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Warning: The following contains spoilers for the Demon Slayer manga. Demon Slayer is now streaming onCrunchyroll.
Every demon in the world ofDemon Slayerhas a power unique to them known asa Blood Demon Art. The same goes for the mysterious and elusive King of Demons, Muzan Kibutsuji. But because he constantly keeps to the shadows, and anyone who would dare challenge him is almost guaranteed not to live to tell about it, most people don’t know what his Blood Demon Art is.
The thing with Muzan’s Blood Demon Art is it’s technically not unique. It’s something thatall demons can do, albeit to an extremely limited degree. His Blood Demon Art is a little something called Biokinesis.
What Is Biokinesis?
Muzan’s Body Is a Weapon. Literally
Muzan’s Blood Demon Art, biokinesis, gives him the ability to have full control over his body and shape it however he desires. Biokinesis allows him to shapeshift, rearrange the organs inside his body, and create entirely new organs for offense or defense. In terms of other media, think of Muzan like aTyranid from theWarhammer 40kuniverse; a being whose body can rapidly adapt and evolve to suit its current needs.
Biokinesis allows Muzan to change his appearance multiple times throughoutDemon Slayer. While he most often appears as a man, he sometimes also takes the shape of a woman or child, making it even harder for his enemies to find him.
If you don’t mind a few manga spoilers, Muzan displays many of the uses of his biokinesis inthe Infinity Castle Arc. After being injected with Lady Tamayo’s poison, which would turn him back to human, Muzan transforms into a giant cocoon, which dissolves the poison. It’s also why Muzan can’t be killed through decapitation like most other demons. He has seven hearts and five brains scattered inside his body, which have to be struck by Nichirin all at the same time to kill him. In the upcoming battle, he will also produce several bladed whips that protrude from his upper body which he can individually control.
Another disturbing use of biokinesis isMuzan’s ability to blow himself upinto thousands of pieces to escape and later reform himself. He used this technique after facing Yoriichi in theDemon Slayermanga chapter 187, “Innocent Person”, to escape fromthe legendary Demon Slayer. It seems that, while split, all, or at least almost all, of his parts have to be destroyed to kill him. Yoriichi said that he had only been able to cut 1500/1800 pieces, and the remaining 300, which he calculated to be about the size of a human head when put together, was enough to keep Muzan alive.
“The man had seven hearts and five brains.” - Yoriichi using the See-Through World to observe Muzan
Biokinesis in Other Demons
Technically speaking,all demons are capableof biokinesis to some degree, though none of them can do it nearly as well as Muzan. Some demons even incorporate biokinesis in their own Blood Demon Art. An example is Gyokko, the Upper Rank Five demon, who would sometimes appear to have multiple infant-like arms sprouting from all over his torso, but could also appear to have only two arms where they would normally appear. Gyokko can also squish himself into his pots to teleport between them.
Susamaru, the demon who attackedTanjiro and his friendswith temari handballs inDemon Slayerepisode 8, “The Smell of Enchanting Blood”, could also somewhat control her body’s form. Her Blood Demon Art was to conjure deadly temaris which she could throw or kick at her opponents. To enhance this, she grew two additional pairs of arms, which allowed her to throw more temaris in rapid succession.
The Limits of Muzan’s Biokinesis
He Can’t Just Create Anything. He’s a Demon, Not a God
Despite what he might want people to believe,Muzan is not all-powerful. One limit of Muzan’s biokinesis is that he can only shape his body and organs into other organic materials. So, he couldn’t just turn his skin into diamond and prevent any Demon Slayer from damaging him with their Nichirin weapons. Nichirin weaponry can potentially cut anything and everything Muzan’s biokinesis conjures as long as it’s handled by a highly skilled Slayer.
Another limit is that no matter how he alters his body,sunlight will always be fatal to Muzan. He couldn’t just cover his body with extremely long hair or extra layers of skin; it wouldn’t matter. Whatever he creates with his body will still disintegrate whenever it comes in contact with sunlight since it’s still a part of him. Even though his body could probably produce antibodies to repel poisons, it seems that whatever is keeping him vulnerable to the sun can’t be solved by changing or creating something within his body.
Demon Slayer is now available to stream onCrunchyrollandNetflix. The release date for the next season of Demon Slayer, the Infinity Castle Arc, has not been announced yet.
