As one of the strongest in the ranks of the Twelve Kizuki,Upper Rank Four Hantenguis one of the main antagonists of the Swordsmith Village Arc in Koyoharu Gotouge’sDemon Slayer. His Blood Demon Art, which is one of the more complex blood magic techniques showcased in theDemon Slayerseries, allows him to manifest clones of himself that embody his emotions, significantly increasing the variety of his offensive arsenal while making him all the more formidable as an opponent. Any Demon Slayer charged with fighting Hantengu will not just have to contend with him, but rather, four or five different adversaries, each boasting power on the level of an Upper Rank. Hantengu can also merge some of his clones to create an even more powerful form, or create even more clones in scenarios where he is fighting large numbers of opponents, attesting to the versatility of his fighting style.
Confronting Hantengu is never a straight fight, as his opponents will have to ward off his many clones, while also attempting to seek out and defeat his main body. This is one of the main reasons why he holds such a high rank among the Upper Moons, who are the most powerful lieutenants servingMuzan Kibutsuji, the Demon King. Hantengu’s abilities are also rooted in some of the elemental powers associated with the Breathing Styles used by the Demon Slayer Corps. Furthermore, the clones can always gang up and compensate for any disadvantages they may have when facing a strong opponent, while exploiting any weaknesses they may find. This explains why Hantengu is so highly regarded by Muzan and his peers, despite how frail and cowardly his main body may appear at first glance.
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What Is Hantegu’s Blood Demon Art?
Hantengu’sBlood Demon Art is rooted in emotional manipulation, where the various emotions that arise from his psyche are manifested as younger clones of his main body. Beginning with this base form, which is the manifestation of fear, Hantengu creates new clones each time his throat is cut, with the respective emotion they embody represented by a kanji character on their tongues. Each of these clones can manifest new clones when they are beheaded, although it is said that they are at their most powerful when four of them are present. Finally, the clones are virtually immortal as long as Hantengu’s main body is safe, as not even beheading is enough to finish them off. However, cutting off their tongues has been shown to hamper their regeneration — a fact that Tanjiro took advantage of during his fight against Hantengu.
The emotions in question embodied by the clones include anger, pleasure, sorrow, joy, hatred, and resentment, with the kanji for “fear” etched on to the tongue of his main body. Each clone resembles a younger version of Hantengu, and they are named Sekido (Anger), Karaku (Pleasure), Aizetsu (Sorrow), Urogi (Joy), Zohakuten (Hatred), and Urami (Resentment). The personalities of the first four clones and their names are all derived from “Kidoairaku” — a Yojijukugo or Japanese four-character idiom which means “the range of human emotions.” All the clones are capable of fending off high level Demon Slayers, with Zohakuten in particular able to go up against the likes ofthe Love Hashira Mitsuri Kanroji, and hold the upper hand in the battle for much of its duration. Mitsuri even had to awaken her Demon Slayer Mark in order to fight Zohakuten on an equal footing, and still struggled against the sheer magnitude of his power. This makes Hantengu’s Blood Demon Art one of the most difficult abilities to combat, and it would be practically impossible for any one Demon Slayer to withstand, even if they are the most powerful among the ranks of the Hashira.
How Do Hantengu’s Clones Channel His Power?
Sekido, the first of Hantengu’s clones, uses a Khakkhara formed by manipulating his own flesh. By striking said staff against the ground or any other surface, he is able togenerate powerful pulses of electricity. These pulses are extremely potent, able to paralyze strong opponents as soon as they are activated, or even force them to drop down from the sky if they are airborne. Furthermore, Sekido’s attacks can span across broad areas and subdue multiple targets at once, and pass through virtually any barrier, with the only exception being Hantengu’s own flesh. Sekido, as the manifestation of Hantengu’s anger, is the most irritable, assertive, and dominant of the clones, and he is also the one who forcibly consumes the other three to create Zohakuten.
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Next, Karaku, as the manifestation of Hantengu’s pleasure, prefers to toy with his opponents and generally has a laid back approach to everything, refusing to take his fights seriously. His Blood Demon Art, makes use of a maple leaf shaped Uchiwa. He uses the fan to generate overwhelming gusts of wind which can create craters and level entire buildings, which makes it extremely difficult to contend against, as seen when he used it to blow awaythe Mist Hashira Muichiro Tokito. The only weakness of this ability lies in the Uchiwa itself, as anyone who is able to wring it from Karaku’s grasp can use his own power against him. Aizetsu, the third clone to emerge from Hantengu, embodies his sorrow, and as such, is very pessimistic and forlorn, always viewing his circumstances as depressing. He is also the calmest among the four, and his Blood Demon Art revolves around the use of his Yari, where each thrust of the spear releases multiple projections over long ranges.
Urogi, the last of the initial set of clones, reflects Hantengu’s joy, and treats each fight as a truly delightful experience, being the most jovial of the four. His body exhibits avian characteristics unlike the rest of the four and is quite light, with feathery wings that enable him to take flight. Urogi’s ability is toproduce strong bursts of sound wavesfrom his mouth by screaming — a technique that he can also use from other parts of his body by manifesting mouths through flesh manipulation. While his main attack is potent enough to incapacitate Tanjiro, its strength decreases when used from other parts of his body.
Hantengu’s Final Forms
When Sekido consumes the other three demons, he takes on a new form named Zohakuten. Bearing many similarities to Sekido, Zohakuten channels Hantengu’s hatred, and his personality is far more assertive and calculating than the rest. Zohakuten is also much younger than Hantengu’s other clones, andis intensely loyal to his master Muzan. His primary ability is the manipulation of the flora in his surroundings to create giant wooden dragons, by tapping the floating drums on his back. These dragons are quite massive, possessing powerful jaws that can decimate large barriers and crush opponents instantly, or even extend in length by more dragons which emerge from within their mouths.
As the combination of all four of Hantengu’s main clones, Zohakuten is also able to use the abilities of all them through his wooden dragons. The dragon heads can generate electricity, powerful gusts of wind, produce sound waves, and spear attacks from thin air. Zohakuten can also use all of these abilities without the aid of the dragon heads. He was able tosingle-handedly fend off a Hashiraand two other Demon Slayers, and a demon as strong as Nezuko, attesting to his immense strength. Finally, Urami, the personification of Hantengu’s resentment, and is identical in appearance to the main body save for his gigantic size, the expression of fury that he wears, and the kanji for “resentment” inscribed on his tongue. It is also quite likely that Urami can use the abilities of all the other clones, implying that this form might be Hantengu’s last resort when his main body is in grave danger.
