Hashira is the highest rank that Demon Slayers can obtain in the Demon Slayer Corps. Those who hold the position are regarded as the most powerful and skilled combatants in the entire organization, protecting humanity against more dangerous threats that cannot be handled by other Demon Slayers. The Hashira are all assigned a specific region that they are required to patrol, usually to gather information about the demons inhabiting said area and to improve their swordsmanship. They are also deployed on missions only if lower-ranking members are unable to complete it. Each Hashira is the master of a unique Breathing Style, some of which are even created by themselves. Interestingly, swordsmen who can use Flame Breathing and Water Breathing have become Hashira in every era, with no exceptions thus far. There are two known methods (both extremely difficult) that allow one to prove that they are worthy of becoming a Hashira: the first method is to accumulate a demon kill count of at least 50 as a Kinoe-ranked Demon Slayer, or singlehandedly slay a member of the Twelve Kizuki.
Giyu Tomioka (currently 21) became a Demon Slayer after his older sister sacrificed herself to a demon to protect him. After apprenticing under Sakonji Urokodaki, he completed Final Selection at 13 and later became a Hashira. Giyu uses Water Breathing in combat and as the Water Hashira, is his generation’s most skilled Water Breathing user. Giyu has completely mastered this swordsmanship style, to the point that he created his own entirely new technique within the breathing style; an eleventh form called Dead Calm. Giyu's split haori is made up of pieces of both his sister's haori and a dear friend's, named Sabito, that saved him during Final Slection and unfortantly was the only particpant to die.
Mitsuri Kanroji (currently 19) became a member of the Corps for the purpose of finding a suitable husband stronger than her, a rather difficult task given the astounding level of her physical strength. She completed Final Selection with a mere 6 months of training from Kyojuro Rengoku. However, after realizing she couldn’t master the breathing style Kyojuro taught her, she developed her own breathing style: Love Breathing. Love Breathing incorporates elements of Mitsuri’s superhuman flexibility and her thin and flexible, whip-like Nichirin Sword, giving her a wider range that a normal katana would be unable to accomplish.
Obanai Iguro (currently 21) became a Demon Slayer as a way to channel his immense rage and self-loathing stemming from his traumatic upbringing. He was saved by the Flame Hashira, Shinjuro Rengoku, while being pursued by a serpent demon that had been terrorizing his family. Obanai uses a breathing style he created himself, Serpent Breathing, where he twists and turns similarly to how a serpent slithers. Obanai will always be seen with his snake, Kaburamaru, wrapped around his neck. Kaburamaru became a companion for Obanai during his rough childhood and now aids Obanai in combat. Obanai, having always been partially blind in his right eye, developed a combat technique utilizing Kaburamaru. Kaburamaru possesses a unique ability which allows him to read and predict a target's attacks and then relay that information to Obanai.
Sanemi Shinazugawa (currently 21) was driven to become a Demon Slayer for revenge after his family was attacked by a demon, leading him to kill his own mother to prevent her from turning into a demon, an act that traumatized him and his brother Genya and pushed him to hunt demons relentlessly. Sanemi’s veins run with Marechi Blood, one of the rarest blood types, making it incredibly intoxicating and mouth watering to demons. It is also unique due to its intense potency that the smallest whiff of his blood immediately causes demons to salivate and lose focus. He uses Wind Breathing, a breathing style that he mastered alongside another Demon Slayer after tutelage from an unknown cultivator. Sanemi’s level of skill with Wind Breathing is similar to the first Wind Hashira’s from the Sengoku Era, the Golden Age of Demon Slayers.
Gyomei Himejima (currently 27) became a Demon Slayer because he experienced a traumatic event where he was wrongly accused of killing the children he was responsible for caring for at a temple, and after encountering a demon, he discovered a powerful ability to fight it, leading him to join the Demon Slayer Corps as a way to protect others and atone for the accusations against him. He is now recognized as the "Stone Hashira" due to his exceptional strength and resolve. Due to being blind, Gyomei has compensated and alternated his senses to adapt to his condition, effectively developing a superhuman sense of hearing. Gyomei uses Stone Breathing and instead of a Nichirin Sword, he uses a Nichirin-made spiked flail and axe connected by a long chain in combat.
Muichiro Tokito (currently 14) became the youngest Hashira ever after only two months as a Demon Slayer. After his brother was attacked by a demon and witnessing his final moments and death, Muichiro subsequently lost his memories and has held an omnipresent rage deeply suppressed inside of him that inevitably drove his future, intense training. Before his twin died, Master Ubuyashiki’s wife, Amane, would visit them and told them they were descendants to Demon Slayers of old and Muichiro became excited at the prospect of being able to protect people. Muichiro uses Mist Breathing, as well as wears loose and oversized clothing that hides his limbs from his enemy's line of sight to obscure his movements, further improving the potency of this Breathing Style.
Shinobu Kocho (currently 18) joined the Demon Slayer Corps, along with her sister, after a demon killed her parents in order to protect others from suffering the same fate as her. Despite not possessing the physical strength to cut off a demon's head, Shinobu uses her creativity, ingenuity and other physical abilities to more than make up for it. Instead of the traditional method of decapitating a demon with a Nichirin Sword to kill them, Shinobu opts to use a modified version of a katana that acts as a stinger to inject a powerful wisteria-based poison that is lethal to demons. Along with this, Shinobu uses a Breathing Style she created herself called Insect Breathing.
Tengen Uzui (currently 23) recently retired from being the Sound Hashira after a brutal battle with the Upper Rank Six demons where he lost his left eye and left hand. Following the departure from his clan, Tengen and his family searched for Kagaya Ubuyashiki to help fight for the Demon Slayers, and he formally joined. Tegen has three wives and is known for being a very flashy swordsman. He uses Sound Breathing, a Breathing Style he created himself that mimics sound, specifically its disorientating loudness, and replicates it with the user's movements, techniques and abilities. This combat style can only be used with a specific set of weaponry, two gigantic nunchuck-like Nichirin Cleavers.
Kyojuro Rengoku (deceased) followed in his father’s and past ancestors footsteps, becoming the next Flame Hashira. He successfully avenged the death of the 9 Demon Slayers that died to the Flute Demon by himself and later managed to single handedly defeat Lower Rank Two, Hairo, who even appraised his swordsmanship before he died. Moreover, his father, Shinjuro Rengoku, stated that, after he stopped teaching his son, Kyojuro trained himself to become a Hashira by learning from the guide book of the Flame Breathing style, a book which only had three volumes. His mastery of the blade is best showcased during his battle with Akaza (Upper Rank Three), in which he was more than capable of fighting on equal ground with the Upper Rank who had killed countless Demon Slayers and even multiple Hashiras over the last century, even to the point that Akaza constantly praised Kyojuro's swordsmanship.
Kanae Kocho (deceased) was known as the Flower Hashira, and the older sister of Shinobu Kocho. Some years after the two joined the Corps, Kanae ran into the Upper Rank Two of the Twelve Kizuki, Doma. She was fatally wounded during the encounter, but he was forced to flee from the rising sun before he could devour her. As she lay dying in Shinobu's arms, she tried to convince her sister to leave the Demon Slayer Corps to live a normal life, but her sister is dead set on avenging her. With the last of her strength, Kanae described Doma to Shinobu before succumbing to her wounds.