Tanjiro Kamado has been on the front lines for a good portion of Demon Slayer. Ever since he joined the Demon Slayer Corps, he’s gone up against all sorts of powerful demons, including members of the Twelve Kizuki. It seems like he’s overdue for a promotion of some kind. As it turns out, Tanjiro has received a few promotions during his service. However, saying that Tanjiro has become a Kanoe doesn’t mean much on its own.

The Demon Slayer Corps ranks and functions are fairly straightforward, though there’s a bit of mythology behind their names. They determine how much a Demon Slayer earns, how difficult their missions are supposed to be, and who they’ll be partnered with. A Demon Slayer will steadily climb through the ranks as they slay demons and complete missions. Prospective Demon Slayers earn their first position after passing the Corps’ entrance exam, the Final Selection. Examinees are expected to survive a week in the demon-infested woods of Mount Fujikasane. If they pass, they’ll begin their service at the bottom of the proverbial totem pole as Mizunoto.

Updated on August 8, 2025, by Ajay Aravind: Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba – The Movie: Infinity Castle premiered in Japan on July 18, 2025, with a global release scheduled for September 12. Now that the heroes have been ferried to Muzan’s Infinity Castle for their final battle as Demon Slayers, the Corps’ ranking system doesn’t make much of a difference anymore. Still, the cultural and folkloric relevance of the system remains as important as ever. As such, this article was updated with more relevant information.

The Demon Slayer Ranks Are Named for the Heavenly Stems

There Are Eleven Ranks with the Hashira at the Top

The eleven Demon Slayer Corps ranks begin with the lowest, Mizunoto, and end with the highest achievement being the rank of Hashira. These ranks are named for the Heavenly Stems, also known as the Celestial Stems, which originated in China during the Shang dynasty as the names of the days of the week, and was later put into use all throughout Asia. These days were also used as the names for family members who had passed on during sacrificial ceremonies of this time period as well. While that fell out of practice in time, it is an interesting notion when considering how often lower-rank Demon Slayers fall early in battle, becoming a sacrifice in their own right. Collectively, they represent the average ranks most Demon Slayers can expect to climb in their lifetime, assuming they survive.

The Hashira, the peak of the Corps’ strength, rank at a level beyond even Kinoe. To qualify for this prestigious title, a Demon Slayer must attain the rank of Kinoe and slay either 50 demons or a member of the Twelve Kizuki. The Hashira get special privileges in the Corps and are even allowed to request large amounts of money if they need it. They only answer to members of the Ubayashiki family, namely Kagaya, whose kindly authority allows the Hashira to blossom into their best versions. The Hashira are vastly more powerful than every other rank in the Demon Slayer Corps, especially those of the Taisho Era in Demon Slayer.

Tanjiro Interacted with the Hashira One at a Time

Of the nine active Hashira presented in the series, Tanjiro has gotten to know them as individuals during the progressing arcs of the story. Giyu Tomioka was the first Hashira he met, a bond forming between them after Giyu sent him to study under Urokodaki. He met the rest of the Hashira when they were deciding what to do about him and his sister, but he hadn’t gotten to know them yet. Later, with each story of the arc, these characters receive a spotlight as individuals as Tanjiro works alongside them.

Tankiro was part of the Fire Hashira, led by Kyojuro Rengoku, during the Mugen Train arc. Later in the Entertainment District arc, he worked alongside Tengen Uzui, the Sound Hashira and his three wives. Muichiro Tokito and Mitsuri Kanroji took center stage alongside Tanjiro in the Swordsmith Village Arc of Demon Slayer. Tanjiro met the remaining three Hashira during the Hashira Training arc. Additionally, the first Infinity Castle movie has Tanjiro partnering up with Giyu Tomioka once again.

The Corps Has Supporting Figures Outside the Rank System

Any Organization Would Collapse Without the Helpers

The Demon Slayer Corps would crumble instantly if it had warriors and nobody else. The complex system has survived hundreds of years because it’s extremely well-balanced, even if the supporting elements play small roles in the story. The Kakushi are some of the most important attendants, serving the Demon Slayers with a range of duties. These include offering medical assistance, taking wounded fighters to safety and ferrying Demon Slayers to Swordsmith Village, among several other small tasks. Overall, the Kakushi certainly deserve as much respect as the combatants.

There are two other groups of people affiliated with the Demon Slayer Corps who aren’t actually a part of the organization. Cultivators are those who help aspirants learn and master various Breathing styles so they can pass the Final Selection and become Demon Slayers. This skill is the reason that Giyu Tomioka sent Tanjiro to his former mentor Sakonji Urokodaki. Another notable cultivator was Zenitsu’s master, Jigoro Kuwajima. Like the cultivators, the swordsmiths of the titular village have dedicated entire generations to the Demon Slayer Corps. Without people like Haganezuka, there would be no Nichirin swords to decapitate demons with. All these individuals work in tandem to keep the organization running as smoothly as possible.

Tanjiro’s Last-Known Demon Slayer Rank Is Kanoe

Tanjiro Deserved to Become a Hashira

Not many of the Demon Slayer Corps rankings were known back in the first two seasons of the Demon Slayer anime, but there are a few. Tanjiro, Zenitsu, and Inosuke have moved from Mizunoto up to Kanoe due to their exploits. Murata, the Demon Slayer, who was almost digested on Mount Nagumo, is also a Kanoe. Kanao Tsuyuri, Shinobu’s adoptive younger sister, is a rank above all four of these boys at Tsuchinoto — she’s also a Tsuguko, which means she’s expected to succeed her Hashira sister one day. All of this was covered in Demon Slayer Season 2, Episode 11, “Tonight.”

As things stand, Tanjiro is progressing through the ranks slowly but surely. Though his official Demon Slayer rank might not seem monumental, that’s without taking into account things such as Tanjiro’s ability to go up against the Twelve Demon Moons. Likewise, there was also his role in the defeat of an Upper Rank for the first time in over 100 years. These victories show the flaws in the Demon Slayer Corps ranks and how Tanjiro, in particular, is much better at his job than it might seem. Even if his accomplishments are Hashira-level, Tanjiro never completed the official requirements to get to the top.

Does Tanjiro’s Demon Slayer Ranking Actually Matter Now?

Tanjiro Is Already One of the Strongest Characters in Demon Slayer

Like other shonen action series before it, the Demon Slayer anime strove to use numbers and ranks to quantify the combat system and make it feel more cohesive. Just the way Naruto had genin, chunin, and jonin, along with ranks for jutsu and missions going from D to S, the Demon Slayer anime used the main Demon Slayer Corps rankings to make everything feel more regimented. Then, it capped off those ranks with the Hashira, perhaps to emulate the 13 Soul Reaper Captains from Bleach, an anime that helped inspire Demon Slayer.

At first, it felt like standard procedure and gave Tanjiro a ladder to climb to measure his progress, but soon, the narrative of Demon Slayer outgrew its own system. By the end of Season 3, after two more Upper Moons fell to Tanjiro’s team, the Demon Slayer Corps’ ranking system felt like a simple formality and little more. It wasn’t wrong for Demon Slayer to introduce the eleven ranks, since it contributed to the worldbuilding a bit and made sense for a shonen action anime like this one. The Demon Slayer Corps ranking system actually put a tangible quality toward the series and its progression, acting like a more logical version of the “power levels” from other anime and manga franchises such as Dragon Ball.

Still, Tanjiro’s trio never really aimed to climb those ranks, and their power scaling made it moot. He underwent rigorous training and learned even more by fighting foes like Daki, Gyutaro, and Hantengu, including unlocking Hinokami Kagura, his best move yet in the Demon Slayer anime. Tanjiro is no ordinary soldier — as the shonen protagonist, he’s on his own heroic trajectory that few other demon slayer corps members could emulate. The plot itself excused Tanjiro from caring about the Demon Slayer ranks.

Instead, Tanjiro’s growth is better measured by his victories against high-ranking demons and his network of alliances and friendships, such as having an influence on Muichiro Tokito, earning Tengen Uzui’s respect, and impressing Mitsuri Kanroji, the Love Hashira of the Demon Slayer Corps. That’s the yardstick that really matters for measuring Tanjiro’s progress, along with his combat record. He’s gone from struggling against Lower Moons demons to fighting Upper Moons and winning, and there’s no rank for that. Besides, Demon Slayer’s relatively short anime doesn’t even have time for those ranks, because Tanjiro has his eyes on his real goal — defeating Muzan Kibutsuji and saving Nezuko, regardless of the rank he reaches.