Demon Slayer: Who Is Kibutsuji Muzan? Everything You Need to Know (2024)

Demon Slayer is, without a doubt, one of the best anime that have come out in recent memory. It has amazing characters, some of the best animation in all of anime, and an incredibly gripping story that's given life by the talented voice actors working on the project.

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The biggest villain of the series, Muzan Kibutsuji, is a figure clad in mystery. Fans have a lot of questions about where he came from, his motivations, and the source of his powers.

History

Born with a rare illness in the Heian era (900 AC), Muzan was a noble with a weak physique. He tried everything he could in order to gain a semblance of a normal life, trying every cure he could. However, nothing worked.

His latest doctor, an infuriating practitioner who was seemingly taking advantage of him, ended up dead by his hands because of his frustration with the lack of progress and the inevitability of his demise. Soon after killing the mysterious man, Muzan discovered that the medicine that the man had given him actually worked. Not only that, it actually gave him incredible superhuman abilities, essentially granting him superpowers. It's implied that the source of this power was a Blue Spider Lily, a rare blue variant of the Spider Lily flower.

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After gaining his powers and discovering his vulnerability against the sun, Muzan went on a quest to overcome his weakness and become the perfect being in the world in order to achieve true immortality. In order to find ways to overcome the sun, he tries to find the Blue Spider Lily again but is unable to find it, no matter how hard he looks. He also starts converting other humans into demons, hoping one of them will have a special constitution allowing them to resist the sun.

During the early stages of his demon hood, Muzan married multiple women, though his personality eventually drove all of them to suicide. He also encounters the Demon Slayer Corps in this era, headed by the Ubayashiki Family.

It is later revealed that the Ubayashiki family actually shares the same ancestors as Muzan. They have been cursed because of Muzan's existence, and any child born into that family dies by 30 at the very latest. This is what motivates them to dedicate everything they can to killing Muzan.

Personality

Because of the fact that he has lived for nearly a thousand years, Muzan has some interesting character traits.

• Egotistical and Narcissistic: It's almost natural that Muzan is extremely self-centered after his incredible life span. He considers himself to be the epitome of perfection and despises anyone who gets in his way out of principle. While he is fascinated by science and likes to mingle with humans in high society, it doesn't change the fact that he considers every living creature beneath him. He doesn't even consider the Twelve Kizuki worth his time.
• Cruel and Uncaring: Muzan is a textbook sociopath. Because of his extreme narcissism, he doesn't care about anyone or anything other than himself. His personality revolves around him, and he is unable to sympathize with anyone or put himself in their shoes. He kills with impunity and is the incarnation of evil in the Demon Slayer world.
• Afraid of Death: Despite living for a thousand years, or perhaps because of it, Muzan is extremely afraid of dying. He dedicates most of his time to trying to find a way to overcome his only weakness, the sun. When encountering any difficulties or troublesome hurdles, he does his best to run away rather than stay and fight.

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• Petty and Imposing: Unbefitting his power, Muzan is incredibly petty. He kills people for looking at him the wrong way and is deeply insecure about his unnatural and unhealthy-looking appearance.
• Cunning and Manipulative: As someone who's been alive for multiple centuries and seen the passing of time, it's no surprise that Muzan is incredibly cunning and manipulative. He deceives people as naturally as he breathes. In the series, he appeared in the form of an adult human female, as well as a small child, blending into society with little to no issue.
• Studious: Interestingly enough, Muzan is a very active academic. He keeps up with recent innovations in technology and is quite interested in chemistry. Of course, he only uses this as a means to an end, the end being true immortality, but that doesn't change his studious nature. He is also seen reading books quite often, even owning a small library as a human child.

Powers

• Demonic Blood: The most powerful ability that Muzan possesses, and the core of most of his other abilities, is his demonic blood.
  • Telepathy: Muzan can telepathically communicate with the demons under his control.
  • Memory Access: Muzan can talk to the consciousness of any demon that he absorbs. If needed, he can forcibly access their memories and look into the past without any real effort.
  • Kibutsuji's Curse: Any demon who utters Muzan's last name, Kibutsuji (Hey, look, I'm not a demon!), automatically dies. This is not a mediated response and doesn't consider the environment or context before activating. Even if the demon saying his last name didn't do it with any bad intentions, the curse would activate, removing their regeneration and causing Muzan's cells to multiply uncontrollably, leading to the Demon's death. This caused Susamaru's death.
  • Blood Memory Transfer: Demons that have an appreciable amount of Muzan's blood in their bodies will have a portion of his memories as well. This is why many Kizuki get deja vu when they see Tanjiro use Sun Breathing.
  • Consciousness Transfer: Muzan can send his consciousness into another demon's mind if the situation requires it, though he can't take direct control of their body.
  • Demon Power Nullification: As the progenitor of all demons, Muzan can easily nullify their abilities and kill them without any issue. Other than Nichirin swords and sunlight, he is the only person capable of hurting demons, which is why they fear and revere him so much.

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• Blood Demon Art: Biokinesis: Like other demons, Muzan can manipulate his flesh as he desires. However, this ability is much more powerful for him than it is for the other demons. Muzan is able to fashion entire outfits from nothing but his flesh. Furthermore, he can even manipulate his body to change its shape, size, and appearance. This ability is why he is able to blend into human society.
  • Flesh Whips: One of the most prominent abilities that Muzan employs is the Flesh Whips. He can extend parts of his body out, creating whips that he uses to combat his enemies. In the final battle, Muzan successfully holds off multiple Hashira with nothing except these whips, even after he's considerably weakened by the special Ani-Kibutsuji drug.
  • Flesh Puppets: Muzan can also separate parts of himself that act autonomously. These flesh puppets are utilized by him in the final battle. He creates thousands of them to try and escape the clutches of the Demon Slayer Corps. These pieces can reattach with him later on.
  • Extra Organs: Muzan was able to gain complete control of his body. He managed to create a grand total of seven hearts and five brains all over his body. Because of this unique constitution, he is able to escape the otherwise fatal effects of decapitation and other ways of killing demons. It is implied that these extra organs are why he is so much stronger than normal humans, meaning that destroying many of them at once can reduce his power level to some extent.
• Superhuman Physique: Like other demons. Muzan has a superhuman physique that grants him powers normal people can only dream about. He has manipulated his body to optimize his organs, even creating multiple hearts and brains.
  • Regeneration: Muzan has near-infinite regeneration. Even a sliver of his being can regenerate the whole body, which is the basis of a lot of his techniques and powers. This ability is why Muzan is able to create more demons. Unlike other demons, Muzan doesn't have to worry about death by Nichirin swords because of his incredible regeneration. He can recover even if his head is severed, even by the bright red Nichirin Swords.
  • Superhuman Perception and Intellect: Muzan is unnaturally intelligent and has a very enhanced sense of perception. He can detect even the smallest changes in his environment and act accordingly.
  • Incredible Strength and Speed: He is so fast that Tanjiro is initially unable to follow his actions at all. Even multiple Hashira combined couldn't keep up with the force and speed of his attacks.

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