Unhinged is the perfect word to describe Upper Rank Two, Douma, from Demon Slayer. Whether it’s Muzan or death itself, nothing can faze Douma. He enjoys ridiculing others, and hardly expresses any other emotions than delight. That’s how he usually interacts with the other demons.
As for his interactions with humans, he’s more condescending and considers them inferior. The best thing to expect from the character is nothing. It’s almost difficult to define him, as there’s hardly anything he feels strongly about. He’s incapable of feeling emotions, which is also one of his defining traits.
This is why Douma’s final interaction with Shinobu right before his death shocked fans. Douma wondered if he felt love for Shinobu, and his confession confused fans. As understandable as the doubt is, there’s a simple explanation of Douma’s words.
Douma made fans believe that he’s in love
Douma was introduced during the later parts of the story in Demon Slayer. During his introduction scene, Akaza hit him quite badly, ripping half of his face off. If the characters who fall under the same archetype as him had been in the same situation, their reactions would have been a lot different. They would have grown aggressive or shown Akaza his inferiority with a callous smile on their faces.
However, Douma simply continued the conversation without any extreme reactions. Similarly, he never reacted to anything in expected ways. This is why his final interaction with Shinobu confused fans, as this Reddit post explains.
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Douma was his usual self throughout the final fight, but right before dying, he called Shinobu cute and even wondered if he was feeling love for the Hashira. If any other character had been in this situation, it would have made more sense. With Douma, some fans dismissed his words as mere gibberish, while others found themselves confused.
His flashback showed us how even death couldn’t make him feel something as a child. His apathy was truly convincing. And that is why the interaction with Shinobu came as a total surprise. A confession wasn’t something fans typically expected from Douma, which explains the confusion. Though there’s a simple way to explain it all.
The real meaning of Douma’s words in Demon Slayer
Douma killed numerous humans throughout his life. He must have come across how humans felt love. In their final moments, they must have yearned for their beloved. Moreover, it probably wasn’t just romantic love that he encountered. Even when he met Gyutaro, the latter was desperate to save his sister.
Given how emotionless Douma was all his life, he probably felt an emptiness or something close to it. If not emptiness, he might have been curious. We also know that he believed there was nothing beyond death. So, before drifting off to nothingness, he clung onto the one phenomenon that intrigued him.
Even if he didn’t feel love for Shinobu, the idea probably amused him. So, his final words in Demon Slayer might just have been an exploration of a phenomenon he saw all around.
Demon Slayer is available to stream on Crunchyroll.
This post belongs to FandomWire and first appeared on FandomWire
