Why Stone Hashira Gyomei Himejima is the Strongest Hashira in Demon Slayer?

Have you ever wondered who might be the strongest among all the members of the Demon Slayer Corps?

Hashiras are the strongest and the most skilled swordsmen who have defeated the Demon King Kibutsuji Muzan‘s most powerful demons, the 12 Demon Moons.

Despite these top-notch demon hunters’ amazing strength and skills, one of them surpasses all others, The Stone Hashira Gyomei Himejima. Gyomei is the strongest even among the Hashiras.

His raw strength is unrivalled and at par with the Upper Demon Moon Three Akaza.

He is so strong that even before he became a member of the Demon Slayer Corps, he was able to beat up a demon with his bare hands.

He beat a demon who had attacked a temple, and to save an innocent girl, he held the demon at bay through the night till dawn with his bare hands. After becoming a demon slayer, he rose to the rank of Hashira in only two months.

Now you can imagine if his bare strength is at par with a Demon Moon, how strong would he be with Total Concentration Breathing Constant, and when using his famed weapon, he is almost undefeatable.

Himejima Gyomei is respected and feared for his strength and powers by demons and demon slayers alike.

Even the strongest demon moon, the Upper Demon Moon One, Kokushibo respects him and says that he is the strongest demon slayer in 300 years.

Now, this is all just the crisp of his true strength. Surely you cannot wait to know about his true strength, right?

So let’s not waste any time and get to know about his backstory, his skills and breathing techniques, and his famed weapon, the best-crafted weapon in the history of demon slayers.

The back story of the Strongest Hashira, Gyomei Himejima

Himejima Gyomei was blind from birth. Yes, you read it right. He is completely blind and is a skinny, frail man. Before becoming a demon slayer, Gyomei lived at a temple and looked after nine orphans.

The temple was in a forest, and since demons lurked in the darkness at night, no one was allowed to leave the temple during the night. The rules were clear to all the children, but a child broke the rules and ran out one night.

He came across a demon and was terrified. The demon tricked him by saying that he would allow the boy to leave if he would turn off the wisteria incense in the temple.

Gyomei always had wisteria incense burning in the temple to keep demons away. The boy sacrificed all the orphan kids and Gyomei to save his own life. But as expected, the Demon killed the boy and ate him.

He went after all the other eight kids in the temple, and one by one, devoured them all. Only four kids remained with Gyomei in a room, but they tried to escape as the demon approached. Except for one small girl who was too frightened to run.

Gyomei promised the children that he would protect them at all cost, but they did not trust him as he was blind and weak.

Soon all the children were dead. Gyomei took it upon himself to save the small girl who couldn’t move.

He fought the demon and punched him in his face all night till sunrise. He stopped the demon with his bare hands and physical strength alone for his desire to protect his family.

This was the first time in his life that he had used his hands to harm or beat someone. To his surprise, he found out that he was very strong. Can you imagine the strength he must have had to beat a demon with bare hands throughout the night?

And all this was way before he was a member of the demon slayer corps. After learning the special breathing techniques and mastering the use of swords, his strength is unrivalled.

We will get into more details of his breathing technique and Gyomei Himejima’s weapon later.

After the incident at the temple, Gyomei was arrested for killing the children. To protect the small girl, he put his life on the line and told everyone that Gyomei was a monster and killed all the orphan children at the temple.

Gyomei was charged with murder and imprisoned. He was about to be executed but was saved by Kagaya Ubuyashiki, the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps. Gyomei, later on, joined the demon slayer corps.

What’s more surprising is that he became Hashira just after two months of joining the demon slayer corps.

To be ranked the top in such a small amount of time and that by Kagaya Ubuyashiki, the Demon Slayer Corps leader, his skills and strength must be marvellous. 

What are Gyomei’s skills, breathing techniques, and weapons?

Stone Hashira Gyomei Himejima Skills and Techniques – The strongest Demon Slayer

Himejima Gyomei, the Stone Hashira, is well deserved for his title as the Strongest Hashira, and here is the answer to why is Gyomei Himejima the Strongest Hashira?

First of all, let’s see the breathing style used by Stone Hashira. Gyomei uses the Stone Breathing Technique.

One of the five original techniques derived directly from the Sun Breathing, the strongest and the first breathing technique to have been created from which all others have been derived.

Next, Gyomei is blind from birth, and to balance his loss of vision, he has heightened all of his senses to their maximum potential allowing him to ‘see‘ his enemies.

Even the Upper Demon Moon One, Kokushibo, the strongest demon after Demon King himself, calls Gyomei the strongest Hashira in 300 years.

The Stone Breathing Technique is very difficult to master as it requires the wielder to be as hard as the ground. It allows to defend and attack at the same time but is very difficult to master and requires the wielder to be still as a rock.

The Stone breathing technique requires the user’s physical strength to be higher than what could be achieved even by Total Concentration Breathing Constant.

Gyomei’s huge build also supports his Stone Breathing but to master this level of difficult technique in just two months is something like a miracle.

His raw physical strength and huge body support his Stone Breathing. Gyomei is also a very skilled tactician. His physical strengths and body are at their peak.

Furthermore, Gyomei’s abilities far exceed his fellow Hashira, making him the strongest Demon Slayer in 300 years, even without his eyesight.

As if Gyomei’s abilities were not enough, Gyomei Himejima wields one of the best Nichirin Blade to have been ever made. It is unique and unlike any weapon known to demon slayers. So let’s know more about the famed weapon of the Stone Hashira Gyomei Himejima.

What is the Weapon of the Strongest Hashira, Gyomei Himejima?

Gyomei Himejima’s weapon is one of the most unique and greatest weapons ever created in the history of Demon slayers.

The Stone Hashira, Gyomei wields a special weapon made from the same ore used to forge Nichirin Blades.

He wields an axe with a spiked flail attached to it via a chain. This weapon is not only unique in its design but also in the way it was crafted.

Its chain is so strong that even the Upper Demon Moon One Kokushibo, who uses a Nichirin sword and the breathing of moon technique, could not cut the chain.

With the spiked flail, Gyomei managed to cause severe damage to the Upper Demon Moon One Kokushibo and the Demon King Muzan Kibutsuji himself.

He was able to blast chunks of flesh and their head or arms using it.

The axe is also very sharp, and with the skill that Gyomei wields, he can slice off the neck of any demon. Even an upper demon moon is no match for the strongest Hashira Gyomei Himejima.

The axe and spiked flail connected by chain serves both attacks and defence. Even if some super skilled demon manages to pass through it, his huge strong body supported by his immense desire to help and protect innocents can take on a lot of damage without him wavering a millimetre.

Gyomei’s huge body makes his attacks very powerful, and he can sustain a lot of damage without wavering, thus making his attacks more accurate and fatal.

Gyomei will play an important role in the fight against Demon King Kibutsuji Muzan and his battle with Upper Demon Moon One Kokushibo, and the demon king will be amazing and certainly the best fights in Demon Slayer.

But let’s not spill all the beans here, and we will cover all the details of their battle some other time.

Let’s see a bit more about Gyomei’s character and personality.

When Tanjiro and Inosuke meet him, they are terrified by his aura. They knew that he was the strongest Hashira among all and far ahead of others in strength, skill, and power without even seeing him battle.

After the incident at the temple, Gyomei was devastated. He considered all the orphans his family and were now all dead.

Not only that, the girl whom he tried to protect so desperately and fought the demon with bare hands, claimed that Gyomei was a monster and had killed the children.

After that Gyomei never trusted anyone completely, but when he did, he did everything to protect them and help them in every manner.

Even with his doubts, Gyomei always gave others the benefit of the doubt. He was kind and compassionate towards everyone, even Tanjiro, and Nezuko when brought to the Demon Slayer Headquarters.

The last one of Gyomei’s special techniques is Repetition. Along with the Stone Breathing Technique, Gyomei uses repetitive actions.

This allows all of his senses to push beyond the Total Concentration Breathing Constant limit.

In this technique, one repeats a set of movements repeatedly or remembers a strong emotion of extreme joy or pain to draw out more power and strength.

Gyomei can never forget the incident at the temple, and he still strives hard to surpass his limits and save everyone from demons so that others do not have to go through such tragedy and lose their loved ones.

Gyomei’s repetitive action is constantly praying. He prays for everyone all the time and also feels sad at their misery.

He even cries for the state they are in, as we all had seen when Tanjiro and Nezuko were brought to Demon Slayer headquarters.

This might make him look weak but believe me; this is the secret behind Gyomei’s strength.

His kindness and caring heart and the desire to protect everyone from the terrifying things that he has faced are the things that motivate him to surpass his limits and grow stronger every day.

Let us know what you think about the strongest Demon Slayer in the comments below.

Also Read: 

• Demon Slayer: Who is the Weakest Hashira in Demon Slayer?