Demon Slayer Hashira Members and Their Powers (Ranked)

Compared to other anime like Black Clover or Naruto, Demon Slayer (Kimetsu No Yaiba) has a comparatively limited plot. While the plot isn’t one that continued for decades, Demon Slayer has one of the largest sets of characters in an anime. And if you are a fan, you are likely familiar with the elite demon hunters called the Hashira. The nine Hashira indeed stand out from the rest of the Demon Slayer Corps when it comes to fighting the deadliest demons. From the flame-wielding Kyojuro Rengoku to the calm and collected Giyu Tomioka, they possess amazing abilities and powers. But what makes a Hashira so powerful and who is their leader? Here, we will answer all these questions and more. So, if you are a die-hard fan or a newbie to the series, check out this guide to learn about all the Hashira members in Demon Slayers, along with their powers, Nichirin swords, and breathing techniques.

Table of Contents

Who Is a Hashira in Demon Slayer

Hashiras are the strongest and most competent members of the Demon Slayer Corps. In terms of ranking, they are all equal and second only to the leaders of the corps. They, as warriors, are responsible for leading the battle against Muzan, the demon king. Each Hashira is a proficient swordsman and a master of unique breathing techniques. Some of them like Love Hashira even came up with their own distinct breathing styles.

When not on a particular mission, each Hashira patrols a specific area to gather information and protect the residents from demons. While their work is similar to the police, they are not recognized by the government but have still existed to serve humanity since ancient times.

Requirements to Become a Hashira

For a member of the Demon Slayer corps to become a Hashira, they must meet the following requirements:

• They have to kill 50 fifty regular demons or a member of the Twelve Kizuki, the 12 strongest demons of Muzan’s squad
• Alternatively, a Hashira can assign a successor for themself who is known as Tsuguko. Then that Hashira will have to train that person so that they can eventually take over when the Hashira dies or retires.

Even though the first condition seems much faster, it usually takes around 3-5 years to gain the expertise of a Hashira. Though, Gyomei Himejima and Muichiro Tokito, exceptionally, just took 2 months to become Hashira.

Complete List of Demon Slayer Hashira

Hashira Name	Breathing Technique
Gyomei Himejima	Stone Breathing
Muichiro Tokito	Mist Breathing
Sanemi Shinazugawa	Wind Breathing
Obanai Iguro	Serpent Breathing
Giyu Tomioka	Water Breathing
Kyojuro Rengoku	Flame Breathing
Mitsuri Kanroji	Love Breathing
Tengen Uzui	Sound Breathing
Shinobu Kocho	Insect Breathing
Kanae Koncho	Flower Breathing
Jigoro Kuwajima	Thunder Breathing
Shinjuro Rengoku	Flame Breathing
Sakonji Urokodaki	Water Breathing

With the basics out of the way, let’s get to know all of the powerful Hashiras you are going to meet in the main story of Demon Slayer. Do keep in mind that, we’re ranking Hashiras based on their strength and achievements, similar to our list of strongest characters in Demon Slayer.

1. Gyomei Himejima

Gyomei Himejima, the Stone Hashira, is the strongest Hashira in the Demon Slayer corps in terms of strength and swordsmanship. He is the only person who uses spiked flails and an axe instead of standard swords to kill demons. Such a weapon takes immense precision and soundness to use without inflicting personal damage.

Not to forget, Gyomei is completely blind so he has to rely on his senses and the vibrations caused by the chain of his weapon to detect his opponents. However, thanks to his experience and competence, the lack of sight has never been an issue for Gyomei. Even Kokushibo, the second strongest demon in existence after Muzan, claimed that he hasn’t met anyone of his caliber in the last three centuries. And we got a testament to the same when he entered the final battle without a second thought even after acquiring serious injuries.

2. Muichiro Tokito

Given his young age and achievements, Muichiro is undoubtedly the most exceptionally talented Hashira in Demon Slayer. He completed the rough Hashira training within two months, a deed only Himejima achieved before. But when compared to the latter, Muichiro doesn’t have the experience or muscular strength, making his record time even more impressive. Furthermore, like the Stone Hashira, he is very calm and collected, which also fits his Mist breathing technique.

When pitched against our protagonist, the Mist Hashira was easily able to overwhelm Tanjiro and even the unpredictable Genya. Not to forget, he is the only person who singled-handily defeated an Upper-Rank demon (Rank Five), that too, quite easily. Before that, something like that hasn’t been done in over 100 years. After that, he also inflicted a serious injury on Upper-Rank One Kokushibo, the second strongest devil in existence, leading to his defeat.

3. Sanemi Shinazugawa

The Demon Slayer Corps have a mixed opinion towards Sanemi, the Wind Hashira because of his rash personality. Still, his hunger for fighting and incomparable skillset is hard to ignore. He even claimed his extremely dangerous fight against the Upper-Rank One to be exciting and stood his ground entirely by himself. Before that, he destroyed a bunch of Lower Rank demons without giving it a second thought. Kokushibo, the Upper Rank One demon, even compared and complimented Sanemi’s strength alongside Gyomei.

Later, while dealing with the death of his brother and several serious injuries, he contributed heavily towards the fall of Muzan. His wild personality even took the demon king by surprise when Sanemi surprisingly used a second sword with his feet. No other Hashira can do anything remotely similar in Kimetsu No Yaiba.

4. Obanai Iguro

The story of Obanai, the Serpent Hashira, is one of resistance, pain, and power. He is partially blind and also has injuries around his face which force him to always wear a bandage and rarely talk. With that aside, his power and skills know no limits. During the Infinite Castle arc, he proved his swordsmanship by killing many weaker demons with his unique twisted Nichirin sword in Demon Slayer. Later, he also enraged a battle against Nakime, the Upper-Rank Four demon.

But the true test of Obanai’s endurance came in the fight against Muzan. There, the Serpent Hashira endured an injury to his eyes, losing his eyesight completely. Still, he, along with Tanjiro prevented the demon king from escaping. Moreover, due to the lack of vision, Obanai relied on his snake, Kaburamaru, to read and understand his opponent’s movements. While this was happening, most of the other Hashira were either unconscious or too injured to fight.

5. Giyu Tomioka

If you are a regular anime viewer, Tomioka has to be the most familiar Hashira for you. As the Water Hashira, he overpowered Tanjiro and his crew since the beginning of the Demon Slayer. As the story progresses, his strength only becomes more prominent. Tomioka defeats the powerful Father Spider demon and Lower Rank Five while protecting Tanjiro and Inosuke. He even dueled with and matched Sanemi’s skills.

Later, he held off Akaza, Upper-Rank Three, the demon who killed the flame Hashira, in an intense battle. Akaza was so impressed with Giyu that he even offered to turn him into a demon. Fortunately, the Water Hashira denied his offer and later played a major role in the defeat of Muzan, the demon king.

6. Kyojuro Rengoku

Unless you are living under a rock or are not a real fan of Demon Slayer, there is no way you don’t know the majestic Kyojuro Rengoku. He is the Flame Hashira, the main protagonist of the Muzen Train arc of Demon Slayer, who took the fandom by storm across the globe. Even though he couldn’t survive the fight against Upper-Rank Three, Akaza, we got to witness enough of his strength.

Kyojuro was powerful enough to hold off Akaza until sunrise. This was right after he took a destructive fight against Enmu, Lower Rank One, and he even protected Tanjiro and his friends from the demon. Kyojuro also lost an eye and suffered from fatal injuries during his final fight. Yet Akaza couldn’t get to see him die just because of the Flame Hashira’s sheer endurance.

7. Mitsuri Kanroji

Mitsuri Kanroji is currently the most powerful female Hashira in Demon Slayer. Find out who is even stronger than her in our list of strongest female characters in Demon Slayer. As the Love Hashira, she is extremely compassionate towards other humans and victims of demon attacks, but her personality takes a total turn when she is facing demons. Mitsuri has no resentment or care toward demons and she just wants to punish them for their acts.

Unlike other swordsmen, Mitsuri uses extra long-whip-like swords which require extreme flexibility and muscular strength to control. But in her hands, the same sword feels like a prop for a majestic performance. You can expect to see her in action in season 3 of Demon Slayer, which goes over the Swordsmith Village arc. Here, she will defeat the group of demons under the control of Upper-Rank Five, Gyokko, and also a powerful clone of Upper-Rank four Hantengu.

As per the manga, that clone has the power equivalent of four Upper-Rank demons. Later, in the Infinity Castle Arc, Mitsuri bravely fights Nakime, the new Upper-Rank Four on her own and even lands a blow on Muzan that he couldn’t see coming.

8. Tengen Uzui

Tengen, the Sound Hashira, is the major leading force in the Entertainment District Arc of the Demon Slayer anime. That’s also when we get to witness the extreme level of his skills. He was able to not only stand against but also overpower Daki and Gyutaro, two upper-rank demons who have killed multiple Hashiras in the past. While we cannot ignore all the help Tengen had from his wives and Tanjiro and his friends, his contribution to the fight was definitely heavy.

Unfortunately, Tengen decides to retire from the corps after that fight, so we never get to see him in the final battle. However, his enhanced sense of hearing and the ease with which he uses his extremely powerful dual cleavers and explosive beads,serve as a clear testament to his power.

9. Shinobu Kocho

At the end of our list of current Hashira in Demon Slayer Corps, we have Shinobu Koncho, the Insect Hashira. Unlike other members of the corps, she lacks major physical strength but her wisdom knows no bounds. Shinobu is an expert in medicines and poison, so instead of direct combat, Shinobu relies on a needle-like sword to weaker her enemies by injecting poison into them.

Then, she uses the tiny blade at the edge of her sword to slice off their necks. This unique style of fighting allowed her to stand tall against Doma, Upper Rank Two demon. Before that, she also killed the powerful daughter Spider Demon and even almost killed Nezuko. She is definitely a reliable successor to her sister, the late Flower Hashira.

Former Hashiras in Demon Slayer

The Demon Slayer corps and the Hashira system have existed for over several centuries. So, while witnessing the current nine Hashiras is exciting, there are several former Hashira you need to know too. They might not play a major role in the main narrative of the anime, but their contributions are definitely worth knowing about.

10. Kanae Kocho

While it’s unfortunate that Kanae’s plotline plays out before the event of the main narrative of Demon Slayer, her story’s end is all the proof we need for her power. She was the powerful Flower Hashira who also used a special sword to inject Wisteria poison into the demons while slicing them off. Being a Hashira, there is no doubt that has killed a variety of powerful demons during his lifetime.

But the true testament to her power is Kanae’s final fight with Doma, the third most powerful demon in existence. While she was unable to defeat him, Kanae matched him move-to-move to prevent him from getting the satisfaction of killing her. In the end, he had to flee because of the sunrise. She pitied him for his lack of emotions. In later chapters of the manga, Doma even remembered her and claimed that he regretted not being able to consume her.

11. Jigoro Kuwajima

Jigoro is the former Thunder Hashira and also the trainer of Zenitsu Agatsuma, a skilled member of the Demon Slayer corps, and Kaigaku, the Upper-Rank Six demon. While we don’t get to know much about his achievements, his time as a Hashira is highly celebrated. He only left the corps after losing his leg in the battle. Moreover, even on opposite sides, both of his pupils are extremely talented swordsmen and they even pass him in some aspects.

12. Shinjuro Rengoku

As the name reveals, Shinjuro is the former Flame Hashira and the father of Kyojuro Rengoku. His status in itself is enough as a testament to his power. But we also get to see him overpowering Tanjiro in direct combat. Moreover, he also saved the life of a younger Obanai Iguro from the serpent demon during his time in the corps.

13. Sakonji Urokodaki

The last one on our list and the first former Hashira we meet in the anime is Sakonji Urokodaki, the former Water Hashira. He trained both Giyu Tomioka, the current Water Hashira, and Tanjiro Kamado, our protagonist. During the latter’s training, we get to see a lot of Sakonji’s moves and wisdom. However, the anime explores very little about his past. Though, we know that he is the one who captured Hand Demon alive, the demon responsible for killing over 50 trainee swordsmen.

Leaders of Demon Slayer Corps

While Hashiras are definitely talented warriors, they are not the ones controlling the Demon Slayer Corps. If we keep the personality of the likes of Sanemi and Tengen in mind, that’s probably for the best. So, when it comes to leading the nine Hashiras, we have the Ubuyashiki Family. Let’s learn more about them.

Kagaya Ubuyashiki

Kagaya Ubuyashiki is the 97th leader of the Demon Slayer corps and most members of the corps call him “master.” He became the leader at the young age of 4 and took on the role in an impressive manner. His almost supernatural sense of foresight helps the corps prepare for the final battle in the best possible. Without even meeting the current-age Muzan, he accurately predicts he only has one fatal weakness left which is the sun.

Kiriya Ubuyashiki

Kiriya is the 98th and the last leader of the Demon Slayer Corps in the anime and manga series. He is the son of Kagaya Ubuyashki, who takes over the mantle after the death of his father. Having no time to mourn his loss, Kiriya bravely leads the demon slayers to a fight against Muzan and the Twelve Kizuki. He momentarily stumbles due to the death of several Corps members, but quickly takes control of the situation, thanks to his sisters.

In the post-plot part of the story, we learn that Kiriya is the longest-living person in Japan. This moment also serves as proof that Muzan is truly gone because most of the previous members of his family died at a young age due to the demon’s curse.

Whether you are a dedicated Demon Slayer fan or just started exploring its story, you are now familiar with the most talented swordsmen in the anime. But what good is a swordsman without a weapon? So, use our guide to learn about the most powerful swords in the Demon Slayer anime. Not to forget, while you explore Hashira, it’s also important to know that they are not the strongest characters on the show. In fact, only one Hashira makes it to the top 5 in our list of strongest characters in Demon Slayer. Explore the linked guide to find out the true powerhouse in Demon Slayer anime. With that said, who is your favorite Hashira? Tell us in the comments below!