Denji (Chainsaw Man)
Denji is a male anime and manga character who features in Chainsaw Man.
Contents |
Biography
Denji (Japanese: デンジ) was a male human born to his unnamed father and mother, the latter of whom passed away when he was young due to suffering from an unknown heart disease. It was noted that Denji had also inherited that same disease from his mother. At some point, Denji killed his father out of self-defense, as the latter was in a drunken aggressive state and he feared for his life. Due to the sheer trauma gained from killing his own father, Denji began to repress this memory behind a psychological barrier, which took on the form of a closed door.
He came to be forced to do odd jobs and kill Devils for the yakuza to pay off the debt from his late mother's medical expenses that his father did not pay off before taking his own life. One rainy day when visiting his father's gravestone, Denji comes across a wounded Devil dog he named Pochita. During the encounter, befriended after saving his life by giving the wounded demon some of his blood to heal. This had unintentionally formed a contract with Pochita whom Denji considered to be his best friend. Living as partners, Pochita would live alongside Denji, assisting him in devil hunting and wood clearing while subsisting on whatever rations Denji could afford.
One day, Denji and Pochita finish up a task in which they slay a nearby Tomato Devil. The two then head back to their nearby shack afterwards, with Denji recalling the reason he’s working for the Yakuza in the first place. Unable to rest properly, Denji tells Pochita of his many dreams before falling asleep. Their moment of peace is interrupted by the Debt Collector, who tells Denji that he has some Devil-Hunting work for him to do. The old man takes Denji to an abandoned factory, where there was not any Devil at sight. However, this was all a ruse as Denji and Pochita are betrayed by the Yakuza, who have allied themselves with the Zombie Devil. Unable to fight back, Denji attempts to flee but is brutally hacked down to pieces by hordes of zombified Yakuza. The Yakuza then dump Denji’s remains in a dumpster with Pochita. Some of Denji’s blood reaches Pochita, which revives him. In a selfless act, Pochita sacrifices his life by becoming Denji’s heart to revive him as Devil-Human Hybrid. In doing so, Denji’s missing and damaged organs were repaired with his limbs reattaching themselves. Before waking up, Denji has a vision of Pochita telling him that he wants to see more of his dreams in exchange for becoming his heart. Denji awakens, only to discover what became of Pochita. Despite being greatly saddened over the loss of his best friend, Denji refuses to let the Zombie Devil’s army bring him down again. Pulling his cord, Denji transforms into Chainsaw Man and proceeds to defeat the Zombie Devil and a portion of its zombie army. Many hours later, a young woman named Makima finds Denji exhausted and worn out. Catching Denji and embracing him in a hug, Makima forces Denji to join the Public Safety Devil Hunters. While on their way to the headquarters, Makima reminds Denji that should he refuse any of her orders, he will be put down as a Devil. Although frustrated by this, Denji is once again forced to do another task that involves rescuing a young girl from the Muscle Devil. Within the woods, Denji locates the Muscle Devil and defeats it, allowing him to safely return the girl back to her father.
Upon arriving at Public Safety’s headquarters in Tokyo, Makima informs Denji of the risks of being a Devil Hunter and assigns him to work with senior Devil Hunter Aki Hayakawa. While on patrol, Denji ends up getting beaten up by Aki, who is displeased with how he doesn’t take his Devil Hunter job seriously. Denji retaliates by striking Aki’s groin several times and tells the latter why he is willing to die for his job as a Devil Hunter. Once they return to Makima’s office room, she assigns Denji to Special Division 4 while arranging for him to live with Aki. Inside the Hayakawa household, Denji keeps living in a carefree manner as Aki reluctantly takes care of him. The two Devil Hunters go on a mission where a Fiend has been spotted. Denji manages to take out the Fiend using an ax, which causes Aki to question him why he didn’t transform to finish the job. Denji tells Aki his reasons, including wanting to make friends with a Devil, which shocks Hayakawa. Afterwards, Denji is left pondering on his reasons for continuing his job as a Devil Hunter, eventually recalling a goal that he thinks doing might be possible: to fondle a woman’s breasts. While attending another meeting with Aki, Makima reveals that she has assigned Denji a new partner, the Blood Fiend Power. Excited to work with Power, Denji happily greets his buddy before the two are sent off to patrol.
Denji struggles to put up with Power’s bombastic behavior as she starts demanding him for something to kill. Still wanting to touch Power’s chest, Denji decides to tolerate her for a bit. Upon seeing the Sea Cucumber Devil from below, Power decides to rush forward, much to Denji’s annoyance. Denji then watches as a descending Power strikes the Sea Cucumber Devil using a large hammer formed from her blood. However, this causes a small commotion, in which Makima scolds Power for killing a Civilian Devil Hunter’s kill and reminds her that she could get exterminated for that. Frightened by this, Power attempts to lie by blaming Denji for this incident. Irritated by this, Denji calls Power out for lying and the two briefly scuffle before Makima tells them to be quiet. Power immediately compiles but Denji is still focused on his ongoing goal. Some moments later, Denji decides to buy a drink and learns why Power is forced to work as a Devil Hunter. Power adds that she would do anything as a Devil Hunter if it means rescuing her pet cat Meowy from a Devil who kidnapped them. Denji initially isn’t interested in helping Power until being promised that he could touch her chest if he helps her out. Power then takes Denji to where Meowy is being held captive and knocks him out cold. It was revealed that Denji was tricked into becoming food for the Bat Devil in exchange for Meowy. Denji is squeezed by the Bat Devil, causing him to puke out some of his blood, which heals the latter’s wounds. However, the creature deems Denji’s blood as disgusting and throws him to the ground. Despite having fulfilled her promise, Power ends up getting eaten by the Bat Devil alongside Meowy for giving him a bad meal, much to Denji’s shock.
Recalling how Power now understood how he felt when being unable to see his beloved pet, Denji gives chase and transforms to battle the Bat Devil. Denji manages to prevail against the winged beast and tears it to shreds, freeing Power and Meowy from his body. The Leech Devil then appears and overpowers Denji, nearly devouring him in the process but is saved by Aki, who uses the Fox Devil to swallow the Leech Devil whole. Denji recovers in a hospital room and learns from Aki that Devil Hunters make contracts with devils, giving up parts of their bodies for power. Denji also agrees with Aki on forgetting about the Bat Devil incident, and plays dumb to prevent Power from being executed. Afterward, Power moves into Hayakawa's apartment with Meowy and begins causing chaos for both Denji and Aki. Power’s chaotic behavior continues frustrating Denji and Aki as she makes more unnecessary demands for the two. However, Power decides to let Denji fondle her breasts out of gratitude for helping her rescue Meowy. Denji excitedly does so but finds out that Power was wearing chest pads that increase her breast size, leaving him dumbstruck, wondering if that was all there was to it. The next day, Denji is unmotivated and melancholic as he feels that achieving his goal didn’t feel satisfying. Makima notices this change in behavior while watching Denji filing some papers. She then lectures Denji on the feeling of getting to know a person better. Makima gives Denji motivation by letting him know that if he helps her kill the Gun Devil, she will grant him any wish he wants. Rejuvenated by this, Denji ecstatically complies with Makima’s request. Makima then sends him and five members of Special Division 4 to collect pieces of the Gun Devil’s flesh, starting with the Eternity Devil located at Hotel Morin.
Overview
Personality and attributes
After merging with Pochita, he could transform into the devil-human Hybrid known as Chainsaw Man (チェンソーマン, Chensō Man).
Denji was shown to be both brash and naïve as a result of being unable to have a formal education and socialize due to living in severe poverty. His personality comes off as rude and harsh in an almost childish way. However, he has a good sense of empathy towards other people, willing to save those in danger as much as he could, showing he is a kind-hearted person despite his shortcomings.
One of Denji's closet companions was a diminutive dog-like Devil he named Pochita (ポチタ?). He encountered the creature when he was young where the Devil was injured and aggressive to humans. However, Denji showed it kindness and even offered it blood to heal its injuries. The two came to be inseparable with Denji holding Pochita as his best friend.
Powers and abilities
Denji was born an ordinary human being with all the natural traits of the species. Due to his rough childhood, Denji had developed a high tolerance for pain and stress, being able to still function as a Devil Hunter for the Yakuza despite having multiple of his organs missing at the time. His mental fortitude has allowed him to fight for three days straight while constantly being injured and remaining conscious even after having multiple parts of his body cut or blown off.
Due to fusing with Pochita, Denji gained superhuman abilities even when not transformed. In his human form, Denji is durable enough to survive being hit by Power with a hammer and getting squeezed by the Bat Devil, despite both individuals possessing immense strength. He was also very strong, capable of decapitating a Fiend with just one swing of his axe. Upon being revived by Pochita, Denji came to be turned into a Devil-human (悪あく魔ま人にん間げん Akuma-ningen?) where he could become Chainsaw Man (チェンソーマン Chensō Man?) by pulling a cord on his chest.
As a young man, Denji came to be taken in by the Yakuza (ヤクザ?) where he had to learn to be a Devil Hunter (デビルハンター Debiru Hantā?). After meeting Makima, he became a Public Safety Devil Hunter (公こう安あんのデビルハンター Kōan no Debiru Hantā?) where he was sanctioned by the government. In that time, he became assigned to Tokyo Special Division 4 (公こう安あん対たい魔ま特とく異い４課か Kōan-taima Tokui Yonka?) that were a special subdivision serving as an experimental unit consisting of Fiends, Devil Hybrids, and humans alike. Many of them were outliers who were considered powerful, yet held as being disposable by Public Safety due to their nature.
After meeting Makima, he became a Public Safety Devil Hunter as a member of Tokyo Special Division 4.
Notes
- Denji was created by Tatsuki Fujimoto where he featured in the setting of the Chainsaw Man universe.
In other media
Television
Appearances
- Chainsaw Man v1:
External Links
This article is a stub. You can help Multiversal Omnipedia by expanding it.
