Tanjiro Kamado

Tanjiro Kamado is the main protagonist of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. He is a Demon Slayer in the Demon Slayer Corps, who joined to find a remedy to turn his sister, Nezuko Kamado, back into a human.

Before he became a Demon Slayer, his family was slaughtered by the Demon King, Muzan Kibutsuji, while his younger sister, Nezuko, was turned into a Demon.

Tanjiro Kamado is also a user of Water Breathing and a user of Hinokami Kagura.

Appearance
Tanjiro is a muscular young man with rather tanned skin and an athletic physique. He has ruffled, black hair with burgundy tips, combed back to expose his forehead, and wide, dark red eyes with white pupils that appear lighter around the lower section of his irises. He also has a scar on the top left of his forehead, which he received when he protected his younger brother from a falling brazier. The scar originally looked somewhat like a graze until his fight with the Hand Demon during the Final Selection, after which it develops into his Demon Slayer Mark. It is noted that his hands are visibly rougher for someone his age, as a result of his rigorous training under Sakonji Urokodaki. Tanjiro looks remarkably similar in appearance to his ancestor Sumiyoshi, possessing the same facial structure, eyes, and hairstyle as him, although Sumiyoshi's hair was longer, about shoulder-length, and would be tied in a ponytail behind his head.

Tanjiro first appears wearing a checkered, black-and-sea-foam-green haori over a white robe and black pants. He occasionally sports a turquoise scarf and is seen with circular, white bands looped around his calves. He also wears a distinct pair of hanafuda earrings, with the image of a white-and-red flower. His hair is also kept tied back in a small ponytail or bun; as he trains with Sabito and Makomo, his hair grows to his shoulders.

During the Final Selection, Tanjiro wears a blue, cloud-patterned jinbei-styled kimono and black pants, nearly identical to Sakonji's outfit. He still wears his hanafuda earrings, but his hair is cut extremely short and remains the same length since. Similar to the rest of the apprentices that were trained under Sakonji, Tanjiro wears a hand-carved fox mask crafted from his master on the left side of his head. The mask has red accents on the eyes, ears, and spots on each corner of its mouth. On the upper right corner of the mask, there is a sun-shaped design that likely symbolizes the scar on his forehead.

After becoming a Demon Slayer, Tanjiro wears the standard Demon Slayer uniform, a dark-brown gakuran jacket, a white belt, baggy pants that extend into tabi socks, a pair of zōri with red straps, and bands of white cloth wrapped tightly around his calves, all beneath his signature checkered haori. He carries a large wooden box on his back (which was a gift to him from Sakonji Urokodaki), where his sister sleeps as they travel during the day.

Personality
Tanjiro is kind by nature and has been described by others as having very gentle eyes. He exhibits a great deal of determination and will not give up once he has a goal to achieve; the best example of this being his relentless quest to find a cure for Nezuko. Even though he is relatively strong on his own, Tanjiro isn't opposed to asking others for help when he needs it. He is very protective of his friends and even more so of his younger sister. However, despite his kind and understanding nature, Tanjiro does have a limit to his tolerance and has a distaste for rudeness and cowardice as he easily becomes annoyed by Zenitsu Agatsuma's constant whining, and angered by Inosuke Hashibira's barbaric actions.

Tanjiro's most notable attribute is his ability to empathize with anyone, even Demons, which often makes him hesitate before delivering the final blow. This moment of hesitation has a downside, as it has allowed some Demons to take advantage of Tanjiro's understanding nature to recover and continue the fight on rare occasions. However, as Tanjiro gains experience over the years of his service, he becomes more calculating and strict in his decisions. His courage to protect the weak commits him to face his enemy with respect and dignity, whether versus good people or evil Demons.

Under Tanjiro's rather kind and friendly shell, is a person with a growing fire of rage and vengeance inside of them. This side of him leaks out when Tanjiro first confronts Muzan, ready to take out his sword and attack him. When Muzan escapes, Tanjiro releases his frustration and declares he will be the one to kill Muzan. In another event, when the Demon Slayers have their necks snapped by the Mother Spider Demon's threads, Tanjiro shows noticeable anger that even Inosuke senses. This side of Tanjiro fully comes out after Muzan's speech where he compares himself to a natural disaster. Tanjiro responds to that by calling Muzan "a being that should not exist."

Abilites
Overall Abilities: From the start, although not a part of the Demon Slayer Corps, Tanjiro was able to catch Giyu Tomioka, the Water Hashira off guard. After starting his training in Water Breathing, he has become also take on multiple demons including a former Lower Rank 6, Kyogai. After recalling the Hinokami Kagura, he learned from his father as a child, he would've defeated Rui, Lower Rank 5, if Rui hadn't cut off his head prior.

Physical Abilities
Enhanced Strength: After his training at Sagiri Mountain, Tanjiro has gained enhanced strength and speed and has demonstrated a great use of it, as seen when he jumped twice his height over the Hand Demon, who killed Sakonji's disciples, during Final Selection. His forehead is noted to be unusually sturdy as well since he's able with it to injure Sanemi Shinazugawa, the Wind Hashira.

Mental Abilities
Genius Intellect: Even before encountering a member of the Twelve Kizuki, Tanjiro has displayed the ability to be incredibly sagacious and analytical while fighting Demons, being able to discern their abilities and find the proper countermeasures.

Tactical Intellect: Tanjiro possesses incredible and innate thinking capacity and wits. He has mainly displayed this through combat where he can conceive multiple battle strategies, discern the abilities and powers of his opponent's and find weaknesses in them all while engaging in tough combat.

Miscellaneous Abilities
Enhanced Senses: Like all skilled Demon Slayers, Tanjiro has senses enhanced beyond that of regular humans, being able to detect and track demonic presences and fight with incredible precision and efficiency.


 * Enhanced Smell: Tanjiro has had a heightened sense of smell even before he underwent sword training. It is strong enough for him to smell the 'line of interval'—the slight pause in an enemy's movement which allows him an opening in which to strike—and distinguish between species, as well as their approximate position. After training this skill during his time as a Demon Hunter, Tanjiro has acquired the ability to smell emotions as well as track objects, humans, and demons over long distances.

Indomitable Will: Like all Demon Slayers, Tanjiro possesses an undaunted will and spirit, being able to fight and engage in battle against enemies stronger than him with his sheer will alone to kill Demons and protect his sister. Even as early as the Natagumo Mountain Arc, Tanjiro was willing to sacrifice his life for his sister.

Combat Intuition: This trait of Tanjiro's was pointed out by Giyu during their first encounter, in which Tanjiro skillfully laid out a plan to attack Giyu by surprise by charging towards him, not showing the Demon Hunter that he was unarmed, and bring down Giyu with an ax he had thrown in the air beforehand. The attack failed, but Giyu was still very impressed by Tanjiro's plan, especially considering he was a rookie at the time.

Hard Skull: Tanjiro has a strong skull, which the Temple Demon compares to a rock. During certain situations, he can headbutt the opponent hard enough to stun them or knock them out completely, in some situations even cause their head to bleed upon impact. Managing to hit the Temple Demon twice in a row without being stunned shows he is capable of doing it more than once. The full power of this attack is shown to give Inosuke a delayed concussion while Tanjiro suffered no backlash from it. Tanjiro also head-butted the Wind Hashira, Sanemi Shinazugawa leaving other Hashiras impressed by the hardness of Tanjiro's skull.

Swordsmanship
Water Breathing: Taught to him by Sakonji, the Water Hashira before Giyu. This was Tanjiro's initial breathing style before he switches to the Hinokami Kagura, a breathing style taught to him by his father during his childhood, which he states is more suited to him. However, during the course where he used Water Breathing, he has become extremely proficient, enabling him to take on two members of the Twelve Kizuki, specifically Rui and Enmu."First Form: Water Surface Slash - The user generates enough momentum to create a powerful single concentrated slash.""Second Form: Water Wheel - The user leaps and vertically spins forward in the air while releasing a flowing attack in a circular motion.""Second Form: Improved - Lateral Water Wheel - The user uses the Second Form: Water Wheel in a horizontal spin.""Third Form: Flowing Dance - The user swings and bends their blade in a winding motion along with their body and dances in a flowing pattern, slicing everything in its path.""Fourth Form: Striking Tide - The user makes multiple consecutive slashes while twisting their body and sword in a flowing fashion to deliver multiple blows simultaneously.""Striking Tide - Turbulent - An improved version of the Fourth Form: Striking Tide. The swordsman increases the number of consecutive strikes and slashes along with improving its accuracy to contact a specific target during a chaotic situation.""Fifth Form: Blessed Rain After the Drought - The user changes the grip on their sword and decapitates the opponent in a single flowing strike that causes little to no pain. It is a “sword strike of kindness” used when the enemy willingly surrenders.""Sixth Form: Whirlpool - The user fiercely twists their upper and lower body, creating a whirlpool of air that cuts anything caught in it. Its effect and efficiency are enhanced underwater, where the user can draw water around their weapon to enhance their slashes.""Whirlpool: Flow - A combination of Third Form: Flowing Dance and Sixth Form: Whirlpool. The swordsman combines the footwork from Flowing Dance and the twisting aspect of Whirlpool, resulting in the swordsman performing an attack around the user and conjure a twisting, swirling, the vicious flow of water to redirect projectiles from multiple angles.""Seventh Form: Piercing Rain Drop - The user performs a fast and accurate stab, capable of reducing the impact of a moving target. The fastest and only thrusting technique of this breathing style.""Seventh Form: Piercing Rain Drop - Curve - A modified strike that hits in an arc from an angle corresponding to the sword's structure to minimize the impact of a moving target.""Eighth Form: Waterfall Basin - The user cuts the target vertically in a flowing motion which is most effective when they are falling downward.""Ninth Form: Splashing Water Flow - The user changes their footwork in a way that minimizes the landing time and surface needed when landing, allowing the user to move without limits. Ideal when fighting in a place with no solid foothold.""Ninth Form: Splashing Water Flow - Turbulent - An improved version of Ninth Form: Splashing Water Flow.""Tenth Form: Constant Flux - The most powerful Water Breathing technique. The user performs a continuous flowing attack which takes a form of a water dragon that increases in strength and power with each rotation."Hinokami Kagura, also known as the Dance of the Fire God. During his near-death experience in his battle with Rui, Tanjiro awakened this in a memory of his father teaching him this breathing style. At that time, Tanjiro's body was not physically suited to the strain using the breathing style took on him, but through many adversaties, he finally managed to master it. Hinokami Kagura: Dance - A single high-powered vertical slash.

Hinokami Kagura: Clear Blue Sky - The user spins their body vertically to create a 360° slash.

Equipment
Standard Nichirin Katana: Like all Demon Slayers, Tanjiro harbors a standard Nichirin Blade. His katana is black in color. His original hilt is a black ring connected to its core by lines with a border of the same color, which heavily resembles a wagon wheel in appearance.

Trivia

 * His first name contains the kanji for "charcoal" (炭 tan?), "to heal" (治 ji?) and "son, male" (郎 rō?), which is also a common masculine name suffix. The first kanji of Tanjiro's surname translates to a traditional Japanese wood or charcoal-fuelled cookstove/furnace (竈 kama?), while the second kanji means "door" (門 do?).
 * The second character could also reference (退治 taiji?), which refers to the exorcism of Demons.


 * Tanjiro's rankings in the popularity polls are as follows:
 * Tanjiro ranked 1st place in the first popularity poll with 6,742 votes.
 * Tanjiro ranked 4th place in the second popularity poll with 9,045 votes.
 * Tanjiro shares his Japanese and English voice actors with Sieg, the protagonist of Fate/Apocrypha.
 * When Tanjiro lies, he can't keep a straight face due to his honest nature.
 * Tanjiro inherited his hard forehead from his mother.
 * Tanjiro has been incorrectly dubbed as Gonpachiro Kamaboko, Gengoro Shakariki, Tontaro Itadaki, Kanjiro Anago, Tangoro Hamado, Jangoro Amado, Monjiro, Kentaro, Santaro, and Sochiro by Inosuke.
 * In Inosuke's dream he was named Ponjiro as a racoon.
 * Tanjiro is one of the few characters to have their Nichirin Blade change appearance.
 * Apparently, Tanjiro is able to understand what birds are saying.
 * Tanjiro was dubbed as the Most Polite Man in Kimetsu Academy.
 * Tanjiro is tone deaf.
 * Tanjiro is widely known as a tragic hero causes of his tragic events following their deaths; likely his family and Kyojuro Rengoku.

Quotes

 * (To Muzan Kibutsuji) "Muzan Kibutsuji! No matter where you go, I promise you won't escape me! You can run as far as you want! I'll follow you to the ends of Hell, and my blade will be the last thing you see! I'll never forgive you for what you've done!"
 * (To Kyogai) "I can't forgive you for killing."
 * (To Rui) "The bond between Nezuko and I, cannot be severed! Not by anyone!"
 * (To Giyu Tomioka) "'In order to soothe the spirits of those it killed, and to make sure it claims no further victims... I will swing my blade down and lop of the head of any demon without mercy! But I will not belittle those who regret their actions... and suffer over the things they did as demons. Because demons were once human. Because they were like me."
 * (To Sanemi Shinazugawa) "If you can't tell the difference between good Demons and bad ones, then you don't deserve to be a Hashira!!"
 * (To Enmu) "Don't thoughtlessly trample your way into people's dreams! I won't forgive you."
 * (To Sanemi Shinazugawa) "I don't care if you're a Hashira or whatever! I won't let anyone hurt my sister!"

Reference

 * 1) https://kimetsu-no-yaiba.fandom.com/wiki/Tanjiro_Kamado