Highlights
- The War Devil, Yoru, wields unique powers and can create weapons through fear empowerment and Asa’s emotions, despite being weakened.
- Yoru’s relationship with Asa is complex, with a dichotomy in their personalities and a gradual understanding and respect developing between them.
- Yoru seeks to restore her strength by defeating the Chainsaw Devil, utilizing Asa and aiming to liberate the original Chainsaw Devil.
Embodying humanity’s collective fear of war, the War Devil — also known as Yoru — is a central figure in the Academy Saga of Tatsuki Fujimoto’sChainsaw Man manga, due to her relationship with this part’s protagonist, Asa Mitaka. Having inhabited Asa’s body to save her from certain death, the War Devil is now a peculiar type of Fiend, allowing her vessel to maintain control while only surfacing periodically.
Since debuting in Chainsaw Man, the War Devil has played a prominent role in many of the Academy Saga’s major conflicts, due to the unique powers she has bestowed on Asa. Although she is currently in a weakened state, the War Devil is still an extremely powerful threat due to her status as one of the Four Horsemen, who are some of the strongest Devils in Chainsaw Man.
What Are The War Devil’s Powers?
By virtue of the unique circumstances behind her occupation of Asa’s body, Yoru can experience her host’s emotions despite being a Devil, as she has taken over half of her vessel’s brain. Although Yoru cannot make contracts, she can use all other Devil abilities, such as fear empowerment, regeneration through the consumption of blood, and enhanced physical strength. Yoru’s appearance is also different from that of Asa’s as she wears her hair loose, has eyes which feature several rings like the other Four Horsemen, and has multiple scars across her face from the battle with the Class President at the start of Chainsaw Man’s Academy Saga.
Additionally, Yoru also has the unique ability of being able to create weapons out of anything or anyone that belongs to her or Asa. To do so, she must first touch the person or object and utter the name of the intended weapon. The potency of the weapon in question is determined by the amount of guilt that Asa or Yoru feels while creating it, and so far, the duo have generally relied on melee weapons such as swords and spears throughout Chainsaw Man.
One key factor in this ability is the concept of “ownership,” which is entirely based on Asa or Yoru’s perception and not grounded in reality. The potency of this ability is further enhanced by fear empowerment, to the point where Yoru can make weapons without even physically touching the target object or person later on in the Academy Saga, due to humanity’s growing fears of war in the world of Chainsaw Man.
In wielding these weapons, Yoru’s skills are exceptional, especially when combined with her tactical intelligence. Over time, even Asa has become more proficient in combat due to Yoru’s guidance, earning the War Devil’s respect in the process. This is bolstered by their enhanced physical abilities, and the growing synergy they have developed with one another after weathering many difficult battles in Chainsaw Man.
The Dichotomy Between Asa And Yoru
At first, Yoru and Asa had a rocky relationship, since the former would constantly threaten to kill her host if she did not comply with her demands. However, through countless close calls with death and many challenging fights during the Academy Saga of Chainsaw Man, the pair have come to understand one another, even if there is no mutual sense of trust between them. Yoru generally manifests as an apparition that Asa can communicate with when she is in control of her body, and the reverse is true when the War Devil takes over.
It is clear that Yoru values Asa’s proficiency at creating strong weapons, and is gradually starting to comprehend Asa’s irrational behavior, just as Asa is starting to put more faith in the War Devil. The duo’s personalities cannot be more different, as Asa is withdrawn, occasionally altruistic, self-deprecating, and always worried about how others perceive her. By contrast, Yoru is assertive, dispassionate, singularly determined, logical, and confrontational.
Such a contrast is also exemplified in their respective names, as Asa means “morning,” whereas Yoru means “night.” Conversely, both of them do have common traits, such as their social ineptness, immaturity, and deep-rooted insecurities. These are some of the main reasons why both of them have shown sympathy for each other, even if it may be a half-hearted sentiment at best.
What Does Yoru Want?
After participating in the Four Horsemen and the Weapon Devils’ battle against the Chainsaw Devil (Pochita) in Hell, the War Devil has been reduced to a fraction of her former self, left in a near-death state much like Pochita. This was because the Chainsaw Devil had consumed parts of the War Devil’s body during their confrontation. Since that time, there have been no wars in the world, which has diminished the War Devil’s influence even further, leaving her in danger of experiencing permanent death.
Fearing for her survival, the War Devil fled to Earth and took over Asa Mitaka’s body in a last-ditch effort to defeat the Chainsaw Devil, who had resurfaced through Denji, in order to restore her strength. After saving Asa from the Justice Devil — who was actually the Fire Devil in disguise — the War Devil assumed the identity of Yoru and pushed her new host to find someone that she could turn into a powerful weapon, eventually settling on Denji.
Even though Yoru originally saw Asa as a tool to be used for her grander ambitions, she has now developed an air of camaraderie with her, to the point where they now share some modicum of mutual respect, even if it is shaky, at best. At the end of the day, Asa’s goal is to save the host of Chainsaw Man from the grim fate of constantly battling Devils, whereas Yoru seeks to liberate the original Chainsaw Devil and kill him once and for all.
How The Chainsaw Devil And Famine Devil Fit Into This
Unaware that Denji is actually the current host of Chainsaw Man, the War Devil has tried to use Asa to seduce Denji on multiple occasions, with most of them ending in failure. The two have also clashed with each other on several occasions in Chainsaw Man, although Yoru has never been able to prevail, and Chainsaw Man has even saved her and Asa more than once.
Simultaneously, the Famine Devil, who is a member of the Four Horsemen and an elder sister of the War Devil, has been pulling the strings from the shadows to empower both the War Devil and the Chainsaw Devil. Despite Yoru avoiding her sister due to her belief that she is insane, the Famine Devil ultimately sees the War Devil’s potential to become powerful enough to resist an impending apocalypse foretold by the Prophecy of Nostradamus. This prophecy involves the descent of the Death Devil to Earth, which would be a calamity beyond imagination, since this Devil is said to be the most powerful of all the Four Horsemen in Chainsaw Man.
Chainsaw Man is available to stream on Crunchyroll.
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