 |
"Mature Content Warning!" |
| “ | Since the day I was born I've never lied... not even once! I'm a good natured weakling! I deserve pity, but no one has any sympathy for me. | „ |
| ~ Hantengu about himself and showing his delusion. |
Hantengu (In Japanese: 半天狗, Hantengu) is a major antagonist in the dark fantasy action manga/anime series, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. He is the main antagonist of the Swordsmith Village Arc and its third season anime adaptation, while his clones serve as the major antagonists.
He is a demon and member of Twelve Kizuki, being the Upper-Rank Four demon. He is presented as a cowardly and hypocritical demon but possesses a powerful Blood Demon Art that allows him to have clones based on his emotions to fight for him while he hides away.
He was voiced by Toshio Furukawa as his main body, Yuichiro Umehara as Sekido, Kaito Ishikawa as Karaku, Soma Saito as Aizetsu, Shunsuke Takeuchi as Urogi and Koichi Yamadera as Zohakuten (who also voiced Utsuro in Gintama) in the Japanese version and by Christopher Corey Smith in the dubbed version.
His Evil Ranking[]
What Makes Him Close to Being Pure Evil?[]
Past[]
- As a human being, Hantengu has been a pathological liar since childhood, with a twisted mind that distorts facts and interpretations to perpetually consider himself the victim and the people around him as evildoers, no matter how obvious his evil deeds were. For example:
- As an adult, Hantengu often stole from numerous people and even murdered others in cold blood in various towns and cities, all while claiming that he was "innocent", stating that his hands alone were to be blamed, showcasing how mentally unstable and delusional he was.
- Hantengu attempted to steal the wealth of a benefactor who saved his life by pretending to be a blind man. When a real blind man found out about this act, he attempted to report the act, but he murdered him before he could do so.
- Hantengu married several times and had children, but falsely believed that he was being mistreated due to his hypocrisy and mercilessly killed his wives and children in ''retaliation'' for petty reasons, when he became old, he pretended to be blind to steal the property of a benefactor and when a real blind man found out about his theft, he murdered the blind man. And it is said Hantengu committed theft and murder in other towns before. The exact number is unknown, but it can be assumed that Hantengu did this lot in his pre-demon life.
- After being caught for his crimes and was to be sentenced to death for his heinous acts, Hantengu still tried to play the victim card, claiming that he is a blind man, before the magistrate rightfully calls him out for it, stating Hantengu was never really blind in the first place.
- After being turned into a demon by Muzan, Hantengu escaped from his prison cell and killed the magistrate who sentenced him to death for his crimes, showing that becoming a demon had not changed who he was, though he did at some level lose his memories as with most demons. Additionally, he chose to be a demon willingly though he would be executed otherwise.
- As a member of the Twelve Kizuki, holding the position of Upper-Rank Four, he had most likely eaten hundreds of people before the story started.
- Although he heavily relies on his clones during fights, he deems them only as weapons used in fights, and doesn't show an ounce of care about them, although it's implied that every clone has their own independent conciousness and 100% possible they have a will to live, as it's shown in the scene where the Anger clone absorbs his comrades and they are shown to be genuinely frightened as they get absorbed.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba[]
The Swordsmith Village Arc[]
- Under Muzan's orders, he and Gyokko attacked the swordsmith village with the intent of destroying the village and killing everyone.
- He summoned his clones to kill Tanjiro, Nezuko, Muichiro, Genya, and Mitsuri.
- He continues to consider himself a "virtuous weakling" and has no regrets or remorse for his evil deeds, which made Tanjiro outraged by his victim-playing behavior, and he is also one of the few Demons that, along with Muzan, made Tanjiro furious.
- After losing his head, Hantengu attempted to kill and devour three swordsmiths to regenerate himself,
- The situation made things even worse for Tanjiro since it was daytime and Nezuko was in the sunlight, burning with severe pain. This forces Tanjiro into a sadistic choice and causes him to begin panicking extremely, as he can't decide on either saving his sister or stopping Hantengu from killing the three Swordsmiths and making a potential getaway. This causes Nezuko to (supposedly) sacrifice herself so Tanjiro can stop the demon. And while this was not necessarily his intention, it was not likely he would have cared.
- Even after his death, Hantengu's eyes showed Muzan of Nezuko overcoming the sunlight, which prompted Muzan to raid the Demon Slayer Corps, which makes him play a role for the numerous deaths caused by Muzan and other Upper Ranks.
- Hantengu stands out in Demon Slayer for being one of the few demons that Tanjiro shows no mercy or sympathy towards, due to his hypocrisy and cowardice, as well as for nearly causing Nezuko's death, even if it wasn’t strictly his intention to expose her to the sunlight.
What Prevents Him from Being Pure Evil?[]
- Despite fearing him greatly, Hantengu is loyal to Muzan for believing in his "innocence", serving him with genuine devotion.
- He has moral agency issues as he is genuinely insane, truly believing himself to be the victim and the underdog, and his dissociative personality and persecution complex also affect his moral agency, as shown by his clones.
- However, that is only a minor prevention as he has enough awareness as seen during his final transformation to attack Tanjiro as well as recalling his former crimes in the past while still exhibiting a sufficient sadistic nature.
Trivia[]
- His Japanese voice actor, Toshio Furukawa, also voiced Piccolo, who is conversely Near Pure Good.
External Links[]
- Hantengu on the Villains Wiki
- Hantengu on the Hate Sink Wiki
[]
 Near Pure Evils
| ||
|
Canon Fanon | ||
