Kagaya Ubuyashiki

Kagaya Ubuyashiki (産屋敷 耀哉, Ubuyashiki Kagaya) is a major character of the 2016-2020 dark fantasy manga series Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba and its 2019 anime adaptation. 
He is the invalid but brilliant, compassionate and wise leader of the Demon Slayer Corps as well as the 95th of his family line, who's strongly dedicated to eliminating the demons. He serves as a father figure to the corps, especially to the Hashira, who serves him with immense loyalty. 
He is voiced by in Japanese and by in English (who also voiced Leon S. Kennedy in numerous Resident Evil projects, Yamato in Naruto: Shipudden, Trafalgar Water D. Law in One Piece, Levi Ackerman in Attack on Titan, Tim Drake/Robin in Batman: Arkham Knight, Vincent Valentine in Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, and Tony Stark/Iron Man in Iron Man: Rise of the Technovore.
== Appearance ==
Kagaya has light skin, shoulder-length black hair and he has a curse mark that is slowly killing him that also makes his skin look as if it was rotting spreading down his face and covering his eyes making him unable to see, by the time of his death this curse had spread all over his body making moving nearly impossible. At Kagaya's death, Muzan described him as having a smile that was similar to that of a Buddha.
He wears a plain black kimono secured with a tan-colored braided obi over a white juban. His also wears a white, calf-length haori with a unique design of gradient flames of the colors purple and salmon pink rising from the hem up to the half of the sleeves.
==Personality==
Kagaya is a kind and gentle man with a calm demeanor, who loves his subordinates as if they were his own children and is very supportive of them. However, he is still willing to go to extremes to see the monstrous Muzan Kibutsuji dead, subjecting the trainees to a potentially deadly selection process where they have to fight captive demons. Ubayashiki is deeply hurt by the deaths of his followers, memorizing the names and faces of every single Demon Slayer who dies as a means of honoring the fallen. He is also extremely wise and is noted by many characters to be wise beyond his years. 
To his own family, he was a loving husband and father. Even his marriage was arranged to Amane, he told her that she was free to call it off, but she married him anyway and she grew to love him. He also loved his own children very much, to the point he did not want his two eldest daughters to stay at the mansion when Muzan was coming, but they insisted on staying anyway. This shows the strong love the Ubayashiki family has for one another, to the point they wanted to die together. 
While a kind and compassionate man to a fault, his kindness does not extend to his mortal enemy Muzan Kibutsuji. The man has nothing but burning hatred towards the demon king for his cruelty and cursing his family bloodline. His hatred of Muzan was so strong, that he clung on to life for six months, something that surprised his doctor. In Muzan's case, he stated Kagaya's hatred and bloodlust towards him was like a den of snakes, hiding under his gentle demeanor that he presented towards the demon king. 
A genius planner, he keeps Muzan and his forces at bay through a complex hiding system to defend his strongholds and sets plans to move and crush the powerful Twelve Kizuki of the demon forces. Captivating the love of his subordinates with his natural charisma, Kagaya uses himself, his wife Amane Ubuyashiki and his two eldest daughters as bait for Muzan himself to sacrifice all their lives in an explosion and give the Demon Slayer elites a chance to kill Muzan for good.
==Abilities==
Kagaya has a very unique ability. He might not possess combat abilities, and yet, he is respected by every single Hashira in the series. His heightened sense of foresight was crucial in avoiding casualties that could have crumbled the Demon Slayer Corps. He predicted that Daki and Gyutaro’s deaths would lead to the Upper Moon losing members after a very long time. This later led to Muzan Kibutsuji instigating the final war between him and the Demon Slayer Corps.
His calming aura was extremely soothing and even Muzan commented about him as seen when Kagaya was about to die due to his curse, Muzan said that "he had a smile similar to a Buddha" (Chapter 138).
==Etymology==
* The name Kagaya means "shine, sparkle, gleam, twinkle, brilliance" (耀) (kagaya) and "" (哉) (ya).
** The Ya in "耀" is not included and is instead replaced by the kanji "哉".
* Kagaya's surname Ubuyashiki means "product/products, bear, give birth, yield, childbirth, native, property" (産) (ubu), "roof, house, shop, dealer, seller" (屋) (ya) and "spread, pave, sit, promulgate" (敷) (shiki).
==Trivia==
*Kagaya's title by the Hashira as 'Oyakata-sama' is close to the West "my lord" or "your/his lordship".
*Kagaya shares the same Japanese voice actor (Toshiyuki Morikawa) and English voice actor (Matthew Mercer) with Kikuoka Seijirou from .
**Toshiyuki also voices the main antagonist Naraku from the Inuyasha series. Ironically, in a manner, Naraku can be seen as a parallel version of Muzan Kibutsuji (both of them are manipulative and want to achieve "perfection").
*As stated by Kagaya, the disease currently ailing him is the curse inflicted on his family due to them birthing the "Original Demon". The sickness itself is a genetic disorder passed down from generation to generation in their family, it has effectively left the Ubuyashiki family with weak bodies and a lifespan of less than 30 years.
*Kagaya's father committed suicide when he was still 19, unable to bear the thought of having his troop members die over and over again. Kagaya's siblings also died, leaving him to inherit the position of family head at the age of 4 years old.
*Kagaya is a light counterpart to Muzan. In general, Kagaya and Muzan represent how a leader should and not act in a given situation.
**Kagaya is kind, wise, supportive and understanding of his Demon Slayers and is very saddened by their deaths, going so far as to view them as his of children.
**Muzan, on the other hand, is cruel, heartless, authoritarian and unforgiving, often attacking and killing his subordinates for even the smallest of reasons. 
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