Giyu Tomioka

* Full Body
* Key Visual

**Giyu Tomioka** (冨岡 義勇, *Tomioka Giyū*?) is is a major supporting character of *Kimetsu no Yaiba Reishoki: Meiji Stories* and *Kimetsu no Yaiba Reishoki*. He is a Demon Slayer of the Demon Slayer Corps and the Water Hashira (水柱, *Mizu Bashira*?) of his generation during the Taisho Era.

## Etymology

Giyu's surname contains the Kun'yomi reading of the kanji for "wealth" (冨, *tomi*?) and "knoll" (岡, *oka*?). His first name contains the Go-on'yomi reading for "righteousness, justice" (義, *gi*?) and "bravery, heroism"勇 (勇, *yū*?).

## Appearance

Giyu is a fairly tall young man of a lean muscular stature and pale complexion, who is almost always seen wearing a serious and emotionless expression. He has unruly black hair of uneven lengths that sticks up in tufts around his head, which he wears tied back in a low messy ponytail at the base of his neck. His bangs fall over his eyes in an uneven fringe. His eyes are sharp and moderately large, their irises a deep sapphire that fades to a lighter blue and their pupils a bluish-black, and are framed by thin eyebrows.

Giyu wears a dark cyan-tinted version of the Meiji-Taisho era Demon Slayer uniform with buttoned white leg-wrapped kyahan and a pair of white zōri with dark blue straps and tabi socks underneath being the same cyan color as his uniform. Over this, Giyu wears a haori that's split down the middle into two different patterns: the right one a solid dark red, and the left one geometrically patterned with rhombi of green, orange, and yellow. These haori were later noted to have belonged to his late older sister, Tsutako Tomioka, and his deceased friend Sabito.

During his battle with Muzan Kibutsuji, he loses his right arm. After the fight, Giyu cuts his hair down to shoulder length, now wearing it loose rather than tied into a ponytail.

While Giyu was training under Sakonji Urokodaki, he wore a red haori which would later make up his current one as well as black tucked-in tattsuke-hakama pants and his current white leg-wrapped kyahan and pair of white zōri with dark blue straps. In addition, he also wears the warding masks that are signature to Sakonji's pupils. For Giyu, it is a white fox mask with light blue eyes.

After the disbandment of the Demon Slayer Corps in 1917 in **Tanjiro's Status Report**, Giyu was wearing a light blue kimono tucked into dark-colored hakama pants.

Giyu before Tsutako's death.Giyu when training under Sakonji Urokodaki.Giyu with his Demon Slayer Mark.Giyu's new haircut.Giyu's appearance after the Demon Slayer Corps is disbanded.
## Personality

    Giyu always wears a stoic and unbothered expression on his face. However, he has a reserved personality and a very strong sense of justice with no tolerance towards those who don't know their own limitations and throw away their lives. Despite letting Nezuko Kamado live due to Tanjiro Kamado's persistence, he shows zero hesitation when killing other demons and has no respect or mercy towards them like most Demon Slayers. Even so, Giyu violated the Demon Slayer Corps' code of conduct without hesitation to protect Nezuko during Shinobu's attempt to kill her. This implies that he doesn't completely despise demons as some other Hashira do, and is willing to make an exception for a demon by letting them live if they don't kill and eat humans. This shows that he is more pragmatic in dealing with demons rather letting his hatred cloud his judgement.

Giyu appears to have a complex with what others think of him and is shocked when Shinobu Kocho claims he is hated by many. Besides that however, he doesn't seem to be hurt by Shinobu's other pokes, even ignoring her. Despite that, they are in fact friends with a good amount of history together. The same case goes with his friendship with the Stellar Hashira, Tatsuji Fujita, as his friendship with the Hashira is reminiscent of his friendship with Sabito. He is a man of very few words and has trouble interacting with others, so he usually keeps himself at a distance. He even goes out of his way to tell Akaza that he hates talking, and wants to keep his name to himself, as he thinks names are not meant to be shared, especially to demons.

    Beneath his seemingly unemotional and aloof attitude, Giyu suffers from an inferiority complex which he developed since his participation in Final Selection. It gets severe to the point where he contemplates abandoning his position as the Water Hashira until Tanjiro helps him realize that instead of acting on his survivor's guilt, he should cherish his life and live on for the people who sacrificed their lives for him, another thing that Tatsuo also warned him and advised him on as well. This feeling of survivor's guilt strikes again when he believes Tanjiro has died after the fight against Muzan. Giyu, while he sheds tears, admits how he is always the one who is saved.

Despite his stoic nature, Giyu is shown to be protective and caring towards those he is close to and considers his friends. This is first shown when he puts his life on the line for Tanjiro and Nezuko by vowing to commit seppuku if the latter were ever to eat a human. Giyu has been shown to lose his composure and usual stoic demeanor when those he cares about are in danger, as seen when he is greatly angered by Akaza's attempt to kill Tanjiro and visibly shocked when he hears the news of Shinobu's death. This is further shown in the fact that he still wears half of Sabito, his late best friend's, and his older sister's haori as a memento of them. However, Giyu appears to be particular in who he shows emotions for, as he doesn't appear to react at all when informed of the passing of Genya Shinazugawa, and Muichiro Tokito.

However, Giyu will not let his personal relationships get in the way of his duty. When Tanjiro begins his assault as a demon, Giyu is the first to announce that they need to take him down, despite his brotherly-type relationship with Tanjiro. Following the death of Muzan Kibutsuji and the eradication of demons for good, it is clear that Giyu has been able to embrace his happier side, shown by his smiles towards the Kamado siblings and even Sanemi and Tatsuo (Although he always enjoyed Tatsuo's company even during their active services as Hashira), which shows how much their combative relationship has slowly developed into one of mutual respect.

## Abilities

### Overall Abilities

As a Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, Giyu is a very powerful and skilled combatant. From the beginning, Giyu showed how much he outclassed Tanjiro and his friends, being able to effortlessly capture Nezuko from him and later knocked him unconscious in a single blow. Later, he was able to easily defeat Father in his transformed state and Rui, Lower Rank Five, something Tanjiro and Inosuke respectively failed to accomplish. He also fought equally against fellow Hashira Sanemi Shinazugawa in a sparring match. Giyu was also shown easily beating dozens of demons equal to that of the Lower Ranks of the Twelve Kizuki. On top of his incredible skills as a Demon Slayer, Giyu is also a very capable teammate, able to grasp their intentions and work in tandem with it.

    During his fight against Upper Rank Three Akaza, he was able to hold on his own for some time and similarly with Kyojuro, Akaza is amazed by Giyu's skills to the point that he offers to transform the Hashira into demon, something Akaza only asks of the most worthy of his opponents. When he first awakened his mark, Giyu was able to momentarily overpower the Upper Rank demon as well, repeatedly cutting his arms, slicing his body and even cutting his neck. Akaza even states that he has not fought a Water Hashira as skilled as Giyu in fifty years. When he encountered the Demon King Muzan Kibutsuji, Giyu was able to hold him off for a considerable amount of time along with Tanjiro and could synchronize his movements with Tatsuji Fujita's Qi-enhanced physical abilities plus his Star Breathing and later played a pivotal role in his defeat. Moreover, after Tanjiro became a demon, Giyu was the first to act and fend him off, defending Zenitsu and a Kakushi while fighting evenly with him, long enough for him to be turned back to a human.

    **Indomitable Will:** Giyu possesses an undaunted will and indomitable will, never giving up despite suffering numerous injuries against Akaza, one of the strongest demons in existence and later on the Demon King, Muzan. Even when losing his arm, he still remained steadfast and managed to play an important role in defeating Muzan. When Tanjiro was turned into a demon, Giyu was the first to act in order to protect the survivors, and even when it seemed that Tanjiro was unable to be killed by any means, he was not phased and continued to fight.

### Demon Slayer Abilities

**Demon Slayer Mark:** During his battle against Akaza, Giyu awakens his Demon Slayer Mark, appearing as a fluid-water like design on his left cheek, complementing his Breathing Style, Water Breathing. When activated, he gains a tremendous increase in speed, precision, and endurance to the point where he could engage in a long battle against the Upper Rank.

* **Bright Red Nichirin Sword:** During the fight against Muzan, Sanemi forcefully clashes his sword together with Giyu's turning both of their blades temporarily red, which grants them the ability to hamper the enhanced regeneration of the Demon King, making their attacks much more effective and deadly.

### Physical Abilities

**Immense Speed & Reflexes:** Giyu possesses inhuman speed and reflexes, as shown when he took Nezuko away from Tanjiro's grasps at blinding speeds, which took him several seconds to register. Later, he was able to hoist and tie Inosuke up to a tree before he even realized what happened, causing him to remark that he's extremely fast. Giyu also easily caught up to Shinobu when she was pursuing Tanjiro. In his battle with Lower Five, Giyu could cut all of Rui's threads so fast that it seemed like he didn't move his arms at all, and was later able to nonchalantly decapitate the demon in the moment he had blinked. He was also able to keep up with Upper Rank Three, Akaza, who is one of the fastest demons in existence and when he awakened his mark, Giyu managed to surprise him several times and appeared to "teleport" even to Akaza. Giyu also managed to evade many of Muzan's attacks and negate them with his form **Dead Calm**.

**Immense Stamina & Endurance:** Due to extremely harsh training, Giyu has attained incredible stamina and endurance. In his battle against Akaza, he managed to continue fighting even after sustaining dozens of injuries all over his body, severely weakening him, a feat which pleasantly surprised Akaza. During the final clash with the Demon King, Giyu managed to hold off Muzan despite initially being inflicted with his poisonous blood, able to keep up with, dodge and synchronize his movements with Tatsuji Fujita's Qi-enhanced physical abilities plus his Star Breathing, and later still played a pivotal role in his defeat after his arm was cut off by helping Tanjiro turn his blade bright red. Even after the entire ordeal, when Tanjiro was transformed into a demon, Giyu still had enough energy left to fight him off for a brief period of time. Giyu was also one of only two Hashira to survive the final battle in the end.

    **Immense Strength:** As a Hashira, Giyu has honed his physical strength to beyond what is conceivable for human. Even since the first encounter with Tanjiro and Nezuko, he has displayed impressive feats of strength, such as swinging his blade with so much force that he caused an enormous gust of wind that knocked both Tanjiro and Nezuko back a far distance, holding down a berserk Nezuko with one hand effortlessly, and later knocking her unconscious in one strike to the neck. In his spin-off story, he could break extremely strong ropes tied around his wrists with ease while nonchalantly talking to Shinobu Kocho.

In his battle with Rui, he could nonchalantly slice through the demon's threads no matter what attack he used, and later able to cut through the Lower Rank's neck with ease, something even Tanjiro could not accomplish. During his battle in the Infinity Castle, Giyu was able to cut Akaza's body and limbs during a multitude of occasions, despite the fact that Akaza possesses one of the highest levels of durability among all demons. He could also turn his Nichirin Sword bright red through sheer force with the assistance of Sanemi, a feat which requires an absurd amount of grip strength to accomplish.

## Fighting Style

**Master Swordsman:** Being a Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, Giyu is one of the most powerful and skilled swordsman in the entire organization. Upper Rank Three, Akaza, who has fought countless swordsman in the past, was impressed with Giyu's skill, stating that he possesses finely developed swordsmanship.

### Breathing Style

**Water Breathing** (水の呼吸, *Mizu no Kokyū*?): A Breathing Style taught to him by the Water Hashira before him, Sakonji Urokodaki. As the Water Hashira, Giyu is his generation's most skilled Water Breathing user. Giyu has completely mastered this swordsmanship style, to the point that he created an entirely new technique within the Breathing Style and impressed Akaza who had fought Water Hashira in the past.

#### Techniques

* **First Form: Water Surface Slash** (壱ノ型: 水面斬り, *Ichi no kata: Minamo Giri*?) - The user crosses their arms and generates enough momentum to release a singular, concentrated slash which is often horizontal.
* **Second Form: Water Wheel** (弐ノ型: 水車, *Ni no kata: Mizu Guruma*?) - The user leaps forward into the air and performs a front flip, releasing a singular vertical slash in a circular motion.
* **Third Form: Flowing Dance** (参ノ型: 流流舞い, *San no kata: Ryūryū Mai*?) - The user swings and bends their blade in a winding motion along with their body and dances in a flowing pattern, slicing everything in its path.
* **Fourth Form: Striking Tide** (肆ノ型: 打ち潮, *Shi no kata: Uchishio*?) - The user performs a multitude of slashes in a flowing fashion to release multiple consecutive slashes.
* **Fifth Form: Blessed Rain After the Drought** (伍ノ型: 干天の慈雨, *Go no kata: Kanten no Jiu*?) - The user changes the grip on their sword and decapitates the opponent in a single flowing strike that causes little to no pain. It is a "sword strike of kindness" used when the enemy willingly surrenders.
* **Sixth Form: Whirlpool** (陸ノ型: ねじれ渦, *Roku no kata: Nejire Uzu*?) - The user twists their body, using their blade to perform a fierce whirling motion which generates a whirlpool of air to shred apart anything caught within its current like a giant sharp blade. Its effect and efficiency is enhanced underwater, where the user can draw water around their weapon to create whirling currents that enhance their slashes.
* **Seventh Form: Drop Ripple Thrust** (漆ノ型: 雫波紋突き, *Shichi no kata: Shizuku Hamon Tsuki*?) - The user performs a precise, fast and accurate thrust with their blade.
* **Eighth Form: Waterfall Basin** (捌ノ型: 滝壼, *Hachi no kata: Takitsubo*?) - The user cuts the target vertically in a flowing motion which is most effective when they are falling downward.
* **Ninth Form: Splashing Water Flow** (玖ノ型: 水流飛沫, *Ku no kata: Suiryū Shibuki*?) - The user changes their footwork in a way that minimizes the landing time and surface needed when landing, allowing the user to move without limits. Ideal when fighting in a place with no solid foothold.
* **Tenth Form: Constant Flux** (拾ノ型: 生生流転, *Jū no kata: Seisei Ruten*?) - The user charges toward the target whilst performing a continuous flowing attack with their blade which increases in strength and speed over time using momentum.
* **Eleventh Form: Dead Calm** (拾壱ノ型: 凪, *Jū Ichi no kata: Nagi*?) - A form of his own personal creation, the user ceases all body movements and enters a state of complete tranquility, deflecting, blocking and cutting any incoming attacks with imperceptible speed with their blade. However, its effectiveness is limited as fast and numerous attacks can break through.

## Equipment

**Standard Nichirin Katana:** Giyu carries around a standard sized and shaped Nichirin katana with a black blade that has a deep blue outline. His katana's handguard is hexagonal shaped with a bronze core and with an overlapping red fuschia border. As a Hashira, Giyu's blade has the words **Destroyer of Demons** (惡鬼滅殺, *Akki Messatsu*?) engraved on the side. Along with his katana, Giyu has a standard sword sheath that is deep black in color.

During his battle against Akaza, Giyu's katana is broken by the Upper Rank. Subsequently, during the final battle against Muzan, he loses his katana and is thrown another by Sanemi Shinazugawa which supposedly belonged to a deceased Water Breathing Demon Slayer that had a deep blue blade and a handguard which resembled a whirlpool in appearance.

## Battles

Giyu Tomioka Battles

**Final Selection Arc**

* Tanjiro Kamado and Nezuko Kamado vs Giyu Tomioka

**Mount Natagumo Arc**

* Tanjiro Kamado and Inosuke Hashibira vs Spider Demon (Father)
* Tanjiro Kamado and Nezuko Kamado vs Rui

**Hashira Training Arc**

* Giyu Tomioka vs Sanemi Shinazugawa

**Infinity Castle Arc**

* Demon Slayers vs Muzan Kibutsuji: Part 1
* Tanjiro Kamado vs Giyu Tomioka vs Akaza

**Sunrise Countdown Arc**

* Demon Slayers vs Muzan Kibutsuji: Part 2
* Tanjiro Kamado vs Demon Slayers

## Trivia

* Giyu's favorite food is simmered salmon with daikon. Seeing a fresh plate even made Giyu smile once.
* Giyu's crow, **Kanzaburo**, is a very old crow, so it tends to make mistakes when giving messages and move slowly during battles.
* Giyu's overall level of openness was ranked 30%.
* Giyu's haori was almost torn to shreds after the decisive battle against Muzan, however, Nezuko managed to restore most of it with her craftsmanship and sewing. Giyu was so moved by this that he sent her so many different gifts (kimonos, Western clothes, hair ornaments, etc.), which caused Zenitsu to consider him a potential love rival.
* Giyu, as well as Tanjiro and Sanemi, fell into a coma after the battle. Everyday, Nezuko would go to Giyu with his mended haori and call for him to come back. For a while, it was unknown whether Tanjiro and Sanemi would also regain consciousness due to their state (taking at least 3 months for a full recovery).
* Giyu befriends Tengen and his family after the battle. When Tengen's child was born, he was allowed to hold the baby.
* Giyu is one of only 5 Hashira that use a normal Nichirin Katana. The other 4 are Tatsuji Fujita, Kyojuro Rengoku, Sanemi Shinazugawa, and Muichiro Tokito.

## Giyu's view of the other Hashira

* "*I like him, he talks to me nicely.*" - Flame Hashira
* "*I haven't talked with him much.*" - Mist Hashira
* "*It's sad to be bad-mouthed by him.*" - Serpent Hashira
* "*I respect him. He talks to me often. He's a kind person. I like him.*" - Stone Hashira
* "*She talks to me often. She's earnest and hardworking. She looks unwell at times.*" - Insect Hashira
* "*I'm a little envious of his sense of freedom.*" - Sound Hashira
* "*Whenever I stand next to her, she always talks to me, but she's revealing too much skin.*" - Love Hashira
* "*He's hot-tempered.*" - Wind Hashira
* *"He talks to me frequently and always says I deserve the title of Water Hashira. He reminds me of Sabito."* - Stellar Hashira

## **Quotes**

* (To himself, regarding Tanjiro Kamado) "*Don't cry. Don't despair. Now's not the time for that. I know you're devastated. Your family was massacred, and your sister became a demon. I know it's painful. I know you want to scream. I get it. If only I'd gotten here a half-day sooner, your family might not have ended up dead. But there's no way to turn back time. Feel the rage. The powerful pure rage of not being able to forgive will become your unswerving drive to take action!*"
* (To himself, regarding Sabito and Tsutako) "*Why did I forget that exchange with Sabito? It's important. I didn't want to remember because my tears would never stop. When I did remember, I was so sad I couldn't do anything. Tsutako. Sabito. I'm sorry I'm so immature.*"
* (To himself, regarding Tanjiro Kamado) "*Tanjiro... your techniques have improved by a lot. It would not be an overstatement to say that your ability is equal to a Hashira's. You do this well against an Upper Rank Kizuki. That snowy day all you could do was hang your head in despair. You wailed and begged for your sister's life. But now you can fight. Now you won't lose... either life... or dignity.*"
* (To himself) "*I really don't want to draw my sword. And I don't like to fight anyone for amusement. But now, for the first time in a long while, I'm up against a strong opponent who can overwhelm me and I realize that my senses have been sharply honed in a short time. Senses that were closed off to me have been awakened and dragged out to the place where my strong opponent stands. Now I understand how the intense struggle to survive increases in one's skills.*"
* (To himself, regarding Tanjiro Kamado) "*I must pass on what was entrusted to me. Never again will I let family and friends die before my eyes. I'll save him. I **will** save Tanjiro the same way I was saved.*"
* (To Yae) "*What is it now? You know this already. That is a monster that can no longer be called a human. A demon. Face it Yae, **that is no longer your father**.*
* (To Shinobu Kocho) "*Even if something does happen, my heart will never waver. We are the nine strongest swordsmen in our organization. The literal 'Hashira' of the Demon Slayer Corps. That is why we will never forget who we wield our swords for and who we are protecting. There are things that must be supported. So the Hashira must act as Hashira.*"
* (To Akaza) "*I am... still... alive!! If you want to kill Tanjiro... first defeat me!!*"