Summary
For all the criticism thatDemon Slayertends to get, one thing that almost all fans of the series agree on is the fact that the villains, for the most part, are fantastic. Not only are they incredibly powerful and sadistic monsters who serve as the exact opposite of everything the heroes stand for, but they often have tragic and relatable backstories that show why they descended to this life in the first place.
However, many fans of theDemon Slayerfranchise think that Muzan, while serving as a great big-bad to chase throughout the series, was ultimately a disappointing villain due to his one-note personality, motivation, and abilities. This sticks out even more when he iscompared to his own Upper Moons, who have made a name for themselves as being amazing villains. So, let’s see why many consider Muzan to be disappointing.
A Typical Villain Backstory
First Shown
Demon Slayer, Episode 55, “The Connected Bonds: Daybreak and First Light”
Story Arc
Swordsmith Village Arc
In season 3 of theDemon Slayeranime, fans finally found out Muzan’s backstory. Born an afflicted man who spent most of his life bedridden, he was told that he would never live past young adulthood. One day, a doctortreated him with a special medicinebut, since it had no immediate effect on him, Muzan brutally killed the doctor in a fit of rage. However, the medicine worked later on and while it made Muzan’s body strong and his life longer, he was unable to walk out in the sun.
However, the main ingredient in this concoction was a mysterious flower known as the Blue Spider Lily, and its location was known only to the doctor that Muzan killed. Due to this, he spent the next 1000 years terrorizing Japan and creating an army of demons in the hopes of increasing his chances of finding this fabled flower.
Humans are pitiful creatures, always clinging onto hope even in the face of despair.
While not the worst backstory, it is incredibly simplistic. Though this isn’t always a bad thing, it seems quite out of place when compared with the emotional and memorablebackstories of the other villainsin the series, which definitely gives them far more depth than the main villain that the series is built around. That being said, not all characters need to be deep or layered, as there is room for all kinds of characters in any story.
However, in a series filled with such iconic villains, it’s only natural for there to be comparisons between them. Of course, the writer of the series, Koyoharou Gotouge, could never control which villains the fans would like more, but the fact is that the backstories of the other villains are so complex and most have an element of relatability to them, which makes it seem like Muzan’s own was more of an afterthought.
Simple Motivations
Moreover, Muzan’s motivations have been seen before in fiction time and time again, which, coupled with his fairly one-note personality, make himmore of a generic villainthat fans just forget about. Since his ascension to demonhood 1000 years ago, he has only ever been searching for the Blue Spider Lily, so he can finally conquer sunlight and continue his evil deeds without anything standing in his way.
Compare that to someone like Akaza. While a merciless demon who has been killing people for centuries, his backstory shows that he had everything taken away from him and how that impacted his turn to demonhood. Muzan’s turn to evil was very generic, something that fans of the series never really liked.
A Disappointing Arsenal And Final Battle
Even more than his simple backstory and one-note personality, many fans of the series absolutely hated the ultimate battle against the King of the Demons. Unlike Muzan, the rest of the demons have incredibly intricate andpowerful Blood Demon Artsthat not only perfectly mirror their personalities but are complex superpowers granted to them by their demon nature and are basically the demons' answer to the Breathing Styles of the Demon Slayers.
From the first instance in the series, since Blood Demon Arts were shown and explained, fans had been eagerly waiting for the incredible secret power that only the Demon King had. However, the final battle against him was incredibly disappointing, as he never had any complex abilities at all. All he had at his disposal were long tendrils that moved at blinding speeds and could cut people with a single swipe.
Despite being a pretty powerful attack, there is absolutely nothing special or unique about it. Where the Upper Moons spent centuries honing their powers andperfecting their Blood Demon Arts, Muzan had been alive for 1000 years, yet in all this time, he had nothing to show for it in a fighting sense except for the standard demon traits of being faster and stronger than everyone else, making his ultimate fight against the entire Demon Slayer Corps simply one that was not up to par.
Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaibacan be streamed onAmazon PrimeandNetflix.
Demon Slayer
Based on Koyoharu Gotouge’s shonen manga, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is an action anime set in Japan during the early 20th century. Seeking revenge for the murder of his family while also looking to save his sister, Tanjiro joins the Demon Slayer Corps as they try to eradicate Demons led by Muzan.
