In a bloody action anime like Demon Slayer, not everyone is going to get the happy ending they deserve. In fact, some character endings feel weak or forgettable, happy or not, and it feels like Demon Slayer owed a little more to these characters. Fans would have been delighted to get more development and screen time out of these characters before they were written out, and perhaps those characters should have survived after all.
Of course, Demon Slayer wrote these character endings to maximize emotional impact or make room for more cast members, which are common reasons why stories treat some characters so roughly. That being said, it would have been nice to get more screen time out of these characters before their untimely demise or similar endings. Or, certain cast members needed a more substantial or happier endgame to satisfy viewers that much more.
Sabito Had to Die Because of His Master's Actions
Sabito Was Once a Promising Student
It's not uncommon for characters to appear mostly or entirely in flashback sequences, such as Sabito in Demon Slayer. His spirit showed itself early in the anime to encourage and guide Tanjiro Kamado the trainee, with Makomo's own specter tagging along. The two of them knew what it was like to be a student of Sakonji Urokodaki's, and tragically, that is the reason they ended up dying.
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Sabito was once a promising disciple of Sakonji's, to the point Giyu Tomioka felt inadequate compared to him. Because of the Hand Demon's grudge against Sakonji, that creature targeted Sabito during Final Selection and made sure to kill him. It was a tragic waste of Sabito's potential and cut his career short, and as a specter, he could only do so much. Demon Slayer fans may wish Sabito could have done more before or after his death, but his fate humbled him and restricted him to this limited role, with a modest ending to match.
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Gyokko Was Demoted to Jobber Status When Fighting Muichiro
Gyokko Was a Physical Threat and Nothing More
For the most part, the powerful Upper Moons got proper endings in Demon Slayer's story. In some cases, the Upper Moons' weaknesses were used against them, and in Akaza's and Kokushibo's cases, they could no longer live with what they had become. Those made for some cool character arc endings, but there's an exception: the Upper Moon 5, Gyokko. He only took part in a single battle, and the conclusion only flattered Muichiro Tokito.
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To save the day, of course Muichiro had to defeat Gyokko for all time, yet it's still such a shame for Gyokko's character. His brutal ending arrived when he was demoted to a mere jobber for Muichiro and his demon slayer mark, an underwhelming conclusion for an Upper Moon. It also means fans didn't get to see what kind of person Gyokko was before becoming a demon, with him lacking an endgame flashback to match Daki's and Akaza's own. Then again, having Gyokko die a total mystery helped reinforce his delightfully alien and incomprehensible nature.
Rei Soon Vanished From the Story Without Doing Anything
Rei Could Have Provided Insight on Muzan's Deceptions
Rei was such a minor character in Demon Slayer's story, it's understandable if most fans forgot her name or even forgot about her altogether. Her role was to reinforce the sinister, deceptive side of Muzan Kibutsuji early on, with Muzan fooling Rei into thinking he was her normal human spouse. Rei even had a child, another piece of this false family life that troubled Tanjiro greatly.
Rei ended up being just a minor plot device for Muzan's benefit, and not much else. She didn't need an epic ending with cool flashbacks, but it still would have been nice if Demon Slayer spared a minute to show fans the post-Muzan Rei. Fans wanted to see the spell broken on Rei, with her realizing what happened before finding the resolve to move on with her life.
Mukago Died Because Muzan Lost Faith in the Lower Moons
Only Enmu Was Spared, and Even Then, Only Barely
Among the Lower Moons, only Rui and Enmu had any serious screen time to show off their powers and develop their personalities. The same favor was not extended to the other four Lower Moons, such as the Lower Moon 4, Mukago. Like her allies, Mukago was only briefly seen as Muzan summoned his weaker Twelve Moons minions before massacring them. Mukago had no chance to show off her special abilities before meeting a grisly end.
Find all 10 pairs
Find all 10 pairs
For plot reasons, and to highlight Muzan's cruel nature, it made sense how the Lower Moons were butchered by their own master like that. All the same, it would have been fun to see one or more of them somehow escape to figure out what do to as loners. Any of them, such as Mukago, could have escaped to go rogue and either reconsider their lot in life or vow revenge against the master who decided they weren't worth keeping around. Before meeting her end, Mukago could have also showed viewers who she really was, either before or after her dark transformation.
Shinobu Kocho Never Lived to See Her Sister's Death Avenged
Kanao Had to Do It Instead
Shinobu Kocho's horrific ending is another example of a rough character ending that made sense narratively but still felt wrong in-universe. Not all revenge stories end well, and for many reasons, they actually often end badly or in weird ways. Such was the case for Thorfinn in Vinland Saga, and Demon Slayer's Shinobu Kocho didn't even get an opportunity to rethink revenge's role in her life. She vowed to destroy Doma at any cost to avenge Kanae, only to meet a sticky end.
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Shinobu's grim fate helped reinforce the emotional and physical stakes for Kanao's and Inosuke's pending battle with Doma in the next Demon Slayer movie. Personally, Shinobu ought to have had a better ending, perhaps a compromise where she survives but can no longer fight, similar to Tengen Uzui. Emotionally and morally, it felt like that "should" have happened, denying Shinobu her chance to get revenge while also allowing her to survive and figure out what her life means outside of avenging Kanae.
Shinjuro Had a Decent Ending, But it Could Have Been Even Better
The Demon Slayer Corps Needed its Flame Hashira Back
It made sense for the Flame Hashira, Kyojuro Rengoku, to die at Akaza's hands the way he did. Such an outcome bolstered the Mugen Train Arc's powerful emotional stakes and pushed Tanjiro to get stronger while seeking vengeance against Akaza. Then there's the question of Kyojuro's father, the retired Hashira Shinjuro Rengoku. It was interesting to see someone who looked so much like Kyojuro while acting so different, and there were good reasons why Shinjuro felt so cynical about slaying demons by that point.
All the same, Demon Slayer could have beefed up Shinjuro's ending a little more to glorify the Rengoku family. On the plus side, Shinjuro's personal arc had a solid conclusion regarding his grief and his connection to Tanjiro, which was enough for some fans. That said, it would have been fantastic to see Shinjuro swap his sake bottle for a Nichirin blade to show everyone what made him worthy of being the Flame Hashira in his heyday. He could have wrapped up his arc with a "one more battle" trope to fully redeem him as a bitter alcoholic father.
