All 3 Upper Rank Demons That Tanjirō Killed (Ranked)

In the world of Demon Slayer, the Twelve Kizuki were an organization made up of a group of twelve Demons who pursued the goal of finding the Blue Spider Lily. The organization was created and led by Muzan Kibutsuji; the demons that composed it were under the control of Muzan, and he was in charge of giving them a considerable portion of his blood as a reward for following his orders. They consist of the Upper Demons and Lower Demons. The Upper-Rank Demons are, of course, stronger, and they are known for being extremely powerful and notoriously difficult to kill. But they are not unkillable.

Throughout the series, the Upper Ranks have been killed by the Demon Slayers (in most cases), and some of them have been killed by Tanjirō as well, although the protagonist was not the strongest Demon Slayer. In total, two Upper Ranks have been killed by Tanjirō, while Akaza died during a fight against Tanjirō and Giyu. In this article, we will list these deaths chronologically as they happened in the series and provide details about each of them, i.e., how they happened and how Tanjirō was able to win.

1. Gyūtarō

A deformed-looking demon, he was originally the true holder of the position of Upper Moon Six, a title he shared with his sister Daki. Gyūtarō was born into poverty in the lowest class of the red-light district. His mother often beat him, and she tried to kill him because she could not afford to support him. Throughout his childhood, he was continually mocked for his appearance by the other residents of the neighborhood. When his sister Ume was born, he acquired a sense of pride and responsibility, probably also due to his mother’s mental instability and her subsequent death, which led him to raise her until her early teenage years, when they were transformed into demons.

His power, in addition to the ability to create poisoned scythes directly from his body, also consisted of the ability to completely detach his “core” from his body. This ability effectively protects him from being killed by decapitation because his main core is not present in his body, so neither he nor his sister can be killed unless both their heads are cut off simultaneously. Tengen and Tanjirō killed him in the Entertainment District, while Zenitsu and Inosuke simultaneously killed his sister; this was the only way to defeat them, as they would not die unless killed simultaneously; this is what initially made them so dangerous.

2. Hantengu

A Demon with the appearance of an old man. Despite his weak and harmless appearance, Hantengu held the position of the Upper Moon Four as he was quite powerful. He manifested his true powers and strength by dividing himself into multiple incarnations, each with a different appearance, personality, and abilities. He attacked the Swordsmith Village together with Gyokko, where Tanjirō killed him. Still, before he died, he managed to inform Muzan of Nezuko’s immunity to sunlight, making her the new target of her master.

Hantengu had the unique ability to escape death by dividing himself, which is how he survived for so long in his fight against Tanjirō. When three of his incarnations united into the Hatred Demon to save the real Hantengu, the Fear Demon, Tanjirō used the Hinokami Kagura to kill the Hatred Demon before eventually pursuing the Fear Demon, i.e., the real Hantengu. Tanjirō eventually found him, hiding inside the Hatred Demon’s heart. After slashing the dead Demon’s torso, Tanjirō also slashed the small Fear Demon, thus effectively killing Hantengu once and for all. It was one of the most challenging fights that Tanjirō had in the whole series.

3. Akaza

Occupying the position of Upper Moon Three, he is a demon who despises the weak and offers those strong enough the chance to become demons. He was once a human named Hakuji, who he stole as a child to care for his sick father before committing suicide to free his burdened son. Hakuji was adopted by a martial artist and trained by him while falling in love with the daughter of his teacher, Koyuki. But Hakuji loses his new family when they were poisoned by a rival dojo who couldn’t beat him in a fair fight, killing them before becoming a demon turned by Muzan.

During the events on the Infinity Train, Akaza faced the Flame Hashira, Rengoku, after he, along with Tanjirō, Zenitsu, Inosuke, and Nezuko. Akaza hit Rengoku in the chest with his fists, but seeing that the sun was about to rise, Akaza panicked and tried to escape from the place. However, Rengoku held him tightly by the arms to prevent the demon from escaping, but finally, at the last second, Akaza tore off both of his arms and managed to free himself and quickly escape to the nearby forest to take refuge from the sun.

However, an enraged Tanjirō throws his Katana at him as he runs away and yells at the demon not to run away like a coward, which causes Akaza to develop a certain hatred and resentment towards the young man, for all the insulting words he said to him and he quickly takes out Tanjirō’s Katana and destroys it into a thousand pieces with his fists, promising that the next time he sees him, he will kill him.

Sometime later, Akaza meets Tanjirō again, now accompanied by Tomioka. They start a fierce battle, which finally ends when Akaza recovers his old memories of himself as a human and ceases his regeneration process, choosing to die instead. Tanjirō didn’t technically kill Akaza, but he died while fighting him, so he contributed to his death significantly, which is why we have listed this one here as well, but with this disclaimer.