Tanjiro Kamado/Synopsis

The history and synopsis of the Demon Slayer, Tanjiro Kamado.
==History==
Tanjiro grew up on a mountain along with his younger siblings and parents as the eldest son of the Kamado family. At some point in his life, his father, Tanjuro Kamado, passed away due to his illness, which led to his siblings treating him as a father figure.
Tanjiro was very loving towards his siblings, going out of his way to care for them. When one of his brothers accidentally knocked over a kettle, he protected him and received a burn scar on his forehead as a result.
==Final Selection Arc==
During the Taisho Period, Tanjiro Kamado is living a modest but blissful life in the mountains with his family, composed of his mother and younger brothers and sisters.
Tanjiro is about to leave for the nearby town to sell charcoal, but his younger sister Hanako Kamado and brother Shigeru Kamado hold him back, begging for him to bring them along. Their mother intercepts, telling them how he wouldn't be able to carry them if they were tired. Takeo Kamado also expresses disappointment, initially hoping to cut wood with his elder brother that day. As Tanjiro starts making for the town, his sister, Nezuko Kamado, who is carrying their youngest brother, Rokuta Kamado, bids him farewell.
At the town, Tanjiro holds friendly conversation with the townsfolk, some asking for him to help them perform errands. After spending the afternoon at the town, he starts to make his way back home but is suddenly stopped by a man named Saburo. He warns him of the dangers in the mountains, specifically Demons, and offers his place for Tanjiro to stay during the night.
After arriving back home the next day, Tanjiro returns to find his entire family slaughtered by a Demon, save for his younger sister Nezuko. Tanjiro picks her up and, while attempting to carry her to the nearest doctor, discovers that she has been transformed into a Demon and is attacked by her.
While Tanjiro struggles to fend off the attack from his Demon-turned sister, Giyu Tomioka attacks the latter from behind, only for his attempt to fail as the former moves his target out of the way. Recovering quickly, the swordsman asks the youth why he protected the Demon. Tanjiro tells him it was because the creature is his sister. Looking at the maddened Nezuko, Giyu questions this statement before swiftly removing the girl from her brother's grip.
Distracted, the swordsman is attacked by Nezuko. Cursing himself, Giyu watches as the girl reaches for her brother, certain that she was going to devour him. To his surprise, she instead stands protectively in front of his vulnerable body before charging at him in rage. Giyu recalls Tanjiro's previous assertion that Nezuko wouldn't eat humans, noting that somebody a long time ago had said the same thing and had been killed regardless. He further reflects on the nature of Demons, in particular, the high amount of stamina lost during the transformation process, and what they do to alleviate the lost stamina and prevent starvation: eat humans, even those closest to them. Seeing that Nezuko was not following this example, Giyu sheathes his sword, incapacitating the unusual Demon with a barehanded blow to the neck.
While Tanjiro and Nezuko are unconscious, Giyu wraps the latter in a clean cloth and straps a bamboo muzzle-like tube across her mouth, preventing her from tasting human blood. When Tanjiro regains consciousness, the swordsman instructs him to visit Sakonji Urokodaki at Sagiri Mountain and also to not take his sister out in the sun, vanishing swiftly afterwards. Tanjiro and Nezuko dig graves to bury their family and pray for their souls in the afterlife
Later that day, Tanjiro hides Nezuko in a cave entrance in a mountain and goes to the farm to buy a broken basket and a little straw and bamboo, insisting on paying as the owner was willing to give him the materials for free. Reaching the cave entrance, Tanjiro quickly assembles a basket large enough to carry Nezuko on his back, with a little help from her shrinking abilities.
Near sunset, Tanjiro is told by a villager that to reach Sagiri Mountain, he would need to pass through a mountain where people were disappearing. Unafraid, he ignores the warning and encounters a way station with lights on, immediately smelling blood. He goes inside to check on possibly harmed travellers. Just as they enter, Tanjiro and Nezuko see a Demon feasting on three travellers he had just killed. When the Demon notices them, it feels something odd but quickly jumps on Tanjiro trying to strangle him while Nezuko replies with a kick powerful enough to rip the Demon's head off. The Demon still commands its body to attack and grows a pair of arms on its head, much to Tanjiro's shock.
Tanjiro realises the Demon pinned in front of him smells different from the one he sensed in their house. Holding his knife, he contemplates whether or not he should kill the Demon, the hand of a figure wearing a Tengu mask touches his shoulder suddenly interrupting his thoughts. The mysterious man tells him he would be unable to end the Demon's life with such a blunt weapon. Tanjiro questions the man on how to properly kill a Demon, only to be told that he would need to figure it out himself. Tanjiro is too compassionate and overthinks, accidentally letting the Demon perish by the sun's first rays. After the Demon's death, Tanjiro notices the man already giving a proper burial to the Demon's victims.
The Tengu-masked man introduces himself as Sakonji Urokodaki and asks if Tanjiro was the one Giyu spoke of in his letter, Tanjiro confirming the statement. Sakonji follows his question by scolding Tanjiro for his inability to make quick decisions, slapping him when he hesitates to reply to what he would do if his sister decided to feast upon a human. Sakonji states that Tanjiro lacks resolution, stressing that he must not allow his sister to harm another human under any circumstance, else he should kill both her and himself.
On their path, Tanjiro, while carrying Nezuko on his back, feels short-winded rapidly. Sakonji, despite appearing to be much older than him, is keeping an extremely fast pace with his steps seemingly soundless. Glimpses of Tanjiro's past strike his mind as they arrive at Sakonji's house. All worn-out, Tanjiro questions if he had passed the test, in which Sakonji replies the test would begin at that moment as the two start ascending a mountain.
While the pair scale the mountain, Tanjiro notices the thinness of the air and thick fog covering their sight. When they reach the top, Tanjiro becomes dizzy and feels weakness in his legs. Sakonji tells him to climb down to the house at the foot of the mountain by dawn, vanishing in the fog afterwards. Tanjiro, confident in his sense of smell, easily begins descending as he had memorised Sakonji's scent. However, he immediately encounters several traps, including tripwire triggering rock throwers, ramming wood trunks and covered pits. Tanjiro notices he is running out of air quickly due to the altitude of the mountain and begins focusing on his breathing. A heavily exhausted and injured Tanjiro manages to reach the house before dawn, Sakonji confirming Tanjiro passage of the test and accepting him as his student.
After a year passes, Sakonji tells Tanjiro that there is nothing left to teach him, instructing him to prove himself by working upon the basics he had been taught. He is led to a giant boulder and his master tells him that if he can split it in half with his sword, he would be permitted to go to the Final Selection. While Tanjiro hesitates, overcome with doubt, Sakonji leaves without a word, his hand in the boy's training completed.
After Tanjiro wakes up, Sakonji explains his profession as a Cultivator, as well as how to join the Demon Slayer Corps: survive the Final Selection held at Fujikasane Mountain. To prepare him for this trial, Sakonji begins to train Tanjiro in the way of the sword. Tanjiro's training consists of regimens focusing to practice different skills a Corps swordsman should have. For endurance, Tanjiro would make his way up and down the mountain on a daily basis, improving his ability to evade traps and sharpening his nose, with Sakonji slowly increasing the danger levels of the traps to the point where Tanjiro thought his teacher wanted to kill him. For swordsmanship, Sakonji starts making him perform the same endurance process as before but instead wielding a katana as a way for him to start thinking of it as part of his own body. After descending the mountain, Tanjiro stands at the foot of the mountain and swings his sword several times until he felt like his arms would fall off. Next, Tanjiro learns from Sakonji about the intricacies of the weapon and the forces behind it as he starts slashing bamboo poles to train aiming and precision. For combat practice, Tanjiro learns how to break his fall and get up quickly with his katana as he spars with an unarmed Sakonji. For breathing, Tanjiro learns the proper forms of breathing, receiving blows to the stomach from his teacher when he fails to get it right.
At some point after the training had begun, Nezuko falls into an endless slumber, deeply worrying Tanjiro. Sakonji tries calling a doctor, but he mentions that there isn't anything wrong with her. Tanjiro has the feeling that at any day he wakes up, his sister would be dead. He keeps a journal which he writes in daily to remember what he learns from Sakonji and to also serve as something Nezuko could read once she wakes up.
Tanjiro starts training by his own harder and harder for half a year, still not successful and thinking his skills weren't enough. Sabito appears and scolds Tanjiro for his whining. Tanjiro does not understand where he came from, nor did he sense his smell. The boy proceeds to attack Tanjiro with a wooden sword, which the latter defends against using the hilt of his sword, despite wielding a real sword compared to the boy's wooden sword.
A girl with a fox mask is present next to him as Tanjiro wakes up. She asks if he was alright, but he is too impressed by the fox-masked boy's combat skills to respond. The girl proceeds to assure Tanjiro that she would watch over him and help improve his techniques. She clarifies her name as Makomo and the boy's name as Sabito. Makomo spends some time pointing out the defects and correcting the unnecessary movements in Tanjiro's techniques. Tanjiro comes to know that Makomo and Sabito were not siblings and they were trained and raised by Sakonji, along with other children whom she implied had been watching over Tanjiro as well. Makomo instructs Tanjiro about the concept of the Total Concentration Breathing Technique: by expanding his lungs and bringing a lot of air to his bloodstream, his temperature would shoot up and his heartbeat would accelerate to become as strong as a Demon.
Six months had passed and Tanjiro learns with Makomo how to smell out an opening thread that goes from his blade to a spot in his opponent; once he can see this thread, a slash can be made perfectly. At some time, Tanjiro continues sparring with Sabito to improve what he had learned.
One day, a longer-haired Tanjiro faces Sabito, who held a real sword, in the simplest contest: the faster blade would win. For the first time ever, Tanjiro's blade reaches Sabito's mask and splits it in half. Sabito's face is revealed, holding a sad smile. Makomo and Sabito disappear while smiling and Tanjiro realises he had not split the mask, but rather the huge boulder.
Tanjiro is praised by Sakonji while also being told that Sakonji actually did not want him to participate in the Final Selection, lest he'd risk another one of his children being killed. Tanjiro cries as they hug and Sakonji urges him to come back alive. Sakonji cuts Tanjiro's hair and gives him a white mask resembling a fox with a sun symbol in the same place Tanjiro had his mark as a way to ward off evil. While leaving, Tanjiro tells Sakonji to give his best to Makomo and Sabito, surprising Sakonji with the fact his student knew the names of his long-deceased students.
Tanjiro arrives at Fujikasane Mountain and gathers around with the other contestants. A young boy with black hair and a young girl with white hair walk in and explain that Demons hate wisteria flowers which grow abundantly until this area, even out of season. From this point on, there would be no more wisteria, and Demons captured by the Corps roamed free. Their trial is very straightforward: survive for seven days. With determination, Tanjiro and the others march ahead.
Two Demons immediately start assaulting Tanjiro, but he quickly smells the opening thread while avoiding their advances and seizes the opportunity to decapitate both in a single strike. Sakonji had bestowed upon Tanjiro a special sword called the Nichirin Blade, which, at the decapitation of the Demon, would crumble its corpse, preventing it from regenerating and effectively killing it. Tanjiro smells a rotten scent when praying for the souls of the Demons he had just killed. Advancing closer to the centre of the scent, Tanjiro finds a fellow contestant running away from a giant Demon with several hands swirled over its body. The Demon tries to kill the contestant, but Tanjiro pushes himself to act, saving the boy. The Demon recognises Tanjiro as an Urokodaki student by his fox mask.
The Demon questions Tanjiro regarding current affairs to establish which period of time he was in; upon discovering 47 years had passed since his capture by the hands of Sakonji during his time in the Demon Slayer Corps in the Edo Period, the Demon becomes furious. The contestant states that no Demon there should be that old. However, the Demon replies that not only had he survived for so long, he had also killed 50 people in his life, including 13 students of Sakonji, referring to Sabito and Makomo as notably strong victims and implying Tanjiro would be the 14th. Tanjiro recalls Sakonji teaching him that the strength level of a Demon is proportional to the number of humans it had eaten. Tanjiro notes his sense of smell had developed to the point where he can detect the strength level of a Demon by its decaying scent, explaining the rotten smell felt before.
As the Demon starts describing how it killed both Sabito and Makomo, Tanjiro starts breathing heavily. In an angry response, he charges at the Demon, slicing several of his arms, but is hit by a hook punch on his rib cage and thrown in the nearby tree, hitting his head and fainting. Tanjiro hears a call from one of his deceased brothers while unconscious, regaining consciousness in the nick of time and dodging the Demon's onslaught. Shortly retaliating, Tanjiro cuts more arms from the Demon but realises that no matter how many arms he cut, more would grow. Tanjiro suddenly leaps very high in response to smelling the Demon's hands underground. While in midair, the Demon tries to take advantage and strike him down, but Tanjiro uses an improvised headbutt in defence, rolling forwards and positioning himself in range of the Demon's head.
Tanjiro used Water Breathing, First Form: Water Surface Slash and decapitates the Demon. Contrary to the its belief that Tanjiro would feel disdain towards its existence, the young swordsman feels sorrow holding the hand of the Demon while its corpse crumbled, praying for God to not let it become a Demon again when it reincarnates. Tanjiro thinks to himself that all children trained under Sakonji that perished could be at ease now.
On the morning of the seventh day, Tanjiro and three other contestants are congratulated for having survived the trial. One fellow contestant seems aloof, another is still frightened about the trial he had just passed and the last one questions about when they would get their official Nichirin blades. The two children introduce the Demon Slayer uniforms and the ranking system ranging from the lowest to highest rank, in which the Final Selection survivors were of the lowest. A Kasugaigarasu is provided, which would fulfil the task of following the new Demon Hunters at all time for communication purposes, and a crow lands on Tanjiro's shoulder. Out of impatience for receiving his blade, survivor Genya Shinazugawa hits Kanata Ubuyashiki, one of the spokespersons. This prompts Tanjiro to roughly grab his arm and ask for him to calm down. The boy does not comply and Tanjiro breaks his arm in the process. Afterwards, each survivor is asked to choose an alloy for their Nichirin Blade to be forged from.
Sometime later, Tanjiro climbs down Fujikasane Mountain feeling a wave of weariness, his body in pain from the fatigue he had sustained from the trial with even the new uniform appearing too heavy for him to carry. Tanjiro is troubled by his emotions for not being able to hold a conversation with any of the Demons before killing them and thus losing the chance to ask about a way to turn a Demon back to a human.
Tanjiro, eventually arrives back at Sakonji's house. As he makes his way towards the entrance, he suddenly hears the front door being knocked down from inside. Nezuko walks out, much to Tanjiro's surprise of the awakening from her slumber. Tanjiro tries to reach her but falls to the ground out of exhaustion. Nezuko immediately picks him up and embraces him as Tanjiro starts crying out of relief. In the tenderness of the moment, Sakonji appears and embraces them both, weeping out of happiness that Tanjiro came back alive.
Fifteen days later, Tanjiro sights at the entrance of the house a man with a large woven hat with floral wind chimes hanging from it, covering his face. The man tells Tanjiro that he is called Haganezuka and he had forged the blade which would be used by Tanjiro. The young boy also introduces himself, inviting Haganezuka to come into the house and have tea, but is ignored and the swordsmith sits on the ground, unwrapping the Nichirin Blade. Haganezuka explains to Tanjiro the origins of the Nichirin Blade forging. Tanjiro still shows concern about Haganezuka being on the floor as his belongings would get muddy, but he is again ignored. Haganezuka suddenly lifts his head towards Tanjiro, revealing the Hyottoko mask he wore, similar to Sakonji's mask. Once Haganezuka realises Tanjiro had red hair and eyes, he calls him "The Child of Burning Crimson," much to Tanjiro's confusion. Inside the house, Haganezuka explains that the blade changes colour after being pulled from the scabbard, hinting that by Tanjiro's features, he might finally see a blade turning bright red. Tanjiro unsheathes the sword and the blade turned black, much to the frustration of Haganezuka. Sakonji comments on how he had never seen this shade of black and Haganezuka jumps on Tanjiro, blaming him for not receiving the chance to see a red blade. In that instant, Tanjiro's crow alerts him to go on his first mission to hunt Demons.
==First Mission Arc==
After passing the Final Selection, Tanjiro Kamado sets off to begins his first mission as a Demon Slayer. He is sent to a neighboring town to investigate the disappearances of young girls, which might involve a demon. He meets a young man named Kazumi, and encounters a the dangerous Swamp Demon responsible for the disappearances. 
==Asakusa Arc==
Tanjiro and Nezuko are sent to investigate reports of a demon in the populated city of Asakusa. While there, Tanjiro has an encounter with the infamous demon lord, Muzan Kibutsuji and his minions, the Twelve Moons, and befriends the medic demon Tamayo, and her assistant Yushiro. While trying to inquire on methods on how to transform Nezuko back to normal, the two demons Susamaru and Yahaba are seen on Tanjiro's trail. Infuriated by his encounter with a young Demon Slayer, Muzan Kibutsuji orders his two assassins to bring him the head of the hunter. Susamaru and Yahaba both loyally agree to do so for their master and begin hunting for the Demon Slayer.
Meanwhile, Yushiro takes Tanjiro and his sister to Tamayo's house, which has been cloaked by his Blindfold technique. Inside, they discuss Nezuko's condition and agree to become allies to take down Muzan and find a way to cure Demons.
Tamayo asks Tanjiro specifically to collect the blood of Demons closely related to Muzan so she can study it in hopes of developing a cure for Nezuko. Tanjiro agrees to let Tamayo test his sister's blood as well, in hopes that this cure can help all demons return to normal if they so desire it.
Yahaba uses his Blood Demon Art to track Tanjiro and Yushiro's footsteps back to Tamayo's house. He tells Susamaru to begin the assault despite the house not being in clear view. Susamaru throws one of her temari through the talisman cloaking the house, revealing Tamayo's clinic. Tamayo and everyone inside are taken by surprise when temari balls start ricocheting and tearing the entire house apart. One of the temari knocks off Yushiro's head.
Susamaru admits Yahaba was right about the hidden house while the latter finds himself confused due to sensing the Demon Slayer accompanied by several other Demons. Yahaba also tells Susamaru to attack more gracefully and with more maturity. The Temari Demon ignores her partner and lets her handballs go wild on Tamayo's clinic.
Susamaru is impressed Tanjiro stabbed the temari at a curve to soften the blow. However, the temari can still move and flies off of Tanjiro's sword. Yushiro slowly regenerates his head and tells Lady Tamayo this is all Tanjiro's fault for blowing their cover. Yushiro says he'll never forgive the Demons for hurting Lady Tamayo. This amuses Susamaru, who takes off her kimono and grows four more arms. Wielding six temari this time, she promises to play with her new friends until they die.
With his newly enlightened sight, Tanjiro is able to effectively avoid the temari. He asks Nezuko to take care of the arrow Demon hiding in the trees while he goes outside and confronts Susamaru directly. Susamaru notices his earrings and promises to take his head back to Muzan. She tosses six of her temari at him and the arrows guide them as they pursue Tanjiro around the outside of the house. He's able to dodge them using his advanced agility, but he's relying on Nezuko to disable the arrows.
Nezuko finds Yahaba hiding in the top of the trees and kicks him, directing his focus away from the temari. The arrows guiding Susamaru's balls fade while Yahaba focuses on defending himself from several of Nezuko's kicks. Without the direction of the arrows, the Temari Demon's weapons stop in their tracks, giving Tanjiro the perfect opening to counterattack. The young Demon Slayer cuts all the temari in half and even manages to cut off Susamaru's arms in one attack.
Tanjiro asks if both these Demons are closely related to Muzan, which Tamayo answers most likely. He emphatically promises to collect their blood in this fight. This amuses Susamaru, who dares him to try and extract blood from them. She refuses the Demon Slayer to displease her master. Irritated by Nezuko's filthy feet, Susamaru sends her flying with his Blood Demon Art. Susamaru instantly regenerates all of her arms and Nezuko crashes into Tanjiro. The Temari Demon tries everyone else fights the Temari Demon. Tanjiro puts his faith in Nezuko and they both rush toward their respective opponents.
Tanjiro manages to defeat and kill Yahaba, although leaving him seriously injured. Meanwhile, Nezuko, Tamayo and Yushiro begin to take on Susumaru. Before Susamaru tries to go all out on Nezuko, Tamayo confronts her and asks about her coward of a leader Muzan. She reveals the truth about Muzan's manipulation while casting an Enchanting Blood spell without her opponent noticing. Enchanting Blood: Aroma of Daylight weakens Susamaru's brain function and she's tricked into invoking Muzan's name while telling Tamayo to stop disrespecting him.
Susamaru succumbs to the curse and her body is completely crushed by the demonic arms. Tanjiro regroups with everyone in time to view the horrific scene. Yushiro rushes over to cover the human's mouth so he doesn't inhale Tamayo's spell. Tamayo studies Susamaru's remains and reveals she is not one of the Twelve Demon Moons. The Demon Moons have their number engraved on their eyeballs, which Susamaru does not. She is also far too weak, despite being powerful in her own right.
Yushiro believes their enemies got exactly what they deserved and Tamayo takes a blood sample. Then she leaves to treat Nezuko, who's been both medicated and effected by her Aroma of Daylight.
Tanjiro notices Susamaru's faint voice and is merciful enough to return the temari to her before the sun rises and turns her remains to ashes. Tanjiro realizes that Susamaru was deluded into believing she was a Demon Moon and manipulated to fight for Muzan, only to be mercilessly slaughtered by his curse. This is how the heartless Demon treats even his own subordinates.
==Tsuzumi Mansion Arc==
Tanjiro meets Zenitsu Agatsuma and they find a mysterious house. They meet Teruko and Shoichi, who claim that a monster took their older brother and went into the mansion. Zenitsu hears a tsuzumi every once in a while. Tanjiro tells the children to stay outside and protect his box but they come in to tell him it is making scratching noises. The room shifts and they get separated. Tanjiro and Teruko run into Inosuke Hashibira, who attacks them. Finally, they find Kiyoshi, Teruko and Shoichi's older brother. Kiyoshi survived the whole time because he used a drum to shift the rooms of the house. Tanjiro successfully defeats Kyogai and brings Teruko and Kiyoshi outside. Zenitsu is already there with Shoichi and is getting beat up by Inosuke because they both know there is a demon inside Tanjiro's box but Zenitsu is protecting it. Tanjiro's crow tells the three to go to rest at the Wisteria house so they say goodbye to Teruko, Shoichi and Kiyoshi and leave. 
==Natagumo Mountain Arc==
For their next mission, the three are told to go to Natagumo mountain. Zenitsu is too scared and stays behind (Though later ascends the mountain because he realized Tanjiro had brought Nezuko with him). Inosuke and Tanjiro encounter Murata, who explains that he and other demon slayers went up the mountain but suddenly started all attacking each other when they arrived. They then get attacked by the demon slayers who were controlled by threads spawned by the Mother Spider Demon. Because some of the puppets were still alive, Tanjiro and Inosuke started swinging them onto tree branches to immobilize but not kill them. The Mother Spider Demon decided they were useless and snapped their necks, killing them. Inosuke used Beast Breathing: Seventh Form - Spatial Awareness to locate the demon. The mother uses her strongest puppet to attack Tanjiro and Inosuke. The puppet is already headless so they cut it diagonally. Inosuke throws Tanjiro into the direction of the Mother Spider demon to give him a boost. Tanjiro intended to use Water Breathing: First form- Water Surface Slash but realized the demon was not trying to defend herself. So he changed it to Fifth Form - Blessed Rain after the Drought so that she will not feel any pain. As she dies, the mother demon tells Tanjiro there is on of the Twelve Kizuki on the mountain. When Tanjiro and Inosuke meet up again, they see the Daughter Spider demon. She calls for "Father", and runs away. The Father Spider demon is very strong and quickly overwhelms Inosuke and Tanjiro. The demon flings Tanjiro away and he tells Inosuke not to die. Giyu later kills the Father Spider demon. Tanjiro later encounters Rui when he lands. Rui was abusing the daughter spider demon, and Tanjiro asked him why he was doing it, as they were supposed to be allies. Rui told him that they were family, not just allies. Tanjiro denied it, saying their bonds were fake. 
Category:Synopsis