Demon Slayer: Is Kotetsu Dead? What Happened to Him?

The third season of Demon Slayer has finally arrived, and the new episodes are providing us with more details about Tanjirō’s adventures in the Swordsmith Village. Alongside that, the season has also introduced us to some new characters, those living in the famous Swordsmith Village. One of them is a boy named Kotetsu, who tries to protect the Yoriichi Type Zero doll from Muichiro, but later encourages Tanjirō to train with it until he discovers Yoriichi’s katana inside it. In this article, we are going to tell you what happened to Kotetsu and whether he is alive or dead in Demon Slayer.

Kotetsu survived the events. Kotetsu was in a lot of trouble during the Swordsmith Village Arc, but the young boy who helped Tanjirō managed to survive these events and did not die in Demon Slayer. Of course, he was dead at the time of the epilogue, but the epilogue was set around a century after, so this only makes sense.

The rest of this article will focus on Kotetsu and his fate in the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba series. Kotetsu was one of the most interesting additions to the Demon Slayer lore, and it only makes sense that the fans want to know what happened to this kid, so we have decided to compose this article. This article will contain some spoilers from the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba manga, so be careful how you approach it.

Kotetsu helped Tanjirō in the beginning

The second episode of the third season of Demon Slayer introduced us to a powerful “secret weapon” hidden within the forest near the Swordsmith Village. This is also when we first meet Kotetsu, as he is trying to stop Muichiro Tokito, the Mist Hashira, from using it. Kotetsu is seen as a small boy with a swordsmith’s mask who refuses to give Muichito the key to the “secret weapon” as he does not want Muichiro to break it.

The “weapon” is later introduced, a large battle doll created by Kotetsu’s ancestors and kept in shape over the years. It was a fairly large doll with six arms, each of which was equipped with a katana. It was exceptionally powerful and more powerful than an average human, which is why only the most skilled Demon Slayers used it in their training, as they were the only ones who could keep up with it. But we’re not going to talk about the doll here. What interests us further is Kotetsu.

Kotetsu, of course, failed to resist Muichiro. Even though Tanjirō intervened on his behalf, Kotetsu ended up giving Muichito the key, as Tanjirō was expressly knocked out by the Mist Hashira, who proceeded to train with Yoriichi Type Zero. Kotetsu and Tanjirō observed the training while Kotetsu told him the story of the doll, as well as his own insecurities about his skills; we also found out that he has no family, save for an uncle, and that his father died quite young and left the 10-year-old boy alone and without the proper skills to continue his father’s work.

After Muichiro partially destroys the doll and breaks one of its arms, taking one of its swords, Kotetsu is quite depressed, but Tanjirō manages to make him feel better. The two go to where the doll is and try it out; when they realize it is still working, Kotetsu makes Tanjirō train with it vigorously, leaving him without food or water for two days. Kotetsu was a good yet brutal motivator, and he did not give Tanjirō anything to eat until Tanjirō managed to hit the doll for the first time.

The young Demon Slayer got better and better. When he managed to break the doll’s head, it was revealed that the Yoriichi Type Zero Doll also contained a valuable object hidden inside it. This 300-year-old katana belonged to Yoriichi Tsugikuni. This was a major prize for Tanjirō, despite the fact that it was rusted and unusable; Kotetsu even apologized for the fact that the prize was unusable. But, soon after, Hotaru appeared and took the sword, which was full of rust, promising that he would clean it and make it into a sword that Tanjirō could use without being afraid that it would break.

Kotetsu almost died during Gyokko’s attack, but he survived

Kotetsu lingered on in the village for some time and waited for Hotaru to finish the blade, along with Kozo Kanamori. He showed exceptional bravery during Gyokko’s attack on both Hotaru and Muichiro. Namely, when Gyokko appeared and showed off his morbid human sculpture, he targeted Kotetsu and Kozo next, but Muichiro stepped in front of him to protect the two swordsmiths. Gyokko then started his fight with Muichiro, whom he managed to trap in his water prison, after which he targeted Hotaru.

Hotaru was so concentrated on repairing the blade, in fact, that he completely ignored Gyokko’s and Hantengu’s attack on the village. Gyokko pestered him all the time. He even attacked and injured him severely, but despite his mask broken, his body injured, and losing one of his eyes, Hotaru kept working on the blade until he managed to deliver it to Tanjirō. And while Kozo tried to protect Hotaru, Kotetsu showed his bravery when he went for Gyokko’s pot to free Muichiro, who was on the verge of death. It was, indeed, thanks to Kotetsu’s bravery that Muichiro managed to free himself.

Kotetsu was severely injured in the fight, but as he explained, the sword hilt Tanjirō had given him saved his life, as it decreased the impact force of the blows. As the Demon Slayers killed Hantengu and Gyokko, Kotetsu was later revealed to have survived the dreaded attack, and he continued to live on in the village. He wasn’t really present later on in the story, but we do know that he survived. He would, of course, die of old age sometime later, but that is completely natural.