Denji

 Warning: This page contains major spoilers for the Chainsaw Man series. Please read at your own risk.

Denji (デンジ, Denji) is the main protagonist of Chainsaw Man. As a young boy, he inherits his father's debts from the Yakuza. After meeting Pochita, he becomes a Devil Hunter for the Yakuza in an attempt to clear his debt. Once the Yakuza, under the control of a Devil, betray him, he dies and Pochita becomes his heart. He now becomes the Chainsaw Devil by pulling a cord on his chest. After meeting Makima, he became a Public Safety Devil Hunter.

Appearance
Denji is a teenage boy with blond and scruffy hair. He has yellow-brown eyes and bags underneath, resulting in a dazed and tired expression. His teeth are noticeably sharp and angular. Due to malnutrition in his childhood, he has a scrawny build with protruding ribs.

At the beginning of the series, Denji was missing his right eye and several other non-essential organs, including a testicle. He covered his missing eye with an eyepatch. After Denji forms a contract with Pochita, a chainsaw cord forms in the middle of his chest and he regains his lost organs.

He spends much of his time wearing the standard Public Safety Devil Hunter uniform, consisting of a white shirt, tie, and slacks. He wears the uniform carelessly, his shirt wrinkled and sleeves rolled up. During Operation: Super-Smart, Denji donned a pair of fake glasses.

If Denji's chainsaw cord is pulled while he does not have enough blood, then a chainsaw blade will partially emerge from his face. If his chainsaw cord is pulled while he has enough blood for the transformation, then his head will morph into a demonic, mechanical shape with long, jagged fangs and a chainsaw handle out of the back of his head. Large chainsaws will emerge from his forehead, arms and legs, if he desires it.

After surrendering himself to Makima, Denji was forcibly transformed into a Full Devil. Prior to the transformation, his intestines emerge from his stomach and wrap around his neck, resembling a scarf or a collar. Once transformed, his body is black, looking to be covered with either armored plates/scales. He gains spikes on his shoulders and the back of his head, and loses the handle on the back. He becomes much larger and bulkier, towering over the average human. He has four arms as opposed to two, each equipped with their own Chainsaw Blade.

Personality
Denji is both brash and naive as a result of being unable to have a formal education and socialize due to living in severe poverty. His personality comes off as rude and harsh in an almost childish way. However, he has a good sense of empathy towards other people, willing to save those in danger as much as he could.

While Denji doesn't necessarily possess the highest intelligence, he is capable of clever ideas to take down devils, such as lighting himself on fire and using the light emitted to weaken Santa Claus enough to kill her.

After becoming a Public Safety Devil Hunter and fulfilling his basic needs, Denji is unsure of what he wants in life. While he initially wanted to fill his basic instincts, such as feeling up Power, he later realized and laments that the satisfaction from that intimacy is fleeting. Denji also fears his lack of empathy and attachments after his transformation. He fears becoming emotionless.

As the story progresses, it becomes more evident that Denji is emotionally damaged, and desperate to feel love and be loved by someone. He clings to Makima as a coping mechanism, even going to far to state his wish to her was to just be a mindless dog, so he would not feel hurt from losing the things and people he loved. This backfired, as watching Power die was enough for him to surrender himself to Makima completely, essentially erasing his personality and mental state. This is still evident when Denji tells Kishibe that he did not set out to kill Makima, but rather become one with her, allowing him to defeat her.

Makima
Makima picked up Denji after Pochita became his heart as the Chainsaw man. The relationship between the two was of infatuation from Denji and lower appreciation from Makima as she referred to him as their "dog". Near the end of Part 1 of Chainsaw man it is confirmed from Makima that by being her "pet", means that she views humans as humans view dogs, lower beings used for enjoyment. Throughout this series Makima never truly reciprocates the feeling Denji so desires as she is only interested in the Chainsaw Devil, Hero of Hell that lies within his heart.

Even after Denji discovers this, he still does not want to kill Makima. Even after she kills Power, he instead breaks down and offers himself as her loyal dog. The only way he defeated Makima was by becoming one with her as opposed to killing her, as she was virtually immune against all forms of death.

Despite everything she has done to him, after her death, Denji admits that he is still has feelings for Makima.

Pochita
Pochita was saved by Denji when in his time of need by feeding him his blood to recover from a injury, leading to them befriending one another Devil and Human alike. This allowed the debt that filled young Denji to be dealt with by becoming a young demon hunter with the help of Pochita. Later after being a Demon Hunter his whole life Denji was betrayed by the debt collector and brutally murdered by zombified humans. This death caused Pochita to become Denji's heart due to a contract making Denji a Human and Demon hybrid.

Aki Hayakawa
Aki and Denji initially began as distrustful teammates, as Aki strongly disliked Denji due to his nature as a Devil. He viewed Denji as a tool and stated multiple times he had no qualms about killing him should he become useless. He backed off slightly when Denji stated that he would be friends with a devil due to him being friendless. After being forced to live together, the two slowly grew a begrudging respect for one another, eventually blooming into a friendship. Though they share little emotion outwardly, the two have been shown to care deeply about one another, such as when Denji gave Aki an apple after Himeno's death, or when Aki comforted Denji over their cancelled trip with Makima.

After Aki becomes the Gun Fiend, Aki hallucinates the battle, imagining that he is having a snowball fight with Denji. His ability to not cope with Aki's death follows, as Denji falls into a stupor, vomiting over the feelings of grief and regret for killing Aki.

Power
Beginning as partners assigned by Makima, Denji initially viewed Power as a nuisance, whilst she attempted to use him for her own gain. Power initially betrays him, bringing him as a trade-off for the Bat Devil to return her cat. After she is rescued from the Bat Devil by Denji, she apologizes and begins to warm up to him, offering him to grope her as a means to apologize. Despite a rough start, their shared stupidity, apathy and hedonistic tendencies make the two quickly grow close, often playing games and arguing at times others find inappropriate. Denji develops the nickname 'Powy' for her, whilst she refers to him as her 'Buddy'. Their relationship becomes comparable to that of siblings, with Denji specifically noting a lack of romantic or sexual connection between the two. Both are intensely protective of the other, as seen when Denji and Aki looked after her following the Darkness Devil attack in Hell, also protecting her physically from Aki when he was possessed by the Gun Devil. Likewise, Power agreed to take part in the hunt for the Gun Devil despite her apprehension, purely out of her desire to continue working with Denji.

Power's friendship with Denji shows when she turns into the Blood Devil against Makima, and fights her and her men. When Power is about to die after saving Denji from Makima, Power forms a contract with Denji by giving him blood in return for him finding the blood devil again.

Intro arc
At the start of the series, Denji is forced to do odd jobs and kill Devils for the Yakuza to pay off the debt from his late mother's medical expenses that his father didn't pay off before taking his own life. His best friend is a Devil dog named Pochita that Denji saved by giving the wounded demon some of his blood to heal, unintentionally forming a contract with the demon. When the Yakuza betrays Denji and sacrifices him to their master the Zombie Devil, Pochita becomes Denji's heart and revives him as the Chainsaw Devil. Denji then defeats the Zombie Devil and a portion of his zombie army.

After he meets Makima, and she forces him to join the Public Safety Devil Hunters and threatens to exterminate him like a Devil if he ever refuses her orders. After killing the Muscle Devil, Denji becomes a sanctioned Devil Hunter and begins working with Aki Hayakawa and the fiend Power.

Bat Devil arc
The three end up defeating the Bat Devil and Leech Devil, and Power lets Denji get to second base as a reward for saving her cat.

As Denji's joy from the experience slowly turns into melancholy, Makina tells him that if he can manage to kill the Gun Devil she'll grant any wish for him. To find the Gun Devil, the Public Safety Division has to collect pieces of the Gun Devil's flesh granted to other Devils.

Eternity Devil arc
To this end, Denji kills the Eternity Devil after it traps them in a moment of time.

During the victory celebration, fellow Devil Hunter Himeno comes onto Denji before throwing up in his mouth during his first kiss and then offers to sleep with him.

Katana Man arc
Denji and his team are ambushed by the Katana Man and Sawatari. Denji is defeated by the pair and only manages to avoid capture thanks to the combined efforts of Makima and fellow Devil Hunter Kobeni Higashiyama.

The strongest Devil Hunter in the Public Safety organization, Master Kishibe, then trains Denji and Power in preparation for an attack on the group that attacked the Public Safety Devil Hunters.

Bomb Girl arc
While out on patrol, Denji escapes from the rain in a nearby phone booth, followed by a girl named Reze who is also taking refuge from the rain. After a short conversation, Reze invites him to the cafe that she works at, and gives him a cup of coffee. Because of this, Denji starts to develop feelings for her, as he begins regularly visiting her at the cafe. Eventually, Reze learns through their conversations that Denji has never attended schools, and offers to break into a local school with him. After this, Reze invites Denji to a local festival, and she kisses him during the fireworks display. During the kiss, she bites his tongue off and reveals that she is a Bomb Devil hybrid, after which Beam rescues him and the two make their escape to the Second Division headquarters.

Pursued by Reze, Denji and Beam are assisted by the Second Division for a short time, but are ultimately forced out by her attacks. As the two are chased by Reze, they encounter the Typhoon Devil. After a lengthy battle, Denji ultimately ends up atop a building overlooking the ocean, facing Reze. He uses his chains to grab her, thinking that she won't be able to use her powers underwater, and jumps into the ocean, carrying her with him. Later, the two wake up on the beach, rescued by a now-unconscious Beam. After a short conversation, Denji asks Reze if her feelings for him were genuine. She rejects him, and turns down his offer to run away before leaving. Denji lets her leave, telling her that he'll be waiting for her at the cafe at noon.

International Assassins arc
Within this arc, assassins all worldwide are after Chainsaw Man and his heart, hunting him down. He and Special Division 4 and the rest of their allies are left to defend off these assassins from taking Denji's heart.

Gun Devil arc
During this arc Special Division 4 and a few other divisions are told about the Gun Devils truth and what is truly about to occur on their mission until they are interrupted with the president of the U.S signing a contract with the Gun devil to kill Makima causing Terror across Japans citizens in damages.

Control Devil arc
Within the Control Devil Arc Makima shows her true colors as she leads to the death of his team crushing the people he loves, leading to her eventual death along with the death of Special Division 4's members not including Denji and Kobeni.

Supernatural Abilities
Hybrid Transformation: By pulling on the cord emerging from his chest, Denji can transform into a bloodthirsty Chainsaw Devil. Denji needs blood in order use his abilities, so if he does not have enough he can't fully transform, he can still manifest chainsaws but they are much shorter and weaker. This ability is revealed to be a result of his contract with Pochita. In exchange for living a "normal life", Pochita became heart of Denji.
 * Enhanced Strength: Denji has enough strength to catch a thrown car out of the air without staggering and throw it back equally as hard. He was able to throw his own heart hard enough to go through the Earth's atmosphere to prevent himself from being lost in space.
 * Enhanced Durability: Denji withstood a point-blank blast from the Bat Devil that destroyed the building behind him. Denji was able to stand up and continue fighting despite being hit by the attack. He has survived multiple explosions, and being on fire for extended periods of time.
 * Enhanced Endurance: Denji is able to withstand in a fight while being set on fire. He has recovered from decapitation, and nearly every part of his body being cut off in at some point, repeatedly.
 * Chainsaw Manifestation: As part of his transformation Denji grows fully-functional chainsaws from his arms, legs, and head. These chainsaws are extremely effective at cutting through devils, being able to slice straight through the Bat Devil's arm. He is able to manifest short chainsaws under his feet, which he can stick onto walls and even walk on them. As a full devil, all four of his arms have chainsaws.
 * Chainsaw Retraction: If he needs the full use of his arms and legs, Denji's chainsaws automatically retract into his body. This has not been seen in his full Devil Form yet.
 * Chain Entanglement: Denji is able to disconnect his chains from his chainsaws to wrap around his opponent's body. He uses this to pull them closer to him. If Denji's arms get torn off but are still connected to his body, he can still use his chain like body tissue to wrap his enemies around.

Devil Transformation: After surrendering his contract with Pochita, Denji transformed into a Full Devil. In this form, Denji displays incredible speed and strength, easily defeating multiple Hybrid-Devils in a matter of seconds. Though he has been shown to have taken damage, and even been slowed by being sent to Hell and blasted into Space, these acts merely delayed him for a few minutes before he returned unscathed. His immense power is further highlighted in Hell, where it is implied he defeated every Demon residing there. Makima stated that he has killed her 26 times in this form. The form seems to lack Denji's personality and awareness, though it has been shown to retain some memories and frequently acts in accordance with them. After defeated by Makima to save Kobeni and later rescued by Power, Denji transformed back to normal and regained his consciousness.

Blood Consumption: Denji is able to heal completely from nearly any fatal injury, and in some instances recover from death, so long as he consumes a sufficient amount of blood. After losing his arm to Bat Devil, Denji's arm re-attached itself after he received a blood transfusion. With his fight against Santa Claus, he consumed one of her doll's blood to keep fighting while still being on fire. As a full Devil, he regenerated from just his heart after throwing it from space. After noticing this method to regenerate, he is able to remove Pochita from his body and regenerate it as a separate entity which allowed him to foul Makima.

Blood Devil Contract: In exchange for finding reincarnated Blood Devil and befriending with them, Power gave all of her blood to revive Denji.
 * Blood Chainsaw: Thanks to blood gained from Power, Denji is able to manifest a chainsaw from her blood. It has similar design of Power's horns. By using her blood manipulation ability, Denji is able to disturb regeneration of Makima which allowed him to defeat her.

Skillset
Hand-to-Hand Combat: Even without his transformation, Denji is a capable unarmed and armed fighter. Against the Leech Devil- which was many times his size and weight- he was able to easily block her blows, whilst delivering punches and headbutts with enough force to damage her. His skills improved further after training with Kishibe, in which he learnt to rely more on strategy instead of blind-strength.

Trivia

 * Denji's ranking in the Popularity Polls are as follows;
 * Denji ranked 5th in the First Popularity Poll, with 18,302 votes.
 * Denji ranked 4th in the Second Popularity Poll, with 59,130 votes.
 * Denji appears in the background of My Hero Academia chapter 259.
 * Fujimoto revealed that his favorite character is Denji.