Four Horsemen

The Four Horsemen (４の) are a quadrumvirate of particularly powerful Devils:
 * The Control Devil;
 * The War Devil;
 * The Famine Devil;
 * And the Death Devil.

Makima, revealed to be the Control Devil, was the first Horseman to make an appearance, and she made reference to the other three before any of them made their debut. The four are some of the most prominent Devils featured in the Chainsaw Man manga, with Makima being the main antagonist of Part 1 of the story while the other three (along with Nayuta, Makima's reincarnation) become prominent in Part 2.

Overview
The Four Horsemen are four-strong group of Devils who are particularly powerful, take the form of female humans, and consider themselves to be "sisters". Death is the eldest (and most powerful), Fami (Famine) the second-eldest, and the Control Devils (Nayuta and likely Makima as well) are therefore the youngest, Yoru having been alive at the same time as Makima while Nayuta was born after Makima's death; Makima's age in relation to her sisters is unknown.

Together, the sisteres are known to have engaged in a particularly fearsome, brutal battle in Hell against the Devil feared most by other Devils: "Chainsaw Man" (Pochita). The Horsemen seem to be the only entities in the world (Devil or otherwise) who still remember the names of those Devils devoured by Chainsaw Man, such as the Nuclear Weapons Devil, the Nazi Devil, and others. However, it is unclear how far these memories go: Makima, the Control Devil's previous incarnation, could remember the names of devoured Devils but admitted that she could not recall them beyond the sight of them fighting Chainsaw, and that even those memories were starting to fade; the next incarnation, Nayuta, appears to bear no memories from her predecessor's life.

Intergroup Relations & Ambitions
Despite their past collaboration in fighting Chainsaw Man, the Horsemen sisters are not a cohesive unit, each member following different goals and agendas that tend to clash yet which, as a commonality, involve Chainsaw Man in one way or another:
 * Makima, the former Control Devil, posed as a human Devil Contractor working for Japan's Devil Hunter organization, intending (after being the first to find Pochita) to bring the Chainsaw Devil under her control in order to wipe out her sisters, to get rid of their very concepts and (supposedly) better the world for humans; Makima went as far as to claim that she was Chainsaw Man's fan due to his incredible power and chaoticism, to the point that she would not mind being devoured herself.
 * Yoru, the War Devil, intends to find Pochita and battle him again so as to slay him, in a seeming revenge plot for eating part of her (as well as other Devils that contributed to her power, like the WWII and Nuclear Weapons Devils), while avoiding her sisters (or at least Fami) in the process.
 * Fami has dedicated herself to opposing the apocalypse prophesized by Nostradamus so as to save humanity (by her own words), currently aiming to prevent the apocalypse by killing the Death Devil and enslaving her sister War to aid her in this endeavor (specifically wanting to empower both War and the Chainsaw Devil to be able to stand up to Death when she appears). Fami at different points tried recruiting both Yoru (War) and Nayuta (Control) for her plot.
 * Meanwhile, Nayuta has been taken in by Denji (Pochita's current host) and does not care to involve herself with her sisters' plans, preferring to study like a human child (while also wanting to see Chainsaw Man in Devil-Hunting action.
 * The Death Devil's current agenda is unknown, although if Nostradamus' prophecy is to be believed, she is expected to try to bring upon the end of humanity in six months' time, ushering in the Age of Devils on Earth. If at all (and how) Chainsaw Man would become involved with Death's ambitions is unknown.

Personalities
The Horsemen stand out among Devils not only for their scheming tendencies (especially in the case of Control and Famine), but also their very humanlike dispositions, propensity to pose as humans, and willingness to integrate into human society in favor of their goals. They all have distinct personalities, notably maintaining a veneer of amiability towards humans despite ultimately being extremely selfish. Makima heavily involved herself in Japan's Public Safety operations and, posing as a human, almost always maintained an aura of compassion and politeness before humans — that is, until she started betraying her closest subordinates in pursuit of her ambitions, at which point she revealed herself to be cold, callously domineering, and Machiavellian as befitting "Control" (not to mention the countless human lives she was willing to sacrifice); Makima did mention to Kishibe that she was aiming to kill her sisters to better the world for humans, though given her actions, the truthfulness of such a statement might be called into question. War, in contrast, is loud, touchy, and belligerent, befitting her nature as "War". Famine is very calm, mannered, and polite to everyone, but unlike Control does not even bother to hide her ill intentions for Asa; additionally, though claiming to want to save humanity from extinction, she appears consequentialist (like Makima) in so far as she is willing to wreak global havoc to do so. Nayuta, the current Control Devil, has several childlike tendencies that would be expected of a human her age, both in terms of behavior and speech, although she is has also exhibited domineering tendencies and can be rather perceptive.

None of the Horsemen seem to eat humans as most Devils do, consuming human food instead; Fami appears to be partial to fast food and has expressly named Chinese food and pizza as reasons for why the age of humanity should not end, which Nayuta agreed with. The sisters also seem to have an affinity for bread.

As a shared quirk, the Four Horsemen are all face-blind, with Fami mentioning that "the sisters" have no interest in faces, whether human or Devil. Makima admitted long before revealing her true nature that she could not discern faces and went by smell, something later confirmed by Denji. Yoru also noted that she had not recognized Fami due to it being too long since she last met her. Yoru and Famine are are unable to discern Denji-as-Chainsaw Man from Pochita in his true form, despite them looking very different, by anything besides color.

Appearances
All Four Horsemen are female, appearing as young women and/or girls. Though they differ from another looks-wise and may change appearances upon reincarnation, they look fully human to a degree unusual for full-fledged Devils (at least while in the Human World), to the point of being able to pass themselves off as regular humans without being found out and thus seamlessly integrate into society. Whether Death is an exception is unknown, since she has yet to appear, and if the Horsemen's original forms in Hell are the same degree of human is likewise unconfirmed. Yoru the War Devil was shown taking the shape of a small dark owl while in a weakened state, before subsequently possessing the body of a teenage girl (and being distinguished in said body by her ringed eyes and facial scars that manifest when she is in control).

Each of the Horsemen is shown to have eyes whose irises are split by concentric rings, and are uniquely colored.

Power
It is implied that the combined members of the Four Horsemen are almost as powerful, if not on par, with the Primal Fears due to Makima being able to slightly wound the Darkness Devil, albeit at the cost of her arm, and Fami being able to enslave the Falling Devil. However, the Horsemen do not command the same fear and respect as the Primal Fears; the reincarnated Eternity Devil openly cursed and insulted Fami when their deal didn't go according to plan.

Past
Together, the Horsemen sisters are known to have engaged in a particularly fearsome, brutal battle in Hell against the Devil feared most by other Devils: Chainsaw Man (Pochita). For exactly how long is not revealed, alhough going by Yoru's words, it may have been for at least over 50 years since she mentioned how she was weakened by the absence of war since WWII following her fight with Pochita. However, in the midst of their final confrontation, Pochita mysteriously vanished. Despite searches conducted by the Control Devil, Pochita could not be found. Unbeknownst to the Four Horsemen, this was because Pochita had changed forms on the verge of death and escaped to Earth; this is when Denji and and an injured Pochita met.

Sometime after this battle, the Horsemen arrived on Earth, but apparently parted ways. The Control Devil assumed the identity of a human, "Makima", who became the head of Special Division 4 in the Public Safety.

The Death Devil's whereabouts remained unknown, though it is implied that she has yet to appear on Earth.

Control Devil arc
Makima reveals the existence of the Four Horsemen amid her fight against Chainsaw Man, describing how she, the other three Horsemen, and the Weapon Devils fought against Pochita in Hell until the battle abruptly ended, when Pochita vanished before their eyes. With the Weapon Hybrids present, she announces that the interrupted battle can finally be brought to an end, as she orders the Weapon Hybrids to attack Chainsaw Man.

After seemingly succeeding at defeating Chainsaw Man and seizing control over him, Makima is suddenly sliced open by Denji with a chainsaw. Through a loophole, Denji renders the Devil Contract Makima had with the Prime Minister of Japan that gave her nigh-immortality null and kills her by eating her entire body.

The Control Devil is soon reincarnated as Nayuta, a young girl from China. Kishibe, who discovered her, brought back to Japan and where he tasks Denji with taking the girl in to raise her right, so as to prevent the rise of another Makima.

Justice Devil arc
Quite some time after Makima's downfall, the War Devil — weakened from her battle against Chainsaw Man and reduced to a diminutive, owl-like form — appears in front of Asa Mitaka, shortly after the girl is murdered by her jealous classmate, who killed her out of the belief that it would secure her the affections of their teacher, Mr. Tanaka. The War Devil offers to save her life, in exchange for control over her body. Mitaka takes this opportunity, allowing the War Devil to assume control of her body. The War Devil immediately slaughters her murderer as well as her teacher. Seeing a Chainsaw Man poster nearby the slaughter, the War Devil vows to make Chainsaw Man "vomit nuclear weapons back up". War reveals that, having left Asa's brain intact, the latter's self has been preserved, causing the two to share one body, and consequently names herself "Yoru" (meaning "Night" in contrast to Asa's name, which means "Morning").

Shortly after, the Famine Devil (nicknaming herself "Fami") is revealed to have assumed the identity of a high school student at Fourth East, as a member of the school's Devil Hunter Club.

Falling Devil arc
Yoshida reveals the "Prophecy of Nostradamus" that foresees a coming apocalypse, during which the so-called "Great King of Terror" is to appear on Earth to usher in the apocalypse: the end of the age of humans and the dawn of one where Devils rule (later revealed to in fact refer to the coming of the Death Devil). The Horsemen's investment in said prophecy is shown to vary from member to member — with Famine actively working against it and wishing to preserve humanity, Control seeming disinterested, and War being not yet fully involved in any scheme.

Yoru correctly guesses that Fami is involved with the attack of the primordial "Falling Devil" on Asa and Yoru, with Fami revealing that she intended for the Falling Devil to feed Asa and Yoru to the Justice Devil and have her sister starved in its belly so that she may become Fami's pawn, to aid in the latter's plot to prevent Nostradamus' prophecy. Nayuta declines Fami's request to work with her.

Current arc
After her attempts to starve the War Devil failed, Fami with the help of Haruka Iseumi and a mysterious third individual founded the Chainsaw Man Church, which quickly grew to become a powerful organisation with tens of thousands of members, frequent TV appearances, and political donations.

Following a tense conversation, she managed to recruit her horseman sister, Yoru (alongside Asa Mitaka) into the church, whom she has turned into a national celebrity. Besides the War Devil, the church also has various members of the weapon hybrids among its ranks.

Trivia

 * The Four Horsemen are based, in name and concept, on the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse (Japanese: の) from Christian eschatology, appearing in John's Book of Revelation (6:1–8) of the New Testament (and assumed in some interpretations to have been referenced in the Old Testament's prophetic Book of Zechariah and in Ezekiel).
 * Per the scripture, these four figures are to set a divine end-time upon the world as harbingers of the Last Judgment: appearing with the opening of the first four of the Seven Seals of God that release the apocalypse, as punishment from God. They are usually interpreted by modern scholarship as: Conquest (the White Rider), War (the Red Rider), Famine (the Black Rider), and finally Death (the Pale Rider, who is the only one explicitly given a name in the Revelation).
 * The Horsemen's order of appearance in the Revelation is reflected by the order of the corresponding Devils' appearance in Chainsaw Man: first shown was the Control Devil, followed by War and then Famine, with Death having yet to appear.
 * Under one interpretation that has appeared since the early 20th century (especially prevlanet in pop-culture references to the Four Horsemen), the first Rider is called Pestilence instead of Conquest — associated with infectious disease and plague. While the exact origin of this interpretation is unknown, some assume a reason to be that scholars found Conquest and War to be too similar. Coincidentally, the White Rider is described as carrying bow; bows and arrows have been associated with disease since antiquity, with arrows thought of as carriers thereof (especially the plague) due to oft being laced with poisons.
 * While Makima can control any creature she deems inferior to herself, like animals (generally borrowing the hearing of lower lifeforms), she has been shown to teleport herself using rats specifically as a medium, which are creatures oft associated with disease.
 * The term "Horseman" is traditionally rendered as Kishi (騎士) in Japanese bible translations, which literally means "Knight".
 * Before her reveal as a Horseman, Makima was already highly implied to be one due to her and the "Conquest" Rider of the New Testament sharing the same name in Japanese: "Conquest" being rendered as Shihai.
 * All Four Horsemen are female, as revealed by Nayuta calling Death her elder sister.
 * Despite their grouping, the Horsemen are not fully in allegiance with one another and pursue differing goals, sometimes in direct opposition to their fellow Horsemen:
 * It was Makima's self-proclaimed goal to use the Chainsaw Devil to get rid of the other three Horsemen: Death, War, and Famine, thereby creating a better world.
 * Similarly, Fami has expressed her goal of killing her elder sister, the Death Devil, in order to stop Nostradamus' prophecy and keep the world from ending.
 * The ringed eye design of the Horsemen (and Nayuta's character as a whole) seem based on the character Nayuta from Tatsuki Fujimoto's pre-Chainsaw Man one-shot, Yogen No Nayuta.
 * In said one-shot, Nayuta was a demon child prophesized to start the apocalypse, further emphasizing the reference in relation to the Four Horsemen.
 * The ringed eye design is not solely indicative of the Horsemen, however: the Fox Devil and Future Devil are prime examples of other Devils having such an eye design.
 * So far, three of the Four Horsemen have showcased the ability to take control over things, both living and nonliving:
 * The Control Devil can control others as her core ability, Makima stating "I have the power to control those I consider to be of lesser rank than myself." (私は自分より程度が低いと思う者を支配できる力があります), befitting the concept of control ("conquest"). Her potential targets range from humans to animals, to other Devils, to Fiends, to even Hybrids. Even precise control over someone's brain, including manipulating memories and perception, is possible for the Control Devil.
 * The War Devil can turn anything she believes is "hers" (her property) into her weapons, from objects to lifeforms. This ability, when witnessed through Asa Mitaka, depends on guilt; the more guilt Asa feels about creating a weapon, the stronger it will be, meaning that while Yoru possesses Asa, only Asa can create strong weapons. In this context, the concept of Asa's ownership is bound only by her own perception no matter how illogical (e.g., when she believed that paying a million yen was enough to buy herself ownership over an entire aquarium, she was able to turn it into a weapon).
 * The Famine Devil can turn the "hungry" (飢えた者) into her "pawns" (駒), potentially including a Primal Fear Devil.
 * The Horsemen have been shown to be some of the most powerful Devils around, apart from unrelated "Primal Fear" Devils:
 * At least the Death Devil is, in fact, revealed to be a "Primal Fear" Devil herself: embodying the most primal fear of all and making her the strongest Devil in existence.
 * Fami, by using her power to take control over those she starves, was able to turn a Primal Fear, the Falling Devil, into her pawn and summon her to Earth from Hell.
 * Yoru, when faced with the same Falling Devil, felt that she had no chance against the Primal in her current, weakened state, opting to flee on sight.
 * Makima, while ostensibly unable to injure it significantly, was able to at least draw blood from the primal Darkness Devil and temporarily stun it, showing herself outwardly unafraid of it whereas lesser Devils and Fiends are deathly afraid of the Primals; still, she was quickly being overpowered as she merely attempted to rescue her allies from Hell.
 * Denji has mentioned that he assumed Makima to only recognize people by their scent, never actually remembering peoples' faces. This fact was referenced again when Yoru noted that she had not recognized Fami due to it being too long since she last met her, and Fami mentioned that "the sisters" (the Horsemen) have no interest in faces, whether of humans or Devils. Whether all the four sisters perceive others via scent is unknown.
 * As first revealed by Makima, the Four Horsemen have long been engaged in an on-and-off battle with Pochita, the Chainsaw Devil, but for exactly how long is unknown. Yoru retains a strong desire to fight and kill Chainsaw Man, mentioning that she fought him long ago and he ate a piece of her. Then, since WW2, there has not been a single major war, weakening her further and implying that the Horsemen have been fighting the Chainsaw Man for at least 50+ years.