Demon Slayer: Did Tanjirō Ever Use Thunder Breathing?

When one decides to talk about Demon Slayer, one usually talks about the Demon Slayers themselves or the Demons. But, the series has offered us a variety of other intriguing characters who do not belong to the two aforementioned groups. Tanjirō Kamado is, as we know, the protagonist of the Demon Slayer manga and anime. A young boy struck by tragedy, Tanjirō overcame his horrid fate and became a Demon Slayer, but not just to avenge his family – he did it to find a way to return his sister, Nezuko, to a human once again. Tanjirō is going to be the principal protagonist of this article as well, but we are going to talk about his abilities here, as we are going to tell you whether Tanjirō has ever used Thunder Breathing in the series.

Tanjirō has never used Thunder Breathing in Demon Slayer. He started off his career in the Demon Slayer Corps by using Water Breathing, taught to him by Sakonji Urokodaki, but later remembered the Hinokami Kagura dance, which was actually Yoriichi’s original Sun Breathing Style. He never used any other Breathing Style save for these two.

The rest of this article will focus on Tanjirō and his Breathing Styles in the Demon Slayer series. Since the manga is over, we actually know all the facts related to this interesting question, and we are going to tell you everything we know about it. This means that you will find out which Breathing Styles Tanjirō was able to use, how efficient he was in them, and whether he really used Thunder Breathing at any point in the series. Be careful, though, as the article is going to contain a fair amount of spoilers.

Tanjirō has only used two Breathing Styles – Water Breathing and Sun Breathing

Tanjirō is the protagonist of the Demon Slayer manga and anime and, in that aspect, breaks the usual shonen tropes that the protagonist also becomes the strongest character at one point in the story; and while he was the key to defeating Muzan and has become a powerful Demon Slayer, he never became the strongest character in the series.

But, putting that aside, we have to say that Tanjirō was, indeed, one of only a small number of Demon Slayers who were able to use two Breathing Styles (the other is Mitsuri Kanroji, who used her own Love Breathing, as well as Flame Breathing, although she never mastered the latter). Tanjirō was fairly efficient in both (although he never mastered both), which is usual, as Demon Slayers seldom master two separate styles. The styles we will talk about are Water Breathing and Sun Breathing, which is the true nature of the Hinokami Kagura dance.

Tanjirō initially learned the Water Breathing style under the tutelage of the former Water Hashira, Sakonji Urokodaki, who took care of the Kamado siblings when Tomioka asked him to do so. This was Tanjirō’s original Breathing Style until he switched to Hinokami Kagura, which he claimed suited him better and had been given to him by his father when he was a young child. However, in the area where he practiced Water Breathing, he became incredibly skilled, which enabled him to compete against Rui and Enmu, two members of the Twelve Kizuki (two Lower Ranks). He never reached Tomioka’s or Urokodaki’s level, but he was nevertheless quite skilled.

Tanjirō also practiced Hinokami Kagura, also referred to as the Dance of the Fire God. In particular, Tanjirō discovered a memory of his father teaching him this Breathing method during his near-death experience in his struggle with Rui. Tanjirō’s physique was not yet prepared to withstand the strain of the Breathing method, but after facing numerous challenges, he was able to do so.

Tanjirō awakened the Hinokami Kagura in the fabled Sun Breathing when he saw Yoriichi Tsugikuni’s twelfth form in its entirety and became conscious of it. Tanjirō combined two Breathing Styles—the initially taught Water Breathing and the awakened Hinokami Kagura—during his fight with Upper-Rank Six, Gyūtarō. This ultimately allowed him to significantly increase his speed briefly and perform attacks that combined the best elements of both Breathing Techniques. This is an extremely challenging and uncommon method, but he was successful in doing it.

Ultimately, these two are the only two Breathing Styles that Tanjirō has used in the series. He was in contact with many other Breathing Styles but never copied or tried to learn them. This is why he never really used or learned Thunder Breathing, even though he was best friends with Zenitsu.

There are only three known Thunder Breathing users

So, now that we have established that Tanjirō has never used Thunder Breathing, we are just going to tell you quickly that the anime has introduced us to only three Thunder Breathing users in the story; surely, there have been more, but the series has only named three of them. The first one is Jigorō Kuwajima, the former Thunder Hashira who also took care of Zenitsu and Kaigaku. Kuwajima was already old when we saw him, but he was a well-respected former Hashira and a very noble character at that. He was exceptionally skilled and could use numerous forms of Thunder Breathing efficiently, so he also taught it to his pupils.

The pupils we know of are Kaigaku and Zenitsu. Kaigaku was a character who lusted for power; he was mean, and when he got the chance to gain more power, he became a Demon and, soon after, the Upper-Rank Six. He was able to use several forms of Thunder Breathing before Zenitsu beheaded him. Zenitsu, on the other hand, mastered only the first form of Thunder Breathing but also managed to come up with his own form later on, which proved that despite a limited number of forms, he was still a skilled user.