Zenitsu Agatsuma

Zenitsu Agatsuma is one of the main characters of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba and along with Inosuke Hashibira, a travelling companion of Tanjiro Kamado and Nezuko Kamado. He is also a Demon Slayer in the Demon Slayer Corps.

Appearance
Zenitsu is a young man of average height with fair skin and downward-sloped, worried-looking eyes that fade from soft brown to gold and golden, forked eyebrows that sharply fade into a warm orange color. He has short, yellow hair of varying lengths, cutting off squarely at the ends where it fades to a darker orange color, that falls in front of his face in uneven bangs, loosely resembling a bowl cut. Before he became a Demon Slayer, Zenitsu's hair was originally black, but it turned the color it is currently when he was struck by lightning during his training.

For some time following the battle at Mount Natagumo, his limbs temporarily shrunk due to Son's poison but were able to return to normal afterward thanks to medicine he had taken developed by Shinobu Kocho.

He wears a paler brown version of the standard Demon Slayer uniform, which consists of a dark brown gakuran jacket, a white belt around his waist and hakama pants that extend, as well as his signature white-triangle patterned, yellow and orange gradient haori. As well as this, Zenitsu also sports a pair of Kyahan, tied at the front in 3 white bows, with the same pattern as his haori, pale brown tabi socks and white-laced zōri.

Personality
Zenitsu is cowardly, weak-willed, and anxious, often claiming that he doesn't have long to live due to the dangerous job of being a Demon Slayer. He has rather low self-esteem despite his talent and strength, even considering himself useless, evident when he couldn't believe he had slain a demon and tricked himself into instead believing that it was Shoichi, even though the latter was a young child who didn't possess any form of skill. Zenitsu is in a constant state of fear and he frequently tries to run away at the sight of danger, claiming he wants to live a modest, normal life, instead of that of a Demon Slayer. Due to this, Zenitsu screams and shouts a lot, much to the annoyance of the people around him. He is also shown to be pessimistic at times, especially during Hashira Training where he lashed out at Tanjiro and Inosuke for viewing the training positively.

In spite of his weaknesses, Zenitsu desires to live up to the expectations others have set for him and will try his hardest when he needs to. He holds great respect and admiration towards his comrades and his deceased teacher, Jigoro Kuwajima, and his inner focus and drive in avenging him help to wash away his cowardice and second thoughts when he is in a pinch. Zenitsu also hates himself for how cowardly and incompetent he is, genuinely striving to better himself.

Zenitsu is also shown to be something of a wannabe womanizer, stemming from a desire to not be single should he be killed. He tends to hit on girls who he thinks are cute and asks them to marry him, much to their annoyance. This womanizing nature is shown to override his docile and quiet personality, particularly when he believes his comrades are "flirting" with cute girls; he would snap and goes in long hysterical rants and complaints. Zenitsu is shown to have a strong attraction to Nezuko, openly expressing his affection for her and always rushing to protect her as if on instinct. During these times, he is also shown to become physically aggressive, lashing out at people in frustration. Though, despite his shallow behaviour in this regard, Zenitsu does show to respect women, telling Daki to let go of a girl that Daki nearly tore the ear off of, and later demanded that she apologize, showing no fear at all in front of the enraged Upper Rank demon.

In spite of his cowardly demeanour and somewhat pathetic attempts to gain the attention of women, he has shown level-headedness in the rare occasion, becoming annoyed by his comrades' shenanigans, such as Tanjiro's kind naivety, Inosuke's bombastic personality, Kyojuro's boisterous and loud character, and Tengen's self-glorifying proclamations. As such, he typically squabbles with Inosuke when the latter goes on his loud demands and boasts. Additionally, as the only boy in the trio to have grown up in the city, Zenitsu is the most street-smart, and the only one familiar with urban environments and Japan's industrialization. This can cause him to get frustrated by his partners' naivety, such as Tanjiro and Inosuke's inability to recognize a train.

Before the raid on the Infinity Castle, Zenitsu gives off a different, more serious vibe as if he is focused on something important. This development occurred after receiving a letter from Chuntaro, which revealed his master's death and Kaigaku's role behind it. During his fight against Kaigaku, Zenitsu is stern and becomes enraged, causing him to angrily yell at him for disrespecting their cultivator. His sudden change surprises his ex-senior, as Zenitsu shows a more mature persona compared to his usual cowardice.

Overall Abilities
From the beginning, Zenitsu comes off as a talented and skilled Demon Slayer though he denies this. His strength awakens when he is asleep as his nervous demeanour is what normally keeps him from accessing his abilities, making him more sagacious, calm and precise in combat. This allowed him to instantly decapitate the Tongue Demon and defeat Son of the Spider Family by himself. He was later able to defend 3 entire train carts being under attack by Enmu, Lower Rank One, along with Nezuko. A few months after that, he was able to go toe-to-toe with an awakened Daki with the assistance of Inosuke, and later managed to blitz her with Thunderclap and Flash: Godspeed. As further credence to his strength, Zenitsu was able to advance to the highest point of the Hashira Training. However, the greatest extent of his powers manifests when Zenitsu fights while awake, as he managed to outmatch the new Upper Rank Six, Kaigaku, in speed by himself and was later blitzed and decapitated him before he could react, although he sustained several severe injuries. Moreover, Zenitsu's initial reluctance to kill Kaigaku, someone he once cared about and looked up to, was the only thing that gave the Upper Rank the initial advantage, hinting that he could have simply killed him from the beginning if he so desired. Later on, he could keep up with and battle the Demon King, Muzan Kibutsuji, albeit while severely weakened by the Anti-Kibutsuji Drug. Nonetheless, Zenitsu's strength more than likely matched that of the Hashira by the end of the series.

Indomitable Will: In spite of his initial cowardice and reluctance to fight, Zenitsu nonetheless possesses indomitable willpower and spirit. This was displayed when he absolutely refused to let Inosuke kill the demon inside Tanjiro's box, and protected it to the end despite getting relentlessly beat up by Inosuke. While he was asleep against the battle against Daki, Zenitsu had the willpower to continue fighting despite sustaining numerous slash wounds all over his body and having his feet broken. Through sheer will and anger, Zenitsu was able to overcome his cowardice and stay awake in battle against demons, shown during his bout with Kaigaku and Muzan, especially in the fight with the latter in which he refused to give up and persisted despite being enervated and injured.

Tactical Intellect: Even when fighting unconscious, Zenitsu has displayed incredible judgement and tactical intellect. When fighting consciously, this ability is fully released. This able was best exhibited during his battle against Upper Rank Six, Daki. When Inosuke made an erroneous deduction of her weaknesses, Zenitsu correctly explicated that all they need to do is keep both demons' head disconnected to kill them. After his bout with Kaigaku commenced, he was able to clearly think and process his techniques and demonic abilities.

Unconscious Combat: Zenitsu has the ability to fight when he sleeps, which allows him to awaken his true strength. While awake, his nerves and fear cause him to freeze up so he cannot move. When his life is in danger, his nerves and fear grow so strong that he passes out. But while asleep, his nerves are no longer holding him back, allowing him to fight and move with great judgement, precision and skill. His hearing also places a big part in allowing Zenitsu to fight unconsciously, as it enables him to discern his surroundings and the location of his enemies and their attacks. This also allows him to fight even after he falls victim to Enmu's spell that makes anyone go into deep sleep.

Physical Abilities
Enhanced Strength: Zenitsu has attained amazing physical strength through years of harsh training. Zenitsu can hold down Inosuke Hashibira with his bare hands and throw his entire body by grabbing to and swinging one of his legs. Most importantly, Zenitsu has incredible leg strength allowing him to jump extremely high and move at blistering speeds to perform his Thunder Breathing techniques. He was also able to damage the body of Muzan, whose body has the highest durability out of all the demons, further testifying his incredible physical strength.

Immense Speed & Reflexes: Zenitsu is extremely fast, being able to easily move faster than even the eye can see. Even during the beginning of his career as a Demon Slayer, it is plainly obvious that his speed far outclassed that of lesser demons such as the Tongue Demon and Son of the Spider Family. During both skirmishes, neither demon was able to hit Zenitsu when he was actively engaged with the battle and both were completely unable to react to the speed of his attacks. During the battle against Enmu, he was able to save Nezuko from Lower Rank One's flesh appendages and could slice through many of them before Enmu could react.

As he progresses, his speed has improved to the point that his movements couldn't be perceived by Upper Rank demons, like Daki and Kaigaku, the former's reflexes having been amplified multiple times during the fight and latter being a user of the same Breathing Style as Zenitsu. Moreover, Zenitsu could move faster than Kaigaku's lightning-based Blood Demon Art and cut his neck before the attack reached him. Most impressively, Zenitsu could land multiple hits on the imperceptibly fast Demon King, Muzan Kibutsuji, with his techniques, albeit he was severely weakened then.

Immense Stamina & Endurance: Zenitsu has incredible stamina and endurance. He has been shown to continue fighting even after being affected by lethal poison from the Son Spider Demon that was gradually weakening him and turning him into a spider. He was also able to defend 3 train cars with Nezuko for an extended period of time without tiring out. Later, Zenitsu, along with Inosuke, engaged in combat with Upper Rank Six, Daki, for an extended long period of time. Even after receiving numerous wounds from the Upper Rank and later getting trapped under rubble, Zenitsu had enough stamina left to unleash his Thunderclap and Flash: Godspeed technique twice; once to get out of the rubble and the second time to blitz Daki.

He was able to continue fighting with Kaigaku even after being on the receiving end of multiple Blood Demon Art-enhanced Thunder Breathing techniques that burned his skin and eventually summon enough power to use his ultimate technique and blitz him. Zenitsu was even able to exert himself for around half an hour during the fight against Muzan, even being able to surpass his limit of only being able to use his Thunderclap and Flash: Godspeed technique twice a day before his legs gave out.

Supernatural Abilities
Enhanced Hearing: Zenitsu possesses a heightened sense of hearing, allowing him to detect danger from even the faintest of sounds. With this, he has displayed the ability to decipher layers upon layers of sound in one of the brothels and even in the Infinity Castle. As another testament to his great sound detection ability, he can perfectly replicate any tune he hears on a shamisen and koto only after listening to it once for the first time, possessing perfect pitch despite having no musical background. Zenitsu's exceptional hearing also enables him to fight in his asleep, an impressive feat as he has no visual aid and can only use sound to discern his surroundings while keeping up with the attacks of demons.
 * Extrasensory Perception: Zenitsu's hearing allows him to hear and pick up sounds outside the normal range of perception, such as detecting a person's thoughts, emotions and even their personality just by picking up the subtle sounds they produce. Moreover, he can discern a human from a demon by comparing the sounds they make, which also allows him to determine their strength to an extent as Daki, an Upper Rank demon, has a more terrible sound than normal demons.

Fighting Style
Master Swordsman: Zenitsu is an incredibly talented swordsman, displaying highly refined proficiency in extremely fast Iaijutsu-like swordsmanship and the Thunderclap and Flash technique, to the point he can create offshoots of the technique and utilize it even while he is asleep. His swordsmanship skill allowed him to fend off dozens of spiders and defend 3 train carts that Enmu was constantly attacking. Zenitsu's sword wielding skill evolved to the point that he could fight against Upper Rank demons of the Twelve Kizuki and later matched a severely weakened Muzan, implying that his swordsmanship skill has most likely improved to the point that it matched that of the Hashira, the highest-ranked and most powerful swordsmen in the Demon Slayer Corps.

Breathing Style
Thunder Breathing (の): A Breathing Style Zenitsu learned from a cultivator and his teacher, Jigoro Kuwajima, but failed to master all the forms in the swordsmanship style but could only be able to use the first of the six forms in it, known as Thunderclap and Flash. However, Zenitsu has become incredibly proficient in fighting and winning using the first form alone, even creating several variations and modifications to it and being able to successfully perform the technique even while unconscious. Later, Zenitsu even created an entire new form in Thunder Breathing, something only a Hashira, specifically Giyu and Muichiro, has done before. This form allowed him to turn the tables against his opponent, Kaigaku, and overpower and decapitate him instantly.

Techniques

 * First Form: Thunderclap and Flash (ノ) - The user unsheathes their katana, dashes forward at blinding speeds and decapitates their opponent faster than they can react, before sheathing it back. This technique is extremely reminiscent of Iaijutsu and its movements are described to be akin to "lightning ripping through the air".
 * Sixfold - An extension of the Thunderclap and Flash technique created by Zenitsu. The user performs Thunderclap and Flash six times in quick succession while slightly augmenting the power and speed of his dashes.
 * Eightfold - An extension of the Thunderclap and Flash technique created by Zenitsu. The user performs Thunderclap and Flash eight times in quick succession while slightly augmenting the power and speed of his dashes.
 * Godspeed - An extension of the Thunderclap and Flash technique created by Zenitsu. The user performs Thunderclap and Flash while greatly augmenting the speed of the technique. During the first display of this technique, an unconscious Zenitsu remarked that he mustn't perform this technique more than two times, otherwise his legs would be rendered useless due to muscle fatigue and exhaustion. However, during the battle against Muzan Kibutsuji, Zenitsu has shown improvement in the proficiency of this technique, allowing him to use it more than twice while still maintaining the power and speed of the technique.


 * Seventh Form: Honoikazuchi no Kami (ノ) - The personal creation of Zenitsu Agatsuma. The user dashes forward at blinding speeds and unleashes a singular forward slash at a low stance, which is seemingly accompanied by a yellow Japanese dragon shaped like a lightning bolt.

Game Exclusive Techniques

 * First Form: Thunderclap and Flash, Prime (ノ　・) - A variation of the Thunderclap and Flash created by Zenitsu. The user performs Thunderclap and Flash with such strength that they crack and uproot the ground beneath them, and tear up the ground afterwards trying to arrest their momentum.. This move can be performed mid-air, which launches the user at an angle towards the ground as they strike.


 * Air Spin - The user delivers a circular spinning slash to send an opponent upwards. Typically, the technique is used to rebound after executing Thunderclap and Flash.


 * Encompassing Slash (り) - The user unleashes a 360° horizontal slash that creates a ring of blue electricity around them.


 * Lightning Burst (りい) - The user unsheathes their blade and performs three arching horizontal slashes at blinding speeds in quick succession. This technique is extremely reminiscent of Iaijutsu.

Equipment
Standard Nichirin Katana: Zenitsu carries around a standard sized and shaped Nichirin katana with yellow lightning streaks along the entire blade. His sword's tsuba is circular shaped with 4 slight indentations, the center has a silver tone with small triangles and has a golden border. The handle is yellow and wrapped in white silk ribbon. The base of the handle is gold with two short, white ribbons hanging off it. Along with his katana, Zenitsu also has a standard sword sheath that is white in color.

Trivia

 * Zenitsu's surname means "my wife", while his given name means "goodness". His first name contains the kanji for "good" and "special, unique"
 * Zenitsu's rankings in the popularity polls are as follows:
 * Zenitsu ranked 2nd place in the first popularity poll with 4,299 votes.
 * Zenitsu ranked 1st place in the second popularity poll with 17,451 votes.
 * Zenitsu also appeared in The Promised Neverland ' s 2020 popularity poll, ranking 29th place with 44 votes.
 * Zenitsu has also been mispronounced by Inosuke. Examples including Monitsu and Chuitsu (チュウ) in his dream as a squirrel squire.
 * In a Weekly Shonen Jump spoof 4-koma, Zenitsu plays the shamisen in the band "Chic-N-Scruffy Democracy," the other members being Tanjiro (vocals), Inosuke (taiko), and Tengen (harmonica). "Melancholy of Explosive Sound Skin and Modern Sense of Smell" is their debut single, and it reportedly made everyone who heard it feel dizzy and nauseous. Zenitsu also wrote a song entitled "Past Life Sins" for the band under the name "zenithu☆A."
 * Zenitsu is the only non-Hashira Demon Slayer to have done feats specifically only Hashira have done:
 * Create a new, original form in a Breathing Style with multiple users (done by Giyu Tomioka).
 * Defeat an Upper Rank demon by himself (done by Muichiro Tokito).
 * According to Gotouge, Zenitsu has an overbite. Although the art style does not present it, comical imagination spots exaggerate his overbite and portray Zenitsu with rodent-like buckteeth.
 * The pattern on Zenitsu's haori may be inspired by Uroko, a traditional Japanese pattern that symbolizes scales. Samurai would wear clothing with this pattern to protect themselves from harm.
 * After the events of the story, Zenitsu wrote a memoir entitled "The Legend of Zenitsu".
 * Zenitsu is superstitious as he was shown to be delighted seeing two tea stalks in his tea in the extra chapters. In Japan, seeing Chabashira or a tea stalk floating vertically in your teacup when you have Japanese green tea is a sign of good luck.
 * There are six forms, but Zenitsu could only learn the first form said to be the basis for the others yet he honed it to where he could fight against several strong demons. He later created a seventh form and defeated his former senior who had become the Upper Rank Six of the Twelve Kizuki.
 * Zenitsu is a city boy and has rode on trains before, which was why going out and training with his master in the mountains was tens times harder for him than it was for Tanjiro and Inosuke. He also doesn't really care for the inconveniences of the countryside.
 * Zenitsu's hearing allowed him to hear the sickening remarks that girls made on him behind his back. This caused him to be scared of girls so much that he couldn't stand it anymore (though his naturally cheery and persistent nature allowed him to recover quickly).
 * Though Zenitsu fell in love with Nezuko at first sight, he was skeptical of how Tanjiro described her. He couldn't believe that girls could be so one-sidedly kind. When he saw how Nezuko wasn't two-faced and was truly kind, he became so happy that he saw paradise for a moment and almost ascended to heaven.
 * Zenitsu's debt is estimated to be around 600,000 yen in modern currency.
 * This massive amount of debt likely came from his 7 ex-girlfriends. Despite all of them being beautiful, they treated Zenitsu like a slave, tricked him as well as robbing him of his money. Zenitsu also never got to even hold their hands.
 * Zenitsu loves sweet and expensive foods (specifically "high-quality eel" (な), more commonly known as kabayaki), so if he hadn't become a swordsman, he'd be chubby.
 * In Kimetsu Academy, Zenitsu is a morals officer who ended up on the committee despite not wanting to. He does uniform checks every day by the school gate while being terrified of delinquents. He sometimes uses his occupation to ogle at girls, and is chased around by Giyu who believes his hair to be dyed, and thus against school policy.

Quotes

 * (To himself) "I hate myself more than anyone. I always think I have to get my act together, but I end up cowering, running away, sniveling. I want to change. I want to be a competent person."
 * (To himself regarding Kyojuro Rengoku's death) "People don't simply recover instantly. No matter how strong someone is, they can feel pain and sadness. But hiding from it doesn't solve anything. You must rouse your aching heart and stand back up. I'm sure Rengoku was that kind of person."
 * (To Daki) "Before you die, I have a task for you. Apologize to the girl whose ear you nearly tore off. It may be your money that pays for their clothing, food and housing, but those girls aren't your toys. You won't get away with this."
 * (To Kaigaku) "Grandfather wasn't senile. If I'm scum, then you're trash. I feel sorry for grandpa for having such pathetic successors. I can only do the First Form and you can do everything except that!"
 * (To Kaigaku) "This is my form. I created it, so it's all mine. With this technique... I wanted to fight you as an equal!"
 * (To Tanjiro Kamado) "Tanjiro! Focus on staying alive! Can you hear me? Don't die! You can't die! Nezuko's gonna to be human again! And you're gonna get her out of here! And go back to the house where you grew up! Your family is waiting for you two to return!"

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