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Shinobu Kocho: Insect Pillar - Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slayer)

Shinobu Kocho (胡蝶しのぶ Kocho Shinobu) is the insect Pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps in the Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slayer) series. She also uses Insect Breath (蟲の呼吸 Mushi no Kokyu) which comes from Flower Breath (花の呼吸 Hana no Kokyu) which comes from Water Breath (水の呼吸 Mizu no kokyu). She is a small girl with misty purple eyes that resemble those of insects. She has shoulder-length hair that fades from black to dark purple. Her hair is usually tied back with a butterfly-shaped ornament. She wears the standard Demon Slayer uniform with a butterfly wing pattern haori colored white and fading to green and then pink that she inherited from her sister, she wears a similarly patterned leg warmer.

"If we could all get along, everything would be fine. It doesn't matter if they're humans or demons."
—Shinobu to Tomioka, Demon Slayer Chapter 28

Profile

Age: 18 years old
Height: 151 cm
Weight: 37 kg
Date of birth: February 24
Manga Debut: Chapter 4 (Partial) Chapter 28 (Complete)
Anime Debut: Episode 15
Japanese voice actor: Saori Hayami
Status: Deceased

History

Shinobu and her older sister Kanae came from a wealthy family that worked in medicine preparation, but their lives were ruined when a demon attacked their home, killing their parents. The sisters vowed to join the Demon Slayer Corps to prevent innocent people from going through the same thing. When Kanae is killed by Upper Moon Two, Doma Shinobu begins to adopt her sister's personality, trying to achieve her dream of finding harmony between demons and humans despite the rage she feels over her sister's death.

Personality

Shinobu always has a pleasant expression on her face and is initially thought to be laid-back and friendly, wanting to establish some peace between humans and demons. It is later revealed that she hates demons with a burning passion after a demon killed her parents and older sister. She enjoys teasing people and can be a bit sadistic; she knows how to get people excited and how to make them move in her way. When she was younger, she was more direct and quick to anger, but after Kanae's death, Shinobu began to act like her sister. She also has an inferiority complex as she is not as tall and strong as the other Pillars .

Skills and abilities

Master Swordsman: As the pillar of the Demon Slayer Corps, Shinobu is one of the most powerful and skilled swordsmen in the entire organization.
Medical Expertise: While not as combat-oriented as the rest of the Pillars, Shinobu displays immense skill and mastery in the medical and pharmaceutical fields to compensate for her lack of natural combat talent. She is highly knowledgeable about how to create various poisons and venoms using wisteria flowers, as well as the medical skills needed to counter the venoms and poisons created by demons.
Immense Speed: Shinobu has demonstrated near-superhuman speed. Doma has stated that she may be the fastest Pillar he has ever encountered.
Enhanced Durability: Despite possessing the weakest striking power due to her small arms, Shinobu possesses powerful striking and kicking power. A single swing from her sword could easily pierce a boulder in half.
Unique Weapon: Shinobu used a heavily modified katana, the handle slightly above the hilt is the same, but above it, the blade is replaced by a thin rod and ends in a needle-like point, similar to an insect's stinger in appearance and function. The "stinger" is designed to inject wisteria poisons into demons. She also modified the weapon's sheath, using it as a portable poison mixer and charger.
Poisoned Body: In order to defeat Upper Moon Two, Doma who killed her sister, Shinobu profoundly transformed her body by absorbing and altering her body's physiology with a highly concentrated wisteria-based poison. With the help of the demon doctor, Tamayo , Shinobu managed to saturate her body with an undetectable poison that completely fused with the cellular structures of her own body, including those of her blood and internal organs, right down to her fingernails. Her body was equivalent to 37 kilograms of poison, roughly 70 times more than the lethal amount needed to kill an average demon. The poison was potent enough to melt Doma , right down to her bones.

Breathing in total concentration: the breath of the insect

Butterfly Dance: Frolic (蝶ノ舞戯れ Cho no Mai: Tawamure): Shinobu jumps towards the opponent and stabs them several times with her blade to inject her poison.
Bee Sting Dance: Simple Float (蜂牙ノ舞真靡き Hoga no Mai: Manabiki): Shinobu charges at her target with incredible speed and uses the momentum of her speed to then reinforce her single thrust on her opponent to inject them with a deadly poison.
Dragonfly Dance: Compound Eye Hexagon (蜻蛉ノ舞複眼六角 Seirei no Mai: Fukugan Rokkaku): A six-hit attack where Shinobu aims to strike and inject her target with multiple doses of poison at the demon's weak points; neck, heart, torso, etc.
Centipede Dance: Hundred-Legged Zigzag (蜈蚣ノ舞百足蛇腹 Goko no Mai: Hyakusoku Jabara): An attack where Shinobu used all of her speed to run in a zigzag pattern to confuse her opponents in order to create an opening for her to stab directly into her opponents' necks and inject poison into their necks and kill them, the force and power of the blow being further enhanced by the momentum of her speed.