Demon Slayer: What Are Genya's Demon-Like Abilities?
While we've met pretty much all of the Hashira by this point in "Demon Slayer," given how large the cast of characters is for the series, it's taken a lot of time to give them time to shine. Though the Swordsmith Village arc of Season 3 is giving Love Hashira Mitsuri Kanroji (Kana Hanazawa/Kira Buckland) and Mist Hashira Muichiro Tokito (Kengo Kawanishi/Griffin Burns) their moment in the spotlight, there is another, much more mysterious character that has also been thrown into the mix.
Some "Demon Slayer" fans will no doubt recall that Genya Shinazugawa (Nobuhiko Okamoto/Zeno Robinson) was briefly introduced at the tail end of Season 1, but up until now, we've known very little about the character. However, Season 3 hasn't just revealed what an exceptional fighter Genya is, it has also shown that he appears to have demonic powers similar to Nezuko's (Akari KitÅ/Abby Trott).
Naturally, this would lead "Demon Slayer" fans to think that Genya has been infected with demon blood, just like Nezuko, but Genya's powers are actually very different. The reason that Genya is so durable and appears to be demonic when pushed past a certain level in battle is that, and this is going to sound really weird, he eats demon parts to gain their powers.
Genya was determined to be a Hashira at any cost
Given that he's voiced by the same actor who portrays the iron-willed Katsuki Bakugo on "My Hero Academia," this by-any-means-necessary type of approach to slaying demons definitely fits the voice and style of the character. Still, fans would not be wrong to wonder where the Hashira got the idea to do this in the first place.
According to the "Demon Slayer" manga, after joining the Corps, Genya was unable to master a breathing style but was still dead set on becoming a Hashira. This led the resolute warrior to train under the Stone Hashira, Gyomei Himejima (Tomokazu Sugita/Crispin Freeman), to use Repetitive Actions, which allow him to focus his energy in battle by repeating meaningful phrases.
However, being how determined Genya is to ascend the ranks of the Demon Slayer Corps, he also began consuming literal demons in hopes of enhancing his abilities. This has not only led to Genya developing regenerative abilities like other demons, but it also allows him to channel some of the unique attacks of the foes that he's faced in the past.
Given that Season 3, Episode 6 ("Aren't You Going to Become a Hashira") has seen Genya and Tanjiro (Natsuki Hanae/Zach Aguilar) work together to take down Upper Four Hantengu (Toshio Furukawa/Christopher Corey Smith), it would seem that the unconventional training behind the warrior's unique abilities has definitely paid off.