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Discover how the strongest Hashira, Gyomei Himejima, fights despite being completely blind in Demon Slayer.
When we think of ridiculously strong powerhouses with peak human strength, we usually imagine someone with razor-sharp reflexes, unmatched raw power, and perfect sight. After all, sight is perhaps the most important tool necessary to fight or possibly overwhelm someone in combat. However, Demon Slayer completely throws this logic out of the window with the Stone Hashira, Gyomei Himejima.
Gyomei Himejima is undeniably the strongest Hashira of the current generation, who also happens to be completely blind. The fact that he rose to the top of the hierarchy of the Demon Slayer Corps despite his blindness is an extraordinary feat in itself – one that still leaves Demon Slayer fans in awe whenever they see him fight.
In fact, his blindness doesn’t even seem to hold him back. If anything, it probably makes him stronger. With that said, let us look at the character arc of Gyomei Himejima in Demon Slayer and determine how exactly he managed to become so strong, despite being completely blind in both eyes.
Who Is Gyomei Himejima in Demon Slayer?
As mentioned earlier, Gyomei Himejima is the Stone Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps. He’s easily one of the strongest members of the organization, with some even considering him to be the strongest Hashira. As for his physical appearance, he’s basically built like a mountain. In fact, he easily towers over his fellow Hashira with his massive frame and muscular build.
However, in spite of his intimidating appearance, Gyomei is actually extremely soft-spoken and sensitive. He basically embodies the gentle giant archetype and has a heart of gold. He’s also extremely emotional and spiritually devoted. In most of his appearances, Gyomei is constantly praying, chanting sutras, and shedding tears – not out of weakness, but because he simply feels everything intensely.
Gyomei is also one of the many Demon Slayer characters who had a tragic past. Despite being blind since his childhood, Gyomei took care of orphaned children in a temple. One day, tragedy struck, and almost all the children under Gyomei’s care ended up dying at the hands of a Demon. However, the one child Gyomei managed to save ended up falsely accusing him of killing the other children (which later turned out to be a misunderstanding).
As a result, Gyomei was captured and sentenced to death. Fortunately for him, Kagaya Ubuyashiki – the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps – ended up saving him from execution after recognizing his innocence. Afterwards, Gyomei became a part of the Demon Slayer Corps, where he quickly became the strongest and most skilled fighter of the current generation.
How Can Gyomei Fight Despite Being Blind?
Given that Gyomei has been blind since childhood, some may wonder – how exactly is he even able to fight? He had an incredibly frail physique at first as well, which is why almost everyone assumed him to be weak. However, unbeknownst to Gyomei himself, he possessed a frightening amount of raw physical power, which he only discovered during his first encounter with the Demon that attacked his temple.
It’s very likely that without the Demon’s attack, Gyomei would have lived his life without knowing his true power. In fact, he was so powerful that he even managed to beat the Demon with nothing but his own fists, that too, till sunrise.
With time, Gyomei learned to compensate for his lack of sight by alternating his senses to adapt to his condition. He developed a superhuman sense of smell and hearing, which allowed him to react to attacks and engage in high-speed combat against demons with no particular difficulty. In fact, Gyomei honed his other senses to such an extent that his lack of sight didn’t even seem like a liability.
How Powerful Is Gyomei in Demon Slayer?
Among all the Hashira, Gyomei is widely considered to be the strongest. This was stated by both Tanjiro and Insouke, who realized in no time that Gyomei was simply on another level as compared to the other Hashira. In fact, even Kokushibo, the Upper Rank One Demon, claimed that Gyomei’s natural physical abilities were at their absolute peak. What’s more, Kokushibo even said that in the last three hundred years, he had never encountered a warrior close to Gyomei’s caliber.
After awakening his Demon Slayer Mark, Gyomei’s power increased to a whole different level. The mark drastically enhanced his strength, speed, and stamina, allowing him to fight against the strongest Upper Rank Demon for a long time. He also gained the ability to access the Transparent World, which helped him mentally visualize and predict Kokushibo’s attacks and movements.
As for his physical abilities, Gyomei possesses the greatest level of physical strength and raw power. Apparently, he was naturally born with such immense strength, as proved by the time when he defeated a Demon with his bare hands despite being frail and blind. He also possesses extraordinary levels of endurance and stamina.
This was evident when he wasted little time going after Muzan, right after his battle against Kokushibo ended. Gyomei’s speed and reflexes are nothing to scoff at either, as he was stated to be the third fastest runner among the Hashira. Even Kokushibo found it absurd that someone of Gyomei’s size was able to dodge his attacks so effortlessly.
Does Gyomei Survive Till the End of Demon Slayer?
Unfortunately, no – Gyomei does not survive till the end of Demon Slayer. During the final battle against Muzan, Gyomei fought valiantly alongside his allies. Despite giving it his all, the sheer intensity of the battle took its toll on Gyomei, and he ended up succumbing to his injuries. He passed away shortly after Muzan’s defeat.
In his final moments, Gyomei reminisced about the one child he saved back at the temple. He also got some form of closure before passing away. It was revealed then that the children who refused to listen to Gyomei and ran out of the temple that night only did so because they wanted to get help so that they could protect Gyomei.
As for the child who accused Gyomei of killing the children – apparently, she was too traumatized to explain the situation properly. As a result, the people at the scene misinterpreted her words. They thought that Gyomei was the killer she was referring to. All of this was revealed to Gyomei in his final moments – which allowed him to pass on in peace, without any regrets.
Conclusion
All in all, we can conclude without a shred of doubt that Gyomei Himejima is the strongest Hashira in Demon Slayer. His blindness was never a disadvantage to him by any means. If anything, it only pushed him to rely on his other abilities, and use them to dominate most of his opponents.
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