Genya quickly became a fan favorite as Demon Slayer Season 3 showcased his badass demon styled-hair & tear-jerking backstory. People have been comparing him to My Hero Academia’s Bakugo for his constant short-temperedness & anger towards the main character.

Also the fact that the two share the same Japanese Voice actor Nobuhiko Okamoto 😉

But what sets Genya apart is that he never straight up bullied Tanjiro & that basic humanity stems from his tragic backstory. If you’re a manga reader who ain’t blind, then you’d know from how he got his scar.

Warning: Heavy manga spoilers ahead!

How did Genya get his scar in Demon Slayer?

Genya Shinazugawa’s scar was caused by his mother who had been turned into a demon.

As customary in Demon Slayer & in some other shows, the character’s flashback shows up just before death knocks on their door in Chapter 114. Genya’s last wish before he dies was to apologize to his brother Sanemi for wrongfully accusing him to have killed his mother on purpose.

And the reason why he joined the Demon Slayer Corps & become a Hashira was to impress his brother enough that he’d respect him once again. But so far, he was nothing but constantly been rude to him.

Why was Sanemi like that? Check out this post to find out!

Why did he kill his mom and Genya get his scar? Because she wasn’t in her human state.

A bad omen covered his family right from the start when his mother married a monster. He was probably a member of an underground gang and ill treated his wife and children.

Genya’s father would often beat them up but the mother always made sure to shield her children. Luckily for them, Karma happened and he was stabbed to death by a rival (Yakuza member?).

But the bad omen didn’t leave the house. The monster went from the father to the mother (symbolically).

One night, their mother was extremely late from work, worrying all the children. Sanemi decided to go out to search for her, while Genya had to stay back to protect his other siblings.

However, it was only near dawn that they heard the knock on the door.

Genya’s siblings ran, thinking their mother had come. However, Genya sensed something was off and tried to warn his siblings.

Unfortunately for them, their mother had turned into a demon and killed her children off, the very same ones she once shielded, except for Genya & Sanemi.

Well Sanemi was off somewhere else at that time but Genya was lucky to have survived but his mother’s attack landed a blow on his face, causing a huge cut across from the nose to his chin.

That scar, symbolically, represented his tragic past & that reminded him constantly to grow stronger and protect the only brother and family member alive – Sanemi.

Both of them made a promise, long ago, that the two of them must protect the family since their father was no longer around. They made a pact to be the men of the house but sadly, they failed.

And that was the last time we saw Sanemi smile.

That innocent smile vanished completely when he found out that the demon who killed his siblings was his own mother. He did not know that until the sun shed its light on it, revealing that it was their mother who had turned into a demon and attacked her children.

Genya bursts into tears, and he holds her in his arms. He asked Sanemi how he could kill their mother, whom they were trying to protect, and called him a murderer. But he didn’t know.

Accidentally killed his mother, his own brother calling him a killer! This took a massive toll on him and made him more abrasive, deciding to leave Genya & hunt demons, so such tragedies wouldn’t happen to anyone else.

Did Genya’s scar go away?

No. In fact, that scar continued to remain even in his next life.

200 years later after the Demon Slayers defeated Muzan, two police officers, who were Sanemi’s descendants, had the exact same scars on the same spots on their faces.

Genya made a promise at the time of death that his brother shouldn’t die and thought of him when he breathed for the last time.

According to Asian philosophy, the type of body one gets in one’s next life depends on the type of activities one has performed in previous lives. Those activities determine the type of thoughts you get at the time of death, which in turn determines the type of body. 

Thoughts also include the emotions and memories that you’ve carried throughout your life and at the time of death, the most cherished or life changing memories flash before your eyes.

Seeing through Genya’s and Sanemi’s good deeds, God made it happen and they continue to live on as brothers from another mother.

According to psychiatrist Dr. Ian Stevenson, who was one of the scientists studying reincarnation, suggested that birthmarks seem to correspond to physical features of the “former person,” often to fatal wounds.

An unusual birthmark, for example, might correspond in shape and position to a previous person’s knife wound. Or severe and unusual birth defects in a person’s legs, defects in the form of ropelike constrictions, might correspond to the injuries of a previous person tied by the legs and killed.

What do you think of this theory that Sanemi & Genya continued to live on into their next lives with their scars intact? Lemme know your thoughts in the comments below!