Obanai Iguro

Obanai Iguro (伊黒小芭内) is a major character in the 2016-2020 dark fantasy manga series Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba and its 2019 anime adaptation.
Obanai was a Demon Slayer and the Serpent Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, standing amongst the mighty Hashira. He is rather infamous in the slayer corps for his cynical behavior, often criticizing the new members of the corps being weak. He also harbors feelings for the Love Hashira Mitsuri Kanroji, and gets easily jealous on those who get too close to her.
He is voiced by Keichi Suzumura in Japanese and by Erik Scott Krimerer in English.
==Appearance==
Obanai is a 21-year-old young man of short stature and a pale complexion. He has straight-edged black hair of varying lengths, the longest reaching down to his shoulders and the shortest stopping at his cheekbones, which he wears down with two shorter strands hanging between his eyes. 
His eyes are almond-shaped and tilt upwards on the far sides, and are unusual due to Obanai possessing heterochromia—his right eye is yellow and his left eye is turquoise. He is partially blind as he can barely see out of his right eye. Obanai's mouth is also unusual in that, when he was twelve, it was cut from its corners to his ears to make it appear more like that of a snake, leaving a large wound that he keeps hidden under the bandage he wears over his lower face.
He wears a navy blue version of the standard Demon Slayer uniform, along with a black and white pinstriped haori, the hem and cuffs of which are striped lengthways rather than vertically, which covers his hands. Obanai also sports bandages in place of the leg-wraps around his calves, as well as another set of bandages that cover his mouth, and blue-strapped zori on his feet. He is also always seen with his white snake, Kaburamaru, wrapped around his shoulders.
During their battle with Muzan, Obanai and the other remaining Hashira are attacked by the Demon's flailing whips, and Obanai is left with three long scratches over his eyes, rendering him blind.
When he was a child, Obanai had waist-length hair that he wore tied down his back with a long white bandage, and a regular-looking mouth. He wore a plain white kimono.
==Personality==
Obanai is a very harsh and strict individual who shows no concern for those who do not abide the Demon Slayer conduct. His expectations for his fellow Demon Slayers are nigh-unrealistic, berating Tengen Uzui for suffering heavy wounds against the Upper Moon and telling him to "fight to the death" when Tengen insists on retiring. In reality, the Demon Slayer Corps had gone 113 years without killing an Upper Moon, later Shinobu Kocho estimates that each Upper Moon is equal to three Hashira in strength. Obanai's devotion to the future of the Demon Slayer Corps comes close to being at others' expense, such as when he tries to force Tengen to stay with the Demon Slayers even after losing an eye and arm, and when he ties up lower-ranked Demon Slayers and uses them as obstacles during Hashira Training for relatively petty reasons. He also sees the newer Demon Slayer recruits as weak and incapable of improvement, expressing surprise when Tengen informs him that Tanjiro Kamado survived the mission.
Despite his merciless personality, there are two people he cares deeply about: Kagaya Ubuyashiki and Mitsuri Kanroji. He has a crush on Mitsuri, which is implied by most of their companions save for Tanjiro and Mitsuri herself; even giving her her green socks she wears as a present. He threatens Tanjiro for growing too close to her (for his tastes), and he is the first person to meet up with her in the Dimensional Infinity Fortress. He is also heavily devoted to Kagaya, seeing the man as a father-figure. With the exception of Giyu Tomioka, he also gets along well with several of his Hashira comrades, including Sanemi Shinazugawa.
Obanai is also noted to possess an immense sense of self-loathing due to the fact that he was born to a selfish and immoral clan who would mercilessly sacrifice to a Demon for their own monetary gain. Obanai considers himself and his family to be so tainted that, in order for him to ever be worthy of Mitsuri, he would first have to die and reincarnate into a whole new being life before confessing his feelings to her.
Obanai has an incredible sense of determination, continuing the fight against Muzan even after he is completely blinded and covered in wounds. His ability to protect Giyu and Tanjiro throughout the fight, as well as thanking Tanjiro for helping him see proves that Obanai is able to drop grudges and become friendlier with people he was rude to prior.
==Abilities==
Breath of the Serpent (蛇の呼吸 Hebi no kokyū) - A breath style that focuses on twisting and bending the sword like how a serpent slithers. It bears resemblance to Mitsuri's Breath of Love Style, but his sword is much more like a typical sword with a blade that is shaped like how a snake slithers, while Mitsuri’s is long, soft, and more like a cutting whip.
*First Form: Winding Serpent Slash (壱ノ型委蛇斬り Ichi no kata: Ida giri) - Obanai rotates and releases a circular slash in front of him.
*Second Form: Venom Fangs of the Narrow Head (弐ノ型狭頭の毒牙 Ni no kata: Kyōzu no Dokuga) - Obanai goes behind his opponent at blinding speed and lops off their head.
*Third Form: Coil Choke (参ノ型塒締め San no kata: Toguro Jime) - Obanai curves his sword like a slithering snake and quickly decapitates his opponent.
*Fourth Form: Twin-Headed Reptile (肆ノ型頸蛇双生 Shi no kata: Kei jya sōsei) - Obanai leaps forward and performs a horizontal slash that slices through the target.
*Fifth Form: Slithering Serpent (伍ノ型蜿蜿長蛇 Go no kata: Enen Chōda) - Obanai using his bending sword, curves it right to left at incredible speeds. This technique is capable of decapitating multiple targets at once.
==Trivia==
*The snake around Obanai's neck is named Kaburamaru.
**Obanai considers Kaburamaru as more of a friend than a pet.
*Obanai is not very strong in terms of physical strength as he is listed "a little weak" by author Koyoharu Gotōge when asked about arm-wrestling strength between the Hashira.
*His voice actor, Kenichi Suzumura, is married to Tamayo's voice actress, Maaya Sakamoto.
*He has the Smallest Appetite among the Hashiras, who can go 3 Days without food 
==External Links==
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