The following content contains spoilers from the Demon Slayer Manga
Summary
- Shinobu Kocho is considered the weakest Hashira due to her inability to behead demons, relying on poisoning them.
- Despite being weak physically, Shinobu compensates with creativity, speed, and intelligence in combat.
- Shinobu’s determination to kill demons, save lives, and her role in the final arc highlight her importance in the story.
Hashiras are the elite group of swordsmen from Demon Slayer. They are considered some of the strongest characters in the entire anime. Each Hashira varies from one another in terms of abilities and strength. But even this reputed group of demon slayers has its strongest and weakest. So, who is the weakest Hashira in Demon Slayer?
Indeed, every Hashira is immensely strong. Their control over their respective breathing styles and sword techniques allows them to kill numerous demons with ease. In terms of strength, some of them even rival the members of the Twelve Kizuki. But when speaking of strength, one Hashira stands out weakly for their limited fighting style.
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Shinobu Kocho: The Weakest Hashira
Shinobu Kocho, the Insect Hashira, is the weakest among the Hashiras. She leads the Butterfly Mansion, which is responsible for the well-being of demon slayers. She is also well-versed in medicine and has helped greatly in the survival of demon slayers. But despite her talents, she is held back by a major flaw.
Exposing demons to the sun or beheading them are the two most common ways of killing demons. The latter is the most efficient and common. But Shinobu is unable to do it because she lacks the physical strength to behead demons. She instead relies on poisoning them to win the fight. This greatly limits her options in a fight. She is also one of the two Hashiras who did not awaken the Demon Slayer Mark.
What are Shinobu’s Strengths?
Fights with Creativity and Speed
Despite being held back by her physical strength, Shinobu is extremely strong. Her expertise in medicine allowed her to create a wisteria poison that was lethal to demons. She is also extremely fast, often moving so fast that it seems like she is flying like a butterfly.
But most of all, her weaknesses led her to create Insect Breathing. A breathing style exclusively used by her. Unlike other breathing styles, Incest breathing focuses on stabbing and slashing demons, so the poison can be injected to finish them off. She also created a unique stinger-like katana that has a needle tip for injecting poison.
Her Appearance is Deceptive
Shinobu’s small stature and inability to behead demons might make her seem weak. But assuming so is a mistake at the Demon’s end. In Episode 20, Shinobu fights one of the demons from the Spider Family. The demon is initially intimidated by Shinobu’s sadistic nature but eases when she realizes Shinobu can’t behead her. This makes the demon underestimate Shinobu and the demon plots to kill her easily. But moments later, she dies of Shinobu’s poison.
Shinobu Is Determined to Kill Demons
The determination to kill demons is common among all Demon Slayers. But Shinobu’s hate for demons is one of the deepest we have seen. She lost her beloved older sister to the Upper Rank Two demon, Doma, which led her on a path of vengeance. Her hate is visible in her ruthless and sadistic behavior towards demons. When she initially met Nezuko, she was also determined to kill her without hearing others out.
Her Importance Despite Her Weaknesses
Shinobu Has Saved Numerous Demon Slayers
Though she was considered the weakest Hashira, Shinobu is one of the most important characters in Demon Slayer. Throughout the series, we see her working swiftly to kill various demons but also saving the lives of numerous people. Notably, during the Mount Natagumo Arc, she helped save numerous dying swordsmen, including Zenitsu. She created an antidote that allowed the ambushed demon slayers to heal and not turn into spiders.
Her Kindness Helped Others Grow Stronger
Shinobu and her sister, Kanae, adopted Kanao at a young age. They trained her and helped her become a strong and capable demon slayer. Also, after the Hashira Meeting, Shinobu willingly volunteered to take care of Tanjiro and his friends. This allowed Tanjiro and others to not only heal but also go through strength training that made them immensely stronger. When Tanjiro asked her, “Why did you bring us all here?”, Shinobu admitted that she simply wanted to help them but also entrust her dream to Tanjiro. Similar to Tanjiro, she hopes to see a world where demons and humans can co-exist.
“My dream that we can become friends with the demons.
I’m quite sure you can accomplish that!”
Integral in The Final Arc
Shiobu contributed immensely to the final chapters of the manga. She fought Doma, the upper-rank Two demon, and managed to defeat him by sacrificing her own life. During the fight, she showed astounding stamina, speed, and sword skills, which left even Doma startled. Eventually, she was killed and Doma consumed her body.
But this turned out to be her willing sacrifice to defeat the demon. Her body internally poisoned Doma, which significantly weakened him. This allowed Kanao and Inosuke to finally behead him. She also, along with Tamayo, crafted a drug that finally led to Muzan’s defeat.
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Shinobu outweighed her limitations with her intelligence, speed, and hatred for demons. The loss of her precious sister led her on a path of vengeance. She was ruthless to demons but was kind and loving to humans. Even though she was the weakest Hashira, her influence on the plot was immense. This not only shows the brilliance of Hashiras but her own brilliance as well.
Demon Slayer is available to watch on Netflix and Crunchyroll.