Shinobu Kocho

Shinobu Kocho (胡こ蝶ちょう しのぶ, Kochō Shinobu?) is a major supporting character of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. She is a Demon Slayer of the Demon Slayer Corps and the Insect Hashira (蟲むし柱ばしら, Mushi Bashira?) of the Taisho era.

Shinobu is also the younger sister of Kanae Kocho along with her adoptive younger sister Kanao Tsuyuri. After a demon killed her parents, Shinobu joined the Demon Slayer Corps along with her sister in order to protect others from suffering the same fate as her.

Appearance Shinobu is a petite young woman with a slender build and a fairly pale complexion. She has large eyes that lack pupils, only a haze of gradient purple, making her eyes appear similar to those of insects. She has raven-black wavy hair that fades into a dark purple hue at the ends, styled at the back of her head into a flat yakai-maki bun fastened with a white, turquoise and light purple butterfly ornament. She has center-split, ear-length, voluminous curtain bangs that flow down to frame the sides of her face, with two slightly thinner chin-length locks of hair in front of her ears below them. She stands out among the more physically imposing Hashira due to her diminutive stature and small frame, which is later reinforced by her mentioning that she does not possess enough physical strength to decapitate a demon as the others do. According to Zenitsu, Shinobu is so cute that she could make a living on her looks alone.

Shinobu wears a dark purple tinted standard Demon Slayer uniform, consisting of a button-up jacket with golden buttons, stand collar, and long sleeves, having the kanji for "Destroy" engraved on the back, a shirt pocket on top of the left breast, matching the dark purple color of her tabi socks and her long saggy tattsuke hakama pants, that is wrapped by a pair of white butterfly-patterned Kyahan fading into a pale turquoise to pink shade around her lower legs, fastened with white ribbons. Over her uniform, she wears a white haori that previously belonged to her older sister, which has a butterfly wing pattern, especially that of a Monarch Butterfly, that fades into a pale turquoise then pink color gradient on the sleeves and hem which are cuffed with a black and white dotted trim. She wears white zōri sandals with purple straps for footwear; she conceals a hidden blade in the right sandal.

When Shinobu was fourteen, her appearance was altered slightly. Her chin-length strands of hair in front of her ears were tucked in and she had a different Demon Slayer uniform consisting of silver buttons and cloth a darker shade of purple. She also sported a plain white haori over it.

Personality

Shinobu displays a bright, friendly and cheerful demeanor, always having an easygoing smile on her face regardless of the situation she is in. However, her outward behavior is shown very quickly to be a façade. This is displayed in the way she enjoys teasing others, to the point of being rather sadistic about it, enjoying most notably to pick on Giyu Tomioka. Despite her relaxed exterior and her initial claim of wanting to get along with demons, she can be rather cruel towards them, which is seen when she kills Daughter after giving her false hope of helping her, and immediately attempting to kill Nezuko Kamado without giving Tanjiro Kamado a chance to prove that she was harmless to humans. Later on, she is shown to have a more compassionate side towards both Tanjiro and his sister after hearing their full story.

It is later revealed that her outwardly calm and tranquil disposition is worn as a mask, as Shinobu holds an intense hatred for demons due to the loss of her sister, Kanae Kocho, at a young age, along with the deaths of her parents, almost all of her Tsuguko, and the families of her apprentices at the Butterfly Mansion. This hatred is so strong that she is in a near-constant state of extreme anger, which is sensed by Tanjiro Kamado when the two individuals hold a conversation. Her desire for revenge rendered her unable to live the normal life her sister had wished upon her, instead devoting the entirety of her energy to defeating demons.

During her battle against Doma, Shinobu reveals that she also suffers from an inferiority complex due to her inferior physical abilities compared to her fellow Hashira, having been jealous of them for possessing taller or more muscular bodies than her and cursing her own body for not developing further to make her more effective in combat.

Shinobu's younger self had a more brash, blunt and uncomplicated demeanor as seen when she and her sister rescued Kanao Tsuyuri, who she had a pointedly negative attitude towards raising. After the death of Kanae, however, Shinobu began to outwardly behave more like her sister and eventually developed her positive attitude and mannerisms to match while internally holding in her rage, which she later clarifies is fueled by her desire to continuously display the smile that her sister favored. Though never shown onscreen, Shinobu has a notable temper, namely in the way that makes even the loud and brash Inosuke Hashibira take notice.

Abilities Overall Abilities As a Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, Shinobu is a very powerful and skilled combatant.[10] Despite not possessing the physical strength to cut off a demon's head common to that of an average Demon Slayer, Shinobu uses her creativity, ingenuity and other physical abilities to more than make up for it. Instead of the traditional method of decapitating a demon with a Nichirin Sword to kill them, Shinobu opts to use a modified version of a katana that acts as a stinger to inject a powerful wisteria-based poison that is lethal to demons. In addition to her intellect, she is extremely fast and agile, allowing her to overpower demons very quickly. Her true strength was revealed during her battle with the second most powerful Upper Rank demon, Doma, where she was able to go toe-to-toe with the demon briefly, even managing to outmatch him slightly and receive praise from him.

Indomitable Will: Shinobu possesses an undaunted spirit and incredible willpower, mostly due to her unquenchable hatred for demons. Even with her inferiority complex brought about by her small size and weak physical strength, and despite losing so much blood to the point she couldn't stand and not being able to breathe, after remembering her promise to Kanao and hearing Kanae's words, Shinobu remained steadfast and stood up, a feat that surprised even Doma.

Keen Intellect: Shinobu possesses vast knowledge and keen observation. During her battle with Doma, she was able to critically analyzing and assessing the Upper Rank's techniques, further deeming that breathing itself was dangerous due to his Blood Demon Art of frozen mist. Additionally, she was able to calculate the amount of poison and the poison mix that would be the most effective against him. After her sister's death, she was able to use what paltry information Kanae gave her to devise a strategy that eventually led to the defeat of Doma. She also developed a form of sign language with Kanao to communicate crucial information in a short span of time, which helped Kanao in fighting and defeating the Upper Rank demon.

Medical Expertise: Despite not being as combat-talented as the rest of her fellow Hashira, Shinobu instead displays immense skill and mastery in over medical and pharmaceutical fields to make up for her lack of natural-born combat ability, being highly knowledgeable about how to create various poisons using wisteria and utilize them in combat to achieve the most deadly effect. She is capable of killing opponents within seconds, and even manages to create a poison strong enough to drastically weaken Doma, the second strongest demon of the Twelve Kizuki. She possesses the necessary skills to slowly saturate her body with poison without negatively impending her own health, as well as the medical skills needed to counteract the venoms and poisons created by demons. This is seen when she manages to undo the poison that is slowly transforming Zenitsu Agatsuma into a spider and restore him back to his previous human form.

Anti-Kibutsuji Drug: Upon teaming up with Tamayo and Yushiro, Shinobu was able to aid Tamayo in creating a successful, four-stage drug that would be used to significantly weaken Muzan, even despite his immense physical resistance and abilities. This drug was undeniably one of the biggest factors in the final fight against the Demon King, as it made the normally useless attacks of the Demon Slayers into ones that were super effective, allowing them to drive him into a corner and kill him.

Enhanced Agility: Being a key aspect to her Insect Breathing swordsmanship style, Shinobu is incredibly agile and swift, shown when she maneuvered through a lush forest effortlessly and evaded Daughter's silk Blood Demon Art with ease and finesse. When fighting, Shinobu relies on acrobatic movements to deliver dozens of short thrusts with her katana to inject as much poison as she can into her enemy at once.This also allows her to dodge and evade attacks rather than blocking them. Shinobu's agility even surprised Doma who had trouble keeping up with her dexterous and nimble movements.

Enhanced Strength: Despite being the smallest member of the Demon Slayer Corps and thus having the weakest swinging strength due to her small arms, Shinobu instead displays powerful thrusting and stabbing strength, as proven when she pierced a stone boulder in half and managed to break a ceiling with an upward thrust attack. Her strength also allows her to pierce the neck of Upper Rank Two, Doma, even lifting up and pinning his much larger frame to the ceiling.

Immense Speed & Reflexes: Shinobu possesses tremendous speed and reflexes enabling her to effortlessly evade and out-pace demons, attacking them before they can even register what happened. Shinobu is so fast that it often appears as if she teleported. Her inhuman speed even managed to surprised Doma as she outpaced the Upper Rank numerous times during their fight, unleashing dozens of strikes that even Doma couldn't fully block or evade, making him admit that Shinobu is the fastest Hashira that he had ever met. Furthermore, utilizing the form Hundred-Legged Zigzag and despite being severely injured, she moved so quickly towards Doma, even he couldn't immediately register and barely countered her charge. Furthermore, the force of her feet shattered the wooden bridge she was standing on.

Immense Stamina and Endurance: As a Hashira, Shinobu has attained tremendous levels of stamina and endurance due to years of harsh training. This was shown during her fight against Doma where she was able to keep fighting the Upper Rank despite losing a lot of blood, having one of her lungs punctured and being unable to breathe, a feat which made Doma doubt if she was human.

Fighting Style Master Swordswoman: As a Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, Shinobu is one of the most powerful and skilled swordswomen in the entire organization. Her fighting style is unique to her alone, but as effective as any traditional swordsmanship styles. Shinobu's swordplay specializes in sword thrusting and piercing techniques in order to inject poison into demons. Her sword thrusts are so fast and powerful that they can pierce boulders and out-speed Water Breathing's Drop Ripple Thrust form, the fastest thrusting technique in that Breathing Style. However, the structure of her sword makes it ineffective for blocking attacks, so she makes up for it with her swift thrusts and stabs. Her swordsmanship prowess allowed her to go against Upper Rank Two, Doma, who has lived and fought for over a century, further showcasing her brilliant sword wielding skill.

Breathing Style Insect Breathing (蟲むしの呼こ吸きゅう, Mushi no kokyū?): A Breathing Style created by Shinobu Kocho, who designed it to compensate for her lack of physical strength to cut off a demon's head. She has became extremely proficient in this swordsmanship style, allowing her to defeat countless demons and even go toe-to-toe with the second strongest Upper Rank demon, Doma.

Techniques

Butterfly Dance: Caprice (蝶ちょうノ舞まい　戯たわむれ, Chō no mai: Tawamure?) - The user leaps into the air and charges towards the opponent, stinging them multiple times with their blade to inject poison in just seemingly one strike.

Dance of the Bee Sting: True Flutter (蜂ほう牙がノ舞まい　真ま靡なびき, Hōga no mai: Manabiki?) - The user dashes at their target at blinding speeds and uses the momentum of their speed to then strengthen a single thrust into their opponent and inject poison into them.

Dance of the Dragonfly: Compound Eye Hexagon (蜻せい蛉れいノ舞まい　複ふく眼がん六ろっ角かく, Seirei no mai: Fukugan Rokkaku?) - A six strike attack with which the user aims to strike and inject their target with multiple doses of poison at the target's weak spots (such as the neck, heart, torso, etc.) in order to kill them with a large dose of poison.

Dance of the Centipede: Hundred-Legged Zigzag (蜈ご蚣こうノ舞まい　百ひゃく足そく蛇じゃ腹ばら, Gokō no mai: Hyakusoku Jabara?) - An attack with which the user uses their full speed to run a zigzag pattern that confuses their opponent in order to create an opening for them to directly stab their opponent's neck and inject poison to kill them, with the stab's force and power being further enhanced by the momentum of their speed. Doma noted that the sheer speed of this technique is strong enough to destroy an entire wooden bridge.

Equipment Stinger Nichirin Katana: Shinobu carries a heavily modified Nichirin Katana forged by Tecchin Tecchikawahara. It is the same as any katana from the handle to slightly above the hilt, but above that, the weapon loses its blade and is replaced by a rod. It ends in a needle-like tip, resembling an insect's stinger in appearance and function. The blade is designed for injection of wisteria poison into demons, as Shinobu uses her medical expertise to replace her relative lack of strength and inability to decapitate demons. Her katana's tsuba is designed to bear resemblance to a butterfly, trimmed with an orange border. The handle is orange and wrapped in turquoise cords, and it ends with an orange kashira. The blade is lavender-blue in color, with the words Evil Demon (惡あっ鬼き, Akki?) engraved on the right face, while the words Destruction (滅めっ殺さつ, Messatsu?) are engraved on the left face due her sword's structure. Along with her katana, she has also modified the weapon's sheath, using it as a portable poison mixer and loader. Battles Mount Natagumo Arc

Shinobu Kocho vs Spider Demon (Daughter) Infinity Castle Arc

Demon Slayers vs Muzan Kibutsuji: Part 1 Shinobu Kocho vs Doma

Trivia Shinobu's surname contains the Kan-on'yomi reading of the kanji for "butterfly" (胡こ蝶ちょう, kochō?). Her first name is written in hiragana and thus doesn't have any semantic values, but it's usually written with the kanji for "stealth, endurance, patience" (忍しのぶ, shinobu?). Since her first name uses three hiragana characters, it's notably different to Kanae and Kanao's names, as they're both written with three katakana characters instead. Shinobu's rankings in the popularity polls are as follows: Shinobu ranked 6th in the first popularity poll with 1813 votes. Shinobu ranked 5th in the second popularity poll with 8787 votes. Shinobu shares her Japanese and English voice actresses with Emi Igawa from Your Lie in April, Yumeko Jabami from Kakegurui, and Therese Alexanderite from The Rising of the Shield Hero. Shinobu's Demon Slayer uniform's jacket is originally designed to leave the center of the chest area open, similar to Mitsuri Kanroji's, but, as Shinobu disliked this aspect of its design, she burned the original uniform right in front of the Kakushi who had just given it to her and requested a fully buttoned version of the uniform instead. Shinobu and Mitsuri get along quite well due to them having been the only two female Hashira after Kanae Kocho's death. Mitsuri also teaches her western cooking.