Akaza

Appearance

Akaza was a very muscular young man of average height with skin so fair it appeared bright green-tinged white, decorated by a pattern of thick blue lines, which resembled the criminal tattoos he had as a human. Akaza had short, bright pink hair that fluffed out around his head and inward-tilting yellow eyes with pink eyelashes and blue sclera that somewhat resembled cracked glass. The kanji for Upper Rank (上じょう弦げん, Jōgen?) and the daiji for Three (参さん, San?) were etched into his irises as well. The lines on his face curved through each of his eyes from below his ears to over his temples, another blue line running from the center of his hairline to the bridge of his nose, with two more lines running around his neck, three others branching off the lower one to his torso. The middle line ran directly down his chest to halfway down his stomach, and the other two branched off to the sides over each side of his chest to join the two other lines. This same three-line pattern also repeated around his waist. On his arms, lines were running down the front of his shoulders that ran into two more, which went around his biceps before continuing to run down to his wrists, below which each of his fingers was also dark blue with an orange fingernail, his toes also sharing this unusual appearance. Akaza wore little and only sported a short, sleeveless dark purple-pink haori cut off at his waist, left open to expose his chest, and decorated by a square pattern on his back. Below this, he sported a pair of baggy white pants that he rolled to just below the knee with a blue rope belt to secure them at his waist. Akaza preferred to go barefoot but wore a pair of chains of large, round, pink pearls around his ankles. During his human days as Hakuji, he had the same hair, just colored black rather than pink, and pale blue eyes with unusually-colored light pink eyelashes. He was also very muscular as a human and bore three black criminal tattoos on each forearm.

Personality

Akaza had a deeply rooted psychological need to become stronger and while he usually respected the strong, he did not get along with his fellow Upper Ranks, seeing them as his rivals. [8] He was especially antagonistic towards and somewhat jealous of the two Upper Ranks above him, Doma and Kokushibo, lashing out at Doma[9] and vowing to kill Kokushibo.[10] Even after being beheaded during his fight against Tanjiro and Giyu Tomioka, he stubbornly held on and continued to fight, remarking that he must become the strongest no matter what, to the point of overcoming all demons' shared weakness of decapitation by Nichirin Swords through nothing but sheer willpower and resolve.[11] It was later revealed that Akaza's desperate and stubborn pursuit of strength was to heal his sick father and to protect the ones he loved and cared about, namely his fiancée Koyuki and his teacher Keizo. Akaza also possessed a deep hatred for his past life as a human, believing he was absolutely worthless, and hating anyone or anything that reminded him of it, such as Tanjiro's view of how the strong should help the weak and Giyu's unwavering resolve reminding Akaza of Keizo. During both instances, he reacted negatively due to his own grief of not being strong enough to protect Keizo and Koyuki despite his heartfelt promises that ultimately "amounted to nothing", which led to his obsession with becoming strong. Akaza exemplified a stubborn and resilient personality as a human. However, he also possessed a noble, kind, and even honorable side. The crimes he committed were only driven by sheer desperation to obtain money for his father's medicine. Despite enduring numerous beatings, Akaza remained resolute, expressing his willingness to endure them for a hundred years if it meant his father's recovery. This unwavering determination showcased his deep prioritization of his loved ones' well-being over his own.

Abilities

Immense Regeneration: As Upper Rank Three, Akaza possessed one of the most extraordinary regenerative abilities as a result of assimilating a massive amount of Muzan's blood, giving him the capacity to instantly recover from both minor and severe slash wounds, and even regenerate lost limbs with minimal effort..[22][23][24] During his intense battle against Giyu and Tanjiro, his regenerative powers reached new heights. Despite having his head cut off by a Nichirin Sword, he miraculously survived and grew a new head afterward,[25][20] a feat typically thought impossible for demons aside from Muzan Kibutsuji. Even without a head, Akaza's regeneration speed remained nigh-instantaneous.[26] Additionally, he seemingly had precise control over his own regeneration speed, as evident when he intentionally slowed down his recovery to display his sliced arm and chest inflicted by Kyojuro then promptly healed the injury,[27] illustrating the futility of his opponents' attacks on a demon. Most notably, Akaza deliberately ceased his own regeneration after losing the will to fight and accepting defeat at the hands of Tanjiro