Chainsaw Man Chapter 146 features a huge plot twist revealing that huge numbers of Chainsaw Man's followers are in contract with the Fire Devil. But who is the Fire Devil, exactly?
What are their powers, and why are they contracted with so many young people?
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Who Is the Fire Devil?
In the Chainsaw Man universe, Devils are born out of human fears. Therefore, the Fire Devil has sprung from people's fear of fire.
The Fire Devil is first mentioned in Chapter 146 of the ongoing manga after the Chainsaw Man Church members have been taken into custody.
Barem, one of the Church's leading members, reveals that the adolescent Church followers have been deceived.
Since the Chainsaw Man Church was supposed to be an organization for justice, they were told that they were entering a contract with the Justice Devil, who would supposedly allow them to take the form they desired.
However, the Justice Devil is already dead. Unbeknownst to them, the followers were becoming contracted with the Fire Devil, while another unforeseen side effect was the loss of their sanity.
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What Are the Fire Devil's Powers?
Little is known about the Fire Devil's powers. So far, we know that the Devil can allow those contracted with them to take on monstrous forms.
Moreover, Barem mentions that the more contracts the Fire Devil has, the greater their powers become.
Since the Chainsaw Man Church's followers entered contracts en masse, the Fire Devil is now leading a mindless army of insane teenagers with chainsaws growing from their heads.
We assume that the Devil also has the ability to manipulate fire, as a building is on fire by the end of Chapter 146.
Contracts Spreading Like Wildfire: Why Does the Fire Devil Want So Many?
The most plausible reason the Fire Devil allows so many people to enter a contract with them is because the Devil's own powers increase when they get more contracts.
It seems that the Fire Devil's power works in a way similar to fire; the more it burns, the more destructive it grows.
In general, Chainsaw Man's Devils often enjoy having contracts with humans because they find it entertaining, or because they want whatever the contracted person can offer them.
Aki Hayakawa, for instance, had a contract with the Fox Devil, allowing them to eat a piece of himself, while Himeno entered a contract with the Ghost Devil, gaining use of the Devil's hand in exchange for her eye.
It remains to be seen if there was another motivation behind the Fire Devil's contracts.
For her part, Fami possibly brought the eager teenagers in contact with the Fire Devil because she knew the chaos that would ensue.
Fami's plan is to stop the Nostradamus Prophecy. To do so, she wants to make people afraid of Chainsaw Man and war, to make them strong and help them defeat her elder sister, the Death Devil.
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