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“	We Demon Slayers have eternal permanence... until every single evil Demon has been eradicated from this world.	”
	— Gyomei Himejima to Kokushibo, Chapter 168

Gyomei Himejima (悲 (ひ) 鳴 (め) 嶼 (じま) 行 (ぎょう) 冥 (めい) , Himejima Gyōmei^?) is a major supporting character of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. He is also a Demon Slayer and the Stone Hashira (岩 (いわ) 柱 (ばしら) , Iwa Bashira^?) of the Demon Slayer Corps. He also serves as the mentor of Genya Shinazugawa.

Appearance

Gyomei is a hulking figure among the Demon Slayers. He is one of the tallest characters in the series, easily towering over his fellow Hashira. He is powerfully built and extremely muscular. He has spiky black hair and a prominent scar running horizontally across his forehead. Having been blind since childhood, he has white eyes with no visible irises or pupils. His eyes frequently tear-up when he gets emotional.

Gyomei wears the black and white uniform typical of a Demon Slayer, with an olive green happi draped over his shoulders. He also sports a large-beaded necklace around his neck and carries ojuzu when he is not engaged in battle.

His left leg was later severed during his fight with Muzan.^[3]

Personality

Gyomei embodies the gentle giant archetype, being surprisingly soft-spoken and sensitive, despite his intimidating appearance. He is also shown to be quite pious, carrying his prayer beads at all times and offering prayers in poignant situations.

Though he maintains a fairly reserved disposition, Gyomei harbors a very objective and somewhat suspicious view of the people around him, owing to his experiences before becoming a Demon Slayer. He is ever-cognizant of what others, particularly children or those younger than him, are capable of if given the opportunity. By reason of his doubtful nature, it can take a while for Gyomei to completely accept and trust others. When he does open up and let others in, he is unwavering in his commitment to them.

Abilities and Powers

As a Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, Gyomei is a very powerful swordsman.^[4] He is stated by both Tanjiro and Inosuke Hashibira to be the strongest Demon Slayer in the entire Demon Slayer Corps.^[5] This is further given credence by Upper Rank 1, Kokushibo, who noted that Gyomei's natural physical abilities have been trained to their absolute peak and also stated that in the last three hundred years, he has not encountered a warrior of Gyomei's caliber.^[6] He was able put up a fight against the strongest Upper Rank for a brief time without the use of his Demon Slayer Mark, further showing the extent of his skill.^[7] As the Stone Hashira, Gyomei utilizes a stone-based combat style.

Natural Abilities

• Master Swordsman: Being a Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, Gyomei is one of the most powerful and skilled swordsmen in the entire organization.^[4]
  • Spiked Flail And Axe Proficiency: Gyomei wields a swinging/whipping weapon similar to a kusarigama, consisting of an ono (axe) attached to a spiked flail via a long chain. To compensate for his lack of sight, Gyomei utilizes the sound of the chain to direct the motion of the axe and flail, allowing him to wield the weapon effectively. The weapon was forged from the same metals used in the creation of Nichirin Blades. Its craftsmanship in particular is noted for being incredibly high-class, and even superior to the swords forged during the Sengoku period, when swordsmithing was at the peak of development. Even the Upper Rank 1, Kokushibo could not cut through the chain and was forced to instead resort to close-range combat.^[8]

• Enhanced Hearing: Due to being blind, Gyomei has compensated and alternated his senses to adapt to his condition, effectively developing a superhuman sense of hearing, being able to hear the sound of Muzan Kibutsuji's flesh regeneration during their brief confrontation.^[9] Later during his battle with Upper Rank 1, Kokushibo noticed that Gyomei uses the sound of his chains rattling to tell the exact position the chain is in and uses that to guide his axe and flail during combat.^[10]

• Enhanced Physical Prowess: As a member of the Hashiras, his physique has been increased to superhuman levels through years of harsh training combined with the use of the Total Concentration: Constant (全 (ぜん) 集 (しゅう) 中 (ちゅう) ・常 (じょう) 中 (ちゅう) , Zen Shūchū Jōchū^?). The members of the Hashira in general have incredible movement speed, all of them have displayed the capability to use blinding bursts of speed that make it seem like they teleported to even talented swordsman like Tanjiro Kamado. The Hashira also possess incredible physical strength, shown when a severely weakened Kyojuro Rengoku could hold down a an Upper Rank Demon with his bare hands, Giyu Tomioka and Shinobu Kocho who can leap great distances effortlessly and Gyomei who can move gigantic boulders with his bare hands. They also possess superhuman stamina and durability, being able to fight for nearly hours with severe injuries.
  • Immense Strength: Gyomei possesses immense physical strength, as shown when he uses his strength to push a large boulder bigger than him through a town.^[11] Through "Repetitive Actions", he is capable of doing a set of pre-determined movements in order to maximize concentration.^[12] Even before undergoing training as a Demon slayer, Gyomei had already possessed incredible strength despite having a weak build at the time he discovered his abilities.^[13]
  • Immense Reflexes: During their battle, Kokushibo noted that in stark contrast to Gyomei's large physical build, he possesses extremely fast and quick reflexes being able to easily move around his body to avoid all of his attacks, the Upper Rank even remarking that the ease and the grace that he moved was almost too absurd to believe.^[14]
  • Immense Endurance: Gyomei possesses tremendous levels of physical endurance, able to take multiple attacks from Kokushibo, the Upper Rank 1, receiving only minor injuries and continues to fight.^[15][16]

• Enhanced Mental Prowess: As a seasoned swordsman who underwent incredibly harsh and intense training, Gyomei possesses above average mental capabilities. He could process information and think clearly at supernatural speeds, proven by fighting Upper Rank Demons, who can think at equally or slightly faster speeds. As another testament to his mental capabilities, he has incredible concentration abilities and wits. With an arsenal of techniques at his disposal, Gyomei has to be really decisive and sagacious when using them, proven when he could hold his own against Kokushibo and Muzan Kibutsuji.
  • Keen Intellect: Gyomei has displayed keen intellect and judgement abilities while fighting. Upon seeing Muzan's special constitution, he immediately deduced that he needed to attack all twelve of his vital organs simultaneously to deal significant damage to him. When fighting against Kokushibo, he realised that the Upper Rank was overpowering him in a way that was supernatural but still could be obtained or countered somehow. When he gained access to the Transparent World, he surmised that his eyes gave him the ability to access this special world as well and instinctively learned how to use this to his advantage, even going as far as to manipulating his own blood flow and breathing to disrupt Kokushibo's attacks.

• Demon Slayer Mark: Later during his battle against Upper Rank 1, Gyomei displayed that he too, has awakened his mark, appearing as cracked earth fissure like patterns on both of his forearms.^[17] When activated it drastically increases his physical and mental abilities, allowing him to fight the Upper Rank 1 for long a period of time.^[18]
  • Crimson Red Nichirin Blade: During the battle against Kokushibo, Sanemi strikes Gyomei's spiked flail with his sword, turning both of them briefly red.^[19] Later in the battle against Muzan, Gyomei is able to turn both his spiked flail and axe red by striking them together.^[20]
  • Transparent World (透 (す) き通 (とお) る世 (せ) 界 (かい) , Sukitōru Sekai^?): A different perspective of the world. Despite being blind, Gyomei gained the ability to see a perfect image of his enemies in his mind and sense them naturally.^[21]

Swordsmanship

Stone Breathing (岩 (いわ) の呼 (こ) 吸 (きゅう) , Iwa no kokyū^?): One of the five main Breathing Styles derived from the Sun Breathing. Based on the only user in the series, Gyomei Himejima, it can be assumed that Stone Breathing can only be used with a flail and axe. The Stone Breathing involves sturdy and heavy attacks that optimize the surrounding earth to maximize the technique's potential.

1. First Form: Serpentinite Bipolar (壱 (いち) ノ型 (かた) 蛇 (じゃ) 紋 (もん) 岩 (がん) ・双 (そう) 極 (きょく) , Ichi no kata: Jamongan Sōkyoku^?) - Gyomei throws both the flail and axe towards his intended target and manipulates the chain by rotating it thus causing the axe and flail to also rotate in order to drill and grind right though his target.^[22]
2. Second Form: Upper Smash (弐 (に) ノ型 (かた) 天 (てん) 面 (めん) 砕 (くだ) き, Ni no Kata: Tenmen Kudaki^?) - Gyomei throws both his axe and spiked flail for a pincer move before smashing down on the chain to cause the flail to then rebound and smash his target from afar.^[23]
3. Third Form: Stone Skin (参 (さん) ノ型 (かた) 岩 (がん) 軀 (く) の膚 (はだえ) , San no Kata: Ganku no Hadae^?) - Himejima unleashes a series of slashes with his axe deflecting nearby attacks.^[24]
4. Fourth Form: Volcanic Rock - Rapid Conquest (肆 (し) ノ型 (かた) 流 (りゅう) 紋 (もん) 岩 (がん) ・速 (そく) 征 (せい) , Shi no Kata: Ryūmongan - Sokusei^?) - Gyomei manipulates both the flail and axe weapons at both ends of the chain by swing the chain on both sides in order to strike his opponents using a two-pronged wide-ranged attack.^[25]
5. Fifth Form: Arcs of Justice (伍 (ご) ノ型 (かた) 瓦 (が) 輪 (りん) 刑 (ぎょう) 部 (ぶ) , Go no kata: Garin Gyōbu^?) - Gyomei strikes his opponent with a simultaneous axe and iron ball barrage.^[26]

Battles

Trivia

• Gyomei is blind, thus explaining the reason for the lack of pupils in his eyes. It is unknown whether an incident had caused him to be blind or he was born like this.^[27]
• According to Tengen Uzui, Gyomei was one of the two people who became a Hashira only two months after becoming a Demon Slayer, the other being Muichiro Tokito.^[28]
• Even after turning 14 years old, Sayo still wants to apologize to Gyomei for the misunderstanding.^[29]
• Gyomei is the only known Hashira who doesn't use a Nichirin Blade, instead favoring a set of chained axes.
• "Namu Amida Butsu" also known as Nembutsu, is a chant from the Shin Buddhism. A common translation is: "I entrust myself to the Buddha of Infinite Light and Life."
• Gyomei is the only Hashira besides Muichiro and Shinobu to have a personal connection to an Upper Rank, that being Upper Rank 6, Kaigaku. Kaigaku was one of the orphaned children under Himejima's care at the temple, and would later be directly responsible for a Demon attack that resulted in the death of all the children except Sayo.
• Gyomei is often depicted with tears streaming down his face. It's later revealed in an extra chapter that he cries extremely easily at almost anything, even crying for something as minor as when the garbage is messy. He was taught by a fellow monk.
• Gyomei loves cats, a trait he has in common with the Love Hashira, Mitsuri Kanroji.
• One of Gyomei's hobbies is playing the shakuhachi, a type of flute. Once, when he played for too long, his grandmother hit him with a broom.^[30]
• Gyomei shares his Japanese and English voice actors with Kyon from The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya.

Quotes

• (To Tanjiro Kamado) "If a demon had never attacked... I would never have known my own strength."^[13]
• (To Kokushibo) "For example, even if the mark had not appeared, as long as you are in the Demon Slayer Corps there is no guarantee you will live to tomorrow. Why would I cling to life at this point? No one becomes a Hashira with such half-hearted determination. That horrible insult... makes me boil with anger."^[31]

References