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Obanai Iguro (伊黒小芭内) is a major character in the 2016-2020 dark fantasy manga series Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba and its 2019 anime adaptation.

Obanai was a Demon Slayer and the Serpent Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, standing amongst the mighty Hashira. He is rather infamous in the slayer corps for his cynical behavior, often criticizing the new members of the corps being weak. He also harbors feelings for the Love Hashira Mitsuri Kanroji, and gets easily jealous on those who get too close to her.

He is voiced by Keichi Suzumura in Japanese and by Erik Scott Krimerer in English.

Appearance[]

Obanai is a 21-year-old young man of short stature and a pale complexion. 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 unusual due to Obanai possessing heterochromia—his right eye is yellow and his left eye is turquoise. He is partially blind as he can barely see out of his right eye. Obanai's mouth is also unusual in that, when he was twelve, it was cut from its corners to his ears to make it appear more like that of a snake, leaving a large wound that he keeps hidden under the bandage he wears over his lower face.

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

During their battle with Muzan, Obanai and the other remaining Hashira are attacked by the Demon's flailing whips, and Obanai is left with three long scratches over his eyes, rendering him blind.

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. He wore a plain white kimono.

Personality[]

Obanai is a very harsh and strict individual who shows no concern for those who do not abide the Demon Slayer conduct. His expectations for his fellow Demon Slayers are nigh-unrealistic, berating Tengen Uzui for suffering heavy wounds against the Upper Moon and telling him to "fight to the death" when Tengen insists on retiring. In reality, the Demon Slayer Corps had gone 113 years without killing an Upper Moon, later Shinobu Kocho estimates that each Upper Moon is equal to three Hashira in strength. Obanai's devotion to the future of the Demon Slayer Corps comes close to being at others' expense, such as when he tries to force Tengen to stay with the Demon Slayers even after losing an eye and arm, and when he ties up lower-ranked Demon Slayers and uses them as obstacles during Hashira Training for relatively petty reasons. He also sees the newer Demon Slayer recruits as weak and incapable of improvement, expressing surprise when Tengen informs him that Tanjiro Kamado survived the mission.

Despite his merciless personality, there are two people he cares deeply about: Kagaya Ubuyashiki and Mitsuri Kanroji. He has a crush on Mitsuri, which is implied by most of their companions save for Tanjiro and Mitsuri herself; even giving her her green socks she wears as a present. He threatens Tanjiro for growing too close to her (for his tastes), and he is the first person to meet up with her in the Dimensional Infinity Fortress. He is also heavily devoted to Kagaya, seeing the man as a father-figure. With the exception of Giyu Tomioka, he also gets along well with several of his Hashira comrades, including Sanemi Shinazugawa.

Obanai is also noted to possess an immense sense of self-loathing due to the fact that he was born to a selfish and immoral clan who would mercilessly sacrifice to a Demon for their own monetary gain. Obanai considers himself and his family to be so tainted that, in order for him to ever be worthy of Mitsuri, he would first have to die and reincarnate into a whole new being life before confessing his feelings to her.

Obanai has an incredible sense of determination, continuing the fight against Muzan even after he is completely blinded and covered in wounds. His ability to protect Giyu and Tanjiro throughout the fight, as well as thanking Tanjiro for helping him see proves that Obanai is able to drop grudges and become friendlier with people he was rude to prior.

Abilities[]

Overall Abilities[]

As a Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, Obanai is a very powerful and skilled combatant. 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. 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 Tanjirodespite 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 ( 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. The full extent of this technique is demonstrated when Obanai is completely blinded by Muzan, but he is still able to continue fighting effectively. 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. Kanao herself stated that Kaburamaru was exceptionally clever.

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 up to the side of his chest. 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. However, he put too much strength into his grip and almost fainted due to the lack of oxygen. 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.

Physical Abilities[]

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. During Hashira Training, he was seen being able to parry and attack the larger and more physically imposing Sanemi during their sparring session, causing them both to surmise that they were seemingly neck and neck. 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, albeit Muzan was severely weakened then.

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 with a sudden and devastating attack.

After Muzan incapacitated him, Giyu, Sanemi, Gyomei, Zenitsu, Inosuke and Kanao, Obanai was the first to recover and aid Tanjiro, doing so before all his other fellow Hashira could regather themselves and even after sustaining severe facial wounds that left him blind. 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.

Fighting Style[]

Master Swordsman: As a Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, Obanai was one of the most powerful and skilled swordsmen in the entire organization. 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 twist and bend his sword and attack in impossible ways, allowing him to weave through narrow openings with ease despite wielding a standard wooden sword. His swordsmanship prowess allowed him to slaughter hordes of demons with ease and to keep up with the Demon King himself, Muzan Kibutsuji.

Breath of the Serpent (蛇の呼吸 Hebi no kokyū) - A breath style that focuses on twisting and bending the sword like how a serpent slithers. It bears resemblance to Mitsuri's Breath of Love Style, but his sword is much more like a typical sword with a blade that is shaped like how a snake slithers, while Mitsuri’s is long, soft, and more like a cutting whip.

• First Form: Winding Serpent Slash (壱ノ型委蛇斬り Ichi no kata: Ida giri) - Obanai rotates and releases a circular slash in front of him.

• Second Form: Venom Fangs of the Narrow Head (弐ノ型狭頭の毒牙 Ni no kata: Kyōzu no Dokuga) - Obanai goes behind his opponent at blinding speed and lops off their head.

• Third Form: Coil Choke (参ノ型塒締め San no kata: Toguro Jime) - Obanai curves his sword like a slithering snake and quickly decapitates his opponent.

• Fourth Form: Twin-Headed Reptile (肆ノ型頸蛇双生 Shi no kata: Kei jya sōsei) - Obanai leaps forward and performs a horizontal slash that slices through the target.

• Fifth Form: Slithering Serpent (伍ノ型蜿蜿長蛇 Go no kata: Enen Chōda) - Obanai using his bending sword, curves it right to left at incredible speeds. This technique is capable of decapitating multiple targets at once.

Trivia[]

• The snake around Obanai's neck is named Kaburamaru.
  • Obanai considers Kaburamaru as more of a friend than a pet.
• Obanai is not very strong in terms of physical strength as he is listed "a little weak" by author Koyoharu Gotōge when asked about arm-wrestling strength between the Hashira.
• His voice actor, Kenichi Suzumura, is married to Tamayo's voice actress, Maaya Sakamoto.
• He has the Smallest Appetite among the Hashiras, who can go 3 Days without food

External Links[]

• Obanai Iguro on the Demon Slayer Wiki

Navigation[]

Heroes

Demon Slayer Corps Hashiras Giyu Tomioka | Sanemi Shinazugawa | Kyojuro Rengoku | Tengen Uzui | Shinobu Kocho | Mitsuri Kanroji | Gyomei Himejima | Kanae Kocho | Muichiro Tokito | Obanai Iguro Demon Slayers Tanjiro Kamado | Kanao Tsuyuri | Zenitsu Agatsuma | Inosuke Hashibira | Genya Shinazugawa | Murata | Nagakura | Yoriichi Tsugikuni Recruiters Jigoro Kuwajima | Sakonji Urokodaki | Shinjuro Rengoku Butterfly Mansion Aoi Kanzaki | Goto Ubuyashiki Family Kagaya Ubuyashiki | Kiriya Ubuyashiki | Kuina and Kanata Ubuyashiki Demons Nezuko Kamado | Tamayo | Yushiro Others Tanjuro Kamado | Sabito and Makomo | Hinatsuru, Makio and Suma | Koyuki | Hotaru Haganezuka | Kozo Kanamori