Gyomei Himejima

## Portrayal

**Gyomei Himejima** is a minor supporting character of Demon Slayer: Blade of the Night. He is a Demon Slayer of the Demon Slayer Core and the current Stone Pillar.

## **Appearance:**

Gyomei is a hulking figure among the Demon Slayers. He is one of the tallest characters in the series, easily towering over his fellow Pillar. He is powerfully built and extremely muscular. He has spiky, graying black hair and a prominent scar running horizontally across his forehead.

Gyomei wears a black and gold Uniform typical of a Pillar with an olive green happi draped over his shoulders. He also sports a large-beaded necklace around his neck and carries ojuzu when he is not engaged in battle. He sustains a scar across his face after being slashed by a crescent moon blade from Kokushibo

## **Personality:**

Gyomei is a soft-spoken, often quiet man, that, on the occasion that he does speak, silences all around him due to sheer reverence. Gyomei is widely regarded as the wisest, and even though he is not the strongest any longer on accounts of his age, he is the most respected out of the entire Pillar lineup regardless.

He is shown to be quite pious, carrying his prayer beads at all times and offering prayers in poignant situations. Most notably, Gyomei easily cries over the most insignificant things, accentuating his rather soft nature. This could be due to his love for all living creatures brought about by his religious upbringing, and insinuated when he felt so disgusted by beating up a demon that he would never forget that feeling for the rest of his life.

Though he maintains a fairly reserved disposition, Gyomei harbors a very objective and somewhat suspicious view of the people around him, owing to his experiences before becoming a Demon Slayer. He is ever-cognizant of what others, particularly children or those younger than him, are capable of if given the opportunity. By reason of his doubtful nature, it can take a while for Gyomei to completely accept and trust others. When he does open up and let others in, he is unwavering in his commitment to them.

Gyomei's observant nature is best shown in his judge of character for Genya Shinazugawa, despite the boy giving every possible sign that he was a bad person. Another case is when he predicted the love shared between Obanai and Mitsuri, and Giyu and Shinobu respectively.

Gyomei greatly values the principles that allowed him to achieve his status as a Hashira, rejecting Kokushibo's notion that he must become a demon in order to preserve his body and skills which he was devoted his himself to, and counters by saying that being a Demon Slayer means accepting the fact that seeing tomorrow is not guaranteed and that no one can become a Hashira with Kokushibo's half hearted resolution.

## **Synopsis:**

Gyomei used to live as a caretaker in a temple, educating and caring for the orphans that resided there. Well-liked among the kids, all of it crumbled when a runaway child attracted a demon to the temple, and Gyomei, acting too late, ended up beating the demon only fast enough to save a single child, who, in confusion, accused Gyomei of the crime. Gyomei was subsequently saved by Kagaya Ubuyashiki, who trusted the man, and recruited him to the Demon Slayer Core.

## **Abilities:**

**Monumental Strength:** Gyomei, despite his age, is the physically strongest Pillar. If he so desired, what he wouldn't, he could effectively explode a human with a mere punch.

**Monumental Speed:** Gyomei, despite his size, is incredibly fast, and was able to keep up with Kokushibo's movement on occasion.

**Tactical Intellect:** Gyomei, despite not being educated, is competently intelligent, and is able to strategize during battle without problem.

**Enhanced Hearing:** Gyomei, despite being blind, functions nearly perfectly due to his acute and developed sense of hearing.

**Total Concentration Breathing:** Gyomei has mastered the Stone Breathing, and consequently, uses Total Concentration Breathing.

**Repetitive Action:** Created by Gyomei, this is a technique which maximizes concentration, in a similar way to Total Concentration Breathing, by remembering a painful memory. Gyomei is shown to use this extensively during his training, and presumably while in combat too. He activates it by chanting a prayer.

**Demon Slayer Mark:** Gyomei displayed that he too, has awakened his mark, appearing as cracked earth fissure-like patterns on both of his forearms.

## **Fighting Style:**

**Kusarigamajutsu:** Gyomei uses a spiked flail and axe reminiscent of a Kusarigama, a weapon consisting of a scythe and heavy iron weight connected with a metal chain, and thus would use a similar fighting style known as Kusarigamajutsu. As a Hashira, Gyomei is extremely proficient in combat and one of the most skilled combatants in the entire Demon Slayer Corps, particularly in this fighting style which can briefly match the likes of Upper Rank One, Kokushibo, a demon swordsman who has nearly 5 centuries of swordsmanship experience.

### **Breathing Style:**

**Stone Breathing** *(Iwa no Kokyu)*: Gyomei is the most skilled Stone Breathing user ever, surpassing Jishin Chuseki, the Style's creator. He displayed mastery of Stone Breathing in his battle against Kokushibo, where he was able to unleash attacks that were able to match the demon's Moon Breathing.

#### **Techniques:**

* **First Form: Serpentinite Bipolar** *(Ichi no Kata: Jamongan - Sokyoku)* - The user throws both the flail and axe towards their intended target and manipulates the chain by rotating it, thus causing the axe and flail to also rotate in order to drill and grind right through his target.

* **Second Form: Upper Smash** *(Ni no Kata: Tenmen Kudaki)* - The user throws both his axe and spiked flail for a pincer move before smashing down on the chain to cause the flail to rebound and smash his target from afar.

* **Third Form: Stone Skin** *(San no Kata: Ganku no Hadae)* - The user unleashes a series of slashes with his axe deflecting nearby attacks. This Form can also be used to destroy a target at very close range. It can also be used with the chains to increase the amount of damage blocked

* **Fourth Form: Volcanic Rock, Rapid Conquest** *(Shi no Kata: Ryumongan - Sokusei)* - The user manipulates both the flail and axe weapons at both ends of the chain by swinging the chain on both sides in order to strike his opponents using a two-pronged wide ranged attack.

* **Fifth Form: Arcs of Justice** *(Go no Kata: Garin Gyobu)* - The user utilizes a powerful barrage with his flail and axe, doing a great amount of damage. The axe is destined to hit first with the trajectory of the flail following from the opposite side and slamming into the opponent.

* **Sixth Form: Rock Slide** *(Roku no Kata: Iwana Dare)* - The user will use the flail and axe completely defensively, surrounding themselves before bashing the flail on the ground. This attack can be done sideways, as the Form is fairly versatile.

* **Seventh Form: Crushing Bipolar** *(Shichi no Kata: Funsai Sokyoku)* - The user throws both the flail and the axe against the opponent, forcing them to bash together by strongly tugging the chain. This attack is devastating and even if it doesn’t decapitate, causes immense damage

* **Eighth Form: Meteor Strike** *(Hachi no Kata: Ryusei Kogeki)* - Launching himself up, the user throws the flail high up in the air, pulling it downwards with immense strength using the chains. The attack is so powerful it can crush an enemy instantly.

* **Ninth Form: Destructive Landslide** *(Ku no Kata: Hakai Jisuberi)* - The user spins their chains around themselves, using the axe to block direct attacks, while the chains and the flail block incoming projectiles. This attack can be done on any surface and while the user moves, also destroying their surroundings

* **Tenth Form: Sprawling Disaster** *(Ju no Kata: Kodaina Sagai)* - The user manipulates both ends of the weapon while they advance, making a pincer attack with both ends, and then advancing themselves to strike, or reuse one of the ends to strike again in a quicker move

* **Eleventh Form: Stone Statue** *(Ju Ichi no Kata: Ishi no Zo)* - The user manipulates their weapon in order to surround the opponent with the chains. Once the target is locked on, the user will pull on the weapon, ensnaring them still for either capturing a foe, or to hold them down for an ally

## **Equipment:**

**Nichirin Chained Flail and Axe:** Instead of a Nichirin sword, Gyomei wields a weapon similar to a Kusarigama, consisting of an Axe attached to a Flail via a long chain. Its craftsmanship in particular is noted for being incredibly high-class, being made of pure iron that has absorbed so much sunlight, it was considered even superior to the iron used to forge swords during the Sengoku period, when swordsmithing was at the peak of development. It is dull gray in color, as expected of a master of the Stone Breathing.

## **Familiars:**

**Zekka:** Gyomei's Crow, Zekka is known to be competent and serious. Among other crows, it has no friends.

## **Battles:**

* Gyomei, Sanemi, Muichiro and Genya vs Kokushibo

## **Trivia:**

* His given name, Gyomei, is composed of [Gyo], meaning "Formations of the Mind" and [Mei], which means "Dark, Depressed", while his surname, [Himejima], can be read together as "Screaming Island"
* Gyomei was blinded due to a fever he had when he was a child. Shinobu has worked on finding a way to restore his eyesight, with no success up to now, and Gyomei himself doesn't particularly care about regaining it either.
* Gyomei's level of openness was ranked as 75%.
* Sayo carries immense guilt over Gyomei being mistakenly arrested. Even after roughly ten years go by, she still wants to apologize to Gyomei for the misunderstanding. Some say she's joined the Demon Slayer Core for that sake...
* Gyomei loves cats, a trait he has in common with the Love Hashira, Mitsuri Kanroji.
* One of Gyomei's hobbies is playing the shakuhachi, a type of flute. Once, when he played for too long, his grandmother hit him with a broom. He is also very, very bad at it.
* Gyomei does not have a favorite food in the same way he doesn't dislike any type of food.
* Gyomei's views on his fellow Pillars are as follows:
	+ Tanjiro: *He is a fine young man, but he must gain more experience.*
	+ Giyu: *His relationship with Kocho made him much happier than I ever thought he could be*
	+ Kyojuro: *He is very bright, but his behavior cannot be mistaken for foolishness.*
	+ Sanemi: *He acts nearly the same as before, but he has matured significantly.*
	+ Zenitsu: *He needs support, but he distances himself from others at the same time*
	+ Kanao: *She is often very quiet, but her heart is good*
	+ Seiji: *I know he is lying.*
	+ Daisuke: *I do not understand why he insists on portraying himself as he does.*
	+ Obanai: *He still loves Kanroji, despite his distance. He doesn't realize that they want him back.*
	+ Murata: *A shame that he ignored my advice.*
	+ Shinobu: *It seems that her new family has quelled her burning hatred.*
	+ Mitsuri: *She still loves Iguro. It is a shame she is too afraid to come forward.*
	+ Senjuro: *He is often quiet, and is unwell. My words do not come through to him*
	+ Suguru: *He could be more cooperative, he cares a lot for his apprentice.*
	+ Muichiro: *He has grown into a fine man, but he must let go of his fear.*
	+ Inosuke: *He could use a bit of straightening up*
	+ Aki: *He is very unserious, but he isn't irresponsible. In fact, he is quite wise.*
	+ Tengen: *He was a great man. Proud, but never arrogant. Ambitious, but never greedy. He was a friend.*