Is Gyomei Himejima the strongest Demon Slayer ever?

With hype for Demon Slayer Season 2 rising, fans have recently been wondering who the strongest Demon Slayer ever was. Unsurprisingly, many are pointing towards the blind Stone Hashira Gyomei Himejima as the top candidate.

Strength can be measured in a myriad of ways depending on who you ask and the context of the situation. Especially in a series like Demon Slayer, strength can be anything from its most literal definition to much more symbolic and intangible definitions.

As far as pure, raw physical strength goes, Gyomei Himejima is easily the strongest Demon Slayer to ever exist. When combined with the constant commentary of the declining quality of Demon Slayers, viewers can easily point towards Himejima as the strongest.

---

The evidence for Gyomei Himejima being the strongest Demon Slayer to have ever appeared

Gyomei Himejima’s endurance

The attack Gyomei takes from Kokushibo in Demon Slayer Chapter 171. (Image via Shueisha Shonen Jump app)

Unsurprisingly, Himejima possesses an immense amount of endurance and strength. Combined with his evident will to fight, this makes for a nearly unstoppable beast of a man.

In Demon Slayer Chapter 169, viewers see Gyomei take an attack from Kokushibo, the Upper Rank One Kizuki. Gyomei is visibly completely unaffected by this attack, even with the deep slash it leaves across Gyomei’s face.

In Demon Slayer Chapter 171 viewers see Gyomei take another attack from Kokushibo, this one being even more deadly than the last. Yet Gyomei completely ignores his pain, and his mind instead focuses on assessment of the situation.

The endurance needed to be able to take that hit and not even think about it in the immediate aftermath is unthinkable. Combined with the sheer willpower one must have to block out or even ignore the pain, this feat is a huge testament to Gyomei’s case for being the strongest.

---

Gyomei Himejima’s physical strength

Himejima isn’t just hard to take down though, as Stone Hashira uses several impressive and deadly physical attacks in the latter third of the series.

Demon Slayer Chapter 134 shows Himejima moving a boulder over twice his size with ease. While the perspective here may be a little warped, this feat of strength is still incredibly impressive nonetheless. Tanjiro also says he can move boulders bigger than that, further emphasizing Gyomei’s strength.

Himejima recounts his experience of killing his first demon and the tragic aftermath which followed. (Image via Shueisha Shonen Jump app)

Chapter 134 also alerts the audience that Himejime will conduct a predetermined series of repeated actions or phrases to heighten his concentration and strength. This further increases the ceiling of his potential, again highlighting the immense strength Gyomei possesses.

Demon Slayer Chapter 135 also gives viewers insight into Gyomei’s backstory. Here viewers learn that before training to be a Demon Slayer and being much less muscular than his current form, he had punched clean through a demon’s head.

Gyomei himself states that he was weak at the time, and yet he was still able to beat a demon in a physical fist fight with no tools.

The evidence for Gyomei’s physical strength being the peak of the mountain is overwhelming. Kokushibo is regarded as one of the strongest Demon Slayers' demons of all time, yet Gyomei goes blow for blow with him in their battle.

---

Final thoughts on Gyomei Himejima's strength

There can be no doubt that Gyomei Himejima is the strongest Demon Slayer character ever. His endurance and physical strength are overwhelming, with the latter being shown to be inherent to Gyomei.

Combining Gyomei’s endurance and natural affinity for physical strength, further enhanced with Demon Slayer training, makes it clear that no other character has ever been as strong as him.

Had author Koyoharu Goutouge not wanted this to be the case, it would’ve been fairly simple to have some elder Demon Slayer compare Gyomei to another.

Yet viewers get no such comparison. As a result, fans are left with no choice but to identify Gyomei Himejima as the strongest Demon Slayer ever.