Tanjiro's father is more important than Demon Slayer fans think

Tanjuro Kamado is a well-known character in Demon Slayer, and fans have reasons to believe that he had the potential to become a strong swordsman. In the series, he died quite early due to an illness, and this led to Tanjiro taking over his responsibilities quite early in his life. Despite looking quite frail and weak, he was able to perform the dance for the fire God for hours on end without feeling tired.

Those who have read the manga have access to information that anime-only fans do not. Let’s take a look at Tanjuro's past and understand why he could be dubbed as one of the strongest demon hunters in Demon Slayer, aside from Yoriichi Tsukiguni.

Disclaimer: This article contains major spoilers from the manga. All external media belongs to their respective owners and Sportskeeda claims no ownership of the same.

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Was Tanjuro actually strong in the Demon Slayer series?

To understand this, we must go back to the fight that took place between Giyu, Tanjiro, and Akaza. We know that Tanjiro was able to completely outclass Akaza for a few minutes due to his access to the Selfless State and the Transparent World. It was in this flashback when fans realized that Tanjiro was able to learn this because of his father. When Tanjiro was in his Selfless State, Akaza felt like he was fighting against a plant. Tanjiro also spoke in similar terms about his father.

Akaza's description of selfless state (Image via Koyoharu Gotouge/Shueisha)

In doing so, the Demon Slayer protagonist insinuated that his father was capable of maintaining the Selfless State, which Akaza referred to as the Domain of Supremacy. Tanjiro recalled his father's composed demeanor and concludes that he never lost control of his emotions. Despite being sick, Tanjuro would perform the Hinokami Kagura from sunset to sunrise. These are nothing but the 12 forms repeated continuously until sunrise. This can be looked at as the best form of training if someone were to kill Muzan. The user practices the first ever breathing technique until the sun comes up.

In Demon Slayer, Tanjuro mentioned that he never felt tired while performing those moves. However, Tanjiro seems to have a limit when he performs the Breath of the Sun. This could serve as a form of evidence supporting the fact that Tanjuro was possibly stronger than Tanjiro. There is an interesting detail that could prove that Tanjuro accessed the Selfless State. When he was younger and tried to learn the Hinokami Kagura, he ran out of breath despite being healthy.

However, there came a point when he was able to remove all redundant movements, suggesting that he had mastered the Selfless State. Another thing that suggests that Tanjuro could have been the chosen one is the fact that he was born with a mark similar to that of Yoriichi. Tanjiro only received that mark because of the boiler incident. He also confronted a bear that was about 24 meters tall, 10 days before he died. According to the Demon Slayer protagonist, Tanjuro was able to slash it twice in the blink of an eye.

He was a man who received no formal training in combat and managed to take down a bear with a short axe. To sum things up, Tanjuro was one of the strongest characters aside from Yoriichi, given that he was able to access the Selfless State for hours on end. There is no doubt that if the series explored this character in depth, the fanbase would be able to grasp his true potential.