Warning: The following contains spoilers for Demon Slayer!!

In Demon Slayer, Muzan Kibutsuji is the progenitor of all demons. Muzan is clever and crafty, and for centuries he has worked in the shadows, avoiding the sunlight, which is his only weakness. He has many special abilities. One of his powers is that he can manipulate all the properties in his body at will, including his blood, cells, flesh, and organs, so he can change his face and appearance to look like different people. Muzan uses this ability to adapt and disguise his demon self, so much so that he goes unnoticed among regular people.

Muzan had frantically searched for the blue spider lily, the key to withstanding the sunlight, and also for a demon capable of conquering the sun for more than 1,000 years, during which he maintained a disguise to blend into Tokyo’s society and look for information.

Muzan’s narcissist traits let him hide his disdain towards humans and easily manipulate them, playing many roles at different times, even becoming a child, a woman, or having a family of his own. These are unusual human covers for a ruthless demon, which makes fans wonder the reason behind his multitude of appearances.

The Reasons Behind Each Human Form of Muzan Kibutsuji

Demon Slayer’s Official Fanbook Explains the Motive Behind Muzan’s Disguises.

When Muzan was first introduced in Demon Slayer‘s season one, episode #7, he had a human family, and his pretend wife Rei referred to him as Tsukihiko. They were also dressed in expensive-looking western-style clothes and showed themselves to be well-off by riding in a car, something only reserved for rich people during the Taisho era. The Official Fanbook of Demon Slayer explains Muzan’s human forms, stating that he kills wealthy individuals, so he can take their appearances to accumulate funds and gain influence to easily collect information.

This helps him disguise his demon form as well as reach out to places quickly, and it also proves that it wasn’t his biological family; he only impersonates Rei’s husband to raise money. Additionally, in episode #26, Muzan transforms into a woman dressed as a Geisha. With his skilled mimicry, this form allows Muzan to charm men and manipulate them into searching the Blue Spider Lily for him during the daylight while also gathering information in circumstances inaccessible in his male form.

In Demon Slayer‘s season 3, episode #11, he had the appearance of a little child called Toshikuni. In this form, he is shown in a library, and it is implied that he is obssesively reading. This allows Muzan to search in human literature for clues about the blue spider lily while also establishing a place for creating an elixir for withstanding sunlight. The fact that Muzan goes to such lengths to pose as different humans, creatures he sees as inferiors, shows how he’s willing to do anything to accomplish his goal of becoming a perfect being.

What Happened to Muzan’s Families

Muzan Gets Rid of his Families When They no Longer Serve his Purpose.

In the season finale of Demon Slayer‘s Swordsmith Village Arc, Muzan brutally kills two women, the possible mother of the child he was impersonating and a helper who was vigorously claiming for help from her employer, which indicates there were more people in the house at the moment. Given Muzan’s despicable nature, it is probable that he killed all the members of the family to avoid leaving traces. This is certainly the outcome for all the humans who interact with Muzan. The Demon Slayer’s Fanbook also states that Muzan’s wicked tongue led five of his wives to death.

Since Nezuko became the demon that conquered the sun that Muzan had been waiting for, he doesn’t need to pretend to be a human anymore. Despite having lived as multiple humans for a millennium, he had always lacked sensitivity and had zero empathy for others, as proven by Muzan’s human past, where he killed his doctor and said that he had the desire to destroy all living beings. The reason behind his different human forms shows fans how, despite his external appearance, Muzan Kibutsuji is just a truly irredeemable villain who only uses others to fulfill his own desires.