Gyomei Himejima | Demon Slayer

APPEARANCE | Gyomei Himejima is known as the Stone Hashira and one of the most powerful demon Slayers in existence, he is a twenty-seven years old male and one of the tallest characters in the series reaching 220 cm (7'2 ft), easily towering over his fellow Hashira. He is powerfully built and extremely muscular. He has spiky short black hair and a prominent scar running horizontally across his forehead. Having been blind since childhood, he has white eyes with no visible irises or pupils. His eyes frequently tear-up when he gets emotional regarding the situation.

Gyomei wears a black and white uniform typical of a Demon Slayer Corps, with bandages over his shins resembling kyahan and white zōri with an olive green happi draped over his shoulders. He also sports a large-beaded necklace around his neck and carries a set of ojuzu beads when he is not engaged in battle.

PERSONALITY | Gyomei embodies the gentle giant archetype, being soft-spoken and sensitive, despite his outwardly intimidating appearance. He is also shown to be quite pious, carrying his prayer beads at all times and offering prayers in poignant situations. Most notably, Gyomei easily cries over the most insignificant things, accentuating his rather soft nature. This could be due to his love for all living creatures brought about by his religious upbringing, yet, Gyomei has also demonstrated a strong sense of responsibility and he is aware of when to intervene in an argument if it ever comes across one.

Like the rest of the Hashira, Gyomei has a great deal of respect for Kagaya Ubuyashiki, of which no small part was due to the Oyakata saving his life. He is ever-cognizant of what others, are capable of if given the opportunity. By reason of his doubtful nature, it can take a while for Gyomei to completely accept and trust others. When he does open up and let others in, he is unwavering in his commitment to them.

ABILITIES | As a Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, Gyomei is a very powerful and skilled combatant going in hand displaying keen intellect and judgement abilities while fighting. He is stated to be the strongest Demon Slayer in the entire Demon Slayer Corps. Additionally, Tengen Uzui had once called Gyomei "a complete enigma" which can either refer to his incredible physical prowess or his tremendous skill despite his blindness.

Despite being blind, Gyomei gained the ability to access to the Transparent World and can predict his opponent's movements and sense them naturally. Dues to being blind Gyomei can sense people who are near with his sharpened his other senses such as hearing.

He possesses Stone Breathing, a Breathing Style Gyomei either mastered himself or learned from a cultivator. In his own version of this Breathing Style, Gyomei incorporates his superhuman sense of hearing and physical strength to utilize a spiked flail and axe to use its techniques. As the Stone Hashira, Gyomei is his generation's most skilled Stone Breathing user.

PAST | Gyomei was born blind in the Himejima clan on Mount Hinode. His mother died from childbirth, and his father died to an epidemic. He lost his other family members due to unknown circumstances.

When he was a late teenager, he lived with nine children who were orphans and raised them in a rundown temple. Their affinity in having no blood connection helped them bond very well. He lived a poor but happy life. They were like a family. Every day, he would work his hardest in order to feed the children and he himself would barely eat anything. Due to this, he was very skinny and weak.

The area of the temple was well known for demon attacks so Gyomei had always burned Wisteria Incense at night to ward off any demons that would harm him and the children. One night, one of the nine children disobeyed the temple rules and traveled beyond its borders. He is immediately accosted by a demon, and in order to save his own life, he betrayed his companions. The child invited the demon into the temple after putting out the Wisteria Incense. The children were killed by the demon leaving only the youngest left along with Gyomei. Gyomei believed that his frail stature and blindness fuelled the distrust the children had in his ability to protect them.