[Demon Slayer] The Sorrowful Demons… Top 10 Most Tragic Human Backstories

Hello! This is Osamu, your manga blogger.

What makes the story of Demon Slayer so captivating? In my opinion, it's not just the coolness of the Demon Slayer Corps, but also the incredibly tragic backstories of their enemies, the 'Demons,' from their time as humans.

They aren't just 'evil.'

They are also victims who, after facing inescapable injustice, societal abuse, and irremovable 'karma' (Gō), fell into the existence (or 'curse') of becoming a Demon.

Today, I want to focus on the 'misery' of their human lives and rank the depth of their 'curse,' based entirely on my own personal (and biased) analysis.

(※Warning: This post contains major spoilers for the story!)

[Demon Slayer] The Tragic Demons: A Ranking of Their Human-Era Misery

No. 10: Enmu

[Lower Rank One: The Blurring of Dreams and Reality]

While the details of his human life are unknown, he had a peculiar mental state where he "couldn't distinguish between dreams and reality." He possessed a twisted mentality, finding pleasure in driving people to misery. For him, becoming a Demon was the only path to affirm his own abnormality and elevate it into a power. This is less a tragedy of circumstance and more a tragedy of "irredeemable abnormality."

No. 9: Gyokko

[Upper Rank Five: The Fate of a Twisted Artist]

Born in a fishing village, he spent his childhood making grotesque 'art' from the carcasses of fish and animals. He was misunderstood by normal people and ostracized. Eventually, he was lynched by the villagers and left for dead. His 'Blood Demon Art,' the 'pots,' are symbolic of the 'art' he was obsessed with. The loneliness of never being understood is what twisted him.

No. 8: Hantengu

[Upper Rank Four: The 'Karma' of Self-Justification]

Even as a human, he was a man who committed theft and murder, yet always lied, saying, "I'm not the bad guy" or "My hands moved on their own," painting himself as a 'victim.' The depth of his 'karma' for shifting blame is exactly what created his Blood Demon Art—the main body (fear) and the split bodies of 'Joy, Anger, Sorrow, and Pleasure.' He is a pitiful soul who spent his entire life running from facing himself.

No. 7: Kaigaku

[New Upper Rank Six: Unsatisfied Need for Approval]

He grew up as an orphan, desperate to survive. What he desired more than anything was "recognition from others" and "strength." He cursed a world that wouldn't acknowledge him, hated his master (and fellow disciple) who wouldn't praise him, and finally surrendered to the most obvious form of power: the power of a Demon. His 'tragedy' lies in his 'hunger'—his inability to truly believe in anyone else, desperate only to have his own existence affirmed.

No. 6: Doma

[Upper Rank Two: The 'Curse' of Emptiness]

He was born lacking 'emotions.' Worshipped as the child-prophet of a new cult, he found the suffering and prayers of his followers merely 'comical.' He felt nothing, not even at the death of his own parents. For him, the 'tragedy' was the very fact that he 'could not feel tragedy.' He may have become a Demon simply to escape the 'curse' of his own emptiness.

No. 5: Kokushibo / Michikatsu Tsugikuni

[Upper Rank One: The Ultimate Curse of 'Envy']

The twin brother of Yoriichi Tsugikuni, the originator of the 'Sun Breathing' style. He spent his entire life (and hundreds of years as a Demon!) consumed by 'envy' for his 'genius' brother, whom he could never surpass in anything. He threw away his honor as a samurai, his family, and his humanity to become a Demon, possessed by the powerful 'curse' of wanting, just once, 'to defeat his brother.' No other being has been bound by a single 'curse' for so long, or so deeply.

No. 4: Rui

[Lower Rank Five: The Loneliness of Losing the 'Bonds' He Craved]

Born frail and sickly, he was given a strong body by Muzan. However, upon seeing him as a Demon, his father "tried to kill him and then himself," and his mother "wept and accepted this fate." He fell into despair, believing these to be 'fake bonds,' and killed his parents. The 'fake family' he built on Mount Natagumo was a tragic expression of his craving for the 'real bonds' he himself had destroyed.

No. 3: Gyutaro & Daki

[Upper Rank Six: The 'Resentment' from the Bottom of Society]

They were born in the Rashomon Riverbank of the entertainment district, the absolute 'dregs' of society. The older brother, Gyutaro, was reviled for his ugly appearance, had rocks thrown at him, and constantly starved. His younger sister, Daki (Ume), was exploited for her beauty, and then burned alive for angering a samurai client.

Their tragedy is that 'not a single person helped them.' The only one who extended a hand was a Demon (Doma). Their catchphrase, "We've come to collect," is the 'resentment' they feel toward the entire world that abused them.

No. 2: Akaza / Hakuji

[Upper Rank Three: The Eternal Curse of 'Failure to Protect']

This man's tragedy is almost too 'senseless.'

During his human life as 'Hakuji,' he stole to pay for his sick father's medicine, but his father, ashamed, took his own life.

At his lowest point, he was taken in by a martial arts master, Keizo, and his daughter, Koyuki, whom Hakuji was set to marry. He vowed, "I will protect these people."

But while he was away, a rival dojo, seeking their land, poisoned the well and murdered them both.

The moment he found 'light' in his life and something to protect, it was all senselessly stolen from him once again.

His 'abnormal obsession with strength' is a curse born from his despair over 'failing to protect anything' and his hatred for his 'own weakness.'

No. 1: ???

[No One (Or, Perhaps, Every Demon)]

I'm sorry. As Osamu, I agonized over this, but I couldn't decide on a first place.

Why? Because the 'original curse' that created all these 'Demons' exists.

That's right: Muzan Kibutsuji.

If he, as a frail human, had not become a 'Demon' and spread his 'curse,' Hakuji might never have lost his master and fiancée, Gyutaro and Daki might not have been burned (*), Rui might not have killed his parents, and none of the other demons would ever have been born.

(*Gyutaro and Daki were turned by Doma, but Doma was turned by Muzan.)

The tragic pasts of all these 'Demons' are one giant, tragic chain reaction, all starting from Muzan Kibutsuji's singular, intense 'karma' (Gō) of 'fearing death.'

Demon Slayer is a story about severing that chain of curses.

And perhaps that is exactly why we are so deeply moved by the human-era stories of the 'Demons,' who are supposed to be the enemy.

This is Osamu, signing off.