yaba | Demon Slayer Kimetsu No Yaiba

Yahaba (矢や琶は羽ば Yahaba?), also known as Arrow Demon (矢や印じるし鬼おに Yajirushi Oni?), was a Demon who aspired to join the Twelve Kizuki of Muzan Kibutsuji.

Appearance

Yabaha was a young man of medium build, with pale gray tinged skin and very short black hair. He had red, cat-like eyes, which he normally kept closed, and another pair of pale-circled orange eyes on the palms of his hands. A red arrow pointing up was marked on each of the irises, and the sclera was a glossy dark green.

Yabaha wore a plain olive green yukata with a brown belt and a dark gray haori, decorated with a green stripe that ran down her arms from shoulders to wrists. He also wore white socks and a pair of brown sandals with black laces, as well as a necklace of large blue beads.

Personality

Yahaba was a loyal Demon who only served to please his leader, Muzan Kibutsuji. Like Susamaru, he desired Muzan’s approval and the chance to become one of the twelve Kizuki. Although he had a sadistic personality, Yahaba preferred to do things in a clean and mature way; he disliked Susamaru’s immature attitude and hated getting dirty.

Even in death, Yahaba regretted being unable to win Muzan’s approval and only wished to vindictively kill Tanjiro Kamado for smashing his face into the ground.

Synopsis

Asakusa Arch

Outraged by the appearance of a demon slayer wearing hanafuda-like earrings in Asakusa, Muzan summons two of his disciples, Yahaba and Susamaru, to hunt him down. They walk the quiet streets at night and follow the trail of the Demon Slayer. Yahaba uses his Blood Demon Art to track his movements and finds that two other people are traveling with him.

Excited, Susamaru asks how they should kill them all, to which Yahaba replies that they should slaughter them as cruelly as possible for their lord, Muzan. He leads Susamaru to their enemies’ hideout and she destroys a concealment seal above the house using her deadly temari balls. Yahaba asks her how she plans to kill them and the demon Temari agrees that they must kill them all out of revenge.

Susamaru destroys the house piece by piece using his temari. While having fun playing handball, Yahaba notices that the demon slayer is accompanied by three demons. He tells Susamaru that she is too immature and to stop splattering her kimono with dirt. She simply tells him to go back and calm down, having exploited their enemies inside the house.

Yahaba plays a supporting role in the assault, hiding in the trees, away from the action. He uses the Koketsu Arrows to guide Susamari’s temari, tearing the house apart and even managing to rip off the head of the young Demon, Yushiro. Yushiro eventually recovers and informs Tanjiro that Yahaba is using arrows to guide bullets unnaturally.

Tanjiro sends Nezuko Kamado into the trees to stop Yahaba. She finds him and kicks him powerfully, but he blocks it and sends her flying with a Koketsu Arrow after telling her to stop stirring up dust. Yahaba leaves the trees and Muzan’s followers stand at a distance with their four opponents.

Tanjiro faces Yahaba alone while the others fight Susamaru. He senses an opening wire on the Arrow Demon but it breaks as soon as Yahaba activates his ability. He sends Tanjiro flying all over the place causing him to crash into the ground and several trees Yahaba recognizes one of the others as Lady Tamayo the Fugitive and vows to bring his head to Muzan as well. Susamaru asks if they can bring Muzan four heads but Yahaba says they only need two.

Yahaba forces Tanjiro into a defensive position with his arrows and wraps one around his arm. Tanjiro turns in the direction of the arrow to avoid losing his arm. Yahaba believes he is in control of the fight and calls the Demon Slayer a monkey for his acrobatics. Annoyed, Yahaba unleashes more vector arrows which Tanjiro ends up countering by wrapping them in his water breathing techniques and using momentum to direct his attack.
The Arrow Demon attempts to force Tanjiro away by activating his arrows, but only manages to make his sword extremely heavy. Despite this, Tanjiro manages to slice the blade and decapitates Yahaba with Water Breathing, Second Form: Enhanced, Side Water Wheel.

Slowly disappearing, Yahaba laments his inability to win Kibutsuji’s approval. He curses Tanjiro for rubbing his face in the ground and decides to take him with him. Yahaba’s body places Koketsu Arrows at Tanjiro from all directions as a parting gift. Tanjiro manages to avoid being crushed by unleashing consecutive sword techniques one after another. Yahaba disintegrates before she can kill him, but manages to knock him out of the rest of the fight.

Abilities

Yahaba’s signature fighting style used his Blood Demon Art: Koketsu Arrow at long range. It was especially effective when used in conjunction with Susamaru’s Temari. Together they were able to bring Tamayo the fugitive out of hiding and destroy it.

Flesh Manipulation : Like all demons, Yahaba can manipulate his own flesh for various purposes. In his case, he uses it to create two eyes on his palm with arrows for irises, possibly at the expense of his two normal eyes on his face.

blood demon art

Arrow Koketsu (紅こう潔けつの矢や Kōketsu no Ya?): Yahaba’s blood demon art granted him two snagged eyes with arrows as irises, one on each of his palms. Yahaba relied on these eyes to guide his senses and could use them to follow footprints. Eyes could also conjure vector arrows when blinking, forcing the desired target in the direction the arrow was pointing.

• Vector Manipulation: Yahaba can manipulate matter and interactions through their related vectors using his Koketsu Arrows.

battles

Asakusa Arc

• Tanjiro Kamado, Nezuko Kamado, Tamayo, and Yushiro vs. Susamaru and Yahaba

Triviality

• Yahaba was ranked 37th in the first character popularity poll, with 14 votes.
• Yahaba shares his Japanese and English voice actors with the video game protagonist Persona 5.
• Yahaba’s appearance may refer to the Japanese yōkai known as the Tenome or “eyes of the hand” (手の目 te no me?).