Giyu Tomioka is the protagonist of Demon Slayer''s opening scene. The night Tanjiro finds his family slaughtered and Nezuko caught between human and demon — Giyu is the slayer who arrives first. He''s about to kill Tanjiro; Nezuko shielding her brother stops him. That tiny hesitation starts the entire story.
What sets him apart
Giyu is the quietest Hashira. Short sentences, no small talk, no humor. His half-black, half-patterned haori (kimono jacket) is impossible to miss — the origin of that pattern is the character''s deepest wound. (Spoiler-free: two people lost in childhood.)
Combat style: Water Breathing, the eleven forms taught by master Sakonji Urokodaki, plus his own Eleventh Form: Dead Calm — a technique he hid from the other Hashira for years. The form parries an opponent''s attack with absolute stillness; the character''s inner world expressed in motion.
His place in the story
Giyu carries the question "what does it actually mean to be a Hashira" deeper than anyone else. He has none of the other Hashira''s confidence, joking ease or commanding presence. What he has instead is a running "do I deserve this rank" — which makes him one of the most relatable Hashira for the audience.
His relationship with Tanjiro is one of the series'' core mentorships. Giyu isn''t the first to tell Tanjiro he could be a real Water Breathing user — but he''s the first Hashira to accept Tanjiro''s claim to that lineage. Their fight together in the final arc lands as one of the show''s most celebrated scenes.
Tracking on Episodo
Giyu''s role never thins across the 4 seasons; he surfaces in every critical moment. To avoid losing the thread between seasons, the Episodo extension (Crunchyroll, Netflix, Disney+ supported) tracks every episode to your watchlist with the last-watched timestamp clearly visible.
