The ranks of the Demon Slayer Corps in Demon Slayer

A boy clenches his fist, and a character appears on the back of his hand. It is his rank, engraved in his skin the day he joined the Corps. At the very bottom, hundreds of soldiers setting off on missions with fear in their stomachs. At the very top, nine fighters capable of bringing down one of the Twelve Kizuki. In Demon Slayer, the Demon Slayer Corps has its hierarchy, its rules and its people working in the shadows.

Here is how the Corps is organised, what its ranks are, how you rise, and who keeps it running behind the scenes. Our page on the world of Demon Slayer at a glance presents the era and places of the series.

How is the Corps organised?

The Demon Slayer Corps, Kisatsutai in Japanese, is an organisation of several hundred fighters who have hunted demons for centuries. It is recognised by no authority: the government is unaware of its existence, and its members carry swords even though this is forbidden in the Taishō era. The police may even chase them, as at the station before the Mugen Train.

It is led by a family, the Ubuyashiki, and funded by them. The head of the family, whom everyone calls the master, commands the whole. Beneath him, the Hashira, then the soldiers spread across ten ranks. Around them, a whole support organisation: the Kakushi, the swordsmiths, the messenger crows, the wisteria family houses, the hospital at the Butterfly Mansion.

The table sums up this hierarchy, from the top to the bottom. Our page on the Demon Slayer Hashira presents the nine strongest fighters in the Corps.

The ten demon slayer ranks

The ten ranks bear the names of the ten signs of the traditional Chinese and Japanese calendar, the heavenly stems, which were once used to count years and classify things. From lowest to highest: mizunoto, mizunoe, kanoto, kanoe, tsuchinoto, tsuchinoe, hinoto, hinoe, kinoto and kinoe.

Each name combines an element and a polarity. Mizu refers to water, kane to metal, tsuchi to earth, hi to fire, ki to wood. The ranks therefore follow the traditional order of the elements, from water to wood. In Japanese, each is written with a single character: 癸 for mizunoto, 甲 for kinoe.

These signs are not an invention of the series. Combined with the twelve animals of the zodiac, they were once used to name the years of a sixty-year cycle, and they are still used in Japan to rank things, much as A, B, C would be elsewhere. By borrowing its ranks from them, Demon Slayer gives its Corps the feel of an ancient institution, inherited from centuries of tradition.

In Demon Slayer, these ranks say nothing about breathing style or fighting style: a Water soldier and a Thunder soldier can hold the same rank. They measure experience and demons slain. Our page on all the Demon Slayer breathing styles presents these styles.

The rank engraved on the hand

Each demon slayer’s rank is not embroidered on their uniform. It is engraved on the back of their hand, using a technique unique to the Corps, and remains invisible most of the time. It only appears when the demon slayer clenches their fist, in the form of the character for their rank.

This method lets you check with a single gesture who you are dealing with. A Hashira or a Kakushi can ask a soldier to clench their fist to find out their rank, with no paperwork and no badge to forge. It is also a way of reminding everyone of their place, engraved in their own skin. Rank does not get in the way of friendship, though: Tanjiro, Zenitsu and Inosuke, who joined the Corps in the same year, could not care less which of the three bears the highest character.

Tanjiro, coming out of the Final Selection, bears the character of the lowest rank, mizunoto. That is what makes the scene at the Hashira meeting so striking, when a soldier of that rank dares to headbutt Sanemi. Our article on the Hashira meeting and Tanjiro’s trial tells of this scene.

How do you rise through the ranks?

You join the Corps through the Final Selection, seven days of survival on Mount Fujikasane, among imprisoned demons. The survivors become mizunoto, receive a uniform, a messenger crow, then a sword forged for them from the ore they chose themselves, delivered a few days later by their swordsmith. Their first mission arrives almost immediately, brought by the crow that will never leave their side.

What follows depends on the demons slain and the missions accomplished. Each demon killed, each successful mission moves the demon slayer up, as far as the rank of kinoe for the best. Most never get there: many die in their first years, facing demons too strong for them. Rank protects you from nothing: on Mount Natagumo, soldiers more senior than Tanjiro fall to the threads of Rui’s family, while the boy fresh out of the Selection survives. Our article on the Final Selection on Mount Fujikasane tells of the first trial.

Former Hashira and training masters

Future demon slayers are not born soldiers: they are trained, before the Final Selection, by training masters. These are often former Hashira who have retired from combat. Sakonji Urokodaki, former Water Hashira, trained Tanjiro, Giyu, Sabito and Makomo. Jigoro Kuwajima, former Thunder Hashira, trained Zenitsu and Kaigaku.

These masters stake their honour on their pupils. Urokodaki promises to disembowel himself if Nezuko attacks a human. Jigoro takes his own life when Kaigaku betrays the Corps. The bond between master and pupil is one of the strongest in the whole organisation. Our portrait of Sakonji Urokodaki, Tanjiro’s master and that of Jigoro Kuwajima, Zenitsu’s master tell of these two men.

The Hashira, at the top

Above the ten ranks stand the Hashira, the nine best fighters in the Corps. To become one, you must first reach the rank of kinoe, then kill one of the Twelve Kizuki or slay fifty demons. Each Hashira bears the name of their breathing style: Water Hashira, Flame Hashira, Wind Hashira, and so on.

The Hashira lead the most dangerous missions, each watch over a territory and answer directly to the master. Their blades bear an inscription, Akki Messatsu, destroy evil demons. They rarely all meet together, and each of these meetings marks a turning point in the story. Each also has their own residence, like Shinobu Kocho, whose house serves as the hospital for the whole Corps. Our article on the Akki Messatsu inscription details this engraving.

The tsuguko, the Hashira’s disciples

Between the ranks and the Hashira, there is a special status: that of tsuguko, a Hashira’s designated disciple, trained directly by them to succeed them one day. Kanao Tsuyuri is Shinobu Kocho’s tsuguko. Kyojuro Rengoku offers to make Tanjiro his, on the Mugen Train. Mitsuri Kanroji, before becoming the Love Hashira, was herself trained by Kyojuro.

Being a tsuguko means benefiting from a Hashira’s teaching every day, but also carrying their expectations. Kanao lives at the Butterfly Mansion, alongside Shinobu, and will fight at her side all the way to the Infinity Castle. Our article on the tsuguko, the Hashira’s disciples details this status.

For a Kanao cosplay, our outfit features the short white cape tied with a pink ribbon, the pleated skirt and the butterfly in her hair, and a katana at the belt completes the silhouette. It is in the complete Kanao Tsuyuri collection.

The master of the Corps

At the very top is the head of the Ubuyashiki family, whom the demon slayers call the master. For most of the series, it is Kagaya Ubuyashiki, a sick, almost blind man, his face eaten away by a family curse. His voice soothes everyone who hears it, and the toughest Hashira kneel before him without argument. He knows the name of every demon slayer fallen in battle, and visits their graves despite his illness.

His children assist him: his daughters accompany the Hashira, and it is two of them who oversee the Final Selection. After Kagaya’s death, his son Kiriya, eight years old, takes command of the Corps for the final battle. Our article on Kagaya Ubuyashiki, the leader of the Corps tells of this leader, and the one on the Ubuyashiki family of his whole lineage.

The Kakushi and the rear lines

Demon slayers do not fight alone. Behind them, the Kakushi, the support unit, take care of everything that is not combat: they evacuate the wounded, clean up the sites of the battles, carry demon slayers blindfolded to the swordsmith village. They are the ones who carry Tanjiro, tied up, to the courtyard where the Hashira are waiting for him. They wear a separate uniform and a mask that leaves only their eyes visible. One of them, Goto, comes back several times over the series, always tasked with picking up the wounded after the worst fights.

The Kakushi have no combat rank like the soldiers. Many are former candidates who did not have what it takes to become demon slayers, but chose to serve in another way. In the final battle, they too throw themselves at Muzan to gain a few seconds. Our article on the Kakushi, the shadow unit presents them in detail.

Crows, swordsmiths and wisteria houses

Every demon slayer receives a messenger crow as soon as they join, which passes on their mission orders and reports on their fights. Zenitsu is the exception with his sparrow, Chuntaro, who does not speak but makes himself understood by Tanjiro. The swordsmiths of the hidden village make the swords, the wisteria family houses take in tired soldiers, and the Butterfly Mansion treats the wounded.

Without this network, the Corps would not last a week. Demon Slayer takes the time to show it, episode after episode, and that is what gives its Corps the air of a real organisation rather than a mere band of heroes. Our article on the messenger crows presents these talkative birds. Our watch with a gold dial, supplied with a feather-shaped plate cut out with the silhouette of a crow, is filed in the Demon Slayer watches collection.

Wearing the Corps uniform

The demon slayers’ uniform is the same for all ranks: a black high-collared jacket, the 滅 character on the back, a white belt. Made from a special fibre, it resists the claws of the weakest demons. The Hashira often wear it under a personal haori, which sets them apart at first glance.

For a Demon Slayer demon slayer cosplay, this uniform is enough, with no haori or colourful wig, and everyone can add whichever rank they like in their imagination. Our Corps uniform features the high-collared jacket and the pleated hakama, and a katana at the belt completes the silhouette. For a child, be sure to measure them and go by the sizes shown on the product page. It is filed in the demon slayer cosplays collection. To display the Corps character every day, our Demon Slayer Corps cap bears the 滅 in white, in the caps collection.