The Demon Slayer anime has quickly established itself as a modern shonen classic due to several reasons. It has stellar animation, a strong emotional core, and best of all, ample plot twists and shocking moments to keep viewers on their toes. Demon Slayer's plot and premise feel largely conventional, but those twists help keep things fresh from one episode to another.
Demon Slayer keeps viewers on their toes with frequent and hard-hitting plot twists that help viewers see a whole new side to its characters and crank up the tension and stakes in unexpected ways. All this has made Demon Slayer a short but sweet anime, one that forgoes lengthy One Piece-style arcs in favor of brisk, unpredictable story arcs that aren't afraid to shake things up in wacky or even bloody fashion.
10 Sanemi Shinazugawa Tempted Nezuko With Blood
When Tanjiro and Nezuko arrived at the demon slayer corps' headquarters, Tanjiro wasn't too surprised that some of the Hashira objected to Nezuko, a demon, being present. But everyone was shocked—viewers included—when the hotheaded wind Hashira decided to cut his own arm to prove a point about Nezuko.
In Sanemi Shinazugawa's eyes, one demon is as good as another, and he was ready to feed a demon his flesh to make that clear to everyone. Nezuko summoned all her willpower to resist. In the end, it was Tanjiro who was proven right about his sister, and a shocked Sanemi finally stood down.
9 Tanjiro Saw a Sword Inside the Yoriichi Type Zero
Demon Slayer's third season packed all kinds of plot twists and shocking moments, and one of the milder ones involved the Yoriichi Type Zero training doll. That doll was already falling apart when Tanjiro first saw it, and when it broke apart completely, Tanjiro beheld a rusty old sword in its body.
That sword was a few centuries old, and evidently, no one knew that it had been stored inside the Yoriichi Type Zero. This shocking moment has yet to pay off in the anime, but surely, that sword will mean something later.
8 Genya Used a Shotgun In Battle
Genya Shinazugawa wasn't seen fighting for real until Demon Slayer's third season when he helped Tanjiro and Nezuko take on the mighty Hantengu, the Upper Moon 4. Instead of using breathing techniques with his Nichirin sword, however, Genya whipped out a double-barreled shotgun and opened fire.
That was the first and so far only time firearms have been used in combat in this anime series, adding a whole new dimension to the combat system. Genya used such weapons because he was incapable of breathing techniques, so he decided to be more resourceful with anti-demon shotgun ammo.
7 Daki Survived Decapitation
Every demon slayer corps member knew that no demon could survive decapitation with a Nichirin sword, not even the twelve Moons. So, when Tengen Uzui finally sliced off Daki's head partway through the entertainment district battle, he thought the job was done. Then, Daki shocked everyone and defied death, holding her own severed head as she cried.
Tengen could only stare in bewilderment, and answers soon arrived. Daki's brother Gyutaro emerged from her body as the other half of the Upper Moon 6 and reattached his sister's head. Daki and Gyutaro shared a unique bond as demons, and they could only die if decapitated at the same time.
6 Muzan Attacked a Man In Tokyo
Tanjiro and Nezuko marveled at the sights and sounds of Taisho-era Tokyo, but then Tanjiro smelled a demon in the crowded city streets. He confronted Muzan Kibutsuji himself, but Muzan played dumb to maintain his facade. To get rid of the nosy Tanjiro, Muzan caused a diversion—by making another demon.
With one casual strike, Muzan cut a man on the neck and morphed him into a demon within seconds. The newly minted demon attacked his wife, and Muzan slipped away in the confusion. Never had anime fans seen a villain ruin someone's life just to distract the hero and escape into the darkness.
5 Zenitsu First Used Thunder Breathing
At first, it seemed the timid Zenitsu Agatsuma was all talk, and fans wondered how he even survived the final selection exam. Zenitsu felt like dead weight when Tanjiro went into Kyogai's house to save the day, and then a demon cornered a terrified Zenitsu. At that moment, Zenitsu passed out and turned it all around.
That was when Zenitsu first used thunder breathing, striking down that demon with a single lightning-fast move that no one saw coming. In just a few seconds, Zenitsu proved his worth as a fighter, and that got Demon Slayer fans pumped to see more of Zenitsu the sleepwalking demon hunter and his thunder breathing.
4 Muzan Killed the Lower Moons
Like many anime supervillains, Muzan was in charge of his own elite unit, the Twelve Moons. They were almost like the Hashira for demons, except their leader didn't care much for their lives. While Kagaya Ubuyashiki saw the Hashira as sons and daughters, Muzan viewed the Moons as disposable tools.
Muzan, out of sheer frustration, summoned the five surviving Lower Moons and proceeded to kill four of them. Only Enmu, the Lower Moon 1, survived by pleading his case and promising to accomplish some good during his next mission. It wasn't out of character for Muzan to do all this, but it was still a shock to see Muzan waste some of his best minions like that.
3 Akaza Killed Kyojuro Rengoku
In the Mugen Train story arc, the flame Hashira Kyojuro Rengoku became Tanjiro's newest friend and mentor, and it seemed he could do no wrong. Kyojuro easily survived the battle against Enmu, but then Akaza, the Upper Moon 3, arrived. Kyojuro fought Akaza alone while Tanjiro anxiously watched from a distance.
Demon Slayer generally lets its heroes survive, but that fight was different. To everyone's horror, Akaza pushed through Kyojuro's tough defenses and fatally impaled him bare-handed. Then Akaza fled, and Kyojuro only had a few moments to speak his dying words as the sun rose. Shonen anime don't often kill off their greatest heroes so soon after introducing them, but Demon Slayer will.
2 Nezuko Survived Sunlight
It was shocking enough to see Daki survive decapitation, but she had Gyutaro's bond to help her survive. Then, Demon Slayer's third season took demon survival to the next level when Nezuko Kamado was exposed to the sun's morning rays. Tanjiro was convinced his sister had died, but then he turned and saw her alive and well.
For the first time ever, a demon stood safely in sunlight, which was a happy moment with a dark edge. Nezuko's worst weakness was gone, but that also made her a prime target for Muzan, who sought the secret to sunlight survival above all else.
1 Tanjiro Returned Home to a Scene of Slaughter
Demon Slayer's most shocking and most important scene arrived in Episode 1, "Cruelty." Tanjiro Kamado left home to sell charcoal, then spent the night in a remote house before returning to his family's home. He expected smiling faces, but instead, Tanjiro beheld the bloody remains of his mother, brothers, and sisters.
Tanjiro's entire world was turned upside down, and at the time, he had no idea why such a thing would happen. His sister Nezuko did survive, but she became a demon and turned on her brother, making a shocking moment that much more horrific.
