Gyōmei Himejima, the Stone Hashira or Stone Pillar, is a towering enigmatic figure in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba. Although introduced briefly early in the series, Gyōmei Himejima will be more prominent in the Hashira Training Arc.
Gyōmei Himejima is truly the embodiment of a gentle giant. Although he possesses immeasurable strength and power as the strongest Hashira in the Demon Slayer Corps, he also has the biggest heart. Although he has not played a major role in previous arcs, his impact on other characters and the series is undeniable.
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The Hashira Training Arc will highlight side characters like the Stone Hashira, abilities, backstory, and more. This article provides the essential information any fan of Demon Slayer needs to know going into this new arc.
Tragic Origins
Tragedy and resilience paves Gyōmei Himejima’s backstory in the manga. Orphaned at a young age, Gyōmei lost his parents and his sight to illness. Gyōmei developed heightened hearing to help him navigate and survive life. His hearing abilities are so good that they allow him to detect and discern a person’s intentions. However, people either believe Gyōmei was faking his blindness or lying and outright dismissing him as incapable due to his blindness.
Despite Gyōmei’s harsh beginnings, his compassion for others did not diminish. Later on, Gyōmei lived in an old temple and adopted nine other orphans. Their home was located in an area often plagued by demon attacks. To protect everyone, Gyōmei would burn wisteria incense to keep demons away and gave the children strict instructions never to leave the temple’s boundary at night.
Unfortunately, tragedy struck when one of the orphans broke Gyōmei’s rules. The boy went beyond the boundary and crossed paths with a demon. To save his life, the boy betrayed Gyōmei and the others and helped the demon enter the home to eat the others. Gyōmei tried to keep the children safe, but only one child, Sayo, survived.
Gyōmei managed to fight the demon with his bare hands, discovering he possessed extraordinary strength in the process. By morning, Gyōmei had killed the demon, and its body disappeared in the sun’s light. When villagers arrived at the temple, Sayo misspoke when she told the villagers what happened and accidentally framed Gyōmei as the murderer of the other orphans.
Becoming the Stone Hashira
Following the incident at the temple, Gyōmei Himejima felt guilty that he had failed to save everyone after being falsely accused of murder and sentenced to death. Kagaya Ubuyashiki, the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps, stepped in and helped get Gyōmei released before he was executed. After his release, Gyōmei met Kagaya and chose to join the Demon Slayer Corps.
Shortly after joining the Demon Slayers, Gyōmei managed to earn the highest ranking as the Stone Hashira. Becoming a hashira was not easy. Most people usually take years of intense training to reach the level of Hashira. Due to Gyōmei ‘s impressive strength and other abilities, he became the Stone Hashira in just two months.
In his role as the Stone Hashira, Gyōmei helps save many lives. His path even crossed with other future demon slayers and hashiras through his heroic efforts. For example, Gyōmei saved Shinobu and Kanae by taking down the demon responsible for killing their parents. Gyōmei inspired the girls to learn how to kill demons, which led to them joining the corps and becoming Hashiras later on. The Stone Hashira’s mentorship did not end with Shinobu and her sister. He also mentors Genya Shinazugawa, the younger brother of Sanemi, the Wind Hashira.
Abilities & Weapons
It is unclear where Gyōmei’s superhuman strength and durability come from exactly. He was most likely born with incredible strength, given that he could kill a demon with his bare hands. Through strenuous training and honing his skills, Gyōmei has become more powerful over the years. Thanks to his training, he can withstand the harshest elements and conditions. Gyōmei is one of the few demon slayers that does not fight with a Nichirin sword.
Instead, Gyōmei uses a chained axe attached to a spiked flail made from the same metal as the Nichirin swords. This weapon helps Gyōmeito utilize his enhanced hearing to pick up vibrations through the weapon’s chain to sense his enemy’s movements and the area around him. As the stone Hashira, Gyōmei is a master of the Stone Breathing Style. Gyōmei uses his enhanced sense of hearing and strength with his breathing style to give him an advantage over his opponents.
Personality
Although his massive build and demeanor seem intimidating, he is compassionate and devout. Gyōmei Himejima is often seen crying because of his boundless empathy for others. He is the kind of person who hates the suffering of others and values all life. Even the idea of hurting another living thing disgusts him, and that even goes for demons.
Despite his soft nature, Gyōmei tends to not trust people around him, most likely due to his ability to sense people’s true intentions and past incidences. Gyōmei’s initial suspicion towards others causes him to be a bit of a mystery to some people. However, he can open up to others once he knows they can be trusted.
What To Expect from Gyōmei in the Hashira Training Arc
The Hashira Training Arc covers chapters 128 through 136 in the Demon Slayer manga. The arc occurs shortly after Nezuko’s immunity to the sun is revealed in the Swordsmith Village Arc. The Demon Slayer Corps recognizes that Muzan will naturally target and try to capture Nezuko next. Following a hashiras meeting, Gyōmei proposes the idea of a training program to help the corps members strengthen not just themselves but all of the corps. The program requires the lower-ranked members to undergo intense training, led by the hashiras, to prepare for the impending final battle.
During the arc, Gyōmei leads the strength training to help the slayers like Tanjiro, Inosuke, and Zenitsu stabilize and strengthen their bodies. Though extreme, his training methods helped lower-ranked players like Tanjiro, Inosuke, and Zenitsu significantly increase their endurance, defense, and power. In the manga towards Tanjiro’s completion of training under Gyōmei, the Stone Hashira acknowledges the young slayer’s efforts. During this time, he shares his backstory and admits he did not trust Tanjiro initially. However, towards the end of their discussion, Tanjiro earns the Stone Hashira’s trust.
You can learn more about Gyōmei Himejima, the Stone Hashira, by reading the manga or watching the latest season of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.
