Benimaru Shinmon

is a former hybrid Second and Third Generation pyrokinetic, as well as the captain of Special Fire Force Company 7.

Appearance
Benimaru is a young and well-built man of average height. He is fair-skinned with neck length, wavy, black hair that partially covers the front of his face. His right pupil is a red circle with a black dot in the middle, and his iris is also black; while his left eye has a red iris and a white X-shaped pupil, reminiscent of the tic-tac-toe game or the Japanese symbols for affirmation and negation. He normally carries a gloomy facial expression. Benimaru's outfit consists of a white t-shirt with a black vest over it, a grey (dark-blue in the anime) kimono upper-garment that he only wears on his left arm, and the Special Fire Force uniform trousers that he tucks into his black boots. Previously, he wore black, fingerless gloves and a black jumper, which is wrapped around his waist.

When not attending a mission, Benimaru is seen wearing a black t-shirt underneath a black samurai-styled hakama, with a white strap around the waist acting as a belt and black boots. Benimaru is later seen wearing a black shirt underneath a grey (dark-blue in the anime) kimono upper-garment with the Special Fire Brigade uniform trousers and black boots.

Personality
Benimaru is short-tempered, would rather work alone or solely with his brigade, and can be somewhat disrespectful to many of his seniors. Despite this, he has a lot of faith in himself and in his brigade. He doesn't concern himself with any part of Tokyo other than Asakusa, not caring about the rules that the emperor has created, and proudly acts on his own agenda along with his brigade. He is an honest man, though sometimes honest to the point where he is rude to others. Although Benimaru destroys buildings and houses in Asakusa when facing an Infernal, he is seen as a hero and benevolent by the citizens. He seems to care about Asakusa and the people who reside in it and is upset by having to put an end to the life of someone he once knew and becoming extremely angered when misinformed. as shown by the cause of death of Kantarō angering him to the point of fighting the entire 8th Brigade.

Generally, he is very calm and nonchalant, even while purifying Infernals, but when angered, fights recklessly. He also has a hot-blooded side that takes pride in his skills and yearns for opponents to give him a fight worth his time. Benimaru is an original country idealist who prefers to be called Shinmon Benimaru, and calling others by their family names before their given names. At the beginning of the attack on Asakusa, Benimaru was hesitant and not confident about acting as the leader and taking control of the citizens, and would rather let Konro do the job but after encouragement from his brigade, he finally stepped up to the matter. Despite his nonchalant demeanor, Benimaru is quite passionate about the worth of free will and despises the dogmatic faith of the Holy Sol that preaches blind faith over human endeavor and despises the oppressive nature of gods.

Background
Benimaru was an orphan before being adopted by Hibachi Shinmon who needed an heir. Hibachi taught him everything about the Iai Shutō fighting style and all its forms and was a strict master. Constantly belittling Benimaru for being a fool for his inability to use Sun Wheel correctly because of his self-doubt and punishing him whenever he got into a pointless fight. Benimaru needed Konro Sagamiya to communicate his master's good intentions through of the man's brutish attitude. Even as a boy, Benimaru was a member of the fire department and helped put infernals to rest.

Abilities
Benimaru is well-regarded as the strongest officer in the Special Fire Force, and is known as "Asakusa's King of Destruction" because of the devastating power he can unleash. He was able to completely overwhelm the combined might of Maki Oze, Shinra Kusakabe, Tamaki Kotatsu, Arthur Boyle, and Takehisa Hinawa. His most impressive feat to date is effortlessly defeating his doppelgänger — who was about to destroy the planet — with a single touch. He is also a very capable teacher, training both Shinra and Arthur on multiple occasions to become stronger in relatively short periods of time, even helping them unlock access to Hysterical Strength, something he already accessed himself. According to Konro, Benimaru has surpassed their old master, Hibachi Shinmon, who was a famous and powerful pyrokinetic as well.

Master Hand-to-Hand Combatant: Benimaru is an extremely skilled and powerful hand-to-hand combatant, as shown when he easily outmaneuvered and defeated Maki Oze, another advanced hand-to-hand combatant. He is also a master practitioner of the iaido martial arts.

Immense Speed: Benimaru is extremely fast and has extraordinary reflexes. He is capable of moving faster than the eye can see and outpace even the fastest of opponents, such as his own master’s doppelgänger. He is also able to outpace Shinra's Rapid technique and counterattack instantly, which allows Shinra to move at hypersonic speeds.

Immense Strength: Benimaru possesses tremendous levels of physical strength. As a child, he could match the strength of his master Hibachi, and was capable of restraining a grown man with his bare hands. After permanently unlocking Hysterical Strength, Benimaru’s strength allowed him to completely overpower both Shinra and Arthur simultaneously and continue beating down on them for several hours. Benimaru’s natural physical might combined with his innate martial arts mastery makes him an incredibly powerful opponent to face in close quarters, which is further amplified by his pyrokinetic fighting style.

Immense Durability: Benimaru possesses incredible levels of durability, capable of completely nullifying strikes from Demon Infernals, Doppelgängers, and even insanely powerful individuals such as Dragon and Charon.

Poison Resistance: Benimaru is a remarkably resilient man, as he somehow survived and rebuffed a dose of poison that would normally kill large animals instantly.

Pyrokinesis
Benimaru possesses the rare trait of being a Second and Third Generation pyrokinetic, allowing him to ignite his own flames willingly and also control flames from external sources. The sheer power and size of his flames are tremendous, as is his extremely precise and fluid control of said flames. He was capable of completely annihilating his doppelgänger, who managed to create a Nichirin around the entire planet with the ability to destroy it, declaring that he is in fact, stronger than his double. Due to him possessing both Second and Third generation abilities, Benimaru is an expert in all types of combat, as his abilities allow him to create either destructive long ranged projectiles, redirect external heat sources and gunfire, amplify his martial arts, and nullify and redirect almost any pyrokinetic attacks. This coupled with his incredible skills make Benimaru one of if not the most powerful character in all of Fire Force.

Due to his extraordinary prowess in both his Second and Third Generation abilities, Konro compares Benimaru to the god "Kagutsuchi". With his perfected Sun Wheel behind him, Benimaru is said to be like "Acala" himself. He also has a talent for replicating other people's flame techniques and abilities immediately upon contact. He can use his brigade's matoi as a pole to fly to long-distance areas, and can control other ignited targets to direct them from great distances away. He can control the direction and speed of bullets in the same fashion as Takehisa Hinawa, and create a four meter barrier around himself that doesn't allow heat to pass through it. He is also capable of unleashing an immensely powerful blast that resembles a crimson-colored moon. He can also creates a sharp blade of flames with his hand, a technique branching from his unique fighting style.

During his fight with his master’s doppelgänger, after being criticized about and reminded of his failures by the demon, he fully embraced his status as ruler of both the sun and moon, and created a new technique: Crimson Moon's Sun Wheel, allowing him to kill Hibachi Shinmon (doppelgänger).

VS. Special Fire Force Company 1 arc
Benimaru and his brigade confront a giant infernal that showed up in Asakusa, noting it to be larger than normal, but encouraging his brigade not to be afraid. Soon after, Benimaru and his brigade defeat it.

Preacher Pursuit arc
Benimaru attends the conference of the captain's in central Tokyo along with Konro, representing the 7th brigade. Shinra looks at him with a grin on his face, and Benimaru responds rudely. As everyone begins to pray while the emperor of Tokyo walks in, Benimaru sits relaxed, feet on the row of chairs in front of him, showing little respect. The discussion begins but before everybody was in agreement of all the Special Fire Brigades working to find the Evangelist, Benimaru speaks out, claiming the 7th Brigade will be acting on their own accord, wanting nothing to do with anything else, and walks out of the room.

Asakusa arc
Benimaru is seen in his hometown, Asakusa. As he returns to his headquarters after a walk, he is told by Konro that the 8th want to pay a visit, to which Benimaru wants to ignore due to his unconcern with the investigation of the Evangelist, but is soon approached in person by the 8th brigade. Reiterating to the brigade of his disinterest of the investigation of the White-Clad or anything else, he ends up in a disputes with Shinra, but is interrupted by a sudden alert on an appearance of an Infernal, and attends the scene to purify it. After destroying multiple houses using his rare ability as a Second and Third Generation, he confronts Kantarō, claiming that damage had been done and that the beasts role had been accomplished. He quickly puts an end to Kantarō's life, commenting it had done a good job of putting up with the pain. As if nothing happened, he goes back to sitting at his headquarters, and takes a bite of the daifuku, saying it's too sweet. As time passes, a funeral commemoration was held for Kantarō. Benimaru orders his brigade to repair the houses that were destroyed in the confrontation. As the 7th and 8th brigades get to work, Benimaru mends to Konro's injuries and talks with Konro, saying that he should be the captain instead of him, but Konro states he is not fit to be a captain. Soon after, Konro reassures the idea of collaborating with the 8th, and Benimaru sees it as a possibility after noticing the 8th willingly help out with the repairs. As he walks out looking for Akitaru Ōbi, he stumbles upon Shinra, who apologizes for their earlier interaction. After, Shinra tells him where Akitaru and Takehisa are, and as Benimaru walks toward them, he overhears them saying they will ignite more people in Asakusa like they did with Kantarō, initially shocking Benimaru.

Soon after, an infuriated Benimaru chases the two, hurling fiery objects at them, claiming that they killed Kantarō and are planning to create other artificial infernals, but the two have no idea what he is talking about. Benimaru continues his fiery pursuit, not listening to what they have to say, and a full-out battle between him and the 8th begins. Unbeknownst to everyone, two White Hoods are hiding on a roof, impersonating Akitaru and Takehisa and preparing for their next move. As Benimaru easily dismantles the group one by one, a fully-equipped Akitaru walks out alone prepared to fight the captain one-on-one. As the two begin confrontation, and Benimaru choosing not to listen to Akitaru, the 8th's captain continuously regathers his strength as he is put to the floor numerous times. Both the captain's deal a fair amount of damage on each other, and realizing that weak attacks won't work, Benimaru prepares his final attack, but Konro intervenes and grabs onto Benimaru while using his ignition ability, leading to him becoming weak from his Tephrosis and Benimaru turning his attention instead to aiding him instead of fighting. Now calm, Shinmon is now able to listen to eye witness claims that neither Obi nor Hinawa could have been the men he saw and that there might be something happening within the town and he follows Konro's lead by remaining calm.

Walking through the streets, Benimaru comes across an unusual amount of fist fights and realizes that there are dozens of mistaken identity. The citizens of Asakusa continue quarreling, and although Benimaru attempts to step in to stop them, they don't listen. Soon after, he is alerted of multiple fires and Infernal sightings. He rushes to find Konro to take control of the situation by flying over the town with his matoi. They trade information about the attack on Asakusa, with Benimaru telling Konro that the people are looking for him to lead and tell them what to do, but Konro states Benimaru is the true leader and he should take command. A bystander shouts out to Konro asking for his help to find Benimaru, causing Shinmon to realise both his duty and that the people look to him for leadership. Looking out to the destruction of Asakusa, Benimaru says he shall bring destruction upon the White Hoods.

Climbing to the apex of the 7th Special Fire Fighting Station, he uses blows out the supports and uses the tower as a platform that draw attention from the town gone mad. Breathing in to find his voice, he finally lets out a loud yell, reaching everybody's ears successfully, and alerting them of the enemies acting as disguises. With everybody cheering him on, the attitudes of the citizens instantly changed, and Benimaru finally commands Company 7 to focus on putting out the fires and defeat the infernals while telling the citizens to fight each other to uncover the disguised foes. As the city breaks out into joyful violence, Benimaru spots a demon infernal and charges to fight it. Saving Shinra and Arthur from above, Benimaru begins to fight the demonic cultist. Realising that his normal attacks are ineffective, Benimaru decides to take the battle to the skies in order to unleash his full strength.

Vulcan's Workshop arc
Shinra and Arthur come to Benimaru to train. He teaches them how to be hyper-aware. Shinra tells Benimaru that their captain uses something similar. Shinra and Arthur attack Benimaru. Shinra figures out that he anticipating his attacks and Benimaru says that's enough. Benimaru tells Shinra that the force is fine, but does not look you want to truly use it. Benimaru tells Shinra one thing is missing an invincible skill. Shinra loses focus Benimaru scolds him and tells him your own skills that work with his speed. Viktor Licht complements Benimaru. Viktor explains what Shinra's charm is and apologises to Benimaru. Viktor introduces himself properly and wants to help train Shinra. Benimaru does an example of what Viktor said. Benimaru tells Shinra to do what he just did and Arthur to focus on that battle with killing intent. Shinra focuses on how Benimaru controls his flame for a hint. Benimaru tells Arthur if their fight was real he would have died several times. Arthur tells Benimaru to don't take his eyes off him. Benimaru tells him if you want the element of surprise to be quieter and tells him the attack wasn't bad. Benimaru beats Arthur and tells Shinra to try again. Benimaru shows Shinra in the ancient art of genkoku there were hand signs and he controls his flames with them. Benimaru teaches him the sign for tiger and explains the signs the importance of them. He asks Arthur is he going to sleep on the job. Benimaru tells Shinra congrats for figuring it out. Benimaru tells Shinra to use that ability on him. Benimaru tells him to outrun his fireball and Shinra ask him how was it. Benimaru tells him it was fairly good and if you improve the movements you will have no problems. Benimaru to stop and ask Arthur if he had come up with a for his new skill. Shinra names it kicker kick and Benimaru opposes the name.

VS. Holy Sol Temple arc
An unknown man approaches Benimaru in Asakusa to discuss information involving The Holy Sol Temple. Viewing the information as dangerous and questioning if the man intended to visit the church, Benimaru asks who he is, which he replies saying he's a dark hero. Though he comes across as suspicious, he intrigues Benimaru's interests. Assaulting The Holy Sol Temple – Holy See, Benimaru defeats all of the church's elites that confront him, including a member who poisons him with a blowpipe. Not knowing how he survived the lethal poison, the pair enter the church. Discovering the occupants have left to the Netherworld, the two depart their through a secret entrance underneath the chapel. Upon entering, Joker reveals he used to be part of the Church, before the pair are confronted by Shadow of the Holy Sun. Instructed to handle all the members while Joker faces their captain, Benimaru swiftly defeats all his opponents using his martial arts and ignition ability. After the fight is done, Leonard Burns approaches them.

Stigma arc
Learning that Konro is being targeted by Shinra and Hibana, Konro said he handled the situation before attacking Shinra. Surprised he dodged, Benimaru viewed Shinra as being capable of fighting now. Questioning Benimaru how he can combat the White-Clad when Rapid and Corna doesn't work on some of them, he suggested Hysterical Strength would work against them, and agrees to train Company 8. The next day, Shinra returns with Arthur and Tamaki. Instructing Hibana and Hikage to train Tamaki, he fights the boys in order to push them beyond their limits. After Tamaki accomplishes her task, he stops the twins with continuing their fight, and confirms to Tamaki that she's improving. Continuing to fight Shinra and Arthur for five hours, the pair succeed with their training.

Ōbi's Rescue arc
Benimaru was aware that the 8th would attempt to rescue Akitaru from prison against both of the Tokyo Empire and White-Clad, so Konro had him disguise himself under the the identity as "Moonlight Mask" in order to not make an enemy of them. Arriving at Fuchū Prison, he prevented the White-Clad from finishing off Company 8, though Arrow could tell who he was by his attire. Beginning to attack the cultist with fire, he used his matoi to rescue Company 8. Joined by Joker, he continues to assault the group, during which he attacks Charon and Dragon before the pair fled with the brigade and their captain.

Returning to Asakusa, he has Company 7 give aid to the wounded he brought with him. Thanked by Ōbi, Benimaru questioned what was the situation they were facing as well as what was happening to the empire. Discussing the topic with Ōbi and Konro, Ōbi confirmed Benimaru's suspicion that The Holy Sol Temple and the White-Clad had joined forces, resulting in Company 8 being excommunicated from the empire. The pair were also informed that Burns was killed by his demon doppelgänger.

Stone Pillars arc
When Shinra ask Konro how to perform an Adolla link, he goes to Benimaru for a few pointers. Benimaru tells Shinra there may be a way to connect the evangelist. He tells Shinra that he must open his "Third Eye". Later Benimaru is seen with Joker saying that the empire is plotting something nasty.

Asakusa Showdown arc
Three months after the stone pillars started appearing, Benimaru is one of the pyrokinetics affected by the change in the world, having dreams that feel real about his master and his strict training. When Konro carries a drunken Benimaru inside, Benimaru thinks about if he needs to get his act together and laments never beating Hibachi. The next day, captain Shinmon senses something on the horizon. When the seventh stone pillar appears in Sumida Bay, Benimaru initially plans on leaving it be only to be alerted to a demon floating over the bay. Realizing that this creature is identical to his foster father, Benimaru flies out to the bay to battle it alone. In the skies above Sumida Bay, Benimaru asks the doppelgänger why it is here. It answers that it is here to destroy everything and overwhelms Benimaru. The King of Destruction has to react to attacks before being knocked into the sea below. Benimaru realizes that Hibachi's attacks endanger the civilians on the shore and has to stop him from using Red Sun in that direction. Benimaru is chastisied for his inability to use Sun Wheel correctly.

As the battle becomes more and more intense, the combined power of Benimaru and the demon causes the Adolla realm to affect even the waves beneath them. Company 7 arrive and see the fight between their two leaders and begin to celebrate the spectacle of battle. Hibachi uses Moonlight to blind Benimaru before unleashing Red Sun from beneath his target. Despite the attack's incredible power, Benimaru is able to use his second generation abilities to survive completely unharmed. Benimaru finally bows before the demon, promising to never bring shame on the "Shinmon" name. Now ready to kill his master's doppelganger, Benimaru readys his perfected Sun Wheel. He then jumps from his matoi and reveals that he has combined Hibachi's Sun Wheel with Konro's Crimson Moon for his own attack: Crimson Moon's Sun Wheel. Completely obliterated, the doppelganger finally praises Benimaru's strength.

Returning to the shore, Benimaru and Konro talk about their master's intentions and hope this was a spectacle worthy of him. Seeing Konro crying for the both of them, Benimaru tells his lieutenant he will be relying on him as their look at the end result of his attack in the skyline includes a second, smiling moon appearing above them.

Etymology

 * The name Benimaru means "crimson, deep red" (紅) (beni) and "round, circle, pills, purity, suffix for ship names, complete" (丸) (maru).
 * Benimaru's surname Shinmon means "fresh, new" (新) (shin) and "gate" (門) (mon).

Trivia

 * Benimaru ranked 4th place in the first popularity poll.
 * According to his Character Profile:
 * He is self-proclaimed "a simple wild child."
 * His favorite foods are sukiyaki, white rice, and sake. His least favorite foods are green onions and sweet things (Granny’s daifuku).
 * His favorite music are festivals.
 * His favorite animals are raccoons and foxes.
 * His favorite colors are black and blue.
 * His favorite type are interesting people.
 * He would not say who he respects.
 * He hates overly proud guys.
 * When he was a kid, he was afraid of Konro.
 * His hobbies include gambling and bathing.
 * His daily routine involves doing Hikage and Hinata’s hair and taking walks.
 * His dream is that he wants to see a world where everyone in Asakusa can get drunk with peace of mind.
 * His shoe size is 25.5 cm.
 * His eyesight is 2.0.
 * His favorite subject is Bushido. His least favorite subject is arithmetic.
 * Volume 23 Translation Notes specifies the difference between Benimaru and The Destroyers in their written connotations. Benimaru is the hakai-ō, which literally means "destroyer king" or "king of destruction," with a specific connotation of breaking things. In other words, he's the sort of destroyer who goes around busting up people and things. The Evangelist's Destroyers are hofuribito, meaning literally "person(s) who destroy," with a connotation of defeat, death and obliteration.

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Benimaru Shinmon