The Demon Slayer Corps' insect Hashira, Shinobu Kocho is the younger sister of Kanae Kocho, the former flower Hashira, she also has an adoptive younger sister, Kanao Tsuyuri. Shinobu harbors a strong hatred towards demons after a demon killed her parents, this is also one of the main reasons Shinobu and her sister decided to join the Demon Slayer Corps.
She did it so that no one else would face the same devastating fate as she did. Although Shinobu is a petite young woman, she packs an incredibly powerful punch and is able to move at incredible speeds making her one of the strongest characters in the series.
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Appearance
Shinobu sports a dark purple Demon Slayer uniform along with a white haori that previously belonged to her elder sister which has a butterfly wing like pattern. Although Shinobu portrays a friendly, constantly smiling and happy personality, deep inside she is angry at the fact that demons had killed her sister. She is also seen to be emotionless when teasing her peers, this is seen when she teases Giyu Tomioka without holding back. Even though she seems to be calm most of the time she is seen to be merciless towards demons. This is seen when she had no hesitation in killing Nezuko without finding out who she is or what happened to her. Her cruelness is also seen when she kills the spider demon daughter in the most sad*stic of ways.
Tanjiro was able to pick up the scent of anger on the constantly smiling Shinobu and tell her this, surprising her slightly, this is where she tells Tanjiro to do all that he can to carry out his goals and is happy that he is working hard towards it. She also tells him to make sure Nezuko is always protected until the very end, showing her true emotions and feelings. During her younger days Shinobu was more blunt and cared less about what she said, but this was only up until the death of her elder sister, after her sister's death Shinobu adapted a more calm behavior and positive attitude while keeping her rage shut inside her mind.
Abilities And Fighting Style
As the insect Hashira of the Demon Slayer corps, Shinobu is an extremely powerful and skilled Demon Slayer, however due to her petite stature, lack of physical power and her inability to completely slice off a demon's head she had to resort to her creativity to kill demons in the heat of a battle. Shinobu uses as heavily modified version of a katana that ends with a needle-like tip that acts as stinger which injects lethal poison made with wisteria (a plant), her sword was created by the chief of the Swordsmith village, Tecchin Tecchikawahara and her sheath also contains a supply of poison to ensure that her katana is kept poisonous. Thanks to her insect breathing technique, Shinbou is also extremely acrobatic and agile when it comes to her movements, allowing her to dodge and evade demons at immense speeds. Although she is the smallest member of the Demon Slayer Corps, Shinobu possesses a powerful stabbing attack that is powerful enough to pierce a stone boulder.
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Shinbou's speed allows her to move at insane levels making it seem as if she had teleported and also possesses high levels of endurance and stamina due to years of harsh training. Just like most Demon Slayers, Shinbou also possesses an indomitable will, fueled by her hatred towards demons and combining it with her knowledge in using poison during combat, makes her a tough opponent. Her wide knowledge of using poison to have deadly effects on her opponents within seconds is an incredible skill that she has mastered in order to make up for her lack in combat ability. Shinbou uses a unique swordsmanship style that focuses more on stabbing rather than slicing. Shinobu is also able to saturate her body with poison without affecting her own body, she is able to absorb wisteria-based poison over long periods of time which has resulted in it completely merging with her body's cell structure.
Her breathing style known as insect breathing was designed by her to make sure that she is able to keep up with her fellow Demon Slayers, her breathing techniques involve acrobatic and powerful charges in the attempt to inject her opponent with poison. She also uses her speed and agility such as running in a zigzag pattern at extremely high speeds to confuse an opponent while also looking for an opening to directly stab an opponent and inject poison into them, she also has powerful defense moves in which she uses her katana to block powerful attacks from enemies. Overall, Shinobu is recognized as one of the most powerful Hashira in the Demon Slayer series and is also able to keep up with extremely powerful demons because of her proficient and exceptional swordsmanship.
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