Top 10 Best Demon Slayer Fights

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we are counting down our picks for the Top 10 Demon Slayer Fights.

For this list, we’re going to be selecting the most spectacular showdowns to come from the Demon Slayer franchise. Did we skip out on an essential sword fight? Master your breathing techniques and let us know in the comments below!

Tanjiro’s first mission truly threw him into the deep end. On the hunt for a demon kidnapping and devouring innocent maidens, he soon finds himself treading water against three identical demons, all capable of sinking into their own swamp world at will. While watching Tanjiro slice up the horned fiends on their home turf thanks to his Water Breathing Techniques is all kinds of awesome, the real stand out is seeing Nezuko step up to the plate. With her demon blood now granting her enough strength to kick a demon’s head clean off, it was clear she was no longer just a victim inside a box.

An unexpected training partner, a brutal teacher, the ghost of a dead child, a bolder? The masked fox boy turned out to be all of these. Appearing before Tanjiro in order to help take his sword training to the next level, the two proceed to duel day after day until pain and defeat mould the wannabe Demon Slayer into a superior fighter. Their final confrontation may be brief, but it’s an essential step on Tanjiro’s journey, bringing things to a close with a single, almost beautiful slash.

She may be all smiles, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t a savage dispenser of demons. Encountering the last member of Rui’s spider clan, Shinobu quickly demonstrates why it's unwise to underestimate a Hashira. With but a few pricks of her sword, along with a vibrant, metaphorical burst of butterflies, she’s able to bring down the treacherous spider thanks to the poison laced along her blade. Some would say it’s a worse fate than getting your head chopped off, but Shinobu is just hardcore like that.

While far from reaching the heights of the Twelve Demon Moons, these two enforcers of Kibutsuji’s will still made for quite a challenge. With one able to launch temari balls at such speed it can render flesh, and the other able to send a person flying with invisible arrows, both Tanjiro and Nezuko are put through their paces. However, Tanjiro’s versatility in the face of overwhelming pain eventually gets the better of the arrow-spammer, leaving Nezuko free to show her aptitude for kicking balls into oblivion. Watch out Zenitsu.

Loud, obnoxious, and just a tad too desperate to get with a girl before he meets an untimely death, Zenitsu certainly seemed like a poor fit for the Demon Slayer Corps. At least until he proved he did have the skills…so long as he’s unconscious at the time. These were put on full display when he found himself set upon by the insidious and oh so creepy older brother of Rui’s fake family. Turns out that even if you poison and overwhelm them with spiders, there’s not much that can stop a living lightning bolt.

How does one cut the neck of a demon the size of a train and layered with hypnosis-inducing eyes? Easy, just partner up with your best boar buddy and run wild. Coordinating their strikes together in order to finally bring an end to Enmu, both Tanjiro and Inosuke bring their varying swordsmanship to the forefront as they launch one hell of a combo. While Inosuke carves up every eye in sight with his unorthodox duel-wielding, Tanjiro follows it up with a breath-taking demonstration of the Hinokami!

The first true test of Tanjiro’s skills; the Final Selection not only had him taking on lesser demons in a test of survival, but also brought him face to face with a monstrous glutton. As the one responsible for killing the rest of Urokodaki’s students, Sabito and Makomo included, it falls to Tanjiro to get revenge. Turns out all that boulder cutting came in handy, since in spite of its tough exterior and never-ending surge of hands, the hulky demon wasn’t prepared for Tanjiro’s first foray into Water Breathing.

With a Blood Demon Art capable of sending a person into the deepest of dreams with a single command, Enmu proved himself to be a cut above the rest of its demon brethren. At least until he made the fatal mistake of toying with memories of Tanjiro’s family. By taking his own life within the dreamscape over and over again, Tanjiro is able to consistently break Enmu’s hold over him. Even when show hellish visions of his slaughtered family, it only furthers to steel his resolve. And que the water dragon.

Setting both swords and the internet on fire, Tanjiro’s clash with the spidery Lower Moon pushed him further than any demon has so far. Even with his sword and most of his body broken, Tanjiro refuses to surrender, risking it all to save Nezuko’s from Rui’s webs. You’d think him unleashing the latent power of Hinokami would be the ultimate showstopper, but then along comes Nezuko with her own Blood Demon Art to really kick things into high gear. Who knew watching someone get their head cleaved off could be so artful?

Before we reveal our number one pick, here are a few honourable mentions.

Zenitsu vs Tongue Demon

Tanjiro vs Spider Mother

Giyu vs Rui

Outburning and outdoing what everyone thought possible, the Flame Hashira’s last stand against one of the Upper Demon Moons defied all expectations. Even with Akaza’s instant regeneration and unholy strength slowly chipping away at him, Rengoku refuses to abandon his duty or his apprentice Demon Slayers. The entire bout is an onslaught of staggering visuals, all held together by Rengoku’s unfathomable drive to do what he must, unleashing a torrent of Flame Breathing Techniques more stunning than the last. It may have ended in tragedy, but you couldn’t have asked for a greater testament to such a larger-than-life character.