A Guide to Demon Slayer's Villains & Their Motivations (2024)

The Demon Slayer anime series took great care to flesh out its main heroes and their origins, personalities, and fighting styles. A great example is the main shonen trio of Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke, who had already gone through much by the time they met up and formed their swordsman trio. The same is also true for Demon Slayer's best villains, who are far more than a monster of the week or an excuse for action scenes. Unlike generic demons, the best villains of Demon Slayer all have clear motivations, backstories, and abilities.

All that makes Muzan and his followers more compelling than the monsters of the week, like the swamp demon or the hand demon. Muzan and the Upper and Lower Moons are proper characters with surprisingly sympathetic and/or intriguing backstories, and Demon Slayer fans want to know more. Just like the heroes, these fascinating villains have their own arcs and emotions, explaining how they ended up where they are today as humanity's ultimate predators.

Muzan Kibutsuji is Desperate to Regain His Long-Lost Humanity

The king of demons himself, Muzan Kibutsuji, is also the first demon to ever exist, having gained demon status several centuries ago. Muzan was born weak and frail, and was almost cremated as an apparent stillborn before crying to avoid death. Then, as a young man, Muzan was told that he would die of an illness before age 20, so he sought medicine to cure him. The doctor's cure gave him a strong body with supernatural traits, but at the cost of his sunlight weakness, setting the tone for all demons that would follow.

Muzan killed the doctor before the latter could finish treating him, something Muzan came to regret. Muzan Kibutsuji is highly motivated to find the blue spider lily, an elusive flower that may help him finally cure his demonic status and free him from his sunlight weakness. He created countless demons across the centuries, hoping that by chance, one of them would be immune to sunlight.

Muzan was also motivated to fight back against the Demon Slayer Corps, an organization that formed to protect humanity from his demons, and Muzan hopes to destroy the Ubuyashiki family, in particular, the Corps' leaders. More recently, Muzan resolved to abduct Nezuko Kamado — the first demon has proven immune to sunlight. Muzan's main ability is to create more demons via his blood, and he can even make demons just by lightly scratching someone, as he demonstrated in Asakusa in Demon Slayer's first season. He also has ultra-rapid flesh regeneration to keep himself alive in mortal combat.

Enmu Just Wants to Please His Master

Enmu was once a fake doctor living in Japan until Muzan turned him into a demon in a traumatic experience that Enku barely even remembered. That drove Enmu to claim the rank of Lower Moon 1, which he eventually succeeded in doing. He was also the only Lower Moon to survive Muzan's purge of that group. Enmu is motivated to not only please the master who turned him into a demon but also toy with the boundary between reality and dreams, tormenting and torturing his victims for his own pleasure.

Enku is, in short, motivated by sheer sadism, making him one of the least sympathetic demons seen so far in Demon Slayer, as shown in the Mugen Train movie/story arc. When Muzan spared Enmu during the Lower Moon meeting, Enmu was fiercely determined to prove that he was worth Muzan's mercy and blood, though he ultimately failed, signaling the end of the Lower Moons for good.

Enmu's blood demon arts allow him to put his human victims to sleep, and his minions can find a victim's "core" in their dream, a core that can be destroyed with lethal results. In that way, Enmu is like an assassin, and he doesn't even have to get his own hands dirty. He can also meld his flesh with the Mugen Train, hiding his vulnerable neck in the steam locomotive's engine.

Rui Wanted, Above All, a Real Family to Call His Own

Rui was introduced in the Mt. Natagumo story arc once Tanjiro's main trio of heroes took shape. Similar to his master Muzan, Rui was born in poor health and was physically saved by becoming a demon, though that did not bring personal salvation to go with it. Rui soured on his parents, who were horrified by his transformation into a demon, so he killed them both. Deep down, Rui came to regret his violent actions, and he reflected on that in his dying moments.

Rui is motivated to create a found family of his own to replace the loving family he once had. However, Rui's demonic status and experiences warped his mind, causing him to assemble a dysfunctional found-family that operated on fear and dominance rather than genuine bonds of trust and love. He and the "father" demon often terrorized the mother and daughter, something Tanjiro could not accept.

Rui thought he could bury his pain and guilt with a new family, but what he truly needed was to forgive himself and appreciate his parents' love, something he didn't do until the very end. Rui's blood demon arts are spider-themed, and with them, he can create sharp and tough webs to trap and slice up his enemies. He can even make rotating wheels of sharp, slicing webbing.

Daki Created a Cruel Princess Persona For Herself

Daki may be one of the most underrated villains in Demon Slayer, with more thematic and personal depth to her design than some fans might realize. Daki isn't just another miserable soul who got another chance at strength and power as a demon — she is also an extreme example of the himedere character archetype. A himedere is an arrogant wannabe princess who compensates for their own personal woes with a lofty exterior, acting superior and demanding that everyone adore and support them.

Such characters may be annoying at first, but many of them are sympathetic and vulnerable deep down, which may endear them to fans. Daki is motivated to distance herself from her painful, humble background as the daughter of a negligent, diseased mother in their poverty-ridden neighborhood. Once known as Ume, Daki was a rare, beautiful gem in a world of hardship and ugliness, and she was burned nearly to death in her early teens or so.

Now, as a demon, Daki is a conceited himedere who can't stand the idea of being her original vulnerable self, so she keeps running by keeping up her lifestyle as a popular yet feared oiran in the entertainment district. Thus, Daki's motivation is rather open-ended compared to what some of her fellow demons are doing. Daki fights with her cloth belts, which can extend to great distances and have a sharp, cutting edge to them. Her cloth belts function as extra limbs, and she makes more use of them than her own claws or fists while fighting. She can also survive decapitation while her brother Gyutaro still has his own head, and vice versa.

Gyutaro is a Protective Brother With a Brutal Streak

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Gyutaro, in the eyes of his master Muzan Kibutsuji, is the true Upper Moon 6, though he gladly shares that rank with his sister Daki, so there are effectively two Upper Moon 6 demons. Gyutaro, as Daki/Ume's older brother, suffered the same neglect and hardship she did with a diseased, uncaring mother living in squalor on the fringes of the entertainment district. Gyutaro was only good at fighting and violence, so he embraced his role as a debt collector of sorts, devoted to protecting his little sister at all costs.

He feels the same way now as the Upper Moon 6, living inside Daki's body and emerging to defend her whenever necessary. Like his sister, Gyutaro has an open-ended and highly personal motivation. He wishes to continue protecting his beloved sister for all time, having no other notable goals or interests in his demonic life. He has fought and killed 15 Hashira before, presumably in his sister's defense, and it seems unlikely that he ever made a serious effort to find the blue spider lily for Muzan. In battle, Gyutaro uses poisons and sickles to fight, and is noted for his highly durable body, no matter his emanciated waist and bony build.

Gyokko Loves Making Art With Vases

Gyokko, the Upper Moon 5, has a mysterious background compared to most of his fellow Kizuki. That, combined with his bizarre appearance, helps make Gyokko feel downright alien compared to the other demons, an enigmatic horror of the night that cannot be sympathized with or understood by human minds. Gyokko is motivated to pursue his own vision of art, which usually involves vases.

He enjoys making expensive vases and selling them, earning Muzan's approval in the process, and he will even warp people's flesh to create new art in his vases, as shown in the Swordsmith Village story arc. In battle, Gyokko has a clear octopus and fish theme, sending giant needle-launching fish after his enemies and using octopus tentacles that sprout from his vases, perhaps to emulate an octopus trap. He also has a scaly final form that boasts extreme durability, though Mist Hashira Muichiro Tokito was still able to cut him down to size.

Hantengu Believes in His Own Innocence

In his mortal life, as some flashbacks showed in Season 3, Hantengu was a habitual liar convinced of his own innocence, even after he killed multiple people, including several of his wives. He was slated to be excuted, but claimed to have guilty hands and an innocent body, a claim the magistrate didn't believe. Then, Muzan gave Hantengu his blood and turned him into a demon, giving him a new lease on life. Hantengu's motivation, if it can be called that, is to cling to his new life and maintain his aura of innocence and harmlessness, regardless of his immense power as the Upper Moon 4.

Other than that, there appears to be rather little that drives this character, though he does obey Muzan's orders, albeit reluctantly. In battle, Hantengu can split his body into several younger clones of himself, each with unique emotions and weapons, to make him a one-man squad. His main body will become tiny and avoid combat, and only by having his main body decapitated will Hantengu be destroyed.

Akaza Wishes to Build Up a Network of Rivals

Akaza was raised by his father in Edo, living a rather humble life. Three different times, Akaza picked pockets and got caught, and he suffered a serious beating as punishment for the third offense. Out of shame, Akaza's father hung himself, leaving a devastated Akaza to roam Japan aimlessly, getting into fights and resenting the society that had rejected him and took his father from him. Fighting became his entire life, and that continued when he became a demon and gained the rank of Upper Moon 3.

Akaza is highly motivated to gain some shonen-style rivals whom he may fight for all time, evidently for the sheer pleasure of it. Akaza thrives on rivalry and challenging himself against foes like the Hashira, anda he even offers to turn them into demons so they can keep up the rivalry. No Hashira has ever accepted that deal, though, and Kyojuro Rengoku said he'd rather die as a noble human than survive as a demon.

In battle, Akaza relies mostly on martial arts, moving with extreme speed and power to overwhelm any demon slayer foe, even Hashira. His particular fighting style is known as Destructive Death, including the Compass Needle move, which will tell him all he must know about his current foe.

Doma Brings People to Paradise in Death

Doma, as a human child, was propped up as the leader of a cult that promised to bring people salvation in paradise, something that Doma absolutely did not believe in. He rejected ideas like Heaven and Buddha, and he placed no value on human life, either. That may have been partly because he cannot feel true emotions, anad he was unmoved even by his mother's death.

Doma is now motivated to devour nutrient-rich women while deceiving them into thinking he can bring them to salvation. His idea of paradise is to end a person's suffering by killing and eating them, administering mercy kills on his own accord. At least once, he was also motivated to save people by turning them into demons, thus his offer to turn Gyutaro and Ume into Gyutaro and Daki the demons. He was the Upper Moon 6 at the time, and has since climbed the ranks to become the fearsome Upper Moon 2.

In battle, Doma uses metal Japanese war fans, a style called tessenjutsu, and he can either slice his enemies with those fans or create powerful blasts of air. Aside from that, Doma can also create huge quantities of ice. It was with such powerful abilities he slew Kanae Kocho the Flower Hashira, the beloved older sister of Shinobu Kocho.

Kokushibo is a Demon Slayer Turned Monster

Centuries ago, the twin brothers Michikatsu and Yoriichi Tsugikuni were born, and both become skilled swordsmen. They also pioneered the used of breathing styles, with Yoriichi using the ultra-powerful Sun Breathing and Michikatsu using Moon Breathing. At one point, Muzan convinced Michikatsu to become a demon, and Michikatsu Tsugikuni assumed the name Kokushibo to begin his new life as a demon.

Kokushibo seems primarily motivated to fight for his new master Muzan as the peerless Upper Moon 1, a duty he takes seriously with his samurai-like attitude. He even seems to fancy himself Muzan's second-in-command, willing to reprimand his fellow Kizuki if they misbehave. In battle, Kokushibo is an overwhelming opponent with his Moon Breathing fighting style, combining slayer-like swordsmanship with the supernatural strength, speed, and flesh regeneration of a demon, making him a man of two words with no equals.

Demon Slayer

TV-MA

Anime

Action

Adventure

When Tanjiro Kamado returns home to find his family was attacked and killed by demons, he discovers his younger sister Nezuko was the only survivor. As Nezuko slowly becomes a demon, Tanjiro sets out to find a cure for her and become a demon slayer so he can avenge his family.

Release Date

April 6, 2019

Cast

Natsuki Hanae , Zach Aguilar , Abby Trott , Yosh*tsugu Matsuoka

Main Genre

Anime

Seasons

4

Studio

ufotable

Creator

Koyoharu Gotouge

Streaming Service(s)

Crunchyroll , Hulu , Amazon Prime Video , Netflix