Name: The 12 Kizuki Were Inspired By Real-Life Diseases! (Demon Slayer)
Uploaded: 2025-09-30T21:01:30.000Z
Duration: 8 min 29 s
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Did you know that the 12 Kizuki were probably modeled after diseases?

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If that sounds interesting, just you wait.

And did we forget to mention Muzan himself might be representing something as well?

So we're going to run through them, and you definitely don't want to miss out.

We'll start with one of the more obvious ones, Hantengu.

If you take a look at him, there's a huge fleshy lump of some kind on his forehead.

A tumor is basically an excessive growth of cells multiplying at an abnormal.

Tumors are of course what cause cancer, a group of diseases that take many forms.

Hantengu's mate power involves splitting off into alternate versions of himself whenever part of his body is separated.

With each of his forms getting stronger, this could be a parallel between the rapid splitting and growth of cancer cells.

Hantengu is also the only member of the upper six depicted with horns.

Sometimes tumors take a heart shape resembling a horn.

These horns are caused by an excess of protein found in the body known as keratin, which is what our fingernails are made.

Hantengu could also be modeled after leprosy, a disease where symptoms include a loss of eyebrows, skin deformations, and

Also called Hansen's disease, it bears a similar ring to his name, Hantengu.

Plus the Japanese name for leprosy translates as lie bacteria, which fits Hantengu since he's a compulsive liar.

Another interesting thing about leprosy is that throughout history, people with leprosy were heavily feared and discriminated against, with some even banished to leper colonies.

So this attitude towards leprosy could explain Hanten Tentengu's meek personality and the anger and hatred he has inside of him.

Like with his partner, Gyokko has one piece of his design that stands out.

Those being the tiny arms hanging off his body.

Instead, his lower body just disappears into his face.

This resembles a genetic condition called phocomelia that results in people being born with unusually short limbs, like arms or legs, similar to Gyokko.

Usually, phocomelia is either caused by genetic mutation or if pregnant woman taking unprescribed medication.

In the 1950s, a drug called thalidomide caused a large number of children to be born with phocomelia.

But of course, Demon Slayer is set decades before that.

Gyokko's also shown to be pretty athletic, especially in his power to form.

This could be a reference to circus performer Eli Bowen, who had phocomelia affecting his legs, but

Others have theorized that Gyokko is meant to represent amoebic dysentery.

It's a disease that spreads through contaminated water and fish, which does make some sense as Gyokko is some sort of fish person.

This theory is further emphasized by his use of a water manipulation technique that is shaped like a vase, as well as summoning floating fish demons.

Moving on, we have Doma, who seems to be modeled after a disease any Red Dead Redemption players may already be familiar with.

The main evidence for this is that tuberculosis is a deadly disease that affects the lungs, and

Doma's ice powers are shown to have a similar effect to the disease.

If you breathe in any of DOMA's ice crystals, they basically freeze the lungs from the inside and slowly kill off the cells inside.

Not only that, Doma's appearance in the anime was depicted with blood around his mouth.

The most common symptom of tuberculosis is violently coughing, which usually results in coughing of blood.

Some might say that Doma just happened to be feasting, but

we can't help but think leaving the blood on there was intentional.

These days, tuberculosis is a treatable illness, but

in the old days, like when Demon Slayer was set, having it was essentially a long, slow death.

Moving on, we're going to talk about one of the lower six, Enmu.

The disease he seems to be connected to is known as African Sleeping Sickness.

It's a parasitic disease spread by insects like tsetse flies.

If it's not treated, it can lead to symptoms like disorientation, extreme fatigue, and

personality changes that eventually leads to death.

Remember how he sent some kids to enter the Demon Slayer subconscious to destroy their spirit cores?

This makes sense as the personality changes leading to death is akin to how they end up in an empty shell if the core is destroyed.

Obviously this connects to Enmu and his sleep based powers.

Additionally, the parasitic nature of the disease is somewhat similar to how Enmu becomes a parasite himself, merging with the tr.

Up next, we've got the other Demon Moon introduced during the Mugen Train arc, Akaza.

Admittedly, he was a bit harder to figure out, but we think he represents measles.

This makes sense as measles is known in Japan as AKA Mogasa, which sounds close enough to Akaza.

But more importantly, the belt he wears and the beads around his ankles is a reference to Buddhism and Japanese superstition.

You probably already knew that measles requires a vaccine, but here's the thing.

Generally speaking, Buddhism is rather conservative in using any life form to create vaccines.

Plus, the measles vaccine wasn't invented until the 1960s anyway.

Considering Gitoge likes incorporating religion and cultural references in Demon Slayer, we say this theory does hold up well.

Now, let's take a moment to talk about the two replacement members of the demon Kaigaku and Nakime.

Starting with Kaigaku, we think he may be modeled after scabies, a skin condition caused by a mite burrowing under the skin of a human.

Kaigaku's demonic form has markings on his body that almost look like a rash or crack than the skin.

Scabies is a treatable condition that you can recover from, but

extreme cases of scabies can get pretty bad with the infected skin crusting over.

We won't show any pictures, but trust us, it's pretty bad.

Kaigaku's facial markings could also be based on the pattern of a lightning burn, which would make sense given that Kaigaku knows thunder breathing.

As for Nakime, she was pretty easy to figure out.

Nakame's biggest feature is the enormous bloodshot eye in the middle of her forehead, so she's probably meant to represent conjunctivitis, more commonly known as pink eye.

The biggest symptom of pink eye is inflammation around the eyes, and

Nakime literally has one giant eye, so we think it fits.

Next up, we got Rui, lower rank 5, and head of the spider family.

Remember the backstory scene during his fading where his mom apologized to him for not giving him a strong body?

Now, he was a bit hard to figure out, but

we think we actually found what he may have been inspired by.

It's a broad term for a lot of different conditions, but

essentially it's a muscle disorder where people affected by it are born with much weaker muscles and bones bones than the average person.

He looks to be the youngest of the lower six and has a much slimmer and less muscular build than most of the others.

A symptom of this disease being slower to reach developmental goals.

There were also scenes showing him struggling to even walk.

Even though he's a Demon Moon, he still instinctively feels a need to be protected and positions himself as the youngest person in the family, which is A stark contrast to his natural powers.

Next up, the upper rank, one of the 12 Kizuki, Kokushibo.

He is the strongest of the 12 Kizuki, and

we think that he's based on one of the most deadly diseases of all time, the bubonic plague, better known as the Black Death.

It was an incredibly deadly plague that swept across Europe and parts of asia in the 14th century and killed millions of people.

Quite fitting for the strongest member of the demon moons.