Demon Slayer: Does Kotetsu Reveal His Face Under the Mask?

Demon Slayer season 3 follows the Swordsmith Village Arc, which took Tanjiro Kamado to the village of the swordsmiths to have a new sword forged by Hotaru Haganezuka, who refused to forge a new sword for him because he always destroyed his swords. In that regard, Tanjiro meets a young villager named Kotetsu, who hides his face in the same mask the other swordsmith villagers wear. So, does Kotetsu ever reveal his face?

Kotetsu never officially removed his mask to reveal his face, even in the manga. However, an extra page in the manga actually revealed Kotetsu’s face, even though he never removed it in canon. It is said that his face is too similar to his mask and that he doesn’t need to wear a mask at all.

Like all villagers, Kotetsu’s face must be concealed due to special reasons involving the secrecy of the Swordsmith Village. In that regard, it is understandable why not even a young boy like Kotetsu can reveal his face to others, especially those who don’t live in the village. With that said, let’s look at whether or not Kotetsu ever reveals his face.

What Does Kotetsu Look Like?

The third season of Demon Slayer allowed us to see the storyline regarding Tanjiro’s quest to destroy Muzan progressing and developing. In fact, after he successfully helped defeat one of the Upper Moon demons in season 2, Tanjiro went on a journey to the swordsmith village because he needed to have a new sword forged. After all, he is notorious for losing or breaking his swords, as he just broke the new one he received in season 2.

Hotaru Haganezuka refused to forge Tanjiro a new sword, which is why he needed to go to the village, a secret settlement that only those in the village could locate. In that regard, he needed to wear a blindfold on his way to the village. But when he got to the village safely, he discovered Haganezuka hiding from him. And a bored Tanjiro went on a quest to find a secret weapon that is said to be hidden in the village’s forests.

That was when he met a ten-year-old village boy named Kotetsu, who wore the same mask the other swordsmith villagers wore. Kotetsu was trying to protect the key to a mechanical doll from the Mist Hashira Muichiro Tokito. But Tokito overpowered Kotetsu and Tanjiro to acquire the key and damage the doll while training with it.

Because Kotetsu was angry at Tokito for damaging the doll that had been passed on in his family for nearly 300 years, he decided to allow Tanjiro to train with it. Of course, he and Tanjiro became good friends despite his harsh way of training Tanjiro. And as Kotetsu was training him, fans were starting to wonder what he looked like under that mask.

In the manga, Kotetsu never revealed his face. However, an extra page in the manga allowed fans to see his appearance under that mask. So, even if he never removed his mask during the storyline, there is a sketch of his appearance.

It is said that Kotetsu’s face is very similar to the clown mask that the swordsmith villagers wear, that they often tease him that he doesn’t even need to wear a mask at all. As such, he has the same big round eyes and rosy cheeks that the clown mask comes with. Of course, he doesn’t pucker up his lips as the mask does.

Why Do Swordsmiths Hide Their Faces?

So, while we do know what Kotetsu looks like under his mask, some fans wonder why swordsmiths and the villagers living in the swordsmith village all wear masks. And this is all related to the secretive nature of the swordsmith and the village they live in.

The swordsmiths are arguably the most important part of demon slaying because they are the only ones capable of forging Nichirin swords, the only weapons capable of killing demons. In fact, the importance of the swordsmiths is one of the reasons why the Upper Moon demons attempted to attack and destroy the village in the Swordsmith Village Arc of the storyline.

We also learned in episode 1 of season 3 that the swordsmiths are so secretive that they keep the location of their village hidden from even the members of the Demon Slayer Corps. In episode 1, Tanjiro needed to wear a blindfold while riding the back or a person whose identity was also concealed. Meanwhile, he was transferred from one person to another so that none of these people would know where the village was hidden.

In that regard, it goes without saying that the swordsmith villagers are so secretive that not even the demon slayers are supposed to know where to find them. And this is also the reason why they need to wear their masks.

Kotetsu, Haganezuka, and the other villagers living in the swordsmith village must keep their identities concealed by wearing masks so that no one would know who they are, what they look like, or where to find them. After all, if someone were to discover what a certain swordsmith villager looks like, this would only make it easier for the demons to find them and even the swordsmith village.

Swordsmiths don’t know how to fight, so their secrecy is their best weapon against the demons. So, if the demons don’t know where to find them, they already have a natural defense against them. And because the swordsmiths and their swords are the most important components of the quest to kill all of the demons, they need to make sure that their identities are concealed and kept secrets.