Devils (悪 (あく) 魔 (ま) ／デビル, Akuma/Debiru^?) are a race of supernatural entities that feed upon humanity's fear and negative emotions appearing all throughout the World and are the main antagonists of the Chainsaw Man manga and anime.

Overview

Origin

Devils are beings born from humanity's collective fear of specific concepts, all first manifesting in Hell. They are born with a "name" that correlates to a concept. These can range from highly tangible (Fish, Tomato) to entirely abstract (Future, Curse). The concept does not have to refer to something that exists; there is no indication that ghosts, zombies or angels exist in the world, yet all these names have corresponding Devils. Each name is unique to its respective Devil, though some overlap based on specificity is possible, as there have been both a War Devil and a World War II Devil. Devils manifest according to the collective consciousness surrounding their names (for example: the Gun Devil appears to be constructed out of guns and has gun-related abilities). They are the conceptual and physical embodiment of the "name" they represent. So long as the "name" of the concept still exists and is feared by the public consciousness, they continue to reincarnate. It is implied by the Falling Devil that animal fears play a role in a Devil’s power.

The concept of a Devil itself doesn’t have to be scary on its own nor does it have to embody a fear. Rather its power relies on how much of a scary image it has in the popular consciousness of humans. For example, cars aren’t necessarily scary on their own, but Makima states that a Car Devil would be powerful because of the scariness of car crashes and other car-related incidents. Another example would be the Blood Devil as most people don't fear blood itself, but they often fear the violent and gruesome imagery of blood and the danger of bleeding.

Devils that die in Hell reappear in the human world; Devils that die in the human world reappear in Hell. Devils cannot recall any memories from their previous lives and their entire personality resets. However, there are minor exceptions to this rule. According to the Angel Devil, him and the other Devils of Special Division 4 all remember the sound of the Chainsaw Devil's engine roaring before they died in Hell.^[1]

Physiology

The appearance and physiology of a Devil varies from one to another, as their shape and bodily structure often have to do with the "name" they embody. Most Devils possess human limbs, faces, bones, and other body parts, such as the Snake Devil's mouth being made of interlocking human arms, even though their fears wouldn't indicate organs or limbs, given the Tomato Devil and Grape Devil both possess human eyes and limbs despite being based on plants. Other Devils, such as the Fox Devil or the Octopus Devil, don't appear to have these features (at least on what parts of them have been shown). Devils do not reproduce as most organisms do, instead simply "appearing" in Hell.

Due to their nature of existence, Devils do not typically have familial relationships. However, there are instances where more powerful Devils regard other devils as their children. This was first seen when Yoru referred to the Gun Devil and Tank Devil as her "children", given how guns and tanks are weapons typically associated with warfare.^[2] Whether Yoru regards them as her children due to their connection with war or the Devils were directly created or birthed from Yoru is unclear. Yoru also implies that there are strict social hierarchies among Devils, stating that bullying is common due to a lack of social fluidity when she comments on Asa's classmates bullying her.

Devils who are friendly and are more inclined towards humans will take on a very humanoid form in the natural state of their incarnation, some being indistinguishable from a human save for some subtle tells. There have still been some non-humanoid Devils who have been friendly towards humans, such as the Fox Devil.

Devils primarily feed on the blood and fear (or powerful negative emotions in general) of humans. However they can also survive by drinking the blood of other creatures (such as Fiends and other Devils). While fear makes Devils more powerful, consuming blood allows them to quickly heal their injuries as well as grow in power — meaning that consuming humans is more than just instinctual hatred, but often necessary to their survival. For that reason, while Devils and Fiends can also consume other kinds of foods, such as vegetables and fruits, most refuse to live off of them, since it will not heal their wounds or give them more power. It is unclear whether or not their blood is properly nourishing to them, but given consistent remarks that they have a terrible or unusual taste, it's likely that Hybrids aren't as nourishing to Devils as humans (despite being mostly human).

Devils also appear to be incapable of dying due to old age; they can live indefinitely until killed by external factors. The ages of most Devils are unknown. The 2nd incarnation of the Control Devil first appeared as a little girl, but in the year since the end of Part 1 she has grown significantly, appearing as either a tween or a young teenager. It is unclear whether this rapid aging is a property of all Devils, or just the Control Devil in particular, but it indicates that Devils are capable of aging in general. This further solidifies because of Aging Devil's existence.

Some Devils also have a "near-death" state where their appearance changes to a weaker form. So far, only two near-death states have been shown: Pochita, the dog-like weakened form of the Chainsaw Devil and the Fire Devil's weakened small-flame form. All of these are known to have been incredibly powerful Devils before being weakened, so it is unknown if all Devils are able to assume a weakened state.

Devil Fragments

As shown with the Gun Devil, Devils can be physically fragmented into several so-called Flesh Pieces (肉 (にく) 片 (へん) , Nikuhen^?). It is unknown how many Devils have undergone fragmentation. It is possible for Devil fragments to be harmed, destroyed, and become Fiends on their own, yet for other parts of the main Devil to still remain alive and not destroyed. Presumably, a fragmented Devil cannot be fully killed and begin reincarnation until either all of its flesh pieces are destroyed or just their core. Since the Gun Devil is the only example of extensive fragmentation and was more of a primal force than an intelligent being from the 20% of it seen, it is unknown if such Flesh Pieces retain the personality of the original, each have separate personalities, all lack distinct personalities, or if it varies from Devil to Devil. If one consumes the fragment or part of a powerful Devil, either Devil or human, they will gain more strength than before.

Relationship with Humanity

Naturally, most Devils have an innate hatred towards humanity and are extremely hostile considering their requirements to feed on the blood and fear of humans. Some, however, are relatively friendly and feed by alternative means. Some Devils, such as the Fox Devil, choose to form contracts with humans, allowing humans to borrow some of their power in exchange for a sacrifice.^[3] Other Devils outright choose to become Devil Hunters, allowing them to live in human society and buy food with the money that they make. As a general guideline, the more human the Devil looks, the more friendly they tend to behave. However, it is worth noting that Devils do not have human rights and, therefore, there are no legal repercussions if they are killed by a human. For that reason, some Devils and Fiends are coerced into helping humans out of fear of dying rather than doing it out of their own free will. Devil Hunters will sometimes capture Devils to use them for contracts, such as the Future Devil.

While uncommon, it is possible for a human and a Devil, or a Fiend to form an emotional bond. In some rare cases, it might even develop into a romantic relationship.

According to statistics, 7 out of every 20 Japanese citizens are killed by Devils.^[4] It can be assumed that these statistics are somewhat similar in other countries, meaning that Devil's attacks are the leading cause of deaths around the globe. For that reason, being a Devil Hunter is considered one of the most profitable jobs in society. The average Devil usually has a bounty of around 300,000 yen and their bodies can also be sold at the black market, with even weak Devils, such as the Tomato Devil, being worth 400,000 yen.^[5]

Due to the danger that Devils represent to society, many buildings (including schools) have alarms especially designed to warn people in case the building is currently being under attack by a Devil, similar to a fire alarm.^[6] The government created a special insurance for the relatives of a person who is killed by a Devil, being large enough to help improve their quality of life, Asa Mikata's mother mentioned that the funding received would be enough to allow her to attend high school. However, if someone is attacked by a Devil and survives, the insurance won't be as large as it is if such person dies.^[7]

List of Known Devils

Normal Devils

Primal Devils

Devils who bear the names of Primal Fears (根 (こん) 源 (げん) 的 (てき) 恐 (きょう) 怖 (ふ) , Kongen-teki Kyōfu^?) are particularly ancient and powerful, embodying concepts that have instinctual, primal fears associated with them and ingrained within the human psyche. Described as "transcendent" beings, they frighten lesser Devils and Fiends alike, including those who have previously been ignorant of their existence. Indeed, having never experienced the death-and-rebirth cycle typical of Devils due to their immense power, Primal Fear Devils have always dwelt in Hell under the same identities throughout human history.^[8] Currently, four Primal Fear Devils have been shown — the Darkness, the Falling, the Aging, and the Death Devil.

While the Darkness Devil was encountered in Hell,^[8][9][10] the Falling Devil manifested on Earth in accordance with Nostradamus' prophecy as "the first of the Devils who will shepherd the world to the Ultimate Terror".^[11][12] Upon arrival, she proved terrifying enough to make the then-heavily weakened War Devil flee at the mere sight of her, while claiming that, at present, humanity possesses no means of attack that could possibly kill her.^[13] Her mere presence proved to be a threat for the world as, even though she only operated in Japan, she caused destruction all over the planet. However, the Falling Devil was in fact controlled by the Death Devil, with the aim of weakening and bringing War under her control.^[14] The Aging Devil is shown to be on amicable terms with Japanese Public Safety and has made contracts with Devil Hunters.^[15]

Nayuta eventually revealed that the Great King of Terror (恐 (きょう) 怖 (ふ) の大 (だい) 魔 (ま) 王 (おう) , Kyōfu no Daimaō^?) is the eldest of the Four Horsemen, and the strongest existing Devil: the Death Devil, who embodies the aforesaid "Ultimate Terror" and is set to make her appearance in six months' time, per the prophecy, and whose arrival would usher in an "Age of Devils" (悪 (あく) 魔 (ま) の時 (じ) 代 (だい) , Akuma no Jidai^?).^[16][17][18]

However, despite their vast power, the Primal Fear Devils are shown to be neither untouchable nor above every single Devil (or at least the threat of coming under another Devil's influence), as the Falling Devil was revealed to be working for and under the control of the Death Devil.^[19] Likewise, Death, according to her own words during her disguise under the identity of the Famine Devil, plans on causing mass havoc on a global scale to empower both the Chainsaw and War Devils enough to be able to stand up to Death herself.^[17][20]

Reincarnated Devils

Devils that were incarnated in Hell after their death on Earth and later slain in Hell to reincarnate in different forms.

Devils erased by the Chainsaw Devil

Devils eaten by the Chainsaw Devil have their associated concept erased from the world and the minds of all creatures, warping both the timeline and the reality of the world and permanently killing the Devil. Extremely powerful Devils such as the Horsemen seem to be able to faintly recall erased Devils. The world has been drastically affected by these erasures, most evidently in the continued existence of the USSR stemming from the erasure of the Nazis and World War II. These erasures have also altered the biology of humans by taking away their sixth sense, as well as the alternatives to death at the end of a creature’s lifespan. Humans naturally turning into trees after thousands of years could be seen as an alternative to dying, representing a "conclusion to life" other than death, as stated by Makima, four of which were erased by the Chainsaw Devil.

Even partial erasures are possible, seen when the Chainsaw Devil ate part of the War Devil, and though the concept of war continues to exist, there have been no wars since the first World War. For an unknown reason, the only known exceptions are the Weapon Hybrids and the Chainsaw Devil himself, as even though the name of their concept has been erased by Pochita, Hybrids and chainsaws still remain within the world.^[21][22] An erased Devil can be vomited out, restoring their name and memory back into reality — though the few times it has been shown was shortly after the erasure, making it unclear if there is a limited time to do this. Another way the concept can return to existence is if the thing they are related to reappears — for example, although the Nuclear Weapons Devil was eaten by the Chainsaw Devil and erased the concept from existence, America reinventing from scratch and using Nuclear Weapons allowed the concept to be reborn and remembered.^[23]

When Pochita devoured his heart and was erased from existence, all the Devils who were devoured and had their concept erased were presumably restored.^[24] However, despite Pochita's erasure, the concept of chainsaws still remain for unknown reasons.^[22]

Fiends

Fiends are Devils who possessed a corpse. Fiends are considerably less powerful than their Devil counterparts and are able to use toned-down versions of their respective supernatural abilities. They can regenerate from drinking blood and get strength from it, but unlike Hybrids, they can die if they are fatally wounded. Some Fiends are able to transform into their Devil forms temporarily. They are also unable to perform contracts with Devils, with Asa Mitaka possibly being an exception, as she's a Fiend Host with half her brain left intact.

Weapon Devils

The Weapon Devils (武 (ぶ) 器 (き) の悪 (あく) 魔 (ま) , Buki no Akuma^?) were a group of 7 Devils that previously served under the Four Horsemen,^[25] each member embodies the concept of a certain type of weapon. All Weapon Devils are now currently fused with a human.

Hybrids

Hybrids have human consciousness and appearance, but can transform into a Devil-human Hybrid and manifest the supernatural abilities of the fused Devil. The official name for Hybrids was erased by the Chainsaw Devil, however Hybrids continue to exist despite their erasure for unknown reasons. Hybrids are able to transform into their Hybrid forms by a bodily trigger. Their regenerative abilities are nigh-limitless, and they can revive if there is an adequate amount of blood to consume. According to Makima, this kind of Devil is very rare to see, even among themselves, and most people have only ever heard rumors of their existence, to the point even Aki Hayakawa never thought they existed.

Devil Transformations

Devil Transformations are the result of humans making contracts between Devils to gain a devilish form, effectively becoming extensions of these Devils. Unlike the Hybrids, they take on a much more monstrous form, cannot freely transform back into humans, don't have the same triggers and aren't merged with the Devil they contracted with. The source of a Devil transformation can originate from more than one Devil. According to Yuko, it appears that humans are transformed into actual Devils, and need help from an outside source to turn back.^[26]

Unknown

Devil-related characters where it's unknown if they're Devils or Fiends.

Abilities

General Abilities

• Fear Empowerment: All Devils are born with a "name" that ties them to a concept. Devils feed on the fear that humans and other creatures have towards that concept, gaining their strength from it. Because of this, a Devil's power is deeply related to how humans perceive the concept and the visual images that their "name" inspire. The more fear is associated with a "name", the more powerful the Devil who possesses it becomes.^[27] An example offered by Makima is how a Car Devil would be stronger than a Coffee Devil, since cars conjures up the mental image of getting run over and dying, while coffee does not evoke any scary ideas; another example is the Chicken Devil, which is so weak that it was kept as a class pet for a high school and killed when a student fell onto it. The fear that humans have towards Devils in general is also a source of power that they can utilize, since it was stated that after the Gun Devil attack, many Devils grew stronger due to people being more afraid of them generally. Devils can also feed on the fear that other Devils have towards them, with the Chainsaw Devil managing to become extremely strong by using Devils' fear as his source of power. As demonstrated by the War Devil’s connection to the Gun Devil, Tank Devil and Nuclear Weapons Devil, Devils whose concepts that also encompass the concepts of other Devils can also contribute to and increase a devil’s overall power. As Yoru explained that the bulk of her power also comes from the fear the masses have towards Guns, Tanks and Nuclear Weapons, as fear of these weapons also leads to and includes a fear towards War. Showing how collective fear towards specific concepts can empower a devil whose concepts encompass a much broader concept. In addition, the Chainsaw Devil removing certain concepts from existence can have a knock-on effect that empowers different concepts and Devils. Pochita eating the Death Devil resulted in the empowerment of various Devils embodying pest species like insects and bats, as without death the offspring of these high fertility species aren't culled via natural selection and live forever, leading to rapid overpopulating and swarming the world consuming all life to fuel their own reproduction.^[28] This fear, pain and despair from humanity being eaten alive yet being unable to die by these swarms vastly empowered these associated Devils to the point where a single Devil, the Locust Devil, proved both a dangerous and overwhelming opponent for other strong Devils like the War and the Chainsaw Devils.^[29]
• Blood Consumption: All Devils can consume the blood of other creatures to heal their injuries. It is also implied that Devils can grow more powerful by consuming blood. While all Devils can consume blood to quickly regenerate, powerful Devils have shown to possess better regeneration.^[30][5] Hybrids and other powerful Devils, such as the Gun Devil and Darkness Devil, have very potent healing factors. The flesh or blood of a Devil can be fed to other creatures, making them stronger and even giving them the ability of the Devil they’ve eaten. However, this only works if the flesh/blood they ate came from a Devil that is still alive, as Denji did not get more powerful or gained the Control Devil’s ability, despite consuming Makima’s entire body.
• Contract Creation: All Devils can make contracts with humans, allowing humans to borrow some of their power in exchange for a sacrifice.^[3] However, Fiends are unable to perform contracts with Devils and Devils are unable to perform contracts with each other.
• Corpse Possession: All Devils can also possess human and animal corpses. This in most cases ends up creating a Fiend, though in rare cases it can end up creating a Hybrid instead under certain circumstances. The personality of the Fiend may mirror that of the corpse if the brain is still intact, as evident by the Violence Fiend's polite and gentle attitude.^[31] In these scenarios, the Devil may also retain some memories from the body they took over. In rare instances, Devils would deliberately like to retain the personality of the possessed corpse, effectively reviving them, and take over their personalities from time to time. The only known instance of this happening is with the War Devil, who took over Asa Mitaka's body while keeping her ego intact.
• Reincarnation: Another ability common among all Devils is reincarnation: when a Devil dies, they reincarnate in Hell; when they die in Hell, they reincarnate on Earth. This ability makes them practically immortal. However, every time they reincarnate, their memories and personalities are reset, making them completely different individuals from their previous incarnation.
• Flesh Power Boost: It is said that a Devil or human of any power can have their abilities boosted if they eat the flesh of a very powerful Devil, no matter what their original level of strength was. Some examples are the numerous Devils who became more powerful by eating the Gun Devil’s flesh, Santa Claus becoming a very powerful abomination after consuming the flesh of the Darkness Devil, and Power gaining her full Devil form restored from eating Pochita.

Unique Abilities

Devils also may possess other supernatural abilities correlating with their name. The conditions and effects of each supernatural ability is unique to the respective Devil. Using these abilities usually consumes a portion of their blood.^[32] Despite each Devil has their own abilities, these may be common between different Devils or Fiends, such as Force Manipulation which used by the Control Devil and the Darkness Devil, or intangibility, which used by the Spider Devil and the Shark Fiend. According to Aki, a Devil's abilities are undone upon death,^[33] while Fiends can seemingly bypass this, as Cosmo's powers were active after her death and Power, in her Fiend form, was able to leave Denji her blood, which he used to make a Blood Chainsaw.

Sometimes a Devil's natural ability or special ability may not always correlate or link up with what exactly their concept represents, or at the very least, won't represent a trait that is instantly known with the concept. The reason for these can be because of things like a more powerful Devil being able to have access to more abilities, like how the Snake Devil barely uses traditional snake ways of attacking, such as venom, but has shown "cheats" like consuming another Devil to make that Devil fight on their side. But it might not always or only apply to powerful Devils.

Weaknesses

• Positive Emotions: Just like fear can make a Devil stronger, positive emotions can make a Devil weaker. When a large group of humans develops love or admiration towards a Devil, those emotions will start to eat the Devil's strength, making them weaker.^[34]

• Devil Erasure: The Chainsaw Devil is infamously able to consume other Devils, causing the "name" they represent to vanish from public consciousness while also erasing their physical existence. His ability is, as far as we know, the only thing that can cease the reincarnation cycle of Devils. It’s the only form of “true death” that they can experience. Some concepts, such as nuclear weapons, may be reinvented if all necessary components and primary materials remain available.

Trivia

• The "name" for a Devil would more accurately be the concept(s) for a Devil rather than an actual "name" as the names for concepts will not be the same or mean the same thing in different languages and vice versa. A Devil, who is one of the more notable examples of this, is the first horseman, whose name is "Shihai" in Japanese, which is meant to be a wordplay on multiple similar but different concepts in one umbrella term in that language, but does not have the same effect in other languages, hence it will get different words as its translation such as Conquest, Control or Domination, to name a few.
• While only one type of Devil can exist for a specific "name" for a concept, Devils of similar or larger or smaller categories of concepts can exist. For example, sharks are a type of fish but the Shark Devil and Fish Devil exist as separate beings, but there cannot be more than one Devil who has those inherit "names" who can simultaneously exist.
• Their Japanese species name "Akuma" is also used to refer to Satan in Japanese and other demons and Devil figures in media.
• As seen with Devil transformations, it is known that there can be full Devils of human origin who exist in the world, but their full scope of having the same basic Devil abilities compared to natural Devils remains unknown.
• The Primal Devils' bodies are made from or seem to have been made via an amalgamation of human corpses, with Death being the exception.
• There are some Devils from Public Safety, that are not very well known about, but were also said to be Chainsaw Man followers whose names were Seraphim (セラフィム, Serafimu^?) the bug-looking one who is winged, Dominion (ドミニオン, Dominion^?) the mammal looking one who has hooves, and Virtue (ヴァーチェ, Vāche^?) the headless Fiend who bears claws. It is unknown if they are highly anthropomorphic Devils or Fiends.
• Fujimoto has stated in an interview that the reason he made Devils “born out of human fear” specifically was because he is a huge fan of horror movies and thought he could use the opportunity to make a lot of homages and references to the horror genre.
• Devils in Chainsaw Man are essentially a type of thought-form or egregore, which are words used to describe any being, either in real world beliefs or in general fiction, that is born from the thoughts, emotions, concepts or psychology, etc. from one or several people respectively. Devils specifically being the egregores of human fears towards specific concepts.
  • In a broader relation, Devils and their power system as a whole are beings born from a concept in psychology known as the collective conscious and subconscious/unconscious, which relates to the different levels of the collective mind and things such as feelings, beliefs and instincts of all of humanity. Fears can only exist and hold as much strength as they do because of the collective feeling and thinking so. For example, Primal Fears are represented as the embodiment of fears deep-rooted in the collective unconscious, as that is the most instinctual level in all of humanity.
• With how Devils embody concepts and with how Chainsaw Man, specifically, demonstrates the ability to erase concepts from existence by consuming the associated Devils, suggests that Devils have a more profound connection to the nature of reality, human consciousness and the universe as a whole. This idea stems from concepts like daemons or wrathful spirits of other religions like Hellenism (the Ancient Greek religion – often derogatorily referred to as Paganism) or some schools of Tibetan Buddhism.
  • Hellenism holds a belief in many Gods, and that includes those of the underworld. It also holds a belief in daemons, which are worldly spirits that exist alongside every object in the physical world. Similarly, Buddhism is a religion that acknowledges a number of deities, though it doesn’t revere most of them as in the cycle of suffering. The Tibetan Book of The Dead in particular presents a whole host of Wrathful Deities that a person is said to encounter following their death. These beings are not innately evil, but they are fierce and terrifying in a way not too dissimilar to Devils, as not all of them are innately cruel.

References

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v • eDevils
Primal Fears	Darkness Devil • Falling Devil • Aging Devil • Death Devil
Four Horsemen	Control Devil • War Devil • Famine Devil • Death Devil
Devils	Accident Devil • AIDS Devil • Angel Devil • Arnolone Syndrome Devil • Bat Devil • Bitterness Devil • Blood Devil • Bomb Devil • Bow Devil • Car Devil • Carpenter Bee Devil • Centipede Devil • Chainsaw Devil • Chicken Devil • Claw Devil • Cockroach Devil • Coffee Devil • Cosmos Devil • Curse Devil • Doll Devil • Ear Devil • Equality Devil • Eternity Devil • Fairness Devil • Fire Devil • Fish Devil • Flamethrower Devil • Fox Devil • Frog Devil • Future Devil • Ghost Devil • Grape Devil • Gravity Devil • Guillotine Devil • Gun Devil • Hell Devil • House Devil • Justice Devil • Katana Devil • Knife Devil • Leech Devil • Legs Devil • Light of a Star That Breaks Children's Minds Devil • Lion Devil • Locust Devil • Loneliness Devil • Longsword Devil • Mannequin Devil • Mantis Devil • Marshmallow Devil • Mold Devil • Moon Devil • Moray Eel Devil • Mount Hio Eruption Devil • Mouth Devil • Muscle Devil • Nail Devil • Nazi Devil • Needle Devil • Nuclear Weapons Devil • Octopus Devil • People Devil • Pig Devil • Pillbug Devil • Punishment Devil • Sea Cucumber Devil • Shark Devil • Sickness Devil • Sixth Sense Devil • Skin Devil • Snake Devil • Snow Devil • SOA Devil • Spear Devil • Spider Devil • Stag Beetle Devil • STD Devil • Stone Devil • Suicide Devil • Tank Devil • Teeth Devil • Tomato Devil • Trauma Devil • Typhoon Devil • Violence Devil • Whip Devil • World War II Devil • Zombie Devil
Fiends	Gun Fiend • War Fiend • Shark Fiend • Cosmos Fiend • Violence Fiend • Loneliness Fiend • Long • Nail Fiend • Pingtsi • Blood Fiend • Tsugihagi
Hybrids	Flamethrower Hybrid • Chainsaw Hybrid • Katana Hybrid • Longsword Hybrid • Bow Hybrid • Bomb Hybrid • Spear Hybrid • Whip Hybrid
Unknown	Dominion • Seraphim • Virtue