Is Makima Evil in Chainsaw Man? (& Is She a Devil?)
Alongside Denji and Power, Makima is the central character in the Chainsaw Man manga and anime. Initially a strange protagonist that seemingly looks after Denji, Makima turned out to be quite a cunning and vile character who manipulated Denji for her own causes. This article is going to focus on Makima as we are going to determine whether she’s evil or not, i.e., why she did what she did to Denji. We are also going to reveal whether Makima is a Devil in Chainsaw Man.
Makima is the Control Devil and as such, she embodies the fear of control. She seems nice, but is actually quite ruthless and cunning, willing to do anything for her own goals but she is not evil per se. She is the primary antagonist of Part 1, but she is not evil – she simply loved the Chainsaw Devil and wanted to spend her life with Pochita forever. She had a twisted worldview, but she wasn’t necessarily evil.
The rest of this article is going to focus on Makima and her role in the story. We are going to reveal a lot of details about her story and her personality, so be careful as this article is going to have a lot of spoilers. We are also going to talk about Makima’s Devil powers, as you’re going to get some additional details about the Control Devil.
Is Makima evil in Chainsaw Man?
In order to fully understand what Makima is like, we have to analyze her personality a little. We do know that Makima seems very nice on the surface. She is intelligent, and she seems shy and very gentle, but that is just a facade in her case. Namely, Makima is actually extremely cunning and manipulates everyone around her. She controls Danji with constant promises of romantic and sexual relations, while – at the same time – threatening him with extermination if he does not submit to her or if he disobeys her in any way.
At the same time, she likes to put pressure on pity in order to get anything she desires. She is ruthless, willing to sacrifice the lives of others and harm innocent people if it would benefit her goal, which is Chainsaw Devil’s full support. Makima is an extreme fan of the “Hero of Hell”, Chainsaw Man. She is fascinated by his ability to destroy the embodied concept of a devil by eating them.
Her stated goal is to take control of Chainsaw Man, using his power to create a “perfect” world without fear, and if she fails, become eaten by Chainsaw Man, which she says would be an honor for her, as she thinks it would be amazing to become a part of her hero. However, Makima’s true, unspoken goal was to be together forever with Pochita and lead a happy life with him, as she always longed for something like a family, due to her inability to form equal relationships with others as the Control Devil.
The last paragraph actually explains it all. Namely, Makima is a cunning character, that cannot be denied. And while she does side with the heroes, she is far from one herself; that is why she is undoubtedly an antagonist in the first part of the manga. Yet, we cannot really state that she is evil like some other traditional villains. Makima has a very twisted worldview, but it is not an evil one.
She is a lonely character and she is in love with Pochita and the Chainsaw Devil. Her whole life, she yearned for something similar to a family and she thought that she would find that in Pochita and the Chainsaw Devil. She wanted someone similar to her level and in that aspect, Makima actually years for affection. She wasn’t evil, she was just lonely.
Sure, the fact that she had a completely twisted view of love and the fact that she was willing to sacrifice everyone else to achieve her own goal doesn’t excuse here, but it also doesn’t make her evil. Makima is – in a lot of ways – a grey area and in that aspect, we cannot really state that she is evil.
Is Makima a Devil?
During the course of the story, it is revealed that Makima is actually the Control Devil, one of the most dangerous devils in the story. In that aspect, her powers and abilities are quite formidable, although the extent of Makima’s ability is mostly unknown. She has shown many abilities, which could be her default ability as a Control Devil, or the ability of another Devil she controls.
Makima has shown to be in control of any being that she believes is inferior to her, even being able to force them into contracts with her or another Devil. It seems that once under its control, the victim subsequently loses their memory. This ability works on humans, Devils, and hybrids. She can channel the power of her victims by summoning them through a circuit connected to her body.
She has been shown to be able to use the powers of the Angel Devil, the Future Devil, the Snake Devil, the Punishment Devil, and the Zombie Devil. In this way, even dead people can be controlled. Makima was able to form a squad of weapon hybrids, three of whom (Reze, Guanxi, and Katana Meng) were former enemies who now treated her with affection. This suggests that Makima can control people directly as well as change their personality in subtle ways.
Makima is shown to destroy her target with an invisible force. To use this technique, Makima requires a target’s name and a human sacrifice. Makima forms a symbol with her hands and commands the victim to say the target’s name. The victim then dies and the target is subsequently crushed, leaving only blood spatter and their clothing. While she is using this ability, people around her cover their eyes with black cloth.
Makima was shown to kill her targets if she looks at a person, who is then seemingly crushed from the inside. She has also been shown to damage targets pointed at with her index finger, which is strong enough to instantly kill Power and send the empowered Chainsaw Man into space. She has also been shown to kill the heads of her targets in close to the mid-range range with her sword; similar to her crushing ability, the people around her cover their eyes with black cloth.
These abilities are similar to those of the Darkness Devil and Gun Devil, although it is unknown how Makima acquired them. Makima can easily transmit her voice to others by simply putting her hand on their heads, even if the person in question is dead. She has used this to command the Devils she is currently under contract with.
It could be seen that Makima can control a large number of rats, using them for travel. These rats can then group together to form the shape of a human and thus allow Makima to be instantly transported to any location using her powers. Makima often uses the hearing of rats, birds, and other lower lifeforms to hear remote conversations, seemingly anywhere on the planet; is possible that she is able to hear conversations from Hell itself.
She could follow Denji and Reze’s conversation and eavesdrop on Kishibe’s conversation with Guanxi. This ability can be circumvented by non-verbal communication, such as writing on a piece of paper.
As a Devil, the Control Devil can make contracts with humans for a fee. Due to her ability to control people, she can force them to make a contract with her. The Control Devil actually had a contract with the Prime Minister of Japan in exchange for a job in Japan. As a result of her contract with the prime minister, any lethal damage done to Makima turns into a corresponding illness or ailment that afflicts a random citizen of Japan.
She was shown to have been shot in the back of the head, but later stood up with no visible wounds. She stated that she was simply hit by a bullet, but this is unlikely given the location of the gun when fired, as well as the location of the blood from the exit hole. She was later killed by the Gun Devil after he shot her in the head. It is confirmed that she was killed twenty-six times prior to the Gun Devil’s attack.
As a Devil, the Control Devil must be able to regenerate her health by consuming blood. She has shown the ability to regenerate her arm damaged by the Darkness Devil, however, it is unknown if this ability is derived from her ability to regenerate or her contract with the Prime Minister. As a Devil, the Control Devil must respawn in Hell after being killed, making him immortal. After being eaten by Denji, she reincarnated in China as Nayuta.
Sources: Chainsaw Man Wiki
