Akaza

Akaza is a major supporting antagonist of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. He is a Demon affiliated with the Twelve Kizuki, holding the position of Upper Rank Three (の).

Over a century ago, Akaza was a human by the name of Hakuji before being turned into a Demon personally by Muzan Kibutsuji.

Appearance
As a Demon, Akaza took the form of a muscular young man with skin so fair that appears bright green-tinged white, decorated by a pattern of thick blue lines, which resemble the criminal tattoos he had as a human. The lines on his face curved through each of his eyes from below his ears to over his temples, another blue line running from the center of his hairline to the bridge of his nose, with two more lines running around his neck, three others branching off the lower one to his torso.

The center line ran directly down his chest to halfway down his stomach, and the other two branched off to the sides over each side of his chest to join the two other lines, this same three-line pattern there also repeating around his waist.

On his arms there were lines running down the front of his shoulders that ran into to two more, which went around his biceps, before continuing to run down to his wrists, below which it could be seen that each of his fingers is also dark blue with an orange fingernail, his toes also sharing this unusual appearance.

Akaza had short, bright pink hair that fluffed out around his head, and inward-tilting yellow eyes with pink eyelashes and blue sclera that looked somewhat like cracked glass, the kanji for "Upper Rank Three" etched into their irises.

He wore little, only sporting a short, sleeveless dark purple-pink haori that was cut off at his waist, left open to expose his chest, that was decorated by a square pattern on his back. Below this, he sported a pair of baggy white pants that he rolled to just below the knee with a blue rope belt to secure them at his waist. Akaza prefers to go barefoot, but wears a chain of large round pearls around each of his ankles.

During his human days as Hakuji, he had the same hair, just colored black rather than pink, and pale blue eyes with unusually-colored pink eyelashes. He was also very muscular as a human, and, on each of his forearms, he bore three black criminal tattoos.

He wore a dark blue-gray yukata.

Personality
Akaza is a strong, stubborn and impulsive Demon who enjoyed fighting, especially strong Demon Slayers. He looked down on anybody he deemed weak, but genuinely respected those who were strong in his eyes, regardless of their race. Once he met someone he deems strong, he demanded to know their name, and would not stop until he finds out; he remembers all the names he's committed to memory as tribute to their strength.

Akaza had a deeply-rooted psychological need to become stronger, and did not get along with his fellow Upper Ranks due to him seeing them as his rivals. He is especially antagonistic towards and even appeared jealous of the two Upper Rank above him, Doma and Kokushibo, lashing out at Doma and vowing to kill Kokushibo. Even after being beaten down and beheaded during his fight against Tanjiro Kamado and Giyu Tomioka, he stubbornly held on and continued to fight despite not even knowing why he wanted more power.

As a human, Hakuji possessed the same stubborn personality with a big heart and resilience. He valued others more than his own well-being, and hated himself for having a life "full of empty words and promises." Even after becoming a Demon and losing his memories of his human life, parts of Hakuji's memories influenced Akaza's decisions; he refuses to eat women, despite knowing it would make him stronger if he did so. His hatred of weak, cowardly people stemmed from a corruption of his human memories, where a rivaling dojo poisoned his dojo's well because they were never able to beat him.

Later after remembering the entirety of his past and all of his regrets as a human and demon, Akaza was shown to have openly begun hating himself and all of his shortcomings during his life where he wasn't there to save or protect everyone that he loved and cared for and later admitted that the person he really wanted to kill all along was himself.

Abilities
Overall Abilities: As the holder of the 'Upper Rank 3' title, Akaza possessed a tremendous amount of power, having been able to defeat Kyojuro Rengoku, the Flame Hashira, and also several past Hashira, according to what he stated. Later, he is able to fight and overwhelm both Tanjiro and Giyu, even when they were both Hashira-level swordsman were using their Demon Slayer Marks and Tanjiro had access the "Transparent World". If not for Akaza losing his will to continue fighting, he would have certainly killed both of them. In a further testament to his might, he is capable of becoming the holder of the Upper Rank 3 title and the fourth-strongest Demon in the series without killing or eating any women, which would've hindered his growth as a Demon drastically.

Physical Abilities
Immense Strength: Akaza possessed phenomenal physical strength, making him one of the strongest in the series. His incredulous strength has been showcased multiple times, most notably when he punches or kicks, which is strong enough to generate powerful shockwaves and when he easily breaks Giyu's sword in half with a single side punch despite the latter swinging his blade down. He is able to easily destroy the head of Upper Rank 2, Doma, with his arm and easily pierce through Kyojuro's Solar Plexus. Combined with his Blood Demon Art, he is capable of causing a crater on the ground by simply punching it. When he was a human at the age of 11, he is able to completely knock several grown men unconscious in a fight with nothing but his bare fists and legs. At the age of 18, even before he became a demon, he is easily able to decapitate, dismember and mutilate 67 armed adult kendo masters with his bare fists, to the point that even Muzan thought that it is a Demon who performed these feats.

Immense Speed & Reflexes: Akaza is extremely fast, as shown during his fight with Kyojuro when he moves at super fast speeds, moving so fast that even Tanjiro Kamado and Inosuke Hashibira couldn’t perceive his blinding movements, to a point that caused the latter to remark that he is in “a different dimension”. This is further exemplified from the fact that he could move in bursts of speed so fast that it made it seem like he teleported, which he displayed in multiple instances. Even Giyu Tomioka, one of the fastest Demon Slayers in the current generation, movement speed was instantly matched by Akaza despite him awakening the Demon Slayer Mark just moments before.

Unlimited Stamina & Endurance: Akaza possesses absolute and infinite stamina and vitality, never tiring and always remaining in optimal physical and mental condition all the time as well as being able to endure waves of onslaught as if it were nothing. In the Mugen Train Arc, Akaza's hand got split open in half by Kyojuro Rengoku's Flame Breathing: Second Form - Rising Scorching Sun, but yet he seemed completely nonchalant about it, even proceeding to complement his katana. This was the same when Kyojuro unleased the Flame Breathing: Ninth Form - Rengoku, this time, he had injuries on his arm, head and his upper torso. Akaza is also one of the only ones to withstand Tanjiro Kamado's headbutt without any signs of pain afterwards. Prior to being transformed into a Demon, Akaza (Hakuji) demonstrated superhuman endurance at the age of 11 as he endured beatings that could make a grown man go numb (100 beatings) thus earning the title of "Demon Child."

Immense Durability: As an Upper Rank Demon, Akaza's body is phenomenally durable as he harbours an extremely high concentration of the blood of the Demon King, Muzan Kibutsuji. During his fight with Kyojuro Rengoku, the Hashira had trouble cutting various parts of his bodies even with his katana and incredible physical strength. When Kyojuro was severely weakened due to his previous injuries and his Solar Plexus being pierced, could only cut two-thirds of his neck before the Upper Rank escaped.

Mental Abilities
Tactical Intellect: Akaza is a genius among geniuses in regards to unarmed and hand-to-hand combat, especially ones related to martial arts. He has also displayed natural talent and aptitude in martial arts as well, like being able to beat up talented swordsmen and combatants from neighboring dojos while still in the midst of learning Keizo's Soryū Style. Even as a child, Akaza could fight base on pure instinct and tactical intuition and still win. This ability even surprised Giyu Tomioka, who stated that Akaza could instantly evolve and adapt to any attack or technique that he uses, to the point that he can predict when his opponents will strike and how to counter them with equal power.

Supernatural Abilities
Immense Regeneration: Akaza possessed one of the most incredible regenerative abilities in the series. He is able to regenerate from slash wounds inflicted by Tanjiro and Rengoku and even lost limbs inflicted by Giyu with little effort. During his battle against Giyu and Tanjiro, his regeneration evolved even further. He is able to survive even after having his head cut off and then is able to regenerate a new one, a feat only Muzan had accomplished beforehand.

Enhanced Senses: Like all Upper Rank Demons, Akaza has sensory abilities enhanced beyond the normal range possessed by humans. This was displayed multiple times when he was able to senses the caliber of his opponents, like he did with Kyojuro Rengoku, just by glancing at them. His senses were so polished that even Giyu Tomioka acknowledged it.
 * Extrasensory Perception: A special extension of Akaza's senses attained through years of honing his combat instincts combined with his supernatural abilities attained when he was a Demon. His extrasensory perception ability takes the form of his Technique Deployment: Destructive Death - Compass Needle. This ability allows Akaza to gain information of his surroundings and opponents even if they were a far distance away from them while also giving him an accurate gauge of their physical weaknesses.

Blood Demon Art
Shockwave Generation: Akaza's Blood Demon Art grants him the ability to generate shockwaves from the sheer pressure created by his superhuman strength of his fists and legs when striking. The shockwaves appear to be the same shade of blue as his tattoos and can be unleashed in both close and far range. The power of the shockwaves range from knocking opponents a far distance to creating craters in the ground. This ability combined with his superhuman strength makes him a formidable opponent in both close and ranged combat.

Miscellaneous Abilities
Indomitable Will: Akaza possesses an undaunted will and spirit. Despite being beheaded by Tanjiro's Nichirin Blade, he refused to disintegrate and die, instead forcing his headless body to keep fighting. He pushed his regeneration to evolve to the point where he could regrow his head, all because he simply refused to allow himself to lose. Even before he became a Demon, he would relentlessly take blows from opponents way bigger than him and receive countless beatings all because of his goal to heal his sick father.

Fighting Style
Master Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Akaza's most notable ability as a human and as a demon is his supernatural skill in unarmed combat. Even before transforming into a demon, Akaza has displayed his prodigious abilities in various forms of close ranged combat, being able to intuitively create his own fighting style which was shown to completely lay waste to several grown men at the age of 11. When he was 18, he could annihilate 67 adult kendo masters with just his fists. After becoming a demon, this skill was further augmented to the point he could effectively fight at subsonic speeds while fully utilizing his martial arts skills for both offense and defense. Furthermore, when combined with his Blood Demon Art, makes every single of his blows and strikes incredibly lethal, making him unparalleled in unarmed combat and martial arts skill.
 * Soryū Style: A bare-fisted martial arts style taught to him by Keizo when he lived with him and took care of Koyuki. He used it to kill 67 kendo masters with ease and it is the main inspiration of his Destructive Death Style used when he became Akaza.
 * Bell Crusher (り): A technique likely created or inspired from the Soryū Style where Akaza strikes a sword from the side as it is descending to break it with ease.

Techniques
Akaza has a unique ability called Technique Development. Akaza starts by initiating a stance unique to the Soryū Style. Currently, there are 2 versions of the stance. The first stance is performed by bending his knees in a half-crouch position, extending his right arm with a half-clenched fist facing his body and bending his left arm with an open palm; The second version is nearly identical except he opens his palm on his right arm while fully clenching his fists in a downwards bend on his left arm.

Trivia

 * Akaza's alias contains the respective kanji for "luxuriant growth" (猗), "cave" (窩), and "sit, cushion" (座).
 * His name as a human contains the kanji for the archaic part of Korea (狛) and "at peace" (治).
 * Akaza was the only Demon of the Twelve Kizuki who refused to eat or kill women, and was given special permission to do so.
 * Akaza was one of Muzan's favorites since he was loyal and serious.
 * Akaza's Technique Deployment ability forms the shape of a snowflake; possibly due to the influence of his fiancée (Koyuki's name contains the kanji for "snow", and she wears three snowflake-shaped hairpins).
 * Many of Akaza's attacks and techniques are named after fireworks, a reference to his promise to Koyuki to see the fireworks.
 * Akaza is the only member of the deceased Upper Ranks who encountered the people he knew in life while disappearing. There are two members of the Twelve Kizuki who have been shown experiencing this, the other being Rui.
 * Akaza is the fourth Demon who was able to overcome Muzan's influence over himself by willing himself to stop regenerating and die, the other three being Tamayo, Nezuko Kamado and Kokushibo.
 * Akaza's Japanese voice actor has the role of Gaara from Naruto: Shippūden.
 * Akaza is ranked 17th in the second popularity poll with 1982 votes.
 * Akaza's English voice actor voice has the role of Mahito from Jujutsu_Kaisen.

Quotes

 * (To Kyojuro Rengoku) "Let me tell you why you can't enter the realm of the highest. Because you're a human. Because you're going to grow old. Because you're going to die. Become a Demon, Kyojuro. Do that, and you can go on training for a hundred, two hundred years. You can become stronger."
 * (To Kyojuro Rengoku) "There were never any Flames among all the Hashira I've killed until now. And no one ever took me up on my offer, either. Why do you think that is? As a fellow martial artist, I just don't get it. Not when only the chosen ones can become Demons!... Watching the hideous decline of someone blessed with extraordinary powers... it pains me! I can't bear it! Die, Kyojuro... while you're still young and strong."
 * (To Kyojuro Rengoku) "Even if you fight to death, you can't win, Kyojuro. Those impressive slashes you inflicted on me... have already healed completely. But what about you? A smashed left eye, shattered ribs and damaged internal organs... all irreparable. If you were a Demon, you'd heal in the blink of an eye. Those would be mere scratches a demon. You can struggle all you want, but a human can never beat a demon."
 * (To Giyu Tomioka) "Elegant! That's developed sword technique! Wonderful! State your name! What is your name?! I want to remember it!"
 * (To Tanjiro Kamado) "Nice movements. You've trained so hard in a short time span. Let me praise you. But man, Kyojuro did an amazing job. You were nothing but a weakling lying down on the ground that night. But my goodness! Look at you now! Your growth makes my eyes pop out. I'm feeling pure happiness. My heart's leaping. I'm glad Kyojuro died that night. He most likely wouldn't have been able to get any stronger than when I saw him then. And he had the dumb worldview about staying human."
 * (To Tanjiro Kamado) "You're misunderstanding something, Tanjiro. The only people I hate are weaklings. I only spit in the faces of the weak. Yes. I’m repulsed by weaklings. They make me vomit. The laws of nature dictate that they will be eliminated."
 * (To himself regarding Tanjiro Kamado) "I understood instinctively that I couldn't accept this person. He gives me an unpleasant feeling that gets on my nerves, as if nails were scratching metal. The dissonance makes me throw up. I'm misunderstanding something. In the beginning, I thought I was unhappy because he was weak. But it seems like this unhappiness isn't going away, despite him getting stronger. It seems that everything, from his eyes, voice, and words, scrape at my entrails from inside with a rasp."
 * (To himself) "On the battlefield, you have to confront all unexpected situations even if it's your first time encountering them, and find a way to deal with them. I can do that. Or I should have been. But within the short span of this fight managed to surpass my speed after understanding something. Centuries of the best of martial arts, only to get beaten in a straight-up confrontation. Those eyes have no hatred or anger in them. There is no intent to murder or fight. The thing captured in his eyes is most likely the 'Supreme' Territory I always wanted. It has to be the 'State of Anatta'. I've always had a feeling that this state existed, but I should've reached that point by now."
 * (To himself) "It can't end here. I will get stronger. I have to become stronger than everyone else. Stronger. Even stronger!"
 * (To himself) "How could you make peace with living as poor people? Dad? This world can just fuck right off. All you people can fuck right off. Why do we live like total shit? Why did my Dad have to die? He wasn't a bother to me. Why did he apologize? My Dad never did anything wrong. It didn't hurt to receive that punishment for stealing. They may whip me and break my bones, but I can endure anything for you, Dad. Even if it lasts hundreds years[...] My Dad was slowly getting worse. The battered bones in his back were weakening. I wanted to feed you more. You were definitely gonna get better. Why did you hang yourself? I would die for you, Dad. For you!"
 * (In regards to Koyuki) "I will cure you for sure. Help you. Protect. My life was worthless, filled with nothing but empty promises."
 * (To Muzan Kibutsuji) "Don't... care... anymore. I don't care... about... anything."
 * (In regards to himself) "I became a demon and lost my memories. I wanted strength once again. Even though there wasn't a single thing I wanted to protect. I really didn't want to live in a world where I lost my family. For over a hundred years I committed pointless acts of carnage. It's a horribly sad... laughable... and ridiculous story."
 * (To Koyuki) "Forgive me! Forgive me! I'm sorry I couldn't protect you! I'm sorry I wasn't with you when you needed me! I couldn't keep... a single promise!! Forgive me! Please forgive me!"
 * (To his family) "I'm home, father. I'm back. Master. Koyuki. I'm home."

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