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| “ | Friends? Stop being facetious. We're not in that kind of inferior relations. In truth, we are family. | „ |
| ~ Rui lectures Tanjirō Kamado as he tortures his so-called "older sister" for disobeying him and failing to follow his orders. |
Rui (累 Rui) is a major antagonist in the manga/anime series Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, being the main antagonist of the Moutain Natagumo Arc.
He is a member of the Twelve Kizuki, holding the position of Lower Rank Five and leader of the Spider Family, playing the role as the "son" of the family.
Originally a sickly child who was transformed into a demon by Muzan so that he could obtain a strong and healthy body, Rui murdered his parents after they reluctantly attempted to kill him for consuming other humans as nourishment. The guilt of his actions would lead Rui to try to replicate the loving bond he had with his parents using other demons through the fabricated Spider Family, but due to his warped and twisted personality after being injected with Muzan’s blood, he would control them through fear and treat them with extreme cruelty if they ever disobeyed his orders and went against his wishes.
He was voiced by Kōki Uchiyama in Japanese (who also voices Tomura Shigaraki in My Hero Academia and Shirou Kotomine in Fate/Apocyrpha) and by the late Billy Kametz in English.
Personality[]
Following his parents' failure to protect him and his transformation into a demon, Rui became a disturbed and childish individual who desired the close bonds of family and expected family members to perform their own roles. To him, "family members" who do not perform their roles as he expects them to (namely to protect him unconditionally or follow his instructions) are worthless and as good as dead.
Despite the fact that he yearns for a "family", his vision of one is incredibly twisted. All he wanted was to make his fellow kin fear him, which he accomplishes through repeated abuse and unrepentant sadism. Rui also shows no tolerance for failure and seeks to terrify and punish whoever fails him.
However, Rui still shows a sensitive side to his ideas of a perfect family. He is clearly offended when Tanjiro calls out his actions, saying Rui's family is made of naught but a fake bond and pure terror and toxicity. This stance contrasts heavily with his desire to have Nezuko for himself as his younger sister, particularly after witnessing her selfless act of shielding Tanjiro from his threads. Much to Tanjiro's shock and disgust, Rui soon becomes obsessed with the idea of developing a bond with her, albeit still through fear and torture.
This contrarian behavior is further evidence of Rui's morbid delusions, mental insanity, and emotional instability. Deep down, Rui is a child who fears loneliness and desires to be loved, but his standards towards love are nothing but fear and respect with himself at the center of his so-called "family".
Biography[]
Past[]
Prior to his transformation into a demon, Rui was born with a weak and frail human body. This made it very difficult for him to walk and/or even breathe, causing him to spend a majority of his life trapped within his home despite being cared for by his parents.
Until one night, he was approached by Muzan, who offered to save him. Rui accepted this offer, unaware that his transformation would cause him to become an evil monster. After being transformed him into a demon. Rui felt great joy for having a healthy body of his own, however, he was no longer was able to walk under the sun and had to eat humans in order to obtain sustenance. As a result, he killed a man who walked to his home, and his parents were completely horrified when they witnessed it. His father attempted to kill him, but Rui killed both of his parents in return.
However, unbeknownst to Rui, his parents were not trying to kill him in cold blood and just wanted their child's soul to be pure, and had intended to commit suicide to atone for killing him. Before her death, Rui's mother apologized to him for not being able to birth him with a healthy body, but Rui's mind was consumed with too many feelings of betrayal and rage to listen. He went into an emotional breakdown. However, he moved on with Muzan guiding his ways and, eventually, his grief morphed him into the twisted figure he was known for.
Natagumo Mountain Arc[]
Following the death of his family, Rui created a fake family of his own, but tortured them, leading to the family's so-called mother wishing for death in order to get her freedom from Rui's tyranny. Eventually, Tanjiro caught Rui torturing his so-called "sister", and called him out for it. Tanjiro then explained to Rui that terror does not make a family bond. This angered Rui, prompting him to engage in battle with Tanjiro in order to prove his point.
Just as Tanjiro was about to plunge his sword through Rui's neck, Rui used his strings to destroy Tanjiro's sword. At the last moment, Tanjiro ducked the super-sharp string, saving his own skin. Even with most of the blade gone, Tanjiro managed to gain the upper hand after using Hinokami Kagura for the first time. But just before the heroic Demon Slayer could land the final blow, Rui beheaded himself in order to protect his life. Recapitating himself, and now greatly enraged, Rui attempted to finish his opponent off, but Giyu arrived just in time and saved Tanjiro. Annoyed with Giyu's interference, Rui used his strongest art to end the fight immediately, but Giyu used a defensive technique to completely nullify the demon's attack. Before Rui can make his next move, Giyu quickly slashed Rui's neck, at which point Lower 5 met his end.
Redemption[]
| “ | Everything is my fault. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry!! | „ |
| ~ Rui wails with happiness after being reunited with his parents. |
As his body starts to disintegrate after Giyū sliced off his head, Rui regains his memories of when he was a human, and when he had first become a demon. He is overcome with grief once again, and remembers that what he wanted more than anything was to be with his parents again, realizing that they did in act love him. However, Rui looks back on the many people he killed, and he starts to greatly doubt whether he can join them, and is almost certain he's going to Hell. However, much to his surprise, he opens his eyes to see that he has joined his mother and father, and has been assured by both that they are willing to follow their son even to hell. As his soul regains its humanity, Rui bursts into tears of joy and remorse, and hugs his parents while repeatedly apologizing to them.
At the same time, his disintegrating body is petted by the sympathetic Tanjiro, much to Giyū's perplexity.
Trivia[]
- Rui was ranked 16th place in the first character popularity poll with 191 votes.
- Rui was Muzan's favourite Lower Rank demon and possibly the only living being he came to feel appreciation for, because:
- Rui's past as a weak and sick boy, was very similar to his own backstory.
- Muzan encouraged Rui to seek a new family and even gave him permission to create more demons despite his status as a mere Lower Rank.
- Finally, despite all of the failures of the Lower Rank demon, Rui's death was the straw that broke the camel's back for Muzan. He decided to disband and eliminate the Lower Moons for being too weak for his standards.
- He is the second Lower Rank whose demon name is the same as his human name, presumably to try to remember his human life along with a family bond. (The first being Enmu.)
- Rui was the first member of the Twelve Kizuki to be confronted in the series, since Kyogai (the former Lower Rank Six) was already discarded from his duty by the time Tanjiro confronted him.
- Rui is the only character who destroys Tanjiro's sword in battle.
- Interestingly, this wasn't the first time when Kōki Uchiyama (the voice actor of Rui) and Natsuki Hanae (the voice actor of Tanjiro) voiced two enemy characters. They also voiced Shirou Kotomine and Sieg, respectively, in Fate/Apocyrpha (2017).
External Links[]
- Rui on the Kimetsu No Yaiba Wiki
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 Villains
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Demons Twelve Kizuki Replacement Upper Moons Lower Moons Former Lower Moons Muzan's Lesser Followers Humans | ||