Shinobu Kochō

Latest revision as of 05:18, 23 August 2022

Nezuko Kamado is a female anime and manga character who features in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.

Biography

Shinobu Kochō (Japanese: 胡蝶 しのぶ, Hepburn: Kochō Shinobu) was a female human born centuries ago in the lands of Japan. She was the youngest daughter of the Kocho family where she lived alongside her mother, father and her older sister Kanae. Shinobu was said to had lived a loving and caring life until her parents were slaughtered at the hands of demons in front of her alongside her sister. They were only saved by the intervention of Gyomei Himejima who was one of the Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps. The death of their parents led to the surviving Kocho volunteering to join the ranks of the Demon Slayers where the sisters vowed to protect one another along with preventing others from experiencing the same loss as themselves. Her along with Kanae managed to pass the test of moving a boulder and convinced Himejima to introduce them to a cultivator. Years later, she accompanied her sister on a trip where they encountered a young girl being led away as a slave on a bridge. This attracted Kanae's attention and she went to investigate where she decided to take the girl back to their home at the Butterfly Estate. The young girl was purchased by Kanae and given the name Kanao Tsuyuri where she was trained to become the next Tsuguko. Shinobu came to quickly realise that Kanao's upbringing had led to the girl only following orders and that she would not even eat unless she was commanded to do so. Despite these setbacks, Kanae had the young girl stay with them and trained to become a Demon Slayer.

She along with Giyu Tomioka were dispatched to the Natagumo Mountain following the death of a number of Mizunotu Demon Slayers with the two Hashira sent to reinforce the warriors there that were beset upon by demons.

Within the forest, he came to find a heavily injured Zenitsu Agatsuma within a clearing where she greeted him and checked to see if he was ok. She came to find that he had been poisoned by a demon with her offering a cure to him after which she departed whilst the medics came to recover him. Kochō would then come upon a female demon who was part of the spider demon family. The demon would respond by attacking her with strings discharged from her palms but Shinobu as able to dodge them easily. She then commented that such a response meant that she and the demon would not get along. The daughter Demon quickly begs Shinobu for mercy, stating that she would be killed if she disobeyed Rui. Shinobu, sympathizing with the creature's plight, says that she will cooperate with the Demon if she answers a few of Shinobu's questions, the first of which being how many people she had killed. The Demon's answer is five, but Shinobu assures her that she doesn't have to lie, complimenting her string technique from earlier, and the Demon corrects her answer to eighty humans. Despite the creature's stubborn denial, the swordswoman notes that both of them came from the west side of the mountain, and, on that side, she had found forty of the Demon's cocoons. Shinobu adds that she isn't angry, but only trying to be as accurate as possible. When asked what the point of checking this information is, Shinobu tells the elder daughter Demon that in order for them to be friends and to satisfy those who have died, she will have to endure punishment, explaining in gruesome detail what she had in mind for this, and adding that the creature won't die from it, so there will be no aftereffects. Enraged, the Demon attacks Shinobu again, but the Demon Hunter quickly bypasses her, simultaneously landing her Insect Breathing, Butterfly Dance: Caprice attack on the creature. She laments the Demon's poor choice, turning and subsequently watching as the creature collapses. Shinobu tells the creature not to let her guard down just because she can't cut the Demon's head off since, she explains, that she utilizes poison as her weapon instead. Shinobu then introduced herself as the Insect Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps and stating that although she may be the only one among her order to not possess the ability to cut off a Demon's head, that her poisons were a potent tool for her. She then apologized realizing that the daughter Demon was already dead and could not hear her explanation.

Shinobu then proceeds to cut open the Demon's silk cocoon, freeing Murata. She asks him if he is alright, and he asks what happened to the older sister Demon, to which she answers that she had killed the Demon with poison from the wisteria flower, commenting afterwards on how lucky he is for only having his clothes melted off by the creature's attack. She later attempts to attack Tanjiro Kamado and Nezuko Kamado, but her attack is deflected by Giyu. She questions his interference, noting that if he continues this course of action, everyone would hate him. The Insect Hashira asks her fellow Demon Slayer to get out of the way, apologizing to him when he replies that he isn't hated. She then turns her attention to Tanjiro, telling him that he is protecting a Demon and that he should get away from her. The young Demon Slayer exclaims that Nezuko is his sister, causing Shinobu to take pity on her and plan to kill her with a toxin that inflicts no pain. Giyu then instructs Tanjiro to run, which Shinobu notes to be a violation of Demon Slayer's conduct. Later, while being restrained by Giyu's arm, she laments that she had been in the right to come kill Demons and therefore had broken no rules, but noted that Giyu had, asking him what his intent was. Her fellow Hashira remains quiet, prompting her to angrily ask him to say something. Giyu replies that it had all started two years ago, causing Shinobu to note that the length of time was a problem and wonder if he was holding a grudge because she had said he was hated. She then extends a blade from her right shoe and prepares to attack Giyu, only to be stopped by an important message from a crow which said that Tanjiro and Nezuko are to be restrained and brought headquarters. Later, at the headquarters of her order, the Demon Slayer stood alongside her fellow Hashira in front of a restrained Tanjiro. She quickly informs the confused youth where he is and that he is on trial for violation of Demon Slayer conduct. When Obanai Iguro points out that Giyu Tomioka had also committed this crime and asks how they are going to deal with him, Shinobu tells him that they will think of a punishment for him later, since she is more interested in hearing Tanjiro's story. She gives the youth some water with a painkiller mixed in and asks for his story, warning him not to strain himself on account of his injuries. She then listens quietly as Tanjiro explains his sister's circumstances.

Shinobu continues to listen to Tanjiro's story, but his dialogue is interrupted by the sudden appearance of Sanemi Shinazugawa, who grabs Nezuko's box. She warns her fellow Hashira not to act on his own, but he ignores her warning, stabbing the trapped Demon with his sword, much to her displeasure. She then watches as an enraged Tanjiro charge the Wind Hashira, and afterwards looked at an apologetic Mitsuri Kanroji. Shinobu's leader, Kagaya Ubuyashiki, then arrived, causing her and her fellow Hashira to bow in respect. Kagaya then asked for them all to accept Tanjiro and Nezuko, surprising Shinobu, who remained silent as her fellows argued over the decision, and as Kagaya's assistant read Sakonji Urokodaki's letter. Shinobu continues her silence through even more arguments, but is shocked as her leader revealed that Tanjiro had come into contact with Muzan Kibutsuji. She and her fellow Hashira are then halted from even more debating by a simple gesture from their leader, with the Insect Hashira remaining silent as Kagaya explains more of his reasoning for pardoning Tanjiro and Nezuko. Shinobu then cautions Tanjiro from using any of his breath techniques while pinned by Obanai, as his lungs might explode from the pressure. She calls out his name in alarm as he ignores her advice and tries anyways. After the incident with Sanemi and Nezuko is resolved, she listens quietly as Kagaya explained the dedication of the Hashira to Tanjiro. With everything resolved, Shinobu suggests they take care of Tanjiro over at her place, instructing the Kakushi to do this, and then waits for Kagaya to start the Hashira meeting. After the meeting has ended, she visits Tanjiro and his friends at the Butterfly Estate, asking them how they are doing and instructing them to begin their Rehabilitation training.

Overview

Personality and attributes

In appearance, Shinobu Kochō was a petite young woman with a pale complexion and large, compound-like eyes that lackeed pupils where she had black wavy hair that fades to dark purple. As a Demon Slayer, she came to be known by her title as the Insect Hashira (蟲むし柱ばしら Mushi Bashira?).

She ultimately looked to bring about her sister Kanae's dream of living in a world peacefully with demons.

By present day, she outwardly presented herself as being a bright, friendly and cheerful demeanor with an easy-going smile on her face regardless of the situation. This calm and tranquil disposition was part of the mask she work as she held an intense hatred for demons due to the loss of her sister Kanae Kocho.

Shinobu was shown to be capable of manipulating people such as when she used Inosuke's pride and flirted with Zenitsu in order to get them to partake in training.

It was revealed that despite her smile that there was a deep-seated anger hidden beneath the façade. This was because she felt hatred for demons for the losses she experienced in her life. However, she maintained a caring and smiling outlook following her sisters demise with Shinobu wanting Kanae's dream to become fulfilled.

After meeting Tajiro, she made a request of him to help fulfil the dream of a world where humans and demons could live in peace with one another.

Powers and abilities

Kocho was knowledgeable in the use of poisons with her able to create a variety of them that could even kill Demons.

She lacked the physical strength to cut off a demon's head where instead she used creativity, ingenuity and other physical abilities to more than make up for it. Such was her speed and reflexes that she was effortlessly able to evade and out-pace demons.

In time, she came to be a skilled Demon Slayer where she rose to the position as one of the Hashira (柱はしら, Hashira?).

As a Demon Slayer, she came to utilise a breathing technique to enhance her fighting potential with this being the Breath of the Insect (蟲むしの呼こ吸きゅう, Mushi no kokyū?) that had branched out from the Flower Breath and itself branched out of the Water Breath.

Among the techniques known to her included:

• Butterfly Dance: Caprice (蝶ちょうノ舞まい　戯たわむれ Chō no mai: Tawamure?) :
• Dance of the Bee Sting: True Flutter (蜂ほう牙がノ舞まい　真ま靡なびき Hōga no mai: Manabiki?) :
• Dance of the Dragonfly: Compound Eye Hexagon (蜻せい蛉れいノ舞まい　複ふく眼がん六ろっ角かく Seirei no mai: Fukugan Rokkaku?) :
• Dance of the Centipede: Hundred-Legged Zigzag (蜈ご蚣こうノ舞まい　百ひゃく足そく蛇じゃ腹ばら Gokō no mai: Hyakusoku Jabara?) :

Her katana was notable in that it was apparent that the blade along with Shinobu's lack of strength made it incapable of cutting off the head of a demon. However, it was modified with a stinger designed to inject Wisteria poisons into her quarry thus allowing her to circumvent this issue.

Shinobu had a degree of skill and mastery over medical and pharmaceutical fields to make up for her lack of natural-born combat ability. This not only allowed her to create various poisons capable of killing opponents within seconds or greatly weakening them in a fight. Her medical skills were also capable enough to help her counteract the venoms and poisons created by demons.

She maintained a home at the Butterfly Mansion (蝶ちょう屋や敷しき Chō Yashiki?) that served as a place for rest and recovery for those under Kocho's care.

Notes

• Shinobu Kochō was created by Koyoharu Gotōge where she featured in the setting of the Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba universe.

In other media

Television

Films

Video games

Appearances

• Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba:

External Links

• Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba Wiki Entry

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