to see subordinates as expendable, dispose innocent lives for their own benefit and use their wives as breeding slaves to produce more of their kin. While his brother adapted to that mindset, Tengen ultimately did not as he was disgusted with his father's actions and mindset, and left the clan along with his wives. The fact he still remembers this shows he suffers trauma from his father's actions and guilt for what he did to his siblings.
Deliberately Bad Example: He has one in his brother, who sees his subordinates as expendable, treats his wives like breeding slaves and generally makes Tengen look much better by comparison.
Dual Wielding: A pair of swords that look like giant knives.
Eyepatch of Power: He's shown to wear one after losing his eye. It also has jewels embedded on its surface.
Failed a Spot Check: While trying to "recruit" female slayers to help him infiltrate the entertainment district, he kidnapped Naho without noticing she wasn't wearing a Demon Slayer Corps uniform.
Facial Markings: A design around one eye.
Familiar: Befitting for a shinobi, Tengen has animal familiars in the form of comically muscular, bipedal mice that all wear similar, blinged-out forehead protectors like him.
The Fighting Narcissist: He specifically prides himself on the flamboyance of his appearance and flashiness of his fighting skills. He shows up to fight powerful demons in jewelry and makeup, and is furious with Nezuko for pitching in and saving the day because she upstaged him.
Genius Bruiser: In a similar vein to Gyomei, his very large and very muscular body belies a sharp and analytical mind that can make complex calculations in the heat of battle, along with possessing investigative skills that he pragmatically uses to gather information.
Handicapped Badass: Is able to fight Gyutaro to a draw even after losing an arm.
Hair-Trigger Temper: He's very strict about slackers, as seen in the Hashira Training Arc.
Happily Married: He cares greatly for all three of his wives. Early in their marriage, he told them his priorities: 1.) Their lives. 2.) the lives of ordinary civilians, and 3.) his own life. After losing limbs in the Entertainment District arc, he retires from fighting to live with them.
Having a Blast: His swords have a unique property that allows them to explosively detonate when he swings them with enough force, something that no demon before the present storyline has survived against. How exactly they can do this without getting damaged is simply Hand Waved as something that no one is entirely sure of.
Heroic Build: He's as jacked and (almost) as tall as Gyomei and as lean as Sanemi or Inosuke, with a sleeveless uniform to flaunt his ripped, vascular arms. His ninja Training from Hell paid off.
Heroic Self-Deprecation: While being a Hashira himself, Tengen doesn't feel he is up to par with someone who can fulfill a mission with zero casualties but their own, like Rengoku, nor he is an absolute gifted being like Gyomei and Muichiro are, as such Tengen resents the many lives he couldn't save through his career as a slayer. To add the animated version of his arc was made afterwards the full background of what really happened with his siblings was unveiled in the 2nd Databook, with that a new scene is added where Tengen somberly muttered he is going to hell, possibly thinking it is due killing two of his siblings, even if it was a setup by his own father.
Hidden Depths: For all his narcissism, he does care about other people. He told his wives to focus on protecting their own lives rather than live by laying down their lives for missions, a mentality common among the ninjas especially women ninja. And he was quite enthusiastic to see Tanjiro healed up and ready for his Hashira Training.
Hidden Heart of Gold: Tengen treats Tanjiro's group with contempt and annoyance during the first half of the Red Light District Arc, appearing to just keep them around for reconnaissance and nothing else. However, when he realizes the severity of the situation he requests that they fall back and leave the rest to him, as they are not ranked high enough within the Corps to deal with an Upper Rank, displaying a surprising amount of concern for their well-being.
Highly-Visible Ninja: Zig-zagged. Despite being a shinobi from a long line of shinobi, Tengen is flashy and loud. He wears jewelry and cosmetics, and and his tastes and fashion are ostentatious and flamboyant. He showboats and trash talks in battle, and his fighting style is frenetic. All that aside, he is an extremely competent ninja, with all that entails. He is a master of stealth, deception, infiltration and intel gathering, and can seemingly disappear in the middle of a swarm of children.
Humble Hero: Though you would never guess it due to his narcissistic personality, he is shockingly humble in regards to his fighting ability, acknowledging that other Hashira like Himejima, Tokito and Rengoku are far superior to him as Demon Slayers.
Hunk: Tengen is very tall, very muscular and, according to several characters, very handsome.
Huge Guy, Tiny Girl: One good look at him next to his wives makes it clear that he's the huge guy to their tiny girl.
Hypocritical Humor: His big ego often clashes with the equally self-important Inosuke. After calling himself the "God of flashiness" he is immediately disgusted with Inosuke for calling himself the "Mountain King". Zenitsu hypothesizes the Sound Hashira can't stand others from the same "dimension".
Implausible Fencing Powers: Can you believe that Tengen can swing both of his swords by holding onto just the tips of his swords and with only two fingers? It comes with being a shinobi and a Hashira after all.
Impossibly Cool Weapon: The best way to describe his swords is probably "Nunchuck Machetes".
Intergenerational Friendship: Seems to form one with Shinjuro Rengoku later on down the series while both serve as bodyguards to Nezuko who is being administered with a drug to reverse her demonhood.
Large Ham: With his flashy apparel and bombastic demeanor, Tengen easily steals the show wherever he appears.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Tengen at first glance comes across as rather arrogant and vain, and in some ways he is, but he's also a genuinely caring and good person who deeply loves his wives and wants to protect his subordinates, even his love for flashy things has a very moving and selfless reason behind it that being his desire to honour his fallen siblings.
Last Words: He attempts to give his when Gyutaro's poison is killing him, but Suma interrupts him.
Lightning Bruiser: He's second only to Gyomei in terms of physical strength, and, according to an official guidebook, ranked fastest among all the Hashira (prior to any of them receiving a Slayer Mark)
Long-Haired Pretty Boy: Tengen has long, white hair that he usually keeps in a ponytail, which can appear to be part of his headwrap at first glance as they are almost the same color. He later wears his hair loose after retiring. His good looks are also brought up during his fight with Gyutaro, as the demon openly resents him for his attractive appearance.
Massive Numbered Siblings: He had eight siblings, but seven of his siblings were killed when he was 15 years old.
The Men First: He prioritizes the lives of his subordinates above his own. Demonstrated when he tells Tanjiro and Inosuke to abandon the mission, realizing it's too dangerous for them when Zenitsu disappears.
Mistaken for Pedophile: When Tanjiro demands to know why he's forcefully recruiting Naho and Aoi, Kiyo and Sumi accuse him of being a pervert, much to his exasperation and anger.
Ninja: He's one of the very few remaining ninja left in the time period the story is set. As a result, he's not a straightforward swordsman like most of the Demon Slayer Corps, fighting with anti-demon bombs as well as his two swords.
"Not So Different" Remark: After being shaken to the core by Rengoku's valiant heroism in the Mugen Train arc Tanjiro at first is silently at odds with how different Tengen seems to be when compared with Rengoku, it only gets worse when Tengen seems to act like a complete carefree hedonist with a bizarre fixation on flamboyance and very little care towards the innocent, that makes Tanjiro briefly lose respect towards Tengen, rejecting him as being a Hashira at all. That all changes when the situation in the Entertainment District is revealed to be far more dangerous than expected, Tengen then acts way more serious and dependable, in the heat of the Upper-6 fight he protects Tanjiro several times, claiming the main slayers trio were his successors, by then Tanjiro even superimposed Rengoku's image on Tengen, finally admitting he is not much different than Rengoku at the end of the day.
Perfectly Arranged Marriage: Tengen was arranged to marry all three of his wives by his father, who wanted him to continue on the family line of shinobi. Tengen would come to love all three of his arranged wives dearly and even abandoned the lifestyle his father had set for him because he wanted them to be more than just Baby Factories.
Polyamory: He has three wives. According to a Taisho Secret, polyamory is considered normal among ninja.
Retired Badass: Decides to give up his position as Hashira after the loss of his left hand and eye, though he does come back to help train Demon Slayers and to protect Ubuyashiki's children along with Shinjuro Rengoku while they assist the Demon Slayers against Muzan.
Shoo the Dog: Attempts to do this with Tanjiro and Inosuke, telling them to abort the mission.
Sleeves Are for Wimps: His uniform is sleeveless, which lets him show off his muscular arms.
So Proud of You: What he declares when he sees Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke fighting relentlessly against Daki and Gyutaro.
Tengen: All three of those boys... are my brilliant Tsuguko!
Sole Survivor: He, along with his younger brother, are all the remains of his 9 siblings who died in their shinobi training. In addition, by the end of the story he is the only one of the original 9 Hashiras who either hasn't died or isn't marked for death.
Stealth Expert: As expected of a shinobi. Tengen is shown throughout the first half of the Red Light District Arc quietly monitoring the area and gathering information without being seen, at one point seemingly teleporting behind a man to quickly interrogate him before vanishing as suddenly as he appeared.
Super-Hearing: He possesses supernatural hearing like Zenitsu does. Tengen was able to pinpoint the location of the underground site where Daki was keeping all her prey to later feast on by just hearing through solid layers of soil. This is also a key element for his Sound Breathing techniques. By listening to the rhythm and movements of his opponent, he can predict their next moves and find openings to use his techniques, something that he refers to as his opponent's "Score".
Super-Speed: Tengen possess tremendous amount of raw speed and reflexes, and it often makes it look like he teleports from sight. Most notably, he was able to behead Daki before she could even register what just happened and even kept up with Gyutaro's and Daki's attacks, despite being held back by Gyutaro's deadly poison. Because of this, he's declared as the fastest Hashira runner in the Demon Slayer Corps.
Throw Down the Bomblet: He incorporates the usage of anti-demon bombs with his Sound Breathing sword techniques.
Took a Level in Kindness: After his life was saved by Tanjiro and Nezuko, he decides to retire due to the loss of his left hand. When he and his wives meet him again during the Hashira training, they're on good terms with him.
White Sheep: His family background is explored further in the second Databook, the manga briefly touched upon the fact Tengen and his wives came from a hardcore cold blooded Shinobi group, where all of them valued their mission and creed above anything else, considering valuing life and feelings in general to be worthless, Tengen rose above that, wanting a better path for himself and his wives, where they could actually experience a loving life; the Databook stated after 2 of his siblings died in a mission, Tengen's father instigated his remaining 7 children to kill each other in a deadly selection in order to provide the clan with only the best shinobi; they were all masked, unknowngly set to kill each other, rather than unaffiliated shinobi, Tengen ended up killing two of his siblings before he realized what was truly going on, and a certain younger sibling who fully embraced the clan's coldness killed even more siblings; that was the last straw for Tengen, who left his uncaring family with his wives in tow.
Would Hit a Girl: Kicks Daki in the belly during his fight with her and Gyutaro.
Would Hurt a Child: During the Kamado siblings' trial, he expresses a willingness to decapitate Tanjiro if he is found guilty. Later, after kidnapping Naho for the Entertainment District mission and being told she isn't a Demon Slayer, he throws her off the roof they're standing on, seemingly not caring that she would have landed on the hard cobblestones below and gotten hurt if Tanjiro hadn't caught her. Before he disguises them as females to infiltrate houses in the Entertainment District, Tengen assaults both Zenitsu and Inosuke by a blow to the stomach after both were very rude to him (Zenitsu screamed in envy after finding out about Tengen's polygamy and Inosuke stated that the reason he hadn't heard back from his wives is because they were dead).
Variable-Length Chain: It is very subtle but it is there, his dual cleavers are connected by a medium length chain, so Tengen can swing his blades like one during some of his attacks; how long the chain is depends if and when Tengen's cleavers are resting on his back or in use during battle, when the swords are on his hands the chain connecting them appear a little longer so Tengen is never restricted during his wide swings; obviously, no explanation is given for the variable lengths, they are just subtle enough so the audience can give a pass, possibly not even noticing it.

Muichiro Tokito

Voiced by: Kengo Kawanishi (Japanese), Griffin Burns (English)^{Other VA}

"He who holds peerless swordsmanship talent."

"Just like master said, if you recover your confidence... you can dig in with both feet and use your full strength. If you know who you are then no demon can run when you bring down a blade that knows no hesitation or confusion."

The Mist Hashira and the youngest Hashira in the entire corps. Muichiro has amnesia due to a trauma that heavily scarred him, can't fully remember his past and as a result, turned him into a cold and distant kid.

The Ace: He isn’t stated to be the strongest Hashira, but is by far the one who has the most potential, he holds the record of fastest growth within the Corps rankings by age, Tengen reminisced Muichiro and Gyomei became Hashira in mere months of joining the Demon Slayer Corps. All that potential is explained through Muichiro being a descendant of the Tsugikuni family by his ancestor Kokushibo/Michikatsu.
Adaptation Dye-Job: Not him, but his sword. In the manga, his sword's blade is shown as being pure white, but in the anime, it's shown to be light blue.
All There in the Manual: The 2nd Databook states as a little trivia that Muichiro and Aoi Kanzaki were part of the same Final Selection.
Aloof Ally: While stunned by the amnesiac trauma that made him become a Demon Slayer, Muichiro comes off as incredibly cold, even more so than Giyu at first, seeming a little rude to others with how little he seems to care about anyone; however, when he finally awakens in the Swordsmith Village arc Muichiro becomes his old kind self, only towards his new friends though, he can still be cold to acquaintances.
Amnesiac Hero: Due his recent past trauma Muichiro has partial amnesia, he remembers his name and who he is to an extent, but the full scope of his life before joining the Demon Slayer Corps was lost to him which also stunned his personality, turning him into an expressionless person.
And Then John Was a Zombie: Muichiro narrowly avoids this fate, as Kokushibo had decided to forcefully turn him into a demon after their Curb-Stomp Battle but is stopped at the last moment by Genya.
Arc Hero: He, alongside Mitsuri Kanroji and Genya Shinazugawa, serves as one of the main characters of the Swordsmith Village Arc.
An Arm and a Leg: Gets his left arm and leg cut off by Kokushibo. His arm from attempting to fight Kokushibo alone, and his leg when he tries to stop Kokushibo for Genya to defeat Kokushibo after eating his broken blade. Kokushibo later severs his remaining arm after Muichiro impales him with his red blade.
The Baby of the Bunch: During his introduction into the story, Muichiro is revealed to be only 14 years old, which is quite younger than all his Hashira colleagues who are all between 18 and 27 years old (to take this further, he's even younger than all the main non-Hashira Demon Slayers: Tanjiro, Zenitsu, Inosuke, Kanao, Genya); his prodigy status is also coupled with his little and soft appearance, making him very cute-looking as Mitsuri can attest to.
Breakout Character: Muichiro had no real presence early in the series, and accordingly for the first official popularity pool in Japan he was ranked very poorly, come the Swordsmith Village arc coupled with the Infinity Castle arc and Muichiro’s popularity skyrocketed in Japan, his fleshed out backstory, character and deeds made him a fan favorite among many (women in particular latched on his cute appearance), resulting in Muchiro growing to become the series' 3rd most popular character in the 2nd official manga popularity pool, being the 2nd most popular Hashira only behind Giyu; with that Muichiro has gotten plenty of dedicated merchandise ever since, official or otherwise.
Character Development: In the beginning, Muichiro was shown to be a forgetful person, with a rather cold and distant personality. In the beginning of the Swordsmith Village, he was very cruel to both Tanjiro and Kotetsu, even hitting them, while cruelly remarking to Kotetsu that a Hashira's time is more valuable and that all swordsmith are good at is making swords, something that upsets Tanjiro. A couple chapters later, thanks to his time with Tanjiro, He rescued Kotetsu from one of Gyokko's fish demons, despite at first, believing he was a low priority and shouldn't be rescued. He grows to care for the boy, being worried he'll get hurt in the process. And after finally remembering his past, he slightly reverts back to the sweet kid he was before and even gains back emotions he lost due to his amnesia, being more openly free with them.
Child Prodigy: Suffered his own tragedy at the hands of a demon when he was 11 years old, got personally scouted after the immense potential he showed by killing that demon on a fit of rage; blazed through the Demon Slayer Corps’ ranks in just 2 months after picking up a sword and passing Final Selection.
The Chosen Many: Like Tanjiro, he is connected to the Sun Breathing legacy, meaning he's one of a few linked to said Breath. However, unlike Tanjiro, he's been unable to use it at all despite this. It's only when he's able to remember his father's words (his father having been similar to Tanjiro) that he is able to reach an awakened state.
Color-Coded Eyes: Big gray eyes without visible pupils reflect his cold, detached attitude.
Confusion Fu: The Mist Breathing techniques are all about Muichiro using deception to confuse his opponents and using very tricky sword techniques. In the Databook information, it reveals that Muichiro wears clothes of longer length to conceal his body proportions, thus giving him an advantage with his sword techniques.
Curb-Stomp Battle: Muichiro participates in two of the most impressive examples of this trope in the series:
- His rematch against Gyokko after awakening his Mark is a complete wash, easily countering the demon's overwhelming techniques while delivering Trash Talk before beheading him in a clash of Flash Steps. His feat of singlehandedly killing an Upper Rank is unheard of in the current setting.
- In the final arc, Muichiro encounters Upper Rank-1 Kokushibo and learns just how wide the gap in their skill and experience is, suffering an utter defeat without landing a single blow. Considering the previous example, this establishes just how monstrous of a threat Kokushibo truly is.
Custom Uniform: Most members of the Corps wear a gakuran-style jacket with hakama tucked into their sandals. Muichiro's jacket has wide, Japanese-style sleeves and he wears his hakama loose, since he prefers to wear long clothing that conceals his body in order for his Mist Breathing techniques to be more effective.
Dark and Troubled Past: He lived together with his older twin brother Yuichiro who was strict and tried to drill his kindness out of him due to the fact their father died trying to find herbs for their sickly mother. Then one night, a demon came and attacked Yuichiro, causing Muichiro to snap and kill the demon. By the time he returned to his brother, he was on the verge of death begging for the gods to spare his kind brother and punish him instead. He then spent a few days watching his brother's corpse and himself be eaten by maggots and would have died had Ubuyashiki's wife and children not rescued him. The trauma of the incident caused Muichiro to completely shut himself off emotionally.
Deadpan Snarker: Due to being unemotional and having a sharp tongue, he has his moments.
Gyokko: You really know how to rub someone the wrong way, don't you, brat?
Muichiro: But... you just told me to shut my mouth earlier. Besides, it didn't really warrant a reaction.
Gyokko: (attacks Muichiro only for him to dodge and escape into a tree) Hold on, didn't you just tell me not to go hiding in trees? You're proving to be a pain in the butt.
Muichiro: No. The only reason I'm up here is to hide from your stench.
Death of a Child: Think that being one of the youngest characters in the series at just 14 would spare him? Nope, he ends up being killed by Kokushibo during the Infinity Castle Arc.
Determinator: Muichiro provides one of the series' crowning examples during the final arc. After suffering a Curb-Stomp Battle and literally losing An Arm and a Leg against Kokushibo, he uses a surprise attack to impale the demon with his red blade and create an opening for his comrades, before getting cut in half by a Blade Spam attack. This still doesn't deter Muichiro, who, despite now being a one-armed upper torso, keeps the blade lodged until the moment he bleeds out and dies. And even then his hand is firmly clasped on the sword, requiring Kokushibo to sever the remaining arm to knock Muichiro's body off.
Do Not Go Gentle: Muichiro realizes that he will die of blood loss from the wounds he suffered against Kokushibo and decides to go out in a suicide attack against his ancestor to give the other Hashira an opportunity to end the demon.
Elemental Eye Colors: He uses the Mist Breathing and has pale turquoise eyes.
Elemental Hair Colors: His black hair fades to pale turquoise and he's the user of Mist Breathing.
Emotionless Boy: He constantly has a dull and expressionless appearance and overall lack of outward expression. Though this is from suffering from emotional trauma and memory loss, and being unable to process his emotions and reactions. Once his memories do return, he begins to be more expressive.
Eyelid Pull Taunt: He is shown doing this kind of taunt towards Gyokko on the cover page for chapter 120 during their second fight. This is done as part of his ploy to enrage the narcissistic demon.
Flash Step: Muichiro can move at speeds that make him appear to teleport, but will also often stagger his footwork to attack at much slower speeds than his movement would suggest. This is an integral part of his Confusion Fu tactics as it can make the opponent react at the wrong moment and leave themselves vulnerable.
Flower Motifs: The flashback chapter associates Muichiro's identity with ginkgo leaves. Traditionally in Japan, ginkgo symbolizes strength and endurance. It conceptually connects with the "mu" in Muichiro standing for infinity—he can invoke infinite strength.
Foil:
- To Tanjiro. Both are connected to the Sun Breathing legacy and are about the same age. However, Muichiro did awaken to his abilities before Tanjiro (implied to have been how he killed the demon), but he failed to save his brother. Likewise, while Tanjiro's ancestors inherited the Sun Breathing from Yoriichi, Muichiro is actually genetically related to Yoriichi.
- He's and his twin brother Yuchiro are also one to Yoriichi and Michikatsu, his distant ancestors and the creators of the Sun and Moon Breathing styles respectively, with Muichiro fulfilling the analogue for Yoriichi. More specifically, he's the emotionally quiet younger sibling with incredibly natural skill and connection to Sun Breathing, with a strict older brother who's less capable than he is. However, though both became Demon Slayers after the death of their respective families^note, Yoriichi spent his life up to adulthood content with a simple, happy life with his wife and future child until they were killed and he became a Demon Slayer as an adult, while Muichiro's family died when he was only a child and his brother's murder lead him to become an incredibly young Demon Slayer and Pillar. Furthermore, Yoriichi died old and well into his eighties, while Muichiro died in his early-mid teens at roughly 14 years old and never made it to adulthood. And while whatever problems between Yoriichi and Michikatsu were not solved after their deaths, Muichiro and Yuchiro rekindled their family relationship in the afterlife.
Forgetful Jones: Regularly forgets what conversations he’s having halfway through. Partly because he's recovering from amnesia after the incident which resulted in his older twin brother dying.
Fragile Speedster: He's quick and swift in movement, with great techniques of deception to confuse his opponents. However, Kokushibo is able to easily overpower Muichiro because of his mastery in swordsmanship and being able to predict Muichiro's movements and techniques.
Half the Man He Used to Be: He is sliced in half horizontally by Kokushibo.
Heroic Lineage: It is later revealed that Muichiro is the direct descendant of Michikatsu Tsugikuni (now currently known as Kokushibo), the older twin brother of the first Sun Breathing user Yorichii Tsugikuni. However, Michikatsu was far from being heroic.
Improbable Age: To show how much of a singular prodigy Muichiro is, the setting made sure to state he breezed through all ranks in the Demon Slayer Corps in just a few months after picking up a sword and passing Final Selection, becoming a Hashira by the ripe age of 14 years old; none of Muichiro’s colleagues became a Hashira that young.
I Shall Taunt You: After Muichiro breaks free of Gyokko's watery death trap and awakens his Demon Slayer Mark, he spends most of the fight insulting the demon, mocking his artwork, appearance, and fighting style, making Gyokko grow increasingly angry and sloppy in his fight against the Hashira.
Jerkass Realization: As revealed in "A Promise for Tomorrow", the fourth chapter of the third spin-off anthology light novel, after Muichiro regained his past memories and recovered from his amnesia, he was able to reflect on his past demeanor in a new light and came to realize how cold and unempathetic he was to others, regretting that he didn't notice Tetsuido's^note care and concern for his well-being until it was too late, failed to realize the importance of the swordsmiths and their diligent work, and didn't care one bit for Kotetsu and his feelings. This culminates in him returning to the Swordsmith Village once more to pay respects to Tetsuido's grave and help Koketsu rebuild the Yoriichi Type Zero, actively encouraging the child to keep working while helping him recreate Type Zero's movements by memory.
Last of His Kind: Muichiro is the last living descendant of the Tsugikuni bloodline, which produced Yoriichi, the original Sun Breathing user, and Kokushibo, the first ranked Upper Rank. He is ironically killed by his direct ancestor Kokushibo, and the bloodline is forever snuffed out.
Longhaired Prettyboy: One could easily mistake him as a girl.
Master Swordsman: Among the Hashira, Muichiro is renowned for his prodigious talent with a blade, something that other members such as Tengen and Gyomei greatly admire. He proves himself the real deal by killing an Upper Rank demon all on his own, something unheard of in the setting. However, all his talent is meaningless in the face (and eyes) of another Master Swordsman with centuries of experience at the highest level, as he learns when he confronts his ancestor and Upper Rank-1 Kokushibo.
Meaningful Name: The 'mu' part of his name means 'nothing', which is used in two different ways. His older brother used to tell him that the 'mu' in his name meant words like ineffective and invalid in an attempt to force his compassion out of him. But when Yuchiro was dying, he confesses the actual meaning of the 'mu' in Muichiro's name is for infinity, being one able to have compassion for others to draw out infinite strength. Fittingly, Muichiro remembering this awakens his Mark.
Never Found the Body: Himejima lays Muichiro's corpse to rest in the section of the Infinity Castle where they had just defeated Kokushibo. However, following Nakime's death and the collapse of the Infinity Castle, his body gets crushed underneath the rubble and is never recovered.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: After awakening his Demon Slayer Mark, the emotionless and stoic Muichiro cracks a cocky, shit-eating grin, a sign of a huge turning point.
Precision F-Strike: In the English Dub, he calls Gyokko a "piece of shit" after being fed up with the sadistic demon proudly displaying mutilated swordsmiths as artwork. A much more harsh swear than in the subbed version where he calls him a "piece of crap."
Polar Opposite Twins: With Yuichiro. While Yuichiro is cynical, hot-headed, narrow-minded, rude and pessimistic, Muichiro was idealistic, friendly, eager, polite, and optimistic.
Polite Villains, Rude Heroes: The rude hero to Gyokko's polite villain, although his politeness is only skin deep and he's more Faux Affably Evil.
Power Tattoo: Muichiro awakens his Demon Slayer Mark after his first confrontation with Gyokko, appearing as several mist cloud designs that mottle his face.
Sibling Yin-Yang: Muichiro is cold and cynical, often not hesitating to tell people exactly what he thinks of them, no matter how hurtful. It turns out he was subconsciously mimicking the behavior of his deceased twin brother, Yuichiro, following a traumatic attack from an invading demon which left him with amnesia. Yuichiro was also an unapologetic cynic although he was much more scathing. Pre-Amnesia Muichiro was optimistic and cheerful.
Sidekick Creature Nuisance: His crow, who brags about him any chance she gets, and assaults or insults those who don't share her love for her master.
Stronger Than They Look: Muichiro is noted to be remarkably strong for his age and size, thanks to spending his childhood doing hard manual labor in the woods. Whenever his arms are visible they are shown to be wiry but muscular.
Super Mode: Is descended from a Sun Breathing user... but for some reason isn't able to use it.
Teen Genius: Being 14 years old, he is one year younger than Tanjiro, yet he became a Hashira within just two months after picking up a sword, being tied with Gyomei.
Together in Death: After he dies, he reunites with Yuichiro in the afterlife.
Took a Level in Kindness: After the Swordsmith Village arc, he's on friendly terms with Tanjiro. However, it's only reserved to him as he coldly dismisses the other trainees who were training under him for two weeks, while Tanjiro was only there for five days.
Trash Talk: Muichiro spits out insult after insult towards Gyokko during their second fight, showing how little he thinks of the demon. It is very effective in getting under his enemy's skin.
Trauma-Induced Amnesia: The sheer trauma of the event where a demon mortally wounded his older brother and he killed the demon in response caused him to not only suppress his emotions but even forget his brother's existence. It's only when he remembers him and his dying words that he is able to awaken.
Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Muichiro in his childhood was the kinder of the twin brothers, and believed in the words of their father about kindness to others being a source of a larger strength, something his brother often disparaged. Then a demon came and critically wounded Yuichiro, and Muichiro killed the demon in response, but was so badly injured he was unable to move and was forced to watch his brother's corpse decay for days while maggots began eating it until he was rescued. The experience caused Muichiro to repress his memories and left an empty shell of the person he was previously, ironically becoming similar to his brother.
The Worf Effect: Throughout the series, he is stated to be one of the most skilled Hashira with other members like Tengen deeply admiring his talents, and he lives up to it by easily dispatching Upper Rank 5 Gyokko once he awakens to his potential. However, when he encounters his ancestor Kokushibo, he is completely outmatched and unable to land a single blow, with Kokushibo effortlessly controlling the fight and ending it when he chooses to. He is only saved from being turned into a demon by Genya's timely intervention.
X-Ray Vision: Muichiro is able to gain access to the Transparent World like his ancestor Kokushibo in their battle, but he dies not long after attaining it.

Mitsuri Kanroji

Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa (Japanese), Kira Buckland (English)^{Other VA}

"She whose peerless heart beats ever loudly."

"Is it okay for a girl to be this strong? I still worry that someone may ask that, as though I'm not human. In my fear, I was suppresing my strength. But not anymore. Leave this to me. I will protect everyone."

The Love Hashira. Mitsuri is known as one of the nicest Hashiras in the Demon Slayers Corps and was the first Hashira to accept Nezuko into the corps, despite her being a demon. She was also the former protégé of the Flame Hashira, Kyojuro Rengoku, who she sees as her Big Bro.

Action Girl: One of the female Hashira and just as powerful as this implies.
Actually Pretty Funny: Mitsuri struggles to choke down her laughter after witnessing Tanjiro headbutting Sanemi for stabbing Nezuko.
All Amazons Want Hercules: Mitsuri aims for this to an extent, after being rejected by all of her previous normal male suitors who thought her inhuman strength was a turn-off. Mitsuri then hoped she could meet a man who’s either equally strong as her or more so she can finally get married. As a Hashira, this comment of hers ambiguously made it seem she either doesn’t consider the other male Hashira strong enough, or she just isn’t attracted to any of them. Ironically, the Hashira she would fall for, Obanai, is far weaker than her in terms of pure physical strength.
All-Loving Hero: She's the nicest, sweetest member of the Hashira who adores everyone. Like Rengoku and Kanae, the demons that she eliminated speak no ill will to her.
All of the Other Reindeer: Her incredible strength, unusual hair colors and huge appetite caused a potential suitor to reject her, and she tried everything afterward to appear "normal," much to the concern of her family.
Arc Hero: She, alongside Muichiro Tokito and Genya Shinazugawa, serves as one of the main characters of the Swordsmith Village Arc.
An Arm and a Leg: Mitsuri tears off one of Muzan's tentacle arms during the climax of the final battle, at the cost of losing both of her own when the severed limb rotates into a Tornado Move that shreds the arms she used to tear it off. This is subject to a Gory Discretion Shot, as we don't actually see her arms torn apart, just the beginning of the attack before she is knocked down. She is later seen from a distance laying on the ground with her arms missing, but no blood is visible due to the framing of the panel. The next time she appears, Iguro's haori is draped over her torso, obscuring her wounds.
Badass Adorable: With a kind, bubbly and caring disposition coupled with her astounding beauty (enough for her to be regularly acknowledged by lovestruck men as a "cutie" In-Universe), its easy to forget this sweet and cuddly girl is an understudy of Rengoku, who is able to reverse engineer the flames of his family's passion for justice into her unique personalized fighting style, driven by the equally intense flames of love; making her just as formidable a warrior as her Flame Pillar mentor in spite of being a living teddy bear of a girl.
Beauty Is Never Tarnished: Subverted. During the battle against Muzan, she loses a small portion of her left side of her face and a lower part of her left ear from Muzan, along with gaining a massive scar on her chest that runs along the top of her breasts. During the climax of the fight she also loses both of her arms.
Berserker Tears: Before she tears off Muzan's left arm, she does this to him for killing and hurting her comrades.
Beware the Silly Ones: She's the Love Hashira, and acts rather flighty and ditzy outside of battle, being easily distracted during Tanjiro's trial. While being a master of the Love Breathing may not sound impressive, and some of its techniques have rather silly names (like "Lovely Kitty Shower" and "Kitty Paw Love Breeze"), it is actually a Lightning Bruiser style that requires immense physical strength and flexibility to deliver fast and powerful blows through use of her unique Whip Sword. Furthermore, due to Mitsuri's unique physiology of having extremely dense muscle mass in a petite frame, she's the only one who can successfully use this style.
Be Yourself: One of the reasons for her becoming a Demon Slayer: Mitsuri realized she wanted to be in a place where she could be useful as herself and be accepted for it rather than hiding who she is.
Big Damn Heroes: In chapter 182, she alongside Iguro arrives just in time to protect Tanjiro from Muzan.
Big Eater: She eats the most out of the entire cast, putting away bowls upon bowls of food in a single sitting. This is a real trait of people with abnormal muscle density. Her hair is said to have changed color from black to pink and green after eating 170 sakura mochi a day for eight consecutive months.
Boobs-and-Butt Pose: Her pose on the Volume 14 cover and the season 3 promotional art fit the bill.
Buffy Speak: Later it is also shown Mitsuri is just as bad as Tanjiro in explaining the technical aspects of her abilities, using the same "boom, boom" terms, in an attempt to explain how she achieved the Demon Slayer Mark.
Bunny-Ears Lawyer: She's quirky, silly, and a bit scatterbrained... but she's a Hashira for a reason.
Character Development: Given her desperation for marriage, Mitsuri decided to become a member of the Corps with the purpose of finding a suitable husband stronger than her, a rather difficult task given the astounding level of her physical strength. Upon joining the Corps, she felt an immense amount of guilt for her reasoning behind becoming a Demon Slayer to the point where she ate much less than her typical meals. However, she was able to move past those feelings with the help of Shinobu Kocho and Obanai Iguro.
Cool Big Sis: To Nezuko. The two are very affectionate toward each other, with Mitsuri frequently calling Nezuko cute, having hugged and played with her several times, and styled Nezuko's hair like hers which Nezuko greatly enjoys.
Cool Sword: She wields a unique custom-made sword that uses an incredibly thin, soft metal which makes it function more like a whip or a gymnastics ribbon. She's the only one who's able to use it, and when used with her Love Breathing techniques it can be very effective.
Cleavage Window: Her top is almost completely unbuttoned to accommodate her breasts, which results in a diamond-shaped window that shows off her cleavage. Despite how much she moves around when fighting, nothing indecent is ever shown. It's even lampshaded by Muichiro, who rather bluntly points out that her breasts could spill out of her uniform at any moment.
Comical Overreacting: She tends to have dramatic reactions to things that surprise her, often doing goofy-looking Wild Takes that contrast with her good looks.
Custom Uniform of Sexy: Mitsuri's uniform top is unbuttoned to show off her cleavage, and she wears a short pleated skirt instead of the standard hakama worn by other Demon Slayers. It turns out she's not the only one the tailor's tried to dress like that, but unlike other female Demon Slayers who immediately burned those uniforms and picked more modest ones, Mitsuri wasn't able to burn hers and chose to keep wearing it.
Cute Bruiser: She's adorable and she's also strong due to her higher muscle density... despite her appearance, her muscles are eight times stronger than grown men.
Cuteness Proximity: She's rather affectionate to Nezuko when they meet in the Swordsmith Village arc.
Daddy's Girl: The anime expanded the little of what is seen of Mitsuri's parents in the manga, originally Mitsuri narrated both of her parents were very supportive of their daughter and thought nothing bad of her superhuman strength and appetite; the anime shows that and more of Mitsuri's father being very fond of his little girl, actually being proud of her strength and appetite, and when Mitsuri grows older and very conscious of potential marriage suitors not being as appreciative of her whole self as her father is the man just tries to comfort Mitsuri saying that she can just live with her parents forever.
Dance Battler: As one might guess from her unusually long and fluid pink sword, Mitsuri's breathing style is based off Ribbon Dancing, using twisting and twirling maneuvers to dodge around while her sword blade flutters in the air before snapping with whip like precision into an attack.
Died in Your Arms Tonight: After the fight with Muzan is over, Obanai holds Mitsuri in his arms and both agree they're about to die from their wounds. They talk about the first time they met and finally confess their feelings for each other, making the promise that they'll marry each other in the next life. They managed to keep that promise.
The Ditz: Despite her sweet and compassionate personality, Mitsuri can unfortunately come off as very airheaded due to her quirky behavior. The best example of this is when she tries explaining the Demon Slayer Mark to her fellow Hashira, only to end up saying a bunch of near-incomprehensible nonsense that leaves everyone present in complete disbelief, with Obanai himself facepalming in embarrassment.
Dude Magnet: Despite being originally rejected by potential suitors in her early days due to her hair color and super strength, her looks lead a few heads to turn in the series. Obanai is madly in love with her, another suitor expresses interest in her prior to becoming a Hashira, and some younger Demon Slayers, like Tanjiro, Genya, and Muichiro, show signs that acknowledge her attractive appearance.
Dumbass Has a Point: While Mitsuri is a ditz, she also brings up two valid points during Tanjiro's trial- that they shouldn't proceed without instructions from the Master, and that it would be unlikely that he hadn't heard about one of his subordinates traveling with a demon. The former is common sense, and the latter is proven when Kagaya comes out with a letter from Urokodaki explaining the situation.
Dying Declaration of Love: As she is bleeding out after losing both her arms, Iguro cradles her body and she reveals that she has always returned his feelings, asking him to take her as his wife in the next life.
Dynamic Entry: She makes her arrival to the battle against Muzan by breaking through the ceiling and clashing against his whip-like arms with her own Whip Sword.
Elemental Hair Colors: She has pink hair (from eating too much sakura mochi) and she's a master of the Love Breathing.
Faking the Dead: Her and Iguro, with the assistance of Yushiro, fake their deaths at the hands of Nakime to get the drop on Muzan and make him lose his composure for the first time in the battle.
Feminine Women Can Cook: Her main hobby during her time off is cooking, which she is greatly talented at. She has even taught Shinobu how to make western-style dishes.
Freakiness Shame: In-between joining the Demon Slayer Corps and being romantically rejected, Mitsuri tried to hide her real physical strength to appear like a fragile lady, and dyed her hair black to rethread back to her infant years, before her hair became pink just as she grew up into a child. All in an effort to conform to the standard of what an ideal bride would be like back then, Mitsuri's family loved her for what she was but, unfortunately, she hadn't met any other potential suitor who accepted her the way she was, so Mitsuri believed herself to be abnormal until she found people who appreciated her in the Corps.
Friend to All Children: She's especially kind to the younger characters in the series, especially Nezuko, who she treats like a younger sister. Her fondness for children may be because she is the eldest of 5 children, with plenty of experience caring for her younger siblings. It should also be noted that she was the only Hashira not familiar with the Kamado siblings who was horrified at the thought of executing them, finding the two to be adorable.
Funny Background Event: When it's revealed that Tanjiro met Muzan, the Hashira are so shocked and captivated that no one notices her getting pushed over by Uzui (though it was an accident).
Godiva Hair: Her arc kicks off with her in the bath, with her long hair covering up anything not PG-rated.
Gory Discretion Shot: At the very final battle, during its climax, Mitsuri gets both of her arms brutally torn off by one of Muzan's last maneuvers; she losing her arms is portrayed by a very tiny drawing in a single panel, where no gory details can be perceived due how simple the drawing is, after that when Mirsuri is put on display, in her dying breath, Obanai puts a haori over her, so her mangled body can't be seen in full detail by anyone present.
Group Hug: She gives everyone a big group hug and sheds Tears of Joy after surviving the demon attack in the swordsmith village.
The Heart: Mitsuri's warm and friendly personality puts everyone who works with her at ease, to the point that she can make the other Hashira feel like normal young adults instead of the deeply troubled warriors carrying heavy responsibility that they are. This is reaffirmed to Mitsuri by Obanai in their dying moments, with it being the reason he fell deeply in love with her.
Heart Beatdown: This is more or less what her Love Breathing is themed after, with her techniques having names like "Shivers of First Love" and "Kitty Paw Love Breeze".
Heroic Second Wind: During the battle with Upper Rank 4, she takes a massive blast head-on from Zohakuten's sonic scream that would tear a normal person apart and is left severely weakened and vulnerable. She is saved from death at the last second by Tanjiro's group, and their resolve and trust in her inspires her to fight on. She regains her composure and fights Zohakuten alone to allow the others to locate Hantengu's true body.
Hold the Line: Her battle against Zohakuten is fought to hold off the demon until either Tanjiro's group finds and defeats his true form or the sun rises.
I Am Not Pretty: Thanks to being turned down by potential suitor after suitor due to her superhuman strength, appetite and unusual hair color, poor Mitsuri does not recognize the angel that looks back at her from the mirror for the absolutely gorgeous knockout and cutie that she actually is.
Idiot Hero: Not as severe as Inosuke, but if you were to rank the Hashira by IQ, she's definitely be dead last.
Irony: The Love Hashira who is obsessed with all things involving love is completely oblivious to her closest friend Iguro's feelings for her.
Kindhearted Cat Lover: She's an All-Loving Hero and she loves cats, as she owned a pet cat as a child and several of her Love Breathing techniques' names reference cats. She and Himejima like to talk about cats together.
The Load: Mitsuri has deep-seated insecurites regarding how she views her skills in comparison to the other Hashira, which are brought to light during the Final Battle where she worries she will only slow the others down and become an example of this trope. Her fears are unfortunately validated when she is the first taken out and Iguro is forced to briefly leave the battle to tend to her, but she later returns and deals critical damage to Muzan in a Heroic Sacrifice.
Lascivious Beauty Mark: Mitsuri is a beautiful and busty Genki Girl who wears a skimpified version of the typical demon slayer robe, complete with a miniskirt and a plunging neckline (though this outfit was more or less forced on her). She has two beauty marks on her face, one under each eye, and in an omake it is said that unbeknownst to her (who is on a quest to find a future husband), she is wildly popular with men.
Lightning Bruiser: At first Mitsuri’s great physical strength is put on the forefront as her main characteristic, as the setting gives her an extremely unique body condition in that her muscles are so tough that despite her small body, her strength is that of a muscular structure exactly eight times bigger than what she appears to have; later in the series however it is stated that Mitsuri actually excels at speed as well. Her male muscle-bound colleagues, Himejima and Uzui, both who have pure physical strength, said her unique muscles didn't surpass theirs. But Mitsuri is said to be even faster than Uzui, the Hashira whose speed was said to be incredible throughout his part in the Red Light District arc.
Locked into Strangeness: Mitsuri’s odd pink and green hair is a more mundane example; it changed color due to her eating 170 sakura mochi a day for eight months straight. It became a sensitive topic for Mitsuri before she became a demon slayer since her abnormal hair color, in a hegemonic society like early 20th century Japan in the, turned away a potential suitor who specifically disliked her new hair color, alongside her natural strength and appetite, not wishing something like that passed down to potential children.
Luminescent Blush: She is often seen with a flushed face when swooning over other characters.
Made of Iron: She tanks an attack that'd tear grown men apart and she's only briefly affected by it.
Magic Skirt: Her short skirt never shows anything above the thighs despite her very acrobatic fighting style.
Ms. Fanservice: Mitsuri wears a feminine version of the standard Demon Slayer uniform with a skirt and Cleavage Window, showing off her large breasts and thick legs at all times, especially during her action scenes. And as if her costume wasn't enough, Chapter 100 shows her nude in a hot spring, while episode 1 of the Swordsmith Village arc extends the scene slightly.
Nice Girl: By far the kindest Hashira, alongside Rengoku. She alone is the only Hashira who didn't want to kill Nezuko immediately upon meeting her. She's so pleasant and kind that even the aloof Giyu and the cynical Obanai enjoy talking with her. In fact, she's ranked the number one Hashira in terms of kindness, mainly due to her cheerful personality.
No Guy Wants an Amazon: Her potential suitors rejected her because of her strength (in addition to her odd hair color and being a Big Eater). It became a major source of insecurity for her.
Obliviously Beautiful: In the Demon Slayer Academy universe extra stories, adapted as an Omake for the 4th episode of Season 3, Mitsuri laments about not being seen as attractive and her only skill being that she is skilled at painting, so she should focus on that instead of trying to attract a suitor. The on-screen text however notes that "she is wildly popular with men, but she doesn't realize it herself."
Oblivious to Love: She is unaware that her closest friend, Iguro, is in love with her.
Odd Friendship: Her relationship with Iguro can be seen as this, with him being a harsh and critical Jerkass to almost everyone, while Mitsuri is incredibly kind and compassionate to all around her.
Older Than She Looks: Despite having a younger and more cheerful disposition than the mature and elegant Shinobu, Mitsuri is actually one year older than her.
One-Sided Arm-Wrestling: The anime added an original scene to Mitsuri's childhood flashback to further convey how much of a superhuman she was as a little kid who had not trained with Breathing Styles at the time; Mitsuri's ever-supportive father casually convinced a grown adult Sumo wrestler to take on his little daughter in a arm wrestling match. To the surprise of the large man and his friends, Mitsuri completely overwhelmed him despite being a kid who's only a fraction of his size and weight.
Oxymoronic Being: In spite of possessing physical strength and appetite that rivals virtually every normal man in Taisho-era Japan, in beauty, endearing personality and warm-hearted kindness Mitsuri is the picture of ideal classical femininity, even moreso than the outwardly pleasant but inwardly venomous Shinobu.
Pink Means Feminine: Most of her hair is pink and her slayer uniform is tinted pink, she is also very feminine and wields Love Breathing, pink being associated with love (hell her sword has a pink tint)
Playing with Fire: Mitsuri was originally trained in Flame Breathing under Kyojuro Rengoku before developing Love Breathing as a derivative style.
Power Tattoo: Mitsuri's Demon Slayer Mark awakens in battle against Upper Rank 4 and appears as a double-sided heart pattern above the left side of her chest.
Reluctant Fanservice Girl: When she first became a Demon Slayer, Mitsuri was tricked into wearing her revealing outfit because she was too much of a Nice Girl to destroy it or demand a different uniform like the other female Slayers, and was subsequently very self-conscious about her appearance. She gained more confidence after Iguro gifted her a pair of green stockings, and she doesn't seem to mind her outfit at all in the present story.
Rose-Haired Sweetie: Downplayed since her hair is pink and green, but the pink part is still fitting since she's a sweet person with hardly a mean bone in her body.
Rule of Cool: The anime made Mitsuri's whip-sword have several stances where its blade is able to extend, to variable lengths, to further convey the image of a Rhythmics Gymnast her Love Breathing is based after with all the ribbon movements portrayed by her blade; the manga never stated her whip-sword had variable lengths, nor the anime gives it a new explanation, it just inexplicably happens.
She-Fu: Mitsuri's fighting style is very graceful and incorporates many flexible, gymnast-style movements and flips, further reinforced by her Whip Sword that resembles a gymnastic ribbon. During the Pillar Training Arc, she even forces all of the Slayers training under her to go through a gymnastic training regimen to improve their flexibility, which includes forcing them to wear a Leotard of Power.
Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Her reason for becoming a Hashira: wanting to find someone who could accept her for who she is.
Slut-Shaming: Zohakuten calls her a "harlot", among other degrading names.
Super-Strength: Mitsuri is described as being exceptionally strong due to her unique body structure, but this comes off as more of an Informed Attribute since she never gets many opportunities to show just how powerful her physical strength really is. However, during the final battle she makes her dramatic return after recovering from her injuries by tearing off one of Muzan's Combat Tentacles with nothing but her bare hands and brute strength.
Surprisingly Normal Backstory: In contrast to the others, she had a relatively normal childhood, as she's the only one who didn't suffer any major tragedy.
Sweet Tooth: She's already a Big Eater in general, but she's particularly fond of sweet things; she can eat 100 sticks of dango, and her hair is said to have turned pink and green from eating too much sakura mochi.
Training from Hell: For her training segment in the Pillar Training Arc, she helps trainees undergo flexibility tests, but this involves her personally doing the stretches with the trainees and some of them can't handle it. Tanjiro unfortunately witnesses one poor trainee get his legs stretched out wide by Mitsuri.
Waif-Fu: She's small and by all means looks weak, but she's strong enough that she ties with Tomioka, Shinazugawa, and Rengoku in arm-wrestling. This is actually explained as her muscles being eight times denser than a normal person's. So while she's not as ripped as someone like Uzui, she has a huge power output.
Whip Sword: Her sword is extremely long and flexible, acting more as a whip or a gymnastics ribbon than a sword.
Wild Take: She is prone to making comically unflattering expressions when taken by surprise or shocked.

Obanai Iguro

Voiced by: Kenichi Suzumura (Japanese), Erik Kimerer (English)^{Other VA}

"He whose peerless gaze lets no demon escape."

^{Click here to see his entire face (SPOILER)}

"One second... dawn feels so far away... so to even buy once second, everyone in the Demon Slayer corps is sacrificing their lives. Defeat is unforgivable. It is absolutely unforgivable to waste the lives of our comrades who protected us."

The Serpent Hashira. He's heavily known for his stoic but yet cold attitude, and is rather a cynical person in general. His past may have something to do with his incredibly rude behavior.

Abusive Parents: Save for his father who we can only presume is out of the picture, Obanai has an entirely abusive family. His mother, grandmothers, and sisters pampered him to zealous levels, but only because he was meant to be a sacrifice to the Snake Demon. They also slit his mouth at the request of the Snake Demon. After their deaths, they still hold a psychological chokehold on Obanai.
Adaptation Dye-Job: Obanai's haori was first colored with purple and black stripes in the Official Digitial Color manga edition when the series first entered the Infinity Castle arc, then Gotouge soon showed in a color spread Obanai's haori had white and black stripes; however, the digital colorist actually fixed the color scheme in the following Obanai appearances, it is the only instance where they went back to match Gotouge's color scheme, unlike the infamous Doma issue.
Animal Eye Spy: A variation, as Iguro doesn't directly see through the eyes of Kaburamaru, but must now rely on the snake's vision and instructions to move around after losing both his eyes. It doesn't seem to hinder him too much, as he can still fight Muzan even while blind. This trope is later played straight with the assistance of Yushiro's paper tags, which connect the pair's vision and allows Iguro to literally see through Kaburamaru's eyes.
Animal Motifs: Snakes, of course. He uses the Serpent Breathing style and his techniques involve him moving his sword swings like a snake's slithering movements. He also has a massive scar across his mouth inflicted on him by a snake demon when he was younger that gives him the impression of a snake's mouth.
The Atoner: He hopes being a Demon Slayer will make up for being born into a family that made money from and fed their own children to a demon.
Big Damn Heroes: In chapter 182, he alongside Mitsuri arrive just in time to protect Tanjiro from Muzan.
A Boy and His X: A boy and his snake. While he was imprisoned as a child, he found a snake that became the first living being he ever trusted, and named it Kaburamaru. He has kept the snake ever since he escaped and it constantly rests around his neck as his companion. They develop such a strong bond that Iguro can even fully understand and communicate with the snake, using this bond to its fullest after Iguro loses his vision and must rely on Kaburamaru to move around.
Cool Mask: Wears a bandage or cloth mask that covers his mouth. He's never seen without it, since it covers up the Glasgow Grin he received from a snake demon as a child.
Cool Sword: His sword has a curving blade similar, to a snake's body to go with his snake motif.
Crazy Jealous Guy: After Tanjiro finishes his Pillar training with Iguro, he threatens him to never talk to Mitsuri casually again. It's implied he wasn't happy about Mitsuri talking about Tanjiro fondly in her letters.
Creepy Monotone: In Japanese, he's played with a breathy, languid voice that highlights his overall serpent-themed design. To boot, he's introduced being pretty antagonistic to Tanjiro and Giyu.
The Cynic: Obanai is easily this considering his Dark and Troubled Past. Out of all of the Hashiras, he has the lowest of faith in the new generation of the Demon Slayer Corps, viewing new recruits as weak and incapable of improvement, being extremely strict and unforgiving towards those who do not abide by the corps rules, and harboring unrealistic expetations for the Slayer Corps, even other Hashira, in general.
Dark and Troubled Past: And OH BOY, a really nasty one too. Obanai was born into a clan of thieves who worshiped a female snake demon, who had a taste for newborn babies. He was the first boy of the clan, since majority of the clan were born female and mostly lived in a cell for the beginning of his life and was stalked by the snake demon, who took a liking to him due to being male and his heterochromia eyes, frightening him to the point of not getting any sleep. When he was younger, the snake demon forced his own family to have his mouth split open from ear to ear, just so he could resemble her face, due to her ''liking'' towards him. Because of this, he's been trying to find the means of escaping all while living under constant fear of both the demon and his family. When he finally does, the Snake demon killed all 50 of his relatives and began pursuing Obanai and nearly killed him, before he was saved by Shinjuro Rengoku, who managed to slain the demon. When he reunited with an older cousin of his, she violently rejected him, blaming him for the death of their family and insisted that he should've let the demon eat him. Because of this, Obanai began having PTSD of his past and became a cynical Death Seeker, hoping that he would die to atone for the sins of his family.
Death Seeker: He wishes to die in battle so that his impure blood can be cleansed and he can be reborn into a peaceful world without demons, a world where he could meet Mitsuri again and tell her that he loves her.
Determinator: While most Demon Slayers are this to varying degrees, Iguro deserves special mention. Throughout the course of the final battle, he proves himself to be incredibly resilient, taking ridiculous amounts of punishment yet still continuing to fight. This includes taking countless slashes from Muzan's poison tendrils, losing both his eyes, getting struck by Muzan's paralyzing EMP attack and taking the full force of a bite from Muzan's Body Horror form on his head, with it all barely slowing him down. Only after Muzan is defeated does he finally rests, but he only gets a few minutes to talk with Mitsuri before they both pass away from the extreme damage sustained in the Final Battle.
Disproportionate Retribution: As part of training Tanjiro in swordsmanship, Iguro makes him have to swing inside a room full of tied-up (and scared out of their minds) lower ranks. A horrified Tanjiro (wondering if this is actually an execution ground) asks him whether these people committed any sort of crime, which Iguro affirms (sorta) and lists, "being weak," "slacking off," "annoying {him}" as their "crimes."
Drill Sergeant Nasty: His training involves either being tied up to variously angled wooden masts as punishment for petty offenses, or being forced to swing your wooden sword without hitting them.
Dying Declaration of Love: After the final battle is over, he cradles Mitsuri as they both lay dying and finally confesses his love, which she reciprocates. They both pass away shortly afterwards.
Eye Scream: Iguro's eyes are destroyed after his face is slashed by Muzan's Combat Tentacles. Fortunately his ruined eyeballs aren't shown as he keeps his eyelids shut for the fight, albeit the gash on his face is enormous. However, he also admits his right eye was basically useless so fighting blind wasn't that much of a handicap.
Facepalm: During the Hashira meeting following the Swordsmith Village Arc, Iguro gives an epic facepalm after Mitsuri embarrasses herself trying to explain the Demon Slayer Mark in front of their peers. It's as if he's cursing himself for being in love with someone that behaves so stupidly.
Facial Horror: He wears a mask for a good reason. His mouth was split open from ear to ear by a snake demon when he was young. His face is further disfigured after taking a slash to the face from Muzan, losing both eyes as well, leaving him completely blind and with a massive, gaping wound.
Faking the Dead: He and Mitsuri, with help from Yushiro's illusionary talismans, fake being crushed to death by Nakime in order to get the drop on Muzan.
Family Extermination: Iguro's entire family, with the exception of one cousin, was wiped out by the demon who imprisoned him after he managed to escape. Although Iguro knows they were horrible people that made a living off the suffering of others, their deaths as a consequence of his actions and his cousin's words to him play into his self-loathing in the present.
Feather Boa Constrictor: He has a small snake named Kaburamaru that rests on his neck.
Fragile Speedster: He's fast and fluid with his motions, but his battle against Hakime shows that he's quite fragile against her, since she can keep Iguro away by using her portals and Infinity Castle manipulation.
Glasgow Grin: What is under his mask. His mouth was sliced wider to resemble the face of the snake demon that he was given to as a child.
Handicapped Badass: Losing both his eyes doesn't hinder him in the slightest, as he continues to fight Muzan even while blind.
He-Man Woman Hater: In the Volume 22 extras, due to the abusive and harsh treatment from his family, who are all women, Iguro develops fear and hatred towards women. He thinks women who entered the Demon Slayers Corps are weak and pathetic in both respect and resolve. The only exception is Mitsuri, since she's the only woman who shows kindness towards him, and Shinobu, who he thinks is hardworking and patient.
Heroic RRoD: During the battle against Muzan, Obanai's blade turns red at a crucial moment but his body is unable to handle the physical strain that comes with it and he is left frozen in place as Muzan is about to deliver a fatal blow. He is saved at the last moment by Zenitsu, Inosuke and Kanao, allowing him to recover and deal some damage to Muzan.
Heroic Willpower: He sustains increasingly brutal damage over the course of the Final Battle with Muzan, but he doesn't back down one bit, not as Muzan's blood poisons him, not when his eyes are torn off and not even after Muzan literally chews him. However, the colossal amount of damage he sustains eventually catches up to him, and he passes away mere minutes after Muzan goes down for good.
Hidden Depths: The databook reveals that Iguro enjoys composing haiku and senryu poems in his spare time. He's also the one who made Mitsuri's stockings when she felt embarrassment about her exposed legs, so it's safe to say that he's good with arts and crafts.
Hidden Heart of Gold: He may be quite a jerk towards everyone else, but his feelings for Mitsuri are genuine. When they team up to fight against Muzan, he shows concern for her safety and always jumps in to rescue her. He's even willing to protect Tanjiro if it means defeating Muzan for good as shown in chapter 182.
Inferiority Superiority Complex: Iguro seems to think highly of himself and demeans others who don't meet his standards as Demon Slayers, such as when he insulted Uzui after he had lost his arm and eye in the battle against Upper Rank 6. However, deep down he harbors a lot of self-doubt and hatred for himself. He believes that his life has no value due to being born into a family of trash that would steal riches from others and sacrifice their children to a demon in the hopes of good fortune, but still feels immense shame and guilt for setting into motion the events that would lead to his entire family being slaughtered. This self-loathing is the main reason he refuses to confess his love to Mitsuri.
Insecure Love Interest: He refuses to tell Mitsuri how he truly feels about her because he feels unworthy due to being born to a wicked family of thieves who sold him to a demon that scarred his face. He wishes they could have met in a more peaceful time in a world that wasn't so cruel.
Implausible Fencing Powers: The Serpent Breathing techniques allow Iguro to twist and bend his sword swings like a snake's slithering movements, so his sword strikes in swift and unpredictable directions, able to hit a target through the tiniest of gaps. For example, his Pillar training for Tanjiro involved tying dozens of Demon Slayers onto wooden poles at various angles in a small room, such as across the floor from the ceiling and walls, and even extending from other wooden poles. Tanjiro not only has to navigate the very cramped area, but he also has to dodge surprise attacks from Iguro from in-between and behind the poles as well as strike back at him without hitting the tied up Demon Slayers.
Irony: His closest companion is a snake and his fighting style is centered around their movements. This is in spite of the fact that he was raised to be sacrificed to a snake demon.
It's All My Fault: Despite considering them all to be terrible and reprehensible people, he still feels a tremendous amount of guilt for getting his entire family, save for one cousin, killed after he escaped from the snake demon. His cousin's words, that they wouldn't have been killed if he had just accepted his fate and been eaten, still resonate with him even in the present and make him so determined to 'redeem' himself through death.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: Let's see, he shows disdain towards Tanjiro during his trial, he clearly doesn't like Giyu, he uses the trainees in the Hashira Training as obstacles for Tanjiro to face, and threatens Tanjiro to never talk casually with Mitsuri ever again because Iguro is implied to like her, even admitting he's not a nice person. But then again, even Tanjiro notes that Iguro's behaviour wasn't as bad when compared to Sanemi's behaviour. Tanjiro turned out to be correct since Iguro jumps in to protect him from Muzan's Blood Art. All and all, he's not as bad as he seems as he really cares for Mitsuri, shows concern for her safety and even willing to protect Tanjiro if it means defeating Muzan for good as shown in chapter 182. Then in chapter 195, Iguro actually thanks Tanjiro for throwing him Yushiro's eye papers, allowing him to see to an extent despite the damage to his eyes. He's also greatly loyal to Kagaya Ubuyashiki, showing him great respect.
Love at First Sight: He's been in love with Mitsuri since the moment he met her.
Loyal Animal Companion: His pet snake Kaburamaru. The snake was the first friend Iguro ever made, and has been with him since he was a child. Kaburamaru even assists him in battle, as he gives Iguro an advanced sense of awareness by observing their surroundings and communicating the information to him.
The One Guy: He was the first male born to his family in hundreds of years. Unfortunately, he was given to a snake demon as a child because of this, and was imprisoned and scarred until he escaped.
Out of Focus: Of all the Hashira, he easily is this. While Tomioka and Shinobu are a frequent presence in the series, Rengoku, Uzui, Tokito and Kanroji have entire arcs where they act as party members, Himejima receives backstory and development in the Breather Episode and Sanemi is given backstory through his brother Genya, all Obanai gets before the battle at Infinity Castle is a few scant scenes. He is finally given focus during the final battle against Muzan, where we learn about his past, while he and Tanjiro are the last Demon Slayers standing, and their combined efforts against Muzan form the penultimate phase of the fight.
Pet the Dog: Despite being known for being cold at best and comedically cruel at worst, Obanai is very kind to the woman he loves, Mitsuri, gifting her the long, green socks she wears, and promising to buy her a new pair should she lose them. And with the exception of Giyu, he has surprisingly positive and respectful opinions on his fellow Hashira.
Power Tattoo: When Iguro awakens his Demon Slayer Mark against Muzan, it shows up as a snake-like pattern that runs from the left side of his chest down his arm.
Satellite Love Interest: Other than being The Stoic, most of his character is defined by his crush on Kanroji. It isn't until the final battle against Muzan that Iguro finally gets more depth to his character.
Speaks Fluent Animal: Iguro can communicate with his pet snake Kaburamaru and understand what it says, something that really comes in handy when he loses his eyes and needs to rely on the snake's vision to move.
The Stoic: He's a very serious person and rarely changes his expression.
Taking the Bullet: Iguro intercepts Muzan's attempt to chomp down on Tanjiro after going full Body Horror mode, taking the full brunt of the bite on his head so that Tanjiro can keep on fighting. Albeit Muzan was so weakened by that point that the bite did not kill him and he was able to still continue fighting, the damage to his body was so great at that point that he died shortly afterwards.
Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Although he apparently gets along just fine or at the very least respects the other Hashira, Giyu is a notable exception. He reportedly hates him because his constant stoic expression irritates him. During the Kamado sibling's trial, he complains that Giyu being unrestrained gives him a headache, and gets incensed when the water Hashira grabs his hand in order to prevent him from restraining Tanjiro again.
Together in Death: As Mitsuri is dying in his arms, he reassures her that she will not be going to the afterlife alone, as his own wounds are too severe to recover from. Their reincarnations managed to get married.
Training from Hell: While he is far from the only Hashira to do this, Iguro really crosses the line. After Tanjiro finishes training with Mitsuri, Iguro flatly states that he's not a nice person and that his training won't be fun like her's. It turns out he's tied up all the lower ranks who failed to impress him and made a living obstacle course out of them, with Tanjiro required to spar with him without hitting any of them. Even though Tanjiro is given a wooden sword, he notes that hitting someone would still cause great injury, and how their utterly terrified looks make it extremely hard to concentrate.
Weak, but Skilled: Among the Hashira, he's the third shortest overall and a volume extra comparing the Hashira's physical strength through arm wrestling puts Obanai at the bottom ranking with Shinobu, who had already proclaimed herself to be the physically weakest Hashira. He, however, protests that physical strength isn’t everything, having great confidence in his sword skills, which is validated by him being chosen as the swordsmanship mentor during the Hashira training regime. It's revealed he spent twelve years of his life locked up in a cell with poor ventaliation, which left his growth stunted and impacted his physical strength.
X-Ray Vision: He briefly awakens to the Transparent World during the final battle and is able to see within Muzan's body and identify the many brains and hearts he has. He ironically loses his sight immediately after attaining this ability.

Sanemi Shinazugawa

Voiced by: Tomokazu Seki (Japanese), Kaiji Tang (English)^{Other VA}

"He who holds peerless resentment towards demons."

"That's right! And that wind...is going to wrench off your head!"

The Wind Hashira and older brother of Genya Shinazugawa. Sanemi is heavily known as among the strongest Hashiras in the corps, due to his extreme hatred towards demons and his years of intense training and demon-slaying. He's also a rival, as well as a Foil to Tanjiro and Giyu.

Abusive Parents: Kyogo, his abusive father often beat everyone in their home, and his mother, Shizu, would shield their children whenever she could, getting hit in their place; the man seemed to be very violent overall since he ended up dying in a random brawl, stabbed down the streets; Sanemi didn't care for him and gladly accepted becoming the man of the house by then. However, in an afterlife scene during Sanemi’s near-death, the father put his violent ways to a good cause, he forced Sanemi to give up on crossing to their side, ambiguously showing some form of care towards his son.
Alliterative Name: Sanemi Shinazugawa.
All for Nothing: An incredibly tragic example. Sanemi wanted to save his little brother Genya from becoming a Demon Slayer, knowing it would lead to an early death, and wished for him to have a happy life instead to honor their deceased family. He treated him horribly in the hope of driving him away, acting like the monster Genya saw him as after he killed their mother. Unfortunately, Genya had chosen the life of a Demon Slayer in order to one day apologize to Sanemi, and had been literally turning himself into a monster in the hope of gaining strength to earn his respect. In the end, Genya is the one who gives his life to save Sanemi's, confirming his worst fear. To cruelly twist the knife further, Genya crumbles away as a demon in Sanemi's arms, not even leaving a body for him to mourn over.
Aloof Big Brother: He's one of the Hashira and treats his brother coldly because he was called a monster by Genya in the past and wants him to have a normal life instead of being a demon slayer.
Back-to-Back Badasses: Takes this pose with Giyu during the final battle after both their blades turn red.
Berserk Button: Just seeing his brother Genya already pushes his buttons to the point where Tanjiro intervenes and calls him out for it. Although, it's just a ruse to keep Genya safe from danger and it's revealed by Tanjiro that Sanemi never harbored any hard feelings towards Genya at all. He also dislikes slackers and those who run away from his training, as seen when Zenitsu tries to escape.
Berserker Tears:
- He sheds tears of anger while fighting Muzan's lesser demons after finding out that Kagaya self-destructed to weaken Muzan.
- He sheds more tears of anger after Gyomei informs him that Genya died as a result of getting cut a second time by Kokushibo's technique.
Big Brother Instinct: He only acts like a prick to drive Genya away in hopes that he'll find a normal life away from the dangers of demon slaying. If you try to harm Genya, he'll fight with all he has to protect him.
Big Damn Heroes: He arrives just in time to block an attack from Kokushibo to save a critically injured Genya.
Blood Knight: He really, really loves a good fight and pulls off a Slasher Smile when he's really into the battle.
Blow You Away: He specializes in using wind element techniques and it shows.
Bowdlerise: In his moment of sheer desperation as Genya is most certainly about to die after being sliced in half by Kokushibo's last attack, Sanemi in the original japanese dialogue directly mentions God while voicing his plea not to let Genya die in his arms, the official Viz translation removes the direct claim to make it so Sanemi is voicing his plea towards an unspecified higher power. The series as a whole is heavily centered around Buddhism beliefs, Sanemi's desperate pleading is the only time a character directly wishes for God's help.
Book Ends: Sanemi's character arc begins and ends with him talking to Nezuko, with the context of both situations being very different but displaying how much he has changed by the end. He initially attempts to coax Nezuko into attacking him, displaying his horribly unpleasant personality as he insulted and viewed her as nothing more than another demon to be slaughtered. After the final battle, they meet again when Nezuko is human and she shows no ill will towards him at all for his past behavior, while Sanemi is clearly ashamed of how he treated her and proceeds to address her warmly before giving her a headpat and smile, leaving Nezuko flustered due to his unexpected new personality.
Character Development: After the end of the series, in an oneshot published within the second Fanbook, it is shown Sanemi and Tanjiro have ceased their feud; Tanjiro writes him letters to see how well he is doing, Sanemi doesn’t answer any of them, not because he is a jerk but due the reveal of him being illiterate, he can read but he can’t write, and Sanemi is too stubborn to let someone else write for him; in turn Sanemi shows kindness by often leaving gifts in the Kamado household, without making his presence known, he really doesn’t want to deal with Tanjiro and Nezuko’s kindness face-to-face.
The Complainer Is Always Wrong: He's the only Hashira to ever disrespect and insult Kagaya, considering him a coward who makes others fight for him at first. He soon realizes Kagaya is a kind man deeply ashamed of his inability to fight, who tells Sanemi not to bother respecting him and to fight to protect people from demons.
Cool People Rebel Against Authority: At first. Sanemi, upon meeting Kagaya Ubuyashiki, is rude, dismissive and outright insulting to Kagaya for never risking his own life while the demon slayers do all the fighting. Kagaya's apology and the revelation that he takes time to memorize the names and backgrounds of every single dead warrior, including Sanemi's best friend, absolutely stun Sanemi into silence and make him realize how wrong he was about him. To top it off, Kagaya says he doesn't need to respect or like him; just keep protecting innocent people.
Covered in Scars: His entire body is covered in long jagged scars, some of which were self-inflicted.
Cruel to Be Kind: The reason he acts so cruel to Genya is because he's trying to keep him from becoming a Demon Slayer and getting himself killed in the heat of battle, wanting him to instead live a normal life and honor their deceased family. Unfortunately for Sanemi, Genya is determined to fight as a Demon Slayer to earn his brother's respect and apologize to him, which eventually leads him to give his life to save Sanemi from Kokushibo.
Dark and Troubled Past: Back when he was young, he was the eldest brother of seven siblings, including Genya, and they live with both their parents, with their father being abusive man towards his children, as well towards his wife, until the man finally met his end by someone who had a grudge on him. Afterwards, he resolved to supporting his family, alongside his mother and Genya. However, his mother tragically became a demon and killed all of her children, excluding Sanemi and Genya. Sanemi was then forced to cut down his mother, which placed him in a state of shock, as he watched Genya screaming in tears and accusing Sanemi of being a murderer, not knowing that his own mother was responsible for killing the rest of their siblings. Years later, he would meet Masachika Kumeno, who would introduce him to the Demon Slayer corps and the two quickly became friends. Unfournately, Kumeno lost his life during their battle against a Lower Rank Moon demon, which caused Sanemi to suffer guilt on losing one of his only friends. Now one could understand why he's so bitter and angry towards demons.
Dead Partner: Before he joined the Demon Slayer Corps, Sanemi wandered the country killing demons on his own until he met an official Slayer named Masachika Kumeno, who got him involved with a professional trainer and eventually became his demon slaying partner after Sanemi properly joined. Together, they ultimately fought and defeated the Lower Rank-1 at the time, but Kumeno lost his life after the battle and Sanemi was promoted to the rank of Hashira. He still wrestles with guilt over losing one of the only friends he ever had.
Drill Sergeant Nasty: His training is especially intense, with many of the slayers he apprentices getting injured or exhausted because of it. Not helped by the fact that he often berates their weakness.
Elemental Hair Colors: Downplayed as he doesn't have wind powers, but he's the only seen user of Wind Breathing in the story and has spiky white hair.
Exotic Eye Designs: His pupils are oval-shaped and purple with a swirly pattern, while also displaying his eye veins.
Fingore: He loses his fingers when Kokushibo uses a slash from his enlarged sword. He would have lost his entire hand if Himejima didn't deflect the slash.
Fire-Forged Friends: He and Giyu have a much better relationship after the battle with Muzan. Same can be said for the Kamado siblings to a lesser extent.
The Fundamentalist: He is completely unmovable in his belief that the Demon Slayer Corps sole reason for being is to kill all demons, Sanemi cannot begin to entertain the idea that a good demon can ever exist, as such he never accepts Nezuko even when she passes his little test to see if she would drink his blood or not; only out of respect for Kagaya Ubuyashiki, his direct boss and leader of the Demon Slayer Corps, is that Sanemi just doesn't press the issue with Nezuko and Tanjiro any further, doing his job of exterminating demons without caring about what the two are doing out of his way. When his little brother Genya tries to apologize to him for their falling out when they were children and explain that he has gotten stronger thanks to his ability of temporary demon transformation, that little fact sends Sanemi in an instantaneous murderous rage, seriously attempting to punish his brother for daring to adopt a demonic identity, even if temporary, in which Tanjiro has to intervene and have a brawl with Sanemi once again. Only during Kokushibo's fight that Sanemi reveals to Genya he never stopped loving him, and at the end of the series after Nezuko turns back into a human Sanemi apologizes to her for their bad first encounter, the extra epilogue on the 2nd Fanbook shows he has patched up things with Tanjiro as well.
Good Is Not Nice: Sanemi was introduced in one of most unpleasant ways possible: he violently threatened and hurt Nezuko for being a demon based on principle alone, as he is one of the strongest demon slayers around; as the series progresses, however, it is shown that despite being an established jerk, Sanemi isn’t really disliked by his Hashira colleagues, and as long as one doesn’t push his buttons (demons and slacking off) he can be tolerated. All in all, Sanemi is a force that works towards eradicating demons and only hates them with a furious passion due to all the important people in his life they have killed, including slayer colleagues, showing he does care for others.
Green and Mean: He's associated with the color green, and isn't the most friendly person to put it lightly.
Hair-Trigger Temper: He's perpetually locked in a grumpy state, and loses his anger quite easily over something minor or unprovoked; he shares this trope with his brother, Genya
Headbutting Heroes: He and Tanjiro do not get along at all, since Sanemi hits two of Tanjiro's biggest Berserk Buttons- stabbing Nezuko and later attacking his own brother. They end up coming to blows during the Hashira Training arc, resulting in a restraining order being placed on them. Compare this with how Tanjiro wins the respect of most of the other Hashira, including those who wanted to punish him for traveling with a demon.
Hero Antagonist: He's definitely on the good side, being a Hashira who has a hatred for demons. That being said, his hatred for demons goes to the extreme, to the point where he is arguably the most unpleasant out of all the Hashiras and is the most outspoken when it comes to the Kamado siblings being punished simply because of Nezuko's demonification. He very much comes off as an antagonist in the Rehabilitation Training Arc when he spends a good chunk of time flaunting his bloodied arm as a means to tempt Nezuko into showing her feral nature before the latter refuses, and the Hashira Training Arc, where he spends a good deal of it being a Drill Sergeant Nasty who is especially rough on Tanjiro.
Hidden Depths: Revealed in his sparring match with Giyu, Sanemi actually likes Ohagi and especially Ohagi made from his mother. Sanemi may be a jerk most of the time, but he still values his family very much. He also truly loves Genya and just wants him to be free from harm. Plus, he has a pet Japanese Rhinoceros beetle.
Hidden Heart of Gold: Although he's treated his little brother very poorly, he'll always be there to look out for him as an older brother should, as seen when he saves Genya from Kokushibo's attack.
Hollywood Restraining Order: A variant he gives to Tanjiro. The latter is banned to go near him during Hashira training after they both get into a heated out-of-control altercation while Tanjiro was defending Genya.
Implausible Fencing Powers: His Wind Breathing style allows him to create cyclones and whirlwinds made up of sword slashes, along with incredibly strong gusts of wind from the force of his swings.
Inelegant Blubbering: After Genya's death, he is brought to tears and is barely able to form coherent sentences between his cries of rage and anguish.
I Have No Son!: Brother in this case. Later, it turns out that this was an act to push Genya away so Genya wouldn't join the Demon Slayers.
"It" Is Dehumanizing: He refers to Nezuko with "it" pronouns in the dub, showing his contempt for her as a demon.
It Is Not Your Time: Sanemi has a Near-Death Experience following the final battle, and almost joins his mother in hell before being stopped by his father, stating that it's too early for him to die. He is pushed out of the afterlife by his father, who says that he is proud Sanemi is his son as he wakes up in the real world.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: The most unpleasant of the Hashira. Though his willing to kill Tanjiro and Nezuko on principle is acceptable due to the fact he has a duty to slay demons as they cause a threat to humanity, it's just he was unnecessarily cruel and could've gotten the job done if he had not tried to prove his point. However, he's not as bad as he seems as he really cares for his little brother Genya and wants him to live a life of safety.
Jerkass Has a Point: Contrary to his other Hashira colleagues who eventually accept Nezuko as a good demon, Sanemi remains firmly unshaken with his beliefs that all demons are evil and must be exterminated; as Sanemi is incredibly harsh about it, he nor anyone else really had any solid proof that a demon could ever be good before Nezuko appeared, and as the series develops it is consistently shown Nezuko is an extremely odd case where no character could even tell exactly why she remained good beyond the hypnotic measures Urokodaki placed on her and the extreme bond she has with Tanjiro; the other two good demons: Tamayo and Yushiro are also outliers, Yushiro is the only demon made without Muzan’s involvement, being a direct creation of Tamayo, and Tamayo became good because Yoriichi broke Muzan’s curse on her, opening the way for Tamayo to decide her own destiny.
Kill the Ones You Love: The crux of Sanemi's tragic backstory. His mother Shizu was tragically turned into a demon while traveling alone in the mountainside one night and came back down to prey on her own children after becoming a mindless demon; she killed five of them, with Genya only alive after Sanemi jumped in to stop his mother and save his little brother; Sanemi tried to hold onto the hope that his mother had retained any piece of human reason left as he shielded himself from her attacks, but his instincts eventually took over and he ended up heavily wounding his mother, with the effects of sunrise finally killing her.
Licked by the Dog: The cover-page of chapter 167 shows a dog happily licking rice off of Sanemi's hand without any sign of fear. And said Hashira has a rare, genuine smile on his face.
Made of Iron: Sanemi has control over his musculature to the point that he can manipulate his muscles to manually close up wounds and keep himself from bleeding out. He can take inhuman amounts of punishment and still continue fighting because of this. Taken to its extreme during the battle with Kokushibo, where he takes a slash to the midsection that should have disemboweled him, but contracts his abdominal muscles to keep his guts from spilling out and keeps on fighting, a feat which astonishes the demon.
Momma's Boy: Why he is such a jerk in the present and his burning hatred of all demons is directly related to how much Sanemi loved his mother Shizu. The fact such a loving mother became a mindless demon, unable to recognize her own children, killing almost all of them, forcing Sanemi to kill her in pure self-defense, made him a firm believer demons are all evil, no matter how much of a loving human they used to be; that is also what made Sanemi doubt so fervently about Nezuko ever being a good demon through the bond she shared with her brother Tanjiro, if his sweet mom couldn’t resist her demonic urges, why would anyone else? Nezuko proving Sanemi wrong shocks him deeply.
Multi-Melee Master: Aside from being a Master Swordsman, Sanemi shows high prowess in hand-to-hand; a kick from him that barely misses Tanjiro still manages to leave a cut. Sanemi also wields his brother Genji's wakazashi (with his toes) and shotgun while battling Kokushibo, and he remembers having used "a mountain of blades" during his demon-hunting times prior to joining the Corps.
Near-Death Experience: After the final battle is over, Sanemi falls unconscious from the injuries accumulated during the fights with Kokushibo and Muzan, and finds himself in the afterlife. He sees his deceased siblings in heaven, and both his parents in hell, but he is pushed out of the afterlife by his father, who says that it is not his time yet. He then wakes up in the real world.
Never Learned to Read: He actually can read. But he doesn't know how to write.
Nightmare Face: Oh he can pull off quite the gritty looking expressions, especially when he's pissed.
Offhand Backhand:During the final arc, Sanemi is mourning Ubuyashiki's death following his Heroic Sacrifice and is approached from behind by a hoard of demons. He nonchalantly slashes the entire group to pieces without looking at them or even leaving his sitting position.
Pet the Dog: A literal example here.◊ In addition, he reportedly frequently asks Shinobu on her wellbeing, due to her being the younger sister of his deceased crush, Kanae.
Poisonous Person: He doesn't wield poison, but his blood is very intoxicating because he is a Marechi, someone whose blood is considered extremely rare and good for demons. During his days before becoming an official Demon Slayer he took advantage of it by letting demons get drunk off his blood and making them easier to kill.
Poor Communication Kills: Sanemi's rather piss-poor treatment of Genya is primarily because he wants to spare Genya from risking his life hunting demons and to distance himself from his little brother to ensure that Genya does not have any sad feelings or a reason to pursue revenge in the event that Sanemi himself dies. Unfortunately, Genya's love for his older brother only caused him to persist in order to protect him out of penance for calling Sanemi a monster for killing their demonized mother, which causes Genya to die giving Sanemi and Himejima an opening to take Upper Rank-1's head.
Polite Villains, Rude Heroes: He's the rude hero to Kokushibo's polite villain.
Power Tattoo: During the battle with Kokushibo, Sanemi's Demon Slayer Mark manifests on his cheek as a shape resembling a windmill.
Promoted to Parent: Curiously it was his striking similarity with Tanjiro; Sanemi was also part of a big family with a deceased father, leaving one mother with many children to care for, Sanemi being the oldest sibling dutifully took upon himself to become the man of the house, the tragedy with the rest of the family dying due a demon attack also repeats, leaving only two siblings alive: Sanemi and Genya.
Razor Wind: While not true wind, his Breathing style allows him to deliver sword strikes akin to powerful wind slashes and torrents.
Rejected Apology: During the Hashira Training, Genya approaches and tries to apologize to Sanemi for calling him a monster for killing their demonized mother, but he refuses to listen or accept it and ends up pushing him away, especially when Genya lets him know he eats demons to gain their powers. It's only when they fight Kokushibo that he accepts it.
Self-Made Orphan: His biggest tragedy and the source for his hatred of all demons, Sanemi was leading a relatively happy humble life after his deadbeat father died, Sanemi became the man of the house, caring for his mother and all his siblings; however, one day his mother Shizu became a demon, and Sanemi in pure instinctive fear ended up killing her in self-defense. The pain from killing his own mother was coupled with the fact his little brother Genya mistook the event as Sanemi killing their mother on purpose, calling his big bro a monster, as he didn’t realize at the moment that their mother had been a mindless demon.
Ship Tease: What was once considered a Crack Ship due in the manga proper Sanemi and Kanae were shown interacting only once, and it didn't look anything romantic, became a full viable ship since Databooks and side-materials like the Light Novels went full onboard by making Sanemi seem like he was really interested in Kanae. The 2nd Databook has Gyomei comment he thinks Sanemi liked Kanae, and the 3rd Light Novel had a flashback to the time Sanemi's buddy Masachika was alive, and he teased him about a possible crush on Kanae.
Sir Swears-a-Lot: If you happen to read the fan-translation of the manga, get ready for Sanemi to swear like a sailor.
Sole Survivor: He is the only Shinazugawa left standing at the end of the story, and manages to reproduce and have descendants before his mark likely claims his life.
Spice Up the Subtitles: Sanemi usually speaks like a rustic thug in Japanese with very informal speech, save the events in which he addresses Kagaya Ubuyashiki, where he speaks eloquently; one fan translation effort decided to show this informality in English in a more blunt manner by adding swearing then and there to portray his roughness.
Sword and Fist: Sanemi's very capable of using a sword, as well as using unarmed martial arts.
Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Despite being comrades and fighting for the same cause, he seems to get along with his fellow Hashira the least. He hates Giyu, occasionally squabbles with Tengen whom the latter thinks is bratty, and dislikes Mitsuri, thinking she is an idiot.
This Is Unforgivable!: Sanemi reacts with great rage towards Kokushibo and says this to him after saving Genya from the demon. His rage becomes stronger after seeing Genya getting cut a second time by Kokushibo, this time using all of his strength to defeat Kokushibo after his regeneration stopped working.
Took a Level in Kindness: In a surprising twist at the end of the series, Sanemi's drastically calmed down and acts more kindly towards people. Heck, he even apologized to Nezuko for his past actions and gave her a gentle head rub. It's likely that Sanemi has finally found peace within himself after Muzan's defeat and after making amends with Genya.
Tornado Move: The first form of the Wind Breathing involves Sanemi creating the illusion of a tornado by performing multiple, consecutive, fast horizontal slashes.
Unstoppable Rage: When he found out Kagaya self-destructed to weaken Muzan he starts to shed tears of rage and unleashes his wrath upon the lesser demons.
Used to Be a Sweet Kid: Genya's backstory showed that he used to be a nice Cool Big Bro to him until the day their mother became a demon and killed the rest of his family. Add that to Genya calling him a monster in panic, you have the Jerkass Sanemi in the present.
Vocal Dissonance: Unlike Kyojuro or his own brother Genya, Sanemi does not have a Time-Shifted Actor as a child and instead voiced by his usual adult voice actors, giving him a rather deep and mature voice for, to be fair Vague Age, child.
When He Smiles: Sanemi spends most of his time in series as an unpleasant Jerkass and is only seen smiling during Genya's flashback as a child when he was a much different person. However, much later towards the end of the series he is seen smiling as an adult, and both times his smile is just as warm and friendly as it was as a child. He smiles when he meets his mother during his Near-Death Experience, during the last Hashira meeting alongside Giyu, and when he speaks with Nezuko following the final battle, with Nezuko visibly blushing after seeing him smile.
Wind Is Green: Although not real elemental wind powers per Gotouge's own words, his Wind Breathing techniques are depicted as green colored in the Digital Color Edition, and his demon slayer mark is of a dark green color there too. Sanemi is also green-themed in general as the Wind Hashira.
World's Strongest Man: His years of training and demon slaying have made Sanemi an noticeably strong slayer among the Hashira. During Sanemi's first fight shown in the series, which takes place during the final battle arc, against Kokushibo, the Upper Rank 1, Sanemi managed to engage in a decent skirmish against the demon, who beforehand showed how extremely strong he is by making short work of Muichiro Tokito, a fellow Hashira with his Demon Slayer Mark activated, despite ultimately being overpowered and seriously wounded with slash wounds across his torso, shoulders, and legs. Only Gyomei, the strongest Hashira and slayer of the present generation, displayed better prowess against Kokushibo after he arrived and gave Sanemi time to stitch his wounds. When Sanemi awakens his Demon Slayer Mark during the battle against Kokushibo, the demon praises him, alongside Gyomei, as one of the strongest Hashiras of the current generation and presumes the remainder of the Corps is as good as dead if he kills them both.
Would Hurt a Child: Other than his infamous stabbing of Nezuko, he's also the most physically rough with Tanjiro, brutally ragdolling him during the Hashira Training Arc. He also attempts to beat Genya to a pulp in order to finally get him to quit the demon slayers. Although, this was out of concern for his brother's safety rather than needless cruelty.
Would Hit a Girl: Sanemi has no problem stabbing Nezuko since she is a demon. In the anime, he stabs her three times when he forces her to come out from her box to prove she drinks human blood. Also the fact that he killed the former Lower Rank 1, Ubume long ago.
You Are Worth Hell: After the final battle, Sanemi is on the very brink of death and finds himself in the afterlife, seeing Genya and his other siblings together in heaven in one direction, and his mother crying alone in darkness in the other. He attempts to reunite the family, but his mother says that she can never be with them for what she had done as a demon, so Sanemi decides to go with his mother to hell so that she doesn't have to be alone. However, he is stopped by his father and pushed out of the afterlife, waking up in the real world.
Your Approval Fills Me with Shame: Near the end of the series, in the crossroad to the afterlife Kyogo violently pushes Sanemi away, barring him from staying with his mom Shizu and accompany her to hell, Kyogo praises Sanemi for being strong just like him so he should cling to life. That certainly isn't the comparison and praise Sanemi wanted to hear, as he and all his siblings disliked their abusive father, but Sanemi is somewhat quite of a violent jerk himself, just not at the same abhorrent level his father was.

Gyomei Himejima

Voiced by: Tomokazu Sugita (Japanese), Crispin Freeman (English)^{Other VA}

"He who sheds peerless tears of compassion."

"If I never got attacked by that demon, I would have lived my entire life not knowing I was strong."

The Stone Hashira. He is the oldest among the Hashira, as well the largest physically. He's been stated to be the strongest fighter in the Demon Slayer Corps.

An Arm and a Leg: He loses his left leg in the battle against Muzan.
Baritone of Strength: The strongest of the Hashira, with a suitably deep voice to match in Japanese and English.
Beware the Nice Ones: Gyomei may be a stoic and intimidating person, but he's a big sweetheart who's very polite and kind towards others. That being said, when it comes to demons, he'll show no mercy and if someone manage to piss him off enough, he'll show you exactly why he's known as the strongest Hashira in the entire corps.
Big Brother Mentor:
- He rescued young Kanae and Shinobu from the demon who killed their parents. While reluctant at first, he eventually became their mentor and is like an elder brother to them.
- He later develops a similar relationship with Genya, mentoring him despite his consumption of demon flesh and lack of skill in Breathings, teaching him how to fight to his best ability with what he has.
Big Damn Heroes: Bursting onto the scene at the last moment to save lives is a specialty of his.
- In the past, he showed up to save young Shinobu and Kanae as they were about to be killed by a demon, inspiring them to become Slayers.
- He jumps in to save Sanemi after he was overwhelmed by Kokushibo and takes on the ancient demon himself.
- He arrives to the final battle by saving Mitsuri from Muzan's Combat Tentacles after she is poisoned and left vulnerable.
The Big Guy: Himejima is the largest of the Demon Slayers, standing at an absolutely massive 7'2", and is the strongest one to boot.
Big Sleep: After Muzan is finally defeated, Gyomei slumps against a wall and refuses medical treatment from the Kakushi, wishing for them to help someone who isn't mortally wounded like him. As he bleeds out, he sees the spirits of the orphans of his temple surround him, and he peacefully joins them, closing his eyes and dying with a content smile on his face.
Blind Weaponmaster: Gyomei's lack of sight does very little to impede him in his daily life or during battle. His Nichirin chains are even designed to aid him in combat; the sounds of the links rattling against each other are picked up by Gyomei's ears and used to gauge his surroundings and opponents.
Bruiser with a Soft Center: A hulking man who's always praying for the wellbeing of others.
Character Catchphrase: He regularly chants the Buddhist prayer "Namu Amida Butsu" during his daily activities. This isn't just because of devoutness, though, but the prayer is part of a training exercise called "Repetitive Action" meant to increase physical abilities by repeating certain movements perpetually.
Child Hater: Thanks to his past, he has a very low opinion of children. But in the past, he was actually in fact a Friend to All Children when he was a young priest. And his conversation with Tanjiro in the Hashira Training arc helped soften him.
The Comically Serious: Seemingly introduced as such during the Kamado sibling's trial, as his remarks are so extreme they come across as humorous.
Gyomei: Ah, what a pitiful sight this boy is. The poor soul...I pity him for having been born at all
Dangerous Forbidden Technique: Gyomei was reluctant to use his acquired Demon Slayer Mark against Kokushibo, hoping to only use such a dangerous trump card against Muzan himself and not a subordinate.
Dark and Troubled Past: He was a priest that took care of orphans in a temple. One night, one orphan (later shown to be Kaigaku) sacrificed the others' lives to save his own from a demon by removing the wisteria incense, causing the demon to enter and slaughter nearly everyone. Desperate to save one of them, Gyomei attacked the demon and killed him brutally. The lone orphan that witnessed the event called Gyomei a monster in her confusion, causing him to almost be executed had Ubuyashiki not intervened. Author notes reveal that the child had actually been referring to the intruder as a monster, but had been unable to articulate things clearly because she was in shock, and that Himejima's imprisonment is her biggest regret even ten years later.
Disability Superpower: His blindness gives him incredible senses elsewhere, and given how important the senses are to other strong characters, this makes him an exceptionally skilled fighter. His powerful senses eventually helps him to "see" the 'Transparent World' that Tanjiro and Kokushibo can, despite his blindness.
Does Not Know His Own Strength: Before he became a Demon Slayer, Gyomei lived a peaceful life as a priest free of conflict. However, when a demon attacked and killed several of the orphans at his temple, Gyomei retaliated with a ferocity and strength that he did not know he had in him, beating the demon's head to a bloody pulp over and over until the sun rose. He states that if it weren't for that moment, he would have lived his entire life without realizing that he possessed such incredible strength and resolve.
Epic Flail: Gyomei doesn't use a sword like most members of the Corps, instead wielding a long chain flail with an ax on one end and a giant spiked weight on the other.
The Eeyore: Constantly crying. Everything is sorrowful to him. However, he is still able to feel happiness and actually gives a genuine smile when he witnesses Tanjiro's accomplishment in completing his training, stating how proud he is of Tanjiro's achievements.
Genius Bruiser: Gyomei is a massive beast of a man who strikes hard with his Stone Breathing, but he's also incredibly intelligent and analytical.
Gentle Giant: He's the biggest, strongest, and most compassionate of the Hashira. His compassion shows when Genya tells Tanjiro that Himejima accepted Genya as his disciple, even after learning that Genya's been eating demons to make up for his lack of Breathing skills.
Go Out with a Smile: Gyomei dies with a content smile on his face, happy that Muzan is defeated and he can finally join the orphans who died before him.
Handicapped Badass: He's blind, but he's no less effective as a Hashira, and is even considered the strongest of the bunch.
Kindhearted Cat Lover: According to Volume 15 extras, he loves cats and calls them cute.
The Leader: Gyomei is the closest thing to a field commander that the Hashira have. In addition to his strength and ability, Gyomei is also Ubuyashiki's confidant and trusted friend meaning he's more aware to the Master's plans than his fellows and can decide when to act on them.
Lightning Bruiser: Not only does Himejima sport high defense, but he's also got incredible speed and attack power when swinging his hand-axe and flail. It shows that he is not a Hashira to be messed with.
Living Lie Detector: He's very adept at reading deception, even managing to guess that Kokushibo was lying about a very crucial detail in their fight.
Loved by All: Everyone among the Corps has the deepest respect and admiration for Gyomei due to his strength and kindness. Even Inosuke openly acknowledges him as the strongest Hashira. As shown in the Second Databook, Gyomei's colleagues all have nothing to say but good things about him, including Sanemi and Obanai.
Nice Guy: Despite his tall structure and intimidating presence, Gyomei comes across as a very pleasant, soft-spoken, and gentle man.
Not So Stoic: Normally doesn't express emotions, but when it comes to Muzan and Kokushibo, he gets very serious.
Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Gyomei is the only Hashira to actually complete the goal of the Hashira Training, he actually awakened his Mark during the regime, in contrast to those who awakened theirs only during the heat of battle, before and after the Hashira Training; Gyomei wanted to use his Mark only against Muzan but had to debut it against Kokushibo instead.
Power Tattoo: Gyomei's Demon Slayer Mark appears on both of his forearms as a fissure-like pattern resembling cracked stone, giving him a Volcanic Veins look. Unlike the other Hashira who awakened their marks at crucial points in the present story, Gyomei had already manifested his when he first reveals it during the battle with Kokushibo.
Prone to Tears: His eyes perpetually shed tears.
Prophet Eyes: Himejima was a simple blind monk before he became a powerful demon slayer. His eyes are always shown with only the whites. With it comes the wisdom of a Buddhist monk and the power of a demon slayer.
Religious Bruiser: Originally a Buddhist monk living in the mountains and caring for orphaned children, Gyomei reflects that he would have lived his entire life peacefully while being completely unaware he actually was inhumanly strong had he not been the target of a demon attack. During the chance event, Gyomei held the demon off by pummeling its head for hours on end till sunrise. Even after Gyomei became a demon slayer and rose to become a Hashira, he never stopped his Buddhist practices.
Rugged Scar: Himejima got the huge mark on his forehead in his first fight ever against a demon.
Shipper on Deck: The second Databook curiously reveals that Gyomei was quite perceptive on what possible couples could form out of his Hashira colleagues, Mitsuri and Iguro loving each other looked certain to him; he thought Sanemi liked Kanae; he thought Giyu and Shinobu liked talking to each other.
So Proud of You: After Tanjiro completes his training, Gyomei compliments Tanjiro for his efforts and says that he accepts him. Tanjiro earnestly declines Gyomei's compliments at first, but Gyomei says that he is proud of Tanjiro for protecting the swordsmith villagers and tells him that he's proud of his honesty and bravery, promising to help out Tanjiro whenever he is in need. He even gives Tanjiro a small pat on his head, reminding himself of the children that he once took care of.
Spin to Deflect Stuff: Himejima can rapidly swing his weapon to deflect incoming attacks and protect himself.
Super-Strength: Even among the Hashira his feats of strength are absurd, such as briefly restraining Muzan's infant form by himself, while missing a leg.
Talking Down the Suicidal: Subverted. Gyomei debates whether or not to advise Shinobu against her suspected plan after their Hashira meeting together. He ultimately decides to not say anything, feeling some sadness in the process.
Tender Tears: Gyomei sheds tears of compassion on the regular.
Tranquil Fury: After Kagaya sacrifice himself to weaken Muzan, Gyomei is seen to be calm and compose. However, during his talk with Muichiro, with the boy on wanting to make Muzan suffer for what he's done, Gyomei calmly states that everyone does, while having veins popping out of his face, showing that like everyone else, he's greatly pissed.
Muichiro: Muzan! I'll make sure he suffers before I send him to hell!
Gyomei: Don't worry. Everyone else feels the same.
Warrior Monk: Regardless of whether he is actually a monk, this seems to be his theme. He carries prayer beads and his hands are always clasped in a praying position. He really was a priest at a small temple before becoming a Hashira.
Weapon Twirling: Himejima can spin his giant spiked weight in rapid speed to generate momentum before throwing it for massive damage.
World's Strongest Man: He's the most powerful of the Demon Slayers' current generation, and the mightiest warrior humanity has to offer against the demon threat. Innosuke is able to recognize this immediately using his mountain-honed super senses. Himejima's physical strength is insane, to the degree that for a workout he rolls around huge boulders up and down the mountains. His weapon of choice is a massive iron ball-and-chain with an axe head that he uses to smash Demon's to pieces. Kokushibo even states Gyomei is the strongest Demon Slayer he's faced in 300 years, with his body honed to perfection.
Worthy Opponent: He's not one to be interested in that kind of thing, but Kokushibo briefly experiences delight at facing him in battle, considering him the greatest adversary he's had in 300 years.
X-Ray Vision: He gains access to the "Transparent World" during the battle with Kokushibo, allowing him to see the internal makeup of those around him despite being blind.

Former Members (Current Era)

Sakonji Urokodaki

Voiced by: Hōchū Ōtsuka (JP), Brook Chalmers (EN)^{Other VA}
Live actor: Tomoyuki Takagi (Stage Play)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sakonji_anime_3.jpg

^{Sakonji’s real face, young and old (spoiler)}

An old master of Water Breathing who taught Giyu Tomioka and later, Tanjiro. He was the former Water Hashira.

Brainwashing for the Greater Good: He was the one who gave Nezuko the hypnotic suggestion to see all humans as her family and see demons as her enemy. Tanjiro is initially uncomfortable with this, but eventually decides it worked out for the best after Nezuko sees Tamayo and Yushiro as humans.
Chef of Iron: In addition to being a powerful warrior, Urokodaki is a skilled cook. He threw together a very tasty hot pot for Tanjiro's graduation.
Cool Mask: His face is always covered by a tengu mask.
Cool Old Guy: He may be old, but he's so strong and fast that he gives Tanjiro a run for his money when they start training.
The Faceless: Even after the series has ended, he's never seen without his tengu mask covering his face. According to a Taisho Secret, he had been mocked in the past by demons who said his face was "too kind", which is why he always wears the mask. When his face finally revealed in an art exhibition, it is exactly as stated, Sakonji looks like a kindly smiling man.
How We Got Here: As he is watching over Nezuko in a hidden location to protect her from Muzan, who had taken the curing medicine given by Tamayo and is currently resting, he thinks to himself about how they were able to reach to this point of confronting Muzan. He thinks back to how Tanjiro came for his help a while back and described the two siblings as small but crucial cogwheels placed in a large machine, progressing the goals of the Demon Slayers in hopes of defeating Muzan once and for all. He encourages Nezuko and Tanjiro to never lose in this final battle.
Last-Name Basis: Everyone calls him by his surname, from his old enemy to his students/foster children.
Like a Son to Me: As Urokodaki’s students are like his children, sending them to the Final Selection ends up being this for him. None of them (save for Giyu and later Tanjiro) have ever returned alive due to a vengeful demon he encountered in the past killing every last one of them, and wants to prevent the same from happening to Tanjiro.
Mentor Occupational Hazard: Inverted; he's a mentor who's outlived most of his students which include Sabito and Makomo, who are revealed to be Dead All Along, which is why he wants to keep Tanjiro from taking part in the Final Selection. Giyu is one of the few students under his tutelage who has survived. It takes a toll on him.
Oh, Crap!: He panics when Nezuko wakes up and runs off on her own to save an injured Tanjiro because of how dangerous this situation is with Muzan being too powerful.
Old Master: He was the previous Water Hashira and the master of Giyu, who took over the position. Giyu sends Tanjiro to him so he can also be trained in Water Breathing.
Parental Substitute: Urokodaki serves as one for all the orphans that are under his care, including Tanjiro, Nezuko, Giyu, and Sabito. He even crafted good luck charms for them in the form of warding masks and dolls. This is one reason he didn't want Tanjiro to attend the final selection, fearing he would meet the same fate as the others.
"The Reason You Suck" Speech: He gives Tanjiro one shortly after they meet, berating him for not being decisive enough.
Retired Badass: He is the former Water Hashira before Giyu.
The Reveal: His face is only revealed almost two years after the manga ended, in October 2021 in a art exhibition, Gotouge prepared a booklet with never seen before design drafts, including a complete schematic of Sakonji’s face, he looks exactly as once stated, a face too kind for a demon slayer.
Rule of Symbolism: His tengu mask, beyond the function of covering his face, is curiously appropriate for an Old Master. An ancient tengu was claimed in legend to have trained the samurai Minamoto no Yoshitsune—in the same way Urokodaki would train multiple Water Breathing users (including Giyu and Tanjiro).
Snipe Hunt: His task of having Tanjiro cut through a thick boulder was meant to be this, as he wouldn't recommend him for the Final Selection test unless he could first do this. Fortunately for him, by the time Tanjiro is somehow able to do it, the training and encouragement he received from Sabito and Makomo two disciples of his who died trying to pass the test helps Tanjiro to survive and slaughter the demon Urokodaki had captured for the test.
Sugar-and-Ice Personality: He's stern and unemotional, but warms up to Tanjiro by the time Tanjiro finishes his two years of training.
Training from Hell: Tanjiro is put through this under his tutelage, being forced to run down a booby-trapped mountain every day in addition to his training in swordsmanship, breathing and other skills.
The Unreveal: We never do get to see his face in the original series’s run, as he never once removes his mask throughout the course of the story. It took 1 year and 5 months after the manga ended for Gotouge to reveal Sakonji’s face, both young and old in a art exhibition on October, 2021.
Wham Line: When Tanjiro says goodbye to him and asks him to pass his regards to Sabito and Makomo, Urokodaki is uncharacteristically shocked.
Urokodaki: Tanjiro... how did you know the names of those dead children?

Jigoro Kuwajima

Voiced by: Shigeru Chiba (Japanese), John DeMita (English)^{Other VA}

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jigoro.jpg

"Master it, Zenitsu! You may cry and you may run, but never give up. You must believe that these days of hellish repetitive training will eventually pay off. Be rid of all your impurities. Become a blade... that's stronger than anyone!" (Chapter 33)

Zenitsu’s master who rescued him from being tied to a woman piled with debts. He was once the Thunder Hashira, but now retired he decided to pass on the Thunder Breathing style to the next generation. Originally an unnamed elder who Zenitsu affably calls Jii-chan (gramps in context) but is only identified as Shihan (master); he is the first person to see through Zenitsu’s layers of apparent cowardice, noticing that underneath it all, Zenitsu has potential, thus never giving up on his disciple despite the latter’s protests and tantrums. His name was later revealed to be Jigoro Kuwajima in the series' first supplementary light novel.

Adaptation Dye-Job: In the manga's black and white pages Jigoro's haori is shaded completely in black, Gotoge never colored him in any way throughout the series run, that left Jigoro's color scheme left to interpretation for the anime and digital colored manga; the anime has Jigoro's haori being mustard yellow with pastel yellow triangle patterns, the digital colored manga has Jigoro's haori being black with yellow triangle patterns.
Adaptation Expansion: The anime expands a lot more about his relationship with Zenitsu.
Affectionate Nickname: Zenitsu calls him "Gramps," and while Jigoro is infuriated with the disrespect, he later comes to accept it, especially since he's the closest thing to a parental figure to Zenitsu.
Artificial Limbs: Jigoro has a peg-leg, a wood construction, which is likely one of the reasons for his retirement, a Thunder Breathing adept has their legs as the basis of their strength, which is pure speed, without both of them Jigoro is effectively crippled.
Career-Ending Injury: Side-materials inform Jigoro lost his leg when he was 35 years old, that’s when he retired as the Thunder Hashira.
Cool Old Guy: He's a little rough on Zenitsu, but ultimately cared for the young boy and wished him to share the position of Hashira with his rival Kaigaku.
Coordinated Clothes: Jigoro gave the haori Zenitsu wears which is styled after his own, he also gave one to Kaigaku but his “better” disciple didn't want to wear it.
No Name Given: Introduced with no name, Zenitsu calls him gramps. He, however, insisted on being called "Shihan" (master), but later concedes and accepts Zenitsu calling him gramps, which is one of the reasons Kaigaku felt Zenitsu was given special treatment. The series' first supplementary light novel revealed his name as Jigoro Kuwajima.
Parental Substitute: Practically became Zenitsu’s grandfather after taking him under his wing by freeing the troubled youth from the woman piled with debts, and Zenitsu, definitely sees him as such (especially lampshaded when Zenitsu calls him "Gramps"). His death was enough to make Zenitsu become more serious than he had ever been in the series until then, fighting the cause of his death, the traitor disciple Kaigaku, without ever relying on his trance sleep mode.
Posthumous Character: Died without ever actually appearing in the series’ current events. He appeared only in one flashback before dying later in the story, although by a technicality he does appear in the present to talk with Zenitsu again in a vision from the afterlife.
Rugged Scar: Jigoro has quite the noticeable one under his left eye, giving him the appearance of a seasoned hunter.
Seppuku: Chooses to atone for the fact that one of his greatest pupils (Kaigaku) betrayed the Demon Slayer Corps and became a demon, by committing ritual suicide, seppuku.
So Proud of You: In Zenitsu's vision, all he can tell the young boy is how Zenitsu has always been his pride and joy. This moves Zenitsu to tears.
Tough Love: Jigoro had a very firm hand approach when training Zenitsu, beating him every time his pupil tried to run away as Zenitsu threw tantrums and bawled his eyes out all the time, saying he was worthless and couldn’t get strong no matter how much training he did; however, Zenitsu gets to the point where he realizes that despite the firm hand, Jigoro never abandoned him, and honestly believed Zenitsu could be better, in contrast to other people in Zenitsu’s life that found him to be worthless on sight or pretended to be nice to later use and abuse him.

Shinjuro Rengoku

Voiced by: Rikiya Koyama (Japanese), Imari Williams (English)^{Other VA}

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rengoku_dad.png

The father of Kyojuro and Senjuro and the former Flame Hashira. He retired and gave his position to his eldest son Kyojuro.

Abusive Parents: He didn't really start out like this as Kyojuro fondly remembers him as a loving father with a huge passion for demon-slaying and happily trains Kyojuro during his childhood but, as a result of finding the truth about all the breathing styles, his wife's death and adding his alcoholism, he is very abusive towards his sons, screaming at them and smacking them if they don't meet his expectations. Senjuro, the younger brother, is often the target of his ire. He is also quick to assume the worst of them such as when Senjuro tried to tell him Kyojuro's final words to their father, which was a simple expression of genuine care and love ("take care of yourself/your body") implied to be a wish for his father to stop his excessive drinking. But Senjuro was shamed from talking and told to get out immediately with Shinjuro assuming that Kyojuro was just going to blame him for everything including his own death at the hands of demons. Shortly afterwards, Senjuro was finally able to deliver the message, which deeply impacted Shinjuro.
Adaptation Expansion: The anime original episode detailing Kyojuro’s preliminary investigation before boarding the Mugen Train showed a snippet of Shinjuro’s demon slaying days, whereas the manga would only show him killing a demon much later during Obanai’s flashback.
Alcoholic Parent: Shinjuro is a drunkard who carries a jug of alcohol with him and relapsed badly. He relapses worse when Kyojuro dies. Currently, he seems to have recovered and is now in better condition, possibly remaining sober from now on.
Anti-Alcohol Aesop: After his wife passed away, he gave himself into alcoholism, not helped by the fact he learned the truth behind the Breathing styles. His alcoholism strained his relationships with his sons and is implied to damage his health. When Tanjiro and Senjuro try to deliver Kyojuro's dying message telling him to take care of himself, he refuses to listen and beats the crap out of them and told them to leave. Although, of course, he took a few seconds to hear Senjuro saying "Take care of yourself". That's when he gives up his alcoholism.
Can't Take Criticism: When Tanjiro calls him out on his abuse of his sons, Shinjuro didn't react very well and proceeds to us him as a punching bag.
Character Development: When he takes up his sword once again in the final arc to protect the secret Demon Slayer Corps HQ, Shinjuro admits that he has been a bad warrior and parent for the past few years, commending his late son Kyojuro for having a far better and more indomitable will than his own, feeling ashamed of himself as a father that he didn’t set a proper example when they needed him most. At the end of the series, he also apologizes to Tanjiro for their bad first encounter..
Despair Event Horizon: Knowing the truth about the Breathing styles as well as going through the death of his wife not long after destroyed his spirit, causing him to quit the Demon Slayers and turn into an alcoholic, abusive parent who believes that all Breathing styles aside from Sun are just cheap imitations.
Dramatic Irony: His current despondence is in part because he found out all Breathing styles are in fact descended from a single original style, after finding this out he as very proud and vain swordsmaster became disillusioned because he believed that any style that was not the original Sun Breathing style was just a cheap imitation, but in actuality as Tanjiro would come to understand and the original user would outright say, the other styles are not in anyway inferior, they are just more tailored to individual skills, depending on the person and their affinity the offshoots can even be superior.
Drinking on Duty: Kyojuro mentions that, towards the end of his career as a Hashira, he couldn't go on missions without drinking first. He is also seen holding sake while fighting Hairou.
Get Out!: After Tanjiro left, Senjuro tries to deliver Kyojuro’s dying message, but refuses to hear him out and told him to leave. Although, he does take a few seconds to hear him say "Take care of yourself", which Senjuro reveals it was Kyojuro’s dying message.
Hereditary Hairstyle: Both of his sons share his red and yellow hairstyle.
Hidden Depths: Upon hearing the message that Kyojuro left him, he briefly raises his sake jug to drown his sorrows, but pauses, remembering the last time he saw his son. This memory and Kyojuro’s words soon cause him to drop the sake jug and begin to sob, unable to contain the grief that he had actually kept hidden from his family and himself this entire time.
Humanizing Tears: His route to redemption begins when upon learning of the last words his eldest son Kyojuro, "take care of yourself", he begins to break down sobbing, revealing how much of a broken man he is.
Intergenerational Friendship: Seems to form one with Tengen Uzui later on down the series while both serve as bodyguards to Nezuko who is being administered with a drug to reverse her demonhood.
Jaded Washout: Shinjuro went from being an upstanding member of one of the Corps' finest swordsmen to a sullen, aimless drunkard who callously disregards his sons. In large part, this was caused by finding out the truth about Sun Breathing and the untimely death of his wife.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's very strict as a father towards his sons and very short-tempered towards everyone else. However, he truly cares for his family's well-being and will gladly return to his former position when he's needed.
Jerkass: He was a total ass to his sons but he became a better man when he laid down his alcoholism.
Jerkass Realization: He realized that his eldest son told him to take care of himself which made him break into tears.
My God, What Have I Done?: After hearing Kyojuro's final words from Senjuro, Shinjuro seems to be going back on drinking his sake... until he stops and puts the drink down and begins crying tears, both from losing his son and how he treated his children. Hearing that Kyojuro still cared for him, even after his abusive nature made Shinjuro realize how much of a bastard he was to them and he completely regrets it.
No Listening Skills: He appears to be too stubborn to listen, due to his alcoholism. When Tanjiro and Senjuro try to deliver Kyojuro's dying message, he ignores it, accusing the latter of blaming him and told the former two to go away, instead of hearing them out. He also didn't listen to Tanjiro saying he is from the Demon Slayer Corps, as he was busy glancing at his sun earrings, assuming he is a Sun Breathing user and attacking him. Eventually, he does listen to Kyojuro's message and completely breaks down.
No Sympathy: When Senjuro was mourning the loss of his older brother, the recently deceased Flame Hashira Kyojuro Rengoku, rather than being concerned over the fact that his child is miserable and crying, Shinjuro angrily tells him to get over it since the funeral is already over. In addition, he attacks Tanjiro for being a Sun Breathing descendant, who returns the attack in retaliation for abusing Senjuro and badmouthing Kyojuro. When Senjuro expressed his concern towards Tanjiro's injuries from the same mission where Kyojuro Rengoku died, Shinjuro showed no sign of respect or compassion, leaving to buy more sake as soon as he woke up. Though, after Senjuro delivers Kyojuro's final words to him, he immediately breaks down in tears.
Parental Neglect: He completely ignores Senjuro and, to a lesser extent, Kyojuro.
Psychological Projection: When Tanjiro confronts Shinjuro for the way he treats his sons, Shinjuro does nothing but shout that he knows Tanjiro is just mocking him because he's a Sun Breathing user who's just full of himself because he can use the original Breathing Style. While ignoring the fact he belittles Kyojuro, calling him worthless for becoming a Hashira and then dying in hands of the demons.
Retired Badass: Kyojuro succeeded the position of Flame Hashira from him, after his retirement due to his wife’s death. After Kyojuro's passing, he returns to his former position as the Flame Hashira after witnessing Ubuyashiki's son using his ability to command the Demon Slayers, even after knowing how his father self-destructed to weaken Muzan. Defending Ubuyashiki's children alongside Tengen Uzui, he vows that he will follow his son Kyojuro's example and protect the children so as to not bring shame to the Rengoku family.
Speak Ill of the Dead: After Rengoku's passing, Shinjuro does nothing but insult him, calling him worthless for becoming a Hashira and then dying as a result. This provokes the ire of Tanjiro, who ends up delivering a corkscrew headbutt to his face.
Strong Family Resemblance: His two sons, Kyojuro and Senjuro, greatly resemble him in appearance. To the point that Hairo and Tomi mistake his elder son for him.
Took a Level in Jerkass: After his wife, and the Awful Truth behind the breathing styles, he transformed from a kind and loving father to an alcoholic, abusive monster. He does nothing but vilify Kyojuro and physically and mentally abuses Senjuro for not obeying on whatever he says. He is even violent to everyone else as well. He refuses to listen to the latter and Tanjiro and the former's desire to get him stop his excessive drinking.
Took a Level in Kindness: After receiving Kyojuro's message, he realizes he is doing things wrong and mellows out of his alcoholic, abusive phase. He feels remorse over his awful treatment of Senjuro and Tanjiro.
Would Hurt a Child: He angrily wrestles Tanjiro and strikes Senjuro when he tries to intervene. Though this was when he was drunk, it's still pretty bad.

Kanae Kocho

Voiced by: Ai Kayano (Japanese), Bridget Hoffman (English)^{Other VA}

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kny_kane_kochou_ani.jpg

"Once you decide to defeat a demon, defeat it. Once you decide to win, then win. Win, whatever the cost."

Shinobu's deceased older sister, who served as the Flower Hashira.

Action Girl: Kanae was a demon slayer, so it came with the territory. She was also the Flower Hashira, as shown during Sanemi's flashback to his first Hashira meeting.
Alliterative Name: Kanae Kocho.
All-Loving Hero: Like Tanjiro, Kanae has empathy towards demons. She doesn't even bear hatred towards her killer, Doma, and instead pities that he is incapable of feeling love and emotions. The demons that she killed said nothing but praises to her as she offered comfort to them during their dying moments.
Animal Motifs: Butterflies like her sister Shinobu, though to a lesser extent. She was the original owner of Shinobu's butterfly wing-patterned haori, and she wore two butterfly hair ornaments.
Cool Big Sis: To Shinobu and Kanao. They both did not take her death by Doma lightly and bore a personal grudge against her murderer. Kanao even wears one of Kanae's butterfly hair decorations as a Tragic Keepsake in remembrance of her.
Good Is Not Soft: Through most of Kanae’s appearances in the series she is portrayed as the sweetest person imaginable but during Shinobu’s face off against Doma, Kanae’s killer, Shinobu recalls a very strict Kanae pushing her towards not giving up against Doma, to lay her life in pride, to rid her mind of any doubts.
Nice Girl: According to Shinobu, Kanae is exactly like Tanjiro personality-wise, to the point where she believes that there are good demons out there.
Offscreen Moment of Awesome: Although she eventually dies from her injuries, she was able to go toe-to-toe with Doma, the 3rd most powerful demon, at least until sunrise (and this is under the assumption that she didn't awake her Demon Slayer Mark as no mention of it was made), which is a rather impressive feat.
O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Kanae is normally rather cheerful, but the vision Shinobu has of her during her fight with Doma shows her sternly insisting that her younger sister stand up and not give up on the fight.
Petal Power: Flower Breathing users have flower petals added as a visual effect to their sword attacks.
Pink Means Feminine: The anime reveals that her nichirin blade was pink, like her Flower Breathing succesor Kanao's would eventually be.
The Pollyanna: Kanae maintains a positive attitude throughout her life.
Posthumous Character: She has been dead since before Tanjiro joined the Demon Slayer Corps, and is only shown in Shinobu, Kanao, and Sanemi's flashbacks.
Ship Tease: With Sanemi of all men if you can believe it or not! This would rather come as a complete shock to fans since Sanemi is rather known for being a major Jerkass with a big temper and an extreme hatred towards demons, and yet is completely kind towards Kanae, who's a Nice Girl and is completely kind and empathetic to demons.
Sibling Yin-Yang: Kanae was a constantly cheerful and caring Nice Girl, who held compassion for everyone, even demons. Shinobu on the other was more jumpy and brash, and held an extreme hatred for demons. After Kanae's death, Shinobu adopted a mixed personality, where she behaved in her elder sister's cheerful demeanor, but still hated demons with an intense anger.
The Thing That Would Not Leave: The second light novel spin-off titled "One-Winged Butterfly" reveals that, ever since she and Shinobu lost their parents and were left orphaned, they chose to live with Gyomei Himejima, refusing to leave his house while wishing that he introduces them to the Demon Slayer Corps. Not only Gyomei was reluctant to accept them into his house, but he also wished that they move on and live happy lives instead of risking them as Demon Slayers. It was only after they've been able to move the boulder he presented as a challenge for them that he accepted the two girls.
Together in Death: With her little sister Shinobu and their parents in the afterlife.

Former Members (Golden Age)

Sengoku Era Hashira

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/main_qimg_ee8226e2737796de01b868b6edeb2cc7_lq.jpeg

Also known as the Golden Age Hashira, the pillars during the Sengoku Era, where they fought alongside Yorichii and Michikatsu Tsugikuni.

Badass Normal: Yoriichi bestowed the knowledge of Breathing Arts to them as they already were an active group of Demon Slayers fighting only with their complete human abilities and limitations prior the Corps having Yoriichi among their ranks; they were known as the Golden Age for that reason first, the Mark awakening chain was only an addition to their fame.
Consistent Clothing Style: Although the Sengoku Hashira's breathing styles are hard to pin down, some share similar attributes to the present users to make it easier. For example, the Stone Hashira has a pearl necklace like Gyomei, the Thunder Hashira has the same kimono as Zenitsu, the Flame Hashira has a similar hairstyle to the Rengoku family, and one Hashira's mark looks very similar to the one awakened by Muichiro.
The Faceless: Neither the Tsugikuni twin's flashbacks reveal their full faces.
Flat Character: All we know about them is that they were among the first to use breathing styles after being taught by Yorichii, they gained Demon Slayer marks, and that they either died from them, or lived long enough to turn on Yorichii due to a mixture of grievances. Everything else about them is a complete mystery.
Hereditary Hairstyle: If the Flame Hashira we see is indeed the ancestor of the Rengoku family, then their hairstyle goes back farther than we thought.
Informed Ability: Thanks to them all awakening the Demon Slayer Mark through Yoriichi, this Hashira assembly was dubbed the Golden Age as they were considered the strongest generation for a long time, but not a single battle to their name is ever shown on-screen to give a solid basis to such claim. The current Hashira generation surpasses them anyway by the Infinity Castle arc where more Hashira awaken their Marks, with Kokushibo who was part of the Golden Age himself having nothing but praise to the Marked Gyomei and Sanemi.
Jerkass Has a Point: Although it was a dick move to turn on Yorichii and use him as a scapegoat despite all he'd done for them, their anger wasn't entirely unwarranted, as Yorichii's interrogation of Muzan after nearly killing him allowed the panicked King of Demons to escape.
No Name Given: None of them are given names.
Power Tattoo: Some eventually gained Demon Slayer Marks like the one's found on Yorichii, Tanjiro, and 6/9 of the current Hashira. However they all began to drop like flies due to the mark exhausting the body and making anyone who activates it die at 25, a trend noted by Kokushibo, who became a demon to avoid this fate.
Posthumous Character: Obviously, being swordsman from 300 years ago, they are all long since dead.
Retool: In the story proper all of them seemed to be framed in a bad light thanks to their treatment of Yoriichi after his battle against Muzan, demanding his head for Muzan’s escape, dismissal of Tamayo as an evil demon, and pinning Michikatsu’s betrayal on him as well. The 2nd Databook, however, further clarifies that apparently not every single one of them turned on Yoriichi, an unspecified number, or one, of them remained on good terms with Yoriichi, actually meeting with him to trade demon intel to help Yoriichi’s lone war against demons outside the Corps.
Ungrateful Bastard: Despite their time with Yorichii, and the fact that he taught them how to utilize breathing techniques in the first place, when they found out he inadvertently let Muzan escape, spared Tamayo despite being a demon, and that his brother has betrayed the corps and turned into a demon, they used him as a scapegoat and went as far as demanding he commit ritualistic suicide.

Characters / Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba: Hashira

Voiced by: Takahiro Sakurai (Japanese), Johnny Yong Bosch (English)^{Other VA}
Live actor: Reo Honda (Stage Play)

Voiced by: Saori Hayami (Japanese), Erika Harlacher (English)^{Other VA}

Voiced by: Satoshi Hino, Mariya Ise (child) (Japanese), Mark Whitten, Ryan Bartley (child) (English)^{Other VA}

Voiced by: Katsuyuki Konishi (Japanese), Ray Chase (English)^{Other VA}

Voiced by: Kengo Kawanishi (Japanese), Griffin Burns (English)^{Other VA}

Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa (Japanese), Kira Buckland (English)^{Other VA}

Voiced by: Kenichi Suzumura (Japanese), Erik Kimerer (English)^{Other VA}

Voiced by: Tomokazu Seki (Japanese), Kaiji Tang (English)^{Other VA}

Voiced by: Tomokazu Sugita (Japanese), Crispin Freeman (English)^{Other VA}

Voiced by: Hōchū Ōtsuka (JP), Brook Chalmers (EN)^{Other VA}
Live actor: Tomoyuki Takagi (Stage Play)

Voiced by: Shigeru Chiba (Japanese), John DeMita (English)^{Other VA}

Voiced by: Rikiya Koyama (Japanese), Imari Williams (English)^{Other VA}

Voiced by: Ai Kayano (Japanese), Bridget Hoffman (English)^{Other VA}

Alternative Title(s): Demon Slayer Kimetsu No Yaiba Pillars

Previous

Index

Next

Characters / Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba: Hashira

Edit Locked

Voiced by: Saori Hayami (Japanese), Erika Harlacher (English)Other VA Cristina Hernández (Latin American Spanish), Mireia López (European Spanish), Nadine Girard (French), Maria Koschny (German), Federica Simonelli (Italian),Tatiane Keplmair (Brazilian Portuguese), Feng Jiade (Taiwanese Mandarin)

Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa (Japanese), Kira Buckland (English)Other VA Melissa Gedeón (Latin American Spanish), Cari Monrós (European Spanish), Catherine Desplaces (French), Moira May (German), Stefania Rusconi (Italian), Patt Souza (Brazilian Portuguese), Qian Xinyu (Taiwanese Mandarin)

Voiced by: Kenichi Suzumura (Japanese), Erik Kimerer (English)Other VA Arturo Cataño (Latin American Spanish), Ernest Sendín (European Spanish), Simon Koukissa (French), Tim Sander (German), Stefano Pozzi (Italian), Marcelo Garcia (Brazilian Portuguese), Jiang Zhilun (Taiwanese Mandarin)

Voiced by: Tomokazu Seki (Japanese), Kaiji Tang (English)Other VA Galo Balcazar (Latin American Spanish), Jesús Motos (European Spanish), Damien Ferrette (French), Sebastian Schulz (German), Alessandro Fattori (Italian), Heitor Assali (Brazilian Portuguese), Chen Yanjun (Taiwanese Mandarin)

Voiced by: Shigeru Chiba (Japanese), John DeMita (English)Other VA Jaime Vega (Latin American Spanish), José Luis Siurana (European Spanish), Jean Barney (French), Michael Pan (German), Sergio Romanò (Italian), Carlos Silveira (Brazilian Portuguese)

Voiced by: Rikiya Koyama (Japanese), Imari Williams (English)Other VA Mario Castañeda (Latin American Spanish), Rafael Ordóñez Arrieta (European Spanish), Stéphane Bazin (French), Bernd Vollbrecht (German), Luca Ghignone (Italian), Luiz Carlos Persy (Brazilian Portuguese)

Voiced by: Ai Kayano (Japanese), Bridget Hoffman (English)Other VA Georgina Sánchez (Latin American Spanish), Silvia Cabrera (European Spanish), Giuliana Jakobeit (German), Martina Tamburello (Italian), Bruna Matta (Brazilian Portuguese), Lin Meixiu (Taiwanese Mandarin)

Alternative Title(s): Demon Slayer Kimetsu No Yaiba Pillars

Previous

Index

Next

Voiced by: Saori Hayami (Japanese), Erika Harlacher (English)^{Other VA}

Voiced by: Kana Hanazawa (Japanese), Kira Buckland (English)^{Other VA}

Voiced by: Kenichi Suzumura (Japanese), Erik Kimerer (English)^{Other VA}

Voiced by: Tomokazu Seki (Japanese), Kaiji Tang (English)^{Other VA}

Voiced by: Shigeru Chiba (Japanese), John DeMita (English)^{Other VA}

Voiced by: Rikiya Koyama (Japanese), Imari Williams (English)^{Other VA}

Voiced by: Ai Kayano (Japanese), Bridget Hoffman (English)^{Other VA}