The overwhelming majority of the devilsin the world ofChainsaw Manare absurdly strong. Sure, there are some relatively weak ones like the Tomato Devil or the Muscle Devil, but those are exceptions, rather than the norm. The fact of the matter is, a mid level devil can easily destroy a house and kill several humans in a matter of minutes.
Traditional weapons like guns are clearly useless against an entity that can level an entire building with their punch. So how can humans and their fragile bodies go against these abominations? The answer is actually pretty simple. As the old saying goes, you fight fire with fire. In this case, the best way to defeat a devil is by using the power of another devil. And the one thing that enabled humans to accomplish this unthinkable feat is something called the Devil Contract.Here’s everything that you need to know about it.
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The Devil Contract
It’s unclear who is the first devil hunter who finds the method to form a contract with a devil, but when the story ofChainsaw Manbegins, it’s alreadya common thing for a devil hunter to form a contract with a devil. Because otherwise, they won’t have a chance against any mid-level devils or stronger.
It’s true that every devil hunter worth their salt would have a basic offensive and defensive ability. Which is why most of them are either a skilled martial artist, highly adept at using firearms, or even both. However,when powerful devils or devils with unique powers appear, no amount of training nor bullets can save them from the wrath of that devil.
Anyway, the essence of a contract between a devil and a devil hunter is basically the former lending out a helping hand to the latter. This helping hand usually comes in two different forms. Summoned, and a free-usage. With a summon-type contract, a devil hunter can summon the devil, or at least a part of it, to destroy another devil. The example of this type of devils would be the Fox Devil and the Hell Devil. For the free-usage contract, the devil hunter is granted the use of a part of the devil’s powers, and they can freely use it however they see fit. The example would bethe Ghost Devil and The Claw Devil.
How The Contract Works
The devils and the devil hunters use a verbal contract. Each party would lay out what they want from the other, and then state the price that they are willing to pay for it. Usually, the greater the price, the higher the return will be. This contract will bind the devil with the hunters and can’t be broken unless both parties agree to do so. That being said, there’s also special cases where the devil has the ability to rescind the contract without any sort of retribution. But this sort of thing rarely happens.
A devil hunter usually asks for the devils to help them, or uses part of their power, in exchange for certain sacrifices from the hunter. It can be their body parts, their lifespan, the lives of the people that they are responsible for/have control over, etc. However, a contract doesn’t always mean an equal exchange between the two parties. There are devils out there that are willing to engage in an unequal exchange, such as Pochita that is willing to give up his life and powerin exchange for Denji to live his best life and make his dreams come true.But once agains, this is an extremely rare case.
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The devil hunter is usually the one who initiates the request for a contract to certain devils. However, there are also cases where the devil itself is the one that offers the contract to the hunters. For private devil hunters, usually look for devils to make contracts with by themselves. On the other hand,every member of Public Safety Devil Huntercan make contracts with the devils that the institution has access. Another important thing to note is the fact that a devil contract is rarely exclusive. Multiple people can form a contract with the same devil at the same time. Likewise, one devil hunter can also form a contract with multiple devils at the same time.
Notable Devil Contracts In Chainsaw Man
There are lots of notable devil huntersand their devil contracts throughout the first part ofChainsaw Manmanga. However, in order to avoid unnecessary spoilers, we’ll try to stick to those who have, or will likely, appear in the first season of the anime.
The first and most notable one is the Fox Devil. Most public devil hunters form a contract with the Fox Devil,including Aki Hayakawa. Fox Devil has a summon-type contract, which means when it is summoned, a part of its body will appear and destroy/devour the target. The price is usually a body part of the summoner. For Aki, it is a small patch of his skin.
Another notable one is the ghost devil. It formed a contract witha public devil hunter named Himeno. Ghost Devil is a free-usage type. In exchange for her right eye, the Ghost Devil allowed Himeno to control one of its invisible arms. Last but not least is the Chainsaw Devil, also known as Pochita. In exchange for sacrificing his life to Denji, Pochita wants Denji to chase his dream and live his life to the fullest. And for that, Denji earned the ability to turn into the hybrid between human and chainsaw devil, also known as the Chainsaw Man.
Any more than this will be a major spoiler to the series, so for now, let’s stop with these three examples. There are a lot more devil hunters who form contracts with all kinds of crazy devils inChainsaw Man. So keep following this series till the end to find out more about it.
