Tanjiro Kamado

## Voices

**Tanjiro Kamado** (竈門 (かまど)  炭 (たん) 治 (じ) 郎 (ろう) , *Kamado Tanjirō*) is the main protagonist of *Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba*. He is a Demon Slayer in the Demon Slayer Corps, who joined to find a remedy to turn his sister, Nezuko Kamado, back into a human and to hunt down and kill Demons, and later swore to defeat Muzan Kibutsuji, the King of Demons, in order to prevent others from suffering the same fate as him.

Before he became a Demon Slayer, Tanjiro was a coal burner before his entire family was slaughtered by Muzan while his younger sister, Nezuko, was turned into a demon.

## Appearance

Tanjiro is a young boy of average height with fairly tanned skin and an athletic, muscular physique. He has ruffled, black hair with burgundy tips, combed back to expose his forehead, and wide, dark red eyes with white pupils that appear lighter around the lower section of his irises. He also has a scar on the top left of his forehead, first seen when his mother brought him to watch his father perform the Hinokami Kagura dance. The scar originally looked somewhat like a graze until his fight with the Hand Demon during the Final Selection, after which it develops into a flame-like pattern as his Demon Slayer Mark. It is noted that his hands are visibly rougher for someone his age, as a result of his rigorous training under Sakonji Urokodaki. Tanjiro looks remarkably similar in appearance to his ancestor Sumiyoshi, possessing the same facial structure, eyes, and hairstyle as him, although Sumiyoshi's hair was longer, about shoulder-length and would be tied in a ponytail behind his head.

Tanjiro first appears wearing a checkered, black-and-sea-foam-green haori over a white robe and black pants. He occasionally sports a turquoise scarf and is seen with circular, white bands looped around his calves. He also wears a distinct pair of hanafuda earrings, with the image of the rising sun over a mountain. His hair is also kept tied back in small ponytail or bun; as he trains with Sabito and Makomo, his hair grows to his shoulders.

During the Final Selection, Tanjiro wears a blue, cloud-patterned samue-styled kimono and black pants, nearly identical to Sakonji's outfit. He still wears his hanafuda earrings, but his hair is cut extremely short and remains the same length since. Similar to the rest of the apprentices that were trained under Sakonji, Tanjiro wears a hand-carved |fox mask crafted from his master on the left side of his head. The mask has red accents on the eyes, ears, and spots on each corner of its mouth. On the upper right corner of the mask, there is a sun-shaped design that likely symbolizes the scar on his forehead.

After becoming a Demon Slayer, Tanjiro wears the standard Demon Slayer uniform, a dark-brown gakuran jacket, a white belt, baggy chocho zubon pants that extend into tabi socks, a pair of zōri with red straps, and bands of white cloth wrapped tightly around his calves resembling kyahan, all beneath his signature checkered haori. He carries a large wooden box on his back (which was a gift to him from Sakonji Urokodaki), where his sister sleeps as they travel during the day.

During his second encounter with Muzan Kibutsuji, he injures his right eye in the Infinity Castle. As the battle progresses, Tanjiro suddenly collapses and his wound begins to form a large mass over his right eye due to the poison inflicted on him by Muzan. Later on, when Tanjiro wakes up, he is described as looking 'repulsive' by Muzan. Later in the battle Tanjiro's left arm is severed by Muzan.

After being turned into a demon by Muzan, Tanjiro is able to heal the growth on his face as well as regenerate his lost arm and other smaller injuries. He obtains eyes with slit pupils, fangs and flame-shaped marks over his left forehead and right jaw that are reminiscent of those of Kokushibo, in addition to a third, smaller flame-shaped mark coming down from the right side of his head down to his eyebrow after he conquered the weakness to sunlight. His scar turns into a flame-pattern as if it were a permanent Demon Slayer Mark, has become longer and is the largest of the three, and all three marks vaguely point towards his nose, though only his scar-mark reaches it. He still dons his bloodstained corps uniform, one sleeve ripped off where his arm was severed, but loses his checkered haori and the Nichirin Sword at his hip.

After returning to his human form, Tanjiro loses the ability to see from his right eye, the iris of which is now a dull pink-gray color and the pupil black rather than its original white. His left arm, which he regrew as a Demon, now takes the appearance of that which an older person may have, becoming wrinkled and skeletal, and he loses all feeling in it below the elbow and thus the ability to move it from his forearm down.

## Personality

Tanjiro is very kind by nature and has been described by others as having very gentle eyes and a compassionate persona. He exhibits a great deal of determination and will not give up once he has a goal to achieve; the best example of this being his relentless quest to find a cure for Nezuko. Even though he is relatively strong on his own, Tanjiro isn't opposed to asking others for help when he needs it. He is very protective of his friends and even more so of his younger sister. However, despite his kind and understanding nature, Tanjiro does have a limit to his tolerance and has a distaste for rudeness and cowardice as he easily becomes annoyed by Zenitsu Agatsuma's constant whining, and angered by Inosuke Hashibira's barbaric actions.

Tanjiro is direct and very honest, taking everyone's words with sincerity and seriousness. Upon hearing Tengen Uzui claim he is a god, he asked what area is he the god of. He has difficulty lying and doing so causes his face to contort severely, as his honest nature clashes with the insincerity of his words. Having grown up in the countryside of Japan, Tanjiro has no experience of life in large urban areas. During his missions to Asakusa and Yoshiwara, he stared in wonder at the bright lights enveloping the cities. He naively believed the Mugen train was perhaps the land's guardian spirit and, just like Inosuke, he does not know what a red-light district is.

Under Tanjiro's rather kind and friendly shell, is a person with a growing fire of rage and vengeance inside of them. This side of him leaks out when Tanjiro first confronts Muzan, ready to take out his sword and attack him. When Muzan escapes, Tanjiro releases his frustration and declares he will be the one to kill Muzan. On Mount Natagumo, when the captured Demon Slayers had their necks snapped by the Mother Spider Demon's threads, Tanjiro shows noticeable anger that even Inosuke senses. Upon seeing Daki smirking after witnessing her slaughter three people indiscriminately with her sashes, he seethed with rage and confronted her alone. This side of Tanjiro is fully exemplified after Muzan's speech where he compares himself to a natural disaster. Tanjiro responds to that by calling Muzan "a being that should not exist." In the face of irrational evil. Tanjiro shows a more cold and terrifying side of him, acting more violent towards his opponents as a result.

Tanjiro's most notable attribute is his ability to empathize with anyone, even demons, which often makes him hesitate before delivering the final blow. Tanjiro has a unique ideology regarding demons, believing that those that have committed evil should be killed without mercy, but those that regret their actions should not be belittled after their deaths, showing great nuance and maturity in Tanjiro's thinking, probably brought about by his sister. However, as Tanjiro gains experience over the years of his service, he becomes more calculating and strict in his decisions. His courage to protect the weak commits him to face his enemy with respect and dignity, whether versus good people or evil demons. Tanjiro is adamant about serving justice to the evil, by any means necessary, even declaring to cut off the heads of demons who have committed heinous crimes and confronting them about their inhumane mindset and their criminal deeds.

As a demon, Tanjiro appeared to be mindless, like most initially are following their transformation. He acted like a feral beast, attacking anyone in sight without any hesitation. Not even his friends and comrades were safe. The one exception was Nezuko, who he refused to harm even after tasting her blood; a possible sign that he was fighting his transformation. His hostility towards the Demon Slayers might also have been due to his mind being affected by Muzan's desire to kill all Demon Slayers.

## Trivia

* His first name contains the On'yomi reading of the kanji for "charcoal" (炭 (たん) , *tan*), "to heal" (治 (じ) , *ji*) and "son, male" (郎 (ろう) , *rō*), which is also a common masculine name suffix. The first kanji of Tanjiro's surname translates to a traditional Japanese wood or charcoal-fuelled cookstove/furnace (竈 (かま) , *kama*) while the second kanji means "door" (門 (ど) , *do*), and both contain the Kun'yomi reading.
* Tanjiro's rankings in the popularity polls are as follows:
	+ Tanjiro ranked 1st place in the first popularity poll with 6,742 votes.
	+ Tanjiro ranked 4th place in the second popularity poll with 9,045 votes.
* When Tanjiro lies, he can't keep a straight face due to his honest nature.
* Tanjiro inherited his hard forehead from his mother.
* Tanjiro has been incorrectly dubbed as **Gonpachiro Kamaboko** (蒲 (かま) 鉾 (ぼこ)  権 (ごん) 八 (ぱち) 郎 (ろう) , *Kamaboko Gonpachirō*), **Gengoro Shakariki** (しゃかりき 源 (げん) 五 (ご) 郎 (ろう) , *Shakariki Gengorō*), **Tontaro Itadaki** (頂 (いただ) き 豚 (とん) 太 (た) 郎 (ろう) , *Itadaki Tontarō*), **Kanjiro Anago** (穴 (あな) 子 (ご)  勘 (かん) 治 (じ) 郎 (ろう) , *Anago Kanjiro*), **Tangoro Hamado** (竈門 (はまど)  丹 (たん) 五 (ご) 郎 (ろう) , *Hamado Tangorō*), **Jangoro Amado** (雨戸 (あまど)  じゃん五 (ご) 郎 (ろう) , *Amado Jangorō*), **Monjiro** (文 (もん) 治 (じ) 郎 (ろう) , *Monjirō*), **Kentaro** (健 (けん) 太 (た) 郎 (ろう) , *Kentarō*), **Santaro** (三 (さん) 太 (た) 郎 (ろう) , *Santarō*) and **Sochiro** (装 (そう) 置 (ち) 郎 (ろう) , *Sōchirō*) by Inosuke.
	+ In Inosuke's dream he was named **Ponjiro** (ポン治 (じ) 郎 (ろう) , *Ponjirō*) as a racoon.
* Tanjiro is one of the few characters to have their Nichirin Sword change appearance.
* Apparently, Tanjiro is able to understand what birds are saying.
* Tanjiro's penpals are Sakonji, Senjuro, the courtesans from the Entertainment District, Giyu (who never writes back) and Tengen.
* In a *Weekly Shonen Jump* spoof 4-koma, Tanjiro is the vocalist of the band "Chic-N-Scruffy Democracy," the other members being Zenitsu (shamisen), Inosuke (taiko), and Tengen (harmonica). "Melancholy of Explosive Sound Skin and Modern Sense of Smell" is their debut single, and it reportedly made everyone who heard it feel dizzy and nauseous.
	+ Tanjiro is tone deaf, along with Inosuke.
* The second fanbook gives more context to Tanjiro's quote "*Whenever happiness is destroyed, there is always the scent of blood.*". This was because Tanjiro was the one who found his father dying and coughing up blood. Tanjiro was also the one who found his grandmother dying. One time he visited the village, he smelt the scent of blood from a dying person. He informed them and realized that had he not been there, the family wouldn't have realized that someone was dying.
* Tanjiro's favorite food is angelica sprouts (タラの芽 (め) , *Tara no me*). When they're on the table, even if he keeps himself composed, you can notice his nostrils flaring.
* In Kimetsu Academy, Tanjiro is a boy who's known to continuously violate the rules. He's a first year student from Tansu class, and his and Nezuko's family owns a bakery. He was dubbed as the Most Polite Man in the academy.
* Tanjiro shares the same birthday as Yor Forger from *SPY x FAMILY*.