Obanai Iguro: Serpent Pillar - Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slayer)
Obanai Iguro (伊黒小芭内 Iguro Obanai) is a short young man who is part of the Demon Slayer Corps in the Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slayer) series. He uses the Breath of the Serpent (蛇の呼吸 Hebi no Kokyu) and is the Snake Pillar. Obanai has straight black hair of varying lengths, the shortest stopping at his cheeks and the longest reaching his shoulders. He has sharp pointed eyes with unusual eye colors due to him having heterochromia. His right eye is yellow and his left eye is turquoise. Obanai's lower half of his face is covered in bandages to hide his mouth which was cut from the corners of his lips to his ears to appear snake-like. He wears the standard black Demon Slayer uniform and a black and white striped haori which covers his hands. Obanai is always with his white snake Kaburamaru which is wrapped around his shoulders.
“More importantly. What are we gonna do with Tomioka? I have a headache seeing him not bound there. How will we deal with him? How will we make him take responsibility? How are we gonna make him suffer?”
—Obanai to the Pillars, Demon Slayer Chapter 45
Profile
- Age: 21 years
- Height: 162cm
- Weight: 53kg
- Birthdate: September 15
- Manga Debut: Chapter 4 (Partial) Chapter 45 (Full)
- Anime Debut: Episode 22
- Japanese Voice Actor: Kenichi Suzumura
- Status: Alive
History
Obanai was born and raised in a cell by a family who worshipped a female snake-like Demon. The Demon's face and lower half of the body took the form of a snake and loved eating babies. His family sacrificed their own children in exchange for the stolen goods of the people the Demon had killed. As Obanai was the only boy born into the family for 370 years with eccentric eyes the Demon was especially interested in him and let him live until he had grown bigger before she decided to eat him. When he was 12 years old, Obanai was taken outside to be presented to the Demon and was forced to have his mouth cut by his family to look similar to the snake Demon. After being returned to his cell he lived in constant fear and worry while he planned his escape, the only one he could trust was a white snake, Kaburamaru, who he considered his close friend and not a pet. When he finally escaped he was chased by the snake demon and was almost killed but luckily he was saved by the Flame Pillar of the time. When he escaped the Demon killed his entire family leaving only one cousin alive who berated and blamed Obanai for the death of their family. With no proper outlet to direct his emotions, he decided to turn his rage and hate onto the Demons, feeling as though he was a better person whenever he risked his life for someone else's sake.
Personality
Obanai is a very strict and merciless person who has a very limited amount of people he cares for. During Pillar training he ties up the lower ranked Demon slayers for petty reasons such as annoying him and uses them as obstacles.
He respects Kagaya Ubuyashiki, the 97th leader of the Demon Slayer Corps by bowing down to him when he appeared for a meeting. He also respects Gyomei Himejima stating he couldn't even be Himejima's shield. He cares greatly for and has a crush on Mitsuri Kanroji, even gifting her green striped socks to wear as a present but because he possess an immense sense of self loathing he doesn’t confess his feelings. This self loathing comes from the fact that he was born into a selfish clan who would mercilessly sacrifice their own children to a Demon for riches. Obanai thinks of himself and his family to be so tainted that, only by defeating Muzan and dying would it hope to cleanse his corrupted blood. Only by first dying then reincarnating into a world without Demons would he be worthy of confessing his feelings to Mitsuri Kanroji.
Skills and Abilities
- Master Swordsman: As part of the Demon Slayer Corps and being a Pillar, Obanai is one of the most highly ranked swordsmen. Other Slayers would use his swordsmanship as reference, in which during the Pillar training, he taught sword skill revision training to the other Demon Slayers.
- Unique Weapon: Like Shinobu Kocho, Mitsuri Kanroji, Tengen Uzui, and Gyomei Himejima, Obanai wields a unique Nichirin Blade and uses a breath style that focuses on twisting and bending the sword like how a serpent slithers to complement Obanai's Breath of the Serpent techniques.
- Crimson Red Nichirin Blade: In the battle against Muzan Kibutsuji, after manifesting a Demon Slayer Mark and Obanai remembers how Muichiro Tokito turned his blade a color red. Obanai puts all of his strength and power into gripping his blade, turning it to crimson red which would nullify a demon's powers and regeneration.
- Enhanced Strength: Obanai possesses a great amount of physical strength seen when he pins Tanjiro to the ground with great force and Tanjiro stating that he couldn't move or breathe. Despite this, he is considered to be the second-weakest member of the current Pillars in physical strength after Shinobu.
- Demon Slayer Mark: During the battle against Muzan Kibutsuji, Obanai awakened his own mark. The mark takes the form of snakes winding around his upper arm and chest. When this mark is called upon, Obanai's physical speed, strength, and reflexes increased dramatically.
Total Concentration Breath of the Serpent
- First Form: Winding Serpent Slash (壱ノ型委蛇斬り Ichi no Kata: Ida Giri): Obanai rotates and releases a circular slash in front of him.
- Second Form: Venom Fangs of the Narrow Head (弐ノ型 狭頭の毒牙 Ni no Kata: Kyozu no Dokuga): Obanai goes behind his opponent at blinding speed and lops off their head.
- Third Form: Serpent’s Spiraling Hold (参ノ型 塒締め San no Kata: Toguro Jime): Obanai curves his sword like a slithering snake and quickly decapitates his opponent.
- Fourth Form: N/A
- Fifth Form: Slithering Serpent (伍ノ型 蜿蜿長蛇 Go no Kata: Enen Choda): Obanai using his bending sword, curves it right to left at incredible speeds decapitating multiple targets at once.