Hand Demon

The Hand Demon was a pivotal antagonist in the Final Selection Arc of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. He was a notorious demon who killed thirteen of Sakonji Urokodaki's apprentices, including Sabito and Makomo, as well as at least fifty other would-be Demon Slayers.

Appearance
The Hand Demon was a monstrously large, veiny, hulking monster with olive green skin, blood red fingernails, and beady yellow eyes with cross-hatch shaped pupils. He used to have a very normal humanoid appearance, with regular hair and clothes, but after he started eating multiple humans, he started growing in size. He grew multiple arms and his mouth became huge, with jagged teeth. He grew so many arms that not only was he forced to stop wearing his clothes, using his arms instead to cover himself, he stopped moving around in a bipedal manner, instead moving on all his hands like an animal.

Personality
The Hand Demon was ruthless in his treatment of humans, immediately killing them and even attacking the ones who fled. He bore a great hatred for Sakonji Urokodaki, cursing him for defeating and trapping him in the wisteria-riddled Mount Fujikasane, and vowing to kill all of his apprentices. He was also very sadistic, gleefully explaining his murder of Sabito and Makomo to Tanjiro Kamado. Despite this, the Hand Demon had a deep fear of death, being too afraid to close his eyes after Tanjiro beheaded him.

When he was human, he had a habit of asking his older brother to hold his hand, a trait which made his sibling label him a scaredy-cat. In his final moments, the Hand Demon extended a hand to Tanjiro for him to hold, shedding tears of gratitude when his request was granted.

He seemed to have a notable tendency to keep track of time, as he asked Tanjiro if it was still the Meiji era, and when told it was the Taishō era, he raged that he had passed into a new era, again, and that he was still trapped on Mount Fujikasane for 47 years.

History
During the Edo Period's Keiō era, the Hand Demon was transformed into a demon by Muzan and proceeded to kill and eat at least one person, that being his older brother. He was soon tracked down and captured by the Water Hashira Sakonji Urokodaki, and incarcerated on Mount Fujikasane to serve as one of the Final Selection obstacle demons. He bears a strong hatred of Sakonji for robbing him of his freedom that kept him going through the ages, killing all the disciples of the former Water Hashira that he could find, After devouring dozens of young Demon Slayer candidates, the Hand Demon had taken a grotesque mutation, turning his once humanoid body into a giant mass of elongated arms and hands.

Final Selection Arc
The Hand Demon targets several potential Demon Slayers, killing one and pursuing another. Manipulating his limb-based body structure, the demon stretches out a limb to catch the unfortunate soul, only to have it severed by Tanjiro using the Water Breathing, Second Form: Water Wheel. Taking note of his interloper, the demon notes that he is another "cute fox".

He asks the would-be Demon Slayer what year of the Meiji era it is, only to be informed it is currently the Taishō era, which enrages him. Cursing Sakonji for trapping him in the wisteria-riddled Mount Fujikasane, the demon irately explains to Tanjiro how he was captured by his trainer during the Edo Period's Keiō era. His first intended victim accuses him of lying due to the nature of the demons captured for the Final Selection, but the Hand Demon nonetheless claimed to have eaten fifty of them. He then notes that Tanjiro was the fourteenth apprentice of Sakonji's he had encountered, having killed and eaten all the others. He describes the two that stood out in his memory the most, a boy with pink hair and a scar at the corner of his mouth, and a girl with flower-patterned clothing and quick, light movements. Explaining the significance of the fox mask that Sakonji had given to Tanjiro, the demon mocks his victims' collective fate, especially Makomo's initial reaction to it.

This enrages Tanjiro, who charges at him, chopping apart the various limbs the spite-filled creature attacked him with. However, one of his arms gets through Tanjiro's line of attack, delivering a solid punch that knocks the enraged youth unconscious. The Hand Demon stretches several of its limbs out towards him, only for them to be dodged at the last second. Getting these appendages severed as well, the crafty demon attempts to catch his foe off-guard with a surprise attack from beneath the ground. This is also dodged, but the undeterred mutant extends a massive limb towards the falling youth, which is countered with a solid headbutt. Noting that he doesn't have any more hands to utilize, the desperate demon decides to solidify the defenses around his neck, Tanjiro uses the Water Breathing, First Form: Water Surface Slash following moments later.

As the blow strikes, the Hand Demon notes that it's making the same sound as Sakonji's had, calling the latter's name out in fearful anger. The attack completely severs the many-handed foe's head and the demon begins to panic over his rapidly approaching death. Assuming that Tanjiro would look at him with disdain as he died, he is instead shocked to see the youth's eyes filled with sorrow. The demon extends an arm out to his opponent, who respectfully clutches it, praying that he would never again turn into a demon when he reincarnated. Shedding tears as he recalls his past, the Hand Demon crumbles into ash.

Overall Abilities
The Hand Demon was by far the most powerful of the demons on Mount Fujikasane, having eaten a total of 50 humans, well above the average of 1-2 humans like the rest of all the demons in the area. 13 of those victims were Sakonji Urokodaki's disciples, well speaking of his battle prowess.

Demon Abilities
Flesh Manipulation: Like all demons, the Hand Demon possessed the ability to manipulate his own flesh. In his case, he could manipulate his body to extend his multiple arms to several meters in length. He could do this with many of his arms at once and could either attack with a barrage of arms, or cluster his flesh into a bigger arm. He could put his arms to strategic use by even being able to burrow them underground and assault an unsuspecting target from beneath them.

Regeneration: As with all of his kind, the Hand Demon possessed potent regeneration, easily growing new arms and healing them throughout his clash with Tanjiro without stopping or slowing down. The incessant number of attacks gave him the edge, which forced Tanjiro to avoid evading his attack and attack him head-on to avoid exhausting himself.

Physical Abilities
Enhanced Durability: The Hand Demon was infamous for his notoriously hard neck muscles, which allowed him to fracture blades aimed at it. Since beheading is the preferred method to defeat demons, this characteristic effectively downplayed his main weakness. However, he is not completely immune to blade attacks, as a sufficiently strong slash can in fact cut through his hard neck and decapitate him.

Trivia

 * The Hand Demons ironically shares the same English voice actor, Kirk Thorton, as Tanjuro Kamado, the father of the one who ended up killing him.

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