Inosuke Hashibira has a unique and intriguing background. Raised by wild boars for the majority of his life, the identity and fate of his parents remain a mystery to both the audience and the other characters in the series. However, information about Inosuke’s parents has recently been revealed in the manga. Spoilers ahead!
According to the series, Inosuke‘s father was abusive, leading his mother to flee and seek refuge in a cult led by Doma. She believed that she had finally found a safe haven, only to discover that the reality was far from it.
Inosuke had a difficult and traumatizing past that shaped the events of his life. It all began with his mother, Kotoha Hashibara, who fled from her abusive husband and took refuge in a cult called Eternal Paradise, led by one of the strongest upper moon demons, Doma. Kotoha was desperate to find a safe place for herself and her baby, Inosuke, and believed that Doma would protect them.
However, it wasn’t long before Kotoha realized that Doma was not the benevolent leader she had thought he was. The truth was that Doma used the cult for his own benefit, feeding on the followers to gain strength and power. Kotoha was horrified by this revelation and tried to escape immediately, knowing she was in danger.
Despite her best efforts to escape, Kotoha and Inosuke were easily followed by Doma. Kotoha was faced with a heart-wrenching dilemma when she realized that escaping from Doma, was impossible. Holding her child, Inosuke, tightly in her arms and in tears, Kotoha made the difficult choice to throw him into a river below the cliff, hoping that he would survive.
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How did Inosuke survive without his parents?
Fortunately, Inosuke’s life took a turn for the better when he was raised by a group of wild boars. Despite the odds stacked against him, he not only survived the fall into the river but thrived in the wilderness, honing his survival skills and becoming a fierce demon slayer. While the exact details of his survival of the fall to the river are unknown, it’s clear that his unwavering spirit and determination to survive played a crucial role in his life. Throughout his life with the boars, Inosuke learned the ways of the wild and developed a strong sense of independence and self-reliance.
Why didn’t Doma eat Inosuke’s mother?
Although being eaten off eventually by Doma over the cliff, it is revealed in chapter 160 of the Demon Slayer manga that Doma wasn’t initially planning to eat Kotoha. During a heated battle between Doma and Inosuke, Doma told Inosuke that 15 years ago, he had taken in a woman who had been severely beaten by her husband and left with a swollen face and partial blindness. He described her as a beautiful person once he healed her face. She was the only one who had a lasting impression on Doma. In fact, Doma notes that Inosuke closely resembles his mother. The main reason why Doma wasn’t eating Kotoha was because of her beauty and voice.
What did Inosuke do after discovering his past?
After reliving his past through Doma, Inosuke was filled with rage. He was ready to risk his life just so that he could avenge his mother. In a decisive moment in battle, Inosuke was able to use his new breath style, “Breath of the Beast, Throwing Slice,” to lock Doma’s head, allowing Kanao to behead him and end Doma’s reign of terror.
In the aftermath of the battle, Inosuke initially felt a sense of victory and relief that he finally had revenge. However, as the reality of his past began to sink in, he realized that he once had a family beyond the wild boars he was raised with. Still, he felt a sense of abandonment and believed that his mother had left him until Tanjiro and Zenitsu helped him understand that the fact that his mother gave him a name meant that she loved him so much.
In this moment of realization, memories of his mother holding him in her arms flooded back to Inosuke, and he burst into tears, crying out, “mom.” This scene showed Inosuke’s emotional journey as he grappled with feelings of anger and loss but ultimately found comfort in the memory of his mother’s love.
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