10 Most Memorable Demon Slayer Villains, Ranked (2024)

The hit shonen anime series Demon Slayer features a cast of noxious and terrifying villains for heroes like Tanjiro Kamado to face in the heat of battle. In this anime world, demons are humanity's worst enemy, supernatural monsters who shed their humanity to embrace incredible power at the cost of never walking in the sun again. It all started when Muzan Kibutsuji the demon king became a creature of the night and started siring more of his kind, creating a millennium of villainy throughout Japan.

By the year 1915, demons were still haunting the night, terrorizing humans with their hunger for flesh. So, it's up to the Demon Slayer Corps to fight back against these villains and save the day, and Tanjiro Kamado and his friends were right there on the front lines. Over time, Tanjiro met a variety of memorable and mighty demons whom Tanjiro and Demon Slayer fans will never forget. Such villains stick in viewers' minds because of their sharp dialogue, their twisted worldview, their cool powers, or their bizarre appearances, or some combination of such.

10 Gyokko Terrorized Muichiro as an Aquatic Menace

Debut Episode: "Someone's Dream"

Visually, Gyokko is a pretty memorable Demon Slayer villain by swapping his eyes and mouth, though nothing is known of his backstory and he has a generic personality, so he ended up ranking last among the anime's most memorable villains. Still, in Season 3, Gyokko was quite a standout, since Demon Slayer fans hadn't seen anything like him before.

Unlike most demons, who resembled humans with claws, fangs, or horns, Gyokko looked positively alien with his strange body and his aquatic theme as he fought Muichiro Tokito the Mist Hashira. It also became clear why Gyokko earned his rank as the Upper Moon 5, using his powerful body, vase attacks, and water to nearly kill Muichiro until the latter awakened his demon slayer mark to turn the tables.

9 Doma Loved Feasting on Women

Debut Episode: "Someone's Dream"

So far, the Demon Slayer anime has only revealed some basic details about Upper Moon 2, the playful and carefree demon known as Doma. He clashed with Akaza during the Upper Moon meeting, with his goofy personality contrasting sharply with Akza's tense tough-guy aura, though Doma didn't seem the least bit intimidated.

As manga fans have already seen, Doma is vile even by demon standards because he selectively feeds on women, who are more nutritious due to being child bearers. That helped reinforce the predatory theme of all of demon-kind, and Doma's cruelty and goofiness stood in contrast with his true emotionless self. He cannot understand emotions, but he can act like it, making him that much creepier. He was also Kanae Kocho's killer, anad Shinobu has sworn to destroy him at all costs.

8 Rui Forced Other Demons to Become His Family Members

Debut Episode: "Mount Natagumo"

Rui was the first member of the Twelve Moons/Kizuki whom the members of Tanjiro's trio of shonen heroes ever faced. Kyogai had been dangerous enough as a former Lower Moon, but Rui upped the ante in a big way as the Lower Moon 5. He also stood out by creating a false family with other demons, while most demons tended to be solitary hunters.

Rui was a cold and cruel opponent for Tanjiro, using his webbing to seriously threaten the Kamados as they fought in Mt. Natagumo's nighttime forest. It was in that desperate battle when Tanjiro first awakened the dazzling Hinokami Kagura, which went on to become his personal staple, though Tanjiro still needed Giyu's help to put down Rui for good.

7 The Timid Hantengu Split Himself Into Several Bodies

Debut Episode: "Someone's Dream"

At first, it was odd for the Upper Moon 4 to act so timid and tearful during the Upper Moon meeting, as opposed to his cruel and confident peers like Kokushibo and Gyokko. Then Demon Slayer fans learned that Hantengu had several bodies, not just one, and his first body was the embodiment of fear. His other bodies acted quite differently with other emotions, such as anger.

Hantengu terrorized the Kamados, Genya Shinazugawa, and Mitsuri Kanroji by fighting as an entire team by himself, and his individual forms could even survive mortal blows so long as the main body survived. It was a serious endeavor for Tanjiro to find, chase down, and finish off Hantengu's tiny true body as Hantengu fled, proving why he ranked so highly among all demons.

6 Akaza Only Wanted to Fight the Strongest

Debut Episode: "Akaza"

Despite his straightforward fighting style, Akaza stood out in the Demon Slayer anime as a worthy rival to the likes of Kyojuro Rengoku the Flame Hashira and Tanjiro Kamado himself. Akaza burst onto the scene right after Enmu's fall, then challenged the heroes with his deadly yet refreshingly straightforward Destructive Death fighting style.

Akaza enjoyed the challenge of fighting Hashira and even respected Kyojuro Rengoku enough to seriously offer to make him a demon. Unlike other demons, Akaza savored fighting his rivals over the years, and he was sorely disappointed when the duty-bound Kyojuro refused. Akaza became one of the most memorable and disliked Demon Slayer characters when he killed Rengoku, and now fans can't wait to see Tanjiro avenge the fallen Flame Hashira.

5 Enmu Attacked Tanjiro's Team in Their Sleep

Debut Episode: "New Mission"

Enmu ranks in the middle of Demon Slayer's most memorable villains because of his highly unusual fighting style, even by demon standards. He survived the purge of the Lower Moons thanks to hsi formidable powers and his desperate promise to slay Muzan's enemies, and then he got to work aboard the Mugen Train, attacking Tanjiro's team in true style.

Enmu's plan A was to put Tanjiro and the others to sleep aboard that train, then send his child minions into their dreams to destroy their cores with lethal effects. Fortunately, Tanjiro and the others broke out and began fighting Enmu for real, so the Lower Moon 1 tried plan B. He used his fleshy tentacles to wage war against his demon slayer foes, and at some point, the entire Mugen Train was his body, and it wasn't easy for Tanjiro and Inosuke to find and attack his neck, but they succeeded all the same.

4 Kokushibo Blurred the Line Between Swordsmen and Demons

Debut Episode: "Someone's Dream"

For the most part, there was a clear dividing line between how demons and slayers fought in Demon Slayer. Demons made use of their fangs, claws, and various blood arts to fight, while slayers always used Nichirin swords to hack off demons' heads and kill them. Then, viewers saw one villain who straddled the line, a demon who was once a slayer and even had a sword of his own.

That was Kokushibo, the fearsome Upper Moon 1 who had the best of both worlds, making him a peerless fighter under Muzan's command. He uses Moon Breathing in battle, combining a demon slayer's expert swordsmanship with a demon's supernatural strength, a fighting style that few demon slayers are prepared to face. Kokushibo is also memorable not just because of his six intense eyes, but the fact that he resembles the Demon Slayer Corps' most famous historical figure, being Yoriichi Tsugikuni's twin brother.

3 The Hand Demon Was the First Villain Tanjiro Sympathized With

Debut Episode: "Final Selection"

The hand demon was the first demon whom Tanjiro fought seriously in the anime, which helped set the tone for how Tanjiro handled his enemies. The hand demon appeared during the final selection exam, a bulky brute that used its many arms and hands to shield its neck and thus survive repeated attacks from prospective demon slayers. That demon also made a point of killing all of Sakonji Urokodaki's students, as Giyu's flashback of Sabito showed.

Tanjiro fought hard to vanquish the terrifying hand demon with Water Breathing, but the real surprise came when the hand demon was dying. Tanjiro actually sympathized with that creature, recognizing the human soul buried deep inside it. The hand demon missed his brother and wanted to hold his hand one more time, making him feel lonely as he crumbled away.

2 Daki Wanted So Badly to Be Treated Like a Princess

Debut Episode: "What Are You?"

Daki stood out in Demon Slayer for a few reasons, starting with the fact that she is the only female member of the Upper Moons. She and her brother Gyutaro shared the rank of Upper Moon 6, making them the first Upper Moons whom Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke fought seriously. Daki was in a whole other league compared to Rui and Enmu.

Daki hid in plain sight as a popular yet cruel oiran in the entertainment district, and when the time came, she blew her cover to fight Demon Slayer's heroes. Daki fought with long, sharp cloth belts, which was unlike anything the anime's other villains had done, and she even survived decapitation, crying her eyes out until Gyutaro reattached her head. Also, Daki showed more insecurities than other Upper Moons, embracing a himedere personality to feel special and run away from her tough upbringing.

1 Muzan Kibutsuji Dressed Sharply and Butchered His Own Minions

Debut Episode: "Muzan Kibutsuji"

The most memorable and distinctive villain in Demon Slayer is also the most powerful and important one: Muzan Kibutsuji himself. He was the very first demon, and he spent centuries making more of his kind to seek out the blue spider lily to restore his humanity and conquer the sun. All of Japan's suffering at the hands of demons was all because of one man's desire to cure himself.

Muzan also stuck in viewers' minds because of his cold, abusive personality, casually killing off the Lower Moons simply because he lost faith in them, and he even threatened to do the same with the Upper Moons. On a more amusing note, Muzan is memorable because he looks and dresses like a certain 1980s pop star with his hat, suit, and stylish black hair. Muzan is no singer or dancer, though -- he's a monster on a mission, and won't let any idealistic slayer get in his way.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba

TV-MA

Animation

Action

Adventure

Release Date

January 22, 2021

Cast

Natsuki Hanae , Zach Aguilar , Abby Trott , Akari Kitō , Yosh*tsugu Matsuoka

Main Genre

Animation

Seasons

4