Chainsaw Man's Four Horsemen Devils show how parents can mistreat their children

Modified Oct 05, 2024 20:30 GMT

Chainsaw Man and the importance of motherhood with the Four Horsemen (Image via Shueisha). — Chainsaw Man and the importance of motherhood with the Four Horsemen (Image via Shueisha)

Chainsaw Man is known for having a lot of fascinating female characters and three of the Four Horsemen Devils are women, also representing the nature of parenting. These three characters are displayed as having a degree of motherly elements and can be a way for author Tatsuki Fujimoto to show the different ways that a parent could mistreat their children.

The three Horsemen Devils that have been shown thus far in Chainsaw Man— Yoru, Fami, and Makima— all have degrees of motherly displays throughout the story and can serve as examples of this role taken to its most toxic extreme. In that regard, it could be an interesting running theme and one that sparks a lot more theories regarding the identity and role of the Death Devil.

Disclaimer: This article contains spoilers for the series. Any opinion expressed here belongs to the author and not Sportskeeda as a whole.

Explaining the role as parents that Horsemen Devils have in Chainsaw Man

Makima as seen in the anime (Image via MAPPA).

Makima displays a somewhat motherly role as the supervisor to Denji, Makima, and Power throughout the first part of the series, and manages to psychologically and emotionally manipulate them to get what she wants. This is a lot more notorious with Denji, since his lust and desire for a simple life were constantly used against him so she could gain an edge, with Makima's powers as the Control Devil reflecting the nature of her behavior.

Yoru, being the War Devil, represents the physical abuser as she takes her "children", the Tank and Gun Devils, to hurt Pochita and doesn't care about the consequences. This is further emphasized by how she manages to reshape Asa Mitaka's body in the most recent chapters by starting with the arms, although that is speculation at the moment.

On the other hand, Fami represents the neglectful parent as her powers literally require her to starve other people to death. She doesn't care about what happens to other individuals, as seen with Asa and Denji, which is similar to a parent who doesn't care about their children.

What the Death Devil could represent

Yoru, the War Devil, as seen in the manga (Image via Shueisha)

It has been long theorized that the Death Devil is Kobeni's mother, and that she represents the materialistic, selfish parent who has no concern for her children and only wants to get what she wants. This theory has gained a lot of traction in the Chainsaw Man fandom, and seems to believe that she has been spying on events of the story until there is a moment to appear.

There is also a chance that the powers of the Death Devil could be connected to the ability to create life, serving a direct contrast with her title. Moreover, the ability to create life is something that could justify this character having a notorious ego, and thinking that she is above the rest as a parent who thinks that his or her role as a father or mother is enough to be the absolute authority.

Final thoughts

It makes a lot of sense that the Four Horsemen in Chainsaw Man could represent the different types of parental abuse. Moreover, it could make a functional running theme between these characters and could give some hints regarding the identity of the Death Devil.

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Edited by Ahana Mukhopadhyay