The Upper Four demon, Hantengu, has a complex set of powers that can be difficult to follow. Here's everything Hantengu is capable of, explained.
Warning: Spoilers for Demon Slayer: The Swordsmith Village Arc aheadOne of the deadliest threats in Demon Slayer so far is the Upper Four demon known as Hantengu. Hantengu is one of the major villains of the ongoing Swordsmith Village arc in the anime, but he has an extremely complicated set of powers that can be difficult to understand. Here are Hantengu's main abilities and powers explained.
Hantengu is first shown as a sniveling, crying wimp of a demon, cowering as the other Upper Ranks argue among themselves. It turns out he's not just afraid of his fellow demons, though; he's this way towards everyone, with a victim complex to match. So, how did a demon like this manage to attain a rank among Muzan's elite demons? As it turns out, this has far more to do with his demonic powers, which make it so that the cowardly main body never needs to go into battle at all.
Hantengu's Abilities Explained
When Hantengu is first seen by Tanjiro, he is immediately attacked and seemingly split in two by the Mist Hashira. However, this attack doesn't kill the demon but instead leads to the two split parts of him forming into other demons, each of which has an emotion attached to it. Hantengu ultimately created four demons using this ability: Anger, Pleasure, Sorrow, and Joy. The anger demon, Sekido, is the embodiment of rage and fury, attacking fiercely and without mercy and fighting with a priest's staff using lightning. Karaku, the manifestation of pleasure, treats the battle with the Demon Slayers as a game, not terribly concerned with life or death, and fought with a fan that could create huge gusts of wind. The demon of sorrow, Aizetsu, had a morose demeanor, which kept him calm and cool in the midst of battle. Urogi, the manifestation of joy, acts as if in a fit of manic glee, laughing and smiling as he battles the slayers using sound attacks. In this split form, Hantengu himself still exists, but he's reduced to a very tiny size, which allowed him to hide in the bushes to avoid being attacked. The emotion demons are immune to beheading, which meant that the only way to victory was to find and defeat Hantengu's true body.
Tanjiro and Genya thus turned to attack Hantengu directly, but this triggered another new ability. The emotion demons absorbed back into a single being, yet remained separate from the base Hantengu. This new form was known as Zohakuten, and is described as a manifestation of Hantengu's hatred. He behaves as if he is in the right, and acts using a kind of bizarre righteous fury, accusing Tanjiro of bullying Hantengu. His design is reminiscent of the legendary Japanese thunder god, Raijin, with a circle of drums behind him. He was able to control trees and wooden objects, as well as use the abilities of the other four demons. But Hantengu has one last ability: Urami, the manifestation of resentment. This one could alter its size to become huge, and ultimately concealed Hantengu in its body to protect him.
No other demon has had so many forms and manifestations, making it clear that Hantengu is worthy of his spot as the Upper Four demon in Demon Slayer.
