Muzan Kibutsuji

Muzan is cold-hearted, ruthless, intimidating, and exceptionally intelligent. He sees no value in any humans he has encountered and shows little value in his own subordinates. Rarely ever visibly upset or happy, he appears completely monotone and detached on most occasions, even when he callously murders his own subordinates. The only times he ever shows emotion are when his vision of perfection is moving forward or when he has subordinates completely submit to his will. Initially, his expressions would only change slightly and only bear a slight shift from his usual calm attitude and his tone of voice tends to be consistent at nearly all times, accentuating his monotonous demeanor. His cruel and imposing nature has gained him the great admiration and fear of many demons. After Hantengu informs him of Nezuko Kamado's survival of sunlight, Muzan reveals a side that is in stark contrast to his perpetual composed disposition, as he is shown to be ecstatic at the prospect of absorbing her to finally gain the immunity to sunlight himself. In addition, he also shows himself to be extremely arrogant and prideful, first seen when he mockingly asked a platoon of soldiers sent to kill him if they were referring to him. His arrogant side is also shown when he gloats to Kagaya about never facing any divine retribution from the gods or Buddha for his millennia of murders, convinced that the gods have let him off the hook for his crimes. Furthermore, he is shown to also have an incredibly sadistic attitude, first shown when he reminds Tamayo of how she murdered and ate her family following her transformation, visibly smiling as she wells up with tears and further reminding her that she killed more people as well. In addition, when Muzan has Nakime summon the Demon Slayers Corps inside the Infinity Castle, he sadistically brags to Tanjiro that he will murder the entirety of its members that night, and when he responds with a vow to hunt him down, Muzan boldly dares the Demon Slayer to follow up on his threat if he can. It is apparent that after his encounter with Yoriichi Tsugikuni, Muzan's more vicious and overconfident personality was stifled by the sheer terror brought upon by the Demon Slayer that nearly killed him, only resurfacing after learning of Nezuko's ability and realizing a new chance to complete his ultimate goal is now in his grasp. His inflated ego and delusional sense of self-worth are so large, he cannot stand being mocked or corrected in any fashion, believing that others only exist to serve him. This also means he rarely ever takes any opponent or threat seriously. He brutally killed a drunk man simply for being rude to him, killed the man's brother for trying to punch him, and their female companion who had done nothing, all while proclaiming his own perfection and superiority over them, displaying his shrewd pettiness as he won't settle for any mockery and will do anything he pleases until the humiliation is remedied. This event also hints that Muzan has unpleasant memories of his weaker, human past, and is very self-conscious of his unnaturally sickly appearance, immediately following his own rhetorical questioning with a lengthy denial that he is unhealthy, sick and much less on the verge of death, in all likelihood a bitter reminder that he is still imperfect. When he confronts Kagaya Ubuyashiki, the man responded to Muzan in a tone of pity and sadness for the life he had led. However, Muzan only interpreted his words as insults and threats, which further accentuates his hatred for humanity and the Demon Slayers. He also believes that Heaven has let him off the hook for murdering thousands as he has never seen a god or Buddha. The most prominent trait Muzan possesses is extreme narcissism, pettiness, and an obsession with becoming the perfect being. As he has had over a thousand years to live and observe, along with hardly any real challenges, his extreme egocentrism is almost expected. He considers almost nothing to be his concern except overcoming his inability to walk in the sun, which is his primary drive. His long life and obsessions have caused him to want every plan he concocts to be absolutely perfect, and his superiority complex prevents him from seeing his own failures. His belief that he is the closest thing to a perfect being causes him to have zero tolerance for any failure, brutally punishing those who fail him or those he considers weak, even if the failures are minor. Furthermore, his delusional sense of omnipotence is such that he compares himself to natural disasters, namely something that is far beyond what humans can compare to and fight against. As a result of this, he believes the Demon Slayers to be a group of deviants who cannot accept the "natural" order of things and resume their lives as normal when other people simply move ahead following a tragedy. His analogy evidences his complete inability to feel sympathy or remorse for his actions, given that none of the murders he ever committed (directly or indirectly) were the result of an accident but carefully orchestrated acts of pure evil. On the contrary, he considers his greatest adversaries as the real problems. After being heavily damaged by Kagaya committing suicide by willingly destroying his own mansion, including his wife and two daughters, Muzan is left in astonishment that Kagaya's hatred for him would prompt him to pull such an action, questioning his sanity and hypocritically calling him a wicked man with a pitch-black heart. In addition, when he recalls the immense strength Yoriichi had in almost killing him, he claims that for that reason, he was the real monster between the two of them. Being the obsessive perfectionist he is, Muzan loathes the very concept of change; be it change of circumstance, physical, emotional or change of any kind. He equates change to decay, and thus evidence of imperfection. In his own words, he loves things that remain unchanging, constant, and in a state of permanence. At the same time, he views one's own humanity as a sign of weakness, believing Gyutaro had lost because he was still attached to his sister Daki, and he even derided the Upper Ranks by stating that they were now ranked in order of how much humanity they had left. Gyutaro's defeat at the hand of the Demon Slayers deeply angered Muzan, as they had undone a status quo that lasted for 113 years, causing him to lash out and demand more self-sacrifice out of the remaining Upper Ranks. This could also explain his brutal execution of the Lower Ranks demons, as the echelon was in a constant state of change due to their frequent deaths, eventually causing Muzan to believe that maintaining the positions was no longer worthwhile. Conversely, he is pleased whenever he sees any amount of progress that may benefit him, as he uncharacteristically complimented Nakime for her rapid growth after being turned into the new Upper Rank Four. Behind the myriad of façades he displays, and completely offsetting his insatiable ego and lust for perfection, Muzan is secretly cowardly. He always seeks to avoid conflict whenever possible, and his refusal to confront an unpleasant situation was most evident in his encounter with Giyu Tomioka and Tanjiro Kamado. He stated that the duo managing to survive should already be sufficient for them, telling them they should accept that the people he has killed will not come back, and they should instead live to earn their wages and put a halt to the cycle of revenge. This trait also complements his manipulative nature, bending many demons to his will to do his bidding while he doesn't get his hands dirty. In the final confrontation between him and the Demon Slayers, Muzan attempted numerous times to escape, either by attempting to split himself or merely running away, even demanding multiple times for the remaining Demon Slayers to just give up fighting and die, once again showing his own cowardly nature. He has shown himself to be very manipulative and cunning, being able to blend in human society normally, even having a family of his own to add. A long life and continued practice have allowed him to take on many roles in society and play them capably, including children and women should he choose to. This life has also given him great intelligence and the ability to think tactically. Being a quick-thinker and strategist enables Muzan to be able to deal with unfavorable situations rapidly and successfully, though this may also be because the loss of his subordinates means nothing to him in the long run. Because of his perceived superiority and his double-faced nature, he feels no attachment to his henchmen, using them and discarding them as disposable pawns whenever he sees fit. Additionally, he does not allow his subordinates to question him, regularly enacting brutal and ruthless punishments should they do so. Many of his subordinates, in turn, are deeply afraid of him, and measure their words and thoughts carefully for fear of saying anything that may displease him. In spite of this, he is able to sway many demons to his side with promises of power, revenge, and grandeur so long as they serve him. His intelligence and manipulation shine here, since many find the promises appealing, as he encounters many of his subordinates at during the lowest points of their lives. In the end, all of these promises are ultimately false, given that Muzan only cares about himself and has no qualms about killing his own subordinates to protect his own safety. Muzan is also shown to be a corruptive force that enables the worst qualities in his demons, by either rewiring them through tampering with their mind, or playing into their emotions. Notable examples include erasing Akaza's memory of his human past and fostering his manic desire to fight and become stronger, playing into Hantengu's victim complex by claiming to pity him, lying to Rui who was distraught by killing his own parents by claiming that they deserved it for not accepting him, and tempting Kokushibo with the option to become a demon in order to surpass his brother and later telepathically pressuring him to defeat the Hashira during his fight in the Infinity Castle. However, despite his cruelty, even to his own subordinates, Muzan can allow for leniency should a demon fall into favor with him. Notable examples include allowing Rui to weaken himself by sharing his own power with other demons in order to form a "family", and giving Akaza permission to not eat women, even though he personally disagreed with both of their choices. When not hiding behind a façade, his sheer malice and overflowing violent intent are so incredibly malignant, they can be perceived by others. Most notably, Yoriichi Tsugikuni described him as being like boiling magma erupting from a volcano, ready to consume everything. In the anime, the extent of his rage is visible during the Upper Ranks meeting, where the many glasses and flasks he was working with all broke apart and exploded into thousands of pieces due to Muzan's boiling frustration over being unable to achieve his goals, his fury greatly intimidating the Upper Ranks. Beyond his egocentric demeanor lies a sense of self-preservation that easily overrides his megalomania, most notably shown by his act of cursing his subordinates in a terrifying manner so that none of them would even utter his name, or else be killed instantly in a ruthless manner. When pushed into a corner, Muzan's typically calm, arrogant, and superior stance collapses, paving the way for panic and fear to take root as he desperately fights for his life, adopting more drastic measures to protect himself. This obsession with survival could well explain Muzan's brutal homicide of three civilians after his first encounter with Tanjiro. Both times he was reminded of the two major events where he nearly lost his life, namely his life coming close to ending before his treatment took effect and when Yoriichi overpowered and nearly killed him. Regardless of Muzan's personal faults, he has repeatedly shown a very notable fondness for both high fashion and higher learning. Whenever shown outside battle, he comes in the appearance of an extremely well dressed individual. In his, Tsukihiko guise, he dresses in a fedora and suit, and in his Toshikuni guise, he wears button up pants and a dress shirt. On an interesting note, his "wife" Rei is shown in a cloche hat and elegant dress, hinting that he enjoys himself living in wealth and luxury; adding to this is the fact that Muzan is also known to sell Gyokko's pots, which can fetch a high price. Muzan is also shown doing a great deal of personal studying; during the Upper Ranks meeting, he was casually mixing various chemicals and writing in his notebook, showing he had an expertise in chemistry, perhaps a way to create a medicine in order to improve his demonic physiology to conquer the sun and/or not need to consume flesh and blood. Later, upon his defeat and final moments, as he burned away due to his exposure to the sun, Muzan showed a much more vulnerable side to his personality as he slowly disintegrated to ash and lamented on his life and choices. It is revealed that Muzan's true fear of dying and immense desire to live and survive was due to him being born "dead," where his heart would constantly stop in his mother's womb and was assumed stillborn until he fought to breathe before his cremation. Muzan's desire for "life" and his near constant struggles while human constructed his obsessive ambition to survive, and he truly felt vulnerable whenever he was reminded of his human frailty. However, even when on the brink of death, he remains utterly unrepentant of murdering and eating humans for a thousand years, stating that he could not remember a single person he had killed. However, as Muzan reflects on his life while dying from sunlight, he came to understand and accept Kagaya's words to him on the fact that everything inevitably dies and the only true "immortal" thing in the world are someone's emotions, feelings and memories. This realization brings Muzan to tears and genuinely moves his heart, causing him to ironically adopt Yoriichi and Kagaya's belief and focus on leaving "something" behind in order to truly become "immortal".