Demon Slayer: Doma's complex psyche makes him a brilliant antagonist, and here's why

There are plenty of antagonists in the Demon Slayer, given the sheer number of demons that are present in the series. However, there is one villain in particular that most fans seem to hate — Doma. He is the Upper Moon 2 demon who managed to kill some of the most powerful characters in the series. Furthermore, Doma has barely received any screen time compared to some of the other demons in the series. While fans might hate him, he is a far more complex character than people realize.

Doma was born into a cult that his father probably started. His own wife killed him for all the extramarital affairs that he had despite being a father. Doma’s father was manipulative, and given the large female following within the cult, it suggests that his father founded it. From a very young age, his parents never gave him any love. His father was dead, and his mother was distant. He became the leader of the Eternal Paradise cult at a very young age because of his eyes.

The Demon Slayer antagonist developed a false sense of superiority because of this. He was raised in an environment that promoted false ideals, preyed on people who wanted an escape from their miserable lives, and was replete with manipulation.

Therefore, deceit and viewing people as mere objects were the only things Doma knew and enforced as he grew up. If we take a look at psychology, one can say that Doma was showing traits of reactive attachment disorder. He wasn’t affected by things that would deeply disturb the average human being.

Furthermore, the Demon Slayer series also revealed that he couldn't create a strong emotional attachment with people. However, he was a cult leader and was therefore expected to carry out certain responsibilities. One of them would be to pretend to understand people’s problems, empathize with them.

This Demon Slayer character had to constantly act to falsely guide the cult members. Therefore, Doma was never able to fully comprehend what emotions were, and his parents are partly to blame. If the circumstances were different, then Doma might not have become the character that he was in the series.

Doma’s fate in Demon Slayer

The Upper Moon 2 demon was one of the strongest villains in the series. However, we never really got to see his full potential. Given his personality, he never really took the fight against Shinobu Kocho seriously. He realized the sheer difference in their abilities and decided to toy with his opponent. What he didn’t realize was that Shinobu Kocho had ridiculously high amounts of poison circulating within her body. This weakened him considerably, and he could no longer fight the way he used to.

Inosuke Hashibira and Kanao Tsuyuri were tasked with killing him during the Infinity Castle arc in Demon Slayer. They managed to kill Doma since he was weakened considerably. His attacks couldn’t fend off the demon hunter duo as they managed to decapitate his head once and for all.

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Doma is an incredibly complex character in Demon Slayer, who didn’t get much screen time in the anime and manga series. Despite that, readers were able to comprehend the multidimensionality of this character. He receives hatred from the entire fan base because of his behavior. However, a deeper inspection into his psyche revealed why he was a good antagonist in the story.

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