In short
Every demon slayer in Demon Slayer receives a messenger crow on joining the Corps. These birds talk, deliver mission orders, repeat their instructions and follow their bearer everywhere. They all have a name, a personality and quirks, and one of them is a sparrow unable to say a word. During the final battle, they serve as the eyes of the Corps’ leadership.
Contents
A clandestine army without telephones, spread across a whole country, has to pass on its orders somehow. Demon Slayer settles the question with trained crows that talk, shout their messages and go with every fighter.
This article details this network: the birds, their names, how they work, their personalities and their role on the story’s last night. Our page about the Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps presents their best-known bearers.
The crows and their bearers
| Wielder | Bird’s name | Distinctive feature |
|---|---|---|
| Tanjiro Kamado | Matsuemon | he chose his name himself |
| Zenitsu Agatsuma | Ukogi, nicknamed Chuntaro | a sparrow, and he does not talk |
| Inosuke Hashibira | Dongurimaru | he is afraid of being eaten |
| Kanao Tsuyuri | Isuzu | she worries about her bearer |
| Genya Shinazugawa | Hashibami | badly received from the first day |
| Giyu Tomioka | Kanzaburo | very old, he forgets messages |
| Shinobu Kocho | En | she delivers the order that brings Tanjiro and Rengoku together |
| Kyojuro Rengoku | Kaname | he guides Tanjiro to the Rengoku house |
| Tengen Uzui | Nijimaru | he wears jewellery |
| Muichiro Tokito | Ginko | long eyelashes, and unsociable |
| Mitsuri Kanroji | Urara | a clover crown, always nervous |
| Obanai Iguro | Yuan | he tells him that Muichiro turned his blade red |
The table already shows the essence of the device in Demon Slayer. These birds are not scenery: each has a name, a personality and relationships with the others.
They are assigned on entry into the Corps. A new demon slayer receives his uniform, chooses his ore, and leaves with a crow that will never leave his side.
The bond then builds over time. The birds know their bearer’s habits, follow his movements, and end up worrying about him.
The Japanese name of these birds contains a precise idea. The character used refers to a carpenter’s cramp, the piece of metal that holds two beams together, and the image describes exactly their function in the organisation.
One bird per fighter
Every demon slayer receives a crow on leaving the Final Selection. The bird then follows him throughout his career.
Their function
In Demon Slayer, their main role is passing on orders. The crows bring the missions, indicate the location, the nature of the problem and sometimes the number of disappearances reported.
The network replaces an entire administration. Without it, a clandestine organisation of several hundred members spread across the country could not coordinate the slightest operation.
The birds also pass things in the other direction. Reports go back up through them to the leadership, which thus keeps track of the state of its forces and the areas to cover.
Finally, they serve as guides. A demon slayer who does not know a region lets himself be led by his bird, which flies ahead of him to the mission site.
Our article on the Demon Slayer Corps and its history details the organisation they serve.
The solution was in fact the only one available at the time. The Taishō era had the telegraph and the telephone, but an organisation the state ignores can use neither without leaving a written trace.
The communication network
The crows carry the orders, send up the reports and guide the fighters. Without them, the Corps coordinates nothing.
How do they talk?
The peculiarity that surprises Demon Slayer readers is speech. These birds utter complete sentences, in Japanese, with a limited vocabulary but a perfectly clear meaning.
Their delivery is their trademark. They shout, repeat every piece of information twice, and never lower their voices, which produces scenes where the messenger drowns out its bearer’s voice.
The story does not try to justify this ability. Crows talk, the Corps trains them, and nobody in the series finds it surprising.
A few express themselves better than the others. The Mist Hashira’s bird talks normally most of the time, which clearly sets it apart from the rest of the aviary.
Our article on Muichiro Tokito, the Mist Hashira presents its bearer.
They repeat everything twice
The crows shout their messages and repeat them every time. Nobody in the series is surprised that they talk.
Zenitsu’s sparrow
The network’s best-known case is not a crow. Zenitsu Agatsuma receives a sparrow, unable to say a word, which communicates through gestures and chirping.
Yet the bird passed the same exam. The story states that it is the only sparrow ever to pass the Corps’ messenger test, which implies a considerable amount of work.
His personal story is dark. His family was killed by demons, which makes him a messenger whose motivation resembles that of the fighters he serves.
The boy gives him an affectionate nickname and treats him as a companion rather than a tool. The bird in fact brings him the heaviest news in the story, including his master’s death.
Our article on Zenitsu Agatsuma, the sleeping demon slayer tells of this relationship.
A sparrow who passed the exam
Zenitsu’s messenger is a sparrow, unable to talk, and the only one of his kind to have passed the Corps’ test.
You will find the little messenger on an alarm clock in the complete Zenitsu Agatsuma collection, among the shop’s alarm clocks.
Zenitsu and his sparrow alarm clock
Yellow and orange background scattered with white triangles, a raised sword and, in an inset, a sparrow on a branch.
View the product · €44.90Tanjiro’s crow
The Demon Slayer hero’s bird bears a lengthy name he chose himself. Matsuemon always introduces himself by this full name, and insists that it be used.
His character comes down to one word. The bird is intelligent, self-assured, and considers his own behaviour a model humans would do well to follow.
His dealings with the other characters produce several comic scenes. He openly despises his bearer’s blond companion, and advises him to play hard to get instead of clinging to people.
Yet he remains totally efficient on missions. The orders arrive, the routes are right, and the boy never gets lost, which matters in a country without reliable maps.
Our article on Tanjiro Kamado, the series’ hero presents his bearer.
The amusing detail lies in their relationships with one another. The series’ reference material states that some birds do not get along, are jealous of each other and keep their distance, exactly like their bearers.
He chose his own name
Tanjiro’s crow named himself and insists on his full name being used. His ego far exceeds his size.
The Hashira’s crows
The nine Hashira’s birds each have their own personality, and several resemble their bearer. The Sound Hashira’s wears jewellery, and is considered a reference in elegance by the others.
The Love Hashira’s wears a clover-shaped crown, which echoes her bearer’s sword guard, and is constantly nervous.
The Water Hashira’s is very old. He sometimes forgets to deliver a message, which worries his bearer without him considering for a second replacing him.
The Insect Hashira’s delivers the order that brings together two major characters in the story, and the Flame Hashira’s guides Tanjiro to his bearer’s family home after his death.
Our article on Kyojuro Rengoku, the Flame Hashira tells of this last mission.
They resemble their bearer
The Sound Hashira’s crow wears jewellery, the Love Hashira’s a clover crown, the Water Hashira’s forgets his messages.
The nine bearers of these birds have their place in the Demon Slayer Corps collection, right down to the shop’s water bottles.
Hashira 650 ml water bottle
The nine Hashira together, Gyomei at the top and Rengoku in the foreground, flip-top lid and wrist strap.
View the product · €34.90The messengers’ test
Demon Slayer’s Corps does not hand out just any bird. An exam exists, which candidates must pass, and the story mentions it in connection with the sparrow who passed it.
Its content is never detailed in Demon Slayer. At the very least it implies remembering a message, following a route and finding a specific person in an entire country.
Nor is the training ever shown. The birds arrive trained, already talking, and nobody asks where they come from.
This vagueness is part of the story. The series treats its network of messengers as a given, like the uniforms or the swords.
Our article on the Final Selection on Mount Fujikasane tells of the moment new recruits receive their bird.
One detail of the training can be guessed all the same. The birds understand spoken Japanese, remember place names and descriptions of people, and can tell a demon slayer from a civilian, which implies a long apprenticeship.
An exam for the birds
The messengers also take a test. Its content is never detailed, and nobody asks where they are trained.
During the final battle
The network takes on a new dimension on Demon Slayer’s last night. The crows receive talismans placed by an allied demon, which turns each bird into a visual relay.
The leadership then follows the fight live. The Ubuyashiki children see what the crows see, track positions, count losses and reassign orders accordingly.
The arrangement makes up for a major handicap. The first demon’s castle constantly changes shape, and without this relay, nobody outside would know where the fighters are.
So the birds fly in the middle of the clash. Our articles on Yushiro, Tamayo’s assistant and on the Infinity Castle and how it works detail this set-up.
Their role appears in no account of the fighting. Yet it explains the human camp’s coordination that night.
Eyes inside the castle
The talismans placed on the crows let the leadership see inside the castle. It is the only link with the fighters.
What they see
Their post puts them in front of everything the story shows. The crows witness the fights, the death throes and the funerals, and carry on delivering orders the next day.
The story grants them a few reactions. The Tsuguko’s bird worries about a bearer unable to express what she feels, Inosuke’s keeps its distance after almost being eaten.
Some remain scarred. In Demon Slayer, the Mist Hashira’s crow falls ill with grief after its bearer’s death, and the detail is treated without irony.
They also deliver the bad news. Announcing a Hashira’s death to their companions is part of their duties, and several major scenes rest on a bird crying out a name.
Our article on which Hashira die in the series counts up these announcements.
They announce the dead
The crows also deliver deaths. Several major scenes in the story rest on a bird crying out a name.
Their end
Demon Slayer’s network disappears with the organisation. The Demon Slayer Corps is disbanded after the first demon’s death, and the crows no longer have orders to carry.
The series’ reference material specifies what becomes of them. The crows are set free, and some come back to visit the Ubuyashiki house or the demon slayer they accompanied.
The gentlest detail concerns Ginko, the Mist Hashira’s crow. Comforted by Matsuemon, Tanjiro’s bird, she ends up marrying him.
Their image remains tied to the series. A crow shouting a mission order is one of the first things you discover on entering this world.
Our page on the whole world of the series places this network in its setting.
Set free
After the war, the crows live free. Ginko, in mourning for Muichiro, ends up marrying Tanjiro’s crow.
The crow as a motif
The bird has become one of Demon Slayer’s visual symbols, like the fox masks or the coloured blades.
The motif works because it is simple. A black silhouette, an open beak, and the series’ world is instantly identifiable.
It appears on watches, keyrings, stickers and clothing, often paired with the Demon Slayer Corps emblem.
Our page on the shop’s merchandise guide details this principle of recognisable motifs.
A silhouette that is enough
A black crow with an open beak identifies the series at a glance. The motif comes on every kind of item.
You will also find the messenger’s silhouette on a watch, among the shop’s watches.
Crow watch with gold dial
Gold dial with Roman numerals cut in a fan shape, black case, acrylic feather with a crow silhouette.
View the product · €69.90
