Keep your friends close and your enemies closer advise an old proverb. Having said that, due to their intelligence and tactical prowess, this usually only applies to human adversaries and does not apply to things like animals, monsters, or natural forces.
However, Chainsaw Man's exhilarating action and terror present an intriguing argument for cooperating with and making use of even the vilest and most terrifying threats to humanity, as even they might possess motivations or skills that can be used to one's advantage.
The Retaliation Against Samurai Sword and Akane Saruwatari
The survivors of Public Safety Special Division 4 completed their preparations in Chainsaw Man episode 11 as they got ready to kill Samurai Sword and Saruwatari, the villains who murdered a number of their comrades. As Denji and Power finished their training in death-defying techniques with the cruel Kishibe, Aki forged a terrifying pact with the Future Devil to acquire new talent. Makima's squad was combined with the others to make up their numbers, giving her command of a task force made up almost entirely of Devils, Fiends, or hybrids. She sent them on a mission to kill the Gun Devil's allies and deal with the Devil working for them.
When viewed from a worldbuilding perspective, the episode may be the most insightful yet in terms of explaining how Devils and Fiends work, even though it primarily serves as a suitably suspenseful build-up to the season finale. Prior to Chainsaw Man, the audience was primarily exposed to Devils on the loose, who is to blame for many bloody deaths through acts of extreme brutalism or terror. These beings are frequently regarded as common enemies and are typical of what a Devil appears to be in the world of anime. The main exceptions up until this point have been Power, a Fiend who is an indentured servant of Public Safety, and the Devils who have agreements with Devil Hunters to lend out their skills.
The Terms of a Contract With a Devil in Chainsaw Man
Although their relationships with humans are frequently twisted affairs, contracted Devils have been previously explored and appear to be their primary method of association. As an illustration, Himeno's Ghost Devil required the use of her right eye to summon with just one hand and ultimately required the entirety of her being to summon. Contracts can change depending on the Devil's whims; for example, Aki's agreement with the Fox Devil was terminated because it didn't like having to bite down on Samurai Sword during their previous encounter. Other contracts, like the Curse Devil, appear to have fairly straightforward terms—a portion of one's lifespan to use its power.
In order to take over the role the Fox Devil played for him, Aki ultimately went to make a deal with the Future Devil, who in addition to having an eccentric personality, has a wild variety in the deals he makes. The Future Devil, in contrast to the more physically or mortally demanding agreements it made with others, was willing to give Aki the power to see for a few seconds into the future as long as he allowed it to live in his right eye. The reason for this was that the Future Devil wanted to see the terrible and unavoidable death that it foresaw in Aki's future. The enormous facility the Future Devil was kept in suggests that Public Safety has imprisoned a great number of Devils, keeping them alive for their contracts, and the conversation with the Future Devil suggests that each Devil has intricate motivations for their behavior.
The Best Way to Control a Devil in Chainsaw Man
Pure Devils like the Spider and Angel Devils, who actively defend public safety without the aid of a Devil Hunter, are also a part of the recently reformed Special Division 4. This division includes Fiends as well. With a few minor physical variations, the Spider and Angel Devils both look largely humanoid in contrast to the more prevalent abominations that pose a threat to life. According to Kishibe, Devils that resemble humans more frequently exhibit less overt hostility toward people, though even this varies. The Angel Devil chooses to shield Aki from a bullet right after meeting him, demonstrating some degree of care, in contrast to the Spider Devil, who is said to be willing to kill someone who looks at it strangely.
Regardless, it doesn't explain why these Devils would be willing to put themselves in harm's way in battle, even if they lack the typical animosity toward people that other Devils do. However, this could be explained by exerting some sort of pressure or coercion on them. Those who fight on the front lines might be serving Public Safety under threat of death like Power and Denji are, just as the Devils in the contract facility are allowed to live for their contracts.
This suggests a higher-up who, like Makima, has the ability to persuade people to accept Devils into their ranks and maintain the Devils' own discipline. When it comes to Power, who hates her, or Denji, who has a huge crush on her, Makima has frequently gotten her way in Chainsaw Man by simply asking. However, she is also shown to have access to some terrifying supernatural abilities, such as the ability to crush people to a pulp or cause aneurysms, which gives a lot of weight to her confident and commanding demeanor.
Makima is not the only person who has the ability to control Devils, though it may be an authority or some other kind of power that enables her to maintain control over her newly bolstered forces. After Sawatari forced her Snake Devil to swallow it, it was revealed in Episode 11 that she was able to convince them to switch their allegiance to Himeno's Ghost Devil. Whether this was a result of a deal with the Ghost Devil or if the Snake Devil permits its contractor to puppet those it swallows is currently unknown, but either way, it serves as a frightful threat. These facts demonstrate that, despite the fact that devils are a great mystery, some of them are more human than one might anticipate. Even those who resemble nightmares have a cost, however erratic it may be.
