Death Devil's dual-status in Chainsaw Man teases the Four Horsemen's origins

Modified Nov 24, 2024 14:00 GMT

One of the most engaging aspects of Chainsaw Man part 2 thus far has been how much lore and worldbuilding has been added to the series over the course of its serialization. The Death Devil and Nosferatu’s prophecy is a major source of this, serving as a base for which other environmentally formative events base themselves on.

However, there are also some aspects of it which have been confusing, such as the Death Devil being considered both a Primal Fear Devil and one of the Four Horseman Devils.

While some Chainsaw Man fans suspect this will prove to be inaccurate, a more likely explanation is that it may tease the Four Horsemens’ origins.

Chainsaw Man’s Four Horsemen Devils may be primal fears that climbed up in status

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Obviously, the biggest red flag regarding Death Devil being introduced as both a primal fear and one of the Four Horsemen is that she’s the only one to get dual status. Chainsaw Man has yet to attribute both titles to Famine Devil Fami, War Devil Yoru, or Control Devils Makima/Nayuta in either of the story’s two parts.

While it’s understandable that Death is a primal fear, it’s difficult to argue why the others shouldn’t be.

Fami specifically highlights this best, as she represents the fear of hunger and starvation. This would undoubtedly qualify as a primal fear, as living creatures are instinctively afraid of starving.

This would ring especially true for humans, who have the mental faculties to actually comprehend and fully grasp the consequences of starvation. While one can argue this would fuel the Death Devil, it would also strengthen the inherent fear of hunger/starvation.

With this in mind, it seems likely that Chainsaw Man’s Four Horsemen Devils are ex-primal fear Devils who transcended the title by nature of how powerful they are.

This led to their being given the title of Four Horsemen Devils, distinguishing them as a subset of the Primal Fears rather than removing them entirely from the category. While Fami serves as the best example of the remaining three, she’s far from the only viable one.

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War Devil Yoru can be argued as a primal fear for the instinctive avoidance of extinction, since conflict and war can lead to widespread death on genocidal scales. By nature of it being instinct for animals to fornicate and produce offspring to further their species’ survival, it can be inversely argued that extinction is an instinctual fear.

Thus, since extinction can be based in conflict conceptually, it’s likely that Yoru can also be qualified as a Primal Fear Devil.

Control Devils Makima and Nayuta are admittedly the weakest argument, but one can still be made nevertheless. In nature, there are parasites which infiltrate and take over the living body of their hosts, often leaving their senses intact while taking control of their bodies.

This would certainly qualify as an instinctive and Primal Fear, especially when considering the existential dread that would come with suffering such a fate.

Final thoughts

Yoru and the other Four Horsemen Devils may finally have their origins elaborated on in the above manner (Image via Shueisha)

While the above is speculative, it is based on concrete and logical evidence backed up by both Tatsuki Fujimoto’s manga series and real–life science. With this in mind, it seems likely that such a reveal could be coming soon to the series.

However, fans first need to wait for the manga’s return with chapter 185 on Wednesday, November 27, 2024 at 12 am Japanese Standard Time.