Tanjiro Kamado is the kindhearted protagonist of Demon Slayer who became a Demon Slayer to cure his sister Nezuko after she’s turned to a demon by Muzan Kibutsuji joining the Corps to revenge his family and protect the human race learning the skill of Water Breathing and later Sun Breathing (Hinokami Kagura) from the legacy of his family and his incredible sense of smell and empathy making him a unique and determined hero with a signature checkered haori and Hanafuda earrings.
Appearance
Tanjiro is a young man of average standing with lightly tan skin and athletic and muscular build. His hair is ruffled and black with red strands (appearing black which turns to burgundy on the tips in anime) and swept back in order to show his forehead.
His eyes are broad and dark red, fading to the extent of burgundy with white pupils which are paler toward the lower section of the iris, while the upper part is considerably darker.
He has a visible scar on the upper left of his forehead, the first observed after his mother brought him to see his father perform the Hinokami Kagura dance.
Originally, it was a light pink patchy mark – an injury he sustained after saving one of his siblings from a hot brazier. It remained so until his battle with the Hand Demon during Final Selection after which it changed to a dark red jagged mark.
Later, during Hashira Training, it evolved again into a true, permanent flame-like (or demon) pattern – his Demon Slayer Mark. It is also mentioned that Tanjiro’s hands are very rough for a man his age, in evidence for the heavy training he received at the hands of Sakonji Urokodaki.
In appearance, Tanjiro is a lot like his ancestor Sumiyoshi, with the same facial features, the same eyes, and the same hairstyle – except Sumiyoshi’s hair was longer, reaching shoulder length with a ponytail at the back.
Tanjiro is seen at first with a checkered, black and biscay green haori on a white robe and black pants.
He sometimes wears a turquoise scarf and appears to be wearing circular, white bands around his calves.
He also wears a different pair of hanafuda earrings with the image of the rising, red sun, over the top of a mountain.
His hair is also held back with a small ponytail or bun in it; as he trains with Sabito and Makomo, his hair reaches his shoulders.
After getting transmuted into a demon by Muzan, Tanjiro is able to heal from the growth on his face as well as regrow his lost arm and other smaller injuries.
He acquires eyes with slit pupils, fangs, and flame-shaped marks over his left forehead and right jaw reminiscent of those of Kokushibo, as well as a third and 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 fire pattern as if it is a permanent Demon Slayer Mark, has become longer and is the largest out of the three. All three marks vaguely point towards his nose, though only his scar-mark reaches the nose.
He still wears his ripped corps uniform stained with blood, one sleeve torn off from where his arm was broken off, but loses his checkered haori and the Nichirin Sword on his hip.
After being reverted back to his human form, Tanjiro lost the eye sight of his right eye as it is now a dull pink-gray color with a black pupil instead of white, its original color.
His left arm, which he grew back as Demon took on the appearance of such though he might have as an elderly person the arm was wrinkled and skeletal and he lost all feeling part of it, below the elbow and thus having the ability to move it from his forearm down.
Abilities
From the start Tanjiro was found to be a prodigious fighter, having a strong natural aptitude for fighting, in particular with a sword.
Tanjiro was already introduced to possess above-average human capabilities such as honed senses, a keen sense of smell, enormous willpower and great intellect.
His natural abilities that he obtained go so far as to be able to outsmart and catch Giyu Tomioka – one of the most experienced Demon Slayers – off-guard and nearly get in a blow on him despite being clouded with intense emotions.
Furthermore, in the first time when one of the demons, the Temple Demon, was met by Tanjiro, he was able to slash the neck, which impressed him.
Later on, he was able to fend off the demon with the use of a normal hatchet, coming up with some unique solutions to the problems between them that include using his strong head to head-butt the Temple Demon and also using his hatchet to stick him to the ground to prevent him from making any movements.
After officially joining the Demon Slayer Corps, Tanjiro encounters many more powerful and skilled demons, who use Blood Demon Arts for the most part.
Against the Swamp Demon Tanjiro and Nezuko had managed to overcome the demon and its clones saving the lives of an innocent woman and bystander in the process.
When pitted against the likes of Yahaba and Susamaru, more skilled and fearful demons than before, due to his tactical intellect and swordsmanship skills Tanjiro was able to behead Yahaba alone as well as managing to hold his own against Susamaru.
During his mission in the Tsuzumi Mansion, Tanjiro met with Kyogai, a former member of the Twelve Kizuki, an organization of the twelve strongest demons in existence, and was able to analyse and accommodate to his unorthodox mansion-shifting Blood Demon Art and defeat him.
Despite his still being the lowest rank in the organization, Tanjiro was able to hold his own against demons that shared the powers of an actual member of the Twelve Kizuki, namely the Mother and Father of the Spider Family, and later held his own against the member himself Rui considering his position was Lower Rank Five.
After recalling the Hinokami Kagura, a Breathing Style he learned from father as a child, he almost has defeated the Lower Rank demon, a feat that many thought was only possible for Hashira, the strongest swordsmen in the entirety of the Demon Slayer Corps.
