Demon Slayer Characters Guide: Tanjiro, Nezuko, Rengoku, More

Demon Slayer is one of the biggest manga and anime series on the planet right now. With such a large cast of characters across its hundreds of manga chapters and dozens of anime episodes, there is a good bit to cover in the Demon Slayer characters guide.

This Demon Slayer characters guide is going to go over every one of the main people that you should know about when jumping into the series. From the core cast of characters that the series focuses on to the supporting heroes and the main villains, here is everyone that you should know about.

Bottom Line Up Front

There are a lot of main characters in Demon Slayer because it has several different story arcs that focus on different slayers, demons, and even Hashira.

At the forefront, though, are the four main characters: Tanjiro Kamado, his sister Nezuko, and their two friends Zenitsu and Inosuke. They are a constant throughout the series with different supporting characters and villains encountering them. Here is everyone that we cover in this list:

  • Tanjiro Kamado
  • Nezuko Kamado
  • Zenitsu Agatsuma
  • Inosuke Hashibira
  • Kanao Tsuyuri
  • Genya Shinazugawa
  • Kyojuro Rengoku
  • Giyu Tomioka
  • Shinobu Kocho
  • Tengen Uzui
  • Mitsuru Kanroji
  • Sakonji Urokodaki
  • Tamayo
  • Aoi Kanzaki
  • Hotaru Haganezuka
  • Murata
  • Muzan Kibutsuji
  • Rui
  • Enmu
  • Akaza
  • Daki
  • Gyutaro

Demon Slayer Characters Guide

The Demon Slayer characters guide is going to break down that full list of the characters that we think that you should know about when starting the series for the first time or just needing a quick refresher. These are the main ones that are either introduced early on in the story or have a large role in some of the first few arcs.

What you should know is that we are going to keep this guide spoiler-free as Demon Slayer is a show that has a lot of twists, turns, and unfortunate deaths. As such, we are not going to reveal the fates of these characters since the manga is finished but the anime adaptation is still ongoing.

That said, there are going to be some very minor spoilers for the opening chapters to explain a couple of the key characters like Tanjiro and Nezuko but these are minor details that are learned at the very beginning of the story. It is also likely common information at this point that you may already know but we thought we’d warn you ahead of time anyway.

Demon Slayers

The crux of the entire Demon Slayers series is all about the characters in Japan fighting against the almost hidden menace that are the demons. These demons stalk the night and it is difficult to kill them, causing demon slayers to appear who are trained in the arts of decapitating and finishing them off for good.

Because of this, the main characters in the series are demon slayers themselves.

Tanjiro Kamado

The lead hero in the entire Demon Slayer series is Tanjiro Kamado, a young man who becomes embroiled in the conflict with demons at a young age. This is where the slight spoilers come into play but the opening parts of the manga see the young Tanjiro come home to find his entire family slaughtered by demons.

He did not know about demons before this moment but learns about them as he finds the corpses of his family members. In the process, he develops a hatred for demons and wishes nothing more than to find the person responsible for killing his loved ones and getting revenge.

Thus begins his journey to become a slayer and find the one who killed his family. At the same time, though, he is also looking for help regarding his only surviving family member, Nezuko, so that she can normal again. Tanjiro cares about his family and friends above all else.

He is a kind young man with a heart of gold and one of the gentlest manga and anime protagonists in history. There is a lot to love about Tanjiro, which is why he is so popular these days. As a slayer, he is a water-breathing fighter initially.

Nezuko Kamado

Nezuko Kamado is the younger sister of Tanjiro and a fellow protagonist in the series. She is the only surviving member of the attack on the Kamado family while Tanjiro is away. However, that attack did not stop from affecting her as it resulted in her turning into a demon herself.

However, Tanjiro can get to his sister in time and stop her from letting the demon urges take over. In this way, she is a fairly normal person who just so happens to be a demon. Nezuko journeys with Tanjiro to find a cure for her so that she can be a regular human again.

For the most part, it is hard, at least in the opening of the series, to grasp much of Nezuko’s personality since she says almost nothing. But like her brother, she cares about her family above all else and will do anything to protect them.

Nezuko has demon blood art powers of her own that she can use in battle to assist her brother.

Zenitsu Agatsuma

The third main character in the Demon Slayer series is Zenitsu, an orange and blonde-haired young man. He is seen early in the series, joining the Demon Slayer Corps at the same time that Tanjiro does. Unlike the others, he is forced to do this and does not want to become a fighter.

This is a trait of his that is prevalent throughout his entire character as Zenitsu is a coward who hates fighting. He will avoid it at all costs and would rather run away scared from a demon than try to confront him. That said, he does remain a slayer, mostly due to his friendship with Tanjiro and one-sided love for Nezuko.

When Zenitsu does fight, he uses thunder breathing but his abilities are limited to only about one form in total, unlike other fighters. That said, he is extremely powerful and fast when he sets his mind to it, or when he is unconscious. For some reason, falling asleep or becoming unconscious awakens a second persona within Zenitsu that is brave and powerful.

Inosuke Hashibira

Rounding out the four main characters in Demon Slayer is Inosuke. Inosuke is a strange demon slayer that joins the group a little bit into the story. The most noticeable and odd part about Inosuke from the start is the fact that he has the body of a human but the face of a boar.

This does not mean that he is a demon or anything like that but he is just a normal human boy. After his mother died, he was raised by a boar in the wilderness for most of his life. When his boar mother passed away, too, he took her head and he wears it on his head as a mask of sorts the majority of the time.

When he finally does take off the boar head, you can see that he is a rather attractive and human individual. That said, he is a bit wild since he was raised in the wilderness so he is quick to want to fight people, instead of talking. He uses his unique beast breathing style that he created, along with two swords instead of the usual one for a slayer.

Kanao Tsuyuri

Kanao Tsuyuri is one of the hopeful Demon Slayer Corps members who joins at the same time as Tanjiro and Zenitsu at the beginning of the story. She is a reserved girl who mostly keeps to herself and does not say much. Her troubled and tragic past has led her to become a slayer in hopes of possibly becoming a Hashira.

She trains under the insect Hashira, Shinobu Kocho (more on her in a bit), but uses her breathing with the flower breathing style. She becomes friends with Tanjiro and he can help her come into her own, learning to make decisions for herself.

Genya Shinazugawa

The final person to join the Demon Slayer Corps at the same time as Tanjiro and Zenitsu are Genya Shinazugawa. He has a very harsh personality that is hostile and always wants to hunt down demons. He antagonizes Tanjiro and Zenitsu at the start of the series when they meet, not wanting to have much to do with them.

Genya has a rather unique fighting style since he does not use the breathing techniques that others use. Instead, he can, oddly enough, consume demon body parts and gain powers through that. He is fairly absent at the beginning of the series but becomes more important later in the story.

Hashira

Moving on from the general Demon Slayer Corps, we have the Hashira. The Hashira is a special group of slayers who are essentially the best in the business in their time. They are the strongest fighters who can slay demons and they each have a role that they serve in the group.

There are never two of the same types of Hashira, with each one specializing in a particular role. For instance, one might be the Water Hashira which specializes in water-based techniques while another might be the Flame Hashira which specializes in fire breathing and so on. Each Hashira is trained and carefully selected for their role in the group.

Kyojuro Rengoku

The Flame Hashira in the group is Kyojuro Rengoku who is one of the most popular and beloved characters in the Demon Slayer series. He is also one of the first that gets a ton of screen time in the series as he is one of the main characters in the Mugen Train arc of the series.

Rengoku comes from a long line of Flame Hashira with his father being the previous one before him. He has a strange but heartwarming personality that is always positive and smiling. He never breaks his character and remains optimistic no matter what demon or foe he is facing. He leads the investigation group on the Mugen Train helps to mentor Tanjiro and the gang in the process.

Giyu Tomioka

Giyu Tomioka is the Water Hashira and the first of the group that Tanjiro meets in the series. He is initially hostile towards Tanjiro because he is traveling with his demon sister but soon opens up. Like Tanjiro, he uses water breathing style and, therefore, plays an important role early in the story in helping Tanjiro to find a master to train him. He is an extremely powerful fighter and one of the best in the Hashira group.

Shinobu Kocho

Shinobu Kocho is the insect Hashira who has an alluring personality that covers up the passion that she has for killing demons. She is almost crazy about her hatred for demons due to what happened to her family to the point where she is even wanting to kill Nezuko when she meets her.

Shinobu is a dangerous Hashira and a powerful fighter who does not let her physical weakness stop her from eliminating demons. Rather than behead them like most other fighters, she uses a poison that she has developed that will defeat a demon for good.

Tengen Uzui

Tengen Uzui, like Rengoku, is a key Hashira in the series who plays an important role in developing the character of Tanjiro. He takes a central place during the Entertainment District arc of the series, both in the manga and the anime version.

Tengen is the Sound Hashira who grew upraised to be a ninja. In the process, he met his three wives (yes, you read that correctly) and they work together to hunt down demons. He has a bright and outgoing personality and can come off as full of himself, which is unsurprising for a guy with three wives.

Mitsuri Kanroji

The final Hashira that you should know about at the start of the series is Mitsuri Kanroji. She is the Love Hashira and is obsessed with all things romance. While she does not play a huge role early in the story, her introduction has stuck in fans’ minds for good.

Mitsuri has a rather distinct visual design and personality that just one look at her and you can quickly figure out why the fans have instantly taken up with this Hashira in particular.

Other Characters

Here are some of the other characters that are featured in the series who might be slayers or just supporting characters that appear sometimes in the story.

Sakonji Urokodaki

Sakonji Urokodaki is the first teacher that Tanjiro has in the series, ushering him into the world of demons and the water-breathing technique. He is brought into the lives of Tanjiro and Nezuko by Giyu and helps to prepare Tanjiro for joining the Demon Slayer Corps.

Urokodaki is an older man who has high hopes and cares deeply for Tanjiro and Nezuko, especially since his previous students nearly all died when trying to become slayers.

Tamayo

Tamayo is a doctor who was once human but has now become a demon. Unlike other demons, though, she is not someone who hunts down humans and eats them. Instead, she has found a way to live without needing to do that and is researching a cure for her demon status as well as that of Nezuko’s.

Aoi Kanzaki

Aoi Kanzaki is one of the students who is training under Shinobu, the Insect Hashira. While she is a slayer herself that is part of the Corps, she does not fight and, instead, works at the Butterfly Estate where she helps the injured slayers out there to recover. She becomes a quick friend and training partner for Tanjiro and the group.

Hotaru Haganezuka

Hotaru Haganezuka is a swordsmith who is from the Swordsmith Village, one of the major locations in the series. Hotaru is the creator of the swords that Tanjiro uses in battle and is quite eccentric. He goes crazy at times when it comes to someone damaging the swords he created, especially with how reckless Tanjiro can be.

Murata

Murata is one of the Demon Slayer Corps members, a young man who meets Tanjiro early on in the story. One of the story arcs sees a lot of the young slayers die in battle but Murata is one of the few survivors. He is a water user like Tanjiro and they become friends, occasionally encountering each other on their missions.

Demons Explained

Demons are the central antagonists of the Demon Slayer series and the entire crux of everything that is going on. They are nocturnal human-turned-monsters who will die if they are seen in the daylight. They feed on humans and have blood arts that they can wield in battle. They are exceedingly dangerous and most have lost all memories of their former selves.

Muzan Kibutsuji

The leader of all demons and the main villain from the very start of the series is none other than Muzan Kibutsuji. Everything began with him and everything ends with him as he is the very first demon in the series. He has the unique power of turning someone into a demon and has done so countless times.

He is ruthless, hundreds of years old, and cares nothing about human life. He has unbelievable power and is seemingly unstoppable with no slayer being able to take him out to date. He killed Tanjiro’s family and turned Nezuko into a demon, being the demon that Tanjiro is hunting down for revenge. He leads a group of 12 demons that are considered his strongest servants.

Rui

Rui is a young-looking demon who is among the bottom six members of the top 12 demons under Muzan’s command. He was transformed as a young boy into a demon by Muzan and has since created his own spider family of demons that he has in a forest.

He is one of the main villains in a particular early mission that Tanjiro goes on. His blood art power allows him to use sharp spider webs.

Enmu

Enmu is the strongest of the bottom six demons in Muzan’s army and one of the main villains in the series during one of its arcs. In the famous Mugen Train arc that was popularized by the anime film adaptation, Enmu is the lead villain.

Enmu is a crazy demon who has taken over the Mugen Train and uses his blood demon art of entering someone’s dream to kill them. He employs other humans to help him in his process of killing the passengers aboard the Mugen Train and is the main target for Rengoku, Tanjiro, and the others in this story arc.

Akaza

Akaza is one of the top three demons in service to Muzan and one of the most powerful ever created. Exceedingly strong, he seeks out fights with Hashira and other slayers to prove who is the stronger. However, he has his sense of code even when he defeats someone in battle. Akaza encounters Tanjiro a few times during his journey and is a central antagonist because of this.

Daki

The Entertainment District is one of the key story arcs in the Demon Slayer series and the most recent one to be adapted. In this arc, Tanjiro and the gang are sent to the red light district to investigate a string of disappearances of the workers in that area.

It turns out that (slight spoilers for this arc) Daki, an oiran or highest-ranking red light district worker, is the reason behind this. Daki is a demon who is in the top six most powerful around. She is a powerful and alluring demon who uses her beauty and power to control the district.

Daki is difficult to defeat due to her powers that involve a belt that she can use to make it challenging for swords to slice her. Her life has always revolved around the red light district since being a human and she has a notably tragic story with a few secrets of her own. She is a beautiful demon but she has a notably childish and brash personality at times.

Gyutaro

One of those secrets is the fact that she is not the only demon who holds the rank of upper six. It is two demons who simultaneously have this role and the other one is her older brother Gyutaro. He hides within the body of his younger sister, Daki, and only emerges when necessary.

He is the main reason why she has not been killed by a Hashira slayer before since they are not able to defeat her while Gyutaro is still alive. His powers allow him to create poison out of his blood that he couples with his dual sickles to fight in battle.

Gyutaro cares deeply about his younger sister, something has carried over from their lives as humans. Though they may not remember much about their previous lives, Gyutaro and Daki keep their sibling relationship and fight together as a near-unstoppable duo.

FAQs

Question: Who are the four main characters in Demon Slayer?

Answer: There are four main characters at the beginning of the series that most of the manga and anime focus on. They are Tanjiro Kamado, his sister Nezuko, his friend and fellow slayer Zenitsu, and Inosuke. They are the lead heroes in the series and the ones that are usually in the middle of every episode, though there are other main characters in certain arcs and moments that join them.

Question: Who is the best Demon Slayer character?

Answer: This is a question that will change depending on each person who answers it. As such, I can only give you the answer that works for me, and perhaps you will agree with it. In the end, I think that the two characters in the Demon Slayer series are the very best.
Neither of them should ultimately surprise you but they are worth mentioning nonetheless. The first of these is the main character himself, Tanjiro. Tanjiro is one of the best protagonists in a manga and anime series that I have ever seen, having several different layers to him and driving the entire show on his own.
The kindness and passion that Tanjiro has are very different from other shounen protagonists like Luffy, Natsu, Goku, and so on. There is a lot of heart and realness to him that brings him down to earth compared to some of the superpowered shounen heroes out there. He is emotional in a realistic way and makes decisions that I think are understandable. He is a fantastic lead for the series.
The other character that I would put almost equal with him as the best character is Nezuko. I am a simple guy and Nezuko is one of my favorite “waifus” if you want to call her that in all of manga and anime history. With Nezuko, she is a character who commands every scene she is in without saying a word at all.
Her personality and actions shine through without any dialogue, which is a feat for a manga and anime character. So when she finally does get to speak in the series, those few moments are outstanding and filled with emotion in a way that is unlike anything else I’ve ever seen in the medium.

Question: Is Enmu a boy or girl?

Answer: Enmu, as mentioned earlier in the character guide, is the main villain in the Demon Slayer Mugen Train story arc in the manga as well as the anime film that adapted it. Enmu is a male demon who torments the passengers who board the Mugen Train. He is also one of the top 12 demons that serve Muzan who has a powerful and very dangerous blood art.

Question: Who does Tanjiro end up with?

Answer: While this entire guide has been mostly spoiler-free outside of a few minor details, there is no way to answer this question without it being a major spoiler for the series. After all, the manga series has concluded its run but the anime is still ongoing so this will be major spoilers for those who have not read the manga.
This is major because it can confirm the result of certain characters and who they end up with if they end up with anyone at all. That is why we highly recommend skipping this question if you do not want anything spoiled at all for you in the series, especially with the lead character Tanjiro.
If you are still here, then here is your answer. Tanjiro ends up with Kanao, the young slayer girl who joins the Corps at the same time as him. We see in the epilogue that they get married and we can meet some of their descendants in the process, revealing what he does after concluding his journey as a demon slayer.

Conclusion

This Demon Slayer characters guide is just the first step to preparing to read the manga or watch the anime. The characters are definitely at the forefront of this series but there is more to it than just the cast members. As such, we recommend checking out our history and overview guide to the Demon Slayer series as well.

This series will introduce you to the world of Demon Slayer, more about who the demons are and how they work, and some of the story details that you should know about. If you’re ready to start enjoying one of the most popular and successful manga and anime series of all time, this is the place to do it.

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