Chainsaw Man chapter 190 confirms Primal Fear Devils’ key weakness

Modified Jan 15, 2025 05:30 GMT

Chainsaw Man chapter 190 confirms Primal Fear Devils’ key weakness (Image via MAPPA Studios)

Following the confusingly chaotic actions of Hirofumi Yoshida in the last issue, fans were expecting a major fight in Chainsaw Man chapter 190 between the Octopus and Aging Devils. Officially released on Wednesday, January 15, 2025, in Japan, the installment instead saw the current arc and conflict come to an end, thanks to an inventive plan from Yoshida himself.

Yoshida’s plan was to pull the Aging Devil into its own world via Denji and Pochita’s mouths, then convince it to let them all escape and go their separate ways. However, this was only achievable due to the Aging Devil being confirmed as unable to use its own powers in its own world.

In turn, it seems mangaka Tatsuki Fujimoto has just confirmed a major weakness for Primal Fear Devils in Chainsaw Man chapter 190.

Chainsaw Man chapter 190 provides the blueprint for defeating future Primal Fear Devils

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As aforementioned, Yoshida and co’s plan in Chainsaw Man chapter 190 is revealed to hinge on the assumption that the Aging Devil can’t use its powers in its own world.

This is confirmed after Aging is successfully brought into its own world, as well as the fact that it did negotiate with Yoshida and co in the end, rather than simply kill them. Despite being the master of its own world, Aging was seemingly powerless to break its rules or temporarily rewrite them for its own gain.

In other words, a Primal Fear Devil was forced to obey the rules of its own powers. Fujimoto will likely reveal this to ring true for all Primal Fear Devils at some point, likely via future encounters with various other Primal Fear Devils. This is key because it provides a means of defeating these otherwise seemingly invincible entities.

Moreover, taking such an approach to their collective defeats allows each victory to feel earned and be a unique journey each time.

However, it’s worth mentioning that Denji, Yoshida, and their allies didn’t actually kill the Aging Devil in Chainsaw Man chapter 190. They had no means to do so after pulling Aging into its own world, since they also couldn’t use Devil powers within it.

This is exactly why Yoshida pitched a contract to Aging after establishing the stalemate the two were locked into. Thankfully, the significance of a contract at least guarantees no future conflict with Aging.

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While this is the first time this specific situation has occurred in the story period, other Devils have had their powers turned against them before. Denji has done this the most in the series so far, with the most prominent and memorable examples being his fight with the Eternity Devil, and how he ultimately defeated Makima in battle.

What differentiates these examples from chapter 190 is that the Aging Devil was literally trapped by its own powers and rules via Yoshida’s plan. In most other examples, Denji is taking advantage of flaws or weaknesses in his opponent’s abilities rather than trapping enemies within their own powers.

This key difference will likely pave the way for how Denji handles Primal Fear Devils, and how opponents of a lesser class are dealt with.

Final thoughts

Primal Fear Devils as strong as the Darkness Devil may be able to avoid this Achille's heel (Image via Shueisha)

While the Aging Devil may not be truly defeated, Chainsaw Man chapter 190 at least makes it clear that there is a path to escaping a Primal Fear Devil via outwitting them.

However, this requires the ability to survive long enough against the Primal Fear Devil to abuse the laws of its abilities. Although this won’t be a viable route against every Primal Fear Devil, creator Tatsuki Fujimoto will likely have one such conflict with a Primal Fear Devil resolve similarly.