JOIN OUR WHATSAPP CHANNEL
Demon Slayer Season 4: Is Akaza Evil? Character Origins and Motives Explained
Akaza is a major supporting antagonist of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. He is a demon affiliated with the Twelve Kizuki, holding the position of Upper Rank Three.
Demon Slayer fans have been curious about Akaza's true nature, especially after his death in the series' final arc. Initially introduced as a fairly evil character, Akaza's backstory in the Infinity Castle arc reveals a different side to his character.
Akaza's life before becoming a demon, known as Hakuji, was filled with tragedies such as his father's death and the murders of his surrogate father figure and his wife. These factors contributed to his tragic nature, but this does not make his actions justifiable in the grand scheme of things.
Is Akaza truly evil in Demon Slayer?
Akaza, born Hakuji, was raised by his sick father in Edo. He stole money to pay for his father's medications, leading to his arrest and labeling as a "demon child." After his father's death, Hakuji became resentful and began fighting adults. He met martial artist Keizo, who took him under his wing. Keizo hired Hakuji as a nurse for Koyuki, and they fell in love and eventually married several years later.
However, because of some disputes they had with a rival dojo, the latter poisoned the water Koyuki and Keizo drank, leading to their deaths. Hakuji was enraged by this and killed all of the members of the rival dojo with his bare hands, attracting Muzan's attention and getting the offer to become a demon.
Hakuji, as he transformed into a demon, lost his human memories and became Akaza, known as one of Muzan's Upper Moons. He showed extreme loyalty to Muzan, which the villain appreciates. Akaza's character focuses on fighting powerful opponents, as he dislikes fighting or eating women. He proposed to Rengoku, the Flame Hashira, to become a demon so they could fight forever, but all rejected it, as the former did not understand why they didn't want to become demons.
Demon Slayer fans often question Akaza's goodness or evil due to his tragic backstory and the majority of his actions being unrelated. Despite his heartbreaking past, Akaza chose to kill innocent people for Muzan's cause and his own pleasure. It is likely that most of the people he killed were not responsible for his actions, making him a noticeable evil person despite his unfair origins.
Exploring the character of Akaza
Akaza was a headstrong, stubborn, and battle-crazed Social Darwinist who enjoyed fighting, especially against strong Demon Slayers. He purposefully drew out fights to savor every moment of it, always complimenting his opponents when they unleashed powerful techniques or landed blows on him, usually remarking that their techniques and swordsmanship were magnificent and intriguing.
Akaza looked down on anybody he deemed weak, so much so that his skin would crawl at the sight of them. He genuinely respected those who were strong in his eyes, demanding to know their names, and would not stop until he found out; he remembered all the names of strong opponents of the past and committed them to memory as a tribute to their strength.
Akaza was a very muscular young man of average height with skin so fair it appeared bright green-tinged white, decorated by a pattern of thick blue lines, which resembled the criminal tattoos he had as a human. Akaza had short, bright pink hair that fluffed out around his head and inward-tilting yellow eyes with pink eyelashes and blue sclera that somewhat resembled cracked glass. The kanji for Upper Rank and the daiji for Three were etched into his irises as well.
As the third highest-ranking member of the Twelve Kizuki, Akaza was an exceptionally powerful demon and the fourth strongest in existence after Doma, Kokushibo, and Muzan Kibutsuji. Even as a human child without martial arts training, Akaza could defeat and render grown men unconscious on his own.
At the age of 18, after mastering the Soryu Style from Keizo, he singlehandedly annihilated 67 trained adult swordsmen with his bare fists, to the point where Muzan initially thought it was a demon who had killed all these men.
Upon becoming a demon, his combat prowess only grew, eventually earning him the title of Upper Rank Three among the Twelve Kizuki, despite his growth rate being hindered by his refusal to eat women.nAkaza was able to fight on par with the Flame Hashira Kyojuro Rengoku and kill him, and had also claimed the lives of numerous other Hashira and Demon Slayers in the past.
Akaza displayed remarkable skill by engaging in combat with both the Water Hashira Giyu Tomioka and the Hashira-level Demon Slayer Tanjiro Kamado simultaneously. Despite being outnumbered and facing opponents utilizing their Demon Slayer Marks, Akaza dominated the majority of their battle.
He only succumbed to them once Tanjiro accessed the Selfless State and Transparent World. Even though Akaza was unable to defeat Kokushibo when challenging him for the position of Upper Rank One, Kokushibo spared his life, finding the challenge entertaining. This suggests that Akaza was able to put up a good fight against Kokushibo, despite the significant power gap between the two.
ALSO READ: Demon Slayer Season 4 Episode 5 To Feature Show's Most Heartbreaking Sibling Talk; Here's What It Is
Latest Articles
