There are a lot of devils roaming aroundthe world ofChainsaw Man, and they all come in different shapes and forms. Some look like a bizarre tomato with human limbs growing out of it, while others look like a giant, muscular bat. The only thing that they have in common is the fact that they prey on humans.
Another interesting trait that these devils have is its powers. Although it may seem like the only thing that they get going for them is their sheer physical prowess, that is actually not the case at all. Beyond that fearsome strength,every devil has their own unique powers. Some can turn invisible and silently move to catch its prey, while others can demolish half of the town in one hit. So what is the source of this absurd power? How can these devils be so powerful in the first place?
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Devil’s Name
We’ve touched upon some of the similarities between the devils in the previous paragraph, but there is actually another thing that makes the devils inChainsaw Mandifferent not only from each other, but also from other depictions of devils in other fictional media. And that thing is their name.
You see, the devils inChainsaw Manhave quite literal and descriptive names. Rather than cool names like Lucifer or Beelzebub, we get Blood Devil and Zombie Devil instead. There are only a handful of devils in the whole series that actually have a common name,one of them being Power. For the overwhelming majority of the devils, they are simply called by what they represent, such as guns, crabs, or bats.
That’s not to say that the names of the devils only come from concrete and tangible things.
There are also devils that havenames based on abstract concepts, such as the Hell Devil or the Control Devil. Not only that, from what we’ve gathered so far, there’s no two devils that share the same name. There’s only one Bat Devil, Snake Devil, Chainsaw Devil, etc. You might think that all of this talk about devils’ names might seem like trivial things for now, but you’ll find out how important it actually is in the next section.
The Source of Devils’ Powers
As mentioned before, devils’ names represent certain objects or concepts. And that is actuallya major clue to what kind of power that the devil might have. Not only that, the names also represent the source of their power, which is fear. Or to be more precise, humanity’s collective fear of that object/concept is the true source of the devils’ powers.
The more we are afraid of that thing, the more powerful the devil that represents that thing will be. For example, the Tomato Devil is the embodiment of humanity’s fear of tomatoes. Since there’s really not that many people who are truly afraid of tomatoes, its devil ends up becoming rather weak. Don’t get me wrong, it can still kill an adult human in one punch, but eventhe untrained Denji with Pochita on his hand can defeat the Tomato Devil.
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On the contrary, people all over the world are afraid of guns, which means the Gun Devil is extremely powerful. In the manga, it is explained that there used to be rampant gun violence happening all over the world. People use guns to commit atrocious acts of violence to each other. And since the media heavily reports those killings and incidents, it plants a deep fear into the mind of the regular people.
As if that’s not enough, a massive act of terrorism happened in one of the largest city in the world, and that is when the Gun Devil first appeared on earth. In a matter of seconds,it leveled several major cities all over the world, and killed over 1.5 million people. Afterward, the government tries to suppress the people’s fear by banning guns and heavily censoring the media that tries to talk about it. But it’s too late. The fear of Gun Devil has rooted deeply into everybody’s mind, which in turn makes it even more powerful.
Devil’s Regeneration And Power Ups
Other than the inherent power that a devil gets from the fear that people have over the thing/concept that it represents, there is actually another thing that can be a source of power forevery devil inChainsaw Man. And that thing is blood.
Ingesting blood can give two different effects on every devil. The first one is regenerative ability. Drinking blood can help speed up the regenerative power of a devil. And it is not only limited to physical wounds, because blood can also help with fatigue as well. Another effect that a blood can produce for a devil isa temporary boost in power and energy. For a limited time after drinking the blood, a devil can feel a surge in physical power and is brimming with energy.
That being said, the quality of the blood also has a huge impact over its effect on the devils. The blood of a recently dead animal will barely have any effect on them, while the blood of a freshly-killed human is considered to be the best. This means an innately strong devil, such as the Sword Devil, that went on a rampage in the middle of a busy town center will be catastrophically powerful.
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