Temple Demon

The Temple Demon is the first Demon encountered by Tanjiro Kamado.

History
The Demon had already been attacking travelers who take shelter at a small temple hut on the pathway that leads to the Narrow Mist Mountain. When Tanjiro was asking for directions, one of the villagers mentioned that it would be dangerous for him to travel at night as people had been going missing in the area. anji

Synopsis
When Tanjiro and Nezuko arrived at the hut, the Demon had just killed three people. When the Demon tried to strangle Tanjiro, Nezuko kicked its head clean off its body. Even without a head, the Demon could still command its body to attack the siblings. The Demon also grew a pair of hands from his head. As the body was furiously attacking Nezuko, Tanjiro tackled the body and threw it off a cliff. However, this did not result in the Demon's death, although losing its body caused it excruciating pain.

Tanjiro had also pinned the Demon's head to a tree with his axe to stop its movements. As he was too compassionate, he failed to kill the Demon before dawn, accidentally allowing the Demon to perish by the sun's first rays instead.

After the Demon's death, Urokodaki Sakonji gave the Demon's victims a proper burial.

Trivia

 * Temple Demon is the first character in the manga that commented on Tanjiro's extremely hard head.
 * Some Japanese fans also call him "Shrine Demon" (の) or "Geodude".