Nui no Kata, the character known as the Praying Mother in the 2019 Dororo anime, was the lady of the Ishikawa domain and the wife of the daimyo Daigo Kagemitsu. She was the mother of two sons: Hyakkimaru, her firstborn, and Tahomaru, her younger child. Her life was shaped by the tragedy of Hyakkimaru's birth, when her husband offered their newborn to demons in exchange for prosperity and power over his lands. Because the infant was born missing limbs, organs, and facial features, Daigo ordered the child to be disposed of, but Nui no Kata defied him. To save her son from that fate, she set the baby adrift on a river, where he was found and raised by the medicine man Jukai.

Her personality is defined by quiet grief and unwavering maternal devotion. She was heartbroken by the loss of her first child and unable to move on, spending years praying for him and keeping a headless statue as a stand-in for the baby she had been forced to give up. Even as she fulfilled her duties as a lord's wife and raised her younger son within the household, her thoughts remained with the child she had lost. She is gentle, compassionate, and inwardly strong, and her love for her children ultimately proves more powerful than her loyalty to her husband or her place in society.

Her central motivation is the well-being of her son Hyakkimaru. After years of believing him gone, she learns that he has survived and is fighting to reclaim the body parts the demons stole from him. Given the chance, she renounces her status as lady of the domain and joins Dororo's search for Hyakkimaru, choosing her son's welfare over her position as a lord's wife. This places her in opposition to her husband, who sees Hyakkimaru's recovery as a threat to the domain's prosperity and wishes for his death.

In the story, her role is both foundational and sacrificial. Her act of setting the infant Hyakkimaru adrift sets his entire journey in motion. Later, she becomes an emotional link between Hyakkimaru and the family he never knew, and the conflict between her sons weighs heavily on her. When she finally reunites with her grown son, she recognizes him despite the years of separation and the prosthetics that replaced his limbs, and she supports him at great personal cost. Near the end of the series, she dies in the burning castle alongside Tahomaru and Jukai, but not before leading Hyakkimaru to Dororo, ensuring that her son will survive and continue his path.

Her key relationships define her character. With Hyakkimaru, she shares the bond of a mother who never stopped praying for a child she was forced to abandon. With Tahomaru, she is a loving mother to the son who grew up in her household, and she mourns the tragedy of her two children being set against each other. With Daigo Kagemitsu, her relationship is one of quiet defiance, since she opposes his willingness to sacrifice their child for political power. With Jukai, she shares an unspoken understanding, as both devoted themselves to Hyakkimaru's survival in different ways.

Her development traces a movement from passive sorrow to active sacrifice. She begins as a grieving mother confined to the role of a lord's wife, expressing her love only through prayer before a statue. By the end, she has cast aside rank, safety, and finally her own life for her son. Her notable qualities are not martial or supernatural in nature. Her strength lies in her endurance, her faith, and her willingness to defy the powerful in order to protect the one she loves, qualities that leave a lasting impression on Hyakkimaru's journey toward reclaiming his humanity.