Did Demon Slayer copy One Piece's Eneru for Zohakuten's design? Explained

With the release of Demon Slayer’s latest anime episode, fans were introduced to Hantengu’s Zohakuten form, featuring a uniquely terrifying design. Zohakuten is the form which Hantengu’s four clones take when they all merge together, representing the hatred that plays into the core human emotion of disgust.

As Demon Slayer fans continue to see more of Zohakuten’s design, some can’t help but point out several fairly obvious similarities to that of a certain One Piece character. Interestingly enough, both also sport lightning powers, and typically carry themselves as beings of a higher order than normal humans.

While these One Piece fans are accusing Hantengu’s design of being a rip-off of Skypiea arc antagonist Eneru, there are actually some major differences between the designs of the two. There’s also a very good reason as to why this latest Demon Slayer character bears a striking resemblance to Eneru.

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Demon Slayer’s Hantengu not a copy of One Piece’s Eneru, but based on similar inspiration for character design

Why the designs are so similar, explained

While Demon Slayer’s Zohakuten and One Piece’s Eneru certainly sport similar character designs, it’s hard to truly say that the former copied the latter in this regard. One of the biggest reasons why this becomes fairly difficult is due to several key differences in their character designs, some of which are inherent and others less so.

One key difference between the two stems from the design on their Taiko drums. Whereas Eneru’s features a tomoe pattern made up of three symbols each, Zohakuten has the kanji for hatred written on his Taiko drums. Another key difference is that Zohakuten sports a decorative tunic on his chest, while Eneru wears no upper body armor or clothing whatsoever.

Another small detail to differentiate Demon Slayer’s Zohakuten and One Piece’s Eneru is that Eneru wears a durag or bonnet-like hairpiece. Zohakuten sports no such headpiece, instead featuring two horns due to being a demon. Similarly, this is one of the inherent differences between the two, with Zohakuten being a demon and Eneru being a form of human.

Some similarities between the two obviously stem from their both having taiko drums on their back, as well as the fact that they both sport earrings (although each pair is very different). They also wear pants with some sort of decorative covering over the top, which is held together by a fabric belt.

Demon Slayer’s Zohakuten and One Piece’s Eneru each carry a weapon as well, but notably different ones. Eneru carries a staff-like spear, while Zohakuten’s main weapons are two horn-like boomerangs which he can use in a variety of ways. All in all though, these are the main similarities and differences between the two.

The reason why the two share such a similar inherent character design comes from the fact that both their characters are based on the Japanese thunder god, Raijin. Classical depictions of Raijin see him wearing a similar outfit on his bottom half to what both Eneru and Zohakuten have, as well as having Taiko drums on his back.

In other words, Zohakuten’s character design isn’t a copy of Eneru’s, but rather takes inspiration from the same source in the form of the thunder god Raijin.

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