Kokushibo

## Portrayal

**Kokushibo** is a major supporting antagonist of the original story of Demon Slayer, returning in the same role for Demon Slayer: Blade of the Night. He is a demon affiliated with the 12 Kizuki, holding the highest position, Upper Moon 1.

Five centuries ago during the Sengoku Era, Kokushibo was a human by the name of **Michikatsu Tsugikuni**, a former Demon Slayer, and the older twin brother of Yoriichi Tsugikuni, the strongest Demon Slayer that had ever existed. Kokushibo is also the ancestor of Muichiro, Yuichiro, Taro and Yuizo Tokito.

## **Appearance:**

Kokushibo is a very tall man with a muscular build and pale skin complexion. He possesses long, spiky black hair with red tips that he keeps in a ponytail. His most notable feature is the three sets of eyes on his face with yellow irises and red flesh sclera. The middle, and natural set of eyes also carries the daiji for "Upper Rank" and "One" respectively. His appearance is described to be profoundly majestic and dignified by Muichiro Tokito.

Kokushibo wears a purple-and-black hexagonal patterned nagagi kimono and black hakama pants. He carries a fleshy katana at his waist that has eyes all throughout its build. It is unknown if Kokushibo can see through them, or if they are decorational.

As a human, Kokushibo's look was almost identical to his demon form, except for the amount of eyes, his eminent eyebrows, and a less sickly skin, still being pale, albeit naturally so.

As shown during Ryo's flashback, Michikatsu wore the traditional kosane-gusoku armor, colored bright red due to his status as nobility.

## **Personality:**

Kokushibo is reserved, silent, and aloof, maintaining an aura of unnerving tranquility and mystery that compliments his position as Upper Rank 1. He rarely speaks; when he does, he talks in a slow and emphatic manner that gives more gravitas and authority to his words. He is an adamant rule-follower, punctual, and he shows a great deal of respect to the hierarchy of the Twelve Kizuki, as seen at the Upper Rank gathering. Kokushibo is shown to be humble as well, and he did not hesitate to admit his failure or complain of any difficulty.

Despite his outward display of reservation, dignity, and humility, there exists a cold and unforgiving side to his personality. When reprimanding individuals, his words can be harsh, bordering on cruelty. His threats are severe and demand absolute obedience. This can also be attributed to the fact that he is not afraid to carry out his threats, potentially doing worse than promised.

Kokushibo is shown to be genuinely delighted when the opponents he faced challenged him; such as helping dress Muichiro Tokito's amputated hand over his talented swordsmanship, praising Gyomei Himejima for his unparalleled human abilities and sparing Akaza because he enjoyed the challenge of battling him.

He possesses a complex relationship with his human past. He shows something of warmth towards his descendant, Muichiro, commending his skills and resolve, and being moved to convert Muichiro into a demon to spare his life. Kokushibo harbored an immense sense of envy towards his younger twin brother for his natural talent and incredible abilities. These feelings of jealousy and contempt only became stronger upon seeing his brother become a peerless warrior of unmatched caliber among even the Demon Slayer Core, with none of the Pillars of that time coming close to his level of strength. This is best shown in Ryo's flashback, which depicts the first time Michikatsu and Yoriichi meet since childhood, and it is described by Ryo as if Michikatsu felt an intense, burning hatred at the mere sight of Yoriichi.

Kokushibo is also shown to be somewhat supersticious, completely believing the curse of the Demon Slayer Mark, and even becoming a demon due to his own belief.

## **Synopsis:**

Born in the Sengoku Period, Kokushibo's birth name was Michikatsu Tsugikuni. When he and his brother Yoriichi were born, twins were considered a bad omen, and when their father saw that Yoriichi had a strange birthmark on his forehead, he declared that he would kill Yoriichi. However, their mother Akeno Tsugikuni was outraged at his announcement, and an agreement was made that instead of being killed, Yoriichi would be sent to the temple and become a priest upon turning ten. Michikatsu used to train to become a swordsman, and in one particular day, Yoriichi was allowed to fight the instructor, which he proceeded to best in direct combat without previous training, accomplishing what Michikatsu hadn't even come close to doing, despite having trained for years.

Yoriichi proceeded to run away after their mother had passed away due to an illness, and Michikatsu would only meet him again in adulthood, long after he had established a family. Michikatsu's relationship with his family was seemingly distant and cold, as shown by his lack of remorse and hesitancy to abandon them. Michikatsu proceeded to become a Demon Slayer after being saved by Yoriichi, developing the Moon Breathing, but remaining in second place regardless of how much he trained.

After his colleagues began to die, Michikatsu feared his own demise, not wanting to die before surpassing Yoriichi. Therefore, he became a Demon, being the first and only Upper Moon 1 of all time, Kokushibo.

## **Abilities:**

**Immeasurable Strength:** As a transformed Demon Slayer who has gained the Demon Slayer Marks, on top of having the highest concentration of Muzan's blood, Kokushibo possesses immense physical strength. He is able hold Muichiro Tokito's strongest blow with a single finger without effort, and is capable of wielding a gigantic sword much heavier than a regular katana and swinging it incessantly at immense speeds without rest or much effort. After transforming, Kokushibo was able to slice off Muichiro's arm with his bare hands akin to a blade.

**Immeasurable Speed:** Kokushibo possesses immense levels of speed far surpassing that of all his other Upper Rank brethren, as first shown when he slashed off Akaza's arm before he, or any of the other Upper Rank demons present, realized. He is also capable of darting around so fast he appears to teleport. Kokushibo is shown to be infinitesimally faster than bullets, hence not even coming close to being threatened by Genya's shotgun, doing all the previous feats casually, without putting effort, nor tiring himself to perform such things.

**Tactical Intellect:** Kokushibo has displayed his strategic strength in his fight against Sanemi and Gyomei, adapting to their fighting styles, being backed by five centuries of fighting experience against hundreds of swordsmen. It is unknown how, but Kokushibo was able to overcome Akaza's entire set of abilities, including the Compass Needle, a technique that should be able to hold itself against any fighter.

**Immense Regeneration:** Kokushibo possesses one of the most powerful regenerative abilities in existence, second only to the Demon King, Muzan Kibutsuji.

**Demon Slayer Mark:** Kokushibo awakened his mark when he trained under Yoriichi, and it appears as flames on the top left side of his forehead and the bottom right of his chin.

**Transparent World:** Similar to Yoriichi, Kokushibo not only has the ability to see into the Transparent World, but is also able to always use it. This allows him to see the muscles, blood flow, and joint movement of his opponents. He can accurately predict and anticipate the movements and attacks of his opponents with this ability. He was also able to identify that Muichiro was his descendant, immediately discern that Genya consumed demons to gain strength, as well as tell the strength of Muichiro, Sanemi, and Gyomei with one look, even being able to tell that the latter two's physical body and techniques are at their peak.

**Extrasensory Perception:** Kokushibo can detect the presence of others outside his normal range of perception, as shown when he dodged Genya's gunshots and appeared directly behind him despite Kokushibo looking at the opposite direction.

**Biological Absorption:** Kokushibo possesses the ability to absorb human and demon bodies through physical contact. Although this trait has never been displayed, it is stated that Kokushibo would absorb the demons that challenged him and were defeated. It can likely be assumed that he uses this method as a faster alternative of consuming humans as well.

**Flesh Manipulation:** Like all demons, Kokushibo possesses the ability to manipulate his own flesh to a high degree. Most notoriously, he uses this ability to create an extremely durable and sharp katana, complete with a tsuba and its own scabbard. Due to his katana being made of his own living flesh, Kokushibo is able to easily regenerate parts of the blade should it be destroyed or damaged as he quickly as healing his body, which was shown numerous times when the blade returns to its original shape when Gyomei or Sanemi damaged it with their attacks. Furthermore, he can freely manipulate the form of the blade, shown when he grew three additional blades from the original blade to increase its reach and further increase its size, turning it into a weapon similar to the Shichishito (Seven-Branched Sword).

## **Fighting Style:**

**Master Swordsman:** Due to training and refining his swordsmanship skill for almost 500 years and getting a major boost to his physical capabilities, Kokushibo has become the most powerful and skilled swordsman in the modern era, and the second strongest swordsman in existence, behind his younger twin brother, Yoriichi Tsugikuni. As a Demon Slayer in the golden era, his swordsmanship was already outstanding as he learnt them from Yoriichi himself and later stated that their techniques were so refined and legendary that they have no hopes of it being passed down for future generations. Notably, he was wrong.

With his exceptional sword wielding skill, he could singlehandedly take on three Pillars, Sanemi, Muichiro and Gyomei when they were marked as well as Genya when he assimilated his blood and gain a small portion of his power and had access to Blood Demon Arts. Kokushibo's swordsmanship is further empowered with the development of his own Blood Demon Art, which greatly improves the lethality and power of his techniques, making every single one of his sword swings incredibly deadly

### **Blood Demon Art:**

**Crescent Moon Blades:** Complementing his combat style: Moon Breathing, his Blood Demon Art allows him to create and manipulate dozens of sharp blades shaped like traditional crescent moons from his flesh katana. They are implied to be created from his blood and can be either a bright yellow or a bright blue in color These crescent moon blades are extremely chaotic, constantly changing in size, length and speed, making Kokushibo's attacks extremely unpredictable and unreadable as they have no set pattern. This Blood Demon Art greatly enhances the power of his techniques, making every single one of his sword swings extremely deadly and dangerous. He also seems to be capable of using his Blood Demon Art as long as his katana is unsheathed, allowing him to create crescent moon blades even without swinging his sword or unleashing a technique.

### **Breathing Style:**

**Moon Breathing** (*Tsuki no Kokyu*): Kokushibo is the first demon that utilized Breathing Styles. His Breathing Style, in particular, is one of the most dangerous and powerful ones displayed thus far. Enhanced with his Blood Demon Art, he can create many chaotic crescent moon blades when slashing that vary in length and size in crescent shaped sword attacks. Kokushibo had continued to develop this Breathing Style and had created over a dozen techniques over the centuries he had lived.

#### **Techniques:**

* **First Form: Dark Moon, Evening Palace** *(Ichi no Kata: Yamidzuki - Yoi no Miya)* - The user quickly draws their sword and slashes swiftly in a singular horizontal motion in a crescent shape.

* **Second Form: Pearl Flower Moongazing** *(Ni no Kata: Shuka no Rogetsu)* - The user performs several crescent-shaped slashes that defend him from incoming attacks.

* **Third Form: Loathsome Moon, Chains** *(San no Kata: Enkidzuki - Tsugari)* - The user swings their sword rapidly in two gigantic crescent slashes with an extensive range of attack.

* **Fourth Form: Black Ring, Lunar Eclipse** *(Shi no Kata: Kuromaru - Gesshoku)* - The user will slash in a concentrated 360 degrees attack. This Form possesses an incredible range, and should be used to eliminate threats all around the user.

* **Fifth Form: Moon Spirit Calamitous Eddy** *(Go no Kata: Geppaku Saika)* - The user makes multiple curved slashes layered over one another, creating a rising vortex of sword slashes.

* **Sixth Form: Perpetual Night, Lonely Moon - Incessant** *(Roku no Kata: Tokoyo Kogetsu - Muken)* - The user releases a wild barrage of crescent-shaped slashes several meters in front of them.

* **Seventh Form: Mirror of Misfortune, Moonlit** *(Shichi no Kata: Yakkyo - Dzukibae)* - The user swings their sword in what appears as a powerful frontal crescent-shaped slash but actually are powerful multi-directional long-ranged slashes in the ground.

* **Eighth Form: Moon-Dragon Ringtail** *(Hachi no Kata: Getsuryu Rinbi)* - The user performs a singular gigantic crescent-shaped slash that slowly decreases in size.

* **Ninth Form: Waning Moonswaths** *(Ku no Kata: Kudaridzuki - Renmen)* - The user does a stream of long-ranged crescent-shaped vertical and horizontal slashes

* **Tenth Form: Drilling Slashes, Moon Through Bamboo Leaves** *(Ju no Kata: Senmenzan - Ragetsu)* - The user performs a long-ranged triple-layered slash twister, having an extensive range and destructive capacity

* **Eleventh Form: Fragmented Moon** *(Ju Ichi no Kata: Danpen-ka Shita Tsuki)* - The user will quickly strike downwards at such speeds that it barely looks like they moved. This will often break the floor and leave large slashes on the ground.

* **Twelfth Form: Brilliant Scattering Moondust** *(Ju Ni no Kata: Azayaka Tsukihokori no Sanran)* - The user will perform two powerful, crescent slashes in quick succession in order to clear their surroundings or defend from attacks

* **Thirteenth Form: Moon’s Pull** *(Ju San no Kata: Tsuki no Hiku)* - The user will slash all around themselves with their long sword, used in self-defence or to strike multiple enemies at once

* **Fourteenth Form: Catastrophe, Tenman Crescent Moon** *(Ju Shi no Kata: Kyohen - Tenman Sengetsu)* - The user creates a chaotic vortex of powerful prolonged omni-directional slashes that destroys whatever is caught up within its attack radius.

* **Fifteenth Form: Slicing Waning Moon** *(Ju Go no Kata: Gegen'notsuki Kiru)* - The user dashes past an opponent or a group of opponents, delivering countless slashes in the way at high speeds, with a deceivingly large range

* **Sixteenth Form: Moonbow, Half Moon** *(Ju Roku no Kata: Gekko - Katawaredzuki)* - The user creates a barrage of downward crescent slashes from an extensive and wide range, resulting in a powerful six-fold slash crashing down on his opponents; the attack itself is powerful enough to create several miniature craters where the slashes have landed.

## **Equipment:**

**Kyokokukamusari:** As a former Demon Slayer and user of a Breathing Style, Kokushibo wields a warped version of a Nichirin katana. As suggested by its appearance, the weapon is created from his own flesh and blood, and due to his body's immense durability and hardness, its blade is as sharp, if not more, compared to a normal Nichirin weapon, showing the level of refinement and care that he put into creating the blade, as Nichirin is one of, if not the hardest material known. His sword is blood-red, with veins and his eyes covering the blade and even the handguard. However, it is unknown whether those eyes can be used to extend his vision. His katana's handguard is circular with 4 slight indentations, a center with 3 eyes and several black veins and a golden border. He also carries a sword sheath at his waist that has the same fleshy appearance as his katana.

## **Battles:**

* Kokushibo vs Muichiro, Genya, Sanemi and Gyomei

## **Trivia:**

* Kokushibo's alias can be broken down into the following: [Koku] means "Black", [Shi] means "Death" and [Bo], for "Eye".
	+ Meanwhile, his human name, Michikatsu Tsugikuni has the following meanings: [Michi] means "Sterness, Severity", while [Katsu] means "To prevail, Victory". His surname, however, has [Tsugi] for "To inherit, Succeed" and [Kuni] for "Country"
* Kokushibo has been challenged three times for his position. One of these battles involved Akaza. While Kokushibo would usually absorb the demon he defeated, he let Akaza live because he enjoyed the challenge
* Kokushibo once killed a leader of the Demon Slayer Corps. This caused the Corps to put extreme effort in hiding the residence of future leaders. This event was also the one that caused the Kakushi to be formed.
* It is currently unknown if Kokushibo is aware of Ryo's existence.