Koyoharu Gotouge is the pen name of a Japanese manga artist born on May 5, 1989, in Fukuoka Prefecture, Japan. The creator uses a pen name and maintains a high level of anonymity, often representing themselves with a self-portrait of a crocodile wearing glasses. Gotouge is widely known as the author and illustrator of the internationally successful manga series Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.

Before achieving serialization, Gotouge debuted professionally in 2013 with the one-shot work Kagarigari, which received an honorable mention in the 70th Jump Treasure Newcomer Manga Awards. Following this debut, Gotouge produced several other one-shot manga, including Monju Shirō Kyōdai in 2014, Rokkotsu-san in 2014, and Haeniwa no Zigzag in 2015. When Haeniwa no Zigzag did not get picked up for serialization, Gotouge's editor suggested creating a series with an easy-to-understand theme, leading to the development of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, which drew from concepts first explored in Kagarigari.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba was serialized in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump magazine from February 15, 2016, to May 18, 2020, and was collected into 23 tankōbon volumes. The manga became a massive commercial success, with over 220 million copies in circulation worldwide including digital copies as of July 2025, making it one of the best-selling manga series of all time.

The manga has been adapted into a highly successful anime television series produced by the studio Ufotable, which first aired in April 2019. The anime adaptation includes multiple story arcs. The sequel film, Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - The Movie: Mugen Train, was released in October 2020. The television series continued with the Entertainment District Arc, the Swordsmith Village Arc, the Hashira Training Arc, and the story is being concluded with films adapting the Infinity Castle arc.

Gotouge has cited several influential manga series as inspirations for their work, including Hirohiko Araki's JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Masashi Kishimoto's Naruto, Tite Kubo's Bleach, and Hideaki Sorachi's Gintama.

In recognition of their achievements, Gotouge has received numerous awards. In 2020, Gotouge received the 2nd Kodansha Noma Publishing Culture Award for contributing to reinventing publishing through the success of Demon Slayer. In February 2021, Gotouge was included in the Time100 Next list under the category of Phenoms, becoming the first manga artist to receive this honor. That same year, Gotouge won the Newcomer Award in the media fine arts category of the 2020 Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology Fine Arts Recommendation Awards, received the Special Prize at the 25th annual Tezuka Osamu Cultural Prize, and won the grand prize in the comic division of the 50th Japan Cartoonists Association Awards.

Following the conclusion of Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba, Gotouge expressed interest in creating a science fiction romantic comedy story for their next project.