Demon Slayer Author Gotouge reveals why Tanjiro never became a hashira

Demon Slayer enjoyed a fairly massive year the biggest anime release of 2025thanks for the great movie Endless castle part 1. The main character of the story, Tanjiro Kamado, was central to the film and fans could see him participating in many intense battles with more to come Infinite Castle Part 2 and Part 3. WITH the level of power that Tanjiro displayed in Demon Slayerfans are really impressed with its potential and naturally many are asking why Tanjiro is not a hashira in the story. After all, it seems to many that he is more than qualified to be considered one.

The truth is that while Tanjira's power is definitely on par with Hashira's by the end of the series, he never met the criteria for promotion to rank. The story also ended too quickly and with Muzan's death it makes no sense Demon Slayers already including Hashira.

Tanjiro never became Hashira in Demon Slayer

• Tanjiro is a slayer on the level of Hashira

• Tanjiro never met the criteria to become a hashira

The Hashira are the strongest group in the Demon Slayer Corpsand they also have the highest rank. Their power is on a whole other level, as the series makes pretty clear, and they're pretty much the best force that can be sent out against demons.

The original Hashira introduced in Demon Slayer consisted of Gyomei, Shinobu, Mitsuri, Sanemi, Giyu, Muichiro, Tengen, Obanai and Rengoku. As the story progressed and before the final battle, Rengoku died and Tengen retired. While fans expected a replacement, there was none. Many fans found this strange, especially as Tanjiro who could be considered a Hashira-level assassinhe could have been promoted.

The truth is that while Tanjiro was indeed as strong as some Hashiraif not stronger, he never met the criteria needed to become one.

Three ways to become a hashira

• Be Tsuguko

• Kill 50 demons as kinoe

• Kill 12 Kizuki with one hand

There are a several ways to get Hashira rank in Demon Slayerand none of them reached Tanjiro. The first, and most direct, is to be Tsuguko, or Hashira's successor. Shinobu, for example, had several Tsugukos like Kanao who could have become Hashira if the war hadn't ended after her death.

Another way to become Hashira is kill 50 random demons as Kinoe Demon Slayer. It is unknown exactly how many demons Tanjiro has killed, but it doesn't matter since his highest official rank is Hinoe.

The last way to become Hashira is kill twelve Kizuki alone. While Tanjiro contributed greatly to many battles against Kizuki, he never defeated one by himself.

It should also be noted that Demon Slayer the story is very short. Tanjiro could eventually be promoted to Hashira, but the battle against Muzan was already over and the demon slayer corps no longer needed to exist, including Hashira.

Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Part 1 is now in theaters. Fans who don't want to wait for the movies to drop can watch the manga on Manga Plus. Meanwhile, for the anime, the series currently has 4 anime seasons. You can find all these anime seasons on Crunchyroll. The rest of the series will be animated into movies, and fans will have to wait for their theatrical release to watch them, depending on their country.

Release date

April 6, 2019

Network

Swimming for adults