Demon Slayer: Is Yoriichi Dead? Here’s What Happened in the Final Battle Against Michikatsu!

When one decides to talk about Demon Slayer, one usually talks about the demon slayers themselves or the demons, despite the fact the series has offered us a variety of other intriguing characters. In light of that fact, we are, of course, going to talk about one of the more important characters in the series, namely, Yoriichi Tsugikuni, the first and most powerful Demon Slayer in history. Yoriichi is responsible for creating the Sun Breathing Style, with which he almost killed Muzan, but the rest of his story is also impressive. In this article, you are going to find out whether Yoriichi is dead and what happened to him in the series.

Yoriichi Tsugikuni is, indeed, dead in Demon Slayer. Although he was, as a bearer of the Demon Slayer Mark, supposed to die at the age of 25, he nevertheless lived well into his 80s, although he had gone blind by the time he died. He faced his older brother, Michikatsu, then known as Kokushibo, the Upper-Rank One, and almost killed him, but died of old age while standing on his feet, before he could land the final blow.

The remainder of this article will give you a detailed overview of Yoriichi Tsugikuni’s story, as it happened on the pages of the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba manga. You already know what happened and how it happened, so we will just bring you the details so you know the whole context. Be careful, though, as the article will contain many spoilers, so if you don’t know all the details, be careful how you approach the text.

Yoriichi and Michikatsu had a difficult relationship

Twins were regarded as a particularly bad omen during the Sengoku period when Yoriichi and his twin brother Michikatsu were born into the Tsugikuni clan. Yoriichi’s father threatened to kill him because of a peculiar birthmark on his son’s forehead, but their mother, Akeno, became enraged and detained him. It was ultimately decided that Yoriichi would be sent to a temple at the age of ten to become a monk. Despite this, Michikatsu was heavily envious of his brother, and the two had a very difficult relationship.

Yoriichi left the house after their mother passed away and didn’t stop. In the mountains, Yoriichi had been running nonstop for a day and a night without showing any signs of tiredness when he came upon Uta, a young woman his own age whose entire family had perished. Yoriichi made the decision to reside with her, and after ten years, Uta and Yoriichi were wed. The first spouse later became pregnant.

Yoriichi left the house to summon a midwife just before the expected arrival time, assuring his wife that he would return before sundown. Yoriichi decided to return home and make a midwife appointment the next day after helping an elderly man along the route and losing so much time. When he eventually returned home, he discovered that Uta and the unborn child had been murdered by a demon by the time the sun had set. Yoriichi was so horrified by the catastrophe that he kept her body in his arms for ten days straight before finally burying them at a Demon Slayer’s urging. As a result, Yoriichi decided to reclaim his sword and begin his training to slay demons.

Yoriichi soon came into contact with Muzan Kibutsuji, the Slayers’ mortal foe, and ancestral demon, and made the decision to murder him. Yoriichi discovered that Muzan had five moving brains and seven moving hearts inside of him. When he realized his good fortune, he united all of his forms into a single attack, cutting them all off and thoroughly outclassing Muzan. Muzan would ultimately succeed in escaping, but the conflict left her deeply traumatized and terrified of Yoriichi. Yoriichi would eventually emerge as the Demon Slayer with the greatest strength. He would impart his knowledge to Tanjiro Kamado’s ancestor and friend, Sumiyoshi.

Yoriichi Tsugikuni considered Sumiyoshi to be his only true friend. After his banishment, Yoriichi went to Sumiyoshi’s to enjoy their company and because he needed someone to talk to. Yoriichi got unhappy as he reflected on the misfortunes that had befallen him and expressed remorse for having left Muzan alive when they first met, as well as the countless deaths that would occur.

Suyako, Sumiyoshi’s wife, would have Yoriichi dance the Hinokami Kagura for the Kamado family when he was visiting with them. He did it delicately, moving so that he was more often compared to a Shinto than a person. Sumiyoshi carefully observed these performances and memorized them. Yoriichi handed Sumiyoshi his Hanafuda earrings on his final visit, although Sumiyoshi said he could visit them whenever he wanted to; still, Sumiyoshi and Suyako immediately knew that was their final encounter. Sumiyoshi screamed out to Yoriichi as he walked away, asking him to stop calling himself a useless man, but Yoriichi just left.

Yoriichi died before being able to kill his brother

Banished and alone, Yoriichi lived out the rest of his life in solitude. Although he was supposed to die at the age of 25 due to being a bearer of the Demon Slayer Mark, Yoriichi lived well into his 80s. Although the Corps disowned him, he continued to work as an independent Demon Slayer, keeping in touch with his friends among the Hashira; the Corps, in the meantime, turned a blind eye to his activities. On the other hand, Muzan would decimate the Corps slowly, killing every known Sun Breathing user, save for Yoriichi (he, of course, had no clue about Sumiyoshi and the Hinokami Kagura), which was a big problem. Still, Yoriichi did not meddle.

On the day of his death, Yoriichi Tsugikuni, now well into his 80s, blind and old, went to face his demon-turned-brother Michikatsu, now known as Kokushibo. Kokushibo was disgusted at the sight of his brother but also furious because Yoriichi, whom he had always been envious of, managed to cheat death without any enhancements, living well past the limit of a Demon Slayer Mark bearer, while he had to become a Demon to do so.

Yoriichi approached his brother to kill him, knowing he could not locate Muzan. Although Kokushibo was quite sure that he could kill his brother because of his new powers (whereas Yoriichi was old), Yoriichi managed to slice Kokushbo’s neck before the Demon even drew his blade, showing that he was still in top form. Unfortunately, while Kokushibo waited for the finishing blow (at that moment, he was certain he would die), Yoriichi stopped moving. He died out of old age, standing on his two feet, before being able to kill his brother; Kokushibo would later admit that he would have died, certainly, had his brother not died at that very moment.

Yoriichi thus died an undefeated warrior. He defeated Muzan and almost killed him, and he did the same to Kokushibo; they were the strongest Demons in the series. And then he died. And that fact enraged Kokushibo, who charged at his brother’s corpse and started hitting it until he saw that Yoriichi kept a small wooden flute Michikatsu had given him when they were children, which actually broke him. He stopped mutilating the corpse, took the flute, and disappeared.