28/06/2023
⚠️SPOILER ALERT!!⚠️
(CHAPTER 188-189)
IGURO OBANAI'S TRAGIC BACKSTORY IN DEMON SLAYER CHAPTER 188-189
Obanai was born into a clan of thieves who lived off the riches that had been stolen from those who had been killed by a demon that they worshiped. This demon took the form of a woman with a snake-like lower body and face, and had a great taste for newborn babies, which is what the family sacrificed to her in exchange for their riches.
As the first boy born into the family for 370 years, Obanai Iguro lived out the beginning of his life locked in a wooden cage being excessively spoiled by his family, who insisted on bringing him so many plates of rich food that he became sick of it due to the overally pungent odors of the food and the poor ventilation of his room. The Serpent Demon also took a liking to Obanai, since he was a rare male child with heterochromia, and would spend the nights slithering around his cage in the dark and staring at him, which frightened Obanai so much that he couldn't sleep until the noises were gone.
When he turned twelve, Obanai was finally allowed to leave his cell for the first time in his entire life. He was taken into a room that appeared to be an expensive shrine, and put face to face with the Serpent Demon for the first time, immediately causing him to shake in fear and terror at the demon's appearance and the realization that this was the very same thing slithering in his room staring at him every night of his life. The demon remarked that Obanai was very small and decided that she should wait to eat him when he was bigger. She ordered his mouth to be cut wider, all the way to his ears, to match hers due to her "liking" him. The blood that he shed from this procedure was then collected into a chalice that she then drank from.
Imprisoned back in his cell with his wound now covered by a bandage, Obanai began only to think of escape and survival upon realizing his fate. He began to scratch away at the lattice of his cell with a stolen hairpin he took from one of his relatives that he would then use during the night in order to prevent anyone from noticing his attempt to escape. Day by day he would be in a constant state of worry and fear, shaking in terror at the possibility of what would happen if the Serpent Demon or his family would discover his attempt at freedom. The only being that he could trust was a small snake that had somehow strayed into his cage and became his only friend, Kaburamaru.
a wooden chunk of the bars and escape into the night. As he ran, the Serpent Demon began to pursue him, almost catching up to him and killing him before the Flame Hashira, Shinjuro Rengoku, by chance came to his rescue. Because of Obanai's escape, the Serpent Demon had killed nearly all fifty of his relatives; the only surviving member of his bloodline was his older cousin, who had also been saved by the Hashira. When they were reunited, however, she rejected him and began to violently attack and claw at him due to her blaming him for their family's deaths at the hand of the demon due to them messing up and allowing him to escape, screaming at him that he should have just let her eat him.
Due to these harsh words from his cousin and his own sense of self loathing and guilt for having been born into such a family and allowing them to die for his survival, Obanai joined the Demon Slayer Corps and decided to turn all his rage onto whatever demons he could find, believing that he would feel like a better person if he risked his life for the sake of others and somehow ease his guilt. Despite this, he constantly felt as if his dead family would continue to drag him down despite the good he accomplished as a Demon Slayer, and his lingering self loathing would haunt him everyday.
After some time, Obanai found someone within the Demon Slayer Corps who was distressed over getting lost; Mitsuri Kanroji. Helping the young woman to find her way, they became acquainted and quickly became close. Obanai especially enjoyed being with Mitsuri as he felt like he was a normal boy due to her brimming optimism.
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