Warning: Contains spoilers for Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.There’s a lot of debate over the strength levels of the Hashira in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, but when taking a look at the series as a whole, it's possible to name the strongest Hashira of all. The Hashira stand out as among the strongest heroes in Demon Slayer, with them being the only ones outside of Tanjiro and his friends capable of fighting the strongest demons in the series. Every fight they participate in perfectly illustrates how powerful they are, and none of the later fights in the series could be won without their intervention.
The Hashira are undoubtedly powerful, and while there’s never been an official naming of the strongest swordmaster in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba manga, it’s not impossible to determine. Some have explicit statements about their power to work with, and even for the ones who don’t, their various feats in the story can be used to give an idea of how they compare to one another. With all that in mind, here’s how the strongest Hashira in Demon Slayer measure up.
9 Shinobu Kocho
Shinobu Kocho’s placement as the weakest Hashira should be one of the most justifiable placements on the list. For starters, Shinobu herself claims she’s too weak to decapitate a demon, so that automatically works against her. Shinobu's Insect Breathing in Demon Slayer makes up for it with powerful poison, but even that doesn’t guarantee her a win; Douma was able to decompose all of Shinobu’s poison in their fight, and while he was one of the stronger Kizuki, it’s entirely possible that all the Upper Rank Kizuki could do that to some extent. With all of that in mind, it makes the most sense to name Shinobu the weakest Hashira.
8 Tengen Uzui
Tengen Uzui’s placement relies largely on his tangible feats in the series. While Tengen is certainly powerful, as befitting his role, his single fight in the series had him nearly die against Gyutaro, objectively the weakest of the Upper-Rank Kizuki, and he was still unable to win without help from Tanjiro and his friends. None of that makes a positive statement about Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba's Tengen’s power, so from an objective standpoint, it’s hard to name him a serious competitor against other Hashira.
7 Muichiro Tokito
Muichiro Tokito’s proper introduction to the series did a lot to highlight his power. Tokito was established to be a young prodigy, and he more than proved that with how he single-handedly defeated the Upper Rank 5 Kizuki, Gyokko. However, Gyokko was objectively one of the weaker Kizuki, and since Tokito needed his Demon Slayer Mark to defeat him, that feat ends up being even less impressive. Add in how easily Tokito was overpowered by Kokushibo and could only provide support, and it’s easy to see Tokito as falling to the weaker side of the Hashira.
6 Mitsuri Kanroji
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba's Mitsuri Kanroji is another Hashira who effectively established their strength level in their proper introduction. In the “Swordsmith Village” arc, Mitsuri held her own against the Upper Rank 4 Kizuki, Hantengu, and while she needed help to win, it was still nonetheless impressive. However, in addition to Hantengu being weak compared to some of the other demons, Mitsuri was the least effective of the Hashira in the final fight against Muzan, and she was notably the first one forced to leave the fight to recover their strength. All of that serves to put Mitsuri’s power level somewhere in the middle ground of the Hashira.
5 Obanai Iguro
Obanai Iguro received the least focus and fights of all the Hashira in the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba franchise, but it’s not impossible to judge his power level, regardless. During the final fight with Muzan, Iguro’s fighting style allowed him to both evade and land numerous attacks, and he was one of the few Demon Slayers capable of seeing the Transparent World and turning his sword red without help. All of those are very impressive feats for Iguro, but he still mostly played a supportive role in the fight against Muzan, so like Mitsuri Kanroji, it makes the most sense to put Iguro in the middle ground.
4 Giyu Tomioka
Giyu Tomioka was the first Hashira introduced to the series, and is easy to name among the strongest. In addition to how easily Giyu defeated Rui when Tanjiro struggled against him, Demon Slayer's Giyu Tomioka was able to put up a great fight against Akaza, although he never managed to have the advantage over him. It was still impressive, nonetheless, and even with the injuries he sustained, Giyu managed to contribute a lot in the final fight against Muzan and ended up as one of the few Hashira to survive the fight. All in all, Giyu very clearly stands among the strongest Hashira in the series.
3 Kyojuro Rengoku
Kyojuro Rengoku’s feats are very similar to Giyu Tomioka’s, but some important differences justify his higher placement. Both characters fought against Akaza, but not only was Rengoku shown taking fewer hits than Giyu, Rengoku almost defeated Akaza by himself in the Demon Slayer: Mugen Train movie, albeit through sunlight, not swordsmanship. Even more impressive is that Rengoku accomplished that without a Demon Slayer Mark whereas Giyu needed to use his just to keep up with Akaza. Rengoku and Giyu can be seen as somewhat equal in strength, but Rengoku’s feats against Akaza are more impressive than Giyu’s, so it makes sense to put him higher on the list.
2 Sanemi Shinazugawa
Sanemi Shinazugawa is another Hashira whose placement has very explicit justification in the series. In the fight with Upper Rank 1 Kizuki Kokushibo, Sanemi was stated to be one of the two strongest Hashira, and going right along with that, Sanemi was incredibly effective against both Kokushibo and Muzan, doing a lot of damage in both fights even when other characters faltered. Not only that, but Sanemi, who shares a voice actor with JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean's Enrico Pucci, ended up being one of the few Hashira to survive the final fight with Muzan, and that should certainly say a lot about his overall power.
1 Gyomei Himejima
Of all the Hashira, Gyomei Himejima’s placement should be the easiest to justify. Himejima is explicitly stated on multiple occasions to be the most powerful Hashira, and going right along with that, he was able to do incredible damage to Kokushibo and played a big part in the final fight against Muzan. Not only that, but Himejima was one of the few characters able to see the Transparent World, adding even more to his already impressive power. Taking all of that into account, it’s more than easy to see Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba's Gyomei Himejima as the strongest Hashira in the series.