Warning: This page contains major spoilers for the Chainsaw Man series. Please read at your own risk.
The Death Devil (
As the Ultimate Terror (
Appearance[]
The Death Devil's appearance is unknown, but she is female like her siblings.[5]
Personality[]
Nothing is yet known about the Death Devil's personality.
However, per Nostradamus' Prophecy, the Death Devil is to bring about the apocalypse, end humanity, and usher in the Age of Devils (
Relationships[]
Makima[]
Makima, the previous Control Devil, sought to kill all three of her Horseman sisters to better the world for humanity, or at least claimed as much.[12] Barem Bridge later averred this, saying Makima's goal had always been to use Chainsaw Man's power to defeat Death so that a controlled, peaceful world may arrive.[13]
Fami[]
The Famine Devil aims to prevent humanity's extinction as per the "Prophecy" by killing the Death Devil. Though Fami seems to believe that the events foretold, up to and including her elder sister's arrival as the Ultimate Terror, are inevitable (and has been shown to partly involve herself in their orchestration, like the Falling Devil's appearance), Fami ultimately plots to empower both her younger sister, the War Devil, and the Chainsaw Devil by inciting global fear of both so that ultimately, they may stand up to Death come July 1999.[14][10][11]
It is currently unknown if the Death Devil is aware of Fami's agenda to kill her.
Nayuta[]
Nayuta, the Control Devil's newest incarnation, is well aware of Death's status as the strongest Devil. She noted that she and Fami, as her younger sisters, can tell that the Death Devil will indeed descend to Earth, while also deducing Fami's scheme to stop Death by empowering War and Chainsaw Man.[15] However, Nayuta has yet to directly involve herself with Fami's plan to kill their strongest sibling, as she would rather go to school.[16]
Yoru[]
Yoru, the War Devil, has not yet made her position regarding the Death Devil and the Prophecy known. Regardless, Fami and the Chainsaw Man Church plan to pit War and Chainsaw against Death.[15]
Pochita[]
The Four Horsemen are said to have engaged in a brutal fight against Chainsaw Man in Hell,[17] with the Death Devil's degree of involvement being unknown.
Plot[]
History[]
At some point in the past, the Four Horsemen sisters (alongside the Weapon Devils) were locked in a brutal, all-out fight against Pochita (the Chainsaw Devil) in Hell, at the height of which he vanished before their eyes. Unbeknownst to the Horsemen, Pochita had escaped to Earth in a completely changed, near-death form, hence why he could not be found despite searches conducted by the Control Devil.[17]
While all her three younger sisters eventually found their way to the Human World where they parted ways, the Death Devil is still not present on Earth, her status and whereabouts being unknown. Regardless, her arrival is prophesied to happen in July of 1999.[14][10][11]
Control Devil arc[]
Makima mentions the Death Devil alongside the other Horsemen while opening up to Kishibe about her plans to blot out the very concepts embodied by her sisters, by forcing Pochita to devour them.[12]
Dating Denji arc[]
Hirofumi Yoshida is revealed to know of the Death Devil's existence. While they are held captive by the Eternity Devil inside an aquarium, Yoshida asks Denji (Pochita's host) if he reckons that Chainsaw Man would be willing to eat Death for humanity's sake.[8]
Falling Devil arc[]
When Yoshida treats the Famine Devil to dinner, he queries about Nostradamus' Prophecy, which holds that in July 1999, the "Great King of Terror" (Death) is to descend to Earth and cause humanity's demise. Fami confirms the veracity of this, noting that the first of the Devils who will shepherd the world to the "Ultimate Terror" has already arrived: the Falling Devil.[14] The latter is revealed, not long after, to have been acting on Fami's orders. Fami explains to Nayuta, the new Control Devil, that she intended for Falling to feed the War Devil and her host, Asa, to the Justice Devil: to starve and subjugate them for her plot. Reiterating that the King of Terror will soon appear, she states her goal of preventing the resulting end of the human race by empowering her sister, War, to be able to win over said King.[10]
Chainsaw Man Church arc[]
When apprehend by Public Safety, Barem Bridge mentions the Prophecy again, before revealing that the Chainsaw Man Church has impelled 350,000 humans across the world to enter Contracts with the Fire Devil to transform into pseudo-Devils that resemble Chainsaw Man, all in preparation for the Death Devil's advent on Earth six months from now. Nayuta discerns that the church's and Fami's goal is to incite global chaos and thus raise humanity's collective fear of War and Pochita, to make both Devils strong enough to stand up to Death; the most powerful of all Devils and eldest of the Horsemen sisters.[11]
Later after the Church's burning of Denji's home, Barem, while threatening Nayuta, vents about how Denji's killing of Makima ruined their plan of brining about a controlled, peaceful world, for he believes that Makima, had she survived and been able to use Chainsaw Man's power, could have defeated the Death Devil.[13]
Abilities[]
The Death Devil is the strongest Devil in existence, her name being most feared of all.[6]
While lesser "Primal Fears" are already transcendent beings that cannot be killed and whose mere presence can be felt across the world,[18][19] the Death Devil's arrival is held as tantamount to the apocalypse. Indeed, the Prophecy of Nostradamus calls her "Ultimate Terror" and "Great King of Terror" — who is to usher in an Age of Devils and thus end the human race.[9][10][11]
However, her sisters seem to believe that killing Death is within the realms of possibility: Makima desired to kill all her sisters by having Chainsaw Man eat them,[12] and Fami plots to empower the War and Chainsaw Devils by rapidly reigniting humanity's collective fear of them (by means of inciting a global war) so that both can grow strong enough to rival Death.[10][11]
The Death Devil can be assumed to hold all standard Devil abilities, like regeneration, forming Contracts, etc.
Devil Powers[]
- Nigh-Absolute Immortality: Devils of Primal Fear status are considered unkillable due to their power, hence why they never undergo reincarnation.[18] The Falling Devil has affirmed that, at present, humanity has no means of attack available that could kill a Primal Fear.[20]
Chapter Appearances[]
Public Safety Saga[]
| 80. A Dog's Feelings | Absent |
| 81. Paw | Absent |
| 82. Always Eat A Hearty Breakfast | Absent |
| 83. Death, Resurrection, Chainsaw | Absent |
| 84. Hero Of Hell | Mentioned |
| 85. Bloody Good Gut Feeling | Absent |
| 86. Date Chainsaw | Absent |
| 87. Chainsaw Man vs. the Horrifying Weapon Humans | Absent |
| 88. Star Chainsaw | Absent |
| 89. Go Get 'Em, Chainsaw Man | Absent |
| 90. Super Power | Absent |
| 91. Power, Power, Power | Absent |
| 92. Zombie, Blood, Chainsaw | Absent |
| 93. You & Crappy Movies | Absent |
| 94. Chainsaw Man vs. the Weapon Humans | Absent |
| 95. Chainsaw Man vs. Control Devil | Absent |
| 96. This Kind of Taste | Absent |
| 97. I, Love, Chainsaw | Absent |
Academy Saga[]
| 112. Between Cat and Criminal | Absent |
| 113. I Wanna See Penguins! | Absent |
| 114. Endless Aquarium | Absent |
| 115. High Schoolers These Days | Mentioned |
| 116. Taste of Starfish | Absent |
| 117. Penguin and Weapon | Absent |
| 118. Saying Goodbye | Absent |
| 119. Thief | Absent |
| 120. Triangle | Absent |
| 121. Theory of Happiness | Absent |
| 122. The Prophecies | Mentioned |
| 123. Hors D'oeuvre | Absent |
| 124. Soup | Absent |
| 125. Apple Thief | Absent |
| 126. Food Fight | Absent |
| 127. Save the Asa | Absent |
| 128. Main Dish | Absent |
| 129. Save Me, Chainsaw Man | Absent |
| 130. Kill Building | Absent |
| 131. Taste of Crap | Mentioned |
| 132. Protection | Absent |
| 133. Chainsaw Man Protest | Absent |
| 134. Ordinary Happiness | Absent |
| 135. Sentimental Drive | Absent |
| 136. Normal Life | Absent |
| 137. Chu Chu Lovely Muni Muni Mura Mura | Absent |
| 138. Sword Man | Absent |
| 139. A Chair's Feelings | Absent |
| 140. Scales | Absent |
| 141. Normal Life Plus | Absent |
| 142. Denji Fan Club | Absent |
| 143. Rawr | Absent |
| 144. Guns, Nails, Katana | Absent |
| 145. Kumbaya | Absent |
| 146. Chainsaw Man War | Mentioned |
| 147. Cremation | Absent |
| 148. Room 606 Sword | Absent |
| 149. Devil's Choice | Absent |
| 150. Dream’s Next Stage | Absent |
| 151. The Return of Chainsaw Man | Mentioned |
| 152. Massage | Absent |
| 153. Chainsaw Man Hunters | Absent |
| 154. All Pets | Absent |
| 155. The Old Me | Absent |
Trivia[]
- The notion that the Death Devil embodies the ultimate fear maps onto real life: fear of/anxiety about death and mortality (also called thanatophobia) is one of the oldest and most innate fears, if not the oldest. A base aversion to death is ubiquitous in the animal kingdom and underlies many other instinctual fears like that of pain, predation, disease, starvation, etc.
- Predatory death anxiety, stemming from fear of harm, is the most primal death anxiety whose origins lie with unicellular organisms (e.g., protozoa) and their rudimentary, self-protective response mechanisms: their receptors evolved to react to stimuli to raise the likelihood of survival in the face of physical/chemical threats. Into humans, aversion to death has been wired through millions of years of evolution, and particularly the predatory kind of death anxiety may be evoked by whatever scenarios put one at risk or threaten one's survival, usually triggering fight-or-flight responses.
- Scholars distinguish various forms of death anxiety, like predatory death anxiety (fear of being killed), predator death anxiety (fear of taking another life), existential death anxiety, personal fear of death/the dying process or anxiety towards the death of someone close, fear of dead bodies (necrophobia), and so on. Existential death anxiety is thought to be the most powerful form, founded in the basic awareness of human mortality that arose in humans some 150,000 years ago and sets them apart from animals. Since then (in a short span of evolutionary time) human psychology has fashioned a basic coping mechanism against this existential fear: denial.
- The Death Devil being the last Horseman to appear mirrors how in Christian eschatology, Death is the final of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, riding the Pale Horse.
- While explaining Pochita's ability to erase concepts by eating the Devils incarnating them, Makima stated that there used to exist "4 outcomes other than death at the end of a living being's lifespan" (「
生 命 が寿 命 を迎 えると死 の他 にあった４つの結 末 」 "Seimei ga jumyō o mukaeru to shi no hoka ni atta yottsu no ketsumatsu"?), until Chainsaw Man devoured the corresponding Devils.[21] What these entailed in relation to Death and if their erasure has influenced her strength is unknown.
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Chainsaw Man Manga: Chapter 122, Page 7
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 Chainsaw Man Manga: Chapter 131, Page 14
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 Chainsaw Man Manga: Chapter 122, Page 4
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Chainsaw Man Manga: Chapter 146, Pages 12-13
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Chainsaw Man Manga: Chapter 146, Page 13
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Chainsaw Man Manga: Chapter 146, Page 14
- ↑ Chainsaw Man Manga: Chapter 84, Page 16
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 Chainsaw Man Manga: Chapter 115, Page 7
- ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 Chainsaw Man Manga: Chapter 122, Pages 4-7
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 10.5 10.6 Chainsaw Man Manga: Chapter 131, Pages 14-17
- ↑ 11.0 11.1 11.2 11.3 11.4 11.5 11.6 Chainsaw Man Manga: Chapter 146, Pages 12-17
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 Chainsaw Man Manga: Chapter 84, Pages 15-16
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Chainsaw Man Manga: Chapter 151, Pages 8-9
- ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 Chainsaw Man Manga: Chapter 122, Pages 4-8
- ↑ 15.0 15.1 Chainsaw Man Manga: Chapter 146, Pages 13-17
- ↑ Chainsaw Man Manga: Chapter 131, Pages 18 -19
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Chainsaw Man Manga: Chapter 87, Pages 1-2
- ↑ 18.0 18.1 Chainsaw Man Manga: Chapter 64, Page 6
- ↑ Chainsaw Man Manga: Chapter 135, Page 5
- ↑ Chainsaw Man Manga: Chapter 125, Page 7
- ↑ Chainsaw Man Manga: Chapter 84, Page 13