Demon Slayer: Who Is Aizetsu? Meet Hantengu’s Sorrow Demon

Episode 3 of the Swordsmith Village arc of Demon Slayer has already picked the pace up as the action has now started. In that regard, the first of the two main antagonists of this arc has already appeared, and we are talking about Hantengu, who is ranked fourth among all of the Upper Moon demons. But we also saw Hantengu splitting into different personalities, as Aizetsu was one of the demons revealed in that episode. So, who is Aizetsu?

Aizetsu is one of the four clones created by Hantengu whenever he gets his head chopped off. Like all other Hantengu clones, Aizetsu represents one of his different emotions. In Aizetsu’s case, he represents Hantengu’s sorrow and can project his Yari’s attack over great distances.

The fact that Hantengu is capable of splitting himself into different versions that are all strong and powerful makes him incredibly tough to kill and handle compared to the other Upper-Rank demons that are more or less straightforward in terms of how they can be killed. Aizetsu is merely one of the Hantengu clones, making killing him harder. Now, let’s learn more about Aizetsu in Demon Slayer.

Aizetsu’s Background Explained

The action in Demon Slayer season 3 was quick to pick up, especially with how Hantengu could infiltrate the secret Swordsmith Village and immediately attack the trio of Tanjiro, Muichiro, and Nezuko. In that regard, Hantengu quickly showed what he could do after Muichiro sliced his head off. That was when he started creating clones of himself until he could create four copies of himself due to Genya’s intervention when he shot the heads off of the first two clones.

One of the clones created was Aizetsu, who appears as a tall young adult male with a somewhat lean and muscular build and shoulder-length hair. The kanji of Upper Rank and Four are engraved into his blue eyes. He also comes with two curved horns on his forehead. And because he manifests Hantengu’s sorrow, he has the kanji of sorrow etched into his tongue.

Because he manifests Hantengu’s sorrow, he carries a dejected, sour, and negative personality that can only be described as very depressing. However, despite his sour disposition in life, Aizetsu seems to be the calmest out of all of the Hantengu clones, as he is often the most collected regarding how he handles his business. Unlike the other clones, he is more direct in handling the Demon Slayers instead of wasting time or getting quickly enraged. He is also the best at analyzing the Demon Slayers and their weaknesses before attacking.

Like all of the other versions of Hantengu, Aizetsu possesses a weapon that he uses in combat. He possesses a Yari, a spear that he can use in conjunction with his Blood Demon Art to extend the spear and attack his opponents from far distances. And like all the other clones, he possesses the power of an Upper-Rank demon.

The fact that Aizetsu is a great fighter with the strength of an Upper-Rank demon makes him an incredibly difficult demon to handle, even on his own. However, when working with the other clones, he becomes a lot more difficult to handle as not even the combined efforts of three powerful Demon Slayers were enough to defeat him completely.

What Happens to Aizetsu in Demon Slayer?

While Tanjiro, Genya, and Nezuko battled Hantengu’s clones, Aizetsu was there to make things difficult as he worked well with his clones to give the Demon Slayers a hard time. Despite the efforts of the Demon Slayers, Aizetsu and the other clones were far too troublesome for them to handle until Mitsuri, the Love Hashira, arrived to assist them.

It was during the arrival of Mitsuri that Sekido absorbed Aizetsu and the other clones. Aizetsu glared at Tanjiro, who told him to stop protecting Hatengu, who manifested the demon’s fear. The combination of the four clones turned into Zohakuten, a demon with the ability to use five wooden dragon-like monsters that protected the miniature version of Hantengu, all while Tanjiro promised to cut the demon’s head off after pointing out all of the things that he did.

Tanjiro succeeded at cutting off the head of Hantengu, only for him to find out that this was not the real Hantengu. Mitsuri fought Zohakuten all on her own while the other Demon Slayers went out to look for the real Hantengu’s body to defeat the demon once and for all. The real headless body of Hantengu continued to run away, only for Tanjiro to locate it.

Hantengu’s real body was inside the headless Hantengu’s heart, as Tanjiro sliced the torso and killed the demon and Zohakuten. The death of Hantengu was what killed Aizetsu and all of the other clones that fused together to create Zohakuten. This hatred demon represented Hantengu’s hatred for everything and everyone.