Chainsaw Man takes place in an alternate late-1990s Japan where every fear humans share takes physical form as a devil. The more people fear something, the stronger its devil. Denji is a teenager paying off his dead father's debt to the yakuza by hunting devils with Pochita, a little dog-like chainsaw devil. When the yakuza betray and kill him, Pochita gives Denji his heart, and Denji comes back as a hybrid who can sprout chainsaws from his head and arms.
His dreams are modest to the point of comedy: bread with jam, a warm bed, a girlfriend. Public Safety offers him all of that in exchange for working as a devil hunter under a beautiful, unsettling officer named Makima. Tatsuki Fujimoto's cast is small, strange and frequently killed, which makes knowing who's who more useful than usual. This guide covers Part 1 (the Public Safety saga) in depth and introduces the main players of Part 2.
- Creator
- Tatsuki Fujimoto
- Part 1
- Weekly Shonen Jump, 2018–2020 (97 chapters, 11 volumes)
- Part 2
- Shonen Jump+, from July 2022
- Anime
- MAPPA, 12 episodes (2022)
- Film
- Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc (2025)
The main characters
Part 1 centres on an unlikely household: Denji, Power and Aki Hayakawa, three people who can barely stand each other at first, sharing an apartment on Makima's orders. Their slow turn into a family is the emotional core of the story.
Denji
Chainsaw Man · Devil hybrid
Denji grew up with nothing. He sold a kidney, an eye and more to pay the yakuza, and lived on scraps with Pochita. After merging with Pochita he can transform by pulling a starter cord in his chest, and he regenerates as long as he can drink blood. He's crude, impulsive and very easy to manipulate, and he's also capable of real loyalty. His story asks a simple question: what does someone who's never had anything actually want?
- Contract
- Pochita, the Chainsaw Devil, is his heart
Power
Blood Fiend · Denji's partner
Power is a fiend, a devil occupying a human corpse, with red horns and a total lack of shame. She lies constantly, refuses to bathe, claims credit for everything and panics at the first sign of real danger. She also hardens her own blood into hammers and spears. Her one soft spot at the start is Meowy, her cat. Her friendship with Denji, which starts as mutual nuisance, becomes one of the best things in the series.
- Ability
- Blood manipulation
Makima
Public Safety officer · Division 4 leader
Makima recruits Denji, gives him a home and promises him what he's always wanted, and Denji falls for her immediately. She's calm, polite and always smiling, and nothing about her quite adds up: what she knows, how she survives attacks, how dogs and people obey her. She's one of the most discussed villains in modern manga, precisely because the story lets you see her the way Denji does for so long.
Aki Hayakawa
Devil hunter · Denji's senior
Aki is a serious, chain-smoking devil hunter who joined Public Safety to kill the Gun Devil, which destroyed his family when he was a boy. He's assigned to keep an eye on Denji and Power and ends up cooking, cleaning and worrying for them like an older brother. He has contracts with several devils, each paid for with something he can't get back. That is the clearest picture of what the job costs.
- Contracts
- Fox Devil, Curse Devil, Future Devil
Pochita
The Chainsaw Devil
Pochita is a small orange devil with a chainsaw sticking out of his face, as loyal as a dog. He saved Denji's life once and saves it again by becoming his heart, asking only that Denji live a normal life and show him his dreams. The story slowly reveals that the Chainsaw Devil is far more feared in Hell than his size suggests.
Public Safety Devil Hunters
Public Safety is the government's devil-hunting agency. Makima's Special Division 4 is an experimental unit that uses devils, fiends and hybrids to fight devils. Its members don't tend to last long.
Himeno
Veteran devil hunter · Aki's mentor
Himeno is Aki's former partner and senior: playful, hard-drinking, and wearing an eyepatch over the eye she gave the Ghost Devil for its contract. She's lost a lot of partners and has a rule about not getting attached, which she's already broken with Aki. She's a big part of why the early chapters feel warm before the story turns.
- Contract
- Ghost Devil
Kobeni Higashiyama
Rookie devil hunter
Kobeni joined Public Safety because her family made her, so her brother could go to university. She spends most of her time in tears or trying to quit, and then dodges attacks nobody else could. She's a fan favourite for her pure, relatable panic and her habit of surviving things that kill everyone around her. Her devil contract is never revealed.
Kishibe
Captain · Veteran devil hunter
Kishibe is Public Safety's strongest devil hunter: a burned-out, heavy-drinking veteran who has made contracts with multiple devils and outlived everyone he cared about. He trains Denji and Power by killing them over and over, then suggests he's quite fond of them. He's one of the few people suspicious of Makima.
Angel Devil
Devil working for Public Safety
The Angel Devil is a lazy, beautiful devil with a halo and wings who openly dislikes humans and can't be bothered to hide it. Touching someone drains years from their lifespan, which it can forge into weapons. Assigned as Aki's partner, it slowly warms to him.
Beam
Shark Fiend
Beam is a hyperactive fiend who swims through floors and walls. He worships Chainsaw Man, which makes him an enthusiastic, slightly unhinged ally in Division 4's fights.
Galgali
Violence Fiend
Galgali is a gentle, soft-spoken fiend who wears a mask that keeps his huge strength in check. He's a member of Division 4's devil squad and one of the most likeable minor characters.
Princi
Spider Devil
Princi is a Division 4 devil who appears as a quiet woman with a spider's body hidden inside. She does Makima's work without comment.
Arai
Rookie devil hunter
Arai joins Division 4 alongside Kobeni. He's earnest and sensible, and he tries to keep the group together during the Katana Man attack.
Hybrids, assassins and rivals
Denji's heart is worth a fortune to every government and criminal group that learns about it, so Part 1 keeps sending new rivals after him. Hybrids are humans who can transform into devils, as Denji does, by pulling a pin, cord or trigger.
Reze
Bomb Devil hybrid
Reze is a cheerful girl working at a café who meets Denji sheltering from the rain and quickly becomes the first girl to treat him like a person rather than a dog. She's also a trained foreign operative sent to steal his heart, and she turns into an explosive hybrid by pulling a pin in her neck. Her arc asks whether any of her feelings were real. It's the subject of the 2025 film.
Katana Man
Sword Devil hybrid
Katana Man is the grandson of the yakuza boss Denji killed in the first chapter. With arms that become blades, he leads the attack on Division 4 to take revenge and take Denji's heart. His eventual defeat ends in one of the most ridiculous contests in shonen.
Akane Sawatari
Snake Devil contractor
Sawatari is the cold, quiet partner behind Katana Man's attack. Her Snake Devil swallows enemies and can call up devils it has eaten. She's working for a group connected to the Gun Devil.
Quanxi
The first devil hunter
Quanxi is a hybrid from China who fires crossbow bolts, moves almost too fast to see, and travels with a group of fiend girlfriends. Kishibe was her partner long ago. She's one of the deadliest people in the International Assassins arc, and she isn't interested in anything except getting the job done.
Santa Claus
Assassin · Doll Devil contractor
Santa Claus is an assassin sent from Germany whose contract with the Doll Devil turns people into puppets. Santa Claus is one of the most horrifying threats in Part 1, and the plan drags Denji's group into Hell itself.
Hirofumi Yoshida
Private devil hunter
Yoshida is a calm, unreadable high schooler with an Octopus Devil contract. Hired to protect Denji during the assassin attack, he becomes a much bigger presence in Part 2, keeping Denji from revealing that he's Chainsaw Man.
Devils and fiends
Devils are named after what they embody, and their strength depends on how much people fear it. Some are minor; the strongest, the "Primal Fears" and the Four Horsemen, are terrifying.
Gun Devil
Part 1's looming threat
The Gun Devil killed huge numbers of people in seconds years before the story begins, including Aki's family. Its flesh is scattered across the world, and nations hold pieces of it as weapons.
Future Devil
Aki's contract
The Future Devil lives in Aki's eye and lets him see moments ahead. It also gives him a vision of his own death that he doesn't take seriously enough.
Fox Devil
Public Safety contract
The Fox Devil appears as a giant fox head that swallows enemies whole. It's picky about who it works for, and it likes Aki's face.
Ghost Devil
Himeno's contract
An invisible devil with many arms, which Himeno controls in exchange for parts of her body.
Darkness Devil
Primal Fear
One of the ancient devils that has never died. It appears in Hell and shows Denji and the others how small they really are.
Zombie Devil
First chapter villain
A devil working with the yakuza that turns people into zombies. It kills Denji in chapter 1 and sets the whole story in motion.
Eternity Devil
Hotel trap
The Eternity Devil traps Division 4 in an endlessly looping hotel floor, which leads to Denji's most deranged and most memorable early fight.
Meowy
Power's cat
Not a devil, but the only creature Power loves before she meets Denji. Meowy is the reason Power first opens up to him.
How Part 1 ends
The Gun Devil finally attacks, and Aki is turned into the Gun Fiend. Denji has to kill the closest thing he had to a brother. Makima is revealed to be the Control Devil, one of the Four Horsemen, and kills Power in front of Denji. Her goal is to control Chainsaw Man, whose power to erase whatever he eats could remove things like war, death and hunger from existence. She wants to build a "better" world on that power, whatever it costs anyone. Denji beats her not with strength but with a choice no one could predict, and Makima is reborn as a child, Nayuta, whom Denji raises. Power's blood lives on in him, and she leaves him a request to find her again someday.
Part 2: the Academy saga
Part 2 moves to a high school and opens with a new lead before Denji reappears. These are its central characters. Part 2 is full of twists, so this section sticks to setup and avoids later developments.
Asa Mitaka
Part 2 protagonist
Asa is an awkward, lonely student who thinks too much and says the wrong thing. After a devil-related death at her school, she ends up sharing her body with Yoru, the War Devil. She's one of Fujimoto's most painfully realistic characters, and her uneasy, comic relationship with Denji is the heart of Part 2.
Yoru
The War Devil
Yoru is one of the Four Horsemen, weakened and living inside Asa. She can turn things into weapons, and the more Asa feels they belong to her, the stronger the weapon. Her goal is to defeat Chainsaw Man and take back what he took from her.
Fami
The Famine Devil
Fami is another of the Horsemen and Yoru's sister. She's friendly, always hungry and always scheming. She sets much of Part 2's plot in motion while insisting she only wants to help.
Nayuta
Denji's ward
Nayuta is the reborn Control Devil, raised by Denji as a little sister. She's possessive, dog-obsessed and much more powerful than she looks. Denji's love for her shapes many of his Part 2 choices.
Fumiko Mifune
Public Safety agent
Fumiko is a cheerful, unreliable Public Safety operative who is assigned to watch Denji and doesn't hide how much she likes the chaos.
Yuko
Asa's friend
Yuko is a bright, friendly classmate who decides to befriend Asa when nobody else will. She becomes important to Part 2's darker turns.
Voice cast
MAPPA's anime and the Reze Arc film share a cast. Here are the main Japanese and English voices.
| Character | Japanese | English |
|---|---|---|
| Denji | Kikunosuke Toya | Ryan Colt Levy |
| Power | Fairouz Ai | Sarah Wiedenheft |
| Makima | Tomori Kusunoki | Suzie Yeung |
| Aki Hayakawa | Shogo Sakata | Reagan Murdock |
Other Japanese roles include Shiori Izawa as Pochita, Mariya Ise as Himeno, Karin Takahashi as Kobeni, Takehito Koyasu as Kishibe, Maaya Uchida as the Angel Devil and Reina Ueda as Reze. For more on how anime voice casting works, see our voice actors page.
What the characters are really about
Chainsaw Man looks like a gore comedy, and it is one, but its characters keep coming back to one idea: what people will settle for when they've never had enough. Denji will accept almost any leash if it comes with food and affection. Aki gives his life away piece by piece for revenge. Power wants to be safe and adored. Makima wants a better world and sees people as tools to get there.
- Denji slowly learns the difference between being fed and being loved.
- Aki is the tragedy of someone who finally gets a family after he has already sold his future.
- Power grows from pure self-interest into someone who would protect a friend, a small and earned piece of found family.
- Makima is a study in control dressed up as kindness, one of the best examples in our guide to villain types.
Denji himself is a good case study for our anti-hero guide: selfish, crude and motivated by appetite, but more decent than nearly anyone around him. Fans of the bleak, unpredictable side of shonen often pair this series with Jujutsu Kaisen or Attack on Titan.
Where to start
- Anime season one (12 episodes) covers the manga up to the end of the Katana Man fight.
- Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc continues straight from the final episode.
- Manga Part 1 from around chapter 53 takes you through the International Assassins arc and the ending.
- Manga Part 2 starts at chapter 98 with Asa Mitaka.
The anime is close to the manga in content but very different in tone, quieter and more cinematic. Our manga vs anime guide covers those trade-offs.
All Chainsaw Man character names A–Z
A
- Akane Sawatari — Snake Devil contractor
- Aki Hayakawa — Public Safety
- Angel Devil — Public Safety
- Arai — Public Safety
- Asa Mitaka — Part 2
B–D
- Beam — Shark Fiend
- Darkness Devil — Primal Fear
- Denji — Chainsaw Man
E–G
- Eternity Devil — Devil
- Fami — Famine Devil
- Fox Devil — Devil
- Fumiko Mifune — Part 2
- Future Devil — Devil
- Galgali — Violence Fiend
- Ghost Devil — Devil
- Gun Devil — Devil
H–K
- Himeno — Public Safety
- Hirofumi Yoshida — Private hunter
- Katana Man — Hybrid
- Kishibe — Public Safety
- Kobeni Higashiyama — Public Safety
M–N
- Makima — Public Safety
- Meowy — Power's cat
- Nayuta — Part 2
P–Q
- Pochita — Chainsaw Devil
- Power — Blood Fiend
- Princi — Spider Devil
- Quanxi — Hybrid
R–Z
- Reze — Bomb hybrid
- Santa Claus — Assassin
- Yoru — War Devil
- Yuko — Part 2
- Zombie Devil — Devil
Frequently asked questions
Who is the main character of Chainsaw Man?
Denji, a poor teenager who merges with his pet devil Pochita and can turn into Chainsaw Man by pulling a cord in his chest. In Part 2 the story shares the lead between Denji and Asa Mitaka, a schoolgirl who shares her body with the War Devil.
Who is Power in Chainsaw Man?
Power is the Blood Fiend: a devil possessing a human corpse, with horns, a habit of lying about everything and a beloved cat called Meowy. She's assigned to Division 4 as Denji's partner and moves in with him and Aki. She's selfish, loud and cowardly, and over Part 1 she becomes his closest friend.
What devil is Makima?
Makima is the Control Devil, one of the most powerful devils in existence. That's a major Part 1 spoiler. Until the reveal she appears to be a human Public Safety officer with unexplained powers.
Who are the female characters in Chainsaw Man?
In Part 1: Power, Makima, Himeno, Kobeni, Reze, Quanxi, and the Angel Devil, who presents androgynously. In Part 2: Asa Mitaka, Yoru the War Devil, Fami the Famine Devil, Nayuta, Fumiko Mifune and Asa's friend Yuko.
What order should I watch Chainsaw Man in?
Watch the 12-episode anime (2022) first, then Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc (2025), which continues directly from the final episode. After that, the manga picks up from roughly chapter 53.
Is Chainsaw Man connected to Jujutsu Kaisen?
No. They're separate stories by different authors that ran in Weekly Shonen Jump around the same time and were both animated by MAPPA. They're often recommended together; see our JJK character guide.