Zenitsu vs Tanjiro: Who Would Win in Demon Slayer?

Zenitsu vs Tanjiro: Who Would Win in Demon Slayer?

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Comparing Demon Slayer characters is exceptionally fun, as witnessed by the number of articles we have here on Fiction Horizon. Now, we’ve mostly compared Demons and Demon Slayers, but in this article – we are going to compare two Demon Slayers and two protagonists at that. One of them is Zenitsu Agatsuma, while the other is Tanjiro Kamado. In this article, you are going to find out which one of the two would win in a direct clash in Demon Slayer.

Tanjiro Kamado is the stronger Demon Slayer of the two. While Zenitsu certainly is powerful and his Thunder Breathing Style is certainly effective, but Tanjiro knows two Breathing Styles (Water and Sun Breathing), and on top of that, he has acquired demonic powers at one point, which puts him a level above Zenitsu.

The rest of this article will further elaborate on the above-given answer, as we are going to compare Zenitsu Agatsuma and Tanjiro Kamado in more detail. Through several categories, you are going to see who the stronger of the two is and why our answer is like it is, i.e., why Tanjiro would ultimately be able to defeat Zenitsu in a direct fight.

Overall

Early on, Tanjiro proved to be a prodigious fighter, having a strong natural aptitude for combat, especially swordsmanship. Tanjiro has previously been shown to have superhuman characteristics, such as extraordinary senses, a heightened sense of smell, immense willpower, and high intelligence. Right after learning Water Breathing and taking the Final Selection, he was able to easily eliminate many low-level demons, even those who possessed Blood Power and were previously members of the Twelve Kizuki.

After recalling the Hinokami Kagura, he learned from his father as a child, he was able to do what many thought only a Hashira could do. What’s most impressive about Tanjiro is his unprecedented growth rate even in the midst of battle. His strength increased further as he awakened his Demon Slayer Mark. By the end of the series, while he hasn’t become the strongest Demon Slayer, there’s no denying his extraordinary strength and growth along his journey.

From the beginning, Zenitsu seems like a talented and skilled demon slayer, even though he denies it. Zenitsu’s true strength awakens when he sleeps, for then his nerves, which normally prevent him from summoning his true strength, fail. This makes him smarter, calmer, and more precise in battle. Another proof of his strength is that Zenitsu was able to reach the highest point of Hashira training.

However, his true strength seems to manifest when Zenitsu is able to fight while awake. However, it turned out that his feelings of regret and melancholy were the only things that prevented Zenitsu from killing Kaigaku. Moreover, he was able to keep up with the demon king Muzan Kibutsuji and overpower him. Nevertheless, Zenitsu’s strength at the end of the series was probably as strong as a Hashira’s.

Tanjiro’s overall skills and powers are on a very high level, a level that is much higher than Zenitsu’s. There is no denying that, and that is why we have Tanjiro win the points in this one.

Points: Tanjiro 1, Zenitsu 0

Physical powers

After his training, Tanjiro gained superhuman strength in his arms and legs and showed great use of it, jumping over the huge hand demon and leaping over buildings without effort. With his katana, he could slice through gigantic boulders and entire trees and later cut off Akaza’s head, a feat even Kyojuro Rengoku could not accomplish when severely injured. When training with Gyomei Himejima, he was tasked with lifting 3 huge logs on his back and pushing a boulder through the city.

Zenitsu has gained amazing physical strength through years of hard training. Zenitsu can hold Inosuke Hashibira with his bare hands and throw his entire body by holding onto one of his legs and swinging it. Most importantly, Zenitsu has incredible leg strength that allows him to jump extremely high and at breakneck speed to perform his thunder breathing techniques. Zenitsu is extremely fast and can move faster than the eye can see with ease. Even at the beginning of the series, when he was at his weakest, his speed allowed him to dodge the attacks of several demons.

And while we can conclude that Tanjiro is stronger than Zenitsu, Zenitsu is undoubtedly the faster character among the two. This is why we decided to distribute the points evenly in this category.

Points: Tanjiro 2, Zenitsu 1

Demon Slayer Mark

Tanjiro first awakens his mark by battling Upper Rank Six, Gyutaro, and once again against Hantengu’s split forms. Later, the mark reappears during his rematch against the Third Upper Moon, Akaza. In his marked state, Tanjiro’s strength, speed, and reaction time increase dramatically. The downside of its marked state is that Tanjiro can only enter it on rare occasions, and he can only use it for a very short time as it causes his body to become exhausted, as proven in his battles against the Higher Ranks.

Zenitsu never actually awakened his Demon Slayer Mark. His power stemmed from the techniques he had learned, including the one he had devised himself. This, though, did not make him any less powerful.

Since Tanjiro has awakened his Demon Slayer Mark, while Zenitsu has not, we have to give this point to Tanjiro.

Points: Tanjiro 3, Zenitsu 1

Swordsmanship

Tanjiro has always been a sword fighting prodigy, starting out with skills rivaling Sabito, one of Sakonji Urokodaki’s strongest students and surpassing him within months and avenging his death. Although he was ranked Mizunoto, his skill with the sword was superior to many of his elders, even to the point of defeating two lower-ranking members of the Twelve Kizuki.

His improvement in swordsmanship is also exceptional, as evidenced by the fact that he was able to take on higher rank demons months after recovering from injuries and having no experience fighting against them. With extensive training in the Swordsmith Village, his skills and prowess with the blade could match that of the Hashira.

Zenitsu is a solid swordsman from what we could gather, but his skills aren’t really on an exceptionally high level. This is due to the fact that Zenitu relies more on his Breathing Style than anything else, while other characters also focused on fighting without using their Breathing Styles. This is why Zenitsu is not at the very top when pure swordsmanship is concerned.

Since Tanjiro is obviously the more skilled one when pure swordsmanship is concerned, we have to award this point to him as well.

Points: Tanjiro 4, Zenitsu 1

Breathing Styles

Water Breathing was taught to Tanjiro by Sakonji Urokodaki, a former Water Hashira. This was Tanjiro’s initial breathing style before he switched to Hinokami Kagura, a breathing style his father taught him as a child, which he states suits him more. However, he used Water Breathing when he became extremely proficient, allowing him to take on two members of the Twelve Kizuki, Rui and Enmu.

Hinokami Kagura, also known as the Fire God Dance, was taught to Tanjiro by his father. During his near-death experience in his battle with Rui, Tanjiro woke in himself the memory of his father teaching him this style. At that time, Tanjiro’s body was not physically suited to the pressure exerted by Sun Breathing, but through many adversities, he was eventually able to master it. When Tanjiro fully witnessed the Thirteenth Form performed by Yoriichi Tsugikuni and gained consciousness, he awakened the Hinokami Kagura in the legendary Sun Breathing.

Thunder Breathing was taught to Zenitsu by the former Thunder Hashira, Jigoro Kuwajima. This technique increases his strength and agility to reach those of a demon. There are six moves, but Zenitsu could only learn the first one, being the basis for the others, but he perfected it to the point where he could defeat several powerful demons. He later creates a seventh form and defeats his eldest who has become the Upper Moon Six of the Twelve Kizuki.

Tanjiro knows two Breathing Styles, including the original and most powerful one (Sun Breathing). Zenitsu knows only one Breathing Style, and while his techniques are powerful, when the points in this category are concerned – strength lies in numbers.

Points: Tanjiro 5, Zenitsu 1

Demonic Powers

Tanjiro is later transformed into a demon by Muzan Kibutsuji, the latter killed by the slayer, hoping to convey his feelings and abilities to Tanjiro, deeming him capable of carrying out his designs and becoming the true immortal king of demons. Although Tanjiro was quickly turned back to human via Tamayo’s humanizing drug, the power he demonstrates during this brief time as a demon seems to be at least on par with that of an Upper Moon, if not Muzan himself.

Later, Yushiro said that, in terms of biological potential, Tanjiro’s potential to evolve as a demon was much higher than that of his sister, who was the first demon to develop resistance to sunlight.

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As for Zenitsu, he has absolutely no demonic abilities nor has he ever been close to attaining them.

Since Zenitsu doesn’t have any demonic powers or abilities, this last point has to go to Tanjiro.

Points: Tanjiro 6, Zenitsu 1

Zenitsu vs Tanjiro: Who would win?

And now for the most important and interesting section of our article – the analysis. Here, we are going to use what we have found out about these two characters and analyze how all these facts would (or would not) help them in a fight against each other. Let us continue.

The numbers are pretty clear on this one, but even without them, it was obvious that Tanjiro was the stronger character. Sure, Zenitsu is very powerful and was seen defeating some powerful Demons without much effort, once he actually gets to it. He has also defeated his rival, Kaigaku, in a fight, which was a big thing, but he cannot really measure up to Tanjiro.

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Tanjiro is exceptionally skilled, he is determined and he is simply a level above Zenitsu in every category. He knows more Breathing Styles, including the original Sun Breathing, he has demonic powers and he has defeated much more powerful opponents than Zenitsu, which was enough for us to award him this victory.

And while it’s a good thing that the two are friends and wouldn’t really fight against each other, if it were to come down to that, Tanjiro would come out as the winner in that case.

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