Chainsaw Man

The world is originally home to humans, devils which have been killed in Hell, fiends which are human corpses possessed by devils and hybrids which are humans with the ability to take the form of a devil. The most prominent area of the world is the country of Japan, where the series takes place.

Tokyo, Japan.

Japan (日に本ほん, Nihon?) is one the countries in the world and the main setting of the series. Its official language is Japanese. It is governed by their Prime Minister who had a contract with Makima. In exchange for working for Japan, any fatal damage inflicted to Makima is redirected to any random citizen of Japan. Public Safety Devil Hunters work for the government of Japan. The higher-ups of the Public Safety Devil Hunters are headquartered in Kyoto, who are also in charge of Makima and her divisions.

On November 18, 1984, the Gun Devil hit Japan for 26 seconds, killing 57,912 people. Aki Hayakawa witnessed the Gun Devil destroying his house and killing his family as it passed by.[1]

On September 12, 1997 the Gun Devil appeared again at the coast of Kaho City in Akita Prefecture for 12 seconds, killing at least hundreds of men, women, and children. However, they are later defeated by Makima and then they possessed the corpse of Aki, turning him into the Gun Fiend. Both Aki and the Gun Fiend are soon killed by Denji. After the defeat of the Gun Devil, Public Safety formed the Anti-Makima Squad with the mission to incapacitate Makima. However, they ended up failing. Later, Denji managed to kill Makima by poisoning her blood and eating her piece by piece which allowed him to bypass the contract between her and the Prime Minister of Japan.

After the defeat of the Gun Devil and Makima, Chainsaw Man became a popular hero nationwide who fights devils. However, his identity is incognito and remains unknown to the general public. This began to change however, due to outside interference keeping Denji from being Chainsaw Man. Following his absence, another Devil Hunter Asa Mitaka took the national spotlight. Her quick rise to fame, impressive feats and general mystery surrounding her caused many conspiracy theories to develop among the public, one of which being that all of Chainsaw Mans past achivements were actually stolen valor from Mitaka instead.

Sometime during March, 1998 the Falling Devil hit Japan for an unknown duration of time killing at least 2,000 people.

Sometime prior to 1997 according to Nobana Higashiyama, Japan had seen its adult population’s mental faculties decrease because of an American Ultraviolet Ray Weapon sent in Japan’s air.

Devils (悪あく魔ま／デビル, Akuma/Debiru?) are a race of supernatural entities appearing throughout the World. They are creatures that feed upon humanity’s fears.

Devils are born in Hell. All Devils are born with a “name” that correlates to a concept. These can range from highly tangible (Fish, Tomato) to entirely abstract (Future, Curse). The concept does not have to refer to something that exists; there is no indication that ghosts, zombies or angels exist in the world, yet all these names have corresponding Devils. Each name is unique to its respective Devil, though some overlap based on specificity is possible as there have been both a War Devil and a World War II Devil. Devils manifest according to the collective consciousness surrounding their names (for example: the Gun Devil appears to be constructed out of guns and has gun related abilities). They are the embodiment of the fear that “name” represents, so as long as that “name” instills fear, they continue to reincarnate.

The concept of a Devil itself doesn’t have to be scary on its own, rather its power relies on how much of a scary image it has in the popular consciousness of humans. For example, cars aren’t necessarily scary on their own, but Makima states that a Car Devil would be powerful because of the scariness of car crashes and other car related incidents. Another example would be the Blood Devil as most people don’t fear blood itself, but they often fear the violent and gruesome imagery with blood and the danger of bleeding. Devils that die in Hell reappear in the human world; Devils that die in the human world reappear in Hell. Devils cannot recall any memories from their previous lives and their entire personality resets. Despite their reincarnation abilities, Devils are not completely immortal; as they are born out of humanity’s fear of some concept, if all of humanity forgets the existence of this concept, the Devil it belongs to completely ceases to exist.

According to the Angel Devil, him and the other Devils of Special Division 4 all remember the sound of the Chainsaw Devil’s engine roaring before they died in Hell.

Devil Fragments

As shown with the Gun Devil, Devils can be physically fragmented into several so-called Flesh Pieces (肉にく片へん, Nikuhen?). It is unknown how many Devils have undergone fragmentation. It is possible for Devil fragments to be harmed, destroyed, and become Fiends on their own yet for other parts of the main Devil to still remain alive and not destroyed. Presumably, a fragmented Devil cannot be fully killed and begin reincarnation until either all of its flesh pieces are destroyed or just their core. Since the Gun Devil is the only example of extensive fragmentation and was more of a primal force than an intelligent being from the 20% of it seen, it is unknown if such Flesh Pieces retain the personality of the original, each have separate personalities, all lack distinct personalities, or if it varies from Devil to Devil. If one consumes the fragment or part of a powerful Devil, either Devil or human, they will gain more strength than before.

Naturally, most Devils are extremely hostile considering their requirements to feed on the blood and fear of humans. Some, however, are relatively friendly and feed by alternative means: Some Devils, such as the Fox Devil, choose to form contracts with humans, allowing humans to borrow some of their power in exchange for a sacrifice.[2] Other Devils outright choose to become Devil Hunters, allowing them to live in human society and buy food with the money that they make. As a general guideline, the more human the Devil looks, the more friendly they tend to behave. However it is worth noting that Devils do not have human rights and therefore there is no legal repercussions if they are killed by a human. For that reason, some Devils and Fiends are coerced into helping humans out of fear of dying rather than doing it out of their own free will. Devil Hunters will sometimes capture Devils to use them for contracts, such as the Future Devil.

While uncommon, it is possible for a human and a Devil/Fiend to form an emotional bond. In some rare cases it might even develop into a romantic relationship.

According to statistics, 7 out of every 20 Japanese citizens are killed by Devils.[3] It can be assumed that these statistics are somewhat similar in other countries, meaning that Devil’s attacks are the leading cause of deaths around the globe. For that reason, being a Devil Hunter is considered one of the most profitable jobs in society. The average Devil usually has a bounty of around 300,000 yen and their bodies can also be sold at the black market, with even weak Devils, such as the Tomato Devil, being worth 400,000 yen.[4]

Due to the danger that Devils represent to society, many buildings (including schools) have alarms especially designed to warn people in case the building is currently being attack by a Devil, similar to a fire alarms.

Primal Devils

Those Devils who bear the names of Primal Fears (根こん源げん的てき恐きょう怖ふ, Kongen-teki Kyōfu?) are particularly ancient and powerful, embodying the most instinctual fears ingrained within the human psyche. Described as “transcendent” beings, they frighten lesser Devils and Fiends alike, including those who have previously been ignorant of their existence. Indeed, having never experienced the death-and-rebirth cycle typical of Devils due to their immense power, Primal Fear Devils have always dwelt in Hell under the same identities throughout human history.[6] Currently, two Primal Fear Devils — namely “Darkness” and “Falling” — have been shown, and one has been named: “Death”.

While the Darkness Devil was encountered in Hell,[6][7][8] the Falling Devil manifested on Earth in accordance with Nostradamus’ prophecy as “the first of the Devils who will shepherd the world to the Ultimate Terror”.[9][10] Upon arrival, she proved terrifying enough to make the then-heavily weakened War Devil flee at the mere sight of her, while claiming that, at present, humanity possesses no means of attack that could possibly kill her.[11] Her mere presence proved to be a threat for the world as, even though she only operated in Japan, she caused destruction all over the planet. However, the Falling Devil was in fact controlled by the Famine Devil, with the aim of weakening and bringing War under her control.[12]

Nayuta eventually revealed that the Great King of Terror (恐きょう怖ふの大だい魔ま王おう, Kyōfu no Daimaō?) is the eldest of the Four Horsemen, and the strongest existing Devil: the Death Devil, who embodies the aforesaid “Ultimate Terror” and is set to make her appearance in six months’ time, per the prophecy, and whose arrival would usher in an “Age of Devils” (悪あく魔まの時じ代だい, Akuma no Jidai?).[13][14][15]

However, despite their vast power, the Primal Fear Devils are shown to be neither untouchable nor above every single Devil (or at least the threat of coming under another Devil’s influence), as the Falling Devil was revealed to be working for and under the control of the Famine Devil.[16] Likewise, Fami ultimately plans on causing mass havoc on a global scale to empower both the Chainsaw and War Devils enough to be able to stand up to Death herself.