If you are a fan of the Demon Slayer anime series, you must also be curious about who is the strongest Hashira in Demon Slayer. This is a hot topic considering they are the pinnacle of what a demon slayer is supposed to be, so being curious about which of them is the most powerful is a given!
Demon Slayer has, without a doubt, one of the best action scenes you can enjoy in the world of anime and manga. The choreography displayed in the fights is impressive, and this is only enhanced by the fact that many characters have their own fighting style, enriching any reader’s experience.
That being said, in its cast of characters, a group of characters catches the attention of many readers: The Pillars, or Hashira, who are supposed to be the strongest members of the Demon Slayer Corps. They not only have unique personalities that distinguish them from others, but they are also well known for displaying immense skills and power against the demons. Yet, a particular question might arise in the community – which Hashira is the strongest?
To answer this question, I decided to come up with a list where I talk a little about each Pillar and let you know which one I believe stands at the top of the Demon Slayer Corps.
The Strongest Hashira in Demon Slayer (2023)
13. Jigoro Kuwajima – Former Thunder Hashira
Jigoro Kuwajima was the former Thunder Hashira and is known for being Zenitsu’s mentor and somewhat of an adoptive figure who took care of him and taught him the ways of the sword. The main reason why Jigoro is in the last place is definitely because of his age. Being an old man, he’s unable to even compare to how he was back in the day.
Even then, as shown by Tanjiro’s mentor, Urokodaki, being old doesn’t directly translate to being weak, and we believe that Jigoro still has the potential to be placed on the list.
12. Kanae Kocho – Former Flower Hashira
Kanae Kocho was the former Flower Hashira and was Shinobu’s and Kanao’s elder sister. She was a beautiful girl known for her kindness, which made her adopt Kanao when both Kanae and Shinobu met her by coincidence, spending a lot of money in the process.
When it comes to her skills, not a lot is known about Kanae. We know that she was a user of the Breath of the Flower and that she fulfilled one of the two requisites to become a pillar, either killing 50 different demons or slaying one of the Twelve Demon Moons. It is also known that she managed to withstand an extended fight against Doma, the second Upper Moon and second strongest member of Muzan’s army, definitely not something anyone could do!
11. Shinjuro Rengoku – Former Flame Hashira
Shinjuro Rengoku is mainly known by Demon Slayer’s fans for being Kyojuro Rengoku’s father, and a pretty harsh one at that. More than that, not much is known about his past besides some scenes shown post-Infinity Train arc.
One thing is known for sure, however. He was the former Flame Hashira, and even after relinquishing his title, he was willing to fight during the last events of the series, showcasing that even now, he might be able to keep up with the current Hashiras.
10. Sakonji Urokodaki – The Former Water Hashira
Sakonji Urokodaki was Tanjiro’s mentor and the one who taught him the ways of the Water Breathing Technique, as well as many basics one requires to understand to even dream about becoming a Demon Slayer. Although already old, Sakonji Urokodaki shows great potential as a former Hashira, displaying fantastic speed and strength and a solid understanding of what being a Demon Slayer entails.
Previous to the story, he trained several apprentices aiming to become Demon Slayers, including Sabito, Makomo, and Giyu. These students were sent to the final selection of students, with Giyu being the only survivor. Giyu would then become the new Water Hashira, taking Urokodaki’s place.
9. Shinobu Kocho – The Insect Hashira
Shinobu, as mentioned earlier, is Kanae’s little sister and currently holds the title of the Insect Hashira. Shinobu’s fighting style is rather peculiar since, compared to the other Hashiras, or even other normal Demon Slayers like Tanjiro, Inosuke, or Zenitsu, she lacks the strength to cut a demon’s neck, which is necessary to kill them and stop their regeneration. She is capable, however, of using poison to kill her prey.
Shinobu is relatively weak in strength, which is necessary to kill most upper moons. For that reason, she had to develop a battle style that allowed her to dodge as many attacks as possible, becoming quite mobile in battle, and her experience further enhanced this as a Hashira.
But her biggest strength is her poisons, which she applies to her enemies using a needle-like sword, and when the job is done, the demon dies from the inside.
8. Mitsuri Kanroji – The Love Hashira
Believe it or not, Mitsuri Kanroji is the Love Hashira and a user of the Love Breathing Technique. As a Pillar, she has enough experience and abilities to deal with most demons and can face some of the most powerful demons, the Upper Moons.
There are multiple peculiarities regarding Mitsuri (and multiple Demon Slayers in this list), so let’s talk about the first two. Firstly, Mitsuri is well known for being considerably much stronger than the regular human being, having muscles that are almost eight times as dense as a regular person’s. To maintain her body, she has to eat three times as much as a Sumo fighter, which allows her to be the strongest Hashira in terms of raw physical strength and durability.
To take advantage of this, she also has a whip-like sword that is flexible, and she also has a very flexible body that relies entirely on the Love Breathing Technique. During her fight against the 4th Upper Moon, she also awakens her Demon Slayer mark, a mysterious trait that further enhances its owner’s abilities and physical prowess.
7. Muichiro Tokito – The Mist Hashira
Also known as the most talented person inside of the Demon Slayer Corps, Muichiro Tokito managed to become a Hashira after only two months of training, something that was only achieved by Gyomei Himejima.
One of Muichiro’s biggest strengths is his overall set of skills. His physical capabilities are at the top of the chart and hardly matched, especially after he unlocked his Demon Slayer mark. He’s also the user of the Mist Breathing Technique, which allowed him to unlock a technique known as Transparent World, which makes it easy for him to sense everything around him, including the enemy’s movements and organs.
At some point, he also unlocks the Bright Red Nichirin Sword, which dyes his sword in a bright, red essence that hinders the regenerative abilities of demons, which can be excessive when facing some of the strongest members of the Upper Moons.
6. Tengen Uzui – The Sound Hashira
Tengen Uzui is probably one of the most popular characters in the Demon Slayer series, and his strength matches his popularity. Tengen is both a shinobi and the Sound Hashira, having an amazing set of tricks and skills under his sleeve.
He was also recognized as the second strongest Hashira before he had to retire due to an injury he got when fighting against Gyutaro, the Upper Moon Six, which, although was placed last in the Upper Moon list, is considered to be one of the strongest in the group due to being immune to decapitation. He’s also recognized as the fastest Demon Slayer of his time.
As one of the most powerful Hashira, Tengen is very strong and fast, having reflexes that greatly surpass those of a regular Demon Slayer. He also has terrific instincts and an incredible hearing that allows him to hear his enemies from miles away. As a shinobi, he also underwent harsh training to improve his stealth abilities further. He has increased resistance against poison, which immensely helped him in his fight against Gyutaro, who relied on poison to defeat his victims.
5. Obanai Iguro – The Serpent Hashira
Obanai Iguro is a pretty surprising character. Take, for example, his small constitution and the fact that he only has one functioning eye. Despite that, he achieved the Hashira title with his Serpent Breathing Technique, which he created and mastered. He also relies on Kaburamaru, his snake pet, to fight, adding its movements to many of his techniques.
Obanai was one of the few members of the Demon Slayer corps to fight against Muzan and could also damage him greatly, getting close to almost decapitating him during the fight.
The main reason why Muzan was aware of him was because of two things – he managed to dye his Nichirin sword red, which can be fatal against demons, and for a brief moment, he was also able to rely on the Transparent World, quickly noticing how many organs Muzan had, which consisted of five brains and seven hearts, and unlock his Demon Slayer mark.
4. Giyu Tomioka – The Water Hashira
Giyu Tomioka is another one of the most popular characters of the series as well as one of the strongest Hashira. He was Urokodaki’s only surviving student before Tanjiro Kamado and the one that took his place as the Water Hashira.
As a Hashira, Giyu enjoys many abilities that most Hashira have, such as enhanced strength, speed, and reflexes. He is also shown to be able to quickly dispose of Lower Moons, something that Tanjiro and his friends struggled with at the beginning of the series.
Like many other characters, Giyu also managed to unlock his Demon Slayer’s mark, which aided him in his fight against the Third Upper Moon, Akaza, and Akaza himself said that he was the strongest user of the Water Breathing Technique he had ever fought against. Giyu was also capable of holding off Muzan, mainly thanks to being able to dye his Nichirin sword red to hinder his regeneration and the unshakable will that kept him going even after losing an arm.
3. Kyojuro Rengoku – The Flame Hashira
Kyojuro Rengoku was one of those characters you just fell in love with, thanks to how wholesome and important he was during his feature in the series. He’s also very strong, recognized by Akaza as one of the strongest Demon Slayers he had ever faced, as Kyojuro got very close to defeating him during their fight.
Kyojuro, just like other Hashiras, was extremely talented. His most unique characteristics are his outstanding skills with his Flame Breathing Technique and incredible resistance, withstanding wound after wound without showing any pain, and holding his ground against Akaza during his last fight.
Akaza also claimed that he was close to achieving the realm of the strongest, which means he was very close to either unlocking his Demon Slayer Mark, Bright Red Nichirin Sword, or the Transparent World. With these capabilities, I am almost certain that Kyojuro would have been able to achieve the title of strongest Hashira on this list.
2. Sanemi Shinazugawa – The Wind Hashira
Sanemi Shinazugawa is the Wind Hashira and has often been claimed to be his generation’s strongest and most talented Wind Breathing Technique user.
During his fight against Kokushibo, rank 1 of the Upper Moon, he was told that his skills were close or equal to that of the first-ever Wind Hashira of the Sengoku Era, which is considerable praise to receive, taking into consideration that the Sengoku Era of the Demon Slayers was often referred to as their Golden Age.
His overall abilities are also to fear, as he enjoys incredible strength, muscle manipulation to further enhance it and even stop himself from bleeding, inhuman reflexes and speed, and a fighting style that is creative and flexible, allowing him to introduce new patterns of attacks to surprise his enemies. He defeated Kokushibo with the help of Muichiro and faced Muzan with several other Demon Slayers.
1. Gyomei Himejima – The Stone Hashira
Now, we’ve reached the peak of the peak – Gyomei Himejima. Gyomei Himejima is often referred to as the strongest Hashira in the series’ current generation of Demon Slayers. He’s also known to, just like Michiro, have achieved the rank of Hashira in two months.
To add more to this, even Kokushibo praised Gyomei’s strength, claiming that he had achieved the peak of strength possible for any human being and that in the last 300 years, he had never seen a human as strong as him.
He was also able to awaken his Demon Slayer mark and dye his Nichirin Sword, which consisted of a Morning Start, red, becoming much more of a threat to Muzan and his underlings. Even while injured, he was capable of drawing Muzan into a corner, something to admire considering Muzan’s power and strengths. Even after losing one of his legs, he kept fighting until the end.
Conclusion
All Hashiras in Demon Slayer anime are incredibly strong, no doubt about it, and the differences in their strength are pretty minimal if you consider the types of enemies they fight against. Even then, I have showcased which Hashiras stand at the top and which ones are slightly below them. Imagine what some of these characters could have achieved if they had managed to survive, even for a little longer, such as Kyojuro Rengoku, who was also praised by Akaza, one of the strongest Upper Demons of Muzan’s army.
With all said and done, however, the series managed to showcase their strengths quite well, putting them in dire situations requiring them to do their best and surpass their limitations against a race far superior to theirs. Even at heaven’s door, all Hashiras fought with all they had to rid the world of demons, protect the lives of others, and finally get rid of the threat known as Muzan Kibutsuji, the affliction that has plagued Japan for over a thousand years.
Regardless of their placement in this list of the strongest Hashira, we can all agree that all the Pillars were admirable characters and should be appreciated for their roles in the story of Demon Slayer.
Also Read: How to Watch Demon Slayer in Order?