Demon Slayer: 8 Anime Swordsmen Who Can Defeat Tanjiro, Ranked

One of the most popular characters in shonen anime is the swordsmen. These characters have given their lives to mastering a blade to become some of the most powerful people in their respective universes. Among them, Tanjiro Kamado from Demon Slayer is one of the most popular, especially in the current generation of anime.

From the start of Demon Slayer, Tanjiro showed an exceptional work ethic and a talent for swordsmanship, due to which he has grown to become one of the strongest blade wielders in his series. However, in the general world of anime swordsmanship, Tanjiro exists significantly below the level of some other popular characters.

8

Yoriichi Is the Greatest Swordsman in His Franchise

Series: Demon Slayer

Tanjiro isn’t even the strongest swordsman in his own series, as that title goes to Yoriichi Tsugikuni. For ages, the threat of the demons kept humanity on edge until a swordsman came along who was able to create a style that put the King of Demons on the back foot, birthing within him a fear that lasted centuries.

This was Yoriichi, and he was the first person to create and master Sun Breathing, which is the original Breathing Style from which all others are derived. Although Tanjiro did manage to unlock this power for himself through the Hinokami Kagura dance passed down to his family, he never reached the heights of Yoriichi’s incredible skill and strength with a blade.

7

Asta Makes Use of Incredible Magical Swordsmanship

Series: Black Clover

Swords and mastery of the blade actually play a huge role in the Black Clover franchise, and the main character is a perfect example of what the pinnacle of strength in the series can look like. Through his mastery of the four demon-killing swords in his arsenal, Asta’s swordsmanship is not only powerful, but also incredibly versatile.

Each of Asta’s four main weapons is different in overall shape and function, making him quite adept at using various kinds of weapons. Although Tanjiro represents the peak of what human swordsmanship can look like in Demon Slayer, the magic and higher general power scaling of Black Clover give Asta enough strength, speed, and transformations to comfortably beat him.

6

Guts’ Strength Is the Stuff of Legend

Series: Berserk

Though it has been present since the earliest days of Berserk, the strength that the protagonist, Guts, boasts is truly superhuman. This is why he is able to wield colossal greatswords, such as the Dragon Slayer, with ease and swing them around as if they weigh nothing. Only recently, it was revealed that Guts’ monstrous strength is due to his unique birth.

Guts was revealed to be a person born at the interstice between life and death, giving him many gifts and abilities, chief of which is his absurd power. Because of this, a hypothetical fight between him and Tanjiro would be quite one-sided, since Guts’ superior physical prowess and impossibly powerful weapon make him the far stronger one of the two.

5

Maki Is Simply Too Much for Tanjiro to Deal With

Series: Jujutsu Kaisen

Originally considered to be one of the weakest Jujutsu High students due to the limiting factors of her Heavenly Restriction, the Culling Game Arc would see Maki awaken her full potential, which eventually made her an equal to her legendary cousin, Toji Zenin. Due to this, her physical prowess made her one of the strongest characters in all of Jujutsu Kaisen.

Although she is not purely a swordsman like Tanjiro or the others, her mastery and use of the Soul Split Katana definitely qualify her for this list. In the same vein, she would absolutely destroy Tanjiro if they were to ever fight, since the full unlocking of her Heavenly Restriction has made Maki capable of standing up to the strongest sorcerers in Jujutsu Kaisen.

4

Sasuke’s Swordsmanship Is Quite Underrated

Series: Naruto

Much like Maki, Sasuke isn’t typically remembered as purely a swordsman like others on this list. Despite that, his mastery of his legendary blade, the Sword of Kusanagi, is incredible, and paired with his Rinne Sharingan and whole host of other abilities, makes him the most powerful Shinobi in the entire world alongside Naruto himself.

A fight between him and Tanjiro wouuldn’t be remotely fair, since Sasuke has access to broken abilities that Tanjiro simply can’t keep up with, as well as his strength and speed being leagues above the demon slayer’s own. Even purely in terms of swordsmanship, Sasuke can imbue his blade with lightning, which increases its physical danger even more and would erase Tanjiro easily.

3

Roronoa Zoro Is the Next Greatest Swordsman

Series: One Piece

As the central swordsman in a series filled to the brim with unparalleled masters of the blade, Zoro is one of the greatest and most iconic sword users in the entire anime industry. Due to his childhood dream of becoming the world’s greatest swordsman, Zoro has devoted his entire life to the pursuit of mastering his weapons, which is why he solely relies on Haki without Devil Fruit powers.

Moreover, Zoro uses three swords instead of just one, and each of these weapons is a legendary one that is renowned throughout the world. In a fight, Zoro’s immense speed and strength would be too much for Tanjiro to bear, and the Pirate Hunter also possesses incredible techniques that can destroy massive structures, which have allowed him to defeat some of the most powerful figures on the seas, so Tanjiro wouldn’t be an issue for him at all.

2

Ichigo Has Some Insanely Powerful Abilities

Series: Bleach

Ichigo Kurosaki is the protagonist of Bleach and is one of its most powerful characters. One of the central focuses of the franchise’s world is Zanpakuto, which are weapons that are used by the Soul Reapers that most often take the form of swords. Aside from being used as traditional blades, they also have immense Spiritual Energy and unique powers.

Because of this, Ichigo exists as more than a swordsman, since his and his weapon’s power is truly legendary. By the end of the series, Ichigo operates on an entirely different power scale compared to Tanjiro, so hecompletely outscales him without any real or meaningful effort.

1

Future Trunks Has Unparalleled Strength

Series: Dragon Ball

One of the greatest additions to the Dragon Ball franchise as a whole was the character of Future Trunks. Introduced in the Android Saga, the character made a stunning debut once he effortlessly cut up and defeated Mecha Frieza and King Cold, and from there, only got stronger in the Goku Black Arc, where his strength went through the roof.

Being a Saiyan from the Dragon Ball franchise, Trunks already scales to some of the highest tiers of fictional strength, since even blowing up a planet is nothing for him. Even with that world-ending power aside, Trunks’ speed and strength with the sword are light-years beyond what Tanjiro could deal with.

All of these series can currently be streamed on Crunchyroll.