Demon Slayer: Who Killed Gyokko, the Upper Moon Five, and How?
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 sad for them. But there are also exceptions, and one such exception is the protagonist of this article – Gyokko. The Upper-Rank Four of the Twelve Kizuki, Gyokko was a very peculiar Demon who stood out for his bizarre appearance and behavior. While he wasn’t as vile as Doma, he was still a villainous and powerful monster. Still, he was eventually killed, and in this article, we will tell you what happened to him and how he died.
Gyokko was killed by Muichiro the Mist Hashira. Gyokko’s main opponent in the Swordsmith Village Arc was Muichiro Tokito, and the Mist Hashira eventually killed him. After freeing himself from Gyokko’s water pot prison, Muichiro engaged Gyokko’s true form and utilized one of his techniques, Obscuring Clouds, to successfully decapitate Gyokko, much to the Upper Rank’s surprise.
The rest of this article will focus on Gyokko and his death in the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba series. Gyokko is a villain but an exceptionally important and very peculiar character. His death was not very easy and simple, so we have decided to dedicate this whole article to him and his death. This article will contain some spoilers from the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba manga, so be careful how you approach it.
Gyokko’s abilities made him a dangerous for, but Muichiro was slick enough to kill him
As the Upper-Rank Five of the Twelve Kizuki, Gyokko was an exceptionally powerful Demon that possessed powers and abilities beyond any conventional Demon, being able to rise to the level of the Hashira as seen in his confrontation with Muichiro Tokito, eventually surpassing him and coming close to killing him during the fight. Still, Muichiro managed to win after awakening his Demon Slayer Mark, despite Gyokko also appearing in his true form.
He was a formidable regenerator due to his Demon nature, and these powers tended to get stronger the more blood Muzan Kibutsuji gave him. He managed to escape Muzan’s beheading and was subsequently able to easily reattach his severed head. He was also effortlessly able to heal cuts caused by Nichirin blades in a short period of time.
Gyokko was demonstrated to have amazing speed and reflexes when, despite Muichiro Tokito utilizing his Mist Breathing techniques to impair and knock out Gyokko’s senses, he managed to dodge the attacks that would have killed him with ease. Gyokko was able to attack by shifting from one vase to another.
He did have the drawback of being unable to scroll when a vase was destroyed. It is unknown if he creates the non-sentient demon fish inside his vases or if he summons them from other locations, but he could call them from his vases.
These summons might be connected to the demonic beings Muzan has in his base. He could shed his skin in a crisis and change his appearance. Gyokko’s physical transformation made him immensely stronger. He had translucent scales all over his body that were more durable than the diamonds being worked within his pot. Gyokko could only be seen in that state by three individuals. With his fists, he transformed everything into a tiny fish.
In terms of his Blood Demon Art, Gyokko’s skills revolve around his vases, which seem to appear out of thin air in response to Gyokko’s commands and which he uses for various tasks. Gyokko can transform in a crisis and change his appearance. Gyokko gains a lot of strength after altering his appearance.
His main body is covered in translucent scales that are as hard as diamonds and that have been combined inside of its pot. Gyokko has only ever been observed in this state by three people. When he strikes something with his fists, it turns into a cute tiny fish. His power to morph is comparable to Father Spider Demon’s capacity to modify his appearance and strength. From this, we can infer that Gyokko was a truly powerful Demon and that he was quite difficult to slay, but Muichiro managed to do it during the Swordsmith Village Arc. But how?
When Gyokko appeared in the Swordsmith Village and showed off his morbid human sculpture, after having commented how he disliked the taste of swordsmith, he targeted Kotetsu and Kozo next. Still, Muichiro Tokito stepped in front of him to protect the two swordsmiths. Gyokko then started his fight with Muichiro, but he soon managed to trap him in his Water Prison Pot, after which he targeted Hotaru, who was, at the same time, working on restoring Yoriichi’s blade for Tanjirō, as he had promised after Tanjirō found the blade in the Yoriichi Type Zero doll.
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. He also managed to awaken his Demon Slayer Mark in the process.
Muichiro escaping his prison surprised Gyokko, so he unleashed his dangerous Octopus Vase Hell, but Muichiro was ready this time and quickly used his Sea of Clouds and Haze technique that, once again, surprised Gyokko so much that he simply retreated into one of his pots and reappeared in another one. Muichiro then insults the visual appearance of his pots, which angers Gyokko, after which he releases his powerful Ten Thousand Gliding Slime-Fish. Still, Muichiro can deflect them as well.
Gyokko then becomes increasingly furious and reveals his true form, which is more monstrous and demonic, also revealing that in this form, anything he punches simply turns into a fish. He is also much stronger and faster in this form, so he looks for Muichiro, who is ready for an attack. As Gyokko is looking to kill him, Muichiro simply uses his Obscuring Clouds and, to the Upper Rank’s surprise, manages to effectively decapitate him thanks to his skills and the fact that he has activated his Demon Slayer Mark.
As the Demon Slayers killed Hantengu, who was killed thanks to the combined efforts of Tanjirō, Mitsuri Kanroji, Nezuko, and Gan’ya Shinazugawa, and Gyokko, Kotetsu, who had helped Muichiro, was later revealed to have survived the dreaded attack, and he continued to live on in the village. Muichiro and Mitsuri returned to their respective homes, and the Demon Slayers left the Swordsmith Village, with Muzan losing two additional Upper Moons; he would go on to replace Hantengu with Nakime, but Gyokko was never replaced.
