Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba has a plethora of demons to choose from, and among them, the twelve kizuki are the strongest. Nakime is the Upper Rank 4 demon and also the strongest female demon present (except Nezuko), with the power to control the Infinity Castle. Yet, some fans have pointed out her low kill count.
As a demon, she was never portrayed to have killed anyone in the series. Yet, she is one of the strongest demons and is the only Upper Rank who survived the longest in the series finale. Muzan was also quite satisfied with her performance until the final arc of Demon Slayer.
Why Does Nakime Have a Surprisingly Low Kill Count in Demon Slayer?
Unlike the other demons in the fraternity of the twelve kizuki, Nakime is surprisingly non-violent. She isn’t nearly as sadistic as the others and is aloof and taciturn at times. You will rarely see her displaying emotions, and she is always ready to obey Muzan’s orders. But how is it possible that a demon as strong as her has no known kill count in the franchise?
According to a fan theory, Nakime was ordered to find the Blue Spider Lillies by Muzan, an important ingredient to his evil schemes. Nakime, being extremely obedient to Muzan, did not try to go on any external adventures or murder sprees outside of her mission. During the Swordsmith Village Arc, she is also seen berating the upper Ranks for their failure to find the flowers.
Spoiler Alert !!!
Demon Slayer Infinity Castle Arc Spoilers Ahead
In the Hashira Training Arc, she played the primary role in locating Kagaya Ubuyashiki as well as Nezuko Kamado, which led Muzan to murder the leader of the Demon Slayer Corps. During the Infinity Castle Arc, she was responsible for transporting the main characters and the Hashiras to the Infinity Castle. Thus, she has rarely been tasked with killing anyone and is rather responsible for carrying out technical orders by Muzan. Instead, she helped Muzan and the others reach their targets by successfully spying on them.
Nakime’s Past as a Human is Disturbingly Different to Her Demon Self
While Nakime’s kill count as a demon is next to none (or was just never shown in the series), as a human, she was a surprisingly ferocious woman. Demon Slayer revealed that in the past, she used to be an amateur biwa player. Before one of her first major performances, she realized that her husband had gambled away the only presentable kimono that she had.
In a feat of rage, she killed her husband with a hammer. She had to perform in her tattered kimono, but the traumatic sensation of committing a murder for the first time made her hands tremble as she played biwa. However, the sound that came out was liked by her audience, resulting in her getting a fat tip. This led Nakime to develop a tendency to kill people before her performances.
The trembling of her hand thus produced a unique music that made her performances stand out from the rest. One fine night before a stage appearance, as she was choosing a target, she happened to try to murder Muzan, who was impressed by her skills. Thus, he spared her and offered to make her a demon, to which she agreed.
The Demon Slayer manga is available to read on Viz Media while the anime is currently streaming on Crunchyroll.