10 Most Powerful Villains in Demon Slayer, Ranked

Although the Demon Slayer manga reached its conclusion in 2020, the series’ popularity keeps rising thanks to the anime adaptation. The anime is adapting the final arc in a trilogy film, and the first part has already been released in Japan. It features the epic showdown between Demon Slayers and the Upper Moons with the future of the country at stake. For centuries, demons have terrorized innocent people, and countless lives have been lost. Demons are naturally physically stronger than most humans, and certain criteria must be met to kill them. This is why ordinary humans don’t stand a chance against them.

Demons don’t blindly attack humans; they do so to gain more power. Along with regeneration, exceptional speed, and raw strength, some demons can even learn to use special abilities called Blood Demon Art, which makes them even more invincible. Muzan Kibutsuji, the demon progenitor, shares some of his blood with a select few demons who have a cut above the rest of the demons. In the fight against these monsters, humans have always been at a significant disadvantage. And yet, they continue to fight in an attempt to eradicate their terror for a better future.

Warning: This article contains spoilers from the Demon Slayer manga!

10) Enmu

Although Akaza stole all of the limelight in the Infinity Train film, the true main antagonist of the arc was Enmu, and he shouldn’t be underestimated. Despite being a Lower Moon One, he survived Muzan’s brutal slaughter of the lower ranks thanks to his intellect. His Blood Demon Art is one of the most troublesome abilities in the series. He can put his opponents to sleep and manipulate their dreams in order to break them completely before killing them. This is how he controlled the passengers in the train, killing them one by one.

While fighting with Tanjiro, Enmu decided to show him his happiest memories with his family. By doing so, he figured that Tanjiro wouldn’t want to wake up from his dream, but the truth couldn’t be farther apart from it. With Nezuko’s help, Tanjiro strengthened his resolve and severed his own head in his dream countless times before finally having the chance to kill Enmu.

9) Kaigaku

Kaigaku will be formally introduced in the Infinity Castle film as Zenitsu’s biggest opponent. He briefly appeared in Zenitsu’s flashback during the first season, mocking the young Demon Slayer for being unable to learn all of the Thunder Breathing forms. However, Kaigaku’s past is far more elaborate and shameful than that. He gave up his humanity in order to survive and replaced Gyutaro as the Upper Moon Six. He is Zenitsu’s biggest opponent in the entire series, and the former has more than enough reasons to decapitate the demon.

Since most Blood Demon Arts stem from the demon’s past life, Kaigaku, who trained under the former Thunder Hashira, was still able to use Thunder Breathing. In fact, he further upgraded the Total Concentration by manifesting the thunder into reality. While Zenitsu could only use the first and the most difficult form of the Breathing Technique, Kaigaku was able to use all of them except the first.

8) Gyutaro and Daki

Although Gyutaro was the Upper Moon Six and the main antagonist of the Entertainment District Arc, his powers were intertwined with his sister, Daki. While Daki was the one who would stay in the open as the Upper Moon, Gyutaro would only show up when she was in a pinch. The siblings were immensely strong, and what made them truly terrifying was the fact that they couldn’t die unless both their heads were severed at the same time.

While Tanjiro Kamado and Tengen Uzui directly fought Gyutaro, the task of defeating Daki fell upon Zenitsu, Inosuke, and Nezuko. Tengen’s wives also helped with the ordeal, and that’s how the team made history by defeating the first Upper Moon in over a hundred years.

7) Gyokko

In terms of presence and character writing, Gyokko falls behind a majority of the villains in the series. Even so, his strength can’t be underestimated considering his rank as Upper Moon Five. Gyokko and Hantengu invaded the Swordsmith Village together and decided to kill the Demon Slayers who were taking shelter there. Although the village is always hidden and keeps moving around to avoid the demons’ attack, Gyokko still managed to achieve a feat no one else could.

His Blood Demon Art revolves around sea and aquatic lifeforms, making him just as slippery as one. He would’ve been able to kill Muichiro Tokito, the Mist Hashira, had it not been for his unexpected manifestation of the Demon Slayer Mark. Just when Mucihiro was forced into a corner, he awakened his lost memories as well as his true powers.

6) Nakime

Despite not specializing in combat, Nakime was promoted to Upper Rank Four after Hantengu’s death. While Muzan gave the sixth rank to Kaigaku, he left the fifth rank empty and made her the fourth. This proves how much she valued her skills, and that’s because her Blood Demon Art is the Infinity Castle itself. She can control everything within the castle, change its layout, and teleport people in and out of the castle at will. This just proves how much of a disadvantage the Demon Slayers were in after being forced inside the labyrinth.

While everyone else was busy fighting the other Upper Moons, Mitsuri and Obanai joined hands against the newly appointed Upper Rank Four. They also received help from Yushiro, who did everything he could to fulfill Tamayo’s wish. Regardless of how powerful an Upper Rank is, going against two Hashira should be overwhelming for anyone, but Nakime easily avoided their attacks. She didn’t even have to leave her seat in order to deal with them. Had it not been for Yushiro, who took control of her powers and forced Muzan to kill her, the Corps may have been wiped out.

5) Hantengu

Hantengu’s troublesome ability made him a force to be reckoned with. He could create several clones of himself, each depicting a certain emotion. Each clone is already difficult to deal with, but if someone does manage to sever their heads, they would just split up into even more powerful forms. Initially, he had four clones, but eventually, he revealed seven forms in total. Not only that, but his most powerful clone, Zohakuten, was created when the initial clone, Sekido, absorbed the other three clones: Karaku, Aizetsu, and Urogi.

Defeating the clone was pointless, since the demon wouldn’t die as long as his main body hadn’t been severed. But here’s another trick: Hantengu’s real body is extremely tiny, which makes it easy for him to hide in places no one could find him. Despite his tiny appearance, his head still couldn’t be severed easily.

4) Akaza

Akaza, the Upper Rank Three, specialized in hand-to-hand combat and enjoyed nothing more than fighting powerful people. He truly enjoyed the thrill of the battle, and even his Blood Demon Art revolved around martial arts. According to Doma, Akaza had the talent to even surpass the Upper Rank Two, but the only thing that kept him from getting stronger was his refusal to eat women, who provided more power to demons compared to men.

Despite that, he was able to win against Kyojuro Rengoku, the Flame Hashira, in the Infinity Train Arc. Akaza sprang into action again during the Infinity Castle Arc and came face-to-face with Tanjiro. Giyu also joined the fight and lent Tanjiro a helping hand, but the two were still overwhelmed by Akaza’s power. By the end of the fight, all three of them had reached their limits, but Akaza had another trick up his sleeve. He could’ve destroyed Tanjiro and Giyu then and there, but something during the fight triggered his memories as a human. He remembered his beloved fiancée, who asked him to stop, and his attack backfired, making him self-destruct.

3) Doma

Doma has long been introduced in the anime, but we will finally see his true powers in the Infinity Castle Arc. As the Upper Rank Two, he couldn’t be defeated by simple means. Having lost her sister because of Doma, Shinobu knew that fact better than anyone else. His Blood Demon Art was as cold as his heart, allowing him to conjure and manipulate ice at an unprecedented level.

Shinobu lived for the purpose of killing him and consumed poison lethal to demons for over a year. She faced the monster alone and made him consume her, as she had wished. Shinobu bet her revenge on her adoptive sister, Kanao, who had a unique ability. Later, Inosuke joined the fight, and their teamwork successfully killed one of the most powerful demons in history.

2) Kokushibo

If Yoriichi Tsugikuni, the greatest Demon Slayer in history, is portrayed as the sun, then his older twin brother, Michikatsu Tsugikuni, who lived in the shadow of his younger brother, could be considered the moon. Michikatsu abandoned his humanity and his true name after becoming a demon known as Kokushibo. He eventually joined the ranks of the Twelve Kizuki and became the Upper Moon One. Kokushibo has more than enough to back up his rank, which would explain how he has survived for about 500 years.

As a former Demon Slayer, he could use Moon Breathing even after turning into the monster he once fought against. Apart from his unparalleled strength, he was an exceptional swordsman, and it took the combined efforts of Sanemi Shinazugawa, Genya Shinazugawa, Muichiro, and Gyomei Himejima to finally defeat the demon.

1) Muzan Kibutsuji

With seven hearts, five brains, unparalleled strength, and a varying range of supernatural abilities, Muzan was an untouchable force. Except for the sun, he had no weakness to speak of at all. After Yoriichi, there was no human born with nearly as enough strength to defeat the demon. Severing Muzan’s head won’t kill him, so the only option is to expose him to the sun. However, that’s a lot easier said than done. After Kagaya Ubuyashiki blew up his manor, Tamayo injected a poison into Muzan’s body that would significantly weaken him.

However, the demon stood tall despite that and almost took down the entire Demon Slayer Corps. The night-long battle crushed many lives and dreams, but eventually the Demon Slayers’ sacrifice wasn’t all for nothing. Even after his body was disintegrated after being exposed to sunlight, he planned to take over Tanjiro’s body until the Demon Slayers saved their comrade.

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