Tanjiro Kamado (竈門かまど炭たん治じ郎ろう Kamado Tanjirō?) is the main protagonist of the manga and anime, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.

          He is a Kanoe ranked Demon Slayer and a member of the Demon Killing Corps. He is hunting down the Demon who is responsible for the murder of his family and his sister's transformation into one.

Appearance

Tanjiro has burgundy hair combed back and dark eyes with a birthmark on the top left of his forehead, which looks like a scar. He wears hanafuda earrings with a sun symbol and a checkered black and green patterned haori over the standard Demon Hunter uniform.

He additionally carries a wooden box on his back, where his sister sleeps during the day.

Personality

Tanjiro is kind by nature and has been described by others as having very gentle eyes. He has a great deal of determination and will not give up once he has a goal to achieve; an example is finding a cure for Nezuko. Even though he is relatively strong on his own, he isn't opposed to asking others for help when he needs it. He is very protective of his friends and even more so of his younger sister. His most important attribute is his ability to empathize with anyone, even demons. This often makes him hesitate when killing demons. However, this trait also could make some Demons to redeem themselves moments before death, albeit rarely. However, despite his empathetic nature, Tanjiro does have a limit to his tolerance and has a distaste for rudeness, getting annoyed by the constant whining made by Zenitsu, and angered by Inosuke's barbaric actions.

For the years of his service and amount of experience he faced, he became more calculating and strict in his decision. His courage to protect the weak committed him to face his enemy with respect and dignity whether good or evil demons.

Abilities and Powers

Natural Abilities

           Enhanced Sense of Smell: Tanjiro has a heightened sense of smell even before he underwent sword training. It is strong enough for him to smell the 'line of interval'-- the slight pause in an enemy's movement-- and distinguish between species, as well as their approximate position. After training, he can smell emotions as well as track objects, humans and demons over long distances.

          Fighting ability: This trait of Tanjiro's was pointed out by Giyuu Tomioka during their first encounter in which Tanjiro skillfully laid out a plan to attack Giyu by surprise by charging towards him not showing he was unarmed and plan to have brought down Giyu with an axe he had thrown in the air beforehand.

          Enhanced strength: After training, Tanjiro gained immense strength and speed and has demonstrated a great use of it (i.e., Jumping over twice his height during the Final Selection arc when fighting the Demon who killed Urokodaki Sakonji's disciples. His forehead is sturdy as well, although this ultimately become one of the running gags in the series.

Swordsmanship

         Breath of Water (水みずの呼こ吸きゅう Mizu no kokyū?): Taught to him by Sakonji Urokodaki, the Water Pillar before Giyu. The user can increase the amount of oxygen in one's blood by controlling his breathing pattern. This increases his strength and agility to equal a demon's.[1] Tanjiro has now learned to do full focus breaths at all times, further increasing his base strength, speed, and stamina. With this enhanced strength and ability to find the 'line of interval,' Tanjiro can utilize ten different moves:

       Tanjiro using First Style: Water Surface Slice to kill Hand Demon.

• First Style: Water Surface Slice (壱いちノ型かた 水みな面も斬ぎり Ichi no kata: Minamo giri?): A single concentrated slash.[2]

• Second Style: Water Wheel (弐にノ型かた 水みず車ぐるま Ni no kata: Mizu guruma?): Tanjiro jumps and spins his body while slashing.[3]

  • Second Style Modified: Horizontal Water Wheel (弐にノ型かた・改かい 横よこ水みず車ぐるま Ni no kata kai: Yoko mizu guruma?)[4] -

• Third Style: Dance of the Rapid Current (参さんノ型かた 流りゅう流りゅう舞まい San no kata: Ryūryū mai?): Tanjiro swings his blade at his opponent in a way that mimics the movement of waves on the surface of water.[5]

• Fourth Style: Striking Tide (肆しノ型かた 打うち潮しお Shi no kata: Uchishio?) - The swordsman makes multiple consecutive slashes, while twisting their body in a flowing fashion similar to a harsh tide.[6]

• Fifth Style: The Merciful Rain of a Dry Day/Blessed Rain After the Drought (伍ごノ型かた 干かん天てんの慈じ雨う Go no kata: Kanten no jiu?): A "sword strike of kindness" that beheads the target with little to no pain. Used when the enemy surrenders him/herself willingly.[7][8]

• Sixth Style: Twisting Whirpool (陸ろくノ型かた ねじれ渦うず Roku no kata: Nejire uzu?): Tanjiro fiercely twists his upper and lower body, which creates a whirlpool that cuts anything caught in it.[9]

  • Sixth Style: Twisting Whirpool - Current (陸ろくノ型かた ねじれ渦うず・流りゅう流りゅう Roku no kata: Nejire uzu - ryūryū?)[10]

• Seventh Style: Piercing Rain Drop - A fast and accurate stab. The fastest Breath of Water technique.

  • Seventh Style: Piercing Rain Drop - Curve (漆しちノ型かた 雫しずく波は紋もん突づき・曲きょく Shichi no kata: Shizuku hamon tsuki - kyoku?)[11] -

• Eight Style: Waterfall Jar (捌はちノ型かた 滝たき壷つぼ Hachi no kata: Takitsubo?): Tanjiro cuts the target vertically.[12]

• Ninth Style: Water Splash (玖くノ型かた 水すい流りゅう飛沫しぶき Ku no kata: Suiryū shibuki?): Minimizes the landing time and surface needed when landing, allowing the user to move without limits. Ideal when fighting in a place with no solid foothold.[13]

  • Ninth Style: Water Splash - Chaos (玖くノ型かた 水すい流りゅう飛沫しぶき・乱らん Ku no kata: Suiryū shibuki - ran?)

• Tenth Style: The Dragon of Change (拾じゅうノ型かた 生せい生せい流る転てん Jū no kata: Seisei ruten?): A constant attack that increases in power with each rotation, creating a strong slash.[14]

        Dance of the Fire God (ヒノカミ神楽かぐら Hinokami Kagura?): Taught by Tanjiro's father. A breathing technique that increases the user's strength and endurance.

The Mark of the Sun state: He entered this form at chapter 81 and later at chapter 152.                 This state increases his strength, speed and reaction time drastically, as he becomes easily capable of dodging and countering Daki's attacks, an Upper Moon Six, without Daki being able to injure him at all. He is able to easily dodge Akaza's end-style chaotic blue metal afterglow, which Giyu's Eleven Style has failed to counter and his speed becomes fast enough to cut off Akaza's, Head Upper Moon Three, without the latter being able to react. The drawback is that he can only enter in rare occasions and can only use it for a very short period of time and it causes exhaustion towards his body, as shown in his battle against Akaza and Daki.

• Waltz (円えん舞ぶ Enbu?)[15] - A single concentrated slash.

• Blue Heaven (碧へき羅らの天てん Heki-ra no ten?)[16] - A similar attack to "Water Wheel" in which Tanjiro spins his body to create a 360-degree slash.

• Scorching Crimson Mirror (烈れつ日じつ紅こう鏡きょう Retsujitsu kōkyō?)[17] - Tanjiro unleashes two horizontal slashes that defends him from attacks from the front or the side.

• Flame Waltz (炎えん舞ぶ Enbu?)[18] - A two-combo strike which starts with a vertical slash and then a horizontal one right after.

• Parhelion Rainbow (幻げん日にち虹こう Gen'nichi kō?)[19] - Tanjiro uses this technique to evade techniques using high-speed twists and rotations. It works most effectively on enemies with good vision, as they will attack an afterimage of him and not his actual body.

• Fire Chariot (火か車しゃ Kasha?)[20] - Tanjiro uses this technique in quick succession with Parhelion Rainbow and attacks the enemy while they are distracted.

• Burning Sun (灼しゃっ骨こつ炎えん陽よう Shyakkotsu en'yō?)[21] - A circular slash that defends from imminent frontal attacks.

• Shining Sun Stab (陽よう華か突とつ Yōkatotsu?)[22] - A single thrust attack with the sharp blade.

• Solar Halo Dragon Dance (日にち暈うんの龍りゅう 頭かぶり舞まい Nichiun no Ryū Kaburimai?)[23] - A combination attack utilizing Nezuko's Blood Burst, Tanjiro's sword adopts a red colour and is coated in flames. While in this state, he circles the enemy in a pattern resembling a flaming dragon and slashes them multiple times, ultimately beheading them.

• Waltz Flash (円えん舞ぶ一いっ閃せん Enbu Issen?)[24] - Tanjiro utilizes Zenitsu Agatsuma's Thunderclap Flash and combines it with his Flame Waltz by pumping air through his entire body, focusing it on the legs, and releasing it all, while ending with a flaming slash. The technique was capable of out-speeding Genya Shinazugawa and Nezuko Kamado, as well as the fleeing Hantengu, although it is still slower than Zenitsu's Thunderclap Flash.

• Soaring Flame Haze (飛ひ輪りん陽かげ炎ろう Hirin Kagerō?)[25]

• The Setting Sun (斜しゃ陽よう転てん身しん Shayō Tenshin?)[26]

Ability to See-Through: Like his father, he finally gained the ability to foresee the opponent's attack while showing no battle spirit and sense of blood-lust; gaining immunity from anyone who can sense these.

Trivia

• Kamado, without the second kanji (竈, かまど) is a traditional Japanese wood or charcoal-fueled cook stove/furnace.

  • Do, the second kanji of his family name, (門, ど) means door.

  • Tan (炭, たん) means charcoal.

  • Ji (治, じ) can mean 'to heal'.

  • Rou (郎, ろう) is a common Japanese name suffix for boys. It also means male.

• Tanjiro was ranked in 1st place as of the first character popularity poll with 6,742 votes.

Quotes

(To Giyu Tomioka) "To dispel the regrets of those killed, to stop anymore victims from appearing, I will relentlessly wield my blade against the Demons, and that's a fact. But I will not trample on the pains of being a Demon. Nor on those who regret their own actions. Because demons were humans. Because they were humans like me." [27] (To Sanemi Shinazugawa) "If you can't differentiate the good Demons from the bad ones, you should quit being a Pillar!!"[28]