All 9 Demon Slayer Hashira Ranked by Strength (The Complete Pillar Guide)

The Hashira — the nine Pillars of the Demon Slayer Corps — are the strongest human swordsmen in Demon Slayer. Ranking them is a fan blood sport, so here's a clear, defensible list from "weakest" (still terrifyingly strong) to the literal strongest, with each one's breathing style explained.

9. Mitsuri Kanroji — Love Hashira

Mitsuri uses Love Breathing, a flexible, acrobatic style she invented (derived from Flame). She has a genuinely superhuman trait — unusually dense muscle fibre that gives her freakish strength for her frame. She lands lowest mostly because her feats are fewer, not because she's weak.

8. Shinobu Kocho — Insect Hashira

The only Hashira who can't decapitate demons by force — so she built Insect Breathing around wisteria-based poisons instead. In a pure-strength ranking she's low; in a "who could kill a demon no one else could" ranking, she's irreplaceable. Read more in our breathing styles guide.

7. Tengen Uzui — Sound Hashira

A retired-shinobi flamboyance machine who uses Sound Breathing and twin cleavers. His combat sense and explosive techniques make him a brutal frontline fighter, especially in the Entertainment District.

6. Muichiro Tokito — Mist Hashira

A prodigy who reached Hashira rank in a matter of months using Mist Breathing. His ceiling is enormous — he carries the bloodline of a legendary swordsman — and he climbs fast when it matters most.

5. Kyojuro Rengoku — Flame Hashira

The fan-favourite. Flame Breathing, total conviction, and one of the most important fights in the whole series. Rengoku's ceiling against an Upper Moon demon is exactly why he's remembered as a standard-setter.

4. Obanai Iguro — Serpent Hashira

Serpent Breathing, a winding blade, and ruthless precision. Obanai is one of the most technically skilled Hashira and shines brightest in the final battles.

3. Sanemi Shinazugawa — Wind Hashira

Aggressive, relentless, and physically monstrous, Sanemi uses Wind Breathing and has a rare blood type that's intoxicating to demons — a weapon in its own right. Pure offensive pressure.

2. Giyu Tomioka — Water Hashira

Quiet, stoic, and devastating. Giyu's Water Breathing mastery — plus an eleventh form of his own creation — puts him at the very top tier of the Corps. He's frequently cited as second only to one man.

1. Gyomei Himejima — Stone Hashira

Canonically the strongest Hashira. Stone Breathing, a spiked flail and axe on a chain, and raw physical power that makes him the closest of his generation to the legendary swordsmen of old. When the series needs its single most powerful human, it's Gyomei.

Make your own Hashira

Designing a Pillar OC? Give them a breathing style derived from one of the five mains, a Nichirin colour that matches, a distinctive haori, and a personality flaw that shapes how they fight. Our Demon Slayer OC creator lets you set faction (including Hashira), breathing style, haori pattern, Nichirin colour and a demon-slayer mark.

Hashira FAQ

Is Giyu stronger than Gyomei?

Giyu is widely placed second, but the series explicitly frames Gyomei as the strongest of the nine. Giyu himself defers to Gyomei's power.

Which Hashira survived the series?

We'll keep this spoiler-free — but the final battle is costly, and the fates of the Hashira are a major part of the story's emotional weight. Watch it; it earns every moment.