There is no doubt that Demon Slayer is filled with highly skilled characters who are unparalleled in swordsmanship and combat. The Slayers are forced to be that good because of the prevalence of demons that threaten humanity. While the demons have to bank on their fighting abilities to survive the Slayers and impress their progenitor, Muzan.
One of the main aspects of combat is speed. This is a crucial trait without which one cannot last long on the battlefield. Members of the Demon Slayer Corps are quite fast since they can keep up with some of the strongest demons in the series. At the same time, the Upper Moon demons are strong enough to go toe-to-toe with the Slayers and even slay them.
Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers from the manga.
Ranking Demon Slayer characters based on speed
10) Zenitsu
This might be a little difficult to digest, but Zenitsu is not one of the fastest characters in Demon Slayer. He certainly has speed and was able to keep up with Daki during the Entertainment District arc.
While some might say that he could one-shot the Upper Moon demon Kaigaku, the demon was nowhere near the level of an Upper Moon since he was not used to his powers. Even when Zenitsu used God Speed in the Entertainment District arc, Inosuke could keep up with him and help him deliver the final blow to Daki.
9) Rengoku
Rengoku was single-handedly keeping up with the Upper Moon 3, Akaza, while protecting all the passengers on the train and didn’t let his comrades get hurt in the process as well. Akaza might not have gone all out from the beginning, but he used his Blood Demon Art, which is extremely powerful and is capable of killing anyone that gets in the way. For Rengoku to keep up with an Upper Moon 3 requires a level of speed that not many characters have.
8) Giyu
Giyu is certainly fast, and the series showcased his speed during the fight against Akaza in the Sunrise Countdown arc. He and Tanjiro were pitted against the Upper Moon 3, who pushed the demon hunters to awaken their Demon Slayer Marks.
Akaza could have defeated the two if he had decided to regenerate his head, but he chose not to because of Koyuki. Giyu was extremely quick to dodge Akaza’s attacks and was able to inflict damage on him as well.
7) Akaza/Sanemi
Both Akaza and Sanemi are ridiculously strong characters who are fast as well. Both these characters share the same rank because of their performances against Giyu and Kokushibo, respectively.
Kokushibo is leagues above Doma, who in turn is leagues above Akaza. Given that Sanemi could barely keep up with Kokushibo, one can say that he is just as fast as Akaza, if not faster.
6) Obanai/Gyomei
Obanai is criminally underrated, and his performance against Muzan gives us a sense of how fast he is. Without any vision, he was able to dodge the Demon King’s attacks and land a few attacks with the help of his snake.
Gyomei, too, was able to dodge some of his attacks but was clearly struggling against him. Obanai’s movements would have been sharper if he had perfect vision, and one might make a solid argument in favor of Obanai being slightly faster than Shinobu as well.
5) Shinobu
Shinobu is considered one of the fastest demon hunters in the series, and she had to be to compensate for her lack of strength to decapitate a demon’s head. Her fighting style was such that she needed to stab the demons with poison in vital spots, and for her to do so, she required speed and accuracy.
Doma appreciated her, and he mentioned that she was one of the fastest members of the Demon Slayer Corps that he came across.
4) Doma
Doma is a ridiculously strong demon with a Blood Demon Art that caused many problems for Kanao and Inosuke. Doma’s speed is almost imperceptible, but there are a few who can keep up with his movement.
While Doma seemed to have been defeated easily, this was only possible because Shinobu’s sacrifice helped the demon hunters in this fight since it weakened him quite severely. The fact that he could overwhelm Shinobu shows just how fast and strong he is as a demon.
3) Kokushibo
Kokushibo is one of the strongest demons and it took the collective efforts of Gyomei, Sanemi, Muichiro, and Genya to defeat him. He was able to dodge the attacks initiated by the members of the Demon Slayer Corps and managed to kill two of them in the fight. Genya and Muichiro died during this fight.
This shows just how fast and strong Kokushibo was.
2) Muzan
Undoubtedly, Muzan is the fastest and strongest demon in Demon Slayer. There is a reason why he is called the Demon King since he’s the most skilled of them all and was the first-ever demon to come into existence.
It required the combined efforts of every member of the Demon Slayer Corps to defeat him, and there were a lot of casualties in the process as well. No one at the time of the last fight could match his speed or strength.
1) Yoriichi
The legendary swordsman was the finest demon hunter the series had ever seen. He was the absolute best when it came to swordsmanship and was so talented that he was the first person to invent breathing techniques.
Yoriichi was so strong that he nearly succeeded in killing Muzan. He wasn’t able to do so because Muzan had split his body into hundreds of pieces, which allowed him to escape and regenerate after a while. For Yoriichi to overwhelm Muzan, he had to be both faster and stronger than the Demon King.
Note: The article reflects the writer's own views.