Chapter 25, “Believe in Yourself”
Anime Debut
Episode 13, “Something More Important Than Life”
Demon Slayerhasno shortage of memorable characters, with a huge cast of humans, demons, and more spread across its (currently) four seasons. Plus there are even more in the manga! So it is no surprise that sometimes smaller, if no less important, characters may be forgotten or overshadowed by the hard hitters. And in the case of this minor character, his name is only mentioned once in the anime, even though he does appear several times across multiple seasons.
That character is Chachamaru, who is named in the manga, thankfully, though even if you read it as well, you may not remember him. Chachamaru is a small, cute boy who is very hard-working. He can also teleport and disappear into literally nothing. And he is helping Tanjiro withhis mission to help Nezuko.
WARNING: This contains minor spoilers for theDemon Slayeranime and manga series.
Who is Chachamaru inDemon Slayer?
Chachamaru is a familiar that belongs to theTamayo, a demon doctorwho is trying to help Tanjiro with his quest. Chachamaru is a calico cat, which in reality are almost always female, but Chachamaru is listed as male on a poster in the spin-off seriesKimetsu Academy. He is the only known demon in theDemon Slayeruniverse who was never a human to begin with, having been changed into a demon by Tamayo from being just a normal cat before. It was revealed in Volume 22 of the manga in the extra pages that Chachamaru was fine with the decision to become a demon because of his love for Tamayo, though Tamayo felt guilty for transforming him at the time.
As Tamayo’s familiar, Chachamaru helps her with her medical work. Specifically, he helps Tanjiro collect samples of demon blood to take back to Tamayo to study. Whenever Tanjiro dispatches aparticulary strong demon, Chachamaru suddenly appears at the scene, taking the blood back to Tamayo in his tiny backpack. Unlike other demons, Chachamaru can also survive being beheaded, so while he may not be powerful in a fight, he is certainly resilient.
Unfortunately there is very little other information available about Chachamaru. That has not kept him from having fans, however, and he often shows up on merchandise, especially alongside Tamayo or Yushiro - and has even gotten his own plushie in Japan. He isa cute calico catafter all, so it goes without saying that he has fans despite not having that much screen time.
Chachamaru’s Appearances inDemon Slayer
Chachamaru first appeared in the first season ofDemon Slayerwhen Tanjiro travelled to Ginza in Tokyo, and met the mysterious demon cat at Tamayo’s clinic. This was when Chachamaru was enlisted to help Tanjiro on his journey by collecting blood for Tamayo from the demons Tanjiro kills. Chachamaru first did this jobduring the Tsuzumi Castle Arc, collecting the blood of the Lower Six demon Kyogai after Tanjiro killed him.
For the first season ofDemon Slayer, that was Chachamaru’s only appearance, so it is easy to understand why he may be forgotten by some fans. However, he came back in the Entertainment District Arc, collecting the blood of theUpper Six demons Gyutaro and Dakiafter a long and difficult battle. He then appears once more in the most recent Swordsmith Village Arc, and while he does not collect blood after the arduous battles there, he does deliver a note from Tamayo to Tanjiro revealing that Nezuko may be resistent to sunlight (which proves to be true).
The rest of Chachamaru’s appearances are only known from the manga (at the time of this artcile’s publishing).Stop reading now and skip this paragraph if you do not want any spoilers for the manga, which may influence future seasons of the anime. Chachamaru does show up inthe Infinity Castle Arcand plays an extremely important role. During the battle with Muzan, he delivers an important antitode to Muzan’s poisonous attacks. He pays the price, though, and is dismembered by Muzan, though is luckily able to be put back together by Yushiro and survives the encounter.
Chachamaru may only be a minor character inDemon Slayer, but he plays an important role nonetheless. Next time you are watching the anime or reading the manga, keep your eyes open for this little calico feline now that you know a little more about who and what he is.Considering the manga is complete, there is unlikely to be any new information revealed about Chachamaru than we already have, but he could always end up in an OVA, omake, or another spin-off series. There is no information as to how he was transformed into a demon, for instance, which would be really interesting to see.
