“Depressing? Much more than that. You killed my sister, didn’t you? Don’t you remember this haori?”
General Information
- Japanese Voice Actor: Saori Hayami
- English Voice Actor: Erika Harlacher
- Age: 18
- Manga Debut: Chapter 4
- Anime Debut: Season 1 Episode 15
- Race: Human
- Gender: Female
- Status: Deceased
History
Shinobu Kocho, the Insect Hashira, was born blissfully with loving and caring parents. One night, they were attacked by a demon. Her family and all other members of their household died. When the demon is about to attack her and her Sister, Kanae, Gyomei arrives and saves them.
After they were saved, she and her sister vowed to spend the remainder of their lives fighting demons. A few years after they became members of the Demon Slayer Corps, Shinobu accompanied Kanae on a trip.
They passed by a slave market where they saw a little girl left to be a slave. Kanae got intrigued by the little girl and decided to take her back to the butterfly estate despite Shinobu being against it.
Kanao is then bought from her master and brought to the Butterfly Estate, so she becomes the next Tsuguko. When Kanae died at the age of 17, Shinobu became the head of the estate at the age of 14.
Shinobu and Giyu were the Hashiras that were sent to assist the lower-ranked members of the Corps in the Natagumo Mountain. She arrived and saw the heavily injured Zenitsu. She started interrogating the demon responsible for the mess.
At first, the demon is not honest, but eventually, she tells Shinobu the truth. Shinobu killed the demon. She even freed Murata from the cocoon of the demon. She proceeded and attacked Tanjiro and Nezuko.
Giyu restrained her; she even took pity on Tanjiro when he told her that Nezuko was his sister. She then offered Tanjiro that she would give Nezuko a potion that would kill her without feeling any pain. Giyu restrained Shinobu and explained how it all started two years ago.
Shinobu was about to fight back Giyu when they heard a crow saying that Tanjiro and Nezuko were to be restrained and brought back to headquarters. When they arrived at the headquarters, there was a long argument among Hashira. Shinobu remains silent throughout the argument.
When all the argument was over, Shinobu brought Tanjiro and Nezuko to her house so she could take care of them.
During the Infinity Castle Arc, Shinobu entered a room where Doma was eating her female disciples. Doma even thanked Shinobu as she would be another meal, and entered the room. One of her female disciples is still alive and begs Shinobu to save her.
Doma got angry with it, killed the disciple, and told Shinobu that he saved them by killing them. She asked Doma if he remembered the haori she was wearing. Doma playfully replied that he did. He expressed his regret for not being able to eat Kanae because of the sun rising.
Shinobu was angered by this and attacked Doma. She inflicted a powerful stab that hit Doma’s right eyeball. Doma was impressed at how good Shinobu was. Doma knew that Shinobu did not have the strength to cut off a demon’s head, but he got excited knowing she could use poison against her enemies.
Her poison, however, does not work on Doma. Doma could develop antibodies as soon as he had been inflicted with the poison of Shinobu.
The only option left is for Shinobu to inflict a huge amount of poison on Doma. She attacked him but was also attacked by Doma. Both her collarbone and ribs were broken, and her lungs got punctured. When she lost to him, she remembered the words of encouragement from her sister.
She attacked him with an Insect Breathing, Dance of the Centipede: Hundred-Legged Zigzag. She then attacked him on his neck and flew to the roof. Doma immediately recovers. He caught Shinobu, hugged her, and mocked her. Shinobu was then absorbed by Doma.
Physical Appearance
Shinobu is a petite young woman with a pale complexion and eyes similar to an insect’s. She has short hair that fades from black to purple. A turquoise and light purple butterfly ornament tie her hair bun. She has voluminous bangs that are split in the center and is ear length.
Her Demon Slayer Uniform is purple and has gold buttons. It consists of a dark purple-tinted straight-lined black jacket, matching colored socks, and hakama pants tucked into a white butterfly patterned kyahan fading into pale turquoise, then pink around her lower legs fastened with white ribbons.
She wears a white haori that previously belonged to Kanae. The haori has a butterfly pattern that fades into pale turquoise and then turns pink on the sleeves and hem. She wears white zori sandals with purple straps with a hidden blade on one of the heels.
Personality
She has an outgoing personality. She is often seen with a smile. Even when she tries to kill someone, she still shows her cheerful attitude. She would always tease others, Giyu being her favorite. Her relaxed exterior does not mean that she would not kill demons.
She has a strong hatred towards demons after losing almost everyone she loves. While exhibiting her calm exterior, Tanjiro sensed her anger boiling inside her.
During her fight with Doma, she reveals she suffers from an inferiority complex as she is not as strong as her fellow Hashira. She does not even have enough strength to cut off a demon’s head, so she kills them using poison instead.
Her demeanor, as she gets older, changes. She was brash, blunt, and uncomplicated when she was still young.
Ability
Shinobu is a skilled combatant. She uses her intellect instead of strength to win a fight against demons. She modified her katana so it would have poison in it. She even bragged that only she and the swordsmith knew how the katana was being modified so it could be used as a stinger to inject poison into the demons.
Her speed, agility, and reflexes are the same as the insect. She is not as strong as most demon slayers, but she has good sportsmanship as she can land a blow to the demons she is fighting.
She created her breathing style, Insect Breathing. Her body had also been modified so she would be able to poison the demon who would be eating her. Her body carries almost 37 kilograms of poison.
She was able to do this because of her medical expertise. Shinobu is known to create the poison she uses. She works with Tamayo to create a drug that significantly weakens Muzan, the Anti-Kibutsuji Drug.
