Chainsaw Man - Characters & Cast

Initially, Denji's sole motivation is survival. After joining Public Safety, his motivations become deceptively simple: to live a comfortable life with good food, a roof over his head, and to experience intimacy with a woman, specifically his desire to touch a woman's chest. This is largely focused on his infatuation with Makima, who cleverly uses these desires to control him.

Denji begins as a deeply traumatized and impoverished teenager with no ambition beyond survival and paying off his father's debt. His transformation into Chainsaw Man and recruitment into Public Safety marks the beginning of his arc. Throughout Season 1, he transitions from a state of pure survival to someone who begins to form relationships and experience a semblance of a normal life. His worldview is simplistic and crude, driven by base desires. However, through his interactions with Power and Aki, he starts to develop a capacity for caring about others, moving from complete emotional detachment to forming the fragile bonds of a found family. His arc in the first season is about discovering that he can want more from life than just not dying.

Makima's true motivations are kept deliberately vague in the first season. Publicly, her goal is to protect humanity from devils by leading her squad. Privately, she is obsessed with the Chainsaw Man, or rather, the devil Pochita inside him. She seeks to control him completely to utilize his power for her own ambiguous, grander purpose.

Makima is presented as a high-ranking, enigmatic, and powerful Devil Hunter. Her arc in Season 1 is one of slowly revealing her manipulative nature while maintaining an alluring and calm facade. She 'saves' Denji and quickly establishes absolute control over him through a combination of kindness, promises of a better life, and subtle threats. Throughout the season, her actions and mysterious abilities hint at a much larger, more sinister agenda. She remains largely a mystery, but her arc is defined by the consolidation of her power over Denji and her strategic elimination of any threats to her plans.

Aki's overriding motivation is to kill the Gun Devil, the entity responsible for his family's death. This singular focus on revenge drives him to make dangerous contracts and endure immense personal suffering. He is willing to sacrifice his own life to achieve this goal, which puts him at odds with Denji's desire to simply live.

Aki is introduced as a professional, serious, and seemingly cold Devil Hunter driven by a deep-seated hatred for devils after his family was killed by the Gun Devil. His arc in Season 1 involves the slow thawing of his stoic exterior. Initially resentful of having to care for the chaotic Denji and Power, he gradually and reluctantly assumes the role of a caretaker and older brother figure. He is forced to confront the immense personal cost of his quest for revenge, sacrificing years of his lifespan in contracts with devils. His relationship with his doomed partner, Himeno, reveals his capacity for deep emotional connection and foreshadows the tragic path he is on.

Power's motivations are immediate and self-centered: she wants to find her cat, avoid work, and establish her superiority over humans. She is driven by impulse and a desire for gratification. However, her core motivation is eventually revealed to be her love for her cat, Meowy, which is the one genuine emotional connection she has at the start of the series.

Power, a Blood Fiend, starts as a selfish, compulsive liar who cares only for herself and her cat, Meowy. She is childish, arrogant, and has no regard for human life. Her arc in the first season is about learning, albeit slowly and erratically, to care for someone other than herself. After Denji saves her and Meowy from the Bat Devil, she forms a reluctant bond with him. Living with Denji and Aki forces her into a semblance of a family dynamic, and while she remains chaotic and self-serving, she begins to show moments of genuine, if clumsy, affection and loyalty, particularly towards Denji.