Who is the Ear Devil? Everything we know about Chainsaw Man's latest victim, explored

Modified Jul 24, 2024 01:30 GMT

Ear Devil leds to all ears being erased from Chainsaw Man (Image via MAPPA)

Chainsaw Man eating the Ear Devil in chapter 172 has caused a stir in the fandom, as such an important concept was erased from the series after the Hero of Hell consumed a rather unremarkable devil. Contrary to what many fans might think, the Ear Devil's first appearance was in chapter 171 as a rather insignificant devil.

Although chapter 172 mainly focused on the absolute carnage that the Hero of Hell unleashed upon witnessing Nayuta's supposed corpse, the erasure of ears from the series has managed to become the highlight of the chapter.

Disclaimer- This article contains spoilers for the Chainsaw Man series.

Chainsaw Man: The Ear Devil ends up being one of the most important deaths in the manga

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While most of the new Special Division devils were of no particular importance, the squad that was defeated by the Hero of Hell included the Ear Devil, which, as the name suggests, embodied the fear of ears. This led to Chainsaw Man eating this devil and erasing the existence of ears from the Chainsaw Man universe.

This erasure removed one of the most important means of communication in the story. It should be noted that the Ear Devil was very unremarkable, not previously mentioned or addressed in part 1 of the manga or before chapter 172 itself. The devils in the Chainsaw Man series serve as a unique plot device and the basic power system for the series.

While Fujimoto has kept most of the questions surrounding devils and their actual behavior in hell unanswered, it has already been revealed that a devil exists for every possible concept.

Devils are entities tied to their names and the concepts they embody. While devils that die in the human world reincarnate in Hell and when they die in Hell, they reincarnate in the human world, and Chainsaw Man's power prevents this.

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Being consumed by him essentially means that the concepts the devil embodies would disappear from existence, and the devil will also be erased alongside it. There have been instances of devils like the Blood Devil, Bat Devil, and Gun Devil existing since they embody actual objects and concepts that are feared by people.

This also ties in with the existence of primordial devils like the Darkness Devil, which was strong enough to easily defeat Makima, one of the Four Horsemen devils, since darkness is one of the primal fears known to humans.

Given the Ear Devil's unremarkable appearance and demeanor, along with a lack of characterization, it is confirmed that it was a very weak devil that embodied a very important concept.

Final thoughts

Chainsaw Man as shown in the anime (Image via MAPPA)

Ear Devil's lack of strength can also be attributed to the fact that there is almost no fear of ears in large quantities. Whether letting Chainsaw Man eat a devil that embodied such an important concept was a planned maneuver by the Public Safety Department or simply bad planning isn't yet revealed.

However, the consumption of the Ear Devil led to deadly consequences, which set up a fight between Yoru and the Hero of Hell. Yoru previously mentioned how Chainsaw Man could be made to throw up the concepts he has devoured. The manga is currently on a break and chapter 173 will be released on August 6, 2024.