How Strong Is Obanai Iguro-The Snake Hashira In Demon Slayers

BASIC INFORMATION

Age: 21 years
Height: 162cm
Weight: 53kg
Birthdate: September 15
Japanese Voice Actor: Kenichi Suzumura
Status: Alive

APPEARANCE

Obanai is a diminutive man with a respectable amount of muscle mass. His straight-edged black hair, which he wears down with two shorter strands hanging between his eyes, is different lengths, the longest falling to his shoulders and the shortest ending at his cheekbones. Given that Obanai has heterochromia—his right eye is yellow and his left eye is turquoise—his almond-shaped eyes are uncommon and slant upward on the far sides. He can hardly see out of his right eye, indicating that he is half-blind.

The shape of Obanai’s mouth is also really unique; when he was twelve, it was forcibly chopped from the edge to his ears to give it a more snake-like appearance. This left a significant and horrific wound, which he conceals beneath the bandage he wears over his lower face.

He has dressed in a navy blue variation of the normal Demon Slayer costume, paired with a black and white pinstriped haori that covers his hands and has stripes that run lengthwise rather than vertically. Obanai additionally wears bandages over his calves in place of the leg wraps, giving him the appearance of Kyahan. He also has another set of bandages covering his mouth and white shoes with blue straps on them. Additionally, Kaburamaru, his white snake, is frequently seen draped around his shoulders.

Obanai and the surviving Hashira are hit by Muzan’s swinging whips while fighting the demon, and Obanai sustains three long, slanted slashes over his eyes that leave him entirely blind.

Before having his hair cut by his family, Obanai had waist-length hair that he wore knotted down his back with a long white bandage and a mouth that appeared normal. He additionally wore a simple white kimono.

PERSONALITIES

Obanai is a highly rigorous and harsh person who doesn’t care about anyone who doesn’t follow the Demon Slayer regulations. He criticizes Tengen Uzui for taking severe injuries while fighting the “weakest” Upper Rank and tells him to “fight to the death” when Tengen wants to give up. His expectations of his fellow Demon Slayers are nigh-unrealistic. Tengen’s retirement also serves as a reminder of Obanai’s commitment to the Demon Slayer Corps’ future, often at the expense of others. For example, he frequently ties up lesser-ranked Demon Slayers. He exploits them as impediments during Hashira Training for insignificant reasons.

He considers the more recent Demon Slayer recruits to be inexperienced and incapable of growing. Thus he is surprised to learn that Tanjiro Kamado survived the conflict with Daki and Gyutaro. Obanai has a pretty noticeable habit of berating or disparaging individuals while pointing his finger at them.

Despite his ruthless nature, he has a strong affection for Mitsuri Kanroji and Kagaya Ubuyashiki. Most of their friends, with the exception of Tanjiro and Mitsuri, have noticed that he has a thing for her. By eating meals with her and giving her gifts, such as the green socks she wears with her uniform, he frequently expresses his emotions for her. Sometimes it looks like Obanai overprotects Mitsuri, as when he warns Tanjiro for being too near to her.

Given her upbeat demeanor, which didn’t even remotely show signs of the torturous training she had undergone, it was hinted that he has a crush on Mitsuri. Talking with her also helped him forget all the tension and suffering he had experienced in the past and gave him the impression that he was a regular young man. Obanai respects Kagaya just as much as the rest of the Hashira do.

Due to the fact that his parents were a cruel and immoral clan who would ruthlessly sacrifice even newborn newborns to a demon for their own financial gain, Obanai is also known to have a profound feeling of self-loathing. Obanai believes that he and his family are so polluted that even after they are dead, he still has the impression that they are pricking their claws into his skin to prevent him from leaving.

He even goes so far as to think that, before revealing his affections to Mitsuri, he would have to die and purge himself of his contaminated blood. He was born into a household of women who treated him like a tool. Therefore his upbringing appears to be another factor contributing to his gynophobia. His face bandages, which he wears to hide the unpleasant wounds he sustained and does not take off until the decisive battle, are another indication of the pain of his past.

BACK STORY

Obanai was born and reared by a family who revered a female snake-like Demon inside of a jail. The demon loved to eat kids and had a snake-like face and lower half of the body. His family offered the demon’s victims stolen goods in exchange for the sacrifice of their own children. The demon was particularly drawn to Obanai because he was the only boy with peculiar eyes to be born into the family in 370 years. She let him live till he had grown bigger before deciding to eat him.

Obanai was forced to have his mouth slashed by his family when he was 12 years old so that he would resemble the snake Demon when he was carried outside to be shown to the demon. After being brought back to his cell, he continued to live in terror and worry while he plotted his escape. The only person he could rely on was Kaburamaru, a white snake that he regarded as a close friend rather than a pet. When he finally managed to flee, the snake demon pursued him and nearly killed him, but fortunately, the Flame Pillar at the time was able to save him.

One cousin was left alive after the demon slaughtered the rest of his family when he managed to flee, and he reprimanded and accused Obanai of being responsible for their deaths. He decided to redirect his anger and hatred toward the Demons because he lacked a suitable outlet for his feelings. He felt better about himself every time he risked his life for the sake of another person.

BREATHING STYLE

The breathing technique Obanai invented and perfected is called serpent breathing. This swordsmanship technique employs twists and turns to attack in peculiar ways, much like a serpent slithers. It was demonstrated in the last battle where Obanai was able to keep up with a depleted Muzan while being entirely blind and yet managed to force him into a corner that he had learned to merge his pet snake, Kaburamaru, with this Breathing Style, making it incredibly powerful in combat.

POWER &ABILITIES

Obanai, a Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps, is an extremely strong and adept fighter. He was discovered to have a degree of blindness in his right eye. Therefore he only had one functional eye when he rose to the top of the Demon Slayer Corps. This makes Obanai’s achievement of Hashira status all the more remarkable, especially considering his weak physical makeup and physical limitations (possibly brought on by his tough childhood).

Obanai has considerable physical power, which is seen when he uses incredible force to pin Tanjiro to the ground so that he is unable to move or breathe despite his tiny size and weaker physical strength as a result of his upbringing. In addition, Muichiro Tokito was the other Demon Slayer who could turn his Nichirin Sword brilliant red by using only his grip strength. Despite this, only Shinobu is physically stronger than him, making him the second-weakest Hashira.

WEAPON USED

Obanai carries a substantially altered Nichirin katana that resembles an Indonesian Kris sword. The blade’s shape is molded into waves that resemble a twisting serpent, and it is lavender in color. His katana’s hilt is a gold circle with two snakes joined by several plant-like motifs carved on it. On the side, the phrase “Destroyer of Demons” is etched. Additionally, Obanai travels with a unique leather scabbard that pops open each time he draws his katana. It is held together by a small magnetic pull. Obanai is intended to draw his sword from his sheath vertically rather than horizontally.