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The Hand Demon (手 (て) 鬼 (おに) , Te oni^?) was a notorious Demon who killed thirteen of Sakonji Urokodaki's apprentices, including Sabito and Makomo, as well as at least fifty other would-be Demon Slayers.^[1]

Appearance

The Hand Demon is a large, veiny, hulking monster with olive green skin, blood red fingernails, and yellow eyes with cross-hatch shaped pupils. He used to have a very normal demonic appearance, with regular hair and clothes, but after he started eating multiple humans, he started growing in size. He grew multiple arms and his mouth became huge, with jagged teeth. He grew so many arms that not only was he forced to stop wearing his clothes, using his arms instead to cover himself, he also stopped using his legs, walking on a sort of hand stand.

Personality

The Hand Demon was ruthless in his treatment of humans, immediately killing them and even attacking the ones who fled.^[2] He bore a great hatred for Sakonji Urokodaki, cursing him for defeating and trapping him in the wisteria-riddled Fujikasaneyama,^[3] and vowing to kill all of his apprentices.^[4] This Demon also had a sadistic side, gleefully explaining his murder of Sabito and Makomo to Tanjiro Kamado.^[5] Despite this, the Hand Demon had a deep fear of death, being too afraid to close his eyes after Tanjiro beheaded him.^[6]

When he was human, he had a habit of asking his older brother to hold his hand, a trait which made his sibling label him a scaredy-cat.^[7] In his final moments, the Hand Demon extended a hand to Tanjiro for him to hold, shedding tears of gratitude when his request was granted.^[8]

History

During the Edo Period's Keiō era, the Hand Demon was transformed into a demon by Kibutsuji Muzan and proceeded to kill and eat at least one person, that being his older brother. He was soon tracked down and captured by a young Sakonji Urokodaki, and incarcerated on Fujikasane Mountain to serve as one of the Final Selection obstacle demons. He bears a strong hatred of Urokodaki for robbing him of his freedom that kept him going through the ages, killing all the disciples of Urokodaki that he could find. He was finally slain by Tanjiro Kamado during the Final Selection Arc.

Synopsis

Final Selection Arc

The Hand Demon targets several potential Demon Slayers, killing one and pursuing another. Manipulating his limb-based body structure, the aforementioned Demon stretches out a limb to catch the unfortunate soul, only to have it severed by Tanjiro using the Water Breathing: Second Form - Water Wheel . Taking note of his interloper, the Demon notes that he is another "cute fox".^[9]

He asks the would-be Demon Hunter what year of the Meiji era it is, only to be informed it is currently the Taishō era, which enrages him. Cursing Sakonji for trapping him in the wisteria-riddled Fujikasane Mountain, the Demon irately explains to Tanjiro how he was captured by his master during the Edo Period's Keiō era. His first intended victim accuses him of lying due to the nature of the Demons captured for the Final Selection, but the Hand Demon nonetheless claimed to have eaten fifty kids. He then notes that Tanjiro was the fourteenth apprentice of Sakonji's he had encountered, having killed and eaten all the others. He describes the two that stood out in his memory the most, a boy with pink hair and a scar at the corner of his mouth, and a girl with flower-patterned clothing and quick, light movements. Explaining the significance of the fox mask that Sakonji had given to Tanjiro, the Demon mocks his victims' collective fate, especially Makomo's initial reaction to it.^[10]

This enrages Tanjiro, who charges at him, chopping apart the various limbs the spite-filled creature attacked him with. However, one of the deadly villain's limbs gets through Tanjiro's line of attack, delivering a solid punch that knocks the enraged youth unconscious. The Hand Demon stretches several of its limbs out towards him, only for them to be dodged at the last second. Getting these appendages severed as well, the crafty Demon attempts to catch his foe off-guard with a surprise attack from beneath the ground. This is also dodged, but the undeterred mutant extends a massive limb towards the falling youth, which is countered with a solid headbutt. Noting that he doesn't have any more hands to utilize, the desperate Demon decides to solidify the defenses around his neck, Tanjiro's Water Breathing: First Form - Water Surface Slash following moments later.^[11]

As the blow strikes, the Hand Demon notes that it's making the same sound as Sakonji's had, calling the latter's name out in fearful anger. The attack completely severs the many-handed foe's head, the Demon panics over his rapidly approaching death. Assuming that Tanjiro would look at him with disdain as he died, he is instead shocked to see the youth's eyes filled with sorrow. The Demon extends an arm out to his opponent, who respectfully clutches it, praying that he would never again turn into a Demon when he reincarnated. Shedding tears as he recalled his past, the Hand Demon crumbles into nothingness.^[12]

Abilities and Powers

The Hand Demon was by far the most powerful of his kin in Mt. Fujikasane, having eaten a total of 50 humans, well above the average of 1-2 humans like the rest of all the Demons in the area. 13 of those victims were Urokodaki's disciples, well speaking of his battle prowess.

• Flesh Manipulation: Like all demons, this demon possesses the ability to manipulate his own flesh. In his case, the Hand Demon could manipulate his body to extend his multiple arms to several meters in length. He could do this with many of his arms at once and could either attack with a barrage of arms, or cluster his flesh into a bigger arm. He could put his arms to strategic use by even being able to burrow them underground and assault an unsuspecting target from beneath them.
• Enhanced Resilience: The Hand Demon was infamous for his notoriously hard neck muscles which allowed him to fracture blades aimed at it. Since beheading is the preferred method to defeat Demons, this characteristic effectively downplayed his main weakness. He is not immune, however, to blade attacks, as a sufficiently strong slash can in fact decapitate him.
  • Pain Tolerance: The Hand Demon's pain threshold is enormous, as evidenced by the fact he didn't so much as flinch despite the multitude of limbs that he lost in combat. He even scratched his own body in frustration and anger to the point of bleeding, yet the only thing he could feel was rage, not pain.

Battles

Trivia

Quotes

References