14 Strongest Breathing Styles in Demon Slayer (RANKED BY FANS)

Both the Demon Slayer Corps and the Hashira contribute their own distinctive approaches to the task of preserving mankind; nevertheless, which breathing style is the most successful of the bunch?

In the anime series Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, a few of the breathing methods that demon slayers utilize to preserve mankind have been shown, yet this just scratches the surface of their capabilities. 

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Every type of breathing form has a number of different variations, however, the methods in general have a wide range of potential applications and degrees of lethality.

The 9 Hashira are the most powerful demon slayers in the Corps, and every one of them has its own distinctive breathing method. Every type of breathing additionally has its own unique forms, which the demon slayer has either created on their own or learned from others, making them more powerful and adaptable.

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How Many Different Breathing Styles Does Demon Slayer Have?

As was previously said, the number of Breathing Styles in Demon Slayer is not limited in any way, as brand-new ones are always being developed. Despite this, the show has shown that there are a maximum of 14 different breathing styles that Demon Slayers may utilize. These are the different breathing styles:

Breathing StyleNumber of TechniquesKnown Users
Love Breathing6Mitsuri Kanroji
Flower Breathing7Kanae Kocho, Kanao Tsuyuri
Sun Breathing13Yoriichi Tsugikuni, Sumiyoshi, Tanjuro Kamado, Tanjiro Kamado
Flame Breathing9Shinjuro Rengoku, Kyojuro Rengoku
Thunder Breathing7Jiguro Kuwajima, Kaigaku, Zenitsu Agatsuma
Sound Breathing5Tengen Uzui
Water Breathing11Sakonji Urokodaki, Giyu Tomioka, Murata, Sabito, Makomo, Tanjiro Kamado
Wind Breathing9Sanemi Shinazugawa, Masachika Kumeno
Serpent Breathing5Obanai Igure
Insect Breathing4Shinobu Kocho
Stone Breathing5Gyomei Himejima
Moon Breathing16Kokushibo
Beast Breathing11Inosuka Hashibara
Mist Breathing7Muichiro Tokito

14. Love Breathing (6 Forms)

There are a number of Hashira in Demon Slayer that are endearing and likable, however, it’s difficult not to fall in love with the love Hashira Mitsuri Kanroji. 

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She is the Pillar of Love, and as such, she has invented a method of breathing that is referred to as Love Breathing. This method is an offshoot of Flame Breathing.

Mitsuri is able to achieve superhuman strength via the use of Love Breathing, and she does it without needing to change her lean body composition in the process. 

While Mitsuri’s body is not capable of matching the strength that she provides, she is able to deliver strikes that are both swift and powerful, which may do significant damage to her opponents and take them by surprise. 

Due to the fact that Love Breathing works best with Mitsuri’s physical make-up, she is the only character in the series who is currently capable of using it.

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13. Flower Breathing (7 Forms)

Flower Breathing is a kind of breathing method that, as the name implies, develops attacks, motions, and methods that are centered on flowers and fruits. Together with Serpent Breathing, it’s one of the 2 methods that may be developed from the Water Breathing ability.

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Kanae Kocho and Kanao Tsuyuri are the 2 characters in the series that are established as having the ability to employ Flower Breathing. It is possible to design elegant motions and strikes that do a significant amount of damage to foes, but it does come with a few limitations. 

While practicing the breathing method, a user is given the power to experience the world in slow motion; however, this talent comes at the expense of long-term damage to the user’s eyes. Since it has the potential to be harmful to the practitioner, it is not the best breathing method to perfect. There are others.

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12. Sound Breathing (5 Forms)

Audiences of the anime have not yet had the opportunity to see Tengen Uzui use his Sound Breathing technique; however, given that he is a member of the Hashira, it naturally follows that his strategy will have to be effective in order for him to earn a place among the most skilled demon hunters. 

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Tengen, as a person, contributes additional power to the breathing method due to his sound understanding of the actions of his adversaries.

The purpose of Sound Breathing, which is developed from Thunder Breathing, is to confuse the opponent by making the user’s motions seem to be much more rapid than they really are. 

Only 3 of its methods have been seen in Demon Slayer; they are the First Form: Roar, the Fourth Form: Constant Resounding Slashes, and the Fifth Form: String Performance. It possesses a total of 5 methods, however, only the first 3 have been shown. 

All of them are beneficial to Tengen and his enormous, explosive Nichirin Katanas, and only he can utilize them. No one had ever come out on top in combat versus his Sound Breathing method until Tengen faced the Upper-Rank Six [demon]. Till then, no one had been able to avoid defeat.

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11. Serpent Breathing (5 Forms)

Serpent Breathing is yet another kind of breathing technique that can solely be used by a single member of the Demon Slayer Corps. Obanai Iguro, one of the most powerful Hashira, has perfected Water Breathing and polished it to become Serpent Breathing. 

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The individual is able to perform strikes and tactics that are similar to the way snakes slither about thanks to the breathing technique, which clearly mimics the way snakes move.

If you use Serpent Breathing in conjunction with a twisted sword, you’ll be able to quickly slice through your foes in a twisting pattern. The breathing method enables Obanai to rapidly rotate around their enemy and behead them. 

It moreover enables them to control their breathing. Every poor demon ought to be terrified by the Serpent Breathing method since it is related to the agility and complicated movement that is associated with the serpent.

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10. Insect Breathing (4 Forms)

Shinobu Kocho makes use of Insect Breathing, which is a modification of Water & Flower Breathing. Shinobu devised this method in an attempt to imitate the dangerous stings and movements of insects. 

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Her blade is very dainty and has a needle-like point at the end, imitating the stinger function that allows her to inject Wisteria toxin into demons.

The Butterfly Dance, the Dance of the Bee Sting, the Dance of the Dragonfly, and the Dance of the Centipede are the names given to 4 distinct forms of dance. 

Shinobu is able to decapitate her demon foes by imitating the motions of the butterfly, dragonfly, and centipede, in addition to the sting and speed of the bee.

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9. Wind Breathing (9 Forms)

Sanemi Shinazugawa is the current Wind Hashira, and she specializes in an additional technique that is a direct offshoot of Sun Breathing. As a result of the fact that Beast Breathing is derived from Wind Breathing, this is the fundamental skill that Insuke Hashibira finally cultivates with a more honed sense of touch.

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There are 9 different types, ranging from the most fundamental dash and slash to the most devastating technique, which is called Gale-Sudden Gusts. Wind Tornadoes and various types of whirlwinds may be imitated using breathing for largely offensive strategies.

8. Mist Breathing (7 Forms)

The youngest of the Hashira, Muichiro Tokito is a descendent of the Upper Rank One demon Kokushibo. He is also Hashira’s current leader. After just two months of training, he was able to achieve the Hashira rank.

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The technique of Mist Breathing mimics the way that mists cloud vision and makes it possible to attack quickly once a cloud of confusion has been formed. Mist Breathing may be performed in one of 7 different ways, the first 6 of which were created by Muichiro. 

One of the sub-styles of Wind Breathing is called Mist Breathing. The 7th version of Mist Breathing, known as Obscuring Clouds, is the most powerful use of this ability since it not only disorients its target but also protects them with a shroud of mist and hits them in the blink of an eye.

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7. Beast Breathing (11 Forms)

Inosuke Hashibira, a figure whose unpredictable behavior is spoken by Yoshitsugu Matsuoka, is the only one who can employ the Beast Breathing technique, which he developed from the Wind Breathing technique.

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This method imitates the way that wild creatures move around in the natural world, and it is designed to be unexpected and fundamental. 

Inosuke is able to see a variety of claw-like cuts because of its ten “fangs,” which are also referred to as forms.

Inosuke came up with the idea for the Beast Breathing method when he was living in the highlands all by himself with wild boars. 

In order to stay in sync with animalistic senses, he would have to keep an extraordinary sense of touch, despite the fact that he gave the impression of being an unstable character who utilized the method to combat demons in a way that was more chaotic. His battle with Enmu in the movie “Demon Slayer” demonstrates this point quite well.

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6. Water Breathing (11 Forms)

Besides being Water Breathing a direct offshoot of Sun Breathing, however, it also has 3 offshoots of its own: Flower Breathing, Insect Breathing, and Serpent Breathing. These are all forms that are practiced by Giyu Tomioka’s fellow Hashira. 

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It is one of the Breathing Styles that is practiced the most often and was developed by Sakonji Urokodaki. Tomioka, Murata, Sabito, Makomo, Tanjiro, and Aoi Kanzaki are all practitioners of this Breathing Style.

There are 10 different methods associated with Water Breathing, in addition to an 11 form known as Dead Calm, which Tomioka created and is the only individual who can utilize it. 

The Water Breathing technique, like other breathing systems, has been shown to be one of the most effective depending on how its practitioners have refined it through time. 

As Tanjiro progresses toward the Sun Breathing technique of his ancestors, viewers of the anime have already had the opportunity to see all of the forms that are employed in the story.

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5. Thunder Breathing (7 Forms)

Thunder Breathing is another one of the primary breathing methods that directly evolved from Sun Breathing. This type of breathing attempts to imitate the lightning’s speed. 

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The character Zenitsu Agatsuma, whose voice is provided by Hiro Shimono, explains that it is a strength that runs through the muscle strength and veins in the legs.

Although there are 7 variations of Thunder Breathing, Zenitsu has only shown his followers his mastery of the First Form, Thunderclap, and Flash. 

He evolved 3 variations: the Six Fold, the Eight Fold, and the God Speed, as well as a Seventh Form, named Honoikazuchi no Kami, which is only shown in the manga

This form enables him to charge forward with a single blow in the style of a golden dragon-shaped lightning bolt.

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4. Moon Breathing (16 Forms)

Moon Breath is a kind of breath that imitates and replicates the moon’s motions, methods, and capabilities via the user’s own actions and capabilities. 

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The majority of the recognized methods and shapes are conventional however variable sword techniques that rely on swift and strong blows that always follow the form and pattern of a crescent moon. If not all of the known techniques and shapes, the vast majority of them are.

This kind of fencing is a superb blend of attack and defense, much comparable to Sun Breath, and this is because of the tremendous diversity in tactics that are used in each of these many forms of breaths.

It was discovered that Moon’s Breath, much similar to all of the previous original types of breaths, sprang from Sun’s Breath. Whenever the originator of Moon Breathing, Michikatsu Tsugikuni, sought to acquire Sun Breath from his twin brother, Yoriichi Tsugikuni, he found that he was unable to master it. As a result, he was taught a different type of breathing, which subsequently evolved into Moon Breathing.

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3. Stone Breathing (5 Forms)

One of the 5 original forms that were developed from Sun Breathing, Stone Breathing is a style that has only been shown in the manga up to this point. 

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It is believed to exist in 5 different forms, all of which were controlled by the Stone Hashira Gyomei Himejima despite the fact that he was not responsible for their creation. 

It is common practice for Gyomei’s colleagues Hashira Tanjiro and Inosuke to allude to him as the most powerful of the Hashira. 

Because he had been blind from birth, he was able to quickly establish a relationship with the ground and become an expert in stone breathing. This took just 2 months.

There are 5 different methods inside Stone Breathing that imitate the earth and stone by leveraging the earth beneath the practitioner to make their assaults more robust. 

Even while the form alone would not be as effective without a practitioner like Gyomei, it is among the most distinctive, giving it one of the most difficult to perfect and one of the more surprising techniques.

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2. Flame Breathing (9 Forms)

Kyojuro Rengoku, one of the most well-known Hashira and a favorite among the fans of the Demon Slayer series, was the character that made the greatest use of the Flame Breathing ability.

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There are 9 different ways that may be used with Flame Breathing, with the ninth being a Rengoku family specialty. 

The practitioner of Flame Breathing is able to execute powerful, searing blows by coordinating the flow of flames with their own talents. Visualizing oneself controlling the flames is essential to mastering the technique of “flame breathing.” 

Love Breathing was devised by another Hashira, Mitsuri Kanroji so that she could make greater use of the special muscles that she had. This was made possible by Flame Breathing.

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1. Breath of the Sun (13 Forms)

Eventually, Tanjiro Kamado, the central character whose voice is provided by Natsuki Hanae, will be able to use a power known as Hinokami Kagura, which literally translates to “Sun Breathing.” 

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Demon slayers still make use of methods such as flame breathing, water breathing, moon breathing, thunder breathing, stone breathing, and wind breathing, but this breathing style is among the most potent and the most ancient of them all. 

It imitates the power and adaptability of the sun, which reduces a demon’s capacity to regenerate.

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This method of respiration is still a closely guarded family secret in the Kamado household. 

It includes 13 techniques, in contrast to other styles, they are not labeled as “First Form” and so forth rather, they are called for the motion that they are associated with, such as “Dragon Sun Halo Head Dance.”  

Tanjiro has not yet mastered it, however, he has started to utilize it as a base for his Water Breathing. When he channeled it, he said that it improved his skills even further than Water Breathing ever has before.

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My Personal Thoughts

In Demon Slayer, breathing styles play a crucial role in the characters’ abilities to combat demons. Each style, such as Water Breathing, Wind Breathing, and Fire Breathing, has unique strengths and weaknesses that shape the wielder’s fighting style.

These styles also demonstrate the themes of hard work, perseverance, and self-improvement as characters must train and develop their abilities to master their breathing styles. Overall, breathing styles serve as a central aspect of the story and provide depth to the characters and their battles against demons.