Gyokko

## Portrayal

**Gyokko**, alongside Hantengu, was one of the main antagonists of the Swordsmith Village Arc of the original Demon Slayer. He was Upper Moon 5 before being killed by Muichiro Tokito.

## **Appearance:**

Gyokko had a very bizarre and grotesque physiology, taking on the form of a pale white, abstracted, grotesque humanoid figure with a muscular upper torso that has no arms and resembles that of an armless statue growing from a porcelain vase, similar to a djinn. He had multiple infant-like hands that line along his head and back.

Gyokko's face was even more distorted, with large green mouths located where one would expect his eyes to be located, and his actual eyes were located vertically from one another on his face; one eye appeared in the constantly open bottom mouth and the other was seated at the center of his forehead.

When in battle, Gyokko was shown to molt and transform into his true form, which bore heavy resemblance to that of a merman. In this state, Gyokko retained his facial features and muscular physique but now possessed a more humanoid body covered in transparent scales akin to a fish. He also grew much larger, attains longer fish tail-like hair, black markings on various places around his body, webbed hands, and a long serpent-like tail in place of his legs.

## **Personality:**

Gyokko was shown to be an easily excitable demon, constantly fawning over new inspirations for what he deems his "art" or what he finds to be sublime, sometimes even going against his initial impressions. He was easily swayed into euphoria whenever Muzan was involved, trying not only to please him, but finding joy in being decapitated and having his head held by Muzan. Although he was dismayed he would have to work together with Hantengu, he nonetheless reasoned it was fine since Muzan ordered it.

Gyokko was also short-tempered, shallow, and arrogant, especially when it comes to things regarding his "art", as seen when he was easily enraged by Muichiro when the latter began to insult and make fun of the quality of his art to the point of bleeding from his blood vessels out of sheer fury, and through his conversation with the Pillar, constantly praised himself as "beautiful" and his work even more so, further reinforcing his arrogant and narcissistic personality and even insulting Muichiro as an "ape" for not appreciating his art.

His extreme sadism was further exposed when he went into great detail of explaining his "artwork"; from the many distorted body parts that stood out, to the built-in "feature" of being able to twist a stabbed sword in order to cause extreme pain and bleeding to one of the mangled swordsmiths, demonstrating he not only left his victims unnaturally alive, but also made arrangements to torture them in public.

## **Synopsis:**

Gyokko was once a human named Managi. He lived in a relatively poor village, born into a family of fishermen. When he was young, his parents went out on a fishing trip and never returned, as they would end up drowning far out at sea. After some time, their mangled corpses washed up and appeared on the village's shore. Upon seeing his parents' bodies, Managi developed a grotesque fascination with corpses.

Managi, despite his odd fascinations, wasn't particularly malicious, even if he was generally friendless, shunned by the community for his odd behavior and taste. He quickly found himself enjoying the art of pottery, which was, admittedly, a better compromise than corpses, but regardless, his reputation as an odd boy led to the relentless bullying he suffered originally to simply carry on. At one point, Managi fought back, nearly killing one of his bullies after provocation. In retaliation, he was stabbed with a fishing spear and left to die on the spot

After twelve hours agonizing from his wounds, Managi was found by Muzan Kibutsuji, who turned the boy into a demon.

## **Abilities:**

**Immense Strength:** Gyokko, as one of the Upper Moons, is quite physically powerful

**Immense Speed:** Gyokko was able to keep up with a 14-year old Muichiro Tokito, who is debatably the strongest human alive.

**Immense Regeneration:** Gyokko, as an Upper Moon, has a powerful regenerative ability.

**Molting Transformation:** In dire situations, Gyokko could molt and transform into his true form, boosting all his abilities and liberates him from his vase, allowing him to move freely without needing to teleport.

## **Fighting Style:**

### **Blood Demon Art:**

**Porcelain Vase Spells:** Gyokko's Blood Demon Art revolved around his porcelain vases. He was able to spawn them anywhere within his vicinity and create multiple pots of varying sizes at once. Gyokko first displayed the ability to freely teleport from one pot to another instantaneously, offsetting his lack of legs and allowing him to travel far distances with minimal effort as well as to evade attacks easily. Gyokko could also trap objects (such as people) inside his pots. If the object he wishes to seal is too big, the pots can simply compress them to fit inside.

During his attack on the Swordsmith Village, Gyokko spawned numerous gigantic fish-like amalgamations to terrorize the village and kill its inhabitants. They were unable to be killed by regular means and only die when the pots on their back are destroyed. These creatures all possessed unique traits and characteristics, some had sharp claws, some had multiple humanoid legs or even monstrous teeth. They also seemed to be decently powerful, as these amalgamations were able to kill the Demon Slayers that were meant to guard to village.

Gyokko's Blood Demon Art was notably themed around the sea and aquatic lifeforms, as his techniques were based on summoning non-sentient creatures that resembled fish from his pots. These fish monsters similarly possessed differing abilities and characteristics:

#### **Techniques:**

* **Thousand Needle Fish Kill** *(Senbonbari Gyosatsu)*: Gyokko summons floating fish demons from his pots which spit out a barrage of poisonous needles. The poison contains paralyzing properties which allegedly immobilize the target. Notably, the poison isn't particularly powerful, since Muichiro Tokito, without any poison resistance, was able to overcome it quite easily.

* **Water Prison Pot** *(Suigokubachi)*: Gyokko creates a vase structure made out of water that traps the target. The water suffocates the target and prevents them from using any breathing technique, making it difficult for them to break free and escape. Notably, it wasn't too difficult for a Marked Muichiro to destroy it, as the pot will burst with just a bit of damage.

* **Octopus Vase Hell** *(Takotsubo Jigoku)*: Gyokko manifest gigantic tentacles from his pots to restrain his targets. These tentacles are strong enough to destroy a shed and are noted to be extremely durable. This is also proven to be a hyperbole, as they are quite easily torn apart by Muichiro Tokito.

* **Ten Thousand Gliding Slime-Fish** *(Ichiman Kakkunengyo)*: Gyokko summons a total of ten thousand slime-fish from multiple pots to attack his target and devour them whole, leaving nothing but bones. When these fish are cut, they release a poison before disintegrating completely. This poison is percutaneous, meaning it can merely be absorbed through the skin in order to kill a target.

* **Killer Fish Scales** *(Jinsatsu Gyorin)*: In his true form, Gyokko delivers a wide-ranged barrage of physical attacks made all the more powerful by his immense speed and unusual body constitution. Through his special scales, he is able to manipulate his direction and attack at odd angles, making his attacks wildly unpredictable.

## **Trivia:**

* The name "Gyokko" can be broken into [Gyoku], meaning "Ball, Jewel", and [Ko], meaning "Pot, Jar, Vase", but the name also verbally includes [Gyo], meaning "Fish"
	+ Gyokko's human name, Managi, contains the kanji for "Benefit", "Fish", and "Ceremony" respectively.
* Gyokko is heavily implied to have been revived by Muzan.
* The current Lower Moon 6 Fuchikai similarly has sea life as his main gimmick. Any connection between the two is unknown, however.