This minor character is the new hero of the Demon Slayer fandom

The characters in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba distinguish themselves through their extraordinary bravery. Tanjiro Kamado, for example, consistently pushes himself to the brink of death just so that he can save the people around him. Then there’s Murata.

The first time the show introduces him, Murata runs away from the battle only to get caught by a demon. This side character is so forgettable he doesn’t get fun-colored hair or even a second name. He has no special powers, and his superiors chastise him often. He’s just your run-of-the-mill guy who happens to be caught up in the ruckus of several major battles.

But none of that matters, because fans of the Demon Slayer anime have unofficially anointed Murata as the series’ favorite and unofficial strongest character.

Let’s be clear: Murata is not all that powerful in the world of Demon Slayer. He is a standard grunt in the Demon Slayer corps and doesn’t practice any special breathing techniques. But that hasn’t hindered his reputation.

If anything, the idea that he’s the only regular dude among loads of seasoned fighters helps bring out the inherent irony of the bit.

In one video, which has more than 1.9 million views on TikTok, the creator layers text over a clip where Murata falls into the Infinity Castle — a vast domain and home to the most powerful demon, Muzan. The text says, “muzan’s worst mistake was putting murata within the same radius as him.” In the comments, people voice support for the joke and a person replies, “Muzan only goes outside at night because Murata is sleeping.” It’s been liked more than 22,000 times.

TikTok is filled with videos making jokes more or less like the one above, but the gag has only snowballed. Another video, which has more than 3.6 million views, makes a crack about how the entire fandom agrees that Murata is the strongest.

Now, fans are building on the original joke, inventing a fake but super-powerful fighting technique that only Murata knows, called “galaxy breathing.” The idea has become so popular that it’s a suggested search term in the comments.

This isn’t the first and likely won’t be the last communal shitposting from the Demon Slayer community. This is the same fandom that started roasting each other at the live showings for Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba the Movie: Mugen Train, after all.

Luckily, this time, everyone has decided to leave reality out of it by elevating an average character to a god-tier level of power.