Tetsudoji

Tetsudoji
Kanji	鉄導寺
Rōmaji	Tetsudoji
Characteristics
Race	Human
Gender	Male
Affiliation
Affiliation	Demon Slayer Corps
Occupation	Swordsmith
Base of Operations	Swordsmith Village
Personal Status
Status	Active (Pre-Timeskip) Deceased (Post-Timeskip)
Debuts
Manga Debut	Chapter 125
Anime Debut	Episode 55
Portrayal
Japanese VA	Wataru Hatano
English VA	Phillip Reich

Tetsudoji (鉄 (てつ) 導 (しるべ) 寺 (てら) , Tetsudoji^?) is a swordsmith affiliated with the Demon Slayer Corps.

Appearance

Like all swordsmiths, Tetsudoji wore Hyottoko mask to hide his face, and his mask was identifiable by it's large, black, and blocky eyebrows. He wears a olive haori with lighter stripes, baggy dark-gray pants tied around above his ankles, and has his head wrapped in a black scarf.

Personality

While not much is known about Tetsudoji's personality it is likely that he is very loyal to his village, as although he does not personally fight for it, he and his fellow swordsmiths are first introduced holding various swords, likely to guard and protect them from the destruction currently plaguing the village. He's also shown to be compassionate, as when witnessing Tanjiro Kamado weeping when hugging his sister who he mistook for head, he began to cry as well. However, he's shown to be a bit more impulsive, as when Tanjiro faints due to his injury, he incorrectly assumes that he died.

Synopsis

Swordsmith Village Arc

In the latter half of the attack on the Swordsmith Village, Tetsudoji, alongside two fellow swordsmiths: Tetsumotonaka and Tetsutani were hiding in a bush on the outskirts of the village guarding some swords. It's unknown if they had fled from the attacking demons, or were alerted by the bell warning to hide before any reached them. Nevertheless they were spotted by the manifestation of Upper Rank 4 Hantengu's resentment, Urami. The giant demon was heavily injured and without his arms, and he was in search of humans to consume in order to replenish his regenerative strength, which was being sapped by the manifestation of Hantengu's hatred, Zohakuten. He chose the swordsmiths to be his food, and as Urami quickly approached the swordsmiths, they saw him and fled, causing the incensed resentment demon to give chase.

Tetsumotonaka and Tetsudoji being chased by a headless Urami.

Meanwhile an injured Tanjiro Kamado was given a sword by the Mist Hashira, Muichiro Tokito, and using said sword, the young demon slayer caught up to Urami and beheaded him. However, since Urami was not Hantengu's true body, as Tanjiro assumed, Urami simply regenerated his arms and continued his chase of the swordsmiths without his head, causing them to gawk in fearful astonishment. This fact was alerted by Tanjiro's demon sister, Nezuko Kamado, but before the siblings could attempt to rescue the swordsmiths, the sun rose causing both demons to burn. However, while Nezuko burned in agony, Urami's size and muscular defintion caused him to tank the sunlight, and Tanjiro noted that he would've killed the swordsmiths before the sunlight could fully kill him. Indecisive and panicked, Tanjiro could not decide whether to protect his sister or save the swordsmiths. Nezuko however decided to chose for him, so she kicked the boy off so he could rescue the swordsmiths at her expense.

Believing that his only remaining family was dead, Tanjiro furiously charged at Urami, just as the demon had grabbed the heads of Tetsudoji and Tetsutani, much to their horror. However before the swordsmiths could be consumed, Tanjiro freed the swordsmiths by severing Urami's arms, before bisecting the demon to expose Hantengu's true body, decapitating and killing him. Although victorious, Tanjiro wept at the supposed death of his sister. However, he was alerted by Tetsumotonaka and Tetsutani that his sister was in fact alive.

Tetsudoji panicks when Tanjiro passes out.

As Tanjiro tearfully embraced his sister, the three swordsmiths were moved by the scene and began to weep as well. When Tanjiro suddenly collapsed from his injuries, Tetsudoji panicked and claimed that he had died, only to be reprimanded by the other two swordsmiths.

Later on, the group met with Muichiro, Kotetsu, Kozo Kanamori, and Hotaru Haganezuka.

Hashira Training Arc

It's likely that following the devastation of the Swordsmith Village, Tetsudoji relocated to one of the many vacant villages to be used as a contingency plan in case of the village's destruction.

He is implicitly mentioned by Gyomei Himejima when praising Tanjiro for prioritizing the lives of the swordsmiths over his sister's, before the Demon Slayer corrects the Stone Hashira that Nezuko had made that choice for him.

Trivia

• His name was revealed in a Volume Extra in Volume 15.