Highlights
- Kokushibo is unanimously recognized as the strongest member of the Twelve Kizuki, the highest-ranking demons in Demon Slayer.
- Kokushibo possesses both the powers of a demon and a Demon Slayer, making him a formidable opponent with versatile abilities.
- Kokushibo’s Moon Breathing technique, coupled with his mastery of the Transparent World and Blood Demon Arts, makes him incredibly powerful and difficult to defeat.
In all of Demon Slayer, the strength of characters is always one of the most debated and talked about aspects of the show. In the case of the demons, they are ranked as the Twelve Kizuki, a grouping of the strongest demons in the entire world that are divided into the 6 Lower Moons and the 6 Upper Moons, with the latter being at the very pinnacle of strength and active for hundreds of years as no one has been able to kill them in centuries.
However, there is still a point of contention for fans, as many of them argue that the rankings don’t necessarily speak for the actual strength of most of the members of the Upper Moons. Despite this, the position of Upper Moon 1 belonging to Kokushibo is never contested as everyone unanimously agrees that he is the most powerful of all the Twelve Kizuki. The series makes this very clear as well as his feats are the most impressive out of all the demons, so, let’s see how powerful Kokushibo really is.
Kokushibo’s Unique Connection to the Demon Slayer Corps
Kokushibo was, like all other demons, once a human being and he lived almost 500 years before the start of the main story of Demon Slayer. When he was human, his name was Michikatsu Tsugikuni and he had a twin brother named Yoriichi who was the one to invent the very concept of Breathing Styles in swordsmanship to fight demons and was the only known user of Sun Breathing.
Kokushibo himself was under the tutelage of his younger brother but found Sun Breathing to be too difficult to master, so he created his own style which he called Moon Breathing. However, it was revealed that Kokushibo always had a deep resentment for his brother. This was because Yoriichi was always better and smarter than him at everything that the two of them did, but was always humble and unassuming about his talent and hard work.
This resentment of his twin brother, coupled with his inability to master Sun Breathing and the appearance of his Demon Slayer mark, made him turn from the life of a Slayer and become a demon. After doing this, he would only see his brother again at the age of 80, when Yoriichi almost killed him with a single strike but would die due to old age during the battle. This would be the last time Kokushibo would suffer a loss for almost 500 years.
Kokushibo’s Powers Make Him Incredibly Tough to Deal With
Kokushibo is the only person in the entire Demon Slayer series who has been shown to have the powers of both the Slayers themselves and those of a demon. This makes him the most powerful and formidable opponent that the heroes have had to face because of how much his natural skills are bolstered by his demon powers, as he can use his Blood Demon Arts as well as Moon Breathing and having access to the Transparent World.
His bread and butter in terms of his fighting style is his infamous Moon Breathing. Aside from being the Breathing Style with the most number of forms, Moon Breathing is also very versatile with these forms that Kokushibo can use without showing any real fatigue due to his demonic nature. He also has an ability called Flesh Manipulation, where his sword can take on vastly extended and powerful forms that are very difficult to avoid.
Flesh Manipulation also allows Kokushibo to alter his appearance, as was seen in his final fight against the Hashira. The more ubiquitous use for this ability, however, is on his sword, as his blade is just as sharp and powerful as the Nichirin blades that have been used by the Demon Slayer Corps for hundreds of years. Flesh Manipulation also allows him to quickly regenerate his sword into a powerful and sharper form if it breaks.
Moon Breathing is the second most powerful of all Breathing Styles after Yoriichi’s Sun Breathing and Kokushibo is the only one to use it as he tailored his brothers’ training of Sun Breathing into a form that best suits him. This tutelage led to him using the Breathing Style with over 15 forms which greatly helped him since the only way for an Upper Moon to change their rank is by defeating a higher-ranked demon than them. Kokushibo is the strongest because he has not been dethroned for centuries and defeated numerous powerful demons.
Moon Breathing allows for Kokushibo to create crescent-shaped slashes that expand and continue to go out in a vortex, targeting a large area and making them almost impossible to dodge. These slashes are extremely quick and destructive, and Kokushibo’s efficiency and mastery over the Breathing Style allows him to execute these attacks with minimal effort.
On top of Moon Breathing, Kokushibo’s demonic nature gives him access to Blood Demon Arts. His Blood Demon Art is called Crescent Moon Blades and it sends out extremely powerful, Moon-shaped projectiles that span a wide area and constantly change speed and direction. These are extremely sharp and hard to dodge and the Art also gives him the ability to better control these blades and further bolsters his Moon Breathing.
During the activation and usage of the Blood Demon Art, Kokushibo’s regular attacks with his sword are made far more efficient and deadly. His abilities are bolstered yet again due to his Demon Slayer Mark, which also allows him to see into the Transparent World. This is a type of X-ray vision that allows the user to see beyond the skin of their opponent, getting a glimpse of the muscles and organs to target them specifically.
It also allows them to see the flow of blood to and from various parts of the body, which allows them to predict their opponents’ movements. This is an incredibly powerful ability that is unique to Demon Slayers themselves. However, due to Kokushibo once being a member of the Corps and killing hundreds of demons as a swordsman, he also has the ability.
However, none of Kokushibo’s powers would matter much without his strongest ability; experience. Having been alive for close to 500 years and spending a substantial amount of time as both a Demon Slayer and a demon, he has gained such a vast amount of experience and battle prowess that almost no one other than Muzan himself can truly kill him.
This is most evident in his fight against the Hashira where he was seen to only meet his end after he saw his reflection in a sword and became disgusted with what he became, leading to Kokushibo to stop resisting and letting the Hashira kill him.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba can be streamed on Amazon Prime and Netflix.
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