Per wiki policy, Spoilers Off applies here and all spoilers are unmarked. You Have Been Warned.
Character-Specific
- The Chainsaw Devil a actually a depowered form of a Primal Fear Devil representing something like Entropy or Erasure (being forgotten), like the opposite of the Cosmos Devil. The reason it is a chainsaw is because being depowered, it represents destruction and removal of things by force, not just fading away. It would make no sense for a chainsaw to be able to erase concepts or beings. Later in the series, Denji will inadvertently tap into these additional powers and will eventually simply erase an enemy (or friend) from existence, then realize the scope of what he's become and possibly have an existential crisis.
- Alternatively, Pochita could be a Primal Devil representing humanity's fear of being hunted down and eaten by predators, which is why he is able to destroy concepts by eating them and why he resembles a dog. His weakened state and association with chainsaws may be the result of societal changes, as human beings are unlikely to encounter large, dangerous animals in their day-to-day lives anymore, so instead their fear of being hunted manifests as a fear of horror movie villains (Who stereotypically wield chainsaws.) - New predators for a new age. Pochita/the Predator Devil was originally just as evil as any other devil, but had a Heel–Face Turn when humans domesticated wolves.
This makes Pochita not merely the personification of the fear of Chainsaws but a rather that of the deep-rooted fear of one's kind vanishing entirely, brought about by both natural forces turning against humanity and the latter's own actions (such as deforestation) catching up to them. The reason Pochita only seems to use his chainsaw powers in-story rather than other aspects that involve large-scale annihilation could be either: Pochita being severely weakened after his fight against the Four Horsemen and thus is relegated to only using his deforestation or chainsaw aspects, with his brief return as the Hero of Hell being only a partial regeneration. Or Pochita is but one of the aspects of the original Extinction Devil that was split after its battle against the Horsemen, with other aspects still present somewhere and not as benevolent as Pochita.
- This could also explain why Pochita managed to easily devour and Ret-Gone several Devils that are supposedly beyond the weight-class of a mere manifestation chainsaw-phobia (such as the Nazis, cosmic terrors from beyond the stars, and even part of the concept of War). Aside from obviously obliterating these concepts Pochita had unwittingly played a part of Natural Selection within Hell, and extinction and Natural Selection go hand-in-hand.
- It could lead to panels repeating where the said Devil and its influence doesn't exist, or if it ever gets animated, it could lead to Evolving Credits where the said Devil is completely removed from the opening.
- Chapter 84 shows a flashback of Pochita eating a Devil.
- From how Makima describes her own powers, it would seem like she can control anyone who she considers "lesser" then her. However, in Chapters 90 and 91, Power is able to refuse her requests and orders due to her friendship with Denji. This implies that rather then Makima's ability working who she feels superior to, she's only able to control those who consider themselves inferior to her. The fact that she can control Denji but not Chainsaw Man adds to this; Denji was hopelessly in love with her, while Pochita doesn't give a shit about her, and even after she "beats" Chainsaw Man in chapter 89, she still can't control him.
- It could also be likely Makima doesn’t know how her power truly works and just assumes it works on whoever she considers lesser than her, rather than only working on those who consider themselves lower than her.
- Nayuta will turn out to be basically the responsible little sister to her slob of a big brother Denji and is very demanding that he act like a respectable man. And will treat Asa with vitriol because she sees her as a thief trying to steal her big brother, after Denji calms her down when she saw them together.
- Nayuta’s powers as the Control Devil will manifest by setting rules and anyone who breaks those rules will be immediately punished.
- Nayuta, being the smarter of the two, is helping her guardian by making sure nobody finds out his secret identity, despite Denji wanting people to find out he’s Chainsaw Man.
- She's formed from a portion of Makima's flesh that Denji didn't account for when cooking her. As such, she has the same nature as her previous incarnation but isn't as intelligent or powerful. Down the line, we might also see that she has some of her previous life's memories, or that she's starting to develop red streaks in her hair. All of this would lead to inevitable Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children comparisons.
- Due to the nature of how Makima perished, part of her absorbed Denji's DNA or essence, and upon reincarnation into Nayuta, his genes helped influence how she acts. This is supported by how Nayuta was already acting like Denji and sharing many of his habits - like eating white bread - shortly after meeting him; long before he was able to demonstrate any of those habits to her.
- Partly jossed. Chapter 155 reveals that Nayuta knows about her past life, but it’s because she read Denji’s memories rather him telling her about Makima. She also intended on finishing Makima's plan to break Denji and get Pochita. While she seems to have abandoned the plan by the present, it remains to be seen what her opinion on Makima is now.
- Kobeni is widely regarded as the most unfortunate character in the story, getting constantly dragged into dangerous situations that she wants no part in. Despite this she always manages to come out unscathed, in a series infamous for its Anyone Can Die plot. Kobeni never reveals the name of the devil she is contracted with. However it would not be surprising if it was a devil associated with luck. Basically this devil ensures that Kobeni is always lucky enough to escape death or serious injury. The catch is that Kobeni is cursed with bad luck in just about every other aspect of
- When Kobeni reveals that her parents pressured her into joining Public Safety so her only brother could go to University, it is initially assumed that her parents only value the male child they had. However, we later meet him in Part 2 and he reveals that his mother also pressured him to hunt devils because it would supposedly earn him a scholarship. It’s likely then that they just want one of their kids to become a successful devil hunter, likely in order to just live off the fame associated with being their parents. This would also explain why they have so many children; the more kids, the higher the chance one is successful.
- Going with Fujimoto's fondness for subtly foreshadowing elements early on, it seems unlikely that the brief hints of Kobeni's Devil contract in Part 1 (considering she does have one) were all just throwaways. This WMG implies that a reason Kobeni keeps her contract secret is because other Devil hunters might not react well to someone having the power of a primal fear.
- If this is the case, it's definitely not the Death Devil, because given Makima knows each person's contract, she would've immediately killed Kobeni if she was contracted with her eldest sister.
General
- Jossed. It ended at 97 and is only at Part 1.
- Pain Devil, a Devil based on the fear of pain of any kind.
- Death Devil is a certainty.
- Confirmed. It is also the strongest Devil in existence.
- Nature Devil, a Devil based on the fear of natural disasters.
- Time Devil, a Devil based on the fear of the inevitability of growing old and withering away.
- Devil Devil, the progenitor of all Devils and a Greater-Scope Villain of the whole Chainsaw Man universe.
- Semi-jossed. Not only does a Devil representing the fear of Devils themselves seem ridiculous in itself, but the Death Devil appears to be the Big Bad/Greater-Scope Villain of the entire series.
- Fire/Flame Devil, a Devil based on the fear of Fire and an Expy or Transplant of Agni from Fire Punch.
- Semi-confirmed. Chapter 146 reveales the Fire Devil, but its status as a primal fear is unconfirmed.
- Heights Devil, a devil based on the instinctual fear of heights that exists in all people.
- Semi-confirmed. Chapters 122 and 123 revealed the Falling Devil, who appears to be the closest we have to a Heights Devil.
- Deep Devil, a devil based on the fear of the ocean and drowning.
- Loss Devil, a devil based on the fear of losing loved ones or suffering a particularly devastating defeat.
- Isolation Devil, a devil based on the fear of being alone.
- Semi-confirmed. The concept exists as the Loneliness Devil, but said devil appears in a spin-off work and not as a primal fear.
- Insanity Devil, a devil based on the fear of insanity and of mental illness.
- Holes Devil, a devil based on Trypophobia.
- Noise Devil, a devil based on the fear of loud and unfamiliar noises.
- Robot Devil, (not that one) a devil born from the fear of an AI apocalypse or simply being replaced by automation.
- Alien Devil, based on fear of an Alien Invasion.
- Clown Devil, based on the fear of clowns.
- When she was brought back from the dead, her personality and memories of being Power will be gone and she go back to being one of the human-hating devils. She couldn’t remember or recognised her friend Denji.
- Jossed. The Death Devil is the main antagonist.
- Denji
- Makima
- Aki
- Power
- Kobeni
- Kana Hanazawa
- Sora Amamiya
- Jossed it's Karin Takahashi
- Himeno
- Violence Fiend
- Yoshimasa Hosoya
- Tomoaki Maeno
- Jossed it's Yūya Uchida
- Katana Man
- Akane Sawatari
- Yu Shimamura
- Asami Seto
- Jossed it's Yo Taichi
- Arai
- Makoto Furukawa
- Tatsuhisa Suzuki
- Jossed it's Taku Yashiro
- Beam
- KENN
- Yoshitsugu Matsuoka
- Jossed it's Natsuki Hanae
- Angel
- Kishibe
- Reze
- Rie Takahashi
- Yui Ishikawa
- Shino Shimoji
- Azumi Waki
- Jossed, it's Reina Ueda.
- Quanxi
- Yoshida
- Kensho Ono
- Kōki Uchiyama
- Mamoru Miyano
- Soma Saito
- Nobunaga Shimazaki
- Akira Ishida
- Reiji Kawashima
- Toya Nojima
- Takeo Ōtsuka
- Akinori Egoshi
- Kishow Taniyama
- Aldo
- Tolka's Master
- Cosmo
- Asa Mitaka
- Haruka Tomatsu
- Momo Asakura
- Asami Seto
- Hinata Sato
- Yoshino Aoyama
- Manaka Iwami
- Considering main characters are voiced by relatively unknown VAs, Asa's case would be the same (being voiced by a less-known/newer VA) when Part Two is adapted.
- Hana Hishikawa
- War Devil/Yoru
- Saori Hayami
- Ayane Sakura
- Hinata Sato
- Yoshino Aoyama
- Manaka Iwami
- She would share the same VA with Asa (albeit with a different tone in order to tell her and Asa apart), except when she's in her true form.
- Famine Devil/Fami/Kiga
- Saori Hayami
- Atsumi Tanezaki
- Minako Sato
- Akira Sekine
- Miho Arakawa
- Yuko
- Haruka Iseumi
- Nayuta
- Tomori Kusunoki, for obvious reasons (using a completely different tone and delivery than for Makima).
- Falling Devil
- Fumiko
- Sword Man
- Barem
- Quanxi
- Pingtsi
- Yoshida
- Asa Mitaka
- Nayuta
- Yoru/War Devil
- Yuko
- Fami/Famine Devil/Kiga
- Falling Devil
- Sword Man
- Barem
- Considering it's stated that Pochita fought against the Horsemen and Makima is implied to be part of them. It's possible the Four Horseman will take over the Big Bad position for Part 2. It would kinda make sense that they would go after Pochita for unfinished business.
- So far confirmed. The War Devil is out to get Chainsaw Man, its goal being to make him vomit out the Nuclear Weapons Devil.
- And speaking of Makima, instead of her being (implied to be anyway) Conquest, she is the offspring of the Conquest Devil.
- Highly unlikely; Makima's title as the Control Devil uses the same kanji as Conquest in the Bible; control is just a more literal translation.
- Semi-confirmed and jossed respectively.
- With Part 1's strong themes of rejecting Ignorance Is Bliss and facing hard truths head on. Perhaps it will eventually be revealed that the crazier fantasy elements Pochita erased for being too dangerous are actually important to the well-being of the universe in some fashion, and Denji will have to face the dilemma of whether or not to bring back something that could pose an incredible threat to millions of individual lives even if the safety of humanity as a whole depends on it.
- Unlike with the original Power, whom he saw more as a sister, Denji will find himself falling for the new Power the more they spend time together. And for hilarity, Nayuta will consider the new Power her mother.
- Pretty self explanatory. Young Kishibe looks a lot like Yoshida, they’re both badasses, and they’re the only majors character (besides Denji and Kobeni) who survived part 1.
- They were introduced too soon into part 2. Considering how Yoru is both similar and different from Makima, it’s character arc seems likely to go in a different direction, as well. Perhaps Yoru will start off antagonistic and become more caring of Asa overtime? Maybe it’s just a pawn to another devil, or maybe even a human antagonist? It’s still too early to tell.
- Confirmed.
- It would be ironic if the person who was saved to serve as a means to kill Denji ended up falling for him. It would also be a nice callback to Reze.
- Adding onto this, Yoru will ask Denji to be her boyfriend and Denji, to Yoru and Asa’s shock, will excitedly say yes.
- Partially confirmed; Asa asked Denji out, to which he said yes. Whether they remain a couple throughout the series is unknown, but as of now, Asa is dating him solely to use him later down the line.
- Adding onto this, Yoru will ask Denji to be her boyfriend and Denji, to Yoru and Asa’s shock, will excitedly say yes.
- Not only will it combine Denji's two love interests in one, but it will also help keep Asa alive with a reasonable explanation, with Denji being able to kill Yoru.
- It’ll be grateful to Chainsaw Man devouring the Devils that represented other possible ways for life to end and thus promoting it to a Primal Fear Devil in strength. And it’ll pay Chainsaw Man back by saving Denji from a horrible situation in Hell if he ever ends up there and the Death Devil is nearby.
Pochita has displayed that it’s possible for a Devil with the power to alter history to be be born. And if Devils have always existed, why would ancient humanity create mythological beings like zombies or angels knowing there was a chance a corresponding Devil could spring into existence?
Perhaps Hell itself is some sort of otherworldly parasite that latches onto a species’ collective unconscious to feed on their fear through Devils.
The original text describing the Horsemen ends with “And Hell followed after him”, which has been variously interpreted to refer to either Death’s sigil (like Conquest’s bow and War’s sword) or a fifth, even worse Horseman.
The fact War is introduced using a sword indicates the story is intentionally referencing the Horsemen’s mythological counterparts.
Obviously, it won't be Aki, it would be more akin to a clone, but it would allow for Aki to still have an impact on the story even post death, and would fit the theme of Identity Amnesia the other Devils and Fiends have, while letting the original foursome be together again in some form. Power is obviously gonna revive as the new Blood Devil, and her contract with Denji made it clear she wants him to remind her of who she was so they can be friends again. Makima was slain and devoured by Denji, and the new Control Devil, Nayuta, is in Denji's care. So, that would just leave Aki, and having the Gun Devil take his position would be a way to both have Aki back in some way without diminishing the tragedy of his death, and fit the theme behind the other devils returning. Would also fit in that much like how Denji is raising Nayuta and will have to be the one who keeps the new Power in line, that he'd be the one acting as the Gun Devil's "senpai" much like Aki was for him.
- So far confirmed.
- It's possible Kishibe sent Yoshida to keep an eye on Denji just to make sure he doesn't do anything stupid with his anonymity. Said organization is probably an offshoot department of Public Security specifically dedicated to make sure Denji lives anonymously.
- Kishibe also probably runs Public Security now that Makima is gone.
What if, when Himeno gave her body to the Ghost Devil, it unintentionally induced a merge between the two, with Himeno giving Aki the cig actually being a case of Fighting from the Inside? It wouldn't be the first time a contract between a devil and a human produced a hybrid as Denji and Pochita could attest, and it certainly wouldn't be the last like with Asa and Yoru. And with the fact even outside of contracts a human can become a devil like with Yuko, it sounds possible that, in conducting her contract with the Ghost Devil, Himeno made herself into the Ghost Woman, the process just needed to complete.
You may ask yourself though, wouldn't she be dead anyway since Aki decapitated the Ghost Devil? Well, Hybrids have been shown to be nigh-immortal so long as they can get blood, as evident by "Samurai Sword" and Reze, so all she'd need is a bit of blood, easy enough since the place they were fighting was saturated in it, and she'd be right as rain.
From a meta-perspective, her survival would also be able to carry an undercurrent of tragedy, since she'd be forced to learn Aki died thanks to Makima, and having already lost all her partners beforehand, learning that could easily break her. At least, until she reunites with Denji. Cause lets face it, poor Denji needs a friend at this point who genuinely cares for him, and with Yoshida getting in his way of finding fame, and Kobeni still absent from the story, he only has Nayuta and all of Makima's dogs. Having an alive Himeno, who was one of his first friends, would be a nice bone for Denji.
- If confirmed, this would pose quite a source of drama: erasing the copycat would mean erasing Pochita and Denji themselves - and possibly even bringing back everything Chainsaw Man had eaten before.
As explained in the series, a Devil is created based on why and how many humans fear its name with their abilities and powers (typically) corresponding to that name: Stone Devil turns living things to stone, Blood Devil controls blood, etc.
But, as we’ve seen with Denji in Part 2, the majority of the public in Japan can’t get enough of Chainsaw Man, constantly praising him on the news seemingly 24/7 awaiting his next public appearance.
By the logic and rules of the universe, the Chainsaw Devil should be incredibly weak. However, as his fight with the Cockroach Devil showed, Denji is far from weak. That is because he is "The Devil that Devils fear the most," thus fueling his power and counteracting his positive reception on Earth.
We know human fears shape the ability and powers that Devils possess, so is it not possible that Devils can too?
So, here’s the theory: The Death Devil, no doubt a primal fear in hell, told tales of the Chainsaw Devil to lesser Devils and how this “Hero of Hell” had the terrifying ability to kill Devils permanently by eating them.
Makima’s explanation of the Chainsaw Devil to Kishibe even sounds like she’s reciting a story.
A new mythology and fear of the Chainsaw Devil would then be formed, permanently changing him. After all, this would be the Death Devil saying all this; why would it make something like that up?
Then once the Chainsaw Devil ate and erased a Devil for the first time, it just snowballed from there, thus cementing this power.
But the next question with this theory would be why the Death Devil would do it. Simple.
Power.
When Makima was explaining the powers of the Chainsaw Devil to Kishibe in Chapter 84, she makes an offhanded but startling revelation about the universe: Chainsaw Man had eaten and erased “Four possible conclusions other than death at the end of living beings' life spans.”
There were originally five endings to a living being’s life span, not just one, which is now canonically death. This would make the Death Devil absurdly more powerful than any other devil, with the fear of the end of life no longer being split five ways but siphoned directly to them.
Once the Chainsaw Devil had finally fulfilled the Death Devil’s ultimate goal and eaten the other four conclusions of life, leaving it the only one left, the rest of the Horsemen, Weapon Devils, and itself attempted to kill the Chainsaw Devil.
- They say you die twice. One time when you stop breathing and a second time, a bit later on, when somebody says your name for the last time.
- Problem with that though. Pestilence is specifically cited as one of the elements the Conquest Horseman represents among the Four Horsemen, meaning Pestilence is already covered by Makima. So unless Yoshida is an unheard of fifth Horseman, he can't be Pestilence since Makima originally, Nayuta currently, holds the title.
From the way Makima described them, they sounded like loyal followers of the Chainsaw Devil that she brought together to keep out of her way of her plans for Pochita. Considering what Pochita actually was as the Chainsaw Devil though, someone desperately just trying to get a hug and accidentally killing everyone he tried to hug, what if the more likely answer as to who they are is that they were Pochita's friends. Or at least, the closest thing he could have to friends. They were a group of devils who, like Makima, got the wrong idea about who Pochita was and congregated around him because of his strength. Pochita, wanting affection, tried hugging them, with predictable results. They got revived as per the nature of devils, but unlike others, could actually remember their old lives. Why? Because Pochita erased the ability for them to forget.
He was so desperate for affection, even if they weren't his actual friends and more just misguided followers, he didn't want to lose them, so he let them keep their memories. Doing so gave them the ability to continue growing, changing who they are from his influence. As for why they couldn't remember most of that while under Makima, it's because she suppressed most of their memories so they wouldn't get in her way, but couldn't erase who they became as a result of following Chainsaw, hence why Galgali cherished peace despite being the Violence Fiend, or why Beam was still an avid fan of the Chainsaw Devil. They changed for the better, and just suppressing their memories wouldn't change the fact that these eight devils, while still devils, had become much more heroic and human thanks to Pochita.
Considering they're devils, it's an inevitability they'll come back too, and without Makima's influence, they'll retain their knowledge of who they were from the beginning if not regain their memories when meeting Denji again. It's gonna take a bit though before Denji can meet them though, namely since they had their bodies on Earth thanks to Makima, meaning they technically died there, and as such are back in Hell. And while Power did ask Denji to remind her about their Like Brother and Sister relationship per their contract, he can't exactly do that until he can find a way to get into Hell, but chances are that the moment he does, he'll find eight devils waiting for him there, not as the "followers of the Chainsaw", but as the "friends of Denji and Pochita".
- Death Devil
- Apocalypse Devil
- Apathy/Hopelessness Devil
- Suicide Devil
- All jossed. Chapter 123 reveals that she’s the Falling Devil.
- The first herald, The Falling Devil, is based on one of the two instinctual fears found within humanity. The second fear is the fear of loud noises, which is meant to serve as a protective measure for people (and animals) to flee from predators. Therefore, it is likely that the Second Herald is based on this fear.
- With the arrival of Falling Devil, a Primal Devil, it's very likely that more Primal Devils will appear for the incoming apocalypse. It would make sense that Darkness would be one of them considering that the end of days is sometimes associated with literal darkness (as seen in chapter 123 when Asa and other people start "falling" as the sky appears pitch-black).
- The manga is brimmed with many Christian symbolism and references, including Angel Devil himself. Angels are also featured in the Book of Revelations, significantly blowing the trumpet for each disaster page of the apocalypse. So with the incoming end of days, it would be a perfect opportunity for Angel Devil to reappear as one of the Heralds, perhaps in a stronger and larger form. It wouldn't be a stretch either if he ends up announcing the arrival of the "great king of terror" too.
So how to explain this discrepancy? Simple: Asa is the true War Devil and has been all along. She's the reincarnation of the previous War Devil who fought and was partially eaten by Chainsaw Man. Yoru is a combination of Past-Life Memories and a Heroic Safe Mode intended to kick in if Asa died before awakening her powers. Additionally, a lot of Yoru's actions (such as kissing Denji and expressing rage at the class rep) seem to represent Asa's true feelings that she represses. Asa and Yoru's relationship already has a Jack and Tyler Durden vibe; why not go all the way with it?
- Parasite Devil
- Consumption/Cannibalism Devil
- Worm/Maggot Devil
- All jossed; the devil is actually the real Justice Devil.
- Somewhat Jossed. He WAS trying to warn Denji of the consequences, but he himself helped deliver them by drugging him and giving his body to other members of public safety to experiment on.
This effect can already be seen through the Falling Devil's attack, which was a direct attempt by Fami to prevent the apocalypse despite the high collateral damage.
Between Fami and the Church, Public Safety, the enigmatic Death Devil, and a prophecy centred on a nuke-happy psychopath like Yoru, the Nostradamus Devil can probably afford to take the month off.
- Somewhat jossed: the Great King of Terror is the Death Devil.
- Confirmed.
In the Book of Revelation, each of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse is described as riding a different-coloured horse; Conquest rides a white horse, War rides a red horse, Famine rides a black horse, and Death rides a pale horse.
Each of three Horsemen characters introduced in Chainsaw Man have hair-colour matching the associated colour of the Horseman that follows them - Makima (Control/Conquest) has red hair, Yoru (War) has black hair, and according to Volume 14's cover, Fami (Famine) has pale hair. To complete the pattern, the Death Devil will likely have hair the colour of Conquest's horse - white.
Seigi's resemblance to Agni may have been foreshadowing the whole time to clue readers in on a relation to fire. Consider the fact that the Fire Devil was falsely contracting under the name of Justice Devil - Seigi's name translates to "justice" so he may have been getting away with contracts through that name technicality.
1. She has an older brother who was actively in college at the time of part 1.
2. She has 8 sisters who are a mix of older and younger than her and that her family is lopsided so heavily in terms of girls.
Point 1 we get from Arai in Chapter 15 and he's unlikely to have gotten that detail wrong given him and Kobeni spent a good amount of time getting to know each other as Devil Hunter recruits. So right out the gate it is impossible for Nobana to be the brother that Kobeni was actively help putting through college in Part 1. The second point comes from the unnamed female devil hunter in Chapter 20 at the bar. This is said in such a way where the fact that there are so many sisters in specific is the note worthy thing here. "Kobeni is one of 9 sisters" as opposed to something like "Kobeni has 15 brothers and sisters".
Now it's not impossible for Kobeni to have a younger brother who just wasn't mentioned, it is at least very much implied that's not the case.
And for some of the circumstantial evidence surrounding Nobana specifically.
1. Nobana is typically a girls name in Japan. If Nobana is transmasculine, he might be able to present as male but unable to change his name yet in any official way while still a high schooler.
2. Nobana is VERY short, a full head shorter than Haruka who is already a full head shorter than Denji, which we get a good look at in chapter 114.
3. Nobana doesn't have the adam's apple that pretty much every male character except Angel Devil gets. Even pretty boy Haruka has one.
- He has one; it's visible in the public safety infiltration arc. It's just smaller than the others.
4. While not specific to Nobana, Fujimoto has already written a transmasculine character in Fire Punch so it's something he definitely enjoys writing about.
So when you take everything together, it heavily suggests that if Nobana is in fact part of Kobeni's immediate family, that he's one of the previously mentioned sisters, and that he's either transmasculine or presenting as male for things like better school and job opportunities.
- It's also possible that Nobana is presenting himself as male because his parents forced him to: we know that Kobeni was forced into working for Public Safety otherwise her parents would've forced her to become a prostitute, suggesting that her income is being siphoned off to help support her family. It's possible that the success of their brother - or a possible premature death - meant that they rushed to force another one of their children into their brother's shoes. However, due to a "men are meant to be breadwinners" mentality they pushed Nobana into dressing as a man to pass off as one.
Wall of text incoming.
Discussing the apparent differences in power level between the Darkness and Falling Devils is what got me thinking about this. While I have no doubt that the Death Devil is a Primordial Fear and definitely rates among the most powerful ones, I am actually not entirely convinced that it is truly the most powerful of all Devils, period. To explain why I think so, I should start by explaining what I think distinguishes Primordial Fear Devils from the regular kind: "regular" Devils represent fears which, for the most part, are acquired in some stage of life. Many of them certainly represent fears which are acquired at a very young age (such as the fear of blood), but they still aren't "inherent" to human psychology - we gain them because we observe the way other humans behave. A baby won't react to seeing a pool of blood - it doesn't know what it is, and certainly not that it's scary. It will develop the fear of blood once it sees an adult, or somebody else, becoming agitated by its sight, especially if that blood was the baby's own (but then, the baby's initial stress reaction wasn't because of the blood, it was because of the pain which was likely involved in the drawing of blood, something I will touch on later). A baby wouldn't fear a chainsaw - it would fear the noise produced by the chainsaw (again, something I will touch upon later) but that's because the noise is unpleasant and not because the baby actually knows what a chainsaw is or what it could do to them. Conversely, Primordial Fear Devils represent fears which are intrinsic, subconscious, and are fundamental to other fears. This is a crucial detail, in my opinion. Primordial Fears underly other, more "complex" ones. For example, a lot of fears ultimately stem from the basic, intrinsic fear of the unknown (which seems to fall under the purview of the Darkness Devil, as much as the physical absence of light).
With that said, I think that, when we come to think about who might be "the absolute strongest" of the Primordial Fears, what we need to look for is that fear which is absolutely the most basic, fundamental, and encompassing in the human psyche. That one fear which, directly or indirectly, all others stem from. And while the fear of death is definitely right down there very close to the source, I argue that it isn't the very most basic one. My main reasoning for this stems from child psychology: while the fear of death is definitely intrinsic on the subconscious level (it was very strongly selected for evolutionarily), at least at first, it isn't specifically rooted in the fear of death itself. In fact, until a fairly late stage of developments, children can be shockingly okay with the idea of death because they can't really comprehend it. If you've ever had the misfortune of spending some time with a child whose lost a loved one, you might've been astounded by how casually they may seem to have taken this, but this is due to how children cognitiviely mature: at an early stage, they simply can't grasp something like "the finality of death". To a young child, death is equated with "absence" of any other kind - they don't really see, and they can't truly understand, a reason why someone dead might not be able to come back one day. It's only a few years later that it dawns on them that death is scary because it's so absolute. Their fear of death is then built on deeper ones that exist before that: namely, the fear of the unknown (death being the ultimate unknown), and the fear of discomfort (death is associated with it, causes it in others, and for all we know - which we can't - might itself be very uncomfotable).
And this, in my opinion, is the big one. If there truly is a "most powerful of all Primordial Fear Devils", and it isn't Death, I would hazard a guess and say that it is actually the "Discomfort Devil" (or maybe the "Pain Devil" or "Suffering Devil" - these are really synonyms at this point). Even before they are born, even before they are capable of what we'd call "thought", much less memory, before they've ever experienced the world, opened their eyes, or heard anything besides their mother's heartbeat reverberating through the womb, fetuses do what they can to avoid pain and discomfort. Even animals - basically anything biologically complex enough to have a central nervous system - fear and attempt to avoid pain/discomfort. For that matter, it's probably what underlies their "fear of death" on the conscious level (that is, they avoid life-threatening situations but from their own perspective, they're doing it because they're avoiding pain, not some abstract they are completely incapable of fathoming), and even their fear of the unknown (a dark cave isn't inherently scary, it's scary because something might be in it that would hurt you). Even negative fears stem from it: hunger, loneliness, cold, etc. stem from the discomfort that comes from not having those things that help stave it off (food, companionship, warmth).
Regardless, I offer further evidence that Death may not be the ultimate fear: a throwaway line from Makima in which she mentions that, at some point, there existed alternatives to death, which the Chainsaw Devil consumed in order to make the world less awful. The most obvious conclusion is that these were worse than death (in fact, even now, people are perfectly capable of imagining and fearing a Fate Worse than Death, and these were apparently so scary we can't even imagine them anymore because the Chainsaw Devil erased them from reality). If these were even scarier than death, and the Chainsaw Devil was able to beat and consume them, then, logically, the Chainsaw Devil is (or at least was back then) at least stronger than the Death Devil, which already disproves the notion that the Death Devil is the strongest. Now, you might argue that those alternative end-of-life fates were not worse than death - but in that case, why consume them? Why not consume the Death Devil instead and leave behind a less scary fate? Even if you argue that maybe the Death Devil was so powerful the Chainsaw Devil couldn't consume it, there was still the option of leaving at least one of the alternatives around, if it was better.
Now, how can this theory be settled with the "canonical fact" that Fami stated Death Devil is the most powerful of them all? There are actually quite a few options, most of which revolve around the fact that Fami, much like Makima, Nayuta, Yoru and the other Horsemen of the Apocalypse appears to have a humanlike manner of thinking and speech, and to not be omniscient. For example:
- She might have been rhetorical. Humans don't always speak in scientific accuracy. In the context of a conversation, it's perfectly possible Fami used the term "absolute strongest Devil" to mean "absolute strongest Devil insomuch as we should care", or the "absolute strongest Devil relevant to our interests", etc.
- It might be the strongest Devil that Fami is aware of. As mentioned, Horsemen of the Apocalypse are not omniscient, and apparently, some Primordial Fear Devils are so old, so weird and so dangerous they've never left Hell and nobody in Hell wants to come anywhere near them (and their mindset is so alien they might not have a desire to come anywhere near anyone else). Stronger Devils might exist that Fami doesn't know about.
- In a similar vein, the Death Devil might be the strongest Devil that Fami (or anyone else for that matter) should worry about, because all the ones stronger are so alien that they never leave Hell and don't bother anyone else.
- She could be lying. It sounds like a stretch, but it's not an impossibility - the Conquest Devil was a consummate liar and manipulator. Who's to say that its siblings can't be, if it serves their purpose, whatever that may be?
In short: while the Death Devil is definitely very powerful, I think I have presented a few reasons to believe, backed by evidence from the canon and well as logically extrapolated, that is may not be the most powerful of all Devils in existence. Which one that is exactly I can't say, though my bet is "Pain".
- *Jossed. Nayuta explicitly confirms that Death is the strongest Devil in existence period.
- Almost every argument stated above for Fami could be as true for Nayuta. We won't know until we actually encounter it (and possibly not even then, since this is so theoretical).
Basically, when the Death Devil does arrive on Earth, she'll be shown to be genuinely friendly and nonthreatening, in a similar vein to Terry Pratchet's Death or Lord Death from Soul Eater. Because it would be perfectly fitting twist for Fujimoto to pull that kind of subversion after so much build up.
Continuing off the previous one, in the event that the Death Devil turns out to be not so bad personally, she'll still end up causing major damage simply by virtue of manifesting. We saw with the Falling Devil that her mere arrival on earth caused planet-wide gravitational fluctuations that led to mass destruction, and since Death should be considerably stronger than her, it could be that she be an example of a Walking Wasteland, where simply being in the same vicinity as her causes them to fall over dead, even if she doesn't mean to.
Basically, in a similar vein to Daemon from Reboot, she'll be a deeply kind-hearted person who's greatly saddened by all the suffering and misery that occurs in the world, and her means of solving is to kill every single human on the planet, which will logically result in the demise of every devil as well, that way ensuring no one will ever have to suffer to from the trials and tribulations that come from being alive again.
Basically, when the time comes for the big fight with Death, she'll bribe Denji into letting her proceed unopposed by offering him a better life through some means, be it just providing him a place with comforts like Makima or bringing back the Blood Devil or potentially even his other loved ones, in exchange for not opposing her. Here Fami and Public Safety's manipulations will end up screwing them over, as Denji will have no reason to fight for the people who have actively been making his life more miserable. She could similarly try to bribe Asa, as so far, Asa's attempts to do things ethically have consistently made her miserable, with Asa even lampshading this before Yoru possessed her, stating she'd wished she'd lived a little more selfishly.
