Obanai iguro

He's your caregiver

Obanai is a young man of short stature, pale skin complexion, and a fairly muscular build. He has straight-edged black hair of varying lengths, the longest reaching down to his shoulders and the shortest stopping at his cheekbones, which he wears down with two shorter strands hanging between his eyes. His eyes are almond-shaped and tilt upwards on the far sides, and are unique colored due to Obanai possessing heterochromia—his right eye is yellow and his left eye is turquoise. He is partially blind, barely able to see out of his right eye.[4]

Obanai's mouth is usually hidden by the bandage he wears over his lower face to hide his large facial scars, which were the result of his family horrifically cutting open his mouth to resemble that of a snake's gape.[5]

He wears a navy blue version of the standard Demon Slayer uniform, along with a black and white striped haori, the hem and cuffs of which are striped length ways rather than vertically, which covers his hands. Obanai also sports bandages in place of the leg-wraps around his calves giving the resemblance of kyahan, as well as another set of bandages that cover his mouth, and white with blue-strapped zōri on his feet. He is also always seen with his white snake, Kaburamaru, wrapped around his shoulders.

During the battle with Muzan, Obanai and the other remaining Hashira are attacked by the demon's flailing whips, and Obanai is left with three long slanted scratches over his eyes, rendering him completely blind.[6]

When he was a child, Obanai had waist-length hair that he wore tied down his back with a long white bandage and a regular-looking mouth before it got cut by his family. He also wore a plain white kimono.

As a Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, Obanai is a very powerful and skilled combatant.[10] It was revealed that he was more or less blind in his right eye, meaning he ascended to the highest rank in the Demon Slayer Corps with one functioning eye. This, in addition to his small physique and lesser physical strength when compared to his peers, makes it especially impressive that Obanai managed to attain the title of Hashira.During the events in the Infinity Castle, Obanai was able to quickly decapitate numerous demons on par with Lower Ranks with ease and hold back the newly appointed Upper Rank Four, Nakime.[11] When engaging in battle with the Demon King, Muzan Kibutsuji, Obanai was able to land a great deal of hits on him, slashing off limbs and nearly beheading him over the course of the battle. After Obanai, Giyu, Sanemi, Gyomei, Zenitsu, Inosuke and Kanao were heavily injured by Muzan's attack, Obanai was the first to regain consciousness and aid Tanjiro despite having his eyes clawed out during the attack earlier. While it should be noted that Muzan was severely weakened by the drugs in his body, he and Tanjiro nonetheless managed to fend off and push the Demon King into a corner by themselves, displaying incredible stamina and endurance.

After getting directly hit by Muzan's Shockwave Energy Blast technique, he still took a hit for Tanjiro when Muzan was about to bite his head off. When the Demon King swelled his flesh and exponentially grew in size, Obanai still possessed enough stamina to unleash one technique that aided in slowing Muzan down. Even though Obanai lost his life at the end of the battle, he was undoubtedly one of the biggest contributors in subduing the Demon King till the arrival of dawn.

Kaburamaru (鏑かぶら丸まる, Kaburamaru?): Obanai, having always been partially blind in his right eye, developed a combat technique utilizing his snake Kaburamaru. Kaburamaru possesses a unique ability which allows him to read and predict a target's attacks and then relay that information to Obanai.[12] The full extent of this technique is demonstrated when Obanai is completely blinded by Muzan, but he is still able to continue fighting effectively.[13] Kaburamaru also seems to be capable of understanding human speech and emotions, as he understood Tanjiro's instructions to grab Yushiro's paper talisman and later shed tears when watching Obanai and Mitsuri succumb to their wounds.[14][15] Kanao herself stated that Kaburamaru was exceptionally clever.[16]

Demon Slayer Abilities

Demon Slayer Mark: During the final battle against Muzan, Obanai awakened his own Demon Slayer Mark, which took the form of three snake like tattoo patterns with large dots, stretching from his left arm to the left side of his chest.[17] The Mark greatly enhanced all of Obanai's physical abilities, as seen where he was able to land powerful sword slashes against Muzan, swiftly dodge and maneuver himself to avoid all of his immensely fast attacks, and increase his physical stamina and durability, allowing him to fight despite being severely injured.

Bright Red Nichirin Sword: After remembering how Muichiro Tokito turned his blade red, Obanai puts all of his strength into gripping his blade, turning it bright red.[18] However, he put too much strength into his grip and almost fainted due to the lack of oxygen.[19] Turning his Nichirin Sword bright red proved to be extremely effective against Muzan, allowing his attacks to hamper his immediate regeneration and giving the other Demon Slayers a chance to turn their blades bright red as well to increase their offensive output.Transparent World: Though briefly, Obanai managed to access the Transparent World and see Muzan's twelve vital organs (seven hearts and five brains) for a split-second after Gyomei instructed everyone to attempt to do so.[20]Enhanced Strength: Despite his short stature and lesser physical strength due to his upbringing, especially when compared to the other Hashira, Obanai still possesses a great amount of physical strength, as shown when he pins Tanjiro to the ground with so much force that he couldn't move or breathe.[21] He was also able to slash the body of Muzan Kibutsuji on a multitude of occasions. Obanai was also one of the only Demon Slayers able to turn his Nichirin Sword bright red through sheer grip strength, the other being Muichiro Tokito.

Immense Speed & Reflexes: As a Hashira, Obanai possesses superhuman levels of speed and reflexes. When Tanjiro was about to get hit by what would likely have been a fatal strike from Muzan, Obanai managed to jump in and save him in time. He was capable of keeping up with Muzan Kibutsuji's whip attacks for an extended period of time without the boost granted by the Demon Slayer Mark and still managed to land many hits on the Demon King. After awakening the mark, Obanai was fast enough to slice off both of Muzan's limbs. Even when completely blinded, Obanai was able to evade many of Muzan's attacks, push him into a corner, and caught up to him and pierced his body when he was fleeing,[22] albeit Muzan was severely weakened then. Obanai was ranked 7th in a race against his fellow Hashira.[23]

Immense Stamina & Endurance: Obanai has displayed his phenomenal stamina and endurance on multiple occasions during the events within the Infinity Castle and final battle. Obanai, along with Mitsuri, were able to play an exhausting game of cat and mouse with Upper Rank Four, Nakime for an extended period of time and still had enough energy to arrive to Tanjiro's and Giyu's aid. At the surface, Obanai and his allies were able to stall Muzan for around half an hour, sustaining injuries from poison and his flesh whips, before the Demon King overpowered them.

When Muzan incapacitated him, Giyu, Sanemi, Gyomei, Zenitsu, Inosuke and Kanao, Obanai was the first to recover, before all his other fellow Hashira did, despite receiving a nasty injury which clawed out his eyes. Afterwards, Obanai, with Tanjiro's aid, managed to drive Muzan into a corner and fend him of by themselves for another 35 minutes before being hit by Muzan's Shockwave Energy Blast technique which greatly damaged his nervous system. Despite this, Obanai remained steadfast and took a blow for Tanjiro when Muzan was poised to bite his head off. Nearing the end of the battle, Obanai still had enough energy to muster a technique; as such, out of all the Demon Slayers that fought in that battle, Obanai lasted arguably the longest.

Master Swordsman: As a Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, Obanai was one of the most powerful and skilled swordsmen in the entire organization.[24] This was shown during Hashira Training where he was entrusted to teach all the other Demon Slayers about sword wielding techniques. Obanai makes use of a unique swordsmanship style that utilizes slithering motions to bending his sword and attacks in impossible ways, allowing him to weave through narrow openings with ease despite wielding a standard wooden sword.[25] His swordsmanship prowess allowed him to slaughter hordes of demons with ease and to keep up with the Demon King himself, Muzan Kibutsuji.

Breathing Style

Serpent Breathing (蛇へびの呼こ吸きゅう, Hebi no kokyū?): A Breathing Style Obanai created himself and mastered. This swordsmanship style makes use of twists and turns similar to how a serpent slithers to attack in strange ways. Obanai also learnt to incorporate his pet snake, Kaburamaru (鏑かぶら丸まる, Kaburamaru?), into this Breathing Style, making it extremely effective in combat as seen in the final battle where he could keep up with a weakened Muzan while completely blind and still managed to drive him into a corner.

TechniquesFirst Form: Winding Serpent Slash (壱いちノ型かた　委い蛇だ斬ぎり, Ichi no kata: Idagiri?)[26] - The user moves like a slithering snake and releases several slashes in a winding pattern.Second Form: Venom Fangs of the Narrow Head (弐にノ型かた　狭きょう頭ずの毒どく牙が, Ni no kata: Kyōzu no Dokuga?)[27] - The user dashes behind their opponent at blinding speed and aims to swiftly slice off their head.Third Form: Coil Choke (参さんノ型かた　塒とぐろ締じめ, San no kata: Toguro Jime?)[28] - The user circles around their opponent while using their sword to slice them from all directions.Fourth Form: Twin-Headed Reptile (肆しノ型かた　頸けい蛇じゃ双そう生せい, Shi no kata: Keija Sōsei?)[29] - The user leaps forward and performs a horizontal slash that slices through the target.Fifth Form: Slithering Serpent (伍ごノ型かた　蜿えん蜿えん長ちょう蛇だ, Go no kata: En'en Chōda?)[30] - The user curves their sword in multiple directions and slices their opponent, making it capable of decapitating multiple enemies at once.Twisted Nichirin Katana: Obanai carries around a heavily modified Nichirin katana similar in appearance to an Indonesian Kris Sword, with the blade's shape modeled into waves resembling a slithering snake. It is lavender in color. His katana's tsuba has a gold circular shape engraved with two snakes connected by several plant-like patterns. His handle is light blue and decorated with a twisting wrap of magenta cord. As a Hashira, the words Destroyer of Demons (惡あっ鬼き滅めっ殺さつ, Akki Messatsu?) are engraved on the side of the blade. Obanai also carries along a special scabbard made of leather held together by a weak magnetic pull that opens up whenever he uses his katana. It is designed so that Obanai unsheathes his sword vertically instead of horizontally.[31]