Participation

When Giyu participated in the Final Selection at Mount Fujikasane, Giyu Tomioka was immediately knocked unconscious by an attacking demon, but was rescued by Sabito and entrusted to the care of others. When Giyu Tomioka woke up, he learned that the selection was over—he had passed the selection without killing a single demon, but Sabito, who had defeated almost all the demons, was ultimately killed by the Hand Demon. This incident became a knot in Giyu Tomioka's heart.

After joining the Demon Slayer Corps, Giyu Tomioka could not forgive his own weakness. He desperately practiced swordsmanship with a strong hatred for demons and gradually grew into a backbone of the Demon Slayer Corps. At the age of 19, he became the Water Pillar.

Even after becoming a Pillar, Giyu Tomioka still felt that he hadn't truly passed the Final Selection, and therefore believed that he was incompetent and unworthy to stand with the Pillars. As a result, he deliberately kept his distance from others and never showed a smile in front of people, trapping himself in his painful past.

One winter day, not long after becoming the Water Pillar, Giyu Tomioka was on his way to an inn on a mission when he unexpectedly discovered Nezuko Kamado, who had just become a demon, on a snowy mountain. He immediately planned to subdue her. However, her brother, Tanjiro Kamado, begged Giyu Tomioka to spare his sister, promising to find a way to turn Nezuko back into a human. Giyu Tomioka sternly rebuked Tanjiro for abandoning all thought and focusing solely on pleading. At the same time, he regretfully thought that if he had arrived half a day earlier, he might have been able to prevent this tragedy.

To Giyu Tomioka Tanjiro, Giyu deliberately stabbed Nezuko in the chest, enraging him Tanjiro Tanjiro retaliated, nearly injuring Giyu Tomioka after being knocked unconscious by Giyu Tomioka using pebbles and an axe. Nezuko, witnessing all this, remained rational even after becoming a demon. She rushed to Tanjiro's side to protect her brother and began attacking Giyu Tomioka. Recalling how she had witnessed her own blood Giyu Tomioka being devoured by a demon, she realized Nezuko might be different from ordinary demons. Giyu Tomioka chose to spare Nezuko, knocking her unconscious with a karate chop and preparing a bamboo gag to seal her mouth. He acknowledged Tanjiro's courage in challenging him and recommended that the Kamado siblings seek out their master Sakonji Urokodaki.

On Tanjiro's way to visit Sakonji Urokodaki, Giyu Tomioka wrote a letter of recommendation for Tanjiro and delivered it to Sakonji Urokodaki in advance, explaining the situation and the reasons for the recommendation, and asking his master to accept his actions.

After parting ways with the Kamado siblings, Giyu Tomioka successfully reached his original mission location and found the survivor of the demon attack—the hunter girl Yae. However, because Giyu Tomioka is not good with words and was witnessed near the scene of the massacre at the charcoal burner's house (Tanjiro's house) in the neighboring mountains, he was almost taken to the police station as the murderer. Fortunately, the Insect Hashira, Shinobu Kocho, happened to be nearby, thus escaping being taken to the police station.

Meanwhile, Shinobu wanted to point out that Giyu Tomioka was misunderstood and disliked by his companions because of his poor communication skills, but she refrained from doing so because she saw that Giyu Tomioka lacked awareness of this. Later, Giyu Tomioka was repeatedly attacked by Yae Inu because he couldn't express his emotions, but he believed he was just playing with the dog and didn't admit to being attacked. Subsequently, Giyu Tomioka deduced from Yae's words that Yae was hiding the truth about the demon attacks.

Later, when Matazo faced her Demonization father, Matazo, Giyu Tomioka and Shinobu arrived just in time. Giyu Tomioka ultimately defeated Matazo with the Yae Form: Striking Tide Matazo, ending the father's suffering as he desperately suppressed his demonic instincts to refrain from attacking his daughter. As Yae intended to leave with her father, Giyu Tomioka conveyed to Yae the Matazo words Yae— "Live on"—and also urged Yae to absolutely live on. He then left with Shinobu.

After the mission, the two ate at a restaurant. Shinobu asked Giyu Tomioka why his actions had changed. Giyu Tomioka recalled his encounter with Tanjiro and his sister and began to question whether his judgment at the time was correct. However, Giyu Tomioka still insisted that he would never waver in his responsibility as a Pillar. When he ate his favorite Daikon and Salmon, Giyu Tomioka, who never smiled, broke into a silly grin, leaving Shinobu speechless and speechless.

One day after the current Nine Pillars were officially formed, at the request of their lord, Kagaya Ubuyashiki, the other eight Pillars, excluding Giyu Tomioka, planned an event to Giyu Tomioka laugh. However, Giyu Tomioka, unaware of the truth, failed to understand everyone's intentions. Not only was he not amused, but he also flatly refused Sanemi Shinazugawa's invitation to eat Daikon and Salmon, which greatly angered Sanemi Shinazugawa, and the two were forbidden from contact for a period of time. Because no one told him the truth, Giyu Tomioka didn't understand why Sanemi Shinazugawa was angry and felt that everyone's behavior was strange.

After introducing Tanjiro, Giyu Tomioka gradually forgot about the matter because the two never saw each other again.

Two years after the introduction, Giyu Tomioka accepted his lord Kagaya Ubuyashiki's order to go to Mount Natagumo with Shinobu to provide rescue. They easily killed the "father" of the spider family and rescued Inosuke Hashibira. However, because Inosuke Hashibira was too noisy, Giyu Tomioka tied him up and hung him from a tree, leaving him alone for the time being.

Later, when the Kamado siblings were nearly killed by Lower Moon Five Rui, Giyu Tomioka arrived in time and used his self-created First Form: Calm Sea to neutralize Rui's Blood Demon Art: Cutting Thread Rotation, before killing Rui with a single strike.

At this moment, Giyu Tomioka didn't recognize Tanjiro. When he saw Tanjiro showing compassion for Rui, who was a demon, Giyu Tomioka warned him, "There's no need to pity man-eating demons; they're just ugly monsters." But Tanjiro immediately retorted, "Demons were once human too, once human like me. They're not ugly monsters; demons are empty creatures, pathetic creatures!"

Upon hearing this, Giyu Tomioka, upon seeing Nezuko, finally recalled the boy kneeling in the snow, begging him to spare his Demonization sister. He also stopped Shinobu from killing Nezuko. Shinobu, angered that her good intentions in trying to save Giyu Tomioka had been thwarted, pointed out that Giyu Tomioka was disliked by the other Pillars because of his actions and personality. Giyu Tomioka, however, stubbornly refused to acknowledge this, lacking any real awareness. Giyu Tomioka demanded that Tanjiro immediately take Nezuko and escape, while he would hold off Shinobu.

After capturing Shinobu and restricting her movements, Giyu Tomioka was asked to explain his reasons. However, since the first sentence was "That was two years ago," Shinobu thought it would be a long story and felt that Giyu Tomioka was deliberately stalling for time to retaliate against her for saying that he was unpopular. She then planned to retaliate with the knife hidden in the sole of her shoe and break free from Giyu Tomioka, but the fight was forcibly interrupted because Kasugai Crow gave an order.

Ultimately, the Kamado siblings were captured by Kanao Tsuyuri and taken back to headquarters for trial, while Giyu Tomioka was also returned to headquarters to be dealt with for violating the team rules.

During the Hashira Trial, Giyu Tomioka was the only Pillar who agreed to let Nezuko live from the very beginning.

In the letter Sakonji Urokodaki wrote to his master, Giyu Tomioka and his master made a promise: if Nezuko were to eat people, Sakonji Urokodaki, Tanjiro, and he would all commit seppuku to take responsibility.

Subsequently, when the Wind Pillar Sanemi Shinazugawa was conducting the Rare Blood trial on Nezuko, and the Serpent Pillar Obanai Iguro was also suppressing Tanjiro, Giyu Tomioka grabbed Iguro's hand. Fortunately, Nezuko successfully passed the Rare Blood test and gained the approval of the head of the Demon Kagaya Ubuyashiki. Only then did the brother and sister officially join the Demon Slayer Corps.

Before Tanjiro finished his physical rehabilitation training at the Butterfly Mansion and headed to the Mugen Train with the Flame Hashira Kyojuro Rengoku, to carry out a mission, Giyu Tomioka appeared and bid him farewell.

Upon learning of Kyojuro Rengoku's death in battle, Giyu Tomioka simply said "Is that so?" on the surface, but he was actually very saddened inside.

During the Hashira Meeting, Giyu Tomioka refused to train the team members with the other Pillars because he felt he was not worthy enough. He also left the meeting midway and said something that could be misunderstood, such as "I am different from you," which made Sanemi Shinazugawa extremely dissatisfied with him.

Later, Tanjiro was entrusted by his master to persuade Giyu Tomioka. After being pestered by Tanjiro for a long time, Giyu Tomioka finally told Tanjiro the truth: because his best friend Sabito died because of him, Giyu Tomioka always believed that he was not qualified to become a Pillar or even join the Demon Slayer Corps.

Just as Giyu Tomioka was feeling down, Tanjiro reminded Giyu Tomioka that he must continue what his deceased friend Sabito had entrusted to him. Recalling Sabito's Giyu Tomioka, Sabito finally remembered that his future was maintained by Sabito and his sister at all costs, and realized that he could not let them down. In the end, Giyu Tomioka apologized to the two deceased, resolved his inner conflict, and agreed to join the Hashira Training. Before that, at Tanjiro's request, the two had a contest to see who could eat soba noodles faster.

The Giyu Tomioka Hashira Training Gyomei Himejima, and is the final stop of the entire Hashira Training, taking place in a Millennium Bamboo Forest.

During a break in the Hashira Training session, Sanemi Shinazugawa, wanting to teach Giyu Tomioka a lesson, came to spar with Giyu Tomioka. While practicing with Sanemi Shinazugawa, Tanjiro happened to arrive to train with Giyu Tomioka. However, Tanjiro, having always smelled the aroma of mochi, fillings, and matcha at Sanemi Shinazugawa's house, mistakenly assumed the two were fighting over Ohagi and intervened. Tanjiro then revealed Sanemi Shinazugawa's peculiar fondness for Ohagi. To help ease the tension between Giyu Tomioka and Sanemi Shinazugawa, Tanjiro asked Sanemi Shinazugawa what flavor of Ohagi he liked, but was immediately punched unconscious by a furious and embarrassed Sanemi Shinazugawa. Giyu Tomioka then cared for Tanjiro until he regained consciousness, and after discussing it, Giyu Tomioka decided to deliver Sanemi Shinazugawa Ohagi when he had time to try and resolve the situation.

Since only Tanjiro had fully passed the initial Hashira Training, Giyu Tomioka only trained Tanjiro. During a break in training, Giyu Tomioka had a heart-to-heart talk with Tanjiro, mentioning the strange behavior of the nine Pillars at the previous gathering. Tanjiro thought that Sanemi Shinazugawa wanted to eat Daikon and Salmon with Giyu Tomioka and was upset because he was rejected. Giyu Tomioka thought this made sense and planned to invite Sanemi Shinazugawa to eat Daikon and Salmon after delivering the Sanemi Shinazugawa Ohagi to him, revealing a happy smile of looking forward to the future.

Giyu Tomioka and Tanjiro stayed together to train and talk until that night when they received news of the attack on the Ubuyashiki Estate. The two rushed back together, but they were unable to protect their lord and watched helplessly as the mansion exploded and turned to ashes.

Later, while besieging Muzan Kibutsuji with other swordsmen, he was knocked into the Infinity Castle by Nakime.

Upon entering the Infinity Castle, Giyu Tomioka and Tanjiro soon encountered Akaza, the Upper Moon Akaza, who had come looking for Tanjiro. During Tanjiro's battle with Akaza, Giyu Tomioka was surprised by Tanjiro's growth. Later, in a prolonged fight with Akaza, Giyu Tomioka displayed formidable strength, thus attracting the attention of Akaza. After Akaza failed to answer his question about his name, Giyu Tomioka was sent flying by Akaza's Destructive Kick: Flowing Light.

When Akaza because of Tanjiro's words, and slightly recalled his memories of being human, he became angry and cornered Tanjiro. Just then, Giyu Tomioka arrived in time and saved Tanjiro. Giyu Tomioka angrily said that he had been kicked far away and hit his back, causing him a lot of pain. He then successfully Awakening his Demon Slayer Mark and began to fight Akaza.

Meanwhile, Tanjiro, recalling Inosuke Hashibira about how terrifying Wisteria House always suddenly appeared, discovered the principle behind Akaza's Blood Demon Art "Destruction Killing: Compass"—sensing through fighting spirit. Subsequently, after remembering his father's dying words, Tanjiro finally understood how to use the "Transparent World."

At this moment, Giyu Tomioka was gradually losing ground in his fierce battle with Akaza. Even using all of his Water Breathing techniques, he couldn't turn the tide. As he slashed at Akaza's arm, Giyu Tomioka's Nichirin Sword was broken by Akaza's special sword-breaking technique, "Bell Split- Splitter." Just as Akaza was about to deliver a fatal punch to Giyu Tomioka's chest, Tanjiro severed Akaza's arm, saving Giyu Tomioka.

Akaza noticed Tanjiro's change and decided to use the Destruction Kill: Final Form - Blue Silver Chaos Remnant Light to defeat him directly. Giyu Tomioka stepped forward to try and block the attack for Tanjiro, but the attack was too powerful. Even using his First Form - Calm Sea, Giyu Tomioka couldn't block it completely and was seriously injured. Tanjiro, who had awakened the Transparent World, completely dodged the killing move.

Akaza praised Giyu Tomioka for managing to dodge a fatal attack and urged Giyu Tomioka to become a demon. Giyu Tomioka realized that Akaza hadn't noticed Tanjiro approaching him from behind and hoped Tanjiro would attack Akaza quickly. However, the straightforward Tanjiro shouted "I'm going to attack you!" before striking Akaza, Giyu Tomioka who inwardly cursed Tanjiro as an idiot.

Afterwards, Tanjiro activated the Transparent World, rendering Akaza's Destruction Kill: Compass completely ineffective, and finally successfully beheaded Akaza from the front. At the same time, Giyu Tomioka also used his broken sword to pierce Akaza's head, causing him to lose his head.

However, Akaza still managed to break through the limits of a demon with her powerful willpower, continuing to fight Tanjiro and Giyu Tomioka even without a head, and in doing so, she began to regain her memories from her human days. Tanjiro was kicked away and crashed into a wall, losing consciousness. Giyu Tomioka grabbed his broken sword and continued fighting, shouting that he was still alive and that he would never allow Akaza to touch Tanjiro before he died.

Despite losing hearing in his left ear, feeling nothing in his right hand, and his body nearly collapsing from exhaustion and blood loss, Giyu Tomioka still decided to fight to the death to protect Tanjiro, just as Tsutako and Sabito did.

In the end, as Akaza's head regenerated, Tanjiro, who had just awakened, punched him like a master would. This triggered Akaza's memories of everything, reminding him that what he truly wanted to destroy was himself—failing to keep his promises to his father and lover, and defiling his master's most important art, the Soryu Style, meant for protection, not killing. Then, after smiling at Tanjiro, Akaza took his own life, acknowledging in his heart that he had lost when Tanjiro beheaded him. Tanjiro, mistaking Giyu Tomioka's intention to use the Annihilation Type on Akaza, lunged at Giyu Tomioka to pull him away from his attack range. The two fell to the ground in a corner of the room, watching as Akaza slowly turned to ashes after taking his own life.

After the battle, Giyu Tomioka and Tanjiro collapsed from exhaustion. Giyu Tomioka awoke first and found his injuries beyond the reach of bandages, so he started a fire to heat his broken sword, using cauterization to forcibly stop the bleeding, while also caring for Tanjiro until he awoke. The two then continued their journey to find Muzan Kibutsuji, and learned from a message sent by Senjuro Rengoku about the battle Yoriichi Tsugikuni, the swordsman of Sun Breathing, and Muzan.

Not long after, Giyu Tomioka and Tanjiro learned of Muzan's resurrection. Just then, Nakime's biwa music echoed once more from the Infinity Castle. In the blink of an eye, Giyu Tomioka and Tanjiro were suddenly teleported away. But standing before them was Muzan Kibutsuji.

However, Muzan was not deterred by their arrival. Instead, he dismissively remarked that they were incredibly annoying, with everyone seeking revenge against him. At that moment, although Giyu Tomioka himself was also furious, he managed to suppress his impulse and reminded Tanjiro, who was equally enraged and on the verge of losing control, to calm down.

However, Muzan then delivered an absurd sophistry to the two, arguing that those he killed were no different from those who had suffered natural disasters, and that the Demon Slayer Corps relentlessly pursued him for revenge, were all madmen. Muzan's fallacy enraged Tanjiro to the extreme, and he immediately pointed out: Muzan is a creature that does not deserve to live in this world at all.

Next, Giyu Tomioka and Tanjiro engaged Muzan his arm into a whip-like weapon, launching a relentless barrage of attacks on Giyu Tomioka and Tanjiro. Giyu Tomioka continuously used his First Form: Calm Sea to evade the attacks while simultaneously searching for an opening to counterattack. Then, Tanjiro seized an opening in Muzan's attack, Muzan to his side to launch an attack. However, Muzan instantly transformed his whip into a defensive form, easily deflecting Tanjiro's attack and even slashing Tanjiro's right eye.

Tanjiro, blind in his right eye, was distracted by his sense of smell and crashed into the wall of the Infinity Castle while trying to use his sense of smell instead of sight. Giyu Tomioka tried to save Tanjiro, but it was too late. Just as Tanjiro was about to be killed by Muzan's whip, Mitsuri Kanroji and Obanai Iguro broke through the wall in time, saving Tanjiro and forcing Muzan.

Then, with Yushiro's help, the four began to fight Muzan together. During the battle, Muzan tried to regain control of Nakime, but Yushiro always managed to stop him with all his might. In the end, Muzan, unable to tolerate Muzan, simply annihilated Nakime, causing the Infinity Castle to gradually collapse as it was freed from Nakime's control. Subsequently, in order to hold Muzan, Giyu Tomioka and Iguro used a combined attack to fight Muzan. Yushiro managed to rely on Nakime's remaining active cells to make the Infinity Castle burst out of the ground and completely collapse on the surface, allowing everyone and Muzan to escape from the Infinity Castle, and the stage for the final battle moved to the surface.

Fearless, or reckless?

There was about an hour and a half until sunrise. In order to prevent Muzan escaping, Giyu Tomioka, along with Mitsuri and Iguro, began to confront Muzan, doing their best to buy time. However, Muzan, who had already reached his complete form, was simply Muzan powerful, and his incredibly fierce whip attacks put the three of them in a tough fight.

During this time, countless ordinary members of the Demon Slayer Corps bravely acted as human shields to protect the three Pillars, sacrificing their lives in vain. Meanwhile, Tanjiro, who was already injured, collapsed due to the poison of the blood Muzan injected into him, causing Giyu Tomioka and the others to be in a state of Muzan distress.

Subsequently, under the cover of the Stone Pillar Gyomei Himejima and the Wind Pillar Sanemi Shinazugawa, was finally safely moved away from the battlefield. However, as Tanjiro 'Muzan attack frequency increased significantly, even Gyomei Himejima, who had opened the Transparent World, gradually found it difficult to stop him, as did Giyu Tomioka and the others.

Due to the effects of the poison, Giyu Tomioka's hand could no longer grip the Nichirin Sword. The broken blade was knocked away by Muzan's attack, and Giyu Tomioka, who was unarmed, was rescued by Obanai and Gyomei Himejima. He then took another Nichirin Sword thrown by Sanemi Shinazugawa and continued to fight. He was injected with a medicine given to him by Chachamaru to temporarily recover from his injuries. Giyu Tomioka realized that he was not alone and decided to live up to the name of the Water Pillar and fight to the last moment of his life. [31] After Zenitsu, Inosuke Hashibira and Kanao Tsuyuri joined the battle, Sanemi Shinazugawa found an opening and slashed his Nichirin Sword, which had already activated its Crimson Blade, at Giyu Tomioka's Nichirin Sword, helping Giyu Tomioka activate his Crimson Blade and continue to fight.

Muzan a wide-range attack that sent everyone flying. Giyu Tomioka had his right arm severed and fell unconscious. Upon waking, Tanjiro pin Muzan to the wall, but Muzan created a human armor to protect himself, attempting to absorb Tanjiro and Giyu Tomioka. Tanjiro Headbutt Giyu Tomioka to protect Giyu Tomioka, preventing him from being absorbed. Giyu Tomioka, along with the other Demon Slayer Corps members, used the Pick-Up Form: Constant Flux to attack the fleeing Muzan, ultimately delaying him Muzan he was burned to death by sunlight.

However, when she was told by Hikari that Tanjiro had died, she shed tears, held Tanjiro's hand, and apologized to Tanjiro and Nezuko in her heart.

Muzan's remaining cells turned Tanjiro into a demon. Giyu Tomioka was the first to notice Tanjiro's transformation. The moment Tanjiro attacked a nearby Hidden One, Giyu pushed the Hidden One away, stopping Tanjiro from killing. Giyu immediately drew his sword and began fighting. Meanwhile, as the last remaining Pillar with the strength to fight, Giyu Tomioka stabbed Tanjiro in the chest, pinning him to the ground so he couldn't escape into the shadows and would be burned to death by the sunlight. Tears streaming down his face, Giyu hoped Tanjiro would die without killing anyone. But Tanjiro immediately overcame the burning sunlight, broke free from Giyu Tomioka's control, and injured Giyu Tomioka.

Nezuko, now human again, rushes to stop them but is bitten by Tanjiro. Tanjiro then grows a spiked whip identical to Muzan's and attacks his comrades Muzan. Giyu Tomioka, realizing all is lost, immediately uses Fourth Form: Striking Tide to protect his teammates and tries to kill Tanjiro as quickly as possible. However, Giyu Tomioka helpless against Tanjiro, who has overcome sunlight and the Crimson Blade. Tanjiro unleashes Blood Demon Art attack on Giyu Tomioka, but Nezuko manages to block it with her left hand. Tanjiro instinctively deflects the Blood Demon Art, Nezuko's left hand is severely injured by the shockwave.