Sanemi Shinazugawa

Sanemi is a tall man of very muscular build, with spiky long white hair and large almond-shaped eyes with purple irises. His face and body are covered with scars, accrued over his many years of fighting demons. He cuts his hair short somewhere in between the events of the Hashira meeting and the Mugen Train incidnet. He is usually seen wearing a crazed expression on his face.

He wears a green-tinted version of the standard Demon Slayer uniform, unbuttoned to expose his chest and abs with a white long sleeved shirt over it with the kanji for kill (殺さつ, satsu?) etched on the back, white buckles around his shins and tabi socks with a pair of white zōri with green straps.

Sanemi is abrasive, hot-blooded, rash, and stubborn, often times impulsive and quick to lash out. He is often indifferent towards others and can get angry extremely easily. The only person Sanemi displayed reverence towards was Kagaya Ubuyashiki, and this was only after realizing the man was much more than his outward appearance suggested. Sanemi has also displayed a hunger for battle, wishing that he could encounter Upper Rank demons and proclaiming his excitement in fighting Upper Rank One, Kokushibo.

Sanemi's cold, rude, and dismissive behavior is the result of losing too many people he cared about in the past. Later, when he sees those people who have passed, such as his mother, he can't help but give her a smile to be able to see her again. When Genya joins the Demon Slayers in search of him, Sanemi repeatedly dismisses and lashes out during any chance of seeing him, but Tanjiro Kamado is able to tell Sanemi didn't truly hate him; and in fact still bore the same brotherly love he had for him in childhood. This was however never expressed outwardly as he tried to push Genya away from him and the Demon Slayers so he wouldn't be exposed to danger.

Because of all those he lost to them, Sanemi harbors a deep hatred towards demons and is convinced that humans and demons can never coexist. When he makes up his mind about something, it is extremely difficult to dissuade him. He did not believe Tanjiro's insistence that Nezuko Kamado wouldn't eat humans and even moves to prove his own point by stabbing through the box with Nezuko inside.[4] After riling her up, he slashes his own arm to try and bait her into attacking him due to his rare blood's effect. Even after she doesn't, and Kagaya uses this as proof Nezuko won't attack humans, Sanemi doesn't truly accept the Kamado siblings. Tanjiro is ultimately right about Sanemi. Despite his poor treatment of his brother, Genya, Sanemi truly did love and care for his brother, admitting that he blames himself for not protecting him. He even expresses that he wished that Genya would settle down and have a family. Following the battle with Upper Rank One, Sanemi shows not only great anger and a certain emptiness towards Muzan, but more cooperation with the likes of Giyu, someone he clearly did not get along with in the past. Even when Sanemi is launched out of the battle against Muzan, he displays undeniable courage and determination, like his fellow Hashira.

When the showdown with Muzan is finally over and time has passed, Sanemi has clearly mellowed out a bit. He is able to smile with Giyu, even after their past confrontations. Most surprisingly, he admits his mistakes and apologizes to Nezuko about his actions. It goes to the point he gives her a smile and a pat on the head, as he sees Genya in the way she responds.As a Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, Sanemi is a very powerful and skilled combatant.[5] He has displayed his extraordinary abilities and proficiency in combat on multiple occasions. When sparring with Giyu Tomioka, Sanemi was able to fight on equal grounds with the Water Hashira. In the battle within the Infinity Castle, Sanemi was shown to be capable of instantly annihilating hordes of demons that were comparable to the Lower Ranks in strength. Most notably, he could hold his own against Upper Rank One, Kokushibo. According to the demon, Sanemi's physical abilities and techniques have reached their peak.[6] Kokushibo also commented that Sanemi and the accompanying Gyomei Himejima stood out as highly skilled even among the ranks of the already powerful Hashira.[7] After the Upper Rank was defeated, Sanemi was quick to recover from the death of his brother and proceeded to assist the Demon Slayers against the Demon King, Muzan Kibutsuji. He played pivotal roles in damaging the demon in conjunction with the attacks of the other combatants and was one of the two Hashira to survive to see the end of the monumental battle.

Indomitable Will: Sanemi possesses an undaunted spirit and incredible willpower. In his clash with Kokushibo, the second most powerful demon in existence, he has displayed on numerous occasions his utter refusal to give up, despite the seemingly impossible odds against the demon and the numerous severe wounds he received. Sanemi goes so far as to directly battle the demon head-on, actively fighting Kokushibo by himself for an extended amount of time and flatly declaring he would kill him for injuring Genya. After the battle ended with Genya's death, despite mourning his beloved brother, Sanemi was able to push aside his grief to confront Muzan shortly after.

Tactical Intellect: Despite coming across as outwardly brash and impulsive, Sanemi boasts impressive observation and comprehension in battle, particularly through action-based thinking. He displayed this when he deduced the threat of Kokushibo’s miniature moon-shaped attacks, and again when he instantly understood the abilities of Yushiro’s talismans despite never having used them or been informed of their properties.

Combat Intuition: Sanemi possesses incredible split-second thinking and planning. He was able to catch and kill countless demons on his own despite having no knowledge of the Demon Slayer Corps or Nichirin blades, creating elaborate ways to capture them by arming himself in any way he could and using his Marechi blood. Despite sustaining dozens of scars and cuts all over his body, Sanemi never once showed signs of pain or agony, to the point he was willing to cut himself with his katana to test Nezuko Kamado: in fact, he did not even flinch when doing so. His incredible stamina and pain endurance also shone through during his battle with Kokushibo, where he could keep up with the Upper Rank demon for an extended period of time by himself without the Demon Slayer Mark, and despite upon receiving numerous severe injuries from one of Kokushibo's techniques, he still continued to fight, which shocked even Kokushibo. During the final confrontation with Muzan, he could fight the Demon King for roughly half an hour straight without rest, exerting his physical and mental capabilities to its limit without tiring out. When Muzan was cornered, he was one of the first ones to take action, having enough energy to unleash two more Wind Breathing techniques.

Immense Strength: Due to years of harsh training, Sanemi possesses incredible physical strength. He could lift Nezuko Kamado in her box with a single hand without effort, knock out Zenitsu Agatsuma with a casual strike, break a wooden sword because he swung it with too much force, and cut Tanjiro Kamado's ear with a single kick. He was also able to briefly contend with Kokushibo, one of the physically strongest demons in existence in a sword fight, and was even able to push the demon's blade down by parrying the blow with his own.

Supernatural Abilities

Marechi Blood: Sanemi's blood was revealed to be one of the rarest blood types, making it incredibly intoxicating and mouth watering to demons. It is also unique due to its intense potency that the smallest whiff of his blood immediately causes demons to salivate and lose focus, as his blood was able to affect the strongest of the Upper Ranks, Kokushibo. However, its effect waned after a while and was proven to completely ineffective against Kokushibo after being accustomed to it and Muzan. Despite his blood's potency, Nezuko was shown to be able to resist it due to her own strong conviction and will not to eat humans, which is even further cemented and strengthened by the hypnosis planted in her brain by Sakonji Urokodaki. In addition to its potency against a demon's senses, Sanemi's blood was able to coagulate through his mastery of Total Concentration Breathing, which enabled him to stop his bleeding entirely and continue fighting even when cut.