Demon Slayer, also known as Kimetsu no Yaiba, is an extremely popular anime and manga series set during Japan’s Taisho era. The story follows Tanjiro Kamado, a kindhearted teenage boy who becomes a demon slayer after his family is slaughtered and his younger sister Nezuko is turned into a demon. Tanjiro joins the Demon Slaying Corps and embarks on a quest to find a way to turn Nezuko back into a human, all while battling powerful demons that threaten humanity.
One of the biggest appeals of Demon Slayer is its diverse and compelling cast of characters. The anime introduced viewers to an array of fascinating and deadly demon slayers, each with their own personalities, backgrounds, fighting styles, and special skills. Among them stand out a few incredibly powerful characters that demonstrate immense physical strength and incredible swordsmanship.
Muzan Kibutsuji
As the demon who turned Nezuko into a demon and the progenitor of most of the demons in the series, Muzan Kibutsuji is undoubtedly one of the strongest characters in Demon Slayer. He possesses tremendous physical strength, speed, stamina and can shapeshift into a more monstrous form at will. His blood can turn humans into powerful demons and heal other demons. Muzan has lived for over 1,000 years by consuming humans and seeking a way to overcome his sole weakness – sunlight.
Muzan has demonstrated the ability to single-handedly slaughter dozens of highly skilled demon slayers with relative ease. He can split his body apart to avoid fatal blows and even survived decapitation. His raw strength and demonic abilities combined with his intelligence make him an extremely dangerous foe.
Kokushibo
As Muzan’s favourite disciple and the Upper Rank 1 demon, Kokushibo is regarded as the second strongest character in Demon Slayer. He was a skilled samurai swordsman even while human and became an incredibly powerful swordsman over centuries as a demon. Kokushibo conceals his demon identity behind a mask and joins the Demon Slaying Corps to secretly kill demon slayers.
Kokushibo has masterful swordsmanship, inhuman speed and reflexes augmented by his multiple sets of eyes on his body. He wields the immensely sharp sword Moon Breathing and can perform beheading techniques so fast that even other powerful demons can’t register them. Kokushibo even unlocked a self-mummification technique that enhances his physical abilities at the cost of his memories and emotions.
Yoriichi Tsugikuni
Though not a major character in the main story, Yoriichi Tsugikuni was considered the strongest demon slayer ever. He was the original inventor of the Breath of the Sun style, which later splintered into derivative styles like Water Breathing and Wind Breathing. Yoriichi was blessed with a demonstrative mark that granted him supernatural abilities.
With his incredibly fast and skilled dual-wield swordsmanship combined with the enhanced strength, speed, stamina, and healing of the mark, Yoriichi could effortlessly cut down demons. He could even slay demons while his heart had stopped beating. During his lifetime, Yoriichi came the closest to killing Muzan but ultimately failed. Nevertheless, his swordsmanship genius invented the key techniques all demon slayers utilize.
Akaza
The Upper Rank 3 demon Akaza is endowed with superhuman strength, speed, and stamina along with powerful techniques thanks to his
Compass Needle demonic skill. It enables him to read his opponents’ techniques and fighting spirit, allowing him to predict attacks and adapt his tactics.
Akaza possesses masterful hand-to-hand combat skills and creates shockwave-like techniques from his punches and kicks. His techniques can destroy terrain, block swords, and deliver brutal damage. On top of his base abilities, Akaza can further transform into a more powerful form. The combination of all his skills makes him a challenging foe.
Tanjiro Kamado
Despite being a young demon slayer, Tanjiro Kamado demonstrates tremendous potential. He unlocks the self-taught Breath of the Sun style and develops it into the Breath of Water style with its various dance-like forms for fluid sword techniques.
With his kind spirit, Tanjiro can wield the special Hinokami Kagura fire dance inherited from his father. It grants him pyrokinetic abilities and the Blessed Fire Mark that provides a dramatic boost to his physical capabilities and fighting skill. Tanjiro is also highly observant, quick-thinking and adaptive in battle. All of this makes him capable of defeating even the Upper Ranks despite his age.
Gyomei Himejima
As the Stone Hashira of the Demon Slaying Corps, Gyomei Himejima is regarded as the strongest current pillar. Even though he is blind, Gyomei possesses incredible sensory skills and muscle control honed through rigorous training. His weapon of choice is a large spiked flail along with an axe, granting him great attack range.
Gyomei utilizes the Breath of Stone style, notable for its simplicity and raw power. With his massive strength and skill, he can crush demons with his flail, sense their movements to strike precisely and defend attacks effectively. Very few demons can match him for strength or break through his solid guard. Against the Upper Ranks, Gyomei stands at the pinnacle of the demon slayers.
Doma
The Upper Rank 2 Doma is one of the oldest demons besides Muzan and Kokushibo, having lived for over 500 years. While lacking physical strength, Doma possesses extremely dangerous cryokinetic abilities with his Breath of Ice techniques. He can freeze his foes and encase himself in ice for defense and regeneration.
Doma’s freezing techniques can overpower fire attacks and completely preserve living beings while slowly killing them from hypothermia. His ice clones can act independently to attack or defend for him. Doma’s immortality and ability to recover from what should be fatal wounds makes him very difficult to kill.
Sanemi Shinazugawa
As the Wind Hashira, Sanemi Shinazugawa has demonstrative talent as a demon slayer. He unlocks the rare Marechi bloodline ability that makes his blood toxic to demons, granting him an advantage in combat. Sanemi wields dual swords and is highly agile, using the Breath of the Wind style.
His unpredictable swordwork combined with all-out attacking approach allows Sanemi to overwhelm opponents quickly. He also posses incredible stamina and endurance, able to keep fighting despite suffering severe injuries. Sanemi’s willingness to put his life on the line makes him a fierce slayer who fears no demon.
Ranking the Strongest
Based on all their demonstrated feats and abilities, here is how the strongest characters in Demon Slayer may be ranked:
| Rank | Character |
|---|---|
| 1 | Muzan Kibutsuji |
| 2 | Kokushibo |
| 3 | Yoriichi Tsugikuni |
| 4 | Akaza |
| 5 | Tanjiro Kamado |
| 6 | Gyomei Himejima |
| 7 | Doma |
| 8 | Sanemi Shinazugawa |
Conclusion
In the Demon Slayer universe, the incredibly powerful Muzan Kibutsuji stands at the pinnacle due to his immense physical abilities, shape-shifting, regeneration, and legacy as the progenitor demon. Right behind him is his disciple Kokushibo, who attained extraordinary swordsmanship and physical skills over centuries of life.
The original Breath of the Sun user Yoriichi Tsugikuni’s one-of-a-kind mark and dual-wielding brilliance made him history’s most skilled demon slayer. Among the current generation, the Upper Rank 3 Akaza possesses well-rounded combat skills and techniques that can overwhelm even experienced demon slayers.
Tanjiro Kamado demonstrates rapid growth and the potential to surpass more veteran slayers thanks to his observant combat adaptability and possession of the self-taught Hinokami Kagura. Gyomei Himejima’s raw strength and stone-like defense earns him the top spot among the Hashira. Doma and Sanemi Shinazugawa are also among the current pillars who’ve attained special skills that make them demon-slaying prodigies.
Each of Demon Slayer’s most powerful warriors wield unique abilities and fighting styles that make them lethal to demons. But the series’ focus on constantly improving oneself means skilled young slayers like Tanjiro have the potential to one day rise to the top of the ranks through their dedication and hard work.