Is Genya A Demon In Demon Slayer?

In the latest episode of Demon Slayer: Swordsmith Village Arc, the episode ends with Genya having demon-like features, leaving Tanjiro confused.

Naturally, you must be asking, Is Genya a demon? A short answer would be no.

Then, why did he have those demon-like features? To understand them, we need to know a bit about his past as it connects to the recent developments in the anime.

Let’s take a look at Genya, an anomaly in the Demon Slayer verse!

Note: This article may contain spoilers from the manga.

Genya’s Tragic Past

Though it may not look like it, Genya and Sanemi, the Wind Hashira are blood brothers. When they were young, they used to live with their five other siblings, a hard-working mother, and an abusive father.

The seven siblings’ mother was a short, petite, and hard-working woman. Genya once remarked that no one had seen her sleep, not even at night.

The total opposite was her father, an abusive who would lash out at his kids and his wife.

Despite her short stature, their mother would always try to protect them, sometimes even taking hits directed at her son.

One day, the abusive father was killed by someone from the village. Though the killer was not found, Genya and Sanemi believed he got what he deserved.

After this incident, the two brothers decided that they would protect all of their siblings and their mother.

One night, when the mother did not come back, the children got worried, as she always came back at night.

Sanemi took charge and went out to find her, while Genya and the others stayed at home.

After some time, some creature suddenly attacked Genya’s family and killed all of his siblings.

Genya believed that it was a wolf that was able to force its way into the house.

The scar on his face is from this incident. Sanemi came back just in time to save his brother from dying.

Genya was still in disbelief and does not realize that his siblings are dead. He asks them to push down their injuries and get the blood flowing.

Traumatized and scared, Genya runs outside the house to find a doctor.

Out on the street, he found Sanemi soaked in blood and holding a cleaver, with their mother’s bloodied body lying on the ground.

He asked Sanemi why he killed their own mother and called him a murderer.

The truth is, even Sanemi did not know who he was fighting until the light of dawn came upon him.

The creature the future Wind Hashira was fighting was their own mother, who had become a demon.

After the incident, Sanemi left Genya and went on a mission to kill all the demons.

As Sanemi was not aware of Nichirin Blade and the demon slayer, he tried to capture demons and immobilize them until dawn, burning them to death with the sunlight.

He was later recruited by a demon slayer named Masachika Kumeno to become a Demon Slayer.

Genya’s Secret Ability:

As Genya did not have any natural talent and could not learn any breathing style, he got desperate for power.

In his desperation to gain power, he started eating demons. Unknown to him, he had a unique digestive system.

This allowed him to gain the power and abilities of the demon he ate. Though it is temporary, it gives him immense strength and regenerative abilities.

The extent of the abilities he gains and how powerful he becomes are dependent on the demon he eats.

When he eats a demon, he develops fangs, and the sclera of his eye turns black (similar to the ghouls in Tokyo Ghoul). To understand the reasoning behind why he can eat Demons, click here!

Is Genya a Demon?

No, Genya is a human, for the most part. We can say that Genya is a partial demon after consuming demon flesh!

Genya is also not a complete demon as he does not crave human flesh and his actions are for the sake of humanity and not against it.

As such, he helped demon slayer corp multiple times using his special ability. He helped Tanjiro and others in their fight against Upper-rank Four, Hantengu.

During the Infinity Castle arc, Muichiro would not have been able to pierce Upper-rank One Kokushibo with his Red Nichirin sword without Genya immobilising the demon.

Stay tuned for more Demon Slayer and other Shonen-related news and articles.