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| “ | Any human should be capable of abandoning their morality when they're starving. I'll create the right stage for you. | „ |
| ~ "Fami" |
| “ | I'm sorry, Fami. I used your name. | „ |
| ~ The Death Devil revealing her true identity. |
The Death Devil, falsely known as Fami, is the overarching antagonist of the Chainsaw Man franchise. She is the most powerful and dangerous Devil in existence, representing the primordial fear of death itself. The eldest of the Four Horsemen a group of Devils that her younger sisters Makima, Yoru, and Fami are apart of.
She introduces herself as being Yoru's older sister, and is the overall third Horseman to be introduced. She disguises herself as a mysterious member of the Devil Hunter Club in Asa Mitaka's school who initially introduces herself as Fami, but in reality, she stole her younger sister's identity cover up the truth about herself.
As the Great King of Terror, she was prophesized by Nostradamus to descend onto Earth and reduce it to an apocalyptic wasteland, ruling over its remains, but in truth, she was on Earth all along.
Quick Answers
Who are the other members of the Four Horsemen in Chainsaw Man?
How does the Death Devil disguise herself in the Chainsaw Man franchise?
What fear does the Death Devil represent in Chainsaw Man?
What is the relationship between Death Devil and Makima in Chainsaw Man?
Appearance[]
Death Devil appears to look like a young woman with shoulder-length hair who's usually seen in the standard female Fourth East Highschool uniform, usually appearing wearing the peaked cap of the members of the Devil Hunter Club. Similarly to Makima Yoru, and Fami, Death has piercing pink eyes with rings, sporting a set of three moles under her right eye.
Death also wears a pair of earrings with beads that resemble Pochita's or Denji's chainsaw pull cord. She's usually seen with her head slightly tilted to the right so that her earrings are asymmetrical and look like plates on a scale.
After an attempt to commit suicide by removing all of her organs, she has a large vertical incision in the center of her abdomen.
Personality[]
| “ | I order you two to plunge mankind into an abyss of terror.. | „ |
| ~ Death Devil ordering Fake Chainsaw Man and Fami to bring about the apocalypse. |
The Death Devil is described by all of her sisters, the weapon devils and Public Safety as "the great king of terror" and by extension the most fearsome and powerful devil, that will one day bring ruin to the world and usher in an age of devils. Each of her relatives has attempted to or planned a way to snuff out her life before she can descend upon the Earth on July 1999, signifying that she poses such a threat to the world and humanity that nearly all beings outside of lower ranked Devil wish to kill her.
Befitting this fear Death is shown to be cold, enigmatic, and calculating, normally presenting herself with a very quiet demeanor, usually just watching Asa Mitaka from afar. Much like other Devils, she seems to have a certain indifference towards human life, given that she was willing to help Asa murder Denji and didn't seem to care when she caused the deaths of 2000 people by bringing the Falling Devil to earth. Despite that, she does seem to have a certain affection towards her "little sister" Yoru, though she doesn't seem to return the feelings.
Death is also shown to be rather cunning and manipulative, using hunger as a way to manipulate people into doing her bidding. Like Makima, Death opted to hide her true identity and nature, as shown by her impersonating her younger sister and the seemingly low-effort alias of "Fami/Kiga."
Befitting of her stolen title as the Famine Devil, "Fami" has a great love of food, as evidenced by her ordering an absurdly large meal courtesy of Yoshida. Furthermore, "Fami"'s ultimate goal of stopping the apocalypse isn't motivated by any kind of altruism, but rather by a desire to create a self fulfilling prophecy under the pretense of preserving mankind's cuisine.
To bring about the apocalypse, Death does not hesitate to sacrifice lots of lives. She causes a group of highschoolers to get trapped in an aquarium for days without escape with the intention of driving Asa Mitaka to turn Denji into one of her weapons. Later, she attempts to turn her own sister into a pawn. For that, she unleashes Falling Devil on Earth whose mere presence causes chaos and deaths all over the world. After that, she curses thousands of civilians to lose their mind under the influence of the Fire Devil, turning them into zombies with chainsaws protruding from their heads. This causes a small war between said zombies and humans, increasing the fear of both wars and chainsaws, which makes their representative devils more powerful. She is also more than willing to lie and make false promises to get others on her side.
Despite all of this, Death partly wants to die to protect humanity as shown when her sister ask her to die if she still care about them but coldly show her body with her missing organs, showing she is far too strong to kill herself. Supposedly this is the reasons why she help Yoru and Denji to become strong enough to be able to kill her. However, when Fami proposes allowing Chainsaw Man to eat and erase the concept of Death, she refuses and proceeds to cannibalize and place her younger sister under control with the goal of plunging mankind into terror. Further proving the prophecy correct that the Death Devil values her continued existence more than humanity, another possibility would be that Death realize a world without death would be chaotic for humanity and thus try to find another way to avoid the apocalypse.
Death also has a sympathetic side as seen in her affection for Yoru and calling the Guillotine Devil with an affectionate nickname. Later, Death gains actual human friends at her high school and postpones her plans in order to hang out with them as it seems "fun" to her whereas the Devil Hunters she cooperates with are not fun to spend time with for her.
Biography[]
Background[]
Prior to the events of the series, it is said that the Death Devil and her sisters the Four Horsemen fought the Chainsaw Man in Hell, alongside the Weapon Devils. The fight ended with the Chainsaw Man being mortally wounded and escaping as a weakened version of himself who became known as Pochita. After that, the Horsemen all seemingly went their own way, with the the Control Devil searching after the Chainsaw Man to capture him and exploit his power. In an unknown period of time, the Prophecy of Nostradamus was written, foreseeing the arrival of Death, who would bring the end of humanity and usher in the Age of Devils in July 1999.
The Death Devil, in order to bring about the apocalypse, arrived to Tokyo in 1998 and infiltrated the Fourth East High School, joining its Devil Hunter Club under the name "Fami" as a way to disguise herself and blend in with other humans. Fami also seemed to gain a striking amount of knowledge concerning Asa Mitaka, even knowing that she'd be unwilling to eat fish as evidenced by how she attempted to starve her in the aquarium.
Fami also took help of the Fire Devil as well as Barem Bridge, the Flamethrower Hybrid, in order to take over a local cult and re-brand it as Chainsaw Man Church, so that Fire Devil could increase the fear for Chainsaw Man which Makima reduced during her tenure.
Chainsaw Man Part 2: The Academy Saga[]
Fami is introduced after Yuko is slain by Asa's sword, which makes her feel guilty for killing who seemed to be her only friend. She appears before the teenage girl claiming that she can bring her back saying that she would do "anything for her little sister". After reviving Yuko using her Devil powers, Fami suddenly disappears.
She eventually appears later in the aquarium during Asa’s date with Denji where she reveals herself to as the Famine Devil, one of the members of the Four Horsemen. In order to make Asa turn Denji into a weapon, she disappears Yoru and herself out of the aquarium by snapping her fingers and traps Asa, Denji and the other members of the Devil Hunters in the aquarium with the Eternity Devil whom she made a deal with. She is later seen standing atop a building observing the Eternity Devil’s defeat as Yoshida notices her.
The next day, she's approached by Yoshida, who treats her to some food while interrogating her. As Yoshida is paying for it, Fami orders an absurd amount of food. Yoshida reveals that he's aware that Fami is in truth the Famine Devil, to which Fami replies that she doesn't really care if people know about her identity. Yoshida questions Fami about the Prophecy of Nostradamus, telling her that Public Safety believes that whatever she is planning is connected to the prophecy. Fami then tells him about the devil that has appeared at Tamano Apartments.
Fami describes her motivations to Nayuta.
After the Falling Devil fails to feed Asa and Denji to a devil, Fami appears before her, revealing that she was behind the attack all along. Falling apologizes to her, before her body decays into some kind of idol, which Fami takes. Fami is then approached by Nayuta (who is unaware of her true identity), who tells her that she manipulated the devil's brain to make it vomit Denji and Asa up. Fami tells her that she had planned to starve War in the devil's stomach, as she has the ability to turn the starved into her pawns. Fami tells Nayuta that she aims to stop the Prophecy of Nostradamus. The Prophecy foretold an apocalypse that will herald in an age of devils, and according to Fami neither she nor Nayuta nor Chainsaw Man can stop it. According to her, however, War could be capable of stopping it. Fami, however, is not motivated by the altruistic goal of saving humanity, but rather because human cuisine would go away should the apocalypse come to fruition. Fami offers Nayuta to help her stop the Death Devil, but Nayuta declines as she's busy with school.
Fami talking to Haruka backstage.
Fami then appears talking to Haruka backstage after the latter is mocked on public television. Haruka questions her about why she had him go up there to be humiliated, to which Fami tells him that ridicule was the whole point. A mysterious figure appears behind Haruka, telling him to listen to what Fami says. According to the mysterious figure, Haruka is to operate as the "face" of the Chainsaw Man Church while Fami is to operate as the "brains."
"Fami" then went to Asa's apartment to recruit her and Yoru to the church's cause. Yoru refuses, but "Fami" shows a photo of the Chainsaw Devil, different from Denji's, making it Asa's true target. Asa questions "Fami"'s motives, referencing her involvement in past incidents, but "Fami" insists on trusting the Church.
Later Barem Bridge reveals that "Fami"'s alleged true goal is to protect humanity from destruction, and the Devil she contracted the church members with is the Fire Devil. Her plans result in giving both Chainsaw Man and the War Devil a significant power boost, making them powerful enough to take on the Death Devil in the near future, seemingly unaware of her true identity.
A week later, "Fami" and Asa raid the Tokyo Devil Detention Center with the goal of rescuing Chainsaw Man, who is held prisoner. "Fami" informs Asa and Yoru of the area's security systems while revealing that Chainsaw Man is held within the building's third basement. She also confirms Asa's concerns that defeating Pochita will help her save Denji in the process.
The two manage to enter the facility after Asa manages to hijack control of the turrets without touching them to destroy the entrance. As they venture through the facility, "Fami" continues advising Asa until they stop near a group of armed guards. "Fami" warns Asa to be careful as making one single mistake could end up killing her. They attempt to sneak past the guards, only for Asa to trip, which creates unnecessary attention for the duo. "Fami" then summons the Guillotine Devil to kill the armed guards though it disarms the armed Public Safety guards instead.
"Fami" tells Asa that her summoning technique has its restrictions while letting her and Yoru knock down a Public Safety guard. Once all the guards are defeated, Chainsaw church members are freed from their cells. "Fami" agrees to leave the members be until Asa mentions that she and "Fami" are only here to rescue Chainsaw Man. The Devil Hunter Club trio then decide to tag along as the group continues deeper into the facility's defenses.
On their way, the group comes across a nearby room filled with Pseudo-Chainsaw People. Special Division 7 agent Takagi attempts to distract the group, allowing Samurai Sword and the Nail Fiend to enter the scene. Yoru manages to get "Fami" out of harm's way by dropkicking her twice. She then watches Asa persuade the murderous duo into forming a truce with their group as both sides want to find the captive Chainsaw Man. As a result, Samurai Sword and the Nail Fiend both defect to Asa and "Fami"'s side.
Recovering from her injury, "Fami" and the others eventually arrives at the third floor of the basement. From there, they discover that Chainsaw Man has already been dismembered with his parts placed into several boxes. Under Yoru's demands, "Fami" and the Devil Hunter Club trio begin reassembling Chainsaw Man's body. Haruka discovers that Chainsaw Man's true identity is none other than Denji via his disembodied head, which greatly shocks Asa. Before the group can react any further, they are confronted by Quanxi and Takagi.
Quanxi however decides to stand down and avoid conflict with Chainsaw man allowig the group to escape. "Fami" later eats a large amount of food while the others wait for Denji to wake up. Later the group going to the charred remains of Denji's apartment.
Asa attempts to comfort Denji but he prioritizes finding Nayuta above everything. Asa asks "Fami" for help, and she suggests that they get something to eat.
The group rides a train to a budget restaurant as other sushi joints are currently defunct. From there,"Fami" explains to Denji about the possibility of him living a normal life as a human if they are able to break his contract with Pochita and defeat him. Suspicious of this, Denji questions "Fami" how she knows about this, to which she ignores his question.
The group then arrive at the sushi restaurant and begin eating there. Asa lies about being unable to eat and asks "Fami" if she can wait outside. "Fami" tells her something, but her speech is unintelligible due to having food stuffed in her mouth. Barem confronts the group and reveals that he knows where Nayuta is.
Asa questions "Fami" on what is happening between Denji and Barem, to which she remains silent in response. Eventually, Barem asks the head chef to send the next dish down the sushi conveyor. When it arrives, every customer, with the exception of "Fami" and Barem, reacts in complete horror and shock over the sight of Nayuta's severed head being served as a dish. Sometime after the Aging Devil's defeat, "Fami" eats at cafe with the others while ignoring the ongoing battle between groups of civilians and Pseudo-Chainsaw People.
After Yoshida, Fumiko Mifune, Asa and Denji orders their meal, "Fami" listens to their conversation regarding Pochita's rampage, Public Safety's intentions for Denji, and Yoru revealing herself as the War Devil. Escaping she takes Denji with her while "Fami" eats the leftover remains of the cake.
The next day at a park, Yoshida and Fumiko request "Fami" for her assistance against handling the Death Devil as Public Safety is severely understaffed. "Fami" bluntly turns down their request due to Fourth East High having a festival to pray for Tokyo's revival, and that she got chosen to be on the planning committee. Even when the two Devil Hunters desperately plead for her help, "Fami" stands up and explains that her reasons for living are solely for own amusement. Before they can react, "Fami" notices that two of her friends have arrived and is quickly snatched away by them to plan their school festival during a karaoke session.
During their battle, the Fake Chainsaw Man initially believes that his target is the actual Death Devil, to which she confirms she is none other than the Famine Devil. "Fami" then reveals herself as the real Death Devil from a distance reveals and uses the Falling Devil to ground the two into a dish alongside decapitated human heads and a giraffe. Approaching her younger sister, Death apologizes for using her name as an alias to deceive everyone, to which Fami tells her to die quickly for the sake of mankind. Taking off her school uniform, Death reveals she cannot die even with her organs removed from her body.
Death continues that even if she dies and her reincarnation won't enjoy human culture like she does, then humanity is doomed to extinction. When asked to stop by both Fami and Fake Chainsaw Man, Death notes that it's not possible given her full power will activate once the Prophecy of Nostradamus becomes a reality. She then initially convinces both Fami and Fake Chainsaw Man to cooperate with her, only to reveal she is going to kill and eat them whole. Death and a flock of her crows proceed to devour the two and transforms them into her brainwashed pawns. Pulling their forms out of her mouth, Death commands her new pawns to plunge humanity into an abyss of terror.
Powers And Abilities[]
- Devil empowerment and revival: The Death Devil is shown to be able to empower other Devils and even bring them back from the dead in a even stronger form, showcased when she did so with Yuko.
- Devil manipulation: The Death Devil is seemingly able to have control over other Devils seeing as she temporarily separates Yoru from Asa's body. She also seems to have connections with other Devils, such as the Eternity Devil who she struck a deal with in order to use his powers to trap the Devil Hunter Club inside the aquarium.
- Teleportation: Death Devil demonstrated this power by teleporting in and out of the locked aquarium after speaking with Asa/Yoru.
- Fear empowerment: As the Death Devil, she is able to get more powerful by feeding on humanity's fear of death itself.
- Regeneration: The Death Devil is seemingly able to regenerate or heal herself by drinking blood and, because this, she can sustain all kinds of lethal injuries.
- Immortality: Death cannot die and still lives, even after she disemboweled herself and disposed of her internal organs.
- Reincarnation: If Death is killed on Earth, she will reincarnate in Hell, making her essentially immortal. The Death Devil can return to Earth, if they are killed in Hell, which causes them to reincarnate to the human world, now with a completely different appearance and without any of their prior memories.
- Enslavement: Death is able to turn anyone she kills into her servants or soldiers.
- Crow Manipulation: Death appears to possess the ability to control crows as she has a flock of them devour the remains of a plate of humans, Fami, and Fake Chainsaw Man
Quotes[]
| “ | Even if I *could* die, another Death Devil would be born after my death. If the next Death Devil doesn't enjoy human culture like me... mankind would be destroyed in no time. | „ |
| ~ Death Devil claiming to be the lesser of two evils. |
| “ | On the day of the prophecy, for some reason or other, mankind's fear of death will reach its peak. I'll awaken. When it happens, my powers will activate even if I'm sound asleep. | „ |
| ~ Death Devil refuting her own autonomy by claiming Nostradamus' prophecy is inevitable. |
| “ | Meat tastes best fresh, and savoring lives as much as possible is good manners. | „ |
| ~ Explaining her rationale in consuming living beings to control them, when she could simply do it by willpower. |
Trivia[]
- The Death Devil is the third Horseman to appear in the story contrasting how in Christian eschatology, Death would be the last of the four horsemen of Apolypis to ride the Pallet.
- Additionally, she is the second Primal Fear to appear in the series, after the Darkness Devil.
- The idea that the Death Devil carries the ultimate fear maps to real life: the fear of death and dying (also known as atatophobia) is one of the oldest and most innate fears, if not the oldest, ubiquitous in the animal kingdom; basic hatred and pain, predation, disease, hunger, etc. Many others are based on instinctive fear, eg.
- Predator death anxiety, which is caused by the fear of harm, is the most basic death anxiety, it comes from single-cell organisms (for example, protozoa) and comes from a primitive self-defense mechanism: the receptors are exposed to stimuli to increase the possibility of survival against physical/chemical hazards. Aversion to death in humans has evolved through millions of years of evolution, and can be triggered by the threat of death or any scenario, usually resulting in a fight-or-flight response.
- Scientists have identified several types of death anxiety, predatory death anxiety (fear of being killed), existential death anxiety, fear of death or the process of death, anxiety about the death of a loved one, etc. they differentiate. The existential fear of death is the strongest form of human mortality, which appeared in humans about 150,000 years ago and distinguishes them from animals. Since then (in a short period of evolution), human psychology has developed a key mechanism to combat this existential fear: denial.
- Death Devil's earrings resemble the Chainsaw Man's pull cord, but the way they are constantly tilted in a way that makes them resemble a scale, may be a reference to the depiction of the Famine Horseman in the Book of Revelation, where he is depicted holding scales.
- The use of the pull cord as scale might also be an allusion for how the Chainsaw Man became a symbol of justice to the public.
- Asa originally speculated that Death was the Justice Devil, which is a reference to how Famine is sometimes interpreted as the "Lord as a Law-Giver" and also because both famine and Justice are often represented by scales.
- It's unknown whether Death's body is her original form (like Makima's) or if she's actually possessing someone else's (like Yoru). Prior to her reappearance in chapter 112, it was theorized that the blonde girl who Denji saved from Yuko and was about to reveal his identity to was Fami's "host" who did not know she was being possessed by a Devil.
- Prior to Chapter 115, it was heavily theorized that Death might have something to do with giving Chainsaw Man's powers to Haruka Iseumi given the shape of her earrings. This theory was disproven as soon as it was revealed that Haruka's pull cord was actually just a surgical implant he made as a fan tribute to the Chainsaw Man.
External Links[]
- Death Devil on the Chainsaw Man Wiki
- "Fami" on the Chainsaw Man Wiki
