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“	I became a demon and lost my memories. I wanted strength once again. Even though there wasn't a single thing I wanted to protect. I really didn't want to live in a world where I lost my family. But for over a hundred years, I kept pointlessly murdering over and over again. Yet at the end of the day, It's just a pathetic, comical, uninteresting story.	”
	— Akaza, Chapter 155

Akaza (猗 (あ) 窩 (か) 座 (ざ) , Akaza^?) is a major antagonist of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, and is the secondary antagonist in the Mugen Train Arc. He is also a member of the Twelve Kizuki, holding the position of Upper Rank Three (上 (じょう) 弦 (げん) の参 (さん) , Jōgen no San^?).^[2] When he was human, his name was Hakuji (伯 (はく) 治 (じ) , Hakuji^?).

Appearance

As a Demon, Akaza took the form of a muscular young man with skin so fair that appears bright green-tinged white, decorated by a pattern of thick blue lines, which resemble the criminal tattoos he had as a human. The lines on his face curved through each of his eyes from below his ears to over his temples, another blue line running from the center of his hairline to the bridge of his nose, with two more lines running around his neck, three others branching off the lower one to his torso.

The center line ran directly down his chest to halfway down his stomach, and the other two branched off to the sides over each side of his chest to join the two other lines, this same three-line pattern there also repeating around his waist.

On his arms there were lines running down the front of his shoulders that ran into to two more, which went around his biceps, before continuing to run down to his wrists, below which it could be seen that each of his fingers is also dark blue with an orange fingernail, his toes also sharing this unusual appearance.

Akaza had short, bright pink hair that fluffed out around his head, and inward-tilting yellow eyes with pink eyelashes and blue sclera that looked somewhat like cracked glass, the kanji for "Upper Rank Three" etched into their irises.

He wore little, only sporting a short, sleeveless dark purple-pink haori that was cut off at his waist, left open to expose his chest, that was decorated by a square pattern on his back. Below this, he sported a pair of baggy white pants that he rolled to just below the knee with a blue rope belt to secure them at his waist. Akaza prefers to go barefoot, but wears a chain of large round pearls around each of his ankles.

During his human days as Hakuji, he had the same hair, just colored black rather than pink, and pale blue eyes with unusually-colored pink eyelashes. He was also very muscular as a human, and, on each of his forearms, he bore three black criminal tattoos.

He wore a dark blue-gray yukata.

Gallery

Personality

Akaza is a strong, stubborn and impulsive Demon who enjoyed fighting, especially strong Demon Slayers. He looked down on anybody he deemed weak, but genuinely respected those who were strong in his eyes, regardless of their race. Once he met someone he deems strong, he demanded to know their name, and would not stop until he finds out; he remembers all the names he's committed to memory as tribute to their strength.^[3]

Akaza had a deeply-rooted psychological need to become stronger, and did not get along with his fellow Upper Ranks due to him seeing them as his rivals.^[4] He is especially antagonistic towards and even appeared jealous of the two Upper Rank above him, Doma and Kokushibo, lashing out at Doma^[4][5] and vowing to kill Kokushibo.^[6] Even after being beaten down and beheaded during his fight against Tanjiro Kamado and Giyu Tomioka, he stubbornly held on and continued to fight despite not even knowing why he wanted more power.^[7]

As a human, Hakuji possessed the same stubborn personality with a big heart and resilience.^[8] He valued others more than his own well-being, and hated himself for having a life "full of empty words and promises." Even after becoming a Demon and losing his memories of his human life, parts of Hakuji's memories influenced Akaza's decisions; he refuses to eat women, despite knowing it would make him stronger if he did so.^[9] His hatred of weak, cowardly people stemmed from a corruption of his human memories, where a rivaling dojo poisoned his dojo's well because they were never able to beat him.^[10]

Later after remembering the entirety of his past and all of his regrets as a human and demon, Akaza was shown to have openly begun hating himself and all of his shortcomings during his life where he wasn't there to save or protect everyone that he loved and cared for and later admitted that the person he really wanted to kill all along was himself.

Abilities and Powers

As the holder of the 'Upper Rank 3' title, Akaza possessed a tremendous amount of power, having been able to defeat Kyojuro Rengoku, the Flame Hashira,^[11] and also several past Hashira,^[12] according to what he stated. Later, he is able to fight and overwhelm both Tanjiro and Giyu, even when they were both Hashira-level swordsman were using their Demon Slayer Marks and Tanjiro had access the "Transparent World". If not for Akaza losing his will to continue fighting, he would have certainly killed both of them. In a further testament to his might, he is capable of becoming the holder of the Upper Rank 3 title and the fourth-strongest Demon in the series without killing or eating any women,^[13] which would've hindered his growth as a Demon drastically.

Human Abilities

• Master Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Akaza's most notable ability as a human and as a demon is his supernatural skill in unarmed combat. Even before transforming into a demon, Akaza has displayed his prodigious abilities in various forms of close ranged combat, being able to intuitively create his own fighting style which was shown to completely law waste to several grown men at the age of 11.^[14] When he was 18, he could annihilate 67 adult kendo masters with just his fists.^[15] After becoming a demon, this skill was further augmented to the point he could effectively fight at subsonic speeds^[16] while fully utilizing his martial arts skills for both offense and defense. Furthermore, when combined with his Blood Demon Art, makes every single of his blows and strikes incredibly lethal, making him unparalleled in unarmed combat.
  • Soryu Style (素流 (そりゅう) 式 (しき) , Soryū Shiki^?):^[17] A bare-fisted martial arts style taught to him by Keizo when he lived with him and took care of Koyuki. He used it to kill 67 kendo masters with ease^[15] and it is the main inspiration of his Destructive Kill Style used when he became Akaza.^[16]
    • Bell Crusher: A technique likely created or inspired from the Soryu Style where Akaza strikes a sword from the side as it is descending to break it with ease.

• Enhanced Strength: At the age of 11, he is able to completely knock several grown men unconscious in a fight with nothing but his bare fists and legs.^[14] At the age of 18, even before he became a demon, he is easily able to decapitate, dismember and mutilate 67 armed adult kendo masters with his bare fists,^[15] to the point that even Muzan thought that it is a Demon who performed these feats.^[18]

• Enhanced Endurance:^[19] Prior to being transformed into a Demon, Akaza (Hakuji) demonstrated superhuman endurance at the age of 11 as he endured beatings that could make a grown man go numb (100 beatings) thus earning the title of "Demon Child."

Demon Abilities

• Supernatural Physical Prowess: As the one of the strongest Upper Ranks, Akaza's physical capabilities have been augmented to supernatural levels due to the high concentration of Muzan's blood present in him. The base level speed of an Upper Rank can reach subsonic,^[16] proven when he was moving so fast that even two extremely talented swordsman, Tanjiro Kamado and Inosuke Hashibira could only perceive sparks and dust clouds from his blinding movements, the same goes for their immense reflexes and reaction time. The base level physical strength of an Upper Rank is superhuman as well, proven when the weakest Upper Rank, Daki, could punch a hole into a building with her fists.^[20] The durability of an Upper Rank's skin and flesh is way stronger than Nichirin, proven when the neck of the second weakest Lower Rank, Rui, couldn't be cut by Tanjiro Kamado.^[21] Giyu Tomioka also noted that all Upper Rank Demons have limitless stamina and never suffer from fatigue.^[22]
  • Immense Speed: Akaza is extremely fast, as shown during his fight with Kyojuro when Tanjiro states that they were moving so fast his eyes couldn't follow their movements.^[16] Even Giyu Tomioka expressed his disbelief and shock over Akaza's supernatural speed.^[23]
  • Immense Strength: Akaza possessed tremendous physical strength, as shown when he easily breaks Giyu's sword in half with a single side punch despite the latter swinging his blade down.^[24] He is able to easily destroy the head of Upper Rank 2,^[25] Doma, with his arm and easily pierce through Kyojuro's stomach.^[26] Combined with his Blood Demon Art, he is capable of causing a crater on the ground by simply punching it.^[27]
  • Enhanced Regeneration: Akaza possessed one of the most incredible regenerative abilities in the series. He is able to regenerate from slash wounds inflicted by Tanjiro and Rengoku and even lost limbs inflicted by Giyu with little effort. During his battle against Giyu and Tanjiro, his regeneration evolved even further. He is able to survive even after having his head cut off^[28] and then is able to regenerate a new one,^[29] a feat only Muzan had accomplished beforehand.

• Enhanced Mental Prowess: Like all Upper Rank Demons, who harbor extremely high concentration of Muzan Kibutsuji's blood, Akaza possesses superhuman mental capabilities. He could process information and think clearly at supernatural speeds, proven by fighting Hashira, who can think at equally or slightly slower speeds. As another testament to his mental capabilities, he has incredible concentration abilities and wits. He can split his focus on multiple opponents while still overwhelming them, he can also easily adapt to different combat situations and conceive combat strategies while engaging in combat.

• Indomitable Will: Akaza possesses an undaunted will and spirit. Despite being beheaded by Tanjiro's Nichirin Blade, he refused to disintegrate and die, instead forcing his headless body to keep fighting. He pushed his regeneration to evolve to the point where he could regrow his head, all because he simply refused to allow himself to lose. Even before he became a Demon, he would relentlessly take blows from opponents way bigger than him and receive countless beatings all because of his goal to heal his sick father.^[14]

Blood Demon Art (血 (けっ) 鬼 (き) 術 (じゅつ) , Kekkijutsu^?):

• Shockwave Manipulation: Akaza's Blood Demon Art grants him the ability to generate and manipulate shockwaves from the sheer pressure created by his fists and legs when striking. The shockwaves appear to be the same shade of blue as his tattoos and can be unleashed in both close and far range. This ability combined with his superhuman strength makes him a formidable opponent in both close and ranged combat.

Techniques

Akaza has a unique ability called Technique Development (術 (じゅつ) 式 (しき) 展 (てん) 開 (かい) , Jutsushiki tenkai^?).^[30] Akaza starts by initiating a stance unique to the Soryu Style. Currently, there are 2 versions of the stance. The first stance is performed by bending his knees in a half-crouch position, extending his right arm with a half-clenched fist facing his body and bending his left arm with an open palm; The second version nearly identical except he opens his palm on his right arm while fully clenching his fists in a downwards bend on his left arm.

Battles

Trivia

• Akaza was the only Demon of the Twelve Kizuki who refused to eat or kill women, and was given special permission to do so.^[9]
• Akaza was one of Muzan's favorites since he was loyal and serious.^[44]
• Akaza's Technique Deployment ability forms the shape of a snowflake; possibly due to the influence of his fiancée (Koyuki's name contains the kanji for "snow", and she wears three snowflake-shaped hairpins).
• Many of Akaza's attacks and techniques are named after fireworks, a reference to his promise to Koyuki to see the fireworks.
• Akaza is the only member of the deceased Upper Ranks who encountered the people he knew in life while disappearing. There are two members of the Twelve Kizuki who have been shown experiencing this, the other being Rui.
• Akaza is the fourth Demon who was able to overcome Muzan's influence over himself by willing himself to stop regenerating and die, the other three being Tamayo, Nezuko Kamado and Kokushibo.

Quotes

• (To Giyu Tomioka) "Elegant!! That's developed sword technique! Wonderful! State your name! What is your name?! I want to remember it!"^[45]
• (When Muzan Kibutsuji offers to turn him into a Demon) "Don't... care... anymore. I don't care... about... anything."^[46]
• (About himself) "For over a hundred years I committed pointless acts of carnage. It's a horribly sad... laughable... and ridiculous story."^[47]
• (To Koyuki) "Forgive me! Forgive me! I'm sorry I couldn't protect you! I'm sorry I wasn't with you when you needed me! I couldn't keep... a single promise!! Forgive me! Please forgive me!"^[48]

References