Tongue Demon - Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slayer)
The Tongue Demon (舌鬼) made a brief appearance first in the Tsuzumi Mansion. He along with three Demons fought over the Marechi blood in Episode 12 of the Kimetsu no Yaiba (Demon Slayer) anime series and Chapter 23 of the manga. One of the other demons being the Horned Demon, and the other being Kyogai. He is voiced by Tarusuke Shingaki in the Japanese version of the anime.
“I’ll drink your brain through your ears!”
—The Tongue Demon to Zenitsu, Demon slayer episode 12
Appearance
As his name implies, the most distinguishing feature of the Tongue Demon is his long and powerful tongue. The Tongue Demon has four eyes, two of which are placed on his forehead are red and the other set bright green. Unlike other Demons that are usually bipedal, he uses his arms to walk on all fours.
He wears a green sash on his body and has short black hair draping over his head. He possesses two horns that poke out from his forehead with protruding veins. His tongue takes on a specific shape unusual to a human's tongue, being thicker at the tip.
Personality
The Tongue Demon is bloodthirsty and only seems interested in consuming humans. He was brash enough to challenge Kyogai for the Marechi bloodline, even though he was a low level Demon. This Demon also showed determination while chasing Zenitsu around the house repeatedly threatening to kill and eat him.
Demons in Demon Slayer
Demons come in a whole variety of types. At first, most Demons will look normal, only with slight changes including paler skin, catlike eyes and oddly shaped sclera, black patterns that pass over their body in different designs, or a variation of hair. The modifications differ from Demon to Demon, as some Demons may still maintain their normal appearance while others acquire grotesque characteristics such as multiple limbs, horns, appendages, organs and even heads.
It has been known that the more people that a Demon has killed, the more physical modifications they are able to produce.
The light is poisonous to all Demons making it their sole threat. Sunlight ignites the cells of the Demon and hampers the growth to the extent where the whole body of the Demon falls to dust, triggering its demise. Wisteria Flowers can also be used as a base ingredient to make lethal and highly potent poison mixtures which can easily get rid of lower weaker Demons. Finally the nichirin blades made from scarlet Crimson Iron, which absorbed sunlight in such a way that a decapitation strike with such a tool might execute a Demon instantly.
The first Demon was Muzan Kibutsuji, who is also said to have lived for thousands of years before the setting of the story. The one who transformed him into such a Demon was a benevolent Heian-period doctor who tried to save Muzan from death since he had been infected at the time with an illness which would destroy him when he reached Twenty. Muzan murdered the doctor before both could finish the procedure by having Muzan drink the final part of his "Blue Spider Lily" drug, out of desperation and belief that the medication might be ineffective and only cause him further pain.
Demons are not naturally born, but they replicate by being transformed from a person after being subjected to the blood of a very powerful Demon; only Muzan and his highest two Twelve Demon Moons, Doma and Kokushibo, have been seen to have this capacity.
Drum House Arc Synopsis
Tanjiro meets a timid leader of the corps named Zenitsu on his next journey and the two head off to examine the rumors of a local demon They arrive at a mysterious house and encounter two young children who announce that a demon abducted their older brother, the four of them enter the house, and they are suddenly split up when the house starts to morph into sounds of a drum. Tanjiro meets the ominus demon called Kyogai as well as Inosuke, an enigmatic Demon Slayer. Throughout the building, the Demon slayers navigate discovering demons along the way, whilst Tanjiro, Zenitsu, Teruko, and Shoichi begin to search for the missing child.
Abilities
- Demon Traits - Many Demons exhibit a ruthless instinct to attack and devour human beings and have forgotten most of their human life memory. Demons retain their persona, except that it often transforms into a distorted, dark version of it.
- Immortality - Demons embody eternal life and can live for generations, if they are incredibly strong, sometimes even longer. They can not die by conventional methods, but can be killed by light from the sun or at one of the unique Nichirin Blades of the Demon Slayer Corps.
- Growth potential - The power of a single Demon depends almost entirely as to how many humans they have killed, and they could also grow stronger by consuming extra blood through Muzan, which is how the Twelve Demon Moons acquired their immense strength. Though, certain Demons have a restriction on how much they can use to grow stronger, and may not be comfortable with a greater amount of Muzan's blood.
- Regeneration - Possesses a demon’s enhanced capabilities including strength, regeneration, and a weakness to sunlight.
- Tongue manipulation - Chasing Zenitsu around the house, he uses a long and powerful tongue to attack his targets. It is also quick and accurate able to slice a pot in two.