“Brother, your dream is to be the strongest samurai in the country, right? I want to be like you as well. I want to be the second-strongest samurai in the country.”
General Information
- Japanese Voice Actor: Kazuhiko Inoue
- English Voice Actor: N/A
- Age: 80
- Manga Debut: Chapter 81
- Anime Debut: Season 1 Episode 8
- Race: Human
- Gender: Male
- Status: Deceased
History
Born during the Sengoku period, when twins were considered a bad omen in the Tsugikani clan, were Yoriichi and Michikatsu. Yoriichi was born with a scar on his forehead, so his father declared that he would kill him. However, his mother, Akeno flew into a rage and stopped his father.
The scar had given Yoriichi so much physical prowess and the ability to see the bodies of living things transparently. It was decided that he would be sent to a temple when he reached ten years old to be a monk.
Yoriichi has a different lifestyle growing up than his brother. His food was poorer, he lived in a three-tatami room that was secluded from the main house, and he received a worse education.
Yoriichi never spoke. Everyone thought he was deaf. His mother would constantly make Hanafuda earrings so the gods would bless him with the ability to speak. Yoriichi often clutched to his mother’s side, so Michikatsu thought he was pitiful. Michikatsu would sneak behind their father’s back to see Yoriichi and make a flute for him so he would not feel lonely.
When Yoriichi turned 7, he finally spoke. He said he also wanted to become a samurai like his brother. The trainer taught Yoriichi one stance, and he could land blows on the trainer. Yoriichi could not stand the thought of hurting someone, so he told Michikatsu that he rather play sugoroku and fly a kite.
Michikatsu had been asking Yoriichi how to land a blow since he could not land any even when he trained hard. Yoriichi would describe it as likely to be an early form of a Breathing Style.
When their mother died of illness, Yoriichi went to his brother’s room and bade him farewell. He expressed gratitude and tucked the flute Michikatsu made for him.
He ran for one day and one night without getting tired. He met a girl named Uta and lived with her for ten years. Then they got married, and Uta got pregnant later. When Uta was about to give birth, Yoriichi summoned a midwife, promising his wife he would return before sunset.
He met an old man who helped him on his way, so it took some time. Yoriichi went back home and decided he will summon the midwife the next day. When he arrived home, Uta and his unborn child were killed by demons. He only buried her after ten days when the demon slayer convinced him to do so.
He then joined the Demon Slayer Corps. He soon reunited with his brother when a demon annihilated his comrades. Yoriichi easily defeated the demon and apologized to his brother. He tried teaching his fellow demon slayers the Sun Breathing, but none could match his form.
He created variations in his breathing styles, such as Water, Wind, Flame, Stone, and Thunder breathing techniques. The strongest among the members of the Demon Slayer Corps would later be called Hashira. Muchikatsu could not learn the Sun Breathing style, so he created his own: Moon Breathing Style.
When Yoriichi encountered Muzan, Tamayo was with him. Yoriichi felt a different emotion, like a volcano ready to erupt. Muzan told Yoriichi that he had lost interest in demon slayers. When they fought, Muzan got hit by the breathing style of Yoriichi and failed to regenerate.
Muzan looked at Tamayo, but she did not help him. Instead, she looked at him with hope in her eyes. Muzan’s body suddenly burst into pieces, and Yoriichi could only kill 1500 out of 1800. The rest of the body escaped so it could regenerate. Yoriichi could not kill Muzan, but he instilled in him a fear of a man wearing Hanafuda earrings.
After Muzan escaped, Tamayo was on the verge of tears as she learned that Muzan had learned how to avoid death by decapitation. Tamayo told Yoriichi everything he needed to know about Muzan. After that, demon slayers told Yoriichi that Muchikatsu had taken the side of Muzan.
Muchikatsu assassinated the Oyakata. Demon slayers asked Yoriichi to kill himself as penance, but the Oyakata decided that he should be banished instead. In banishment, he wishes he could talk to someone, and he wants to see his friends Sumiyoshi and Suyako.
He told Sumiyoshi everything, from joining the demon slayers to his banishment. He even told him of his guilt of not being able to kill Muzan and letting Tamayo go. While staying in the Kamados, Suyako would ask Yoriichi to perform the Sun Breathing style.
When Yoriichi performs the style, he does it with grace that it looks like he is dancing. Sumiyoshi, who is watching, would etch in his mind the movements. On his last visit, he gave Sumiyoshi his Hanafuda earrings. Sumiyoshi had sensed that it would be his last visit.
While leaving, Sumiyoshi called out to Yoriichi that he would let the Sun Breathing style live on his descendants. Despite being banished from the Corps, Yoriichi continues to hunt demons. Muzan and Muchikatsu, now Kokushibo, had killed everyone who used the Sun Breathing style. No one in the Corps could teach the style as well as Yoriichi, so nobody learned the style anymore.
Yoriichi reached the ripe age of 80 despite being told that those who possess the Demon Slayer Mark are not supposed to live more than 25. He met his brother Kokushibo, and the two went into a fight.
Yoriichi cut off his head before he could even draw his sword. Kokushibo waited for the next attack, but it never happened. Yoriichi died of old age, never getting hit.
Kokushibo was angry to be surpassed again. This anger had been long in his heart. After Yoriichi left the estate when he was 7, Kokushibo read in his mother’s diary that Yoriichi knew of the illness all along. Yoriichi is supposed to inherit the estate, and Kokushibo is meant to be sent to the monastery. Yoriichi saved Kokushibo back then.
Kokushibo, angry at Yoriichi for always surpassing him, stabbed his body multiple times. He was angry at his brother for dying. He had only one chance to fight him in a fair fight, and that was gone. The man who almost killed him and Muzan had died. While stabbing it, he discovered that Yoriichi always carries the split flute he made for him when he was a child.
Physical Appearance
He is a tall, muscular man with spiky hair with red tips. He would keep his hair in a ponytail. His demon slayer mark is on the upper left of the forehead, the same as Tanjiro’s. He wears a red haori, over a pale-orange nagagi kimono, with a black umanori-styled hakama.
On his foot, he wore a white strapped zori and white socks. He carries a Nichirin sword on the left side of his waist. He wears Hanafuda earrings given by his mother.
Personality
Yoriichi has a reserved expression that rarely shows any emotion. He always has a gentle disposition. His emotion is difficult to read. He never saw himself as someone great. He showed emotions on very rare occasions.
During the death of Uta and their unborn child is one of the few times Yoriichi shows strong emotion. He adores his older brother and cares for his family too much. When their mother was sick, Yoriichi would take care of her.
Abilities
No demon slayer has the equal ability as Yoriichi. He was the only demon slayer who fought Muzan alone, cornered him, and inflicted him with a wound that, 400 years later, still affects Muzan. Even when he was 80 years old and blind, he could overpower his brother.
Yoriichi is a genius who has extrasensory perception. When he was fighting Muzan, Yoriichi had a selfless state. Muzan could not detect his movements due to his absence of emotions.
Yoriichi had his demon slayer mark when he was born. His Nichirin sword turned bright red, and he had a transparent world. He can already see the insides of a living being vividly at such a young age. The bright red Nichirin Sword of Yoriichi can stop the regeneration of Muzan for a short period. None among the modern-day Hashira could do that.
He is an excellent swordsman, and this can be inherent at such a young age when he was able to land a blow to the sensei of Michikatsu. He was the one who invented the Sun Breathing style and all the other styles that came after. From his time up to the current generation, no Hashira or any demon slayer could equal the ability of Yoriichi.
