Susamaru

Susamaru, also known as the Temari Demon (手毬鬼), was one of the two primary antagonists in the Asakusa Arc of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, along with Yahaba. She was a demon who aspired to join the Twelve Kizuki.

Appearance
Susamaru was a pale-skinned woman with bright yellow eyes with cat-like slits and white horizontal slats with black hair with orange-colored ends. Her hair was styled as bangs at the front.

Susamaru wore a pair of long silver earrings and an orange kimono that matched her hair. She had a black haori on top but took them both off when she entered her battle, revealing a small black sarashi that covers her chest and upper abdomen.

Although she normally had an average build, when fighting seriously, her body became noticeably more muscular. She could also grow two new pairs of arms as well.

Personality
Susamaru was shown to be rather playful, yet very brash and quite immature while almost always smiling and always enjoys and accepts a challenge. Her pet phrase is "what fun this is" and she will repeat this constantly if engaged in bouts she deems amusing. Her immaturity is a stark contrast to Yahaba's seriousness.

She was fanatically loyal to Muzan Kibutsuji and battled to the best of her abilities in the hopes of killing Tanjiro Kamado and taking Tamayo hostage for her master. When the latter had denounced Muzan as a manipulative coward, she defended his honour and denied her statements vehemently.

Background
Susamaru was a young girl who enjoyed playing with temaris before she was transformed into a demon. At some point, she encountered Muzan Kibutsuji and was convinced by him that she, along with Yahaba, was a member of the Twelve Kizuki, a group of the most powerful demons in history that serve under him. She became intensely loyal towards Muzan and was incredibly proud of her "position" as a Twelve Kizuki.

Asakusa Arc
Outraged by the appearance of a Demon Slayer wearing hanafuda-like earrings in Asakusa, Muzan summoned Susamaru and Yahaba and ordered them to hunt him down. The two walked the streets of the busy city searching for a trail to their next target. Yahaba used his Blood Demon Art to track the footsteps of a Demon Slayer carrying a large box. Susamaru walked alongside him, bouncing her temari as she follows along.

Yahaba soon found that the Demon Slayer was accompanied by others. Excited to slaughter them all, Susamaru asked how they should go about destroying them. Yahaba replied that, they must execute them vindictively for Muzan, much to Susamaru's liking. She followed her partner to an invisible house hidden behind a fake wall, and used her temaris to destroy the seal hiding the building. Having tracked down their enemy, Susamaru agrees with Yahaba that they must kill them all brutally. Using Yahaba's arrows to guide her handballs, Susamaru tears apart the house. After making a large enough opening to see inside the house, Susamaru notices the Demon Slayer with hanafuda-like earrings, Tanjiro Kamado, inside.

Yahaba scolds Susamaru for her immature approach and for splattering dust on his kimono. Susamaru ignores him and continues having fun, replying only that Yahaba needs to relax and let loose on the enemy. Yahaba falls back and uses his arrows to guide Susamaru's temari to Yushiro's head, instantly decapitating him. Susamaru tells Tanjiro that it's time for him to die and throws a temari straight towards him. He counters by stabbing the ball at an angle, impressing Susamaru. Yushiro's head regenerates and he curses the Temari Demon for ruining his peace with Tamayo. Susamaru claims he's babbling and removes her kimono to grow four more arms. She tells them all that they are about to be killed by one of the Twelve Kizuki, asking them if it made them feel special.

The Temari Demon prepares six temaris and asks her opponents to keep playing until they die. She tears up the house and injures both Yushiro and Nezuko. The former gives Tanjiro a way to see Yahaba's arrows through one of his talismans, enabling him to effectively counter Susamaru's temari. As Susamaru battles Tanjiro, she tells him that she's going to bring her master Tanjiro's head for sure. Meanwhile, Nezuko attacks Yahaba and dispells his arrows.

Without the guidance of Yahaba's arrows, Susamaru's balls are left open to counterattack and sliced to pieces by Tanjiro. Using his Water Breathing, Third Form: Flowing Dance, he slices off all of the Temari Demon's arms at once while swearing to Tamayo to extract blood from demons close to Muzan. Amused, Susamaru asks Tanjiro what he is scheming to do with their blood. She refuses to allow him to displease her master and challenges him to take on the Twelve Kizuki. She instantly regenerates all six of her arms back and reminds Tanjiro that she'll be taking his head. Yahaba returns to the battlefield and throws Nezuko onto her brother.

Susamaru tries to kill them both at the same time with his arrows, although the two manage to avoid it. Tanjiro decides to take on Yahaba while Nezuko, Yushiro, and Tamayo deal with the Temari Demon. Through his Blood Demon Art, Yushiro turns invisible and brings Susamaru to her knees while telling her to repent for hurting Tamayo. Yahaba recognizes Tamayo's name as Tamayo the fugitive and Susamaru agrees she will make a good souvenir. Susamaru goes back on the offensive and severs Nezuko's leg with her temari before kicking her back into the house. She asks Yahaba if all four of their enemies heads will be enough for Muzan, although he responds saying that they would only take Tanjiro and Tamayo's heads, while Nezuko and Yushiro's were of no use to them. Susamaru creates a smokescreen by kicking up dust with her temaris in an attempt to blind Yushiro. He is able to evade the temari despite the dust and tries to close in on his enemy. The Temari Demon can see him moving through the dust despite his invisibility and throws another ball straight for his head, nearly decapitating him again until a healed Nezuko arrives in time to kick the ball away. Susamaru kicks the ball back towards Nezuko, but this time, she is able to deflect the ball with her legs. Annoyed, Susamaru insults Nezuko, calling her a brat and challenging her. They kick the temari back and forth multiple times at incredible speeds until Nezuko kicks the ball so hard and that it narrowly misses Susamaru and crashes into a wall. Impressed, Susamaru decides to go all out against Nezuko, but is interrupted by Tamayo, who uses her Blood Demon Art to interrogate Susamaru. She asks her about Muzan, calling him a coward for pitting demons against each other and manipulating them.

Enraged, Susamaru tries to defend her master's honor but accidentally says his last name out loud, triggering the Curse of Kibutsuji. Her brain function was inhibited by Tamayo's enchanting blood, which she secretly cast across the area, forcing Susamaru to tell the truth.

Horrified, Susamaru runs away and begs for forgiveness from her lord. However, having invoked his name out loud, the Curse of Kibutsuji takes hold of Susamaru and three demonic arms spawn from her body. These arms crush Susamaru's body completely, leaving only her eye, an arm, and a pool of blood. Tamayo notices her eye isn't marked with a number, meaning she's not actually one of the Twelve Kizuki.

After she takes a sample of Susamaru's blood, Tanjiro hears a faint voice asking for her temari ball. Tanjiro returns it to her and laments how Muzan manipulated Susamaru into thinking she was one of the Twelve Kizuki and compelled her to fight until her eventual death. The sun rises, completely disintegrating what little remains of her body.

Overall Abilities
Susamaru was a fairly powerful demon, as she was able to hold her own against Tanjiro Kamado and pressure him in battle. Even when Nezuko strengthened herself in order to match Susamaru's power, Tamayo noted that in a drawn-out battle, the Temari Demon would eventually prevail.

Demon Abilities
Enhanced Strength: As a demon, Susamaru had tremendous physical strength, as she was able to throw her temaris with enough force to smash through walls and decapitate Yushiro. She was also able to kick her handball strong enough to sever Nezuko's leg.

Flesh Manipulation: Like all demons, Susamaru possessed the ability to control and alter her flesh to a certain extent. She can use this ability to grow 4 more arms, allowing her to conjure more handballs and increase her offensive output.

Regeneration: Susamaru, like all demons, possessed powerful regenerative abilities, as shown when Tanjiro had sliced off all her arms and she was able to heal just moments later. However, it was not enough to survive the activation of Muzan Kibutsuji's curse, as his absolute control over demons left her unable to heal afterwards, leaving Susamaru to die in the sunlight exposed.

Blood Demon Art
Hiasobi Temari (び): Susamaru's Blood Demon Art allows her to conjure temari handballs at will. These handballs are extremely durable, being able to withstand being thrown and kicked at high speeds and destroy any objects they come in contact with. They can, however, be penetrated by a sharp object such as a Nichirin Sword. Susamaru uses her temaris in conjunction with Yahaba's Koketsu Arrows to increase their lethality and effectiveness.

Game Exclusive Techniques

 * Play Ball (び): Susamaru kicks a spinning kemari that whiffs towards her opponent and hits them in the abdomen.


 * Spinning Throw (ち): Susamaru leaps to the side, dodging the majority of attacks and hurls a powerful temari towards her opponent.


 * Ball Kick (り): Susamaru conjures a temari and kicks it towards her opponent.


 * Piercing Kick (きり): Susamaru quickly sprints towards her opponent, using the momentum to unleash a powerful kick.


 * Sixfold Temari: Susamaru casts a barrage of 6 temari towards her opponent before unleashing a final and powerful temari.
 * Sixfold Temari, Bounding (・): Susamaru leaps in the air and unleashes 6 temari in three rows covering a board area.


 * Spiraling Shot: Susamaru throws a barrage of temari towards her opponent, completely pulverizing them. During this she creates a kemari using all six of her arms and spins it, greatly increasing its potential and kinetic energy, to which she kicks it towards her opponent causing them to soar in the air followed by a huge explosion of blood.

Muzan Kibutsuji
Susamaru was immensely loyal to Muzan Kibutsuji and defended him from Tamayo's statement that he was nothing but a coward, saying that no one is stronger than him. Despite her loyalty, Muzan, however, only views Susamaru as a pawn, lying to her that she is a member of the Twelve Kizuki and even killing her when she said his last name out loud to Tamayo, despite the fact that she was under Tamayo's Blood Demon Art's influence.

Yahaba
Although Yahaba disliked Susamaru's immature nature, the two were nevertheless on good terms with each other and worked together to battle Tanjiro and Nezuko Kamado.

Tanjiro Kamado
Susamaru was determined to bring Tanjiro's head to Muzan, and expressed no remorse in trying to kill him, instead smiling and laughing happily. Despite this, Tanjiro pitied Susamaru for being crushed to near-death by Muzan even though she showed absolute loyalty to him.

Nezuko Kamado
Nezuko expressed immense dislike towards Susamaru for attacking her and her friends. Susamaru reciprocated these negative feelings, calling her a brat when she managed to deflect her handball back at her.

Tamayo
Like with Tanjiro, Susamaru was eager to bring Tamayo's head to Muzan, aware of her alliance with the Demon Slayer Corps despite being a demon herself. Although Tamayo did not hesitate to use her Blood Demon Art to force Susamaru to say Muzan' last name out loud and trigger the Curse of Kibutsuji, she did express sorrow towards Susamaru's imminent death.

Trivia

 * Susamaru's name is comprised of the kanji for "cinnabar, vermillion" (朱), "yarn, silk gauze, gossamer" (紗), and "round, ball, pellet" (丸). When spoken altogether, it can roughly mean "red silk ball", which is a homage to the temari balls she uses in battle.
 * Susamaru was ranked in 30th place as of the first character popularity poll with 53 votes.
 * In Kimetsu Academy, Susamaru is a third year from the Mogura class and president of the volleyball team. Her full name is "Maru Susa."

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Susamaru Сусамару 朱紗丸 朱紗丸