Yoriichi Tsugikuni is the strongest demon slayer and is noticeably stronger than Muzan Kibutsuji. This was evident after the battle between the two, where Yoriichi was able to easily discover Muzan’s weak point and overpower him. Although Yoriichi was unable to kill Muzan, who managed to escape, he was able to establish himself as the stronger of the two. Muzan left the battleground alive, but he left eternally scarred with loathsome fear of Yoriichi and those who possess Yoriichi’s fighting techniques.
Yoriichi and Muzan are two of the many characters in the Demon Slayer, which perfectly presents the audience with breathtaking visual animation and vibrant action scenes, making for a lethal combination of heart-wrenching and exciting scenes. Although the anime, which is known for its intense and creative fights, has several unique battles that have kept fans at the edge of their seat, the most epic of all the fights in the Demon Slayer took place several years before the storyline between the antagonist, Muzan Kibutsuji, and the most powerful Demon Slayer, Yoriichi Tsugikuni.
Between Yoriichi and Muzan, Who is the Strongest in Demon Slayer?
The strongest character in the Demon Slayer is Yoriichi, a legendary swordsman of the Sengoku Era who possesses several incredible powers that leave his enemies quaking in fear. This was seen in episode 8 of the animation, the sunrise Countdown arc Chapter 187 of the Manga series, where Yoriichi almost killed Muzan before the latter escaped with an eternal fear of Yoriichi and anyone who possessed his fighting technique.
The battle between Yoriichi and Muzan happened at their first encounter after Muzan dismissively attacked Yoriichi stating that he was not interested in Demon Slayers who use Breathing Styles. However, he was in for a surprise as the Breath Style Progenitor cleverly dodges the attack with the knowledge that even a single strike can be fatal.
Using his ability to see the Transparent World, Yoriichi was able to easily note down Muzan’s weak moments and points. He discerned that Muzan had seven hearts and five brains that change position in his body. Notwithstanding Muzan’s immense power and regenerative ability, the Breath Style Progenitor completed his sword forms with his bright red blade and combined them into a single attack, subduing Muzan with deep slashes in a single stroke that made the Demon Lord unable to regenerate.
Before Yoriichi could end the battle by killing Muzan, the latter cunningly escaped the scene by splitting his body into 1,800 small parts. The Breath Style Progenitor, who was surprised by this move, was able to cut only 1,500 of the 1,800 parts leading the remaining portions to escape for the Demon Lord to regenerate and become a single body.
After the battle, Muzan developed a great fear of Yoriichi which prompted him to murder all of the other sun Breathing users, including Tanjiro’s family in an attempt to prevent a Breath Style fighter like Yoriichi from emerging. This battle between the two established Yoriichi as the strongest of the pair after rendering the Demon King powerless and fearful of him.
Who is Yoriichi Tsugikuni?
Yoriichi Tsugikuni is considered the strongest Demon slayer in the history of Demon Slayers. He lived nearly 500 years before the series began, during the Sengoku era, and possesses incredible power and abilities that remain unequaled even in the current Demon Slayer’s Taisho Era. He made his initial appearance in episode 8 of the Asakusa Arc in Muzan’s past memories.
A major supporting character in the animation, Yoriichi is the younger brother of Michikatsu Tsugikuni, a demon slayer who later became a demon and joined the Twelve Kizuki, serving as the Upper Rank 1 Demon.
Yoriichi is also the progenitor of Breathing Styles, being the one who invented the first ever Breathing Style known as Sun Breathing which later became the Hinokami Kagura used by the Kamado family and the protagonist of the animation, Tanjiro Kamado. He was born with God-gifted abilities, including the Demon Slayer Mark, the ability to see the Transparent World, and a Selfless state. He also possesses a great physique refined to the highest caliber and inborn swordsmanship skill that ranks him above other demon slayers.
At the age of seven, Yoriichi was referred to as a miraculous prodigy as he was able to defeat a well-trained sword instructor even though he has never picked up a sword before that. After becoming a demon slayer, Yoriichi’s incredible powers made his opponents quiver in fear. Fated to defeat the demon lord, Yoriichi singlehandedly and with a single stroke overpowers Muzan despite the latter’s incredible powers. Even though Muzan escaped death at the hands of Yoriichi, he was deeply scarred by the battle that even the sight of his earrings made him tremble in fear.
In his final battle at the age of 85, Yoriichi fought with his older twin brother, Kokushibo who turned into a demon and joined the Twelve Kizuki. Despite both his old age and apparent blindness, Yoriichi was able to gain the upper hand in the battle with just a single stroke slitting his opponent’s throat before he died standing up unscathed. His extraordinary power was attested to by Kokushibo who admitted that if Yoriichi had launched a second attack, he would have been killed by him.
Yoriichi Abilities
1. Demon Slayer Mark: Yoriichi was born with the Demon Slayer Mark on his forehead which is proof of his immense strength and abilities as a fighter. Unlike other mark-bearers in his era, Yoriichi defied fate and lived for 85 years. This is presumably because he was born with the mark, unlike other mark users who trained hard to attain it. Although the Demon slayer Mark was considered a bad omen, the mark gave Yoriichi tremendous physical abilities.
2. Bright Red Nichirin Sword: Yoriichi is the first person in the history of Demon Slayers to turn his Nichirin sword into bright red color. He was able to do this because of the mark that presumably gave the users ability to turn their blades bright red.
3. Transparent World: Right from when he was born, Yoriichi was able to see the transparent world. This allows him to see the inner workings of a person, he could see muscle contractions, lung expansions, breathing, and blood flow within his opponents to recognize their weak points and decide when to strike them. This ability helped him in overpowering Muzan during their battle.
4. Extrasensory Perception: Besides his ability to see the Transparent World, he also has great sensory abilities. He could discern the aura of demons from humans while also being able to tell the strength of his enemies at a glance.
5. Immeasurable Speed and Reflexes: Yoriichi possesses unequaled speed and reflex ability to surpass all the other characters in the animation. This ability came to play during his fight with Muzan when he was able to dodge every attack that Muzan unleashed on him and nearly killed him with one single stroke, surpassing Muzan’s immeasurable speed and strength.
6. Immeasurable Stamina and Endurance: As a seven-year-old child, Yoriichi could run for 24 hours with no rest. He also possess great vitality which is beyond the human level, as he can survive without food or water for 10 whole days. In addition, despite having lived for 85 years, Yoriichi’s power did not wane as he easily subdued Kokushibo during their final battle.
7. Immeasurable Strength: Yoriichi has unparalleled physical strength which is superior to all the other Demon Slayers that ever existed. With his tremendous strength, he was able to effortlessly cut off the neck of the Demon Lord, Muzan Kibutsuji, which is the sturdiest part of the demon.
8. Selfless State: The Breathing style progenitor maintains a calm composition throughout his fights and expresses no emotions of hatred, animosity, or blood lust which makes him impossible to read and detect his movements. This ability gives Yoriichi a huge advantage in battle, as shown in his battle with Muzan where the latter underestimated his strength.
9. Unparalleled Swordsmanship: Yoriichi is the greatest swordsman that ever lived in the history of anime. Because of his tremendous sword skills, a battle doll made with 6 arms wielding katanas and utilizing 108 techniques was modeled after him based on his fighting style. His skill easily overwhelmed Demon King, Muzan, and his twin brother Kokushibo.
10. Genius Intellect- Creator of the Sun Breathing Styles: Since he was a child, Yoriichi possessed a high level of intellect compared to other kids his age. His great intellectual ability led to the ‘’Golden Age of the Demon Slayers’’ as he invented the first breath-taking Breathing style ‘’Sun breathing style’’ from which all other subsequent styles were modeled after.
Yoriichi was incredibly talented in his sun-breathing style being able to defeat demons effortlessly and also overpower the strongest demon, Muzan Kibutsuji.
Who is Muzan Kibutsuji?
Muzan Kibutsuji is the powerful king of demons and the main antagonist of the Demon Slayer series. He possesses extraordinary powers being the first demon of his kind with the ability to change his victims into demons and replace humanity. However, despite his tremendous ability, he was overpowered by the progenitor of Breathing Styles, Yoriichi, during a battle that took place many years before the main storyline.
As the progenitor of demons, Muzan is the strongest demon in existence. He effortlessly annihilated close to a hundred demon slayers even after consuming a drug that was supposed to weaken his powers and turn him back into a human. The Demon King has the ability to assimilate, absorb and dissolve organic and inorganic objects. This is seen when he absorbed the flesh seeds that pierced his skin in order to nullify its effects. He also accidentally absorbed Tamayo’s arm as well as a drug that turns demons back to humans and weakens their powers.
During combat, the Muzan can adopt a more monstrous and battle-esque form with a dark-red scale-like mass covering most of his body with sharp-toothed wide mouths all over his body and longer pale white hair. This form gives Muzan a lot of advantages during a fight as different parts of his body in this form play important roles during his fight.
For instance, the sharp-toothed jaws located all over his body not only serve as a form of offense but also help him regenerate faster since he can use the jaws to eat the flesh of his opponents, killing them while also regaining his strength.
Muzan has blood with special mutagenic properties that can transform humans into demons. His blood also gives the recipient special abilities like powerful and quick regeneration, the power to control flesh, immortality, enhanced physical prowess, accelerated growth rate, and supernatural abilities called Blood Demon Arts.
Muzan Abilities
1. Blood transfer Memory: This ability was witnessed during Muzan’s final battle with Tanjiro and five other Hashira as he was able to transfer the remainder of his blood along with his memories into Tanjiro. His blood transfer helped in reviving Tanjiro who was in a state of near death and also transfer his abilities to Tanjiro.
Furthermore, his blood memory transfer is also seen to have been shared unknowingly whenever he created another demon and shared his blood with them, as in the case of Daki and Hantengu, who were able to see Muzan’s memories of Yoriichi.
2. Consciousness Implantation: He has the ability to implant a part of his consciousness into a demon he creates using his blood as long as he gave them a large amount of his blood during creation.
3. Demon Manipulation: The Demon King has the ability to control demons to a certain extent. However, this ability requires extensive concentration as he could easily lose control.
4. Demon Curse: Muzan places a curse on all demons injected with his blood, the curse causes their bodies to stop regenerating and allows Muzan’s cells inside the demon to take over and kill them. The curse takes effect if any demon discloses his last name ‘’Kibutsuji’’. However, the demons can break free from the curse if Muzan is weakened or someone has sufficient willpower to break free as seen in the case of Tamayo, Nezuko, and Yushiro.
5. Demon Memory Access: The Demon King can see the memories of demons he has absorbed. This is seen when he absorbed Tamayo’s cells and was able to gain information on the kind of drug she had injected into him.
6. Demon Power Nullification: As the progenitor of demons, Muzan is the only demon capable of completely destroying the cells of other demons without using Nichirin Swords or sunlight.
7. Telepathy: Muzan has the ability to read the thoughts of those who assimilated his blood. He can also send telepathic messages and full conversations to them.
8. Blood Demon Art: Muzan Blood Art is superior to any other demon in the series. His blood art grants him powerful abilities, most especially the ability to manipulate his body and shapeshift instantly. He can change his appearance, flesh, and organs at unparalleled speed and precision. This was seen during his battle with Yoriichi when he split his body into 1,800 small pieces, taking the Progenitor of Sun Breathing by surprise and eventually escaping the battle scene successfully.
He also has a unique anatomy that he realized by altering his bodily properties. With seven hearts and five brains, Muzan has a very powerful constitution that accounts for his resistance to decapitation by Nichrin Swords.
The demon King’s abilities are not restricted to the above. Muzan has immeasurable speed and reflexes that surpass any demon in the twelve Kizuki. He also has a genius intellect that remains unparallel in the series. Even Yoriichi failed in the face of Muzan’s cleverness and intelligence.
Like most demons, Muzan possesses infinite stamina and endurance, ev en when his head is pierced by a sword and as the progenitor of demons, he has the fastest and most advanced regeneration amongst all the demons. Moreover, he can also sense the presence of others and their malicious intent, which he can use to differentiate between humans and demons and determine how strong they are.
What is Muzan’s Weakness?
Indeed, Muzan possesses a vast range of power and abilities, which has led thousands of demon slayers to an early grave. Despite these tremendous powers and abilities, he has been shown to have a certain weakness to sunlight, and this is why he has been searching for a spider lily that will make him immune to sunlight. He cannot bear the exposure to sunlight and would disintegrate under direct sunlight.
Muzan’s body, as stated earlier, has the ability to absorb and assimilate objects. While this ability can serve as an advantage for him, it is also his weakness as it exposes him to certain poisons which his body isn’t prepared to accept and fight against, like Wisteria flowers which are poisonous to him.
Lastly, an attack from crimson Red Blades can hamper his demonic regeneration and incinerate his cells. This is seen when Yoriichi’s strike prevents him from regenerating.
Muzan Kibutsuji’s Age Compared to Yoriichi’s Age
At the time Yoriichi was born, it was predicted that he would not be able to live past the age of 25 because of his demon slayer mark, which was considered a bad omen even by his father. However, Yoriichi was able to defy the fate of those with the demon slayer mark, and he lived to about 85 years of age.
He died during his final battle with his older twin brother, a powerful upper-rank demon, Kokushibo, also known as Michikatsu. Despite his old age and apparent blindness, Yoriichi was able to overpower the upper rank one demon with a single strike that slashed through Kokushibo’s neck before he died standing up.
While Yoriichi only lived for 85 years, Muzan Kibutsuji lived for over 1000 years, surpassing the existence of all other demons. His age was revealed by Urokodaki Sakonji in Chapter 11 and Episode 6. It was also revealed in Chapter 127 of the manga that Muzan turned into a demon during the Heian period when he was still a teenager.
Just like Yoriichi, Muzan was diagnosed with an illness, and it was established that he would die before the age of 20 years. However, he defied fate as he was able to survive living for so long because of the demonic blood which he gained after his experimental treatment and his shapeshifting ability, which enables him to take the form he likes. The demonic blood in him has a special power which is the power of immortality.
Although Muzan has lived for over a millennium, this does not reflect in his appearance, as he has the appearance of a tall, muscular adult man in his 20s. The reason is that he drinks a medicine that keeps him young and immune to illness. Having lived for so long, Muzan has experienced different battles and gained knowledge, which has only strengthened him.
Later on in the series and in his final battle, Muzan died due to exposure to sunlight during a battle between him and five Hashira, including Tanjiro. The demon slayers cornered Muzan in a battle that lasted an entire night before the morning sunlight would eventually kill him. It was during this battle that Muzan’s body aged by close to ten thousand years as his body absorbed the poison created by Shinobu Kocho and Tamayo. The poison turned him back into a human and also made him age by fifty years per minute.
Yoriichi’s Sword Compared to Muzan Kibutsuji’s Thigh Whips
Yoriichi Tsugikuni is a legendary swordsman whose swordsmanship remained unparalleled throughout the series. Yoriichi carries around a standard-sized and shaped Nichirin Katana that is deep black in color but changes bright red during combat. As the progenitor of Breathing Styles, he is the first person who was able to turn his Nichirin sword into a bright red color because of the demon slayer mark he was born with.
In a battle, Yoriichi can turn his black sword to bright red and use the sword to burn any demon and hinder the enhanced regeneration of demons. This is how he defeated the demon king, burning him at a cellular level and leaving scars on his body for hundreds of years. The power of the sword was attested to by Muzan himself, who noted that Yoriichi’s bright red blade was far more powerful than those of the present-generation Hashira. This is because Yoriichi’s sword could completely prevent Muzan’s near-absolute regeneration for a short time, while the modern-era Hashira can only slow the process of regeneration down a little.
The Progenitor of Sun Breathing Styles can expertly carry out the Sun Breathing styles with his sword being able to take down demons, even Muzan, effortlessly. The breathing style, which was created specifically to overpower Muzan, has 13 forms which include the following;
- Dance – A single, powerful slash swung down vertically.
- Clear Blue Sky – The body is spun vertically to create a 360° slash.
- Raging Sun – 2 horizontal slashes that can be used both offensively or defensively.
- Burning Bones, Summer Sun – A spiral-like slash used defensively.
- Setting Sun Transformation – An upended slash delivered through a backflip.
- Solar Heat Haze – A horizontal slash that creates the illusion that the attack didn’t land.
- Beneficent Radiance– A spiral-like slash used defensively.
- Sunflower Thrust – A powerful thrust attack with the blade’s tip making 1st contact.
- Dragon Sun Halo Head Dance – A series of powerful slashes that takes the form of a dragon.
- Fire Wheel – A circular sword attack performed by leaping and spinning downwards.
- Fake Rainbow – An afterimage made to evade attacks.
- Flame Dance – A vertical slash w/ a horizontal slash followed right after.
- Thirteenth Form – Continuously repeat the 12 forms successfully, reducing fatigue and increasing agility and accuracy. It’s especially effective against Muzan.
Muzan Kibutsuji, on the other hand, is incredibly proficient in the use of whip, having fought demon slayers over his millennium years of existence. In battle, Muzan takes a monstrous and battles-esque form, with his bladed and flexible whips being his major form of weapon.
With his Blood Demon Art, Muzan manipulates his body to project whips with the added advantage of manipulating its shape and controlling the movement of his whips. At first, he elongates both of his arms into whips and uses them to strike his targets. His arm whip is so powerful that even the progenitor of Breathing Styles stated that even a single lash could kill him.
During a fight outside the Infinity castle, Muzan unleashed eight whips in total, with four on each thigh, seven meters in length, to easily overwhelm the demon slayers. The arm whip proves to be much quicker, unlike his back whips, and can be projected from his body and retracted. With the arm whip, Muzan can easily attack his opponents’ blind spots making it difficult for the opponent to defend the attack. Muzan used only these thigh whips to overpower the for-marked Hahira and three Hashira-level Demon Slayers in a single attack.
Yoriichi and Muzan are incredibly proficient in using their sword and whips, respectively. While both weapons are extremely powerful and deadly if swung at the opponents, Yoriichi’s sword, as seen in the series, can cut down all of Muzan’s body parts with just a single strike.
Muzan True Form Compared to Yoriichi’s
Muzan Kibutsuji was originally a human being who suffered from a terminal illness. However, during an experimental treatment, he became the first ever demon after a doctor from the Heian period gave him a prototype medicine known as the Blue Spider Lily. Because of his blood demon art and the medicine he drinks, he was able to maintain an appearance of a man in his twenties.
Upon becoming a demon, Muzan had the ability to shapeshift, and we have seen him use this power throughout the series. During the Infinity Castle Arc in the series, Muzan reveals his true form as he takes on a more battle-estque form with jaws all over his body and numerous tentacle whips on his arms, back, and thighs to easily overpower the demon slayers.
Aside from his combat form, Muzan’s most common appearance is a man in his twenties with pale skin, known as Tsukihiko. He used this form when Tanjiro met him for the first time in the middle of the town. In Chapter 51 of the manga and Episode 23 of the animation series, he shifted into an unnamed adult woman after the Lower Moon 5, Rui was defeated.
Shortly after the death of Kyojuro Rengoku, Muzan assumed the form of a young boy adopted by a wealthy family named Toshikuni. In his struggle to survive, Muzan shapeshifted into a swollen giant demon baby form in an attempt to escape the sunlight.
Compared to Muzan, who has five different forms, Yoriichi’s true form is a tall muscular man with slightly slimmer bangs and wavier hair than his twin brother. He wears spiky black hair with red tips in a ponytail. His demon slayer mark rests on the same spot on top of his forehead as Tanjiro, but his own has a lighter color.
He wore a red haori with black hakama over an orange-colored nagagi kimono. In addition, he wore a pair of zori with red straps and white tabi socks with a Nichirin Sword at the left side of his waist. He was also adorned with Hanafuda earrings made by his mother to serve as charms when he was believed to be deaf.
Who is Muzan Kibutsuji Scared Of?
The Demon King, Muzan Kibutsuji, is scared of the progenitor of Breathing styles, Yoriichi Tsugikuni. Yoriichi has made a mark in the anime as the strongest demon slayer in existence, having caused many demons to quiver in fear, even the demon king. Muzan Kibutsuji, who rarely showed any sign of weakness throughout the series, is tremendously terrified of Yoriichi because the latter is the only person who has ever come close to killing him. This is seen in the battle between the two powerful characters.
Even 400 years after the battle took place, the sight of Yoriichi’s “Hanafuda earrings” sported on Tanjiro made Muzan tremble with fear as he recalled his near-death experience with Red-Hired swordsman who wore the Hanafuda earrings. He subsequently sent out his subordinates to kill the boy wearing Hanafuda earrings.
During the Entertainment arc, while fighting with Tanjiro on the roof, Upper Moon Six Demon Daki blood memory envisages Yoriichi after Tanjiro awakened his Demon Slayer Mark, causing Muzan’s fear to also awaken. This fear is so great that Muzan orders his servants to kill off any sun-breathing users they can find.
