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** He is also one to his fellow Kizuki member, Akaza. Both are high-ranking members of the Twelve Kizuki who are extraordinarily powerful, both have killed a current member of the Hashira (Akaza to Rengoku, Doma to Shinobu) and both have an affable side to them. However, it's much more genuine with Akaza who has an incredible sense of honor and even shows respect to his opponents when they are strong enough to take him on; Doma is ''very'' fake on the other hand and is condescending towards anyone he comes across, even to his allies. Their honor is even shown in their fighting methods: Akaza would rather fight fair, and goes as far as to accept defeat and commit suicide when Tanjiro is able to behead him. Doma however resorts to cheap tricks, such as summoning a giant statue as a last-ditch effort to kill Kanao and Inosuke when the poison from consuming Shinobu gets to him. And finally, their treatment of women cannot be anymore different: Doma has a rather creepy fetish for eating them believing they are high in nutrients; Akaza refuses to eat any of them out of honor of his dead wife.
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** He is also one to his fellow Kizuki member, Akaza. Both are high-ranking members of the Twelve Kizuki who are extraordinarily powerful, both have killed a current member of the Hashira (Akaza to Rengoku, Doma to Shinobu) and both have an affable side to them. However, it's much more genuine with Akaza who has an incredible sense of honor and even shows respect to his opponents when they are strong enough to take him on; Doma is ''very'' fake on the other hand and is condescending towards anyone he comes across, even to his allies. Their honor is even shown in their fighting methods: Akaza would rather fight fair, and goes as far as to accept defeat and commit suicide when Tanjiro is able to behead him. Doma however resorts to cheap tricks, such as summoning a giant statue as a last-ditch effort to kill Kanao and Inosuke when the poison from consuming Shinobu gets to him. And finally, their treatment of women cannot be anymore different: Doma has a rather creepy fetish for eating them believing they are high in nutrients; Akaza refuses to eat any of them out of honor of his dead wife. Naturally Akaza hates Doma's guts and can definitely see right through the latter.
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* CoughSnarkCough: At the Upper Moons meeting upon seeing Akaza, Gyokko cheerfully greets him and starts saying that the possibility of Akaza being killed made him happy, before cutting it short by fake coughing then saying it made him sad. Akaza gives him a [[DeathGlare displeased glare]] in response.
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* CoughSnarkCough: At the Upper Moons meeting upon seeing Akaza, Gyokko cheerfully greets him and starts saying that the possibility of Akaza being killed made him happy, his heart sing, before cutting it short by fake coughing then saying it made him sad. Akaza gives him a [[DeathGlare [[DisapprovingLook displeased glare]] in response.
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** [[spoiler:Their second fight is an entirely different story. Muichiro returns after escaping and awakening his Demon Slayer mark, making quick work of Gyokko despite his OneWingedAngel transformation. ]]
* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: His debut in the manga has the arms that protrude from his head look rather underdeveloped and noodley. In the anime, they are drawn chubbier and resembling infant-like arms.
* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: His debut in the manga has the arms that protrude from his head look rather underdeveloped and noodley. In the anime, they are drawn chubbier and resembling infant-like arms.
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** [[spoiler:Their second fight is an entirely different story. Muichiro returns after escaping and awakening his Demon Slayer mark, making quick work of Gyokko despite his OneWingedAngel transformation. ]]
* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: [[DownplayedTrope A minor case.]] His debut in the manga has the arms that protrude from his head look rather underdeveloped and noodley. In the anime, they are drawn chubbier and resembling infant-like arms.
* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: [[DownplayedTrope A minor case.]] His debut in the manga has the arms that protrude from his head look rather underdeveloped and noodley. In the anime, they are drawn chubbier and resembling infant-like arms.
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* GagLips: Has very large, green plump lips where his eyes should be, and they always show his teeth, making him appear even more hideous and creepy.
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* GagLips: Has very large, poofy green plump lips where his eyes should be, and they always show his teeth, making him appear even more hideous and creepy.
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* PoliteVillainsRudeHeroes: The polite villain to Muichiro's rude hero. That being said it's more of a FauxAffablyEvil politeness, as he's only courteous when he encounters Muichiro, Kotetsu, and Kanamori, and presents ''"Death Throes of the Smiths"'' to them.
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* PoliteVillainsRudeHeroes: The polite villain to Muichiro's rude hero. That being said it's more of a FauxAffablyEvil politeness, as he's only courteous before and when he encounters Muichiro, Kotetsu, and Kanamori, and presents ''"Death Throes of the Smiths"'' to them.
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* ScaryTeeth: [[invoked]] Ironically he has the most human-like teeth out of the the Upper Moons. However, they're drawn in a more hyperrealistic manner, while the teeth of other characters are usually a simplified white shape (as it is common in most forms of animation in general, not just anime), which gives Gyokko a [[UnintentionalUncannyValley more uncanny]] appearance.
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* ScaryTeeth: [[invoked]] Ironically he has the most human-like teeth out of the the Upper Moons. However, they're drawn in a more hyperrealistic manner, while the teeth of other characters are usually a simplified white shape (as it is common in most forms of animation in general, not just this anime), which gives Gyokko a [[UnintentionalUncannyValley more uncanny]] appearance.
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* TerribleArtist: Needless to say, "Death Throes of the Smiths" is a horrid piece of art. In addition, his main pot is described as being asymmetrical by Muichiro, and a good look at it proves him right.
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* TerribleArtist: Needless to say, "Death Throes of the Smiths" is a horrid piece of art. In addition, his main pot is described as being asymmetrical by Muichiro, and a good look at it proves him right. But don't say this to Gyokko because he will get overtly defensive of his art.
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* UndignifiedDeath: [[spoiler:After transforming into his OneWingedAngel form, claiming himself to be unbeatable, he is beheaded by an awakened Muichiro without much effort. All of the original Upper Ranks take incredible amounts of effort by multiple heroes to bring down, but he is easily defeated by a single opponent. He spends his final moments [[ThisCannotBe ranting]] before unceremoniously getting his head sliced in two, before getting further hacked into tiny pieces. Furthermore, while the Upper Moon's death are either incredibly somber, dramatic, or victorious, Gyokko's the only Upper Moon with a comical death.]]
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* UndignifiedDeath: [[spoiler:After transforming into his OneWingedAngel form, claiming himself to be unbeatable, he is beheaded by an awakened Muichiro without much effort. All of the original Upper Ranks take incredible amounts of effort by multiple heroes to bring down, but he is easily defeated by a single opponent. He spends his final moments [[ThisCannotBe ranting]] before unceremoniously getting his head sliced in two, before getting further hacked into tiny pieces. Furthermore, while the Upper Moon's death Moons' deaths are either incredibly somber, dramatic, or victorious, Gyokko's Gyokko is the only Upper Moon with a comical death.]]
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* AlasPoorVillain: Downplayed. While Zenitsu, and the audience have little to no patience and sympathy for Kaigaku, Zenitsu does lament that he could never find happiness in his heart, comparing it to a box with a hole. In addition, his past as a destitute orphan before training under Kuwajima can cause some to feel bad for him.
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* FreudianExcuse: A more downplayed version than other demons, but his early upbringing as a poor orphan forced to drink muddy water could have led to his chronic self-serving pessimism.
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** There was an incident where Zenitsu punched another Demon Slayer after he overheard him criticizing Kaigaku, saying that he'll die soon. Kaigaku did not think much about it and callously told him to not get into trouble while once again ordering him to leave.
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[[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaMainCharacters Main Characters]] | [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaDemonSlayerCorps Demon Slayer Corps]] ([[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaHashira Hashira]]) | [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaDemons Demons]] ([[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaMuzanKibutsuji Muzan Kibutsuji]] | [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaTwelveKizuki Twelve Kizuki:]] '''Upper Ranks''' ([[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaKokushibo Kokushibo]] | [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaHantengu Hantengu]])) | [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaCivilians Civilians]] | [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaDemonSlayerAcademy Demon Slayer Academy]]]]-]]]
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[[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaMainCharacters Main Characters]] | [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaDemonSlayerCorps Demon Slayer Corps]] ([[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaHashira Hashira]]) | [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaDemons Demons]] ([[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaMuzanKibutsuji Muzan Kibutsuji]] | [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaTwelveKizuki Twelve Kizuki:]] '''Upper Ranks''' ([[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaKokushibo Ranks:''' [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaKokushibo Kokushibo]] | [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaHantengu Hantengu]])) Hantengu]]) | [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaCivilians Civilians]] | [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaDemonSlayerAcademy Demon Slayer Academy]]]]-]]]
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* EarlyInstallmentCharacterDesignDifference: His debut in the manga has the arms that protrude from his head look rather underdeveloped and noodley. In the anime, they are drawn chubbier and resembling infant-like arms.
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* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Albeit not quite {{Keet}}, Akaza is a fairly friendly and upbeat fellow, as much as a demon seeking to kill the main characters can be. In both of his fights, he converses casually and remains gleeful without being bloodlusted, just enjoying the combat on itself. However, when Doma and Kokushibo are around his demeanor becomes extremely cold, prone to anger and trigger happy.
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* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: OOCIsSeriousBusiness:
** Albeit not quite {{Keet}}, Akaza is a fairly friendly and upbeat fellow, as much as a demon seeking to kill the main characters can be. In both of his fights, he converses casually and remains gleeful without being bloodlusted, just enjoying the combat on itself. However, when Doma and Kokushibo are around his demeanor becomes extremely cold, prone to anger and triggerhappy.happy.
** Akaza returns to his upbeat and sociable personality when fighting Tanjiro and Giyu. However, when Tanjiro rebukes his social Darwinist philosophy, it triggers memories of [[spoiler:his old mentor/father-in-law Keizo]]. Angry and confused, he drops his previous demeanor and becomes dead serious.
** Albeit not quite {{Keet}}, Akaza is a fairly friendly and upbeat fellow, as much as a demon seeking to kill the main characters can be. In both of his fights, he converses casually and remains gleeful without being bloodlusted, just enjoying the combat on itself. However, when Doma and Kokushibo are around his demeanor becomes extremely cold, prone to anger and trigger
** Akaza returns to his upbeat and sociable personality when fighting Tanjiro and Giyu. However, when Tanjiro rebukes his social Darwinist philosophy, it triggers memories of [[spoiler:his old mentor/father-in-law Keizo]]. Angry and confused, he drops his previous demeanor and becomes dead serious.
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* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: [[spoiler: During his dying inner monologue he tries to have some kind of internal revelation or reveal that he feels sorry for what he did before indirectly addressing the audience that he really doesn't feel anything about his predicament, even death is boring to him.]]
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* LeaningOnTheFourthWall: [[spoiler: During [[spoiler:During his dying inner monologue he tries to have some kind of internal revelation or reveal that he feels sorry for what he did before indirectly addressing the audience that he really doesn't feel anything about his predicament, even death is boring to him.]]
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** Ultimately becomes this in the climax of the Mugen Train Arc, [[spoiler: after Enmu fails to kill the Demon Slayers and is killed as a result]], leaving Akaza as the {{Final Boss}} of the story arc.
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** Ultimately becomes this in the climax of the Mugen Train Arc, [[spoiler: after [[spoiler:after Enmu fails to kill the Demon Slayers and is killed as a result]], leaving Akaza as the {{Final Boss}} of the story arc.
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* BloodKnight: Akaza ''really likes'' fighting strong opponents, as best seen with his fight against Kyojuro and later on, [[spoiler: Tanjiro and Giyu]].
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* BloodKnight: Akaza ''really likes'' fighting strong opponents, as best seen with his fight against Kyojuro and later on, [[spoiler: Tanjiro [[spoiler:Tanjiro and Giyu]].
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* BreakTheHaughty: [[spoiler: Let's just say Akaza did not it have easy after losing to Kyojuro. Despite killing the Flame Hashira, Akaza is forced to retreat from the sun, getting called a coward by Tanjiro, something that pissed him off greatly, all while a sword pierced his chest. To add more salt to his broken pride, Muzan brutally chews him out for killing a Hashira, but not three Demon Slayers, who weren't even Hashiras. This pretty much pisses off Akaza and he promises to kill Tanjiro for the humiliation he has to suffer from.]]
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* BreakTheHaughty: [[spoiler: Let's [[spoiler:Let's just say Akaza did not it have easy after losing to Kyojuro. Despite killing the Flame Hashira, Akaza is forced to retreat from the sun, getting called a coward by Tanjiro, something that pissed him off greatly, all while a sword pierced his chest. To add more salt to his broken pride, Muzan brutally chews him out for killing a Hashira, but not three Demon Slayers, who weren't even Hashiras. This pretty much pisses off Akaza and he promises to kill Tanjiro for the humiliation he has to suffer from.]]
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* {{Hypocrite}}: For all his posturing of the nobility of perfecting oneself as a martial artist with the goal of dying by the hands of a WorthyOpponent, Akaza, as all demons are, is ultimately still a cowardly parasite that scurried into the shadows like a cockroach at the first sight of the sun, by ''tearing his own arms off'' like a fleeing lizard's own tail as [[spoiler: Rengoku]] clamped onto them in an ironclad death grip. If he had been a ''true'' warrior like he proclaim himself to be, Akaza would have ''let'' the sun obliterate him with dignity, and received his idealized martial artist's death from a foe he respected. [[spoiler: Once he reawakens his human memories, however, he subverts this, as he accepts that Tanjiro had defeated him and destroys his own body, stopping himself from regenerating.]]
to:
* {{Hypocrite}}: For all his posturing of the nobility of perfecting oneself as a martial artist with the goal of dying by the hands of a WorthyOpponent, Akaza, as all demons are, is ultimately still a cowardly parasite that scurried into the shadows like a cockroach at the first sight of the sun, by ''tearing his own arms off'' like a fleeing lizard's own tail as [[spoiler: Rengoku]] [[spoiler:Rengoku]] clamped onto them in an ironclad death grip. If he had been a ''true'' warrior like he proclaim himself to be, Akaza would have ''let'' the sun obliterate him with dignity, and received his idealized martial artist's death from a foe he respected. [[spoiler: Once he reawakens his human memories, however, he subverts this, as he accepts that Tanjiro had defeated him and destroys his own body, stopping himself from regenerating.]]
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* TheRival: Akaza has special hatred and envy for both [[TheDragon Kokushibo]] and [[TheSociopath Doma]], due to the two of them being stronger than him and wants to kill them in order to take over their rank. He even declares that he'll kill Kokushibo if it's the last thing he'll do, to which Kokushibo simply wishes him luck. However, Doma is possibly the one demon Akaza hates with true passion, since it's implied that Akaza was Upper 2, before Doma came and took the rank. [[spoiler: There's also the fact that Doma tends to kill and devour a lot of young and beautiful female humans, something that Akaza hates, since he doesn't devour women.]]
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* TheRival: Akaza has special hatred and envy for both [[TheDragon Kokushibo]] and [[TheSociopath Doma]], due to the two of them being stronger than him and wants to kill them in order to take over their rank. He even declares that he'll kill Kokushibo if it's the last thing he'll do, to which Kokushibo simply wishes him luck. However, Doma is possibly the one demon Akaza hates with true passion, since it's implied that Akaza was Upper 2, before Doma came and took the rank. [[spoiler: There's [[spoiler:There's also the fact that Doma tends to kill and devour a lot of young and beautiful female humans, something that Akaza hates, since he doesn't devour women.]]
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* WouldHurtAChild: Not surprising given his cruel personality and [[ImAHumanitarian demon biology]]. But he notably does his absolute most to kill the 14 year old Muichiro, and according to the Second Fanbook, he enjoyed to specifically eat children. Then there's his fish {{Mook}} stabbing Kotetsu.
* LastOfHerKind: [[spoiler:She is the last Upper Rank to die, and her death marks an end to the Twelve Kizuki in general.]]
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* TheQuietOne: Nakime doesn't say much.
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* TheQuietOne: Nakime doesn't say much.much, only speaking when higher ranked demons directly address her. She doesn't even partake in the usual battle banter against Mitsuri and Obanai, remaining silent the whole fight.
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* NiceJobFixingItVillain: Like Enmu, she makes the grievous error of putting [[HeroicSafeMode '''Zenitsu''']] into an unconscious state.
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Merged Akaza's page according to this post
as per the changes in CSP Policy.
as per the changes in CSP Policy.Changed line(s) 15,16 (click to see context) from:
[[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaMainCharacters Main Characters]] ([[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaTanjiroKamado Tanjiro Kamado]] | [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaZenitsuAgatsuma Zenitsu Agatsuma]]) | [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaDemonSlayerCorps Demon Slayer Corps]] ([[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaHashira Hashira]] | [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaYoriichiTsugikuni Yoriichi Tsugikuni]]) | [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaDemons Demons]] ([[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaMuzanKibutsuji Muzan Kibutsuji]] | [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaTwelveKizuki Twelve Kizuki:]] '''Upper Ranks''' ([[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaKokushibo Kokushibo]] | [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaAkaza Akaza]] | [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaHantengu Hantengu]]), [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaTwelveKizukiLowerRanks Lower Ranks]]) | [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaCivilians Civilians]] | [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaDemonSlayerAcademy Demon Slayer Academy]]]]-]]]
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[[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaMainCharacters Main Characters]] ([[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaTanjiroKamado Tanjiro Kamado]] | [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaZenitsuAgatsuma Zenitsu Agatsuma]]) | [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaDemonSlayerCorps Demon Slayer Corps]] ([[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaHashira Hashira]] | [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaYoriichiTsugikuni Yoriichi Tsugikuni]]) Hashira]]) | [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaDemons Demons]] ([[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaMuzanKibutsuji Muzan Kibutsuji]] | [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaTwelveKizuki Twelve Kizuki:]] '''Upper Ranks''' ([[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaKokushibo Kokushibo]] | [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaAkaza Akaza]] | [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaHantengu Hantengu]]), [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaTwelveKizukiLowerRanks Lower Ranks]]) Hantengu]])) | [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaCivilians Civilians]] | [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaDemonSlayerAcademy Demon Slayer Academy]]]]-]]]
Changed line(s) 136,151 (click to see context) from:
-> To view tropes regarding him, click [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaAkaza here]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Hantengu]]
-> To view tropes regarding him, click [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaHantengu here]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Gyokko]]
!!Gyokko
!!!'''Voiced By''': Creator/KosukeToriumi (Japanese), Creator/BrentMukai (English)[[labelnote:Other VA]] Creator/RaulAnaya, Emiliano Montaño (Demon Fish) (Latin American Spanish), Marc Saez (French), Marcel Collé (German), Creator/PaoloDeSantis (Italian), Sun Cheng (Taiwanese Mandarin)[[/labelnote]]
[[quoteright:1000:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gyokko_0.png]]
[[caption-width-right:1000:[[labelnote:Click here to see his true form]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2023_11_23_at_40034_pm.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->''"Bow to my perfect form of beauty!"''
Upper-5. Gyokko is a sadistic demon with an insane anatomical appearance and [[MadArtist holds a deep infatuation with his own artistry]].
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Hantengu]]
-> To view tropes regarding him, click [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaHantengu here]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Gyokko]]
!!Gyokko
!!!'''Voiced By''': Creator/KosukeToriumi (Japanese), Creator/BrentMukai (English)[[labelnote:Other VA]] Creator/RaulAnaya, Emiliano Montaño (Demon Fish) (Latin American Spanish), Marc Saez (French), Marcel Collé (German), Creator/PaoloDeSantis (Italian), Sun Cheng (Taiwanese Mandarin)[[/labelnote]]
[[quoteright:1000:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gyokko_0.png]]
[[caption-width-right:1000:[[labelnote:Click here to see his true form]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2023_11_23_at_40034_pm.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->''"Bow to my perfect form of beauty!"''
Upper-5. Gyokko is a sadistic demon with an insane anatomical appearance and [[MadArtist holds a deep infatuation with his own artistry]].
to:
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Hantengu]]
-> To view tropes regarding him, click [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaHantengu here]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Gyokko]]
!!Gyokko
!!!'''Voiced By''':
[[caption-width-right:1000:[[labelnote:Click
[[caption-width-right:350:[[labelnote:Click here to see his
->''"Bow
->''"I only despise the weak. I only spit on weaklings. Yes. Weaklings make me sick. It is the law of nature that they be weeded out."''
Upper-3. He has been part of the Twelve Kizuki since its original formation. Presumably, he was Upper-2 before Doma usurped him. Unlike many demons, Akaza seeks to
Upper-5. Gyokko is
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* AchillesHeel: Akaza's martial arts center around reading the killing intent of his opponents. When you erase that, he's far less effective. [[spoiler:Tanjiro makes use of this by making his fighting spirit undetectable, thus giving him the upper hand in their battle.]]
* AffablyEvil: Akaza usually is civil and highly respectful towards Demon Slayers who are strong and worthy foes in his eyes. If they manage to impress him enough, he offers them to become demons.
** During the Mugen Train Arc, he's genuinely impressed by Rengoku's strength and really does want him to agree to become a demon (and perhaps even his {{Friendly Enemy}}).
** [[spoiler: During the Infinity Castle Arc, he speaks rather respectful and civill with Tanjiro, after seeing how strong he's become, admitting he was wrong about Tanjiro being weak. He's also this towards Giyu, giving him great respect as well. Because of this, he offers them to become a demon]].
* AlasPoorVillain: One of the most poignant in the series, [[spoiler:Akaza flashes back to how he lost his father, his teacher, and his love Koyuki when he was preyed upon by Muzan at his lowest. With the help of their souls, he overcomes Muzan and becomes Hakuji, weeping with guilt at having failed to protect Koyuki, who weepingly tells him "welcome home, my love," just as he forces himself to stop regenerating and disintegrates.]]
* AnArmAndALeg: While demons losing limbs and having them regenerate isn't a rare thing in Demon Slayer, Akaza stands out in those trope as his method of close combat against swordsmen coupled with his speedy regeneration makes him lose his limbs more often than other demons.
* ArcVillain:
** Ultimately becomes this in the climax of the Mugen Train Arc, [[spoiler: after Enmu fails to kill the Demon Slayers and is killed as a result]], leaving Akaza as the {{Final Boss}} of the story arc.
** He later becomes one of the Main Antagonists of the Infinity Castle Arc, alongside Kokushibo and Doma.
* ArchEnemy: He's serves as one to Tanjiro Kamado, mainly for Tanjiro's case, [[spoiler:killing his idol, Kyojuro Rengoku.]] and in Akaza's case, [[spoiler:wants payback for the humiliation he suffered from because of Tanjiro.]]
* ArrogantKungFuGuy: {{Downplayed}}. Because of his overall strength and power, Akaza greatly looks down upon humans that are weaklings to his eyes. But he does [[VillainRespect have respect humans who are strong enough to stand equal grounds with him]], such as in the case of Kyojuro and later on, [[spoiler: Tanjiro (Who he previously saw as a weakling) and Giyu]] and offers them to become a demon. [[spoiler: In the end, after Tanjiro decapitates him and breaking free of Muzan's corrupting influence, Akaza [[GracefulLoser takes his defeat very well]], which is a far cry from [[SoreLoser how he took his defeat by Rengoku]]]].
* BaddieFlattery: Akaza respects Rengoku's strength in doing reasonably well against him, but these compliments are carried with sneering and disappointment over how a human, no matter how strong, can never be a real match against powerful demons such as himself. [[spoiler:When Akaza faces Tanjiro in the Infinity Castle he repeats the same compliments he had to Rengoku and now directs them at Tanjiro, backtracking on his previous dismissal of Tanjiro as being weak and worthless, that only enrages Tanjiro as he sees Akaza's half-handed compliments as insults, especially in disrespect of Rengoku's memory as Akaza only compliments him to be disappointed over his death, this coming from Rengoku's own killer]].
* BareFistedMonk: Akaza is a ''master martial artist'' who attacks with strong, barehanded blows. Tanjiro and Giyu note on how precise and refined his martial arts moves can be during their fight.
* BareHandedBladeBlock: Akaza's reflexes are so enhanced that he managed to stop the blade of Tanjiro with his bare hands two times in a row.
* BloodKnight: Akaza ''really likes'' fighting strong opponents, as best seen with his fight against Kyojuro and later on, [[spoiler: Tanjiro and Giyu]].
* BloodbathVillainOrigin: [[spoiler:Akaza's StartOfDarkness was the murder of his fiancee and her father by a rival dojo, which led him to brutally slaughter all 67 members with his bare hands in revenge over the course of a single night. The reports of the event were so unbelievable that it was regarded as an exaggerated tall tale and eventually forgotten by time. Those who believed the stories thought it to be the work of a demon, which is what caught Muzan's attention and led to Akaza joining him.]]
* BodyHorror:
** To showcase the rapid regeneration of Upper Ranks, Akaza's arm is sliced down the middle, and he simply flops the mutilated arm in different directions before instantly healing and licking his wound.
** [[spoiler:When he breaks free of Rengoku's grip in order to hide away from the sunlight, he rips both his own arms off, and Rengoku's red sword blade is still lodged in his neck.]]
** [[spoiler:His final attack on himself to commit suicide leaves him a heavily mutilated mess. He is headless despite just regenerating his head, his arms are twisted so much they look almost emaciated, several chunks of flesh are missing, and and his spine is exposed as well as his ribs which are poking out and stabbing his body in various directions.]]
* BreakTheHaughty: [[spoiler: Let's just say Akaza did not it have easy after losing to Kyojuro. Despite killing the Flame Hashira, Akaza is forced to retreat from the sun, getting called a coward by Tanjiro, something that pissed him off greatly, all while a sword pierced his chest. To add more salt to his broken pride, Muzan brutally chews him out for killing a Hashira, but not three Demon Slayers, who weren't even Hashiras. This pretty much pisses off Akaza and he promises to kill Tanjiro for the humiliation he has to suffer from.]]
* BrokenTears: [[spoiler:His spirit as Hakuji breaks down in tears and asks for forgiveness from his lover Koyuki.]]
* BroodingBoyGentleGirl: [[spoiler: He is the Brooding Boy while his fiancee, Koyuki, is the Gentle Girl.]]
* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: [[spoiler:Back in his Hakuji days, a mere human, he was already billed as an unusual person who seemed to be way more durable and stronger than the average man, and that was before Hakuji was taken in by Keizo, who taught him martial arts. When the final tragedy of losing Keizo and Koyuki struck, Hakuji's murderous revenge showed how super human he was by literally tearing apart the bodies of 67 men, the account was so absurd the local authority shrugged off as a tall tale]].
* CombatCompliment: Akaza loves when a slayer gives him a good challenge, he was quick to praise Kyojuro for doing quite well against a demon as powerful as him, but Akaza doesn't see humans going too far against him no matter how strong they seem to be, so Akaza tries to convince Kyojuro to become a demon like him so both of them could fight each other for eternity, so they could grow stronger forever; the ever diligent Kyojuro naturally refuses the offer, preferring to fight as a human to the end, [[spoiler:dying in the process]]. [[spoiler:When Akaza fights Tanjiro later in the story, he comes to accept Tanjiro as becoming strong too; after recovering his human dignity Akaza goes further with respecting Tanjiro's strength, forcing his demon body to just stop regenerating and accept Tanjiro's timely beheading him as just too good, he has to die from it]].
* CripplingOverspecialisation: [[spoiler:While his ability to sense the killing intent of attacks normally allows him to perfectly predict where any blow is coming from, once Tanjiro develops the ability to eliminate his own killing intent he is completely unable to react to Tanjiro's attack even after Tanjiro loudly declares that he's about to decapitate Akaza.]]
* DamnYouMuscleMemory: His Destructive Compass simply pushes his body in the direction to both defend and attack, depending on the opponent's fighting style.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: And possibly one of the saddest pasts to be ever seen. [[spoiler:He was once a young fighter named Hakuji, who stole in order to get his sick father's medicine. Then his father hanged himself while wishing for his son to live a virtuous life instead of continuing to steal for him. And then he was taken in by a kind martial artist by the name of Keizo and fell in love with Keizo's daughter, Koyuki. After a few years of happiness together, Keizo and Koyuki were murdered by a rival dojo, while Hakuji was out of town. Hakuji killed all of the members of the rival dojo, in a single night, and then encountered Muzan, who turns him into a demon after being impressed with his strength and the brutal massacre he unleashed.]]
* TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget: Becoming a demon made Akaza slowly lose his memories of his humanity, [[spoiler:his father, his beloved teacher and his fiancee Koyuki. All that remained was the savage need to get stronger and fight more. It takes Tanjiro punching him in the face after he beheads him before Akaza realizes what monster he's become and finally accepts his loss.]]
--> "There was nothing left that I wanted to protect."
* ADayInTheLimelight: 3 entire chapters are dedicated to his backstory alone, and the 2 chapters featuring the Upper Ranks meeting held [[spoiler:after Daki and Gyutarou die]] are largely from his point of view.
* DeathSeeker: [[spoiler:It's implied Akaza felt this way deep down after the deaths of Keizo and Koyuki, not wanting to live in a world without the ones he loved, but becoming a demon almost made him completely forget this. When he finally remembers, he stays true to his by ''killing himself''.]]
* DespairEventHorizon: [[spoiler:He was already beginning to reach it when his ill father hung himself over his stealing. Then the death of his goodhearted mentor Keizo, and Keizo's daughter Koyuki, Akaza's fiancee, sent him over the edge. With nothing left to protect, he succumbed to Muzan and became one of the first Twelve Kizuki, even stating that he didn't care about anything anymore.]]
* {{Determinator}}: Akaza is devoted to fighting and winning. [[spoiler:Even when decapitated, he instantly tries to seize and hold his head in place to heal, and when this fails, his body, animated by his fighting spirit, continues to fight on autopilot. But once he finally acknowledges his loss to Tanjiro, he attacks himself and wills his body to not regenerate.]]
* DisproportionateRetribution: Due the lack of a full presentation of what transpired the day the [[spoiler:rival dojo decided to poison the water well Keizo and Koyuki drank from, it is unknown if the ''entire'' kendo school was in on the nefarious plan to kill Hakuji's loved ones, and possibly him as well, or just the ones actually seen poisoning the well: the master's son and his goons; nevertheless Hakuji's blood curling anger led him to kill the entire school, ''67 men slaughtered'', no questions asked, only a female maid was spared]].
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Akaza realizes the one he hated and wanted to kill most is himself. The one who sullied his master's beloved Soryu style by using it for murder and couldn't protect the ones he loved. After destroying his own body, with help from Koyuki's soul, he forces himself to stop regenerating and dies at peace.]]
* DubPersonalityChange: [[DownplayedTrope A minor example]]. When the Upper Moons are summoned after the deaths of [[spoiler:Daki and Gyutaro]], Akaza asks Nakime if Kokushibo had somehow gotten himself killed, due to his presumed absence, not knowing that he was present but hidden. However, in the Latino Spanish dub he flat out states that he hopes Kokushibo's absence was because of his death making his disdain for the demon more poignant.
* DyingAsYourself: [[spoiler:As he dies, 'Akaza', the demon who served Muzan is gone, and he becomes Hakuji, the boy who loved his father, master, and Koyuki once more. He goes to hell with Koyuki willingly following him.]]
* DynamicEntry: [[spoiler:After the Infinity Train Arc, Akaza makes his reappearance in the Dimensional Infinity Fortress arc by crashing through several levels of the fortress from above and greeting Tanjiro and Giyuu with a fist.]]
* EmpoweredBadassNormal: Akaza was a talented martial artist even before he became a superpowered demon.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: [[spoiler:He used to live with his father, master, and lover and cared very much for their well being in the past. He trained in his master's martial arts and made a vow to himself to protect them. And it was their spirits that brought him back to his original self.]]
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Doma reveals Akaza would refuse to eat or even kill women despite the former's insistence that they would have made him stronger. That could also explain why Akaza hates Doma with extreme passion, besides power. [[spoiler:It's implied that this is because of Koyuki.]]
* EvilVirtues: Akaza possess two:
** {{Determinat|or}}ion. Akaza has a strong sense of determination on winning, no matter what. [[spoiler: Case in point, despite being decapitated by Tanjiro during the {{Final Battle}}, he doesn't die immediately and continues to fight, all while regenerating his head. If he didn't lose the will to fight, he would've easily killed both Tanjiro and Giyu, both of whom were really exhausted from their fight.]]
** [[VillainRespect Respect.]] Akaza tends to have strong respect for warriors that manage to impress him, to the point of offering them to become a demon. Case in point, he gave respect to Kyojuro for his strength, swordsmanship, and later on, [[spoiler: in the {{Final Battle}}, he gave his respect to Tanjiro for growing stronger, and to Giyu, for his strength and skills. In the end, after being decapitated by Tanjiro, [[GracefulLoser he takes his defeat well]] and praises Tanjiro.]]
* ExoticEyeDesigns: His number is carved into his irises, and his sclerae appear bloodshot or cracked. Additionally, he has an odd kind of fluffy eyelashes that surround his eyes completely.
* FacialMarkings: Stripes. They're on the rest of his body, too.
* FantasticRacism: Believes that humans are inferior to demons because they will grow old and die. He wants to "save" strong humans like Rengoku from this fate by offering them the opportunity to become demons. [[spoiler:In the end, he remembers the actual weak humans he hated were those like the member of the rival dojo, who poisoned his fiance and mentor because they couldn't defeat either him or Hakuji in a fair fight, and himself, who forgot his father's last wish and sullied his beloved mentor's fighting style with blood.]]
* FlashStep: Akaza is capable of moving fast enough to [[NoIAmBehindYou appear behind his opponents for a suprise counter.]]
* FinalBossPreview: He broadly serves as this for the Upper Ranks as a whole. He makes a surprise appearance[[spoiler: at the ending of the Train arc, providing a brief, but extremely difficult fight and even claims Rengoku's life]]. The actual climactic showdown with him doesn't actually take place until much later, and his first apperance was basically a taste of the might of the Upper Ranks.
* FirstNameBasis: Goes straight to using Rengoku's given name, Kyojuro, during their confrontation. He also does the same for Tanjiro when they meet again, as well as for Giyu; despite Giyu refusing to give his name, Akaza hears Tanjiro when he cries out Giyu's name.
* ForcedIntoEvil: [[spoiler: Due to losing the will to live, Hakuji accepts Muzan's offer to become a demon, not caring about his fate anymore. And as a result on becoming the demon, Akaza, he loses the memories of his human life.]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Many of his lines to Rengoku about his view of human weakness and his anger at Rengoku's refusal to become a demon are big hints towards [[spoiler: his past and heartbreaking obsession to become stronger.]]
** His reaction to Tanjiro calling him a coward is rather unique. He stops dead on his tracks for a second as he looks like he is about to ''cry''. Bear in mind that he has a [[spoiler:sword impaled in his chest]] and the sun is about to come out and fry him, but what gets him is getting called a coward. [[spoiler:The most tragic event in Akaza's life was the murder of his mentor and his fiancee, which was performed by a rival dojo, which Akaza considered a bunch of coward fools, who poisoned them. His uniquely startled reaction at getting called one is a hint that there is more to the murderhappy demon we just saw, something that was helped by Tanjiro subconsciously reminding Akaza of his mentor.]]
* FullContactMagic: With most demons' powers working in ways that simply allow their powers to do the fighting for them, Akaza is unique in how his Blood Demon Arts manifest solely in ways that make him better as a physical fighter. Every single technique he uses is related to martial arts.
* GeniusBruiser: Akaza proves that he's not only a stronger fighter, but he's also a strategic tactician, being capable of instantly evolving and adapting to any attacks or techniques his opponents uses, to the point of even predicting them, allowing him to fight more effectively. [[spoiler: Even as a human, Akaza was able to beat up grown adults without martial arts training.]]
* GoOutWithASmile: [[spoiler:Akaza's final act befor e self-destructing is to give a warm smile to his enemy Tanjiro. He is the only demon among the Upper Ranks who dies content without suffering some form of UndignifiedDeath, thanks to regaining his memories and [[DyingAsYourself Dying As Himself]].]]
* GracefulLoser: [[spoiler:When Akaza is finally free of Muzan's influence due the workings of all his long-dead loved ones' spirits still trying to reach the human Hakuji buried deep inside the demon Akaza, he ceases all his bloodlust for winning against Tanjiro and Giyu, forcing himself to stop regenerating, reasoning that Tanjiro's Transparent World attack was the pinnacle of martial arts so he should have been killed by it if he hadn't "cheated" by overcoming death through decapitation by a nichirin blade; that's a far cry from his desperation to survive lest the sun burnt him down way back against Rengoku]].
* HappilyMarried: [[spoiler: ''Tragically {{Subverted}}''. Hakuji and Koyuki weren't really official just yet, but the two were seen to be heavily happy with each other and even look more happy about becoming a married couple. Tragically, she and her father were poisoned by a rival dojo, causing Hakuji to lose the will to live and becoming a {{Death Seeker}} as a result. And then Muzan had to show up...]]
* HavingABlast: Akaza's many barrages of punches and kicks are named similarly to certain japanese fireworks, and they have an added visual effect akin to that of a pulse blast, made more clear while it is shown in animated form. [[spoiler:It is another reference to his happy days as a human being, the event in which he could finally take his fiancé Koyuki to watch a fireworks festival]].
* HealingFactor: He shows the best one of all the Twelve Kizuki so far, with him regrowing entire limbs pretty much the same second after they are cut. Justified in that his fighting style requires for his body to be intact since he makes no use of weapons.
* HeirInLaw: [[spoiler:Was poised to become his mentor's successor and son-in-law in one fell swoop, and he couldn't have been happier about it. Only for everything to go wrong before he became this.]]
* HeroKiller: [[spoiler:Ends up killing Rengoku in the Mugen Train Arc. It's also revealed that he defeated several of the previous Pillars in the past as well.]]
* HumanizingTears: [[spoiler: As he finally regains his humanity, Akaza begins showing tears as he sees Koyuki in his final moments, showing that Hakuji has finally regain his humanity.]]
* {{Hypocrite}}: For all his posturing of the nobility of perfecting oneself as a martial artist with the goal of dying by the hands of a WorthyOpponent, Akaza, as all demons are, is ultimately still a cowardly parasite that scurried into the shadows like a cockroach at the first sight of the sun, by ''tearing his own arms off'' like a fleeing lizard's own tail as [[spoiler: Rengoku]] clamped onto them in an ironclad death grip. If he had been a ''true'' warrior like he proclaim himself to be, Akaza would have ''let'' the sun obliterate him with dignity, and received his idealized martial artist's death from a foe he respected. [[spoiler: Once he reawakens his human memories, however, he subverts this, as he accepts that Tanjiro had defeated him and destroys his own body, stopping himself from regenerating.]]
* InstantRunes: When Akaza gets in stance to use his power Destructive Compass, a rune in the form of a snowflake-like compass manifests below his feet, representing his ability to tell which direction that all attacks with deadly intent are coming from. [[spoiler:The snowflake-like appearance is also a subconscious reference to his deceased fiancee Koyuki, who had snowflakes as her motif.]]
* IronicName: [[spoiler:Hakuji, his original name, derives from the same kanji as the komainu, statues of lion-dog guardian deities who ward off evil spirits. The tragedy of his situation is from him being unable to protect anyone he loved and becoming a demon as a consequence.]]
* {{Irony}}:
** Throughout his appearances, he's been attempting to get stronger than Kokushibo and Doma. [[spoiler:When he finally has the opportunity to become stronger than them, he obtains his life memories and remembers he wanted to be stronger to protect the people he loved, but they are long dead. As he's embraced by the spirits of his father, teacher, and fiancee, he willingly discards the opportunity and peacefully passes away.]]
-->[[spoiler:'''Kokushibo''': Akaza... weren't you going to defeat me? A path had open for him to attain further heights... but he renounced it himself.]]
** His StartOfDarkness began [[spoiler:when a dojo of samurai poisoned his mentor and fiancée to death over the fact they couldn't beat him or Keizo in a straight fight to claim Keizo's dojo. What finally gets Akaza to accept his loss and pass on in peace is being punched in the face by Tanjiro, a sword wielder.]]
** [[spoiler:He has one of the most tragic backstories in the series by far, yet Tanjiro who usually feels pity for equally tragic demons in their final moments spared none of that to Akaza, during their fight Tanjiro just refuted Akaza's twisted world view and was bewildered by his suicide, feeling something changed inside him. Two factors might have contributed to that: 1) Tanjiro was still irate with Akaza for being the one who killed Kyojuro, and 2) Akaza's backstory is only given to the reader, while Tanjiro doesn't pick up during their battle why Akaza turned out to be like that as a demon.]]
* ItsPersonal: [[spoiler: After suffering a humiliating defeat by the hands of Rengoku and Tanjiro calling him a coward for retreating from the sun, Akaza is gunning out the opportunity to kill Tanjiro. The feeling is clearly mutual with Tanjiro]].
* ItsPersonalWithTheDragon: While Tanjiro has his sights set on Muzan for destroying his peaceful life by killing almost his entire family, Tanjiro also developed a very personal grudge against Muzan's third best demon, Akaza, for being the one who [[spoiler:killed Kyojuro Rengoku the Flame Hashira whom Tanjiro bonded with so quickly]]. Tanjiro vs. Akaza by the Infinite Castle arc ends up being a fight where Tanjiro reserves his ire to the fact Akaza [[spoiler:killed Rengoku]] and keeps spouting his survival of the fittest ideal, unlike many other instances where Tanjiro brings up the fact demons are terrible for preying on humans in general; made more poignant with the fact [[spoiler:Tanjiro never gets know why Akaza became such a twisted demon, the man has one of the most tragic stories in the series by far, but since Tanjiro (who often feels some pity for tragic demons) doesn't know that, he has none to spare for Akaza.]]
* KickTheDog: [[spoiler:Akaza decides to gloat about being glad that Rengoku died, since his death made Tanjiro stronger than before and stated that his wordview was dumb. While Akaza meant it as a compliment, Tanjiro justifiably sees it as him insulting Rengoku, and it greatly pisses him off.]]
* KnightOfCerebus: He is the first Upper Rank that appeared and since then more Upper Ranks showed up, and the named Demon Slayers started dropping like flies one by one.
* LauncherMove: Two of Akaza's kick-based Demon Blood Art moves involve him kicking high enough to launch his opponent into the air. One move is doing a reverse rising axe kick while the other move is doing a high rising side kick.
* LifeOrLimbDecision: At the end of his fight with Kyojuro, as the sun was coming up his limbs were to still held in place by the almost dead Hashira. He was forced to tear off his own arms to escape in time.
* LightningBruiser: Even for the Upper Ranks, Akaza is insanely fast, and his fighting style revolves around dealing out monstrous blows while also tanking lots of damage.
* MadeOfIron: [[spoiler: In his human life, Hakuji's inhumane endurance allowed him to endure ''100 beatings'', something that could make a grown man go numb. And he was ''eleven years old at the time.'']]
* MarkOfShame: Those ring-like tattoos on his arms are brands to mark him for repeated theft, those stripes eventually covered his entire body as a demon, as symbolism for him becoming a bigger criminal than he could ever hope to be as a mere human being.
* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: During his introduction in the Mugen Train Arc, Akaza tries to kill Tanjiro. When Kyojuro cuts his arm in a split, Akaza calmly jumps back away and proceeds to regenerate it back quickly, complimenting his sword and licking his wound.
* MissingMom: Raised by a single father with absolutely no mention or appearance from his mother.
* MoralityPet: [[spoiler: The spirits of his father, his fiancee, Koyuki, and his mentor and father-in-law, Keizo helps Akaza remember who he truly was before in the past and regains his humanity in the end.]]
* NearVillainVictory: [[spoiler:His body fights on even after Tanjiro and Giyu cut his head off, leaving them with pretty much no options for killing him. He only dies by killing ''himself'']].
* NotInThisForYourRevolution: The 2nd Databook states that while Akaza is completely loyal to Muzan, Akaza doesn't personally like him or any of his fellow demons, nor personally cares about Muzan's goals, Akaza is loyal for loyalty's sake, almost in a professional manner; he is a demon with no recollection of his past life but Akaza's diligence as a warrior seemly was too deeply imprinted on him, so even as a malicious demon Akaza respectively follows his demonic master without question because that's what a dutiful warrior does. [[spoiler:When Akaza finds his humanity again during his final fight, all that loyalty goes straight back his beloved human family trying to reach his heart from beyond the grave, nurturing enough willpower to directly break Muzan's influence over his mind]].
* OffWithHisHead: [[spoiler:Tanjiro successfully cut Akaza's head off with Giyu throwing his sword to ensure that he doesn't stick it back on. However, Akaza's extrodinary willpower allows him to continue fighting even without a head and would have regrown it back if he didn't concede and self-destruct.]]
* OneManArmy: [[spoiler: He killed all 67 members of the rival dojo when they poisoned his fiancee and her father, the only people who trusted him, sparing only a single maid. ''As a human''.]]
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Albeit not quite {{Keet}}, Akaza is a fairly friendly and upbeat fellow, as much as a demon seeking to kill the main characters can be. In both of his fights, he converses casually and remains gleeful without being bloodlusted, just enjoying the combat on itself. However, when Doma and Kokushibo are around his demeanor becomes extremely cold, prone to anger and trigger happy.
* PayEvilUntoEvil: He [[spoiler: kills the entire dojo involved in the poisoning of his fiancee and her father which was conducted just to grab their land and the dojo associated with it. It was so vicious that ''Muzan'' himself was highly impressed by it and used it to recruit Akaza. Despite the event marking his FaceHeelTurn and BloodbathVillainOrigin, it is hard to say the rival dojo didn't deserve what they got.]]
* PoliteVillainsRudeHeroes: The polite villain to Kyojuro's rude hero, albeit downplayed regarding the latter.
* RapidFireFisticuffs: Some of Akaza's Demon Blood Arts involve him punching really fast and really hard. He can also kick really fast as well.
* RazorSharpHand: Akaza's hand chopping martial arts moves are sharp as blades and are capable of breaking the ground.
* RazorWind: He does a fist fighting variation where he punches the air so hard, it converts into air projectiles that knockback his opponents.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:The only demon in the series, still bound to Muzan, who managed to regain his will before dying, unlike others who regained theirs on death's door; the enduring, centuries long, love from Hakuji's father, wife and father-in-law wielded results at the climax of Akaza's fight against Tanjiro and Giyu, as it started to unlock Akaza's memories of his time as the human Hakuji, when Akaza was actually set to grow in power to new heights after overcoming decapitation it's when Hakuji takes over, embracing his humanity again, giving the demon path away, attacking his own regenerating body to finally die and go to hell with his wife Koyuki, who refused paradise to be there with him]].
* TheReliableOne: The databook has Muzan's relationship chart link Akaza as the one Upper Rank he values in being diligently loyal towards him, other than Kokushibo who is linked as his official right-hand. That being the likely reason for why Muzan allowed Akaza to only eat men, as Doma remarked that Akaza being able to refuse devouring women was by Muzan's own permission.
* RemovedAchillesHeel: [[spoiler:He survives decapitation with sheer willpower, and continues fighting without a head until it almost regenerated.]]
* TheResenter: Badly loathes Doma and Kokushibo for being stronger than him, even if he became a demon before Doma did.
* RevengeBeforeReason: [[spoiler:The backstory behind the cowardly poisoning of Hakuji's fiancé Koyuki and father-in-law Keizo showed only a few members of the rival dojo was part of this underhanded maneuver, but Hakuji was so blinded with murderous rage that he ended up killing every single member of the dojo, more than sixty men, only their female maid was spared]].
* TheRival: Akaza has special hatred and envy for both [[TheDragon Kokushibo]] and [[TheSociopath Doma]], due to the two of them being stronger than him and wants to kill them in order to take over their rank. He even declares that he'll kill Kokushibo if it's the last thing he'll do, to which Kokushibo simply wishes him luck. However, Doma is possibly the one demon Akaza hates with true passion, since it's implied that Akaza was Upper 2, before Doma came and took the rank. [[spoiler: There's also the fact that Doma tends to kill and devour a lot of young and beautiful female humans, something that Akaza hates, since he doesn't devour women.]]
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: [[spoiler:As a human when his mentor and beloved died, Akaza slaughtered the dojo who murdered them with his bare hands, only sparing a single maid who went mad. The carnage was so brutal; the written account was regarded as fictitious.]]
* SayMyName: After encountering him again in the Infinity Castle Arc, Akaza greets Tanjiro by screaming his name. In return, the furious boy responds by screaming Akaza's name.
* ShadowArchetype: Akaza is quite similar to Giyu in terms of backstory, [[spoiler:with both being burdened by their past failures to protect people dear to them. Except Akaza is Giyu without someone like Tanjiro to snap him out of his guilt-ridden mindset, which leads him past DespairEventHorizon and into Muzan's influence.]]
* SmugSuper: Akaza loves a good a fight, usually smiling confidently throughout most of his battles, however, that confident smile is for when he believes to be having the upper hand, when things get serious Akaza gets calm and focused; however, when things seem to be turning against him he isn't above showing sincere frustration.
* TheSocialDarwinist: Tied with his immense need for fighting strong opponents Akaza shows extreme disdain for those he deems to be weak, saying word for word their natural outcome is to simply perish in the wake of those in power culling them along the way; Akaza also shows he is kind of a determinist, believing the strong are fated to be so, but the the weak will always be weak. However, as the story unfolds Akaza's ideology is shown to be a result of [[spoiler:his quite tragic past, where his great physical strength as a human didn't help those he loved in the slightest, they died in ways his might was unable to prevent it from happening - his sick father committed suicide to spare his son a life of constant worry, and even thieving, to support him; his bride (who was sickly when he met her at the first time) and father-in-law were fatally poisoned in the middle a dispute against a rival dojo - all of that led Akaza to a downward spiral, which corrupted him when forcefully turned into a demon, forgetting his life as the human Hakuji, his new demonic mind warped his pain from losing his loved ones to a sick love for strength, and complete hatred for the weak, which ironically was his total opposite belief back when he was human, Hakuji loved his weak and sick father and later his would-be wife and liked taking care of them.]]
* SoreLoser: [[spoiler: Despite killing Kyojuro at the climax of the Mugen Train Arc, Akaza was forced to retreat due to the sun, failing to kill Tanjiro and the others, making Kyojuro the true winner. Getting called a coward by Tanjiro and Muzan brutally chewing him out for failing his mission only added more salt to Akaza's pride, causing him to develop a personal grudge against the boy.]]
* SuperReflexes: Akaza has very fast reflexes and can easily dodge and block moves. This is due to having his Destructive Compass Demon Blood Art that allows him to read his opponent's movements.
* SuperStrength: Akaza's natural strength is enhanced by his demon blood, so every move he makes is extremely powerful. In fact, the force of his strength is so powerful, even resisting his moves can take a huge toll. Tanjiro had attempted to block Akaza's moves, but the forceful impact of Akaza's moves directly went through Tanjiro's resistance and caused internal damage to him such as nose bleeding and vomiting.
* TearsOfRemorse: [[spoiler: After finally regaining his humanity, Akaza begins heavily crying, as he embraces Koyuki, apologizing for not being there for her.]]
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: He doesn't exactly have good relations with his fellow Upper Ranks. He hates Doma for his friendly and casual demeanor, which he sees through as fake. He also has a deep-seated rivalry with Kokushibo, who often reprimands the demon for picking fights with his superior Doma, with the disgruntled demon vowing to kill Kokushibo. He also doesn't seem to be friends with Gyokko, as when he first meets Gyokko after a 113 year period, the Upper 5 demon teases Akaza by stating that he thought Akaza might've perished which made his heart "sing", before coughing to say that he was actually full of anguish. Akaza simply scowled at this interaction.
* TokenGoodTeammate: Shares this spot with Kokushibo, as [[DownplayedTrope they are the only two surviving members of the Kizuki]] (excluding Gyutaro and Daki) with genuinely tragic backstories and a certain degree of respect for humans, unlike the other members, who view humans as beneath them and are FauxAffablyEvil at best.
* TorsoWithAView: [[spoiler:Akaza's main finishing move is sticking a fist through his opponents abdomen. He did one to Rengoku and would have done the same to Giyu, had Tanjiro not intervened and disarmed Akaza.]]
* TragicVillain: [[spoiler:Probably the worst example in the entire series, which is already full of very Tragic Villains, such as Rui, Gyutaro, and Daki. Like so many demons, Muzan preyed upon him at his lowest point when he was just broken after losing the people that he truly loved. Because of Muzan's corrupting influence, Akaza slowly forgot his love for his father, his mentor and his fiancee Koyuki until all that remained was the thrill of fighting and the hunger for strength.]]
* TsurimeEyes: Not the only character in the manga to have them, but his are especially distinct.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: [[spoiler:The unscrupulous dojo next door when Akaza was still known as Hakuji. He was so close to turn his life around, offered to be the dojo successor as well as taking his master's daughter in marriage. But their poisoning of the family just to possess their land put a kibosh on that route, Muzan offered Hakuji power, thus Akaza was born and much bloodshed and tragedy ensued.]]
* UsedToBeASweetKid: [[spoiler:Akaza was once a boy named Hakuji who although was a rambunctious delinquent, loved his sick father, and eventually dearly loved his mentor Keizo and Keizo's daughter Koyuki. Then they were poisoned and Hakuji succumbed to his rage and despair...which is where Muzan found him.]]
* UndyingLoyalty: Akaza is known for being a loyal follower of Muzan, often showing anger at those who show any sign of disrespect and/or disobedience towards him, as best seen with Doma. Because of his strong loyalty, Muzan is highly fond of him. [[spoiler: This surprisingly becomes {{Subverted}}, since Akaza only follows Muzan not out of respect, awe, or fear of his power, instead simply viewing him as a superior who gives orders and he carries them out. In the end, after being defeated and decapitated by Tanjiro, he overcomes Muzan's control of him so he could stop his regeneration and finally die]].
* VibrationManipulation: Akaza's Blood Demon Art is a combination of the Soryu Style martial arts he mastered as a human and the ability to manipulate devastating shockwaves.
* VillainCred: Surprisingly enough, averted with Muzan. According the databooks, he has no emotional attachment to Muzan, not fear, not respect, not hate, just blind loyalty for the sake of it.
* VillainRespect: Akaza has genuine respect for Rengoku's skills and wishes him to become a demon to get stronger alongside Akaza. Even when [[spoiler:he has his fist sticking through Rengoku's chest, he's practically begging Rengoku to become a demon like him, so he won't die.]] He later admits he was wrong about Tanjiro being weak and offers him respect as well, saying the same to Giyu Tomioka. [[spoiler:And in Akaza's final moments after self-destructing, he admits that [[GracefulLoser he lost the match fair and square to Tanjiro after he used the Transparent World state to defeat Akaza.]]]]
* VillainousValor: [[spoiler: Up to an awesome degree. Despite being decapitated by the hands of Tanjiro, Akaza refused to die and with sheer willpower, he continued to control his headless body and kept on batting the already tired Tanjiro and Giyu. He even managed to nearly regrew his head with his regenerative abilities, a feat that none of the other demons (with the sole exception of Muzan) have ever achieved up until that point. If he didn't remember his past life and lost the will to fight, then he would've successfully kill Tanjiro and Giyu.]]
* WakeUpCallBoss: The Twelve Kizuki up to this point had been tough, but beatable and the Hashira could easily bring them down, as seen by [[spoiler:Tomioka delivering a CurbstompBattle to Rui, and Tanjiro (who is not even a Hashira) is able to provide the final blow to Enmu.]] But Akaza is a monster and even if Rengoku is able to do impressively well, [[spoiler:he has no true chance in a straight fight, his death demonstrating exactly how the Upper Ranks are no joke.]]
* WalkingShirtlessScene: Akaza tends to wear very little on his upper body.
* WalkingSpoiler: More so than all the other Twelve Kizuki, as evidenced by how censored his entry is here. It is very difficult to talk about him at all, as the context of his very first appearance is a spoiler in of itself and one of the first things he does is [[spoiler:killing Rengoku]]. On top of this, the details of his character and motivations are themselves enormous spoilers.
* WhyWontYouDie: [[spoiler: Even when being decapitated by Tanjiro, Akaza ''still kept fighting'' and began regrowing his head, thanks to his strong sheer will. If he hadn't lost the will to fight, then Akaza would've successfully survive his battle with Tanjiro and Giyu.]]
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Akaza is one of the strongest and most dangerous of Twelve Kizuki, which he demonstrates in his EstablishingCharacterMoment where he [[spoiler:immediately attacks an already injured Tanjiro and [[TorsoWithAView punches a hole through Rengoku's stomach]], [[HeroKiller killing him]]]]. However, upon learning just how pitiful his life was [[spoiler:(from his father commiting suicide to save him from a life of crime, to his master and fiancee being poisoned while he was away)]] it's hard ''not'' to understand why he became so unhinged.
* WorthyOpponent: Whenever someone is strong enough to stand their ground against, Akaza tends to declare them worthy foes and offers them to become demons. For example:
** He considers Kyojuro Rengoku to be this, wanting him to become a demon to preserve his amazing skill and so they can fight forever.
** After meeting again, he believes Tanjiro is a worthy adversary, as well. He also extends this to Giyu, inviting him to become a demon during their battle.
* WouldntHitAGirl: According to Doma, Akaza would not eat or kill women, something he found strange. [[spoiler:It's implied to be because of his fiance.]]
* WoundLicking: Gloats over his closing wounds by licking them.
* WreckedWeapon: Akaza has a unique move of his own called Bell Breaker, where he hits the side of an incoming blade with his back hand and breaking the blade in the process. Giyu unfortunately gets the short end of the stick by Akaza's move.
* YankTheDogsChain: The reason for his TragicVillain status. [[spoiler:Born in poverty, he's been committing crimes to take care of his ailing father, until he committed suicide to spare his son from a criminal lifestyle. Akaza almost had a happy ending when a dojo master took him in, and offered to make him successor as well as take his daughter's hand in marriage. Unfortunately, the unscrupulous dojo next door used poison to murder the family while Akaza was away, and things went downhill from there.]]
* YouAreWorthHell: [[spoiler: As Hakuji is going to Hell for his crimes, Koyuki decides to join him to ensure he doesn't have to be alone. In a FreezeFrameBonus moment, the silhouette of his father and mentor are seen standing with them, heavily implying that they too will join Akaza in Hell.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Hantengu]]
-> To view tropes regarding him, click [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaHantengu here]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Gyokko]]
!!Gyokko
!!!'''Voiced By''': Creator/KosukeToriumi (Japanese), Creator/BrentMukai (English)[[labelnote:Other VA]] Creator/RaulAnaya, Emiliano Montaño (Demon Fish) (Latin American Spanish), Marc Saez (French), Marcel Collé (German), Creator/PaoloDeSantis (Italian), Sun Cheng (Taiwanese Mandarin)[[/labelnote]]
[[quoteright:1000:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gyokko_0.png]]
[[caption-width-right:1000:[[labelnote:Click here to see his true form]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2023_11_23_at_40034_pm.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->''"Bow to my perfect form of beauty!"''
Upper-5. Gyokko is a sadistic demon with an insane anatomical appearance and [[MadArtist holds a deep infatuation with his own artistry]].
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* AffablyEvil: Akaza usually is civil and highly respectful towards Demon Slayers who are strong and worthy foes in his eyes. If they manage to impress him enough, he offers them to become demons.
** During the Mugen Train Arc, he's genuinely impressed by Rengoku's strength and really does want him to agree to become a demon (and perhaps even his {{Friendly Enemy}}).
** [[spoiler: During the Infinity Castle Arc, he speaks rather respectful and civill with Tanjiro, after seeing how strong he's become, admitting he was wrong about Tanjiro being weak. He's also this towards Giyu, giving him great respect as well. Because of this, he offers them to become a demon]].
* AlasPoorVillain: One of the most poignant in the series, [[spoiler:Akaza flashes back to how he lost his father, his teacher, and his love Koyuki when he was preyed upon by Muzan at his lowest. With the help of their souls, he overcomes Muzan and becomes Hakuji, weeping with guilt at having failed to protect Koyuki, who weepingly tells him "welcome home, my love," just as he forces himself to stop regenerating and disintegrates.]]
* AnArmAndALeg: While demons losing limbs and having them regenerate isn't a rare thing in Demon Slayer, Akaza stands out in those trope as his method of close combat against swordsmen coupled with his speedy regeneration makes him lose his limbs more often than other demons.
* ArcVillain:
** Ultimately becomes this in the climax of the Mugen Train Arc, [[spoiler: after Enmu fails to kill the Demon Slayers and is killed as a result]], leaving Akaza as the {{Final Boss}} of the story arc.
** He later becomes one of the Main Antagonists of the Infinity Castle Arc, alongside Kokushibo and Doma.
* ArchEnemy: He's serves as one to Tanjiro Kamado, mainly for Tanjiro's case, [[spoiler:killing his idol, Kyojuro Rengoku.]] and in Akaza's case, [[spoiler:wants payback for the humiliation he suffered from because of Tanjiro.]]
* ArrogantKungFuGuy: {{Downplayed}}. Because of his overall strength and power, Akaza greatly looks down upon humans that are weaklings to his eyes. But he does [[VillainRespect have respect humans who are strong enough to stand equal grounds with him]], such as in the case of Kyojuro and later on, [[spoiler: Tanjiro (Who he previously saw as a weakling) and Giyu]] and offers them to become a demon. [[spoiler: In the end, after Tanjiro decapitates him and breaking free of Muzan's corrupting influence, Akaza [[GracefulLoser takes his defeat very well]], which is a far cry from [[SoreLoser how he took his defeat by Rengoku]]]].
* BaddieFlattery: Akaza respects Rengoku's strength in doing reasonably well against him, but these compliments are carried with sneering and disappointment over how a human, no matter how strong, can never be a real match against powerful demons such as himself. [[spoiler:When Akaza faces Tanjiro in the Infinity Castle he repeats the same compliments he had to Rengoku and now directs them at Tanjiro, backtracking on his previous dismissal of Tanjiro as being weak and worthless, that only enrages Tanjiro as he sees Akaza's half-handed compliments as insults, especially in disrespect of Rengoku's memory as Akaza only compliments him to be disappointed over his death, this coming from Rengoku's own killer]].
* BareFistedMonk: Akaza is a ''master martial artist'' who attacks with strong, barehanded blows. Tanjiro and Giyu note on how precise and refined his martial arts moves can be during their fight.
* BareHandedBladeBlock: Akaza's reflexes are so enhanced that he managed to stop the blade of Tanjiro with his bare hands two times in a row.
* BloodKnight: Akaza ''really likes'' fighting strong opponents, as best seen with his fight against Kyojuro and later on, [[spoiler: Tanjiro and Giyu]].
* BloodbathVillainOrigin: [[spoiler:Akaza's StartOfDarkness was the murder of his fiancee and her father by a rival dojo, which led him to brutally slaughter all 67 members with his bare hands in revenge over the course of a single night. The reports of the event were so unbelievable that it was regarded as an exaggerated tall tale and eventually forgotten by time. Those who believed the stories thought it to be the work of a demon, which is what caught Muzan's attention and led to Akaza joining him.]]
* BodyHorror:
** To showcase the rapid regeneration of Upper Ranks, Akaza's arm is sliced down the middle, and he simply flops the mutilated arm in different directions before instantly healing and licking his wound.
** [[spoiler:When he breaks free of Rengoku's grip in order to hide away from the sunlight, he rips both his own arms off, and Rengoku's red sword blade is still lodged in his neck.]]
** [[spoiler:His final attack on himself to commit suicide leaves him a heavily mutilated mess. He is headless despite just regenerating his head, his arms are twisted so much they look almost emaciated, several chunks of flesh are missing, and and his spine is exposed as well as his ribs which are poking out and stabbing his body in various directions.]]
* BreakTheHaughty: [[spoiler: Let's just say Akaza did not it have easy after losing to Kyojuro. Despite killing the Flame Hashira, Akaza is forced to retreat from the sun, getting called a coward by Tanjiro, something that pissed him off greatly, all while a sword pierced his chest. To add more salt to his broken pride, Muzan brutally chews him out for killing a Hashira, but not three Demon Slayers, who weren't even Hashiras. This pretty much pisses off Akaza and he promises to kill Tanjiro for the humiliation he has to suffer from.]]
* BrokenTears: [[spoiler:His spirit as Hakuji breaks down in tears and asks for forgiveness from his lover Koyuki.]]
* BroodingBoyGentleGirl: [[spoiler: He is the Brooding Boy while his fiancee, Koyuki, is the Gentle Girl.]]
* CharlesAtlasSuperpower: [[spoiler:Back in his Hakuji days, a mere human, he was already billed as an unusual person who seemed to be way more durable and stronger than the average man, and that was before Hakuji was taken in by Keizo, who taught him martial arts. When the final tragedy of losing Keizo and Koyuki struck, Hakuji's murderous revenge showed how super human he was by literally tearing apart the bodies of 67 men, the account was so absurd the local authority shrugged off as a tall tale]].
* CombatCompliment: Akaza loves when a slayer gives him a good challenge, he was quick to praise Kyojuro for doing quite well against a demon as powerful as him, but Akaza doesn't see humans going too far against him no matter how strong they seem to be, so Akaza tries to convince Kyojuro to become a demon like him so both of them could fight each other for eternity, so they could grow stronger forever; the ever diligent Kyojuro naturally refuses the offer, preferring to fight as a human to the end, [[spoiler:dying in the process]]. [[spoiler:When Akaza fights Tanjiro later in the story, he comes to accept Tanjiro as becoming strong too; after recovering his human dignity Akaza goes further with respecting Tanjiro's strength, forcing his demon body to just stop regenerating and accept Tanjiro's timely beheading him as just too good, he has to die from it]].
* CripplingOverspecialisation: [[spoiler:While his ability to sense the killing intent of attacks normally allows him to perfectly predict where any blow is coming from, once Tanjiro develops the ability to eliminate his own killing intent he is completely unable to react to Tanjiro's attack even after Tanjiro loudly declares that he's about to decapitate Akaza.]]
* DamnYouMuscleMemory: His Destructive Compass simply pushes his body in the direction to both defend and attack, depending on the opponent's fighting style.
* DarkAndTroubledPast: And possibly one of the saddest pasts to be ever seen. [[spoiler:He was once a young fighter named Hakuji, who stole in order to get his sick father's medicine. Then his father hanged himself while wishing for his son to live a virtuous life instead of continuing to steal for him. And then he was taken in by a kind martial artist by the name of Keizo and fell in love with Keizo's daughter, Koyuki. After a few years of happiness together, Keizo and Koyuki were murdered by a rival dojo, while Hakuji was out of town. Hakuji killed all of the members of the rival dojo, in a single night, and then encountered Muzan, who turns him into a demon after being impressed with his strength and the brutal massacre he unleashed.]]
* TheDarkSideWillMakeYouForget: Becoming a demon made Akaza slowly lose his memories of his humanity, [[spoiler:his father, his beloved teacher and his fiancee Koyuki. All that remained was the savage need to get stronger and fight more. It takes Tanjiro punching him in the face after he beheads him before Akaza realizes what monster he's become and finally accepts his loss.]]
--> "There was nothing left that I wanted to protect."
* ADayInTheLimelight: 3 entire chapters are dedicated to his backstory alone, and the 2 chapters featuring the Upper Ranks meeting held [[spoiler:after Daki and Gyutarou die]] are largely from his point of view.
* DeathSeeker: [[spoiler:It's implied Akaza felt this way deep down after the deaths of Keizo and Koyuki, not wanting to live in a world without the ones he loved, but becoming a demon almost made him completely forget this. When he finally remembers, he stays true to his by ''killing himself''.]]
* DespairEventHorizon: [[spoiler:He was already beginning to reach it when his ill father hung himself over his stealing. Then the death of his goodhearted mentor Keizo, and Keizo's daughter Koyuki, Akaza's fiancee, sent him over the edge. With nothing left to protect, he succumbed to Muzan and became one of the first Twelve Kizuki, even stating that he didn't care about anything anymore.]]
* {{Determinator}}: Akaza is devoted to fighting and winning. [[spoiler:Even when decapitated, he instantly tries to seize and hold his head in place to heal, and when this fails, his body, animated by his fighting spirit, continues to fight on autopilot. But once he finally acknowledges his loss to Tanjiro, he attacks himself and wills his body to not regenerate.]]
* DisproportionateRetribution: Due the lack of a full presentation of what transpired the day the [[spoiler:rival dojo decided to poison the water well Keizo and Koyuki drank from, it is unknown if the ''entire'' kendo school was in on the nefarious plan to kill Hakuji's loved ones, and possibly him as well, or just the ones actually seen poisoning the well: the master's son and his goons; nevertheless Hakuji's blood curling anger led him to kill the entire school, ''67 men slaughtered'', no questions asked, only a female maid was spared]].
* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Akaza realizes the one he hated and wanted to kill most is himself. The one who sullied his master's beloved Soryu style by using it for murder and couldn't protect the ones he loved. After destroying his own body, with help from Koyuki's soul, he forces himself to stop regenerating and dies at peace.]]
* DubPersonalityChange: [[DownplayedTrope A minor example]]. When the Upper Moons are summoned after the deaths of [[spoiler:Daki and Gyutaro]], Akaza asks Nakime if Kokushibo had somehow gotten himself killed, due to his presumed absence, not knowing that he was present but hidden. However, in the Latino Spanish dub he flat out states that he hopes Kokushibo's absence was because of his death making his disdain for the demon more poignant.
* DyingAsYourself: [[spoiler:As he dies, 'Akaza', the demon who served Muzan is gone, and he becomes Hakuji, the boy who loved his father, master, and Koyuki once more. He goes to hell with Koyuki willingly following him.]]
* DynamicEntry: [[spoiler:After the Infinity Train Arc, Akaza makes his reappearance in the Dimensional Infinity Fortress arc by crashing through several levels of the fortress from above and greeting Tanjiro and Giyuu with a fist.]]
* EmpoweredBadassNormal: Akaza was a talented martial artist even before he became a superpowered demon.
* EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: [[spoiler:He used to live with his father, master, and lover and cared very much for their well being in the past. He trained in his master's martial arts and made a vow to himself to protect them. And it was their spirits that brought him back to his original self.]]
* EvenEvilHasStandards: Doma reveals Akaza would refuse to eat or even kill women despite the former's insistence that they would have made him stronger. That could also explain why Akaza hates Doma with extreme passion, besides power. [[spoiler:It's implied that this is because of Koyuki.]]
* EvilVirtues: Akaza possess two:
** {{Determinat|or}}ion. Akaza has a strong sense of determination on winning, no matter what. [[spoiler: Case in point, despite being decapitated by Tanjiro during the {{Final Battle}}, he doesn't die immediately and continues to fight, all while regenerating his head. If he didn't lose the will to fight, he would've easily killed both Tanjiro and Giyu, both of whom were really exhausted from their fight.]]
** [[VillainRespect Respect.]] Akaza tends to have strong respect for warriors that manage to impress him, to the point of offering them to become a demon. Case in point, he gave respect to Kyojuro for his strength, swordsmanship, and later on, [[spoiler: in the {{Final Battle}}, he gave his respect to Tanjiro for growing stronger, and to Giyu, for his strength and skills. In the end, after being decapitated by Tanjiro, [[GracefulLoser he takes his defeat well]] and praises Tanjiro.]]
* ExoticEyeDesigns: His number is carved into his irises, and his sclerae appear bloodshot or cracked. Additionally, he has an odd kind of fluffy eyelashes that surround his eyes completely.
* FacialMarkings: Stripes. They're on the rest of his body, too.
* FantasticRacism: Believes that humans are inferior to demons because they will grow old and die. He wants to "save" strong humans like Rengoku from this fate by offering them the opportunity to become demons. [[spoiler:In the end, he remembers the actual weak humans he hated were those like the member of the rival dojo, who poisoned his fiance and mentor because they couldn't defeat either him or Hakuji in a fair fight, and himself, who forgot his father's last wish and sullied his beloved mentor's fighting style with blood.]]
* FlashStep: Akaza is capable of moving fast enough to [[NoIAmBehindYou appear behind his opponents for a suprise counter.]]
* FinalBossPreview: He broadly serves as this for the Upper Ranks as a whole. He makes a surprise appearance[[spoiler: at the ending of the Train arc, providing a brief, but extremely difficult fight and even claims Rengoku's life]]. The actual climactic showdown with him doesn't actually take place until much later, and his first apperance was basically a taste of the might of the Upper Ranks.
* FirstNameBasis: Goes straight to using Rengoku's given name, Kyojuro, during their confrontation. He also does the same for Tanjiro when they meet again, as well as for Giyu; despite Giyu refusing to give his name, Akaza hears Tanjiro when he cries out Giyu's name.
* ForcedIntoEvil: [[spoiler: Due to losing the will to live, Hakuji accepts Muzan's offer to become a demon, not caring about his fate anymore. And as a result on becoming the demon, Akaza, he loses the memories of his human life.]]
* {{Foreshadowing}}: Many of his lines to Rengoku about his view of human weakness and his anger at Rengoku's refusal to become a demon are big hints towards [[spoiler: his past and heartbreaking obsession to become stronger.]]
** His reaction to Tanjiro calling him a coward is rather unique. He stops dead on his tracks for a second as he looks like he is about to ''cry''. Bear in mind that he has a [[spoiler:sword impaled in his chest]] and the sun is about to come out and fry him, but what gets him is getting called a coward. [[spoiler:The most tragic event in Akaza's life was the murder of his mentor and his fiancee, which was performed by a rival dojo, which Akaza considered a bunch of coward fools, who poisoned them. His uniquely startled reaction at getting called one is a hint that there is more to the murderhappy demon we just saw, something that was helped by Tanjiro subconsciously reminding Akaza of his mentor.]]
* FullContactMagic: With most demons' powers working in ways that simply allow their powers to do the fighting for them, Akaza is unique in how his Blood Demon Arts manifest solely in ways that make him better as a physical fighter. Every single technique he uses is related to martial arts.
* GeniusBruiser: Akaza proves that he's not only a stronger fighter, but he's also a strategic tactician, being capable of instantly evolving and adapting to any attacks or techniques his opponents uses, to the point of even predicting them, allowing him to fight more effectively. [[spoiler: Even as a human, Akaza was able to beat up grown adults without martial arts training.]]
* GoOutWithASmile: [[spoiler:Akaza's final act befor e self-destructing is to give a warm smile to his enemy Tanjiro. He is the only demon among the Upper Ranks who dies content without suffering some form of UndignifiedDeath, thanks to regaining his memories and [[DyingAsYourself Dying As Himself]].]]
* GracefulLoser: [[spoiler:When Akaza is finally free of Muzan's influence due the workings of all his long-dead loved ones' spirits still trying to reach the human Hakuji buried deep inside the demon Akaza, he ceases all his bloodlust for winning against Tanjiro and Giyu, forcing himself to stop regenerating, reasoning that Tanjiro's Transparent World attack was the pinnacle of martial arts so he should have been killed by it if he hadn't "cheated" by overcoming death through decapitation by a nichirin blade; that's a far cry from his desperation to survive lest the sun burnt him down way back against Rengoku]].
* HappilyMarried: [[spoiler: ''Tragically {{Subverted}}''. Hakuji and Koyuki weren't really official just yet, but the two were seen to be heavily happy with each other and even look more happy about becoming a married couple. Tragically, she and her father were poisoned by a rival dojo, causing Hakuji to lose the will to live and becoming a {{Death Seeker}} as a result. And then Muzan had to show up...]]
* HavingABlast: Akaza's many barrages of punches and kicks are named similarly to certain japanese fireworks, and they have an added visual effect akin to that of a pulse blast, made more clear while it is shown in animated form. [[spoiler:It is another reference to his happy days as a human being, the event in which he could finally take his fiancé Koyuki to watch a fireworks festival]].
* HealingFactor: He shows the best one of all the Twelve Kizuki so far, with him regrowing entire limbs pretty much the same second after they are cut. Justified in that his fighting style requires for his body to be intact since he makes no use of weapons.
* HeirInLaw: [[spoiler:Was poised to become his mentor's successor and son-in-law in one fell swoop, and he couldn't have been happier about it. Only for everything to go wrong before he became this.]]
* HeroKiller: [[spoiler:Ends up killing Rengoku in the Mugen Train Arc. It's also revealed that he defeated several of the previous Pillars in the past as well.]]
* HumanizingTears: [[spoiler: As he finally regains his humanity, Akaza begins showing tears as he sees Koyuki in his final moments, showing that Hakuji has finally regain his humanity.]]
* {{Hypocrite}}: For all his posturing of the nobility of perfecting oneself as a martial artist with the goal of dying by the hands of a WorthyOpponent, Akaza, as all demons are, is ultimately still a cowardly parasite that scurried into the shadows like a cockroach at the first sight of the sun, by ''tearing his own arms off'' like a fleeing lizard's own tail as [[spoiler: Rengoku]] clamped onto them in an ironclad death grip. If he had been a ''true'' warrior like he proclaim himself to be, Akaza would have ''let'' the sun obliterate him with dignity, and received his idealized martial artist's death from a foe he respected. [[spoiler: Once he reawakens his human memories, however, he subverts this, as he accepts that Tanjiro had defeated him and destroys his own body, stopping himself from regenerating.]]
* InstantRunes: When Akaza gets in stance to use his power Destructive Compass, a rune in the form of a snowflake-like compass manifests below his feet, representing his ability to tell which direction that all attacks with deadly intent are coming from. [[spoiler:The snowflake-like appearance is also a subconscious reference to his deceased fiancee Koyuki, who had snowflakes as her motif.]]
* IronicName: [[spoiler:Hakuji, his original name, derives from the same kanji as the komainu, statues of lion-dog guardian deities who ward off evil spirits. The tragedy of his situation is from him being unable to protect anyone he loved and becoming a demon as a consequence.]]
* {{Irony}}:
** Throughout his appearances, he's been attempting to get stronger than Kokushibo and Doma. [[spoiler:When he finally has the opportunity to become stronger than them, he obtains his life memories and remembers he wanted to be stronger to protect the people he loved, but they are long dead. As he's embraced by the spirits of his father, teacher, and fiancee, he willingly discards the opportunity and peacefully passes away.]]
-->[[spoiler:'''Kokushibo''': Akaza... weren't you going to defeat me? A path had open for him to attain further heights... but he renounced it himself.]]
** His StartOfDarkness began [[spoiler:when a dojo of samurai poisoned his mentor and fiancée to death over the fact they couldn't beat him or Keizo in a straight fight to claim Keizo's dojo. What finally gets Akaza to accept his loss and pass on in peace is being punched in the face by Tanjiro, a sword wielder.]]
** [[spoiler:He has one of the most tragic backstories in the series by far, yet Tanjiro who usually feels pity for equally tragic demons in their final moments spared none of that to Akaza, during their fight Tanjiro just refuted Akaza's twisted world view and was bewildered by his suicide, feeling something changed inside him. Two factors might have contributed to that: 1) Tanjiro was still irate with Akaza for being the one who killed Kyojuro, and 2) Akaza's backstory is only given to the reader, while Tanjiro doesn't pick up during their battle why Akaza turned out to be like that as a demon.]]
* ItsPersonal: [[spoiler: After suffering a humiliating defeat by the hands of Rengoku and Tanjiro calling him a coward for retreating from the sun, Akaza is gunning out the opportunity to kill Tanjiro. The feeling is clearly mutual with Tanjiro]].
* ItsPersonalWithTheDragon: While Tanjiro has his sights set on Muzan for destroying his peaceful life by killing almost his entire family, Tanjiro also developed a very personal grudge against Muzan's third best demon, Akaza, for being the one who [[spoiler:killed Kyojuro Rengoku the Flame Hashira whom Tanjiro bonded with so quickly]]. Tanjiro vs. Akaza by the Infinite Castle arc ends up being a fight where Tanjiro reserves his ire to the fact Akaza [[spoiler:killed Rengoku]] and keeps spouting his survival of the fittest ideal, unlike many other instances where Tanjiro brings up the fact demons are terrible for preying on humans in general; made more poignant with the fact [[spoiler:Tanjiro never gets know why Akaza became such a twisted demon, the man has one of the most tragic stories in the series by far, but since Tanjiro (who often feels some pity for tragic demons) doesn't know that, he has none to spare for Akaza.]]
* KickTheDog: [[spoiler:Akaza decides to gloat about being glad that Rengoku died, since his death made Tanjiro stronger than before and stated that his wordview was dumb. While Akaza meant it as a compliment, Tanjiro justifiably sees it as him insulting Rengoku, and it greatly pisses him off.]]
* KnightOfCerebus: He is the first Upper Rank that appeared and since then more Upper Ranks showed up, and the named Demon Slayers started dropping like flies one by one.
* LauncherMove: Two of Akaza's kick-based Demon Blood Art moves involve him kicking high enough to launch his opponent into the air. One move is doing a reverse rising axe kick while the other move is doing a high rising side kick.
* LifeOrLimbDecision: At the end of his fight with Kyojuro, as the sun was coming up his limbs were to still held in place by the almost dead Hashira. He was forced to tear off his own arms to escape in time.
* LightningBruiser: Even for the Upper Ranks, Akaza is insanely fast, and his fighting style revolves around dealing out monstrous blows while also tanking lots of damage.
* MadeOfIron: [[spoiler: In his human life, Hakuji's inhumane endurance allowed him to endure ''100 beatings'', something that could make a grown man go numb. And he was ''eleven years old at the time.'']]
* MarkOfShame: Those ring-like tattoos on his arms are brands to mark him for repeated theft, those stripes eventually covered his entire body as a demon, as symbolism for him becoming a bigger criminal than he could ever hope to be as a mere human being.
* MajorInjuryUnderreaction: During his introduction in the Mugen Train Arc, Akaza tries to kill Tanjiro. When Kyojuro cuts his arm in a split, Akaza calmly jumps back away and proceeds to regenerate it back quickly, complimenting his sword and licking his wound.
* MissingMom: Raised by a single father with absolutely no mention or appearance from his mother.
* MoralityPet: [[spoiler: The spirits of his father, his fiancee, Koyuki, and his mentor and father-in-law, Keizo helps Akaza remember who he truly was before in the past and regains his humanity in the end.]]
* NearVillainVictory: [[spoiler:His body fights on even after Tanjiro and Giyu cut his head off, leaving them with pretty much no options for killing him. He only dies by killing ''himself'']].
* NotInThisForYourRevolution: The 2nd Databook states that while Akaza is completely loyal to Muzan, Akaza doesn't personally like him or any of his fellow demons, nor personally cares about Muzan's goals, Akaza is loyal for loyalty's sake, almost in a professional manner; he is a demon with no recollection of his past life but Akaza's diligence as a warrior seemly was too deeply imprinted on him, so even as a malicious demon Akaza respectively follows his demonic master without question because that's what a dutiful warrior does. [[spoiler:When Akaza finds his humanity again during his final fight, all that loyalty goes straight back his beloved human family trying to reach his heart from beyond the grave, nurturing enough willpower to directly break Muzan's influence over his mind]].
* OffWithHisHead: [[spoiler:Tanjiro successfully cut Akaza's head off with Giyu throwing his sword to ensure that he doesn't stick it back on. However, Akaza's extrodinary willpower allows him to continue fighting even without a head and would have regrown it back if he didn't concede and self-destruct.]]
* OneManArmy: [[spoiler: He killed all 67 members of the rival dojo when they poisoned his fiancee and her father, the only people who trusted him, sparing only a single maid. ''As a human''.]]
* OOCIsSeriousBusiness: Albeit not quite {{Keet}}, Akaza is a fairly friendly and upbeat fellow, as much as a demon seeking to kill the main characters can be. In both of his fights, he converses casually and remains gleeful without being bloodlusted, just enjoying the combat on itself. However, when Doma and Kokushibo are around his demeanor becomes extremely cold, prone to anger and trigger happy.
* PayEvilUntoEvil: He [[spoiler: kills the entire dojo involved in the poisoning of his fiancee and her father which was conducted just to grab their land and the dojo associated with it. It was so vicious that ''Muzan'' himself was highly impressed by it and used it to recruit Akaza. Despite the event marking his FaceHeelTurn and BloodbathVillainOrigin, it is hard to say the rival dojo didn't deserve what they got.]]
* PoliteVillainsRudeHeroes: The polite villain to Kyojuro's rude hero, albeit downplayed regarding the latter.
* RapidFireFisticuffs: Some of Akaza's Demon Blood Arts involve him punching really fast and really hard. He can also kick really fast as well.
* RazorSharpHand: Akaza's hand chopping martial arts moves are sharp as blades and are capable of breaking the ground.
* RazorWind: He does a fist fighting variation where he punches the air so hard, it converts into air projectiles that knockback his opponents.
* RedemptionEqualsDeath: [[spoiler:The only demon in the series, still bound to Muzan, who managed to regain his will before dying, unlike others who regained theirs on death's door; the enduring, centuries long, love from Hakuji's father, wife and father-in-law wielded results at the climax of Akaza's fight against Tanjiro and Giyu, as it started to unlock Akaza's memories of his time as the human Hakuji, when Akaza was actually set to grow in power to new heights after overcoming decapitation it's when Hakuji takes over, embracing his humanity again, giving the demon path away, attacking his own regenerating body to finally die and go to hell with his wife Koyuki, who refused paradise to be there with him]].
* TheReliableOne: The databook has Muzan's relationship chart link Akaza as the one Upper Rank he values in being diligently loyal towards him, other than Kokushibo who is linked as his official right-hand. That being the likely reason for why Muzan allowed Akaza to only eat men, as Doma remarked that Akaza being able to refuse devouring women was by Muzan's own permission.
* RemovedAchillesHeel: [[spoiler:He survives decapitation with sheer willpower, and continues fighting without a head until it almost regenerated.]]
* TheResenter: Badly loathes Doma and Kokushibo for being stronger than him, even if he became a demon before Doma did.
* RevengeBeforeReason: [[spoiler:The backstory behind the cowardly poisoning of Hakuji's fiancé Koyuki and father-in-law Keizo showed only a few members of the rival dojo was part of this underhanded maneuver, but Hakuji was so blinded with murderous rage that he ended up killing every single member of the dojo, more than sixty men, only their female maid was spared]].
* TheRival: Akaza has special hatred and envy for both [[TheDragon Kokushibo]] and [[TheSociopath Doma]], due to the two of them being stronger than him and wants to kill them in order to take over their rank. He even declares that he'll kill Kokushibo if it's the last thing he'll do, to which Kokushibo simply wishes him luck. However, Doma is possibly the one demon Akaza hates with true passion, since it's implied that Akaza was Upper 2, before Doma came and took the rank. [[spoiler: There's also the fact that Doma tends to kill and devour a lot of young and beautiful female humans, something that Akaza hates, since he doesn't devour women.]]
* RoaringRampageOfRevenge: [[spoiler:As a human when his mentor and beloved died, Akaza slaughtered the dojo who murdered them with his bare hands, only sparing a single maid who went mad. The carnage was so brutal; the written account was regarded as fictitious.]]
* SayMyName: After encountering him again in the Infinity Castle Arc, Akaza greets Tanjiro by screaming his name. In return, the furious boy responds by screaming Akaza's name.
* ShadowArchetype: Akaza is quite similar to Giyu in terms of backstory, [[spoiler:with both being burdened by their past failures to protect people dear to them. Except Akaza is Giyu without someone like Tanjiro to snap him out of his guilt-ridden mindset, which leads him past DespairEventHorizon and into Muzan's influence.]]
* SmugSuper: Akaza loves a good a fight, usually smiling confidently throughout most of his battles, however, that confident smile is for when he believes to be having the upper hand, when things get serious Akaza gets calm and focused; however, when things seem to be turning against him he isn't above showing sincere frustration.
* TheSocialDarwinist: Tied with his immense need for fighting strong opponents Akaza shows extreme disdain for those he deems to be weak, saying word for word their natural outcome is to simply perish in the wake of those in power culling them along the way; Akaza also shows he is kind of a determinist, believing the strong are fated to be so, but the the weak will always be weak. However, as the story unfolds Akaza's ideology is shown to be a result of [[spoiler:his quite tragic past, where his great physical strength as a human didn't help those he loved in the slightest, they died in ways his might was unable to prevent it from happening - his sick father committed suicide to spare his son a life of constant worry, and even thieving, to support him; his bride (who was sickly when he met her at the first time) and father-in-law were fatally poisoned in the middle a dispute against a rival dojo - all of that led Akaza to a downward spiral, which corrupted him when forcefully turned into a demon, forgetting his life as the human Hakuji, his new demonic mind warped his pain from losing his loved ones to a sick love for strength, and complete hatred for the weak, which ironically was his total opposite belief back when he was human, Hakuji loved his weak and sick father and later his would-be wife and liked taking care of them.]]
* SoreLoser: [[spoiler: Despite killing Kyojuro at the climax of the Mugen Train Arc, Akaza was forced to retreat due to the sun, failing to kill Tanjiro and the others, making Kyojuro the true winner. Getting called a coward by Tanjiro and Muzan brutally chewing him out for failing his mission only added more salt to Akaza's pride, causing him to develop a personal grudge against the boy.]]
* SuperReflexes: Akaza has very fast reflexes and can easily dodge and block moves. This is due to having his Destructive Compass Demon Blood Art that allows him to read his opponent's movements.
* SuperStrength: Akaza's natural strength is enhanced by his demon blood, so every move he makes is extremely powerful. In fact, the force of his strength is so powerful, even resisting his moves can take a huge toll. Tanjiro had attempted to block Akaza's moves, but the forceful impact of Akaza's moves directly went through Tanjiro's resistance and caused internal damage to him such as nose bleeding and vomiting.
* TearsOfRemorse: [[spoiler: After finally regaining his humanity, Akaza begins heavily crying, as he embraces Koyuki, apologizing for not being there for her.]]
* TeethClenchedTeamwork: He doesn't exactly have good relations with his fellow Upper Ranks. He hates Doma for his friendly and casual demeanor, which he sees through as fake. He also has a deep-seated rivalry with Kokushibo, who often reprimands the demon for picking fights with his superior Doma, with the disgruntled demon vowing to kill Kokushibo. He also doesn't seem to be friends with Gyokko, as when he first meets Gyokko after a 113 year period, the Upper 5 demon teases Akaza by stating that he thought Akaza might've perished which made his heart "sing", before coughing to say that he was actually full of anguish. Akaza simply scowled at this interaction.
* TokenGoodTeammate: Shares this spot with Kokushibo, as [[DownplayedTrope they are the only two surviving members of the Kizuki]] (excluding Gyutaro and Daki) with genuinely tragic backstories and a certain degree of respect for humans, unlike the other members, who view humans as beneath them and are FauxAffablyEvil at best.
* TorsoWithAView: [[spoiler:Akaza's main finishing move is sticking a fist through his opponents abdomen. He did one to Rengoku and would have done the same to Giyu, had Tanjiro not intervened and disarmed Akaza.]]
* TragicVillain: [[spoiler:Probably the worst example in the entire series, which is already full of very Tragic Villains, such as Rui, Gyutaro, and Daki. Like so many demons, Muzan preyed upon him at his lowest point when he was just broken after losing the people that he truly loved. Because of Muzan's corrupting influence, Akaza slowly forgot his love for his father, his mentor and his fiancee Koyuki until all that remained was the thrill of fighting and the hunger for strength.]]
* TsurimeEyes: Not the only character in the manga to have them, but his are especially distinct.
* UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: [[spoiler:The unscrupulous dojo next door when Akaza was still known as Hakuji. He was so close to turn his life around, offered to be the dojo successor as well as taking his master's daughter in marriage. But their poisoning of the family just to possess their land put a kibosh on that route, Muzan offered Hakuji power, thus Akaza was born and much bloodshed and tragedy ensued.]]
* UsedToBeASweetKid: [[spoiler:Akaza was once a boy named Hakuji who although was a rambunctious delinquent, loved his sick father, and eventually dearly loved his mentor Keizo and Keizo's daughter Koyuki. Then they were poisoned and Hakuji succumbed to his rage and despair...which is where Muzan found him.]]
* UndyingLoyalty: Akaza is known for being a loyal follower of Muzan, often showing anger at those who show any sign of disrespect and/or disobedience towards him, as best seen with Doma. Because of his strong loyalty, Muzan is highly fond of him. [[spoiler: This surprisingly becomes {{Subverted}}, since Akaza only follows Muzan not out of respect, awe, or fear of his power, instead simply viewing him as a superior who gives orders and he carries them out. In the end, after being defeated and decapitated by Tanjiro, he overcomes Muzan's control of him so he could stop his regeneration and finally die]].
* VibrationManipulation: Akaza's Blood Demon Art is a combination of the Soryu Style martial arts he mastered as a human and the ability to manipulate devastating shockwaves.
* VillainCred: Surprisingly enough, averted with Muzan. According the databooks, he has no emotional attachment to Muzan, not fear, not respect, not hate, just blind loyalty for the sake of it.
* VillainRespect: Akaza has genuine respect for Rengoku's skills and wishes him to become a demon to get stronger alongside Akaza. Even when [[spoiler:he has his fist sticking through Rengoku's chest, he's practically begging Rengoku to become a demon like him, so he won't die.]] He later admits he was wrong about Tanjiro being weak and offers him respect as well, saying the same to Giyu Tomioka. [[spoiler:And in Akaza's final moments after self-destructing, he admits that [[GracefulLoser he lost the match fair and square to Tanjiro after he used the Transparent World state to defeat Akaza.]]]]
* VillainousValor: [[spoiler: Up to an awesome degree. Despite being decapitated by the hands of Tanjiro, Akaza refused to die and with sheer willpower, he continued to control his headless body and kept on batting the already tired Tanjiro and Giyu. He even managed to nearly regrew his head with his regenerative abilities, a feat that none of the other demons (with the sole exception of Muzan) have ever achieved up until that point. If he didn't remember his past life and lost the will to fight, then he would've successfully kill Tanjiro and Giyu.]]
* WakeUpCallBoss: The Twelve Kizuki up to this point had been tough, but beatable and the Hashira could easily bring them down, as seen by [[spoiler:Tomioka delivering a CurbstompBattle to Rui, and Tanjiro (who is not even a Hashira) is able to provide the final blow to Enmu.]] But Akaza is a monster and even if Rengoku is able to do impressively well, [[spoiler:he has no true chance in a straight fight, his death demonstrating exactly how the Upper Ranks are no joke.]]
* WalkingShirtlessScene: Akaza tends to wear very little on his upper body.
* WalkingSpoiler: More so than all the other Twelve Kizuki, as evidenced by how censored his entry is here. It is very difficult to talk about him at all, as the context of his very first appearance is a spoiler in of itself and one of the first things he does is [[spoiler:killing Rengoku]]. On top of this, the details of his character and motivations are themselves enormous spoilers.
* WhyWontYouDie: [[spoiler: Even when being decapitated by Tanjiro, Akaza ''still kept fighting'' and began regrowing his head, thanks to his strong sheer will. If he hadn't lost the will to fight, then Akaza would've successfully survive his battle with Tanjiro and Giyu.]]
* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds: Akaza is one of the strongest and most dangerous of Twelve Kizuki, which he demonstrates in his EstablishingCharacterMoment where he [[spoiler:immediately attacks an already injured Tanjiro and [[TorsoWithAView punches a hole through Rengoku's stomach]], [[HeroKiller killing him]]]]. However, upon learning just how pitiful his life was [[spoiler:(from his father commiting suicide to save him from a life of crime, to his master and fiancee being poisoned while he was away)]] it's hard ''not'' to understand why he became so unhinged.
* WorthyOpponent: Whenever someone is strong enough to stand their ground against, Akaza tends to declare them worthy foes and offers them to become demons. For example:
** He considers Kyojuro Rengoku to be this, wanting him to become a demon to preserve his amazing skill and so they can fight forever.
** After meeting again, he believes Tanjiro is a worthy adversary, as well. He also extends this to Giyu, inviting him to become a demon during their battle.
* WouldntHitAGirl: According to Doma, Akaza would not eat or kill women, something he found strange. [[spoiler:It's implied to be because of his fiance.]]
* WoundLicking: Gloats over his closing wounds by licking them.
* WreckedWeapon: Akaza has a unique move of his own called Bell Breaker, where he hits the side of an incoming blade with his back hand and breaking the blade in the process. Giyu unfortunately gets the short end of the stick by Akaza's move.
* YankTheDogsChain: The reason for his TragicVillain status. [[spoiler:Born in poverty, he's been committing crimes to take care of his ailing father, until he committed suicide to spare his son from a criminal lifestyle. Akaza almost had a happy ending when a dojo master took him in, and offered to make him successor as well as take his daughter's hand in marriage. Unfortunately, the unscrupulous dojo next door used poison to murder the family while Akaza was away, and things went downhill from there.]]
* YouAreWorthHell: [[spoiler: As Hakuji is going to Hell for his crimes, Koyuki decides to join him to ensure he doesn't have to be alone. In a FreezeFrameBonus moment, the silhouette of his father and mentor are seen standing with them, heavily implying that they too will join Akaza in Hell.]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Hantengu]]
-> To view tropes regarding him, click [[Characters/DemonSlayerKimetsuNoYaibaHantengu here]]
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Gyokko]]
!!Gyokko
!!!'''Voiced By''': Creator/KosukeToriumi (Japanese), Creator/BrentMukai (English)[[labelnote:Other VA]] Creator/RaulAnaya, Emiliano Montaño (Demon Fish) (Latin American Spanish), Marc Saez (French), Marcel Collé (German), Creator/PaoloDeSantis (Italian), Sun Cheng (Taiwanese Mandarin)[[/labelnote]]
[[quoteright:1000:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/gyokko_0.png]]
[[caption-width-right:1000:[[labelnote:Click here to see his true form]]https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/screen_shot_2023_11_23_at_40034_pm.png[[/labelnote]]]]
->''"Bow to my perfect form of beauty!"''
Upper-5. Gyokko is a sadistic demon with an insane anatomical appearance and [[MadArtist holds a deep infatuation with his own artistry]].
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* SiblingYinYang: While both are equally cruel, Daki is a beautiful and [[MsFanservice sexually attractive]] demon but is also childish and petulant, while [[spoiler:Gyutaro is her creepy and deformed brother who is much more tactical.]]
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* TurnOutLikeHisFather: [[spoiler: Despite getting away from her mother's abuse, she and Gyutarou tragically ended up like her: an irrational, spiteful, and childish bitch who took out their issues to people who have nothing to do with their suffering. Like her, they are molded by the cruel and harsh environment that they were borned and raised in.]]
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* TurnOutLikeHisFather: [[spoiler: Despite getting away from her mother's abuse, she and Gyutarou Gyutaro tragically ended up like her: an irrational, spiteful, and childish bitch who took out their issues to people who have nothing to do with their suffering. Like her, they are molded by the cruel and harsh environment that they were borned and raised in.]]
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* SiblingYinYang: While both are equally cruel, Daki is a beautiful and [[MsFanservice sexually attractive]] demon but is also childish and petulant, while Gyutaro is her creepy and deformed brother who is much more tactical.
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* WouldHitAGirl: Unsurprising given that demons don't typically spare victims based on gender, but Gyutaro very nearly succeeds in killing Hinatsuru.
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* [[spoiler:CheatedDeathDiedAnyway]]: She survives '''four''' decapitations, once because she beheaded herself, and thrice because [[spoiler:Gyutaro's presence kept her alive. When both are decapitated, Daki's fifth beheading proves to be her last.]]
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* UsedToBeASweetKid: Extremely downplayed to the point of going into AmbiguousInnocence territory. [[spoiler:A brief glimpse of him while he lived with Gyomei and the other orphans showed him looking very chipper, implying that he was at least happy there. [[UngratefulBastard However, he clearly valued himself over them]].]]
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* UsedToBeASweetKid: Extremely downplayed to the point of going into AmbiguousInnocence territory. [[spoiler:A brief glimpse of him while he lived with Gyomei and the other orphans and a manga extra sketch where he was with a young Gyomei showed him looking very chipper, implying that he was at least happy there. [[UngratefulBastard However, he clearly valued himself over them]].]]
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* ActuallyPrettyFunny: When Zenitsu calls out his unjustified pride over simply filling a vacant spot in the Upper Ranks, Kaigaku is more amused that Zenitsu grew out of his cowardly shell and learned to talk trash instead of insulted.
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!!!'''Voiced By''': Creator/MamoruMiyano (Japanese), Creator/StephenFu (English)[[labelnote:Other VA]]Creator/DamienBoisseau (French), Li Shiyang (Taiwanese Mandarin), Alan Velázquez (Latin American Spanish)[[/labelnote]]
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!!!'''Voiced By''': Creator/MamoruMiyano (Japanese), Creator/StephenFu (English)[[labelnote:Other VA]]Creator/DamienBoisseau (French), Li Shiyang (Taiwanese Mandarin), VA]] Alan Velázquez (Latin American Spanish)[[/labelnote]]Spanish), Creator/DamienBoisseau (French), Sascha Rotermund (German), Li Shiyang (Taiwanese Mandarin)[[/labelnote]]
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!!!'''Voiced By''': Creator/KosukeToriumi (Japanese), Creator/BrentMukai (English)[[labelnote:Other VA]]Sun Cheng (Taiwanese Mandarin), Raúl Anaya, Emiliano Montaño (Demon Fish) (Latin American Spanish)[[/labelnote]]
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!!!'''Voiced By''': Creator/KosukeToriumi (Japanese), Creator/BrentMukai (English)[[labelnote:Other VA]]Sun Cheng (Taiwanese Mandarin), Raúl Anaya, VA]] Creator/RaulAnaya, Emiliano Montaño (Demon Fish) (Latin American Spanish)[[/labelnote]]Spanish), Marc Saez (French), Marcel Collé (German), Creator/PaoloDeSantis (Italian), Sun Cheng (Taiwanese Mandarin)[[/labelnote]]
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!!! '''Daki voiced by''': Creator/MiyukiSawashiro (Japanese), Creator/EricaLindbeck (English)[[labelnote:Other VA]]Creator/GeaRiva (Italian), Long Xianhui (Taiwanese Mandarin), Lupita Leal (Latin American Spanish)[[/labelnote]]
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!!! '''Daki voiced by''': Creator/MiyukiSawashiro (Japanese), Creator/EricaLindbeck (English)[[labelnote:Other VA]]Creator/GeaRiva (Italian), Long Xianhui (Taiwanese Mandarin), VA]] Lupita Leal (Latin American Spanish)[[/labelnote]]Spanish), Laura Blanc (French), Farina Brock (German), Creator/GeaRiva (Italian), Bruna Laynes (Brazilian Portuguese), Long Xianhui (Taiwanese Mandarin)[[/labelnote]]
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!!! '''Voiced by''': Creator/RyotaOhsaka (Japanese), Creator/BrandonMcInnis (English)[[labelnote:Other VA]]Davide Farronato (Italian), Meng Qingfu (Taiwanese Mandarin), Alex Orozco (Latin American Spanish)[[/labelnote]]
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!!! '''Voiced by''': Creator/RyotaOhsaka (Japanese), Creator/BrandonMcInnis (English)[[labelnote:Other VA]]Davide VA]] Creator/AlejandroOrozco (Latin American Spanish), Cédric Dumond (French), Marius Claren (German), Davide Farronato (Italian), Italo Luiz (Brazilian Portuguese), Meng Qingfu (Taiwanese Mandarin), Alex Orozco (Latin American Spanish)[[/labelnote]]Mandarin)[[/labelnote]]
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!!!'''Voiced By''': Creator/MarinaInoue (Japanese), Creator/AmberLeeConnors (English)[[labelnote:Other VA]]Jocelyn Robles (Latin American Spanish)[[/labelnote]]
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!!!'''Voiced By''': Creator/MarinaInoue (Japanese), Creator/AmberLeeConnors (English)[[labelnote:Other VA]]Jocelyn VA]] Jocelyn Robles (Latin American Spanish)[[/labelnote]]Spanish), Nadine Heidenreich (German)[[/labelnote]]
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!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/YoshimasaHosoya (Japanese), Creator/AlejandroSaab (English)[[labelnote:Other VA]]Alessandro Fattori (Italian), Luis Navarro (Latin American Spanish)[[/labelnote]]
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!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/YoshimasaHosoya (Japanese), Creator/AlejandroSaab (English)[[labelnote:Other VA]]Alessandro Fattori (Italian), VA]] Luis Navarro (Latin American Spanish)[[/labelnote]]Spanish), Dario Torrent (European Spanish), Fabrice Josso (French), Konrad Bösherz (German), Alessandro Fattori (Italian), Henrique Reis (Brazilian Portuguese)[[/labelnote]]
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* EvilCannotComprehendGood: He only cared about himself and never understood any acts of goodness towards him. In the flashbacks, Zenitsu tried to defend Kaigaku's honor by punching a trainee who was talking behind his back. Instead of showing gratitude towards Zenitsu, he harshly criticized Zenitsu for hitting some higher-ups. And even when he and Zenitsu would get into arguments, Zenitsu would try to get along with him anyway. Kaigaku just shrugs it off. And finally, he did not understand that his master wanted both him and Zenitsu to share the position of Hashira to fight as brothers-in-arms. Kaigaku only wanted the position to himself.
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* EvilCannotComprehendGood: He only cared about himself and never understood any acts of goodness towards him. In the flashbacks, Zenitsu tried to defend Kaigaku's honor by punching a trainee who was talking behind his back. Instead of showing gratitude towards Zenitsu, he harshly criticized Zenitsu for hitting some higher-ups. And even when he and Zenitsu would get into arguments, Zenitsu would try to get along with him anyway. Kaigaku just shrugs it off. And finally, Finally, he did not understand that his master wanted both him and Zenitsu to share the position of Hashira to fight as brothers-in-arms. Kaigaku only wanted the position to himself.
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* EmotionlessGirl: A non-stoic male example. Kanao points out that despite his cheery demeanor, Doma is incapable of any real emotions.
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* EmotionlessGirl: A non-stoic male example. EmotionlessBoy: Kanao points out that despite his cheery demeanor, Doma is incapable of any real emotions.
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not exactly petty
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** One of Daki's establishing moments has her drop Mitsu, the madam of her workplace, to her death for an incredibly petty reason, cruelly taunting and insulting the poor woman before killing her.
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** One of Daki's establishing moments has her drop Mitsu, Omitsu, the madam of her workplace, to her death for an incredibly petty reason, after she correctly concluded Daki's inhumanity, cruelly taunting and insulting the poor woman before killing her.
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* VocalEvolution: She starts out with [[EvilSoundsDeep a menacing and mature voice]], but as she's continuously humiliated and overwhelmed by the slayers, it becomes a high-pitched and shrill whine, [[spoiler:foreshadowing her true mental state as a 13 year old]].
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* VocalEvolution: She starts out with [[EvilSoundsDeep a menacing and mature voice]], but as she's continuously humiliated and overwhelmed by the slayers, it becomes a high-pitched and shrill whine, [[spoiler:foreshadowing her true mental state as a 13 year old]].13-year-old]].
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* UsedToBeASweetKid: Extremely downplayed to the point of going into AmbiguousInnocence territory. [[spoiler:A brief glimpse of him while he lived with Gyomei and the other orphans showed him looking very chipper, implying that he was at least happy there. [[UngratefulBastard However, he clearly valued himself over them]].]]
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* IRegretNothing: [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-Zagged]]. Gyutaro admits privately that he doesn't regret becoming a demon and he would have made the same choice all over again if he could, but he does regret not raising his sister right and dragging her on his path with him.
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* IRegretNothing: [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-Zagged]]. Gyutaro admits privately that he doesn't regret becoming a demon and he would have made the same choice all over again if he could, but he does regret not raising his sister right and dragging chose instead to drag her on his path with him.
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* IRegretNothing: [[ZigZaggingTrope Zig-Zagged]]. Gyutaro admits privately that he doesn't regret becoming a demon and he would have made the same choice all over again if he could, but he does regret not raising his sister right and dragging her on his path with him.
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* AmbiguousSituation: Considering that their mother was a poor prostitute who couldn’t be choosy about her clients, it seems unlikely that Gyutaro and Ume/Daki were fathered by the same man, which would make them half siblings instead of full ones. However, they never refer to each other as anything but brother and sister.
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* AmbiguousSituation: Considering that their mother was a poor prostitute who couldn’t be choosy about her clients, it seems unlikely that Gyutaro and Ume/Daki were fathered by the same man, which man. That would make them half siblings instead of full ones. However, ones, but they never refer to each other as anything but brother and sister.
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* HateSink: Even before he became a demon, Kaigaku was a mean-spirited, self-glorified bully who only earns ire in the eyes of everyone he meets, especially after selling out a fellow group of orphans because he couldn't stand the idea of being caught. [[spoiler:Unlike most demons shown, he chose to become one solely because he didn't want to die, and he's a spiteful jackass who'll go as far as to mock his former master and fellow students for being weaker than him. Unlike most demons like Daki, Gyutaro, Akaza, and Kokushubo who were driven by tragic circumstances, and even Doma who can be darkly entertaining despite his own heinousness and is a credible foe in his own right, Kaigaku is a pathetic coward who barks more than he needs to chew on and dies an undignified, yet well-deserved death.]]
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* HateSink: Even before he became a demon, Kaigaku was a mean-spirited, self-glorified bully who only earns ire in the eyes of everyone he meets, especially after selling out a fellow group of orphans because he couldn't stand the idea of being caught. [[spoiler:Unlike most demons shown, he chose to become one solely because he didn't want to die, and he's a spiteful jackass who'll go as far as to mock his former master and fellow students for being weaker than him. Unlike most demons like Daki, Gyutaro, Akaza, and Kokushubo Kokushibo who were driven by tragic circumstances, and even Doma who can be darkly entertaining despite his own heinousness and is a credible foe in his own right, Kaigaku is a pathetic coward who barks more than he needs to chew on and dies an undignified, yet well-deserved death.]]
