Demon Slayer: Who is The Strongest of The 9 Hashira

March 4, 2023, 3:01 p.m.

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Demon Slayer: Who is The Strongest of The 9 Hashira

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Warning: Contains spoilers for Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.

Summary Gyomei Himejima is canonically the strongest Hashira, as explicitly stated.

Some Hashira, like Shinobu and Tengen, fall on the weaker side of the spectrum.

Becoming a Hashira is a long and difficult process, and they represent the best of the best demon slayers.

There’s a lot of debate over the strength levels of the Hashira in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, but when taking a look at the series as a whole, it's possible to name the strongest Hashira of all. The Hashira stand out as among the strongest heroes in Demon Slayer, with them being the only ones outside of Tanjiro and his friends capable of fighting the strongest demons in the series. Every fight they participate in perfectly illustrates how powerful they are, and none of the later fights in the series could be won without their intervention.

The Hashira are undoubtedly powerful, and while there’s never been an official naming of the strongest swordmaster in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba manga, it’s not impossible to determine. Some have explicit statements about their power to work with, and even for the ones who don’t, their various feats in the story can be used to give an idea of how they compare to one another. With all that in mind, here’s how the strongest Hashira in Demon Slayer measure up.

Related Demon Slayer's High School AU Spin-Off Coming to Crunchyroll The goofy Demon Slayer alternate universe spinoff "Junior High and High School! Kimetsu Academy Story" is finally coming to Crunchyroll.

10 How Do Tanjiro And His Friends Compare to the Hashira?

Tanjiro, Inosuke, and Zenitsu are still relatively fresh faces in the Demon Slayer corps, but their experience in battle has propelled them far ahead of where they should be in terms of age alone. It can be a bit difficult to compare them to the current Hashira, as each of the three uses a style of breathing not represented by a Hashira (Sun, Beast, and Thunder, respectively).

Inosuke certainly has the raw skills to become a Hashira some day. He pretty much invented Beast Breathing from scratch, so each of its forms is something that Inosuke had to come up with himself. Beast Breathing has proven to be an exceptionally strong technique, one worthy of being passed on to the next generation the way that Mist Breathing or Insect Breathing are. Inosuke proved highly valuable in a number of battles, including against Gyutaro, one of the Upper Ranks.

Zenitsu was trained by the former Thunder Hashira, and is the only currently living (non-demon) practitioner of the style, meaning that if they were to declare a Thunder Hashira again, it would have to be Zenitsu. On the other hand, Zenitsu only learned one technique of Thunder Breathing, the First Form, before his master was killed, so he's hardly in a position to teach others how to use the breathing style. Zenitsu did create some techniques of his own later on, but that can't really counter the fact that he knows so little about it in the first place.

Tanjiro is arguably the closest of the three to being a Hashira in terms of raw strength; the power of Sun Breathing is just that strong. Tanjiro's ability to use the Hinokami Kagura in combination with Water Breathing techniques makes him very versatile in battle, allowing him to defeat demons far more powerful than he is. Tanjiro played a role in the defeat of Gyutaro, as well as Hantengu, both Upper Ranked demons. The question for Tanjiro is really what he would be the Hashira of; after all, there's already a Water Hashira, and there's never been a Sun Hashira.

It might also be worth considering how Nezuko stacks up. While Nezuko's power set, as a demon, is quite different from that of a Hashira, it's clear that she's fighting at about that level of power from her encounters with Upper Ranked demons. Nezuko's ability to help turn Nichirin blades bright red with her blood is an incredibly valuable one from a support perspective, as that can make demon slayers far more effective in battle. Nezuko would never be considered for a position as a Hashira, but her raw power likely puts her ahead of Kocho and possibly even Uzui.

Tanjiro and his friends are far more powerful and experienced than newbies like themselves should be, and they've more than proven it through the battles they've already faced. At the very least, by the end of the Hashira Training, they're worthy of being honorary Hashira, putting them up there with Demon Slayer's strongest heroes.

9 Shinobu Kocho - The Insect Hashira

Debuted in Chapter 28 of the Manga and Episode 15 of the Anime

Shinobu Kocho’s placement as the weakest Hashira should be one of the most justifiable placements among the Hashira. For starters, Shinobu herself claims she’s too weak to decapitate a demon, so that automatically works against her. Though she might be physically the weakest among the Hashira, she is still a more than capable fighter and is absolutely lethal against the many demons she faces.

Shinobu's Insect Breathing in Demon Slayer makes up for it with powerful poison, but even that doesn’t guarantee her a win; Douma was able to decompose all of Shinobu’s poison in their fight, and while he was one of the stronger Kizuki, it’s entirely possible that all the Upper Rank Kizuki could do that to some extent. With all of that in mind, it makes the most sense to name Shinobu the weakest Hashira.

8 Tengen Uzui - The Sound Hashira

Debuted in Chapter 44 of the Manga and Episode 21 of the Anime

Tengen Uzui’s power ranking among the Hashira relies largely on his tangible feats in the series. While Tengen is certainly strong, as befitting his role, his single fight in the series had him nearly die against Gyutaro, objectively the weakest of the Upper-Rank Kizuki, and he was still unable to win without help from Tanjiro and his friends. While he is undeniably physically stronger than some of the other Hashira, his poor showing suggests physical strength alone isn't quite enough to be Demon Slayer's strongest Hashira.

None of that makes a positive statement about Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba's Tengen’s power, so from an objective standpoint, it’s hard to name him a serious competitor against other Hashira. Still though, with his tenacity and relentlessness, Tengen is a force to be reckoned with even if his fights in the series don't necessarily show it.

7 Muichiro Tokito - The Mist Hashira

Debuted in Chapter 44 of the Manga and Episode 21 of the Anime

Muichiro Tokito’s proper introduction to the series did a lot to highlight his power. Tokito was established to be a young prodigy, and he more than proved that with how he single-handedly defeated the Upper Rank 5 Kizuki, Gyokko. This is an impressive achievement considering Tokito is only 14, making him the youngest Hashira by a decent margin.

However, Gyokko was objectively one of the weaker Kizuki, and since Tokito needed his Demon Slayer Mark to defeat him, that feat ends up being even less impressive. Add in how easily Tokito was overpowered by Kokushibo and how he could only provide support, and it’s easy to see Tokito as falling to the weaker side of the Hashira. Despite this, Tokito has quite a bit of potential, and could eventually surpass the other Hashira if given enough time.

6 Mitsuri Kanroji - The Love Hashira

Debuted in Chapter 44 of the Manga and Episode 21 of the Anime

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba's Mitsuri Kanroji is another Hashira who effectively established their strength level in their proper introduction. In the “Swordsmith Village” arc, Mitsuri held her own against the Upper Rank 4 Kizuki, Hantengu, and while she needed help to win, it was still nonetheless impressive. Given this, it's easy to see why Mitsuri would earn a decent rank among the Hashira.

Unfortunately, in addition to Hantengu being weak compared to some of the other demons, Mitsuri was the least effective of the Hashira in the final fight against Muzan, and she was notably the first one forced to leave the fight to recover their strength. Despite these caveats though, Mitsuri is still quite strong and is capable of some truly impressive feats. All of that serves to put Mitsuri’s power level somewhere in the middle ground of the Hashira.

5 Obanai Iguro - The Snake Hashira

Debuted in Chapter 45 of the Manga and Episode 22 of the Anime

Obanai Iguro received the least focus and fights of all the Hashira in the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba franchise, but it’s not impossible to judge his power level, regardless. During the final fight with Muzan, Iguro’s fighting style allowed him to both evade and land numerous attacks, and he was one of the few Demon Slayers capable of seeing the Transparent World and turning his sword red without help.

All of those are very impressive feats for Iguro, but he still mostly played a supportive role in the fight against Muzan, so like Mitsuri Kanroji, it makes the most sense to put Iguro in the middle ground. Still though, Obanai's true strength may not have been properly displayed in Demon Slayer, so there is a distinct possibility that the Snake Hashira was actually much stronger than fans got to see.

4 Giyu Tomioka - The Water Hashira

Debuted in Chapter 1 of the Manga and Episode 1 of the Anime

Giyu Tomioka was the first Hashira introduced to the series and is easy to name among the strongest. In addition to how easily Giyu defeated Rui when Tanjiro struggled against him, Demon Slayer's Giyu Tomioka was able to put up a great fight against Akaza, although he never managed to have the advantage over him. It was still impressive, nonetheless, and even with the injuries he sustained, Giyu managed to contribute a lot in the final fight against Muzan and ended up as one of the few Hashira to survive the fight.

Giyu doesn't make too many appearances early in the manga and anime, building up the mystery and allure of his strength. When he eventually does get his time to shine, it's truly a sight to behold and more than worth the wait. All in all, Giyu very clearly stands among the strongest Hashira in the series.

3 Kyojuro Rengoku - The Flame Hashira

Debuted in Chapter 44 of the Manga and Episode 21 of the Anime

Kyojuro Rengoku’s feats are very similar to Giyu Tomioka’s, but some important differences justify his higher placement. Both characters fought against Akaza, but not only was Rengoku shown taking fewer hits than Giyu, Rengoku almost defeated Akaza by himself in the Demon Slayer: Mugen Train movie, albeit through sunlight, not swordsmanship.

Even more impressive is that Rengoku accomplished that without a Demon Slayer Mark whereas Giyu needed to use his just to keep up with Akaza. Rengoku and Giyu can be seen as somewhat equal in strength, but Rengoku’s feats against Akaza are more impressive than Giyu’s, so it makes sense to rank him higher among the Hashira. Unfortunately, Rengoku suffered from one of Demon Slayer's saddest deaths, meaning fans never got to see how he would fair against the likes of threats like Muzan.

2 Sanemi Shinazugawa - The Sound Hashira

Debuted in Chapter 45 of the Manga and Episode 22 of the Anime

Sanemi Shinazugawa is another Hashira whose placement has very explicit justification in the series. In the fight with Upper Rank 1 Kizuki Kokushibo, Sanemi was stated to be one of the two strongest Hashira, and going right along with that, Sanemi was incredibly effective against both Kokushibo and Muzan, doing a lot of damage in both fights even when other characters faltered.

Sanemi shares a voice actor with JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean's Enrico Pucci.

In addition to everything else, Sanemi ended up being one of the few Hashira to survive the final fight with Muzan, and that should certainly say a lot about his overall power. Still though, as powerful and impressive as Sanemi is, even he couldn't compete against Demon Slayer's strongest Hashira.

1 Gyomei Himejima - The Stone Hashira

Debuted in Chapter 44 of the Manga and Episode 21 of the Anime

Of all the Hashira, Gyomei Himejima’s placement should be the easiest to justify. Himejima is explicitly stated on multiple occasions to be the most powerful Hashira, and going right along with that, he was able to do incredible damage to Kokushibo and played a big part in the final fight against Muzan. Not only that, but Himejima was one of the few characters able to see the Transparent World, adding even more to his already impressive power.

Himejima is also an interesting character with a tragic backstory that makes him so much more than just his strength. Given his penchant for crying, it's easy to mistake Himejima for someone weaker, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Taking all of that into account, it’s more than easy to see Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba's Gyomei Himejima as the strongest Hashira in the series.