I hate Tanjiro's role in the Demon Slayer ending, and no, it's not why you think

Demon Slayer is considered one of the most popular series currently due to its extensive narrative and plethora of unique characters. While each character is unique in the series, fans are more drawn towards the main protagonist, Tanjiro Kamado, mostly because of how polished and intriguing his narrative is in the series.

While his role and plot throughout the series have been intriguing and very vibrant towards the narrative, his role during the ending of the Demon Slayer manga raises some questions. As the manga ended in 2020, Tanjiro's role in the end was a bit confusing, and here's why.

Disclaimer: This article reflects the author's opinions and contains spoilers from the Demon Slayer manga.

---

Demon King Tanjiro's Blood Demon Art was very lacking at the end of Demon Slayer

At the end of the Demon Slayer manga, during chapter 201 titled The King of Demons, when Muzan was dying, he decided to pour all his blood into Tanjiro, who was on the verge of death, entrusting that he would conquer the sunlight, something Muzan was never able to achieve, and become the new Demon King.

Eventually, while everyone assumes Tanjiro is dead, he is resurrected as the Demon King after receiving Muzan's blood. While he was initially shown burning in the sun, he gradually gained resistance to it and immediately attacked Giyu and the others. Just as Muzan wanted, Tanjiro became the Demon King Tanjiro who resisted the sun.

While no one was able to restrain Tanjiro, Nezuko, who was turned back into a human at that point, ran and hugged him while Tanjiro sank his nails into her back, this is also the first instance where the readers were introduced to his Blood Demon Art, which was identical to the whip attacks Muzan used. Moments later, Tanjiro conjured an energy ball with his mouth.

However, before Tanjiro could shoot the ball, Nezuko blocked it with her hand. While this attack looked similar to Muzan's Blood Demon Art's concussion blasts, it was different upon closer inspection, with previous Demon Slayer manga panels where Tanjiro used the same attack. A conclusion can be drawn that while Tanjiro inherited Muzan's power, the energy blast was his own.

As it is common knowledge that demons gain unique abilities after they are turned, which vary from individual to individual, Tanjiro also gained his unique attack, i.e., the energy blast, while inheriting most of Muzan's Blood Demon Art abilities, like the whip. While this was an opportunity from the series to explore the Demon King Tanjiro's Blood Demon Art, it did not expand much.

An intriguing thought would have been if Nezuko, when she was a demon, was able to resist her urges to eat humans by sleeping, then Tanjiro would have been able to absorb the sunlight to control his urges. Furthermore, as Tanjiro was a Sun Breathing user, he could also have been able to absorb the sunlight and use it as a form of attack; maybe the energy blast was also something similar.

The Demon King Tanjiro would also have turned out to be the ultimate demon. Since the biggest enemy the demons had was Sun Breathing, and Tanjiro being a user of Sun Breathing, he would be completely resistant to that weakness, leaving nothing that could physically defeat him.

---

Final thoughts

Tanjiro becoming a demon is probably one of the biggest twists of the Demon Slayer series, and also opened an intriguing line of narrative that could have been explored upon. While the manga is concluded, it is yet to be seen if the anime series adapts something similar to what has been discussed in this article, to present a fresh perspective.

---