Demon Slayer: How Many Hashira Are There & How Are They Chosen?
When it comes to anime that have become worldwide hits in record time, few shows can touch the popularity of "Demon Slayer." A series that was already considered among the best anime ever from its first season alone, the Shonen stalwart has only become more and more successful as it continues.
However, when you consider how many characters viewers have to keep track of in "Demon Slayer," the show's overall story can be somewhat tough to manage. In Season 1 alone, viewers are introduced to 12 Upper and Lower Moon demons and nine Hashira, on top of all of the other main cast members and ancillary characters that show up along the way. To be clear, in terms of what the Hashira's function is, they are the elite top-level warriors in the Demon Slayer Corps, and they've dedicated their lives to ridding the world of demons.
Still, considering the events in Season 2 and Season 3 of "Demon Slayer," their numbers have changed substantially, meaning that fans could use a refresher for Season 4. The short answer, however, is that as of the end of Season 3, there are currently seven active Hashira in the series. As for how they are chosen, there are two ways of becoming Hashira. The first is to kill 50 demons or one of Muzan's (Toshihiko Seki/Greg Chun) Upper/Lower Moon demons, while the second is to train extensively under a Hashira as their chosen successor.
How many Hashira there are will likely change in Season 4
Though, as we mentioned above, there were initially nine members of the top caste, Flame Hashira, Kyojuro Rengoku (Satoshi Hino/Mark Whitten) was killed by Upper Moon Akaza (Akira Ishida/Lucien Dodge) at the end of "Demon Slayer: Mugen Train." Furthermore, Sound Hashira, Tengen Uzui (Katsuyuki Konishi/Ray Chase) retired from the Demon Slayer Corps after his near-fatal battle with Gyutaro (Ryota Osaka/Brandon McInnis) and Daki (Miyuki Sawashiro/Erica Lindbeck) at the end of Season 2.
This is why the Hashira count for "Demon Slayer" is only seven as we head into the upcoming Hashira Training Arc in Season 4. However, this number could also shift when taking into account the fact that Tanjiro (Natsuki Hanae/Zach Aguilar), Nezuko (Akari Kito/Abby Trott), Zenitsu (Hiro Shimono/Aleks Le), and Inosuke (Yoshitsugu Matsuoka/Bryce Papenbrook) have aided in killing two Upper Moons.
When you couple these achievements with the dwindling numbers of the Hashira, as well as the next section of the story being titled the Hashira Training Arc, it seems likely that at least some of the central quartet, if not all of them, will join the Hashira in Season 4 of "Demon Slayer." They may not be alone in vying for the top ranking, though, as Genya (Nobuhiko Okamoto/Zeno Robinson) also seems very determined to become a Hashira. With this in mind, there could be more Hashira than ever as the series enters its final chapters.