This article contains spoilers from Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle.
Demon Slayer is a story that largely focuses on the main character, Tanjiro Kamado, whose journey starts after his family is massacred and his sole surviving sister is turned into a demon. Immediately after the initial setup of the Demon Slayer world, we are quickly introduced to the concept of Hashira. The Hashira are the most powerful division of Demon Slayers among the corps that have vowed to fight Muzan and his underlings.
Each one of the nine Hashira is powerful, but as of Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Part 1, three of them have left the organization either through retirement or via death. As the story edges closer to its end, all but two Hashira will remain. By the end of Demon Slayer and after Muzan’s defeat, there will no longer be any point in continuing the organization, leading to the permanent end of the Hashira as a whole.
Demon Slayer Has Already Removed Three Hashira
Demon Slayer has become quite a hit anime. Initially, it was created by Koyoharu Gotouge and was published in Shueisha’s Weekly Shonen Jump between February 15, 2016, and May 18, 2020. While Demon Slayer had a short run in the magazine, its anime is still currently ongoing and is airing its final trilogy of movies, being adapted into Infinity Castle Parts 1, 2, and 3. Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Part 1 premiered in July 2025, and by the end of the movie, we have already lost quite a few members of the Hashira. In the world of Demon Slayer, this is no light loss, as the Hashira are some of the very strongest members of the Demon Slayer Corps who have proved their might and their worth.
The first Hashira casualty in the anime came through in Demon Slayer’s first hit movie, Demon Slayer: Mugen Train. This casualty was that of Rengoku, the Flame Hashira, who died in the final stretch of the movie following the appearance of Upper Rank 3 Demon Akaza. The second Hashira to depart from the group was Tengen. Tengen was the Sound Hashira, and he fought with Tanjiro and the others during the Entertainment District arc. Tengen, unlike Rengoku, did survive his ordeal. However, following his injuries, he decided to retire, removing himself from his position as a Hashira.
Finally, the latest Hashira to die was one of the first of the group that we met in the story, that being the Insect Hashira, Shinobu Kocho. Shinobu Kocho entered the Infinity Castle alongside the other members of the Demon Slayer Corps. However, she did not last long. Shinobu was faced with the Demon who killed her older sister, the Upper Rank 2 Doma. She had to fight Doma alone one-on-one, and as we’ve seen, the top three underlings of Muzan are too strong for even a Hashira to solo. Of course, in Shinobu’s case, it was all planned from the start. However, she still died and had to sacrifice her life to achieve her final goal. What’s really unfortunate, however, is that she is still far from being the last casualty among the Hashira group.
Why More Death Is On the Way For the Hashira
In the anime, Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Part 1 was just the beginning of the raid on the Infinity Castle, which seeks to eradicate Muzan and all his underlings. For now, the conflict is still ongoing. Tanjiro and Giyu managed to take down Akaza, but there are still Doma, Kokushibo, and Muzan to account for. All of these demons are massive problems individually, and because of their actions, more of the Hashira will die.
Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Part 2, the next movie in the trilogy, is set to kickstart the battle against Upper Rank 1 Kokushibo, the very strongest Demon after the progenitor Muzan. Kokushibo will fight Gyomei, Sanemi, Muichiro, and Genya. However, only two of these four will survive the ordeal. Gyomei and Sanemi will make it out alive, but Muichiro, the Mist Hashira and the youngest of the pillars, will sacrifice his life to allow his allies to move forward. His death is brutal, but his sacrifice makes all the difference.
The final battle of the series, which should unfold in the finale of the trilogy, is that of Muzan against the Demon Slayers. Against the Demon King, all remaining Hashira and capable Demon Slayers will take up weapons in an attempt to stall him until sunrise. This showdown, as expected, will not be without casualties. At the end of the Muzan battle, direct casualties will be confirmed to be in the form of the Love Hashira Mitsuri and Serpent Hashira Obanai.
There’s also Gyomei, the Stone Hashira, who will perish after the fight. While it’s unclear how exactly Gyomei died, it is heavily implied that his Demon Slayer Mark, which he activated at the age of 27, led to his death. In other words, at the end of Demon Slayer, only two Hashira are left standing: the Wind Hashira Sanemi and the Water Hashira Giyu. Despite their survival, however, their fate is still doomed. Both Sanemi and Giyu have activated their Demon Slayer Marks during the Infinity Castle ordeal. In other words, while they’ve survived the battle, they are doomed to die in 3 years, at the age of 25.
The Hashira Are Being Shut Down With Muzan’s Defeat
In just 3 years after Muzan’s fall, none of the Hashira will be active. Fans might be wondering how that’s possible; however, there’s a reason why these Hashira were not simply replaced. The new generation, which included the likes of Tanjiro, Zenitsu, Inosuke, and Kanao, were all prodigious, and some of them already rivaled or surpassed some of the Hashira. Tanjiro, with his mastered Sun Breathing, is on a whole other level, and Doma himself states that Kanao is stronger than Shinobu in their battle. These characters would have definitely been fit to become the next generation of Hashira.
The reason why the Hashira organization as a whole ended after Muzan’s death is simply due to the lack of need for them to exist anymore. Muzan is dead, and pretty much every other Demon was eradicated as well. Technically, only one confirmed Demon was left, Yushiro, who was on the Demon Slayers’ side anyway. He simply spends the rest of his life obsessing over his dead love, Tamayo. With no more demons around, there is no need for skilled fighters specialized in killing them, marking the end of the Hashira for good.
Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle Part 1 is available to watch on Crunchyroll. The Demon Slayer Manga by Koyoharu Gotouge can be read on Manga Plus and Viz Media.
