It’s no secret how massively popular Demon Slayer has become since it premiered in 2019. The series has shown off a rather large number of characters, but there is certainly a definitive ranking for where they all place we will be taking you through.
The below 22 characters are the most important from the start of the series to the end of the second season. There will certainly be a need to rearrange these rankings with the upcoming third season that is set to start on April 9, but that will happen once more is known about the villains and heroes.
Be warned that there might be some spoilers for the anime below.
26. Hotaru Haganezuka
It’s reasonable to say that Hotaru doesn’t really have any combat ability. At least, not any true combat ability we have seen. While he is very aggressive, as seen when Tanjro broke his Nichirin sword, he was easily evaded. While Hotaru might not have much use in a fight, he is one of the best Nichirin swordsmiths there is. And being able to equip the Demon Slayer corps with their best weapon is a strength in itself.
25. Yushiro
Yushiro doesn’t necessarily share as much of Tamayo’s intelligence. However, he does have the ability to hide his presence, which serves as a good defense up until the two demons come to destroy their hideout looking for Tanjiro and Nezuko. If not for Yushiro sharing his sight with Tanjiro during the fight to let him see the arrows, there would be no hope of winning. While Yushiro lacks a lot of physical strength, he did run out to assault Susamaru for hurting Tamayo.
24. Tamayo
Tamayo doesn’t exactly have the strongest blood demon art. While being able to hypnotize foes with just her blood is helpful when Tanjiro needs to escape the cops in Tokyo, Tamayo’s mind is her greatest strength. She’s beyond knowledgeable when it comes to demons and is trusted by Tanjiro when it comes to a potential cure for Nezuko’s demonization.
23. Yahaba
While Yahaba doesn’t quite have Susamaru’s immense power and tough projectiles, he is able to control the trajectory of objects and people with arrows. With this ability, he is able to almost entirely immobilize Tanjiro and throw him around, doing significant damage while removing most options for a counterattack. From Tanjiro’s complete set of skills, it was only one technique that led to victory, as the rest had proven useless.
22. Susamaru
This demon is part of the first pair that gives Tanjiro any amount of real trouble. Susamaru spends the beginning of the fight throwing just two temari balls and creating plenty of destruction. The worst part is that the balls pack a massive punch and move in trajectories that don’t make sense. While the odd trajectories of the balls are caused by Suamaru’s partner, Yahaba, that by no means lessens the temari’s lethal impact.
21. Gyomei Himejima
Gyomei hasn’t had the chance to show off what he can do in the anime yet, but it is clear from how the other Hashira react to him that there’s some massive strength under the surface. It also helps that he’s a hulking seven-foot-tall giant.
20. Obanai Iguro
Up to this point in the anime, Obanai hasn’t really been seen in action. All that has been shown is an immense loyalty to the Demon Slayer corps and a pretty abrasive temperament. Being the Serpent Hashira is bound to lead to a pretty horrific set of attacks whenever the anime gets around to showing them off.
19. Sanemi Shinazugawa
Sanemi had a rough introduction, immediately trying to goad Nezuko into attacking him to prove that she’s still an evil demon despite all the different characters vouching for her. We haven’t seen what he can do, but this definitely doesn’t put him in a favorable position when it comes to the good guys’ standing of the Hashira in the eyes of viewers. However, he has the cockiness of someone who is carrying immense strength.
18. Kanao Tsuyuri
Kanao is, in many ways, the ideal Demon Slayer. She’s mechanical, methodical, and a honed weapon, even if it is the result of trauma. The boys learn just how much of a skill gap they have as they are put through her rehabilitation regime. She is responsible for Tanjiro’s massive boost in strength at the end of the main trio’s rehabilitation.
17. Sakonji Urokodaki
We only briefly see Urokodaki in action as he hung up his Hashira title years before the story started. However, he deserves this spot on the list purely because he is the one who taught Tanjiro. While the case could be made that he also trained many previous Demon Slayer Corps recruits who didn’t make it home, he took a shot on Tanjiro and was able to hypnotize Nezuko into being less of a concern.
16. Nezuko Kamado
While Nezuko has held her own on plenty of occasions, she does also end up in the worst shape. It’s because she’s nigh unkillable as a demon that Nezuko can fight as hard as she does. Considering she was able to go toe to toe with the big bad of season two, she’s definitely not holding Tanjiro and the others back. Nezuko’s ability to change her size is a massive strength and has gotten her out of tight jams. Seeing as it allowed her to escape Kanao’s pursuit says a lot.
15. Rui
To a lesser degree, Rui is able to use Muzan’s ability to make his own demons. This “family” — as Rui refers to them — can take on some level of spider characteristics, which makes fighting them especially hard. Rui’s own threads cause Tanjiro no small amount of trouble. This is one fight where it is truly unclear if Tanjiro would have won, as he was saved thanks to Tomioka’s appearance.
14. Enmu
Before the transfusion of Muzan’s blood at the end of the first season, Enmu certainly wouldn’t have been a tough adversary for a group that had already taken down Rui. However, with the blood, Enmu becomes a much stronger force. Fusing with the train itself was no small feat and made the fight that much harder. Without Rengoku on hand, it’s likely Tanjiro and company would have lost most, if not all, of the passengers. Considering Enmu also weaponized the small children to attack Tanjiro and the group in their dreams, this was a demon they never saw coming, and one slip could’ve meant an awful defeat.
13. Hantengu
While his initial showing at the start of the first episode of season three wasn’t all that major, Hantengu proves to be a complete menace to the Swordsmith Village. The worst part of his appearance in the season is that it proved Muzan’s reach, as the village’s location was something even Tanjiro wasn’t allowed to know.
12. Mitsuri Kanroji
Kanroji is the most compassionate of the Hashira, showing concern for Tanjiro when he is originally brought before them. While her status of Love Hashira is possibly the most abstract, her Nichirin sword’s ability to move around like a ribbon is undoubtedly one of the coolest and deadliest abilities that any of the Hashira have had to offer so far in the anime.
11. Muichiro Tokito
At the original Hashira meeting, he was able to knock Tanjiro clean out with just a few small stones. This definitely seems to signify some decent power behind the small frame that spent that same meeting disinterested and watching clouds. In true Tanjiro fashion, Muichiro changes over the course of the season, which ultimately makes him a better fighter. While he found himself overwhelmed and needed Tanjiro and Genya to help, he was no less impressive when fighting solo.
10. Inosuke Hashibira
Inosuke is a special case, with boars having raised him. Being the singular character to exhibit beast breathing abilities, Inosuke has plenty of room to show off. His biggest strengths are shown during the Entertainment District arc when he displays the ability to relocate his organs and his resistance to poison. The former ability is why he is still alive after having been stabbed during the fight.
9. Zenitsu Agatsuma
Similar to Inosuke, Zenitsu embodies a breathing technique that no other main character utilizes. However, Zenitsu is absolutely not as far along in his own breathing techniques. But that simple fact also cements his ranking. While, sure, Zenitsu is entirely useless unless he has been rendered unconscious. With that said, he took the single breathing technique he was able to learn and mastered it to such a degree that it’s just as powerful as the higher forms of any other breathing style.
8. Tanjiro Kamado
It could be said that Tanjiro’s biggest strength is his sense of smell. While that’s true, his sheer will cannot be underestimated. Tanjiro is the sum of every teacher he has ever had, and the progress shows more and more as the series progresses. From the advanced breathing techniques from Kanao to Urokodaki’s water breathing, Tanjiro has learned some of the best skills. However, there must be some account for raw talent, as he was able to hold off a freshly demonized Nezuko at the top of the show.
7. Daki & Gyotaru
Considering the combination and the shared rank, this placement has to include the brother and sister demon pair. It also matters that even when it was just Daki fighting, she was a tough opponent. However, once Gyotaru joined the fight, the pressure on Tengen began to build until he ended up injured to the point of forced retirement, despite the victory. That they were beaten at all speaks volumes about the combined might of Tanjiro and everyone else, considering that Daki and Gyotaru had killed/eaten 22 Hashira between them.
6. Shinobu Kocho
As far as best-designed characters go, Shinobu is excellent. Her butterfly wing outfit is eye-catching and terrifying all at the same time as she mercilessly doles out poison as the Insect Hashira. She also deceptively looks all sweet and innocent, such as when she engages with the spider demon that traps people in cocoons. One beautiful series of attacks is all it took to bring that demon down and show that Shinobu is a scary and serious fighter.
5. Giyu Tomioka
Considering Tomioka employs the same water-breathing techniques as Tanjiro, his strength stands out even more. Not only do we get to see someone else perform some of what have become Tanjiro’s signature moves, but we get to see them just about tenfold in terms of power. While Tanjiro was struggling against Rui, Tomioka put a stop to the demon in just about no time flat.
4. Tengen Uzui
Tengen Is almost as cool/strong as Rengoku. We get a solid idea of what being the Sound Hashira means, and we get to see some of the strength behind his character. Though his first appearance when he was trying to drag the girls away seemed a little odd, he did go along with letting the main trio present themselves as girls for the Entertainment District arc, and that provided some pretty good laughs.
3. Kyojuro Rengoku
Rengoku is, by and large, the reason why the Mugen Train arc didn’t end in a full wipe of Tanjiro and the rest of the party. The sheer awesomeness of the Flame Hashira not only protected the people on the train but it bought plenty of time for Tanjiro and Inosuke to defeat Enmu. While Rengoku did lose his life, he lost against the Upper Rank 3 demon, Akaza. The battle lasted far longer than what even Tanjiro had been capable of not too long ago against Rui. At the time, Akaza was the toughest enemy anyone on-screen had ever fought, and Rengoku held his own while making Akaza get at least a little serious.
2. Akaza
Akaza’s place on this list was guaranteed with his arrival at the end of the Mugen Train movie. After everyone had done such a stellar job protecting the train passengers, Akaza shows up to hassle the assembled Demon Slayers. He brings one of the best fights of the anime by making the Flame Hashira, Rengoku, truly show off the skills that were only hinted at during the train defense sequence. Up to this point, Tanjiro and company had found a way to beat just about every single demon the anime had shown off. Akaza serves as a turning point in proving that they haven’t even seen the worse thing Muzan Kibutsuji has in store.
1. Muzan Kibutsuji
This one should be obvious. Muzan Kibutsuji is the leader and originator of all demons, the entities that we regularly see have the capabilities for complete human destruction. We see that all he needs to cause a scene is a single scratch to make a new demon. Muzan is in a league of his own when it comes to current power in the anime. It’s not really even close.
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