All Demon Slayer Breathing Styles, ranked

To fight against the threat of the demons, many members of the Demon Slayer Corps make use of Breathing Styles, which allows them to summon inhuman strength by pairing the right breathing patterns with immaculate swordsmanship.

But which among the styles featured in the series can be considered the strongest? Here are all the Breathing Styles in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, ranked.

• As you can expect, this piece will feature heavy spoilers for the events only showcased in the Demon Slayer manga. so prepare your Nichirin Sword and read at your own risk.

14. Insect Breathing

An adjacent form of Flower Breathing created by the Insect Hashira, Shinobu Kocho to make up for her weak constitution and inability to decapitate demons, Insect Breathing is a style that specializes in performing fast and precise reaper-like trusts with the intent of applying lethal effects through Wisteria poisoning. True to that, and although lethal against most, the style lacks the punch many of the others have, as sunlight and decapitations are still the only way to truly end the life of high-end demons.

13. Sound Breathing

Created by the Sound Hashira Tengei Uzui, Sound Breathing is an offense-oriented style that revolves around his superhuman ability to identify sounds, and it’s focused on performing a series of sequential and fast slashes while dual-wielding inter-connected Nichirin Swords. To add an extra kick to his forms, Uzui pairs many of them with gunpowder to generate massive explosions while making use of other ninja arts to shift the battle in his favor. Unfortunately, we cannot rank this breathing higher as only three of its forms were showcased during the entirety of the manga.

12. Flower Breathing

Used by the former Flower Hashira Kanae Kocho, as well as by Kanao Tsuyuri, Flower Breathing is a style that specializes in fast and well-placed curved stashes that mimic the way petals flow and bloom. Its biggest differential, however, lies in its final form’s (Equinoctial Vermilion Eye) ability to massively boost its user’s perception. That translates into a boost in kinetic vision, which allows them to momentarily perceive the world as if in slow motion while posing a severe burden to one’s eyes.

11. Beast Breathing

Developed by Inosuke Hashibira during his life in the mountains, the Beast Breathing style is, much like its creator, as straightforward as it gets and relies on the use of two Nishin Swords as well as on one’s physical attributes to rush in while cutting everything on their path. As a self-taught style, many of its forms (or fangs) make use of Inosuke’s ability to dislocate his joints at will, as well as his unique perception.

11. Love Breathing

A branch of Flame Breathing created and perfected by the Love Hashira Mitsuri Kanroji, Love Breathing is a style that focuses on the performance of whip-like slashes with preferably an altered Nishin Blade. A style only viable for Mitsuri, given her unique muscle density, Love Breathing is one of the most oppressive in our list, as it allows its user to slash opponents at blinding speeds and overwhelm even the highest-ranked demons.

9. Serpent Breathing

Used and seemingly developed by the Serpent Hashira Obanai Iguro, Serpent Breathing is a style that specializes in extremely precise and unpredictable single-motion attacks only achievable by curving one’s sword in a snake-like manner. It is unknown if it is possible to perform its forms with a standard Nishin Sword. Even if no more than five of its forms were shown during the series, the style seems to be one of the most balanced in the series and allowed Iguro to hold his own and aid Tanjiro during most of their struggle.

8. Mist Breathing

Used by Muichiro Tokito, who might be by all accounts the most talented member of the corps since Yoriichi Tsugikuni, Mist Breathing is a style that specializes in pairing unpredictable movements with fast and sequential attacks to disorient targets.

Nothing showcases that better than its seventh dorm, Obscuring Clouds. Developed by Muichiro, the technique sees him slow his movements only to suddenly accelerate without notice. If attacked during it, that drastic change will cause enemies to feel like they are enveloped in and trying to strike a wave of mist.

7. Flame Breathing

Used by Kyojuro Rengoku and all of the Flame Hashira that came before him, Flame Breathing specializes in the performance of kendo-like heavy strikes capable of decapitating targets in one fell swoop. But don’t let that fool you, as even if shown not to be a great fit against enemies like Akaza, the style packs enough punch to turn most demons into cinders. Together with Wind, Flame is also one of the Breathing Techniques with the highest number of known forms, only falling behind Sun, Water, Moon, and Beast.

6. Thunder Breathing

Thunder Breathing is a quick-draw style that focuses, above all else, on the performance of unreachable fast strikes through its first form, Thunderclap and Flash. The style, however, gains new life when used by Zenitsu Agatsuma, as his Sixfold, Eightfold, and Godspeed variations allow him to perform consecutive Thunderclap and Flash slashes and bring down multiple enemies before they even realize they have been cut. Zenitsu also developed the style’s seventh form, Flaming Thunder God, which can be seen as a hypercharged version of the above.

5. Wind Breathing

A maverick style that can be seen as the antithesis of the grounded approach of the water-breathing style, Wind Breathing focuses mainly on the performance of acrobatic high-speed slashes that emulate the shape of whirlwinds.

Used and mastered by Sanemi Shinazugawa, the style allows him to cruise through demons like a tornado. Its offensive repertoire also allowed Sanemi to stand his ground against Upper Moon Rank One Kokushibo in a duel even after the demon unsheathed his sword and revealed his true might.

4. Water Breathing

Known for being the most common among the Demon Slayer Corps, the Water Breathing style excels in both offense and defense by applying water properties to swordsmanship, which allows it to make up for its lack of raw power with extreme adaptability. However, the style can only be brought to its full potential through its 11th form, Dead Calm.

Developed by Water Hashira Giyu Tomioka, Dead Calm sees users become water by entering a heightened state and allows them to react to threats at almost instantaneous speed. But the form is not perfect, as there’s a limit to how many attacks one can perceive.

3. Stone Breathing

Used by Gyomei Himejima, the strongest among the last generation of the Hashira, the Stone Breathing style makes use of momentum to produce devastating close and long-range combinations at a 360-degree angle, a feat only possible given its reliance on unconventional chained weapons, such as Himejima’s Nichirin spiked flail and handaxe combo.

Although demanding a lot of its user’s body, given the necessity to manipulate the chain at all times, its use allowed Himejima to be a game changer in the fight against Upper Moon Rank One Kokushibo, all while guiding his comrades.

2. Moon Breathing

A style created by Michikatsu Tsugikuni (later to be known as the demon Kokushibo) after his failure to learn his brother’s Sun Breathing, the Moon Breathing is the style with the biggest amount of forms to date, as it beneficiated greatly from the enhanced life spam its wielder boasted after being turned into a demon. True to that, many of its forms also use his Demon Blood Art and are paired with swordplay honed to almost perfection and a deep knowledge of all breathing styles.

That mix allowed Kokushibo to climb the ranks and take the spot as the first Upper Moon Demon, as well as keep the upper hand even while facing multiple marked Hashira during the Infinite Castle Arc.

1. Sun Breathing

The original breathing style, the Sun Breathing, was created by Yoriichi Tsugikuni and later adapted into the Kamado Family’s Hinokami Kagura dance ritual. Boasting the main strengths of all of the main style branches, it’s true might can only be achieved by linking together all of its forms.

A testament to both its power and its creator’s might can be seen in how it was used by Yoriichi to bring Muzan to the brink of death during their first and only encounter. The wounds inflicted on the Demon King also damaged him to a cellular level and never fully healed, instead remaining as scars even half a century following their encounter.