At the end of Demon Slayer’s latest TV story arc, Tanjiro and his allies had just finished slaying a pair of demon siblings who collectively ranked as the 6th most powerful demon in existence. That’s good news for Tanjiro, since he needed the blood of one such demon so that a researcher could study it and potentially cure Tanjiro’s sister, Nezuko, of her own demon nature.

But what’s not good news is that slaying any of the six most-powerful demons (collectively called the Upper Rank Six) tends to draw the attention of the other top-ranked demons. After all, no one’s managed to kill one of them in more than a century. So now they’re really annoyed, and they’re heading out to put their diabolical response into motion.Tanjiro, of course, knows nothing about this. How could he? He’s been in a coma for the last two months, ever since his injuries from his fight overcame his adrenaline. But now he’s up, and he’s ready to continue in his demon slaying.


The issue, however, is that he’s chipped his demon-slaying sword, and now he needs a new one. But swords with the power to slay demons don’t exactly grow on trees. And Tanjiro’s already broken one before, so his swordsmith isn’t willing to send him a new one. This time, he’ll need to visit the secret swordsmith village if he wants it.

When Tanjiro gets there, however, the swordsmith isn’t there, and he’ll need to wait for him to return. It’s just enough time for Tanjiro to begin looking for a “secret weapon” said to lie somewhere near the village.But here’s the thing: the demons in Demon Slayer aren’t what you might read about in the Bible. Sure, there are some superficial similarities: They’re evil and rejoice in suffering, for instance. But these beings also carry some traits that aren’t necessarily biblically accurate. For instance, people can become demons (and not just be possessed by them). Demons can also be killed via decapitation by some very special swords. And these beings each have a special power called a “Blood Demon Art,” supernatural abilities that revolve around blood magic.


Demons cause a lot of strife and pain in the world, and it causes characters to cry out in anger towards the gods they believe in. One character laments, “The gods are so cruel.” Another tells a god how she’ll “never pray to you again” if that deity allows someone to die. A boy yells to the gods that he’ll kill all of them … and Buddha. We also see Chachamaru, a spirit cat that acts as a messenger and transport mechanism.


One demon says that he “doesn’t regret becoming a demon” and would choose it every time. After his death, he arrives in a mist-filled landscape, wondering if he’s in hell. He walks into some nearby flames and vanishes. Other demons convene in an alternate dimension to discuss the slaying of another powerful demonic being.