Kōtarō

Yukiko Shirayuki (Younger Sister)

**Kotaro Shirayuki** (白雪幸多郎 *Shirayuki Kōtarō*) is a major supporting character of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. He is a Demon Slayer of the Demon Slayer Corps and the current Ice Hashira (氷柱 *Kori Bashira*).

He is also the older brother to Yukiko Shirayuki and the son of the previous Ice Hashira, Hiroshima Shirayuki. Prior to becoming a Demon Slayer, a demon attacked and killed his best friend and led him to follow the life his father had long left behind.

## Appearance

Kotaro is a tall and muscular young man with dark purple eyes that fade to a light turquoise. He has short messy black hair that fades to white at the tips. Since young he had a small scar on the right side of his lower lip.

Kotaro wears a dark blue version of the standard Demon Slayer uniform with the buttoned white kyahan and pair of black zōri with teal straps and tabi socks underneath which are grey in colour. Over this, Kotaro wears a white haori with a jagged light blue pattern at the ridges. Often during combat he would wear a warding mask which originally belonged to his father, which took the shape of a white fox with white eyes and grey whiskers on the bottom half of the mask, the mask tied together with a black ribbon.

During the fight with Muzan Kibutsuji, Kotaro loses his left eye, and his face has a long diagonal scar running from the left side of his forehead to the right side of his chin. After the Demon Slayer Corps is disbanded, Kotaro wears a black eyepatch over where his left eye used to be.

## Personality

Kotaro is a quick-witted young man with a cunning disposition, always having a sly grin on his face. He is very taunting and often comes off as arrogant towards demons. He is lighthearted and often maintains a sarcastic sense of humour around his fellow Demon Slayers. However, Kotaro takes his work as a Demon Slayer very seriously and knows not to underestimate his opponent, and will mercilessly kill any demons that harm humans. This however does not make him unable to see reason, and as such will tolerate demons who don’t harm humans, such as Nezuko Kamado.

Underneath his taunting slyness, Kotaro actually suffers from burnout due to self-imposed expectations to honour his father’s legacy as a Hashira, which made him take on more missions in an effort to live up to the title of Ice Hashira. While this garnered him a higher kill count than any of his fellow Hashira and even the respect of Upper Rank demons, he ended up working long nighttime missions and daytime training sessions which often resulted in him getting hospitalized multiple times in the Butterfly Mansion, although he maintains his sarcastic attitude in an effort to not make his family worry. This would go on until his sister Yukiko finally knocked some sense into his head and told him that he had already long surpassed the expectations of their father’s legacy as the Ice Hashira.

After recovering from his burnout, Kotaro became an encouraging mentor towards his fellow Demon Slayers, often advising them to not repeat the same mistake he did when it came to his burnout. However, Kotaro began to grow somewhat overprotective of his sister, often scaring off guys who try to hit on her. He even begged the Hashira to protect Yukiko and ensure that she survives the final battle.

## Abilities

**Overall Abilities:** As a Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, Kotaro is regarded as an extremely skilled and powerful combatant who has displayed his extraordinary combat skills on multiple occasions. Prior to Tanjiro and his friends joining the Demon Slayer Corps, Kotaro had been able to succeed at multiple consecutive missions in a single night while suffering from burnout. By the time of the Infinity Castle Arc, Kotaro had long recovered from his burnout and was able to slay dozens of demons whose strength were comparable to the Lower-Ranks of the 12 Kizuki and even hold his own against Upper Rank One Kokushibo, the second strongest demon in existence, once Kotaro unlocked his Demon Slayer Mark. According to Kokushibo, Kotaro’s skills were at its peak and commented that he and accompanying Hashira Sanemi Shinazugawa and Gyomei Himejima were highly skilled even among the ranks of the Hashira. After Kokushibo was defeated, Kotaro was able to contribute to driving Muzan Kibutsuji, The Demon King, into a corner.

**Demon Slayer Mark:** During the battle against Kokushibo, Kotaro unlocked his Demon Slayer Mark, which took the form of a purple snowflake on his right cheek. This drastically increased all of his physical capabilities and allowed him to stand on par with Kokushibo for an extended period of time.

* **Bright Red Nichirin Sword:** Later during the battle against Kokushibo, Kotaro clashed his blade with Sanemi’s, briefly turning it bright red, giving him the ability to decapitate the Upper Rank. Later during the final battle against Muzan, Kotaro followed Obanai Iguro’s example and put all of his strength into gripping his blade, turning it bright red. Turning his Nichirin Sword bright red proved to be extremely effective against Muzan, allowing his attacks to hamper the immediate regeneration of the Demon King.

**Enhanced Speed & Reflexes:** Kotaro possesses tremendous speed and reflexes, as shown during the battle within the Infinity Castle where he was able to decapitate dozens of demons on par with Lower Rank demons in an instant. Later on during the fight with Kokushibo, Kotaro was able to contend with the Upper Rank’s attacks, even having enough time to intercept attacks meant for his allies while he was under the effects of the Demon Slayer Mark. Additionally, he was able to keep up with a weakened Muzan alongside his fellow Hashira for a considerable period of time.

**Immense Stamina and Endurance:** Due to possessing incredible levels of stamina and endurance even among the ranks of the Hashira, Kotaro has managed to successfully complete multiple consecutive missions in one night without any sleep multiple times. During the battle against Kokushibo, Kotaro was able to sustain multiple deep cuts all over his body without showing any signs of pain and agony. During the final fight against Muzan, he could fight the Demon King for roughly half an hour straight without rest, exerting his physical and mental capabilities to its limit without tiring out. When Muzan was cornered, he was one of the first ones to take action, having enough energy to unleash two more Ice Breathing techniques.

**Immense Strength:** Having spent years perfecting his physical prowess, Kotaro possesses amazing physical strength, being capable of swinging his katana at speeds faster than the eye can see incessantly with faultless accuracy while engaging in combat and even managed to pin Kokushibo by the neck with a single blade swing, a feat which greatly surprised the Upper Rank.

**Indomitable Will:** Kotaro had an undaunted spirit and indomitable willpower, never giving up despite the numerous injuries he received against Kokushibo, the second strongest demon in existence and later on the Demon King, Muzan. Kotaro even laughed off his injuries as being mere scratches compared to what other Hashira in the past had faced. This incredible spirit even made him go so far as to engage Kokushibo head-on alongside fellow Hashira Sanemi Shinazugawa. When Tanjiro was turned into a demon, Kotaro was quick to act when he regained consciousness and played a pivotal role in turning Tanjiro back into a human.

**Genius Intellect:** Befitting his manipulative slyness, Kotaro is arguably one of the smartest among the Hashira, being second only to the medically-inclined Shinobu Kocho, who acknowledged that Kotaro may be her equal in terms of intellect. He has a brilliant understanding of battle psychology, knowing which words to say in order to taunt his opponents into attacking him first in order to understand what he is dealing with. He also has a brilliant understanding of warfare tactics, as shown prior to the battle within the Infinity Castle, Kotaro was able to correctly deduce that Muzan had replaced the fallen Upper Ranks in an effort to put some buffer between him and the Demon Slayer Corps. His brilliant combat intuition was shown again during the fight against Kokushibo, he was able to quickly deduce that Kokushibo had access to the Transparent World and was able to counter it accordingly by keeping Kokushibo distracted and ensure that his Blood Demon Art was targeted at him in order to allow his allies to attack the Upper Rank while he was distracted by him.

## Fighting Style

**Master Swordsman:** Being a Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, Kotaro is one of the most powerful and skilled swordsmen in the entire organization. His swordsmanship proficiency surpassed that of even his father Hiroshima, who was a brilliant swordsman in his own right prior to his retirement due to his injuries. Kotaro’s skills with the sword allowed him to keep up with and impress Upper Rank One, Kokushibo, a demon with centuries of swordsmanship skill under his belt. Kotaro could also adapt with Sanemi’s Wind Breathing and Gyomei’s Stone Breathing techniques in order to push back Kokushibo.

### Breathing Style

**Ice Breathing** (氷の呼吸 *Kori no kokyu*): A Breathing Style taught to him by his father Hiroshima which was developed from Hiroshima’s experience with Water Breathing. As the Ice Hashira, Kotaro is his generation’s most skilled Ice Breathing user. His level of skill in Ice Breathing impressed Kokushibo to the point of offering to turn Kotaro into a demon.

**First Form: Frostbite** (壱ノ型: 霜噛み *Ichi no kata: Shimokami*) - The user quickly rotates their body and unleashes a double slash in an X-shaped cut.

**Second Form: Snow Dance** (弐ノ型: ​​雪舞 *Ni no kata: Yukimai*) - The user somersaults backwards and delivers a powerful arching upward slash before following up with two horizontal 360° slashes while in midair.

**Third Form: Distant Snow Haze** (参ノ型: 遠雪霧 *San no kata: Tōyukigiri*) - The user charges forward and unleashes a flurry of interweaving circular slashes that are capable of decapitating multiple targets while also obscuring the user’s movements with afterimages that confuse the opponent.

**Fourth Form: Turbulent Blizzard** (​​肆ノ型: 乱暴吹雪 *Shi no kata: Ranbō Fubuki*) - The user unleashes multiple ranged slashes in front of them that can be used to defend against attacks.

**Fifth Form: Cold Devouring Frost** (伍ノ型: 冷酷霜 *Go no kata: Reikoku Shimo*) - The user unleashes a flurry of circular slashes all around them while in midair.

**Sixth Form: Scattering Ice Slashes** (陸ノ型: ​​飛散氷斬 *Roku no kata: Hisan Hyōzan*) - The user unsheathes their sword and unleashes multiple arching slashes all around them in quick succession, before sheathing it back.

**Seventh Form: Pale Frost of the North Wind** (漆ノ型: 淡霜の北風 *Shichi no kata: Awashimo no Kitakaze*) - The personal creation of Kotato Shirayuki. The user dashes forward while rotating at high speeds and unleashes multiple slashes that cut up all obstacles in its path.

## Equipment

**Standard Nichirin Katana:** As a Demon Slayer, Kotaro carries around a standard sized and shaped Nichirin katana with a wavy pattern that was teal in colour. His sword’s hilt was shaped like a white kitsune mask with grey markings and a dark blue border. Kotaro’s Nichirin Blade also had the words Destroy Demons (惡鬼滅殺 *Akki Messatsu*) engraved on one side. Kotaro also carried a standard sword sheath that is a shade of deep blue with a silver line down the middle strewn onto it.