‘Demon Slayer’: What Is Daki’s & Gyutaro’s Human Backstory & Who Turned Them into Demons?

The Demons of Demon Slayer are a truly fascinating lot. They come in all shapes and sizes, and while they are evil in their demonic form, their backstories and their lives while they were human usually contain a tragic note that makes you feel sorry for them. The original Upper-Rank Six of the Twelve Kizuki, the siblings Daki and Gyutaro, confirm this, actually, and they are a prime example of the tragedies that shaped the demons. Back in the Entertainment District Arc, we’ve gotten a glimpse of Daki’s and Gyutaro’s backstory, which is also going to be the topic of this article. In it, we are going to tell you all about Daki’s and Gyutaro’s backstories and will also reveal who turned them into Demons.

Daki, whose real name was Ume, and Gyutaro were born in the Rashomongasi, the Entertainment District’s poorest part. Their mother was a mentally unstable prostitute and abusive to both of them, which is why the deformed Gyutaro had to protect his beautiful sister, who was later educated to become an oiran. Their story took a turn for the worse when Ume stabbed a samurai, who later hurt her, but ended up being killed by Gyutaro, whom he had also wounded. While on the brink of death, Doma found them and turned them into demons.

The remainder of this article will give you a detailed overview of Daki’s and Gyutaro’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.

Daki and Gyutaro led a miserable existence until they were turned into demons by Doma

When Daki and Gyutaro are concerned, we’re going back to the Entertainment District Arc, where they were the primary antagonists. We all know what Daki and Gyutaro looked like as Demons, but what was their background story? As we’ve said, Demons usually have some great backstories that make them look like tragic characters instead of just monsters, and Daki and Gyutaro are not an exception here (there are some exceptions, but Daki and Gyutaro are definitely not among them).

This is why we actually wanted to revisit that story, as it is quite important to know what happened to fully understand the two of them as individual characters but also as a unit.

So, Daki’s and Gyutaro’s story begins a century before we first meet them; they survived a century because they were turned into demons, which, in turn, increased their lifespan. But, while the time is not aligned with the present, the location is. Almost. Namely, the siblings were originally born in the Rashomongasi district, the poorest and worst part of the Entertainment District. Do you see the similarity? They did move up later.

So, while Gyutaro was born as the older brother, Daki was born as the younger sister, but her original name wasn’t actually Daki. The girl was born as Ume, and she was a beautiful, white-haired girl with blue eyes; Gyutaro was, on the other hand, equally repulsing even as a human, which is why he was rejected even in a place such as the Rashomongasi, which was likewise repulsive. So, just like their environment, the lives of the siblings were equally horrible.

Their mother was a low-end prostitute who practically took anyone in as a client; their father or fathers were never mentioned, so it is assumed that they were some of their mother’s clients.

Now, aside from being a prostitute, their mother was also mentally ill, and she constantly abused both of them, but she was especially jealous of Ume because she was beautiful. This is why Gyutaro, who loved his sister very much, decided to protect her, even from their own mother; when their mother tried to cut Ume’s hair off, Gyutaro became furious and made a scene, after which the mother distanced herself from the children. She would eventually die from syphilis, the same disease that young Ume was named after.

Left alone, the two siblings had to find a way to fend for themselves. Gyutaro then noticed how Ume’s beauty attracted attention and how, when she smiled, people would give them gifts. This was when he started to hope that Ume’s beauty would help them escape poverty if the girl was ultimately recruited by a high-class brothel, which happened when Ume entered her teens.

She was recruited by a brothel and started training to become an oiran, which allowed the siblings to move to a better place; at the same time, Gyutaro started working as a payment and debt collector for the brothels. Seeing how he was both scary and strong, it made sense that he was given such a job.

So, what happened next? Things went as smoothly as they could for a while, but then Ume did something. Namely, one of her clients, a samurai, insulted her brother, and in a fit of protective rage, she took one of her pins and stabbed the samurai in the eye, half-blinding him. But, as he was still stronger than a child, he attacked her, bound her, burned her, and left her to die in a ditch. Not the best way to go, we agree.

Not long after that, Gyutaro returned home from his job and found Ume in a near-death state, after which he started panicking. The samurai and the master of the brothel soon arrived and found the distraught sibling and wanted to kill him to remove any witnesses.

But, being skilled and strong, Gyutaro countered and, as an act of revenge, killed them first, although he himself was not left without injuries. He then took the charred body of his dying sister and started aimlessly wandering around the district. It was winter at the time.

While he was wandering, while holding his sister, he encountered a strange man who with white hair who was seemingly eating human body parts. The “man” in question was none other than Doma, the Upper-Rank Two of the Twelve Kizuki and one of the most powerful demons in the organization. He actually saw some potential in the two of them, and he offered Gyutaro to give them some of Muzan’s blood and, thus, turn them into demons.

Since the two of them were in a tight spot, Gyutaro accepted, and thus – Daki and Gyutaro were born. They continued to operate within the Entertainment District and soon became so powerful that they were promoted to the Upper-Rank Six of the Twelve Kizuki.

The two of them were ultimately defeated by the protagonists with the help of Tengen Uzui, the Sound Hashira, in one of the more epic fights in the series, after being beheaded at the same time by two groups of Demon Slayers.