Hantengu serves as one of the biggest threats to Tanjiro and other demon slayers, ranking among the top most ferocious demons and wielding a most diabolical set of powers and abilities.
Hantengu is the Upper Rank Four among the Twelve Kizuki, making him one of the most dangerous demons in existence.
His perilous abilities and powers have now infested the Swordsmith Village, a place that’s been hidden by the rest of the world for centuries until Upper Rank Five Gyokko manages to find it.
Cowardice as disguise
Hantengu has two horns and a face that inspires horror, much like the majority of the demons. However, his demeanor is even more chilling. Whimpering and cowering in fear, the demon is always acting like a wet cat.
No matter what setting, one can always bet Hantengu to be sticking to his scaredy cat routine. His introduction in the first episode of the Swordsmith Village Arc sees him cowering and shaking in anxiety amid all the tensions that persist among the Upper Rank demons.
When he’s tasked to accompany Gyokko, he freaks out and dreads the mission, embarking on it nontheless. When he sneaks up on both Tanjiro and Mist Hashira Tokito, he expresses his fears and dread at being there, all while attacking them with great ferocity and speed.
Powers & abilities
Hantengu posseses the usual set of super strength and speed. However, his USP is that he can create clones of himself. These clones come into existence when he’s severed in some form. From the severed body parts grows a whole new body with a new personality too.
When Tanjiro and Tokito slash away at him, he divides into two demons, who come with their own unique aesthetic, weapons, abilities, and personalities.
As the battle between the demon slayers and Hantengu’s new clones continues, there exist four formidable clones — Sekido, Aizetsu, Karaku, and Urogi.
Sekido wields a khakkhara with which he can produce horrendous attacks of lightning that when cast, can render the target immobile. Aizetsu also wields a staff and can use as a spear with great strength and brutality. Karaku can use his Uchiwa to generate and manipulate wind into mighty attacks. Urogi can fly, along with producing eardrum-shattering sonic waves from his mouth.
Diabolical past
Hantengu, like all other demons, was once a human. He used to be a thief and a murderer. His current schtick of cowardice was something he used even as a human, always blaming others while acting like he’s just a poor, weak man.
His old age and frail build helped him sell it too, as other saw a decrepit man likely incapable of stealing, much less murdering people in cold blood. He took his schtick so far that he’d even blame his own hands for the crimes he committed.
When he gets sentenced to death, Muzan meets him and gives him his blood, giving him the powers that he then uses to kill the officer who arrested him. Ever since turning into a demon, Hantengu has been running with the same cowering routine, imparting a sick, twisted sense of dichotomy to his personality.
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