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Every anime fan knows that a great Shounen needs an equally cool power system. I mean, Naruto had its Jutsus, subdivided into Ninjutsu, Taijutsu and Genjutsu. One Piece has the Hakis, which is considered the ‘Power Of The Kings’. Jujutsu Kaisen has their Domain Expansions. And so, Demon Slayer and its Breathing Styles are kind of a given.
Breathing Styles actually tend to be a simpler system than the ones mentioned previously, considering all they are is a fantastical form of swordsmanship. With only 14 Breathing Styles overall, they also happen to be less complicated, with each stemming from one specific element, also known as Sun Breathing style. Which, yes, would make that the most powerful one.
But the other Breathing Styles derived from it are nothing to laugh about. Some of the most brutal attacks come from the most unassuming of elements. And just because they are more straightforward, doesn’t mean they aren’t interesting to go through. So, let’s rank all the Breathing Styles in Demon Slayer, in another round of Get Ranked!
Table of Contents
14. Flower Breathing
Slight tangent but I am always a fan of flower themed anything. I mean, my favorite Digimon was Lillimon, so Flower Breathing just sounded so pretty.
Sadly, there’s not much we know about it. Kanae Kocho, the one Flower Breathing wielder we knew of, died too soon for us to gauge how good it could be,
13. Insect Breathing
Don’t ask how Insect is an element. A branch of Flower Breathing, Insect Breathing focuses more on deception and poisoning than it does actual fighting.
I mean, it’s still a fighting style, obviously. But if you learn to stay wary of the wisteria based poison, or create an immunity to it, it’s much easier to overcome, as evidenced by Shinobu Kocho’s fights throughout the series.
12. Water Breathing
Okay so, this is going to be a recurring theme. Most of the basic elemental Breathing styles rank lower on the list. Despite being one of the original Breathing Styles, Water Breathing is not as impactful as one might believe.
It’s super adaptable, hence why Tanjiro Kamado learned it so quickly. But it definitely lacks oomph.
11. Beast Breathing
Same as Insect Breathing, Beast Breathing is derived from Flame Breathing and this was the first time we saw a Breathing Style be invented by a person in unique circumstances like Inosuke Hashibara.
It’s wild, with the use of two swords and an almost animalistic instinct. What it lacks in finesse, it makes up for in sheer raw power.
10. Flame Breathing
A fire based fighting style often gets a bad rep in most media. After all, you can’t control when a fire goes haywire. But the Flame Breathing style does have some merits to it. It has a lot of strength to its attacks, with a very wide stretch of attacking range, but its control can be a bit hit-or-miss.
Like Beast Breathing, there is a lot of potential. But, on the other side, there is very little flexibility.
9. Love Breathing
I am a Mitsuri Kanroji fangirl, thanks to her existence being clearly inspired by the Magical Girl aesthetic. So, Love Breathing is my personal favorite on the entire list.
Love Breathing is modified from Flame Breathing, likely an extension of fiery passion, and Mitsuri wields it with grace. With a whip like sword and complex gymnastic movements, it comes across like a deadly dance.
8. Sound Breathing
Everytime I see Sound Breathing, I go back to the time when Naruto first introduced Otogakure. Like, sound as an element is extremely unique.
And in Demon Slayer, Sound Breathing happens to be in the top Breathing styles, using distraction as a major offense, supplemented by bombs. Tengen Uzui, its main wielder, also employs Niichirin to amplify the style further.
7. Serpent Breathing
Of course, every Mitsuri fangirl automatically adores Obanai Iguro, the inventor of the Serpent Breathing style. It’s supposed to mimic the wavy movements of a snake, which explains its Water Breathing origins.
And much like Mitsuri, Obanai also has a unique blade to accentuate it. Serpent Breathing is known for its wide range of attack, which gives it a major boost in rank.
6. Wind Breathing
Wind Breathing is one of the most deadly Breathing Styes, and the second strongest of all the basic elements. With Wind Breathing, you get the extreme powers of natural disasters such as cyclones and hurricanes.
Because of wind’s nature, it can both be very targeted and also expand to a larger radius, being much more destructive than previously perceived.
5. Thunder Breathing
Okay, would it be more apt to call this Lightening Breathing instead? Yes, but maybe the name references its thunderous impact. Thunder Breathing is known for its speed and accuracy, meaning someone like Zenitsu can clock in a number of hits in record time.
The faster you move, the faster you dodge and the more time you get to deal blows.
4. Mist Breathing
Mist Breathing is a branch of Wind Breathing that combines some water elements and creates illusions of smokes and mirrors. I mean, using fog as a foil during battle is genius, because it completely confuses an opponent and leaves them open for an attack.
And Muichiro Tokito demonstrated how insane Mist Breathing can be, when he defeated an Upper Rank Demon, by himself.
3. Stone Breathing
As the last of the elemental Breathing Styles on this list, Stone Breathing is obviously the mightiest of them all. Think Earth Bending, but more fluid, somehow.
The thing with Stone Breathing is how it’s the most well-adjusted Breathing style, equally good at dealing blows as it is at defending from them. The balancing act means that whoever wields it, is probably going to be a strong opponent against any type of Demon.
2. Moon Breathing
Obviously, if Sun Breathing exists, then so does Moon Breathing. Though this particular style doesn’t stack up to its counterpart, it’s still extremely effective. However, it might be the only one employed by the Demon that created it, aka Kokushibo. I mean, the thing has nearly 16 different forms.
We can’t even gauge if there were more, because of how powerful Moon Breathing ended up being, just in the first few forms.
1. Sun Breathing
Obviously, the original was going to end up being the strongest. Sun Breathing was the most difficult to master, out of all the Breathing Styles.
Which makes sense, considering its creator was the original Demon Slayer. Encompassing all the best qualities of each Breathing Style derived from it, Sun Breathing is in a league of its own. No wonder Tanjiro Kamado got to utilize it later on.
So, safe to say that all the different Breathing Styles in Demon Slayer shine in their own ways. But nothing is going to beat Sun Breathing. Still, do you think we overestimated some of the styles? Or even underestimated? Sound off below!
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Anza Qureshi is a writer, licensed dentist and certified Uchiha fangirl. When she isn't doing root canals or listing down anime waifus, you can find her screeching about her favorite JRPGs across social media.
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