The protagonist of Demon Slayer, Tanjiro Kamado is aware of the consequences that come with his job. However, he is relentless when it concerns the well-being of the people around him. From putting his life on the line to save his sister and saving the lives of innocents from the blood-sucking monsters lurking in the dark, Tanjiro would do anything at the expense of his own life. His confidence and dedication managed to impress many individuals.
Despite Tanjiro's impressive qualities, there are others who can’t stand him and a few who want to get rid of him. As a member of the Demon Slayer Corps, it is natural for demons to hate Tanjiro, but surprisingly there are a handful of humans who have developed a kind of enmity towards him as well.
5 Demon Slayer characters who hate Tanjiro
1) Sanemi Shinazugawa
Sanemi Shinazugawa despises demons more than he loves anything else in his life. It brings him immense joy when he tortures these creatures in such grotesque ways that can’t be even imagined. Before becoming a Demon Slayer, with his suicidal devotion and arming himself with an arsenal of weapons, Sanemi fought countless demons at night time.
Sanemi’s mother and five unnamed siblings were victims of these demons. This is why he could not stand the idea of keeping his sword sheathed when he found Tanjiro being accompanied by Nezuko, who is a demon. Sanemi is against the idea of making demons their allies and considers this thought to be childish and foolish.
2) Akaza
The moment Akaza met Tanjiro, he felt like the latter was nothing but just another human he could toy with. However, during the aftermath of the fight, when Akaza was making an escape to save himself from the daybreak, Tanjiro’s insults made him even angrier than he was while fighting Kyojuro Rengoku.
As an Upper Moon 3, Akaza takes great pride in his powers, which also turned him into a slightly narcissistic individual. Getting disparaged for his weakness by Tanjiro made the former restless, who developed a dislike for the latter.
3) Muzan Kibutsuji
Muzan has lived for more than 1000 years, and over the course of time possessing a photographic memory, there is nothing he has ever forgotten, be it a place, object, or person. Muzan’s subjects occasionally see visions of Muzan's past due to the assimilation of his blood in them. Although Muzan annihilated the entire Kamado family, he never crossed paths with Tanjiro.
However, Tanjiro learned about Muzan from Urokodaki. After Tanjiro crossed his path with Muzan in Tokyo, the latter was calm at first but seeing the Hanafuda earrings on the former shocked him and filled him with rage. Hanafuda earrings are a symbol of Sun Breathing users.
The only person to defeat Muzan once was a Sun Breathing user named Yoriichi Tsugikuni, which is why Muzan carries a grudge towards those who use Sun Breathing.
4) Hotaru Haganezuka
Haganezuka is a very passionate swordsmith from the Swordsmith Village in Demon Slayer. He takes great pride in his work due to the amount of strength and time he invests in making the perfect Nichiring blade. Apart from his unparalleled swordsmith skills, he is mostly known for his bad temper.
When Tanjiro broke his sword, which was made by Haganezuka himself, the latter almost killed the former. Later, when Haganezuka found out that Tanjiro had lost the newly forged sword, the former armed himself with many knives to make sure he killed the latter this time. If it wasn’t for Aoi Kanzaki’s dango that cooled off Haganezuka, it would have ended badly for Tanjiro.
5) Rui
All his life, the one thing that Rui always wanted was to have a family who cared for him. After slaughtering his own parents, Rui wished to start his own family by assigning roles to each of his subjects, which if they don’t follow, there would be unfavorable consequences.
Rui craved empathy and witnessing the strong sibling bond between Nezuko and Tanjiro filled him with rage. Rui offered Tanjiro that he would spare his life if he allowed him to forge a bond with Nezuko as his sister. However, Tanjiro declined Rui’s offer, which enraged the latter. Rui is jealous of the bond between Tanjiro and Nezuko, which is why he hates Tanjiro.
5 Demon Slayer characters who like Tanjiro
1) Giyu Tomioka
Giyu was portrayed as an aloof individual in Demon Slayer, which he indeed is, which is why a few of the Demon Slayer Corps members maintain a strong hostile demeanor towards him. However, it was seen that Giyu’s not as apathetic as everyone thinks of him. Witnessing the strong bond between the Kamado siblings, he resolved to help them.
Giyu has a brotherly bond with Tanjiro, where the formers consider the latter to be his younger brother. Furthermore, the two have more in common than they realise, as they think on similar wavelengths.
2) Urokodaki Sakonji
Despite being an ordinary charcoal seller, Tanjiro showed overwhelming potential in swordsmanship, which moved Urokodaki to a greater extent. After Tanjiro proved his strength by cutting the huge boulder, Urokodaki was impressed by the former’s dedication.
Most of Urokodaki’s students ended up dying in the Final Selection, but Tanjiro proved to be stronger than the former’s expectations. Urokodaki even vowed alongside Giyu to commit seppuku if Nezuko tries to kill any human, which shows how much he loves the Kamado siblings.
3) Kyojuro Rengoku
Even though Kyojuro had never seen Tanjiro’s swordsmanship, the former wanted to make the latter his Tsugoku (apprentice), which is considered a great achievement for a Demon Slayer. Kyojuro admired Tanjiro’s strong will and his dedication to helping his demon-turned sister, Nezuko in making her human again.
In his last moments, Kyojuro entrusted his final words to Tanjiro, which the latter would be relaying to the former’s family. In his last moments of life, Kyojuro wanted to help Tanjiro with the details of the Sun Breathing, displaying concern for the young Demon Slayer.
4) Kanao Tsuyuri
Kanao is a reclusive individual, who mostly gets lost in her own thoughts. Due to the abuse she was subjected to at a very young age, she struggled to escape her nightmares until she met the Kocho sisters. Kanao had not healed from her past, which is why she repressed her emotions and limited her speech as a defense mechanism.
However, after meeting Tanjiro, Kanao started being aware of her surroundings and gradually came out of her shell. Tanjiro’s unique way of making Kanao listen to her heart instead of making decisions on a coin toss made the latter realize what she was missing.
5) Inosuke Hashibira
Inosuke and Tanjiro’s first interaction was chaotic, where the former presumed the latter to be his eternal rival. However, being around Tanjiro gave him a new perspective on life. Usually, Inosuke is a hot-tempered individual who gets mad at each and everything in a split second, but Tanjiro knows how to calm his boar-headed friend.
As the series progresses, Tanjiro, Inosuke, and Zenitsu develop a brotherly bond where they would even sacrifice their lives for each other, if it comes to that. Tanjiro always praises Inosuke for his capabilities, which makes the latter optimistic.