Prophecy of Nostradamus

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

Prophecy of Nostradamus
Information
Allegiance	Devils
Notable Members	Death Devil
Manga Debut	Chapter 122 (Mentioned)

"In the seventh month of 1999, a great king of terror will descend."

The Prophecy of Nostradamus (ノストラダムスの大 (だい) 予 (よ) 言 (げん) , Nosutoradamusu no Daiyogen^?) is a foretelling of immense pivotality for the world: about the coming arrival of the Death Devil on Earth, in July of 1999, that is said to be followed by the extinction of humanity and Devils taking over, leading to a global Age of Devils.

According to Fami, the War Devil is the only individual possibly capable of stopping or subverting the prophecy, though Nayuta considers Chainsaw Man to be equally essential.

Story

The first mention of the prophecy's existence comes from Hirofumi Yoshida, who believes Fami to be involved with it in some way and met her for questioning. He further reveals that Public Safety made 30 convicts make a contract with the Future Devil under the terms of release from custody. The convicts received the knowledge of the dates of their deaths for an unknown price, and it was confirmed that 23 out of the 30 would indeed die in July 1999.

Fami finishes the exposition by revealing that the 7 remaining convicts will die this week and that 40 seconds ago a Primal Fear, the Falling Devil, appeared on Earth and that Devil will be the first of many to cast the world into the abyss of terror.

The aforementioned Devil begins a mass slaughter of Tokyo's population casting countless people into Hell where they'll be devoured while also murdering any Devil Hunter in sight. She chooses the War Horseman, Yoru alongside Asa Mitaka as her next targets and plans to "serve" them as the main dish. However after being "served" they escape Hell with the help of Chainsaw Man and a mysterious benefactor. Because of the harsh terms set by the Falling Devil, other Devils desperately attempt to hunt them down causing severe collateral damage and deaths through the city.

The Falling Devil's presence caused worldwide devastation as the gravity fluctuations occurred all around the globe. The death toll in Tokyo alone was at least 2000. As predicted by Fami, this caused widespread panic about the upcoming apocalypse. The worldwide damage was severe enough to impoverish many nations. Yoru predicts imminent conflict between nations due to this.

Fami is revealed to be somewhat orchestrating some of the events leading up to the prophecy. However, it's revealed that rather than her being complicit with its events, as she believes that they are fated to happen, she instead wants to subvert the prophecy's meaning to ensure humanity's survival, even if her methods cost the lives of numerous innocent people.

It's also revealed that Public Safety have a keen interest in stopping The Prophecy. However, instead of sacrificing human lives to solve the problem, they aim to "evolve" humanity in a way by erasing Devils that represent weaknesses inherent in humanity, such as the problems that stem from aging. As of such, they wish to utilise the Chainsaw Devil's powers in one form or another, whether he consents to it or not.

Origin

The prophecy finds its origin in the real world. Nostradamus' original writings were written in archaic French and is notoriously vague and difficult to translate. As such, there are many translations of this particular prophecy (officially named Quatrain X.72). The following translation comes from the book "The Secrets of Nostradamus" by David Ovason:

"The year one thousand nine hundreds ninety nine seven months

From the sky will come a great King of alarm

To bring back to life the great King of Angoulmois.

Before after Mars to reign by good fortune."

Trivia

• While this line does not appear in the manga, Mars is the Roman god of war. In this context, he is most likely represented by Yoru.
• The King of Angoulmois in the original prophecy referred to Genghis Khan, as "Angoulmois" is a near-anagram of "Mongolians." Due to his mass pillaging, Genghis Khan could be seen as a symbol of death, much like how the Death Devil is the embodiment of the fear of death.