Yushiro

Yushiro is a major supporting character of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. He is the traveling companion of Tamayo and a close ally of Tanjiro Kamado. Yushiro was turned into a demon by Tamayo when he had a terminal illness.

During the final confrontation with Muzan Kibutsuji, Yushiro, along with Tamayo, joins forces with the Demon Slayer Corps to aid the Demon Slayers.

Appearance
Yushiro has the appearance of a young man of short stature and average build with pale skin and lavender purple eyes. He has short hair that is neatly styled and vertically shaded from a dull and light green to black.

Yushiro wears a button-up collared shirt under an all-white iromuji-haori and dark blue Seigo-Sendeihira styled hakama pants.

Personality
Yushiro is brash, hot-tempered, confrontational and aggressive. His first conversation with Tanjiro begins with him insulting Nezuko Kamado and calling her an eyesore. He is usually depicted with a scowl on his face and rarely seen smiling unless when speaking about and or admiring Tamayo, to whom he is in love with, shown when he attacked the Demon Slayer for insignificant reasons on a multitude of occasions and was promptly reprimanded by her.

He only cares for Tamayo and hates when others get in the way of his spending time with her and dislikes not being by her side for even a minute. In fact, he cares so little for others (and only for Tamayo) that while Tanjiro and Nezuko were fighting two demons who were trying to kill them, Yushiro suggested to Tamayo that they use Tanjiro and Nezuko as decoys to run from the demon, a suggestion that horrified Tamayo. Though Yushiro claimed he was joking to appease her, it is evident he genuinely considered it. He also claimed that Susamaru deserved her death for hurting Tamayo, though even he was shocked at the brutal way she died. He hates it when others get too close to Tamayo, expressing even the smallest bit of attraction, or he perceives that someone insults her. He himself tends to fawn over her a great deal. He seems to be insulted when Tanjiro suggests that all demons have a hard time controlling their desire to feast on humans, asking Tanjiro if he thought all demons were that bloodthirsty. Despite this, he can show respect towards others, as he did take back his comment about Nezuko being an eyesore and called her pretty at the end of the episode and also covered Tanjiro's mouth to prevent him from inhaling Tamayo's Blood Demon Art, which is harmful to humans.

History
Yushiro was once a human who was under the care of Tamayo as she was practicing as a medical practitioner. He was extremely frail and weak from fighting a terminal illness when Tamayo gave him the choice of succumbing to his illness or to live longer as a demon. He agreed to become a demon and has since stayed by Tamayo's side serving as an assistant in her medical practices as well as her bodyguard.

Asakusa Arc
Yushiro accompanied Tamayo during her visit to Asakusa, where they witness Tanjiro attempting to restrain a man who was just transformed by Muzan. Seeing that police were about to arrest him, she uses her Blood Demon Art, Scent of Illusory Blood, Visual Dream, to blind them and give their help to the Demon Slayer. After Tamayo took the transformed man and his injured wife, Yushiro waited for Tanjiro to finish a meal he was eating and walked up to him. Immediately, he questions whether Tanjiro's sister Nezuko is indeed a demon as well, calling her an eyesore. He then led Tanjiro to a dead-end at an alley and instructed him to walk through the wall, into a hidden house.

Upon Tamayo's introduction to him and during her explanation of her goals as a demon and doctor, Yushiro would hit and attack Tanjiro for doing things he perceived as offensive to Tamayo, who promptly warned him to cease harming him. They were then attacked by Yahaba and Susamaru, demons sent by Muzan to kill Tanjiro, who discovered Yushiro's Blood Demon Art hiding the house and destroyed it to unveil them. The demons pummel the interior to force them to fight back. One of Susamaru's temaris then swerved to hit Tamayo, which caused Yushiro to stand in front of her and end up decapitated by the projectile. As he healed, Yushiro voiced his dismay in getting involved with Tanjiro and Nezuko, since his Blood Demon Art cannot fully hide an object's presence.

As Tanjiro struggled with the temaris, Yushiro informed him to watch the arrows leading them. Seeing he is unable to do so, an annoyed Yushiro gives him an imbued talisman that allows him to see Yahaba's arrows moving the temaris. He then warned the Demon Slayer to be cautious if they truly are of the Twelve Kizuki. Moving his attention to Tamayo, he tried to persuade her into leaving the siblings and escape the attack, only to deny it upon seeing her horrified reaction. He decides to help Nezuko battle Susamaru, using his Blood Demon Art to land several hits on the demon and expressing his rage seeing Tamayo wounded. He then watched as Nezuko began to suddenly increase in power and match Susamaru's strength, asking Tamayo if she had helped. Tamayo told the stunned Yushiro that this was Nezuko's own abilities.

Tamayo then uses her Blood Demon Art to trick Susamaru into activating a curse within her cells. The Temari Demon dies when demonic arms sprout from her body and crush her, which dismayed Tamayo and shocked Yushiro. In the immediate aftermath, he holds a rag to Tanjiro's nose and warns him not to inhale Tamayo's Blood Demon Art. As the demons move indoors due to the break of dawn, Yushiro witnesses Nezuko hugging Tamayo. Though he is initially infuriated, Tamayo states that she does not mind, causing him to relent and consider her a gracious person. Nezuko then proceeded to pat his head, annoying him. When Tanjiro informs him that his sister recognizes them as human and upon seeing Tamayo tearfully thank her for doing so, Yushiro reminisces on the day he had met her, how he was on death's door due to a terminal illness and Tamayo asking him that should she continue, her next actions could potentially cost him his humanity.

Intially, Tamayo had planned to take Nezuko to accompany her and Yushiro away from Tanjiro's mission, which dismayed him. But seeing that the siblings are better off together, she accepts their decision and parts ways with them. Before leaving, Yushiro finally concedes his earlier comment and hesitantly calls Nezuko pretty, much to Tanjiro's pleasure.

Infinity Castle Arc
During the Demon Slayers' confrontation with Muzan within the Infinity Castle, Yushiro, who had been accompanying Tamayo when she was summoned by Kagaya Ubuyashiki for her knowledge, assists the Demon Slayers. However, his attempt to disguise himself as human does not work as most of them recognize him as a demon anyway. Following Zenitsu Agatsuma's battle with Upper Rank Six Kaigaku, Yushiro rescues the wounded Demon Slayer from falling to his death, while mocking the decapitated Upper Rank for dying alone and calling his fate pitiful.

Sunrise Countdown Arc
He accompanies more Demon Slayers as they attempt to navigate the labyrinth-like fortress when he suddenly feels a severe pain his chest, the result of Muzan killing Tamayo and absorbing her cells. He tears the floorboards as he kneels down, seething and crying with rage as he realizes that Tamayo has been killed.

During the initial clash between Muzan, Tanjiro, and the Water Hashira Giyu Tomioka, Yushiro assists the Serpent Hashira Obanai Iguro and the Love Hashira Mitsuri Kanroji by obscuring the vision of the Infinity Castle's owner, Upper Rank Four Nakime. Initially believing the latter two have been killed, Muzan is overwhelmed and demands Nakime answer him. Yushiro instead declares that for killing Tamayo, he will wipe his existence away from the Earth. He and the Demon King fight for control over Nakime, as the Demon Slayers surround him. Unwilling to let Yushiro take control of the Infinity Castle, Muzan activates his curse on Nakime to kill her, which causes the castle to breach the surface.

During the battle, Zenitsu, Inosuke Hashibira and Kanao Tsuyuri equipped themselves with Yushiro's talismans in order to assist the Hashira in fighting Muzan while hidden, though Muzan is able to disable their concealment through sheer speed.

When Tanjiro is nearly killed when his eye is slashed and his body is poisoned by Muzan's potent blood, Murata, a Demon Slayer accompanying him, brings him to Yushiro as his heart has stopped beating. He gives Tanjiro a dosage of Tamayo's medicine, enabling Tanjiro to regain consciousness and temporarily push Muzan back alone after the Demon King unleashes a devastating attack that critically wounds all of the Hashira. Yushiro then finds Chachamaru had been injured whilst giving antidotes to Muzan's blood and puts his head back on to heal, before giving vials of Tamayo's medicine to help heal the wounded. He sees the severely injured Stone Hashira Gyomei Himejima and wonders if he can continue fighting in his current state.

Muzan is eventually exposed to the sunlight of dawn and his physical body burns, ending the battle. However, in a last ditch attempt at revenge to keep his feelings alive, he has transformed Tanjiro into a demon with the last of his blood. Yushiro, who had been tending the wounded, sees the situation and curses Muzan for continuing to cause suffering after his death. He freezes, unable to assist as the sunlight is burning away any Blood Demon Arts, including his talismans. Wondering how he can help, he suddenly sees Kanao limping towards the demonic Tanjiro with a vial, before utilizing her final Flower Breathing form to inject him and help him fight off Muzan's influence once and for all. In the wake of Tanjiro's return to humanity, Yushiro, hiding in the shade, pulls out a pin belonging to Tamayo and tearfully tells her that the battle between humans and demons is finished.

Three months after the battle, Yushiro had visited a recovering Tanjiro in the Butterfly Mansion. He mentions that Tanjiro is lucky that Kanao had a spare vial and is impressed he was able to avoid succumbing to such power. When Tanjiro attempts to deny his strength and claims he had much help, Yushiro then retorts that he was joking and walks away. Before leaving, Tanjiro tells him not to die, as he is the last one to keep Tamayo's memory alive. The demon pauses to absorb his words, before leaving the mansion. Tanjiro would later expresses his dismay to Nezuko that Yushiro had not contacted him since his last words to him. Yushiro would later become the last known survivor of the demon race. In time, he would dedicate himself to a life of art and become a world-famous painter in the present day under the name of Yushiro Yamamoto, known for his incredibly intricate paintings of Tamayo that have received critical acclaim. He is widely known as a mysterious figure with an infamy for his aggression to reporters seeking to interview him, notoriously attempting to shoot them with a rifle.

He has drawn at least 812 artworks of Tamayo with the 812th work, Tamayo with Dark Blue Flowers, being by Yoshiteru Agatsuma's account his first love.

Abilities
Overall Abilities: Yushiro is a demon of unknown strength, although living for a long time under Tamayo, who is herself a deceptively strong demon who could severely weaken Muzan, it is assumed that Yushiro is a competent fighter as well who can make use of Blood Demon Arts. Yushiro for the most part, however, is more of a support combatant aiding others with his powers to allow them to discern invisible things or otherwise mask his allies' presence. Most impressively, Yushiro is strong enough to wrestle for command against Muzan over a demon, albeit with the help of the Demon Slayers to interrupt Muzan's concentration.

Body Modification: Through unknown surgical procedures, Yushiro's body has been adapted to live with minimal human blood consumption and no drive to hunt humans. Tamayo stated that Yushiro requires less blood than she does to sustain himself.

Curse Immunity: As a result of being a demon created by Tamayo who severed her link with Muzan, Yushiro is by default not linked to him and as such immune from Muzan's control, preventing the Demon King from exerting any influence over him, such as destroying him remotely or reading his thoughts albeit Muzan was able to partially spread his cells to Yushiro's hand to wrestle Nakime's control from him and to kill him.

Medical Skills: Being Tamayo's aide, Yushiro is also an expert medic being familiar of her special techniques and drugs. After rescuing Zenitsu from falling to his death, he was able to make use of numerous medicine in order to prevent the damage inflicted by Kaigaku's Blood Demon Art to spread further. He was also able to resuscitate a nearly dead Tanjiro to health, allowing the latter to be able to fight again.

Talented Painter: Within the Reiwa Era of Japan, Yushiro became an artist who paints extremely detailed and intricate pictures of Tamayo on a canvas which have received critical acclaim from all around the world. His paintings are so realistic that some people mistake them for photos.

Flesh Manipulation: Like all demons, Yushiro possessed the ability to control and alter his flesh to a certain extent. Yushiro briefly uses this ability during his infiltration into the Demon Slayers forces to alter the appearance of his eyes to give himself a more human-like look, concealing the distinctive vertical slit in his iris.

Fighting Style
Proficient Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Yushiro is an excellent martial artist as he seems to use what seems to be karate, kyusho jitsu and judo. As seen with Tanjiro, Yushiro is furiously striking his chest's pressure points after asking for Tamayo's age. And when Tanjiro asked Tamayo how to create the demon-to-human medicine as he approaches her, Yushiro quickly threw Tanjiro to the ground in a similar fashion as judo. During his fight against Susamaru, Yushiro can be seen striking her with open palm strikes.

Blood Demon Art
Blindfold (し): Yushiro's Blood Demon Art allows him to create paper talismans which possess the ability to mask or reveal something's presence. By placing these on certain objects of his choosing, he can get rid of their presence. Otherwise, by placing it on someone's forehead, he can enhance their vision by revealing the presence of masked objects.

Yushiro has used this Blood Demon Art to completely hide the entrance to Tamayo's clinic in Asakusa, and used it to create illusory walls to make it less suspicious as well. However, he couldn't mask its existence completely from Yahaba's own Blood Demon Art's tracking ability. He can also render himself invisible using his Blindfold. Yushiro has also used this to reveal Yahaba's hidden arrows and bestow this power to Tanjiro as well. During the Infinity Castle Arc, it seems Yushiro's Blood Demon Art has developed considerably. Not only can he create dozens of his paper talismans at once, but he can use them to completely mask their presence but still see one another, granting them a slight advantage against Muzan. His Blood Demon Art can allow two beings to use their vision in tandem to increase their efficiency in combat, as seen with Obanai Iguro and his pet snake Kaburamaru.

Yushiro's paper talismans were also able to link Kiriya and his sisters to the location of the Demon Slayers in real time through the Kasugai Crows that were also wearing the paper talismans on their neck. This allows them to not only see through the paper talismans on the Kasugai Crows, but also issue commands to them. They have used this connection to gain information of battle results, casualties, and the Infinity Castle's constantly changing structure.


 * Mind Control: During the Infinity Castle Arc, Yushiro displays a new ability of his Blood Demon Art, which allows him to put an individual with his Blindfold under hypnosis and take control of their minds and vision. If used on a demon, he is able to make use of their techniques through them as shown when he used Nakime's Blood Demon Art to bring the Demon Slayers to the surface while the Infinity Castle was collapsing. His control over them is not only mental but also physical, as evidenced by his brief contest with Muzan over Nakime, where both parties controlled her body as they wrestled for command. Yushiro impressively was able to fight Muzan absorbing his cells through Nakime, thus implying Yushiro manipulates his victims on a cellular level. One drawback to this ability is that Yushiro is required to be in proximity of his target to control them.

Game Exclusive Techniques

 * Knifehand Strike (ち) - Yushiro goes behind the opponent and knocks them away with a powerful knifehand chop.


 * Strike - Yushiro lunges forward and performs a four-move combo as follows: An uppercut palm strike, a low-ended knifehand chop from the left, a middle-ended knifehand chop from the left again and finally, a straight palm strike to finish it off.


 * Spinning Attack (め) - Yushiro flips backwards before rushing towards and delivering a short flurry of attacks that ends with a spinning overhead knifehand chop.


 * Debilitating Blow (ちし) - Yushiro leaps into the air and spins their body horizontally while releasing three consecutive knifehand chops.


 * Scent of Illusory Blood, Visual Dream: Grapple (の・みち) - Yushiro pummels his opponent with multiple strikes with Tamayo aiding him by using her Blood Demon Art, Blood Bewitchment: Scent of Illusory Blood, Visual Dream. This is ended by Yushiro performing an uppercut palm strike.

Tamayo
Yushiro is in love with Tamayo and is willing to do anything to protect her. He finds Tamayo very beautiful. He is very obsessed with her and will attack and insult anyone who comes near her but him. Upon sensing Tamayo's death at the hands of Muzan, Yushiro becomes enraged, evidenced by his suddenly elongated fangs.

In the modern era, it is evident that Yushiro is still alive but takes an occupation as a painter painting pictures of Tamayo since he still has great respect and loyalty to her after all these years.

When a crow came to visit Tamayo, he felt that she was disturbed. Yushiro was cleaning and fell down the stairs.

Nezuko Kamado
At first, Nezuko is threatened by Yushiro's presence as she senses that he is a Demon; however after she realizes he shows no ill intent or harm towards her or Tanjiro, she no longer perceives him as a threat and stops being wary around him.

Yushiro initially sees her as "unsightly," due to his personal belief that all Demons are disgusting and grotesque with the sole exception being Tamayo, his master and the object of his undying love. However, after they fight side-by-side during the attack on their hidden clinic by Yahaba and Susamaru, he revises his opinion of her, calling her beautiful. Nezuko likewise sees Yushiro as one of her younger siblings and begins patting his head, much to his dismay.

Tanjiro Kamado
At first glance, the two don't get along well, as Tanjiro had asked how old she was, and they fight. But later on in the story, they grow respect for each other, going so far to tell Tanjiro how much he admired Tamayo.

Shinobu Kocho
Kagaya Ubuyashiki asked Tamayo, Yushiro and Shinobu to create an antidote and study medicine to try to create a medicine that makes an oni become human again. And with that the relationship between Shinobu and Yushiro was not so good, since both always they fought and didn't get along so well and this could be due to Yushiro's jealousy for Tamayo.

Muzan Kibutsuji
Just like Tanjiro, Yushiro hates Muzan and would do anything to get rid of him. After Muzan killed Tamayo, his hatred deepened and his desire to kill Muzan as revenge grew.

Trivia

 * Yushiro shares both his Japanese and English voice actors as Narancia Ghirga from JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind, Genta Doi from Hi Score Girl, and Hal Clark from Astral Chain.
 * By Chapter 204 and 205, Yushiro and Chachamaru are presumably the only demons still left alive.
 * His name contains the Go-on'yomi reading of the kanji for "healing", "history, record" and the Kan-on'yomi for "male child, son", common male suffix. Looking at the second kanji for his name, it could be vaguely hinting about his fate as one of the last surviving demons in the series.
 * If someone tells Yushiro: "You like Tamayo, don't you!", he blushes and becomes quiet.
 * Yushiro has a diary in which he writes about how wonderful Tamayo is.
 * Yushiro was ranked in 17th place as of the first character popularity poll with 145 votes.

Quotes

 * (To Kaigaku) "Someone who never gives to others will someday become unable to receive anything from them. Only wanting is, in the end, the same as having nothing... because one is unable to create anything. Such a pity to die alone."

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Yushiro Юширо Yushiro Yushiro 山本愈史郎 愈史郎