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Demon Slayer fans were elated to see the Upper Moon 1 demon, Kokushibo, during the first episode of season 3. He had an incredible presence, and the sheer difference in power levels made other demons respect him out of fear. He is of great significance from a plot standpoint. However, he shares a rather odd resemblance to Tanjiro, the protagonist of the series.
If we take a closer look at the two characters, we see a red-colored mark on their foreheads. While the series hasn’t particularly mentioned why both these characters have the same mark, we can take a deeper dive into the manga to understand clues that could possibly connect the dots.
Disclaimer: This article contains massive spoilers from the manga series.
Demon Slayer: Understanding how both Tanjiro and Kokushibo got their marks
Kokushibo
Before Kokushibo turned into a demon, he was a well-known swordsman. He was also Yoriichi Tsukiguni’s twin brother. Initially, he vowed to become a Samurai, by mastering the way of the sword. However, his twin brother was a prodigy, and no amount of training led to Michikatsu surpassing his brother.
His frustration only grew multifold, but he suppressed it for a while. He had a family that he abandoned in order to become a demon hunter. It was at this stage that he derived his breathing technique from Yoriichi.
Michikatsu Tsukiguni’s breathing technique was known as Moon Breathing. Since he was Yoriichi’s twin brother and developed a breathing technique, he too developed the Demon Slayer Mark.
This mark stayed despite turning into a demon. Muzan convinced him to become a demon in order to surpass his brother, and outlive the curse of the mark. People who activated the mark would die by the age of 25.
Tanjiro
Tanjiro Kamado wasn’t born with the Demon Slayer Mark. In fact, he received a mark on his forehead when he saved his brother from a kettle filled with boiling water. However, we see his mark get bigger and it also starts to resemble the mark that Yoriichi had.
We finally see Tanjiro develop his Demon Slayer Mark during his fight against Upper Moon 6 demons, Daki and Gyutaro. Therefore, the answer to the question “Why do Kokushibo and Tanjiro have the same mark?”, is that both these characters developed their Demon Slayer Marks after training for years.
Demon Slayer Mark and the protagonist’s destiny
Most shonen manga and anime series have a way of either prophesizing or hinting that the protagonist is destined for greatness. An example of this phenomenon can be seen in the second season of the series. In this case, Daki was a demon who also inherited Muzan's memories. There was a mild emphasis on Yoriichi's mark, which resembled the mark on Tanjiro's forehead.
Straight away, fans either assumed that he was related to that swordsman. However, the manga goes on to prove that the two are not related. But fans have already realized that Tanjiro will be playing a massive role in defeating Muzan. As expected, we see the young boy master the Breath of the Sun, and he plays an important role in defeating Kibutsuji Muzan.
Stay tuned for more anime and manga updates as 2023 progresses.
