Shinobu Kochou

Shinobu Kochou, the Insect Pillar, uses "Insect Breathing." She is 18 years old and wears hair ornaments and a haori resembling butterfly wings. She is proficient in pharmacology and has created a "demon-killing poison" from wisteria flowers. She has adopted Kanao Tsuyuri as her foster child. Previously, she had three other foster children, but all were killed by demons.

She first appeared in the Natagumo Mountain Arc and is a key character in the Butterfly Mansion Arc. She is 151 cm tall and weighs 37 kg.

Despite being one of the smallest and most delicate female soldiers, she excels in burst speed and mobility. It was said by Douma that she was the fastest Pillar he had ever encountered. She lacks the muscular strength to swing a sword and is the only swordsman among the Pillars who cannot decapitate a demon, but she has exceptional thrusting strength, enough to penetrate rock. Her Nichirin Sword is designed to maximize this ability, with a minimal curve and a unique spear-like shape, specialized for stabbing. Since stabbing alone cannot kill demons, she coats her blade with specially formulated poisons for each demon. Her swordsmith is Tetsutetsu Kawarawara, and her sandals have hidden blades in the heels.

She always smiles and maintains polite speech with everyone. Zenitsu has remarked that she is beautiful enough to live off her looks alone. She advocates for demons and humans to get along, and has shown willingness to help demons who beg for their lives, but she also suggests that they can get along by torturing them for each person they have killed, showing a severe and twisted side to her otherwise gentle demeanor.

When she first met Nezuko Kamado at Natagumo Mountain, she tried to kill her but was stopped by Giyuu Tomioka. After the Pillar Meeting, she became one of the few who understood Tanjirou Kamado. She runs the "Butterfly Mansion," a facility similar to a hospital for the Demon Slayer Corps, where she takes care of members who have sustained serious injuries. She dotes on the children at the mansion as if they were her own sisters.

She once lived happily with her sister Kanae and their parents until a demon killed their parents, and they were saved by Himejima. To protect the happiness of others, she and her sister joined the Demon Slayer Corps. Her beloved sister Kanae, who dreamed of getting along with demons, was brutally murdered. While inheriting her sister's dream of never losing her smile, she harbors a deep-seated disgust for demons, who lie and attack people with their bare instincts, leading to her conflicted behavior. These conflicting feelings are entrusted to Tanjirou, who, despite a similar past, never wavers in his belief in saving demons.

In the Infinity Castle Arc, she encounters Upper Rank Two, Douma, and realizes he is the one who killed Kanae. Despite her full effort and poison, she is overpowered and eventually absorbed by Douma in front of Kanao, after having her bones crushed. She had been ingesting wisteria flowers gradually to transform her body into a mass of deadly poison, 700 times the lethal dose, and deliberately let Douma consume her to poison him, entrusting Kanao with the final decapitation. After Douma's death, her soul praises Kanao with Kanae before reuniting with their parents.

Techniques:

Insect Breathing

Butterfly Dance: Frolic - Leaps high into the air and upon landing, continuously injects poison into the enemy. In the anime, this is visually enhanced with butterflies swirling around, with poison seeping from a butterfly that lands on the body.

Bee Sting Dance: Flutter - A surprise thrust at the opponent.

Dragonfly Dance: Compound Eye Hexagon - Rapidly delivers six thrusts with a blade turned into poison needles, injecting a large amount of poison.

Centipede Dance: Hundred-Legged Zigzag - Moves powerfully enough to gouge the ground, confusing the opponent by moving in all directions and attacking during the openings created.