Is Yoriichi the strongest Demon Slayer?

Stylized fanart of Yoriichi. (Image via Pinterest)
Stylized fanart of Yoriichi. (Image via Pinterest)

One of the many strengths of the Demon Slayer series is how creative fans can analyze the strength of characters in the story. Fans can go by breathing style, swordsmanship, or even physical strength.

With such a myriad of measurements for power in the story, Demon Slayer fans often find themselves debating who the strongest Demon Slayer is. Yet one cannot objectively and generally state this; as a result of the many different ways strength can be measured, one must be specific in the lens they use.

For example, if one were to discuss the strongest Demon Slayer in terms of physical strength, it’d be a great mistake to name anyone other than Gyomei Himejima. Yet if one were to call strength knowledge of demon kind, Shinobu Kocho would take the title. When considering all aspects of what makes a Demon Slayer strong, however, none can beat Yoriichi Tsugikuni for that top spot.

WARNING: HEAVY DEMON SLAYER SPOILERS BELOW


Why Yoriichi Tsugikuni is the strongest Demon Slayer of all time, all things considered

Breathing style and swordsmanship

A young Yoriichi handles a sword for the first time, easily beating a trained master. (Image via Shueisha Shonen Jump)
A young Yoriichi handles a sword for the first time, easily beating a trained master. (Image via Shueisha Shonen Jump)

In terms of breathing style prowess, nobody can match Yoriichi. Yoriichi was the creator of the Sun Breathing Style, of which all other Breathing Styles are descended from. As the creator, he was also its master and designed the technique and its abilities solely for eliminating Muza Kibutsuji.

In fact, the thirteenth form of the Sun Breathing Style is just a repetitive combination of the twelve former forms. These were meant to be combined to defeat Muzan Kibutsuji’s five brains and seven hearts in one fell swoop, which could freely move around his body.

Yoriichi overpowers Muzan in a single move using Sun Breathing Style's thirteenth form. (Image via Shueisha Shonen Jump)
Yoriichi overpowers Muzan in a single move using Sun Breathing Style's thirteenth form. (Image via Shueisha Shonen Jump)

As the master of the Sun Breathing Style, Yoriichi was able to destroy 1500 of 1800 pieces of Muzan in a series of attacks. While unable to fully destroy Muzan before the last 300 pieces escaped to regenerate, Yoriichi came closer than anyone else until Tanjiro and friends succeeded.

Yoriichi was not only gifted with a sword in the context of breathing styles, however. As a child, Yoriichi was hailed as a swordsmanship prodigy. After picking up a sword for the first time in his life as a child, Yoriichi was able to defeat a trained swordsman instructor.

Yoriichi was undoubtedly a prodigy of the sword which has not been seen since his time alive. Truly, there is no one who can best or even match him in terms of breathing style and swordsmanship mastery.


Physical strength, stamina, and endurance

While Yoriichi did have truly immense physical strength, stamina, and endurance, he does likely fall short to Gyomei Himejima in specifically these categories. Gyomei’s build was simply naturally much larger than that of Yoriichi’s, leading to more natural strength to build and train upon.

An 85 year old Yoriichi almost kills Kokushibo with a single stroke of his sword. (Image via Shueisha Shonen Jump)
An 85 year old Yoriichi almost kills Kokushibo with a single stroke of his sword. (Image via Shueisha Shonen Jump)

Taking second best in this category is by no means disrespectful, however. Combined with his expert swordsmanship and breathing technique, an 85-year-old Yoriichi was able to effortlessly slice the neck off of Muzan Kibutsuji. Muzan’s neck is easily the most reinforced body part of the strongest demon in existence, so this is by no means a small feat.

Yet this is essentially the only example fans get of Yoriichi’s supposed immense strength. With Gyomei Himejima fans have plenty of examples of the Stone Hashira’s strength, and if Yoriichi had more appearances we could likely make a better direct comparison. Yet with the information we have, Gyomei Himejima seems to be the number one to Yoriichi’s number two in terms of physical strength, stamina, and endurance.


Demon Slayer Mark and the Transparent World

Tanjiro accesses the Transparent World for the first time. (Image via Shueisha Shonen Jump)
Tanjiro accesses the Transparent World for the first time. (Image via Shueisha Shonen Jump)

Yoriichi yet again reigns in another Demon Slayer specific category. Being the first Demon Slayer to awaken both the Demon Slayer Mark and the Transparent World, Yoriichi is a cut above the rest.

This is shown to the point where Yoriichi lived to be 85 years old despite having the Demon Slayer Mark. While this is likely due to him being born with the Mark, it’s still impressive considering contemporary Hashira died shortly after awakening it.

Yoriichi’s access to the Transparent World is also a tremendous feat to add to his Demon Slayer accomplishments. Being the first Demon Slayer to do so, Yoriichi entered the world naturally without needing to specifically train for it. In fact, Yoriichi couldn’t have trained for it even if he wanted to; being the first one to activate, it was up to Yoriichi to deduce its prerequisites for future generations.

In addition to figuring out its trigger for future generations, Yoriichi also used the Transparent World to deduce what was needed to successfully kill Muzan’s five brains and seven hearts. As a result, the Sun Breathing Style thirteenth form was created to eliminate all of Muzan’s key organs in one fell swoop.


In summation

While Yoriichi seems to fall short to Gyomei Himejima in the strength categories given the information we have, Yoriichi still reigns supreme overall. The question of is Yoriichi the strongest Demon Slayer can no longer be a question; his overall skill as a Demon Slayer is too great.

While Yoriichi won’t quite be making his anime debut yet, fans can keep up with Demon Slayer Season 2 to follow the adventures of Tengen Uzui, another exceptional Demon Slayer and Hashira.

Quick Links

Edited by Prem Deshpande
Sportskeeda logo
Close menu
WWE
WWE
NBA
NBA
NFL
NFL
MMA
MMA
Tennis
Tennis
NHL
NHL
Golf
Golf
MLB
MLB
Soccer
Soccer
F1
F1
WNBA
WNBA
More
More
bell-icon Manage notifications