Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers for Demon Slayer anime and manga.
Tanjiro Kamado could not have come this far in his quest to save his sister Nezuko without the aid of major supporting characters. As we approach the final two seasons of Demon Slayer, another key ally is taking up a big role in influencing Nezuko’s destiny.
The awe-inspiring dark fantasy tale of Demon Slayer features a plethora of inspiring characters that have redefined the shonen genre. The series has been commended for including strong and well-written female characters alongside obviously overpowered male heroes and villains (Daki fans, anyone?). While Nezuko has the most impact on driving the narrative, another female character takes up the trophy for being most important.
The Demon Slayer manga has already concluded with 205 chapters a year ago, sealing the fate of all characters in stone. However, Ufotable’s anime adaptation has yet to take the story to its climax. The series has recently entered screens again with its fourth season, adapting the second-last—the Hashira Training arc into a series after teasing it with a compilation film.
With this, some supporting characters are taking a bigger role in defining the tale, including a trusted ally of Tanjiro—Lady Tamayo. Here are 9 things about her that describe her character and story.
1. Tamayo was turned into a demon by Muzan and killed her family
A former human and now a demon for over 500 years, Ms. Tamayo first appears in chapter 14 of the manga, offering to help Tanjiro defeat Muzan while he was battling Susamaru and Yahaba. She introduces herself as a demon, tricked by Muzan into becoming one. After transformation, Tamayo uncontrollably went on a killing rampage and killed her own family.
2. Tamayo regained her human emotions and sided with the Demon Slayers
Tamayo is one of the rare demons who regained and retained her human emotions after transformation. Despite the antagonistic and virulent relationship between humanity and demons, she shows kindness towards humans. In showing her hatred towards Muzan and her demon identity, Tamayo shows a strong preference against violence. Instead of killing humans for their blood, she chooses to buy blood from consenting donors to survive.
3. Tamayo is recognized as a human by Nezuko
When Tamayo was first encountered by Tanjiro and he had deduced that it was her Blood Demon Art that assisted him, she mentioned that she could still be called a human. Toward the end of chapter 14, Nezuko even recognizes her as a human and hugs her after helping defeat Susamaru. She has revealed multiple times that she has no intentions to be a demon and wants to become a human again.
4. Tamayo is the most intelligent character in the series
Tamayo predates the Twelve Kizuki entirely and is one of the oldest demons. What Tamayo lacks in combative prowess, she more than compensates with extremely honed skills in medicine and pharmaceuticals, possessing the skill to even alter her body so she could survive on only a small amount of human blood. She is unarguably the most intelligent character in the entire Demon Slayer roaster.
5. Tamayo has helped several characters throughout the series
Tamayo made it her purpose to assist injured or sick individuals with her expansive medical knowledge. She has devoted most of her life to the research of demons and human transformation into one. Tamayo makes several crucial contributions to the battle against Muzan, without which, many characters would be dead.
With her skills, she turned the terminally ill Yushiro into a demon without Muzan’s blood. Before the final battle, she turned Chachamaru into a demon too. She also managed to free the Asakusa Demon of Muzan’s influence and regain his consciousness using Nezuko Kamado’s blood.
6. Tamayo promised to turn Nezuko back into a human
The most important role of Tamayo in the narrative is saving Nezuko. Those who saw the Demon Slayer Asakusa arc (episodes 8–10) in the first season will remember that Tamayo promised Tanjiro that she would be able to find a way to turn Nezuko back into a human if he gave her access to both his sister’s blood and the blood of powerful demons like the Twelve Kizuki and Muzan.
7. Tamayo eventually saves Nezuko in the final arc
Tamayo delivered her promise and created a medicine to reverse the transformation of a demon, something that was once thought to be entirely impossible. During the first sub-arc of the Final Battle, known as the Infinity Castle arc, Nezuko transforms back into a human through the drug administered to her by Tamayo. She then gets her happy ending, eventually dying by old age.
8. Without Tamayo’s help, Muzan would have never been defeated
Tamayo also played a pivotal role in the eventual death of Demon King Muzan Kibutsuji by developing a potent drug that drastically diminished his once-unequaled physical abilities. This four-stage drug was strong enough to harm Muzan despite his immense physical resistance. The first stage of the drug consisted of the same human-conversion stage that was included in the drug given to Nezuko.
9. Tamayo was killed by Muzan
Despite being the ultimate reason for Muzan’s defeat, Tamayo was killed by Muzan. In chapters 139-140 of the manga, Tamayo finally faces Muzan for the second time and manages to pierce her hand through his stomach. This is when she injects the drug into Muzan which eventually leads to his defeat. However, Muzan traps Tamayo in his flesh cocoon, slowly absorbing her. When only her skull remains, he crushed her, leading to her death.
