What are the Fiends in ‘Chainsaw Man?’

Warning: the following article contains spoilers for Chainsaw Man season one, episode two, “Arrival in Tokyo.”

The Fiends have been introduced in Chainsaw Man, and things are getting even wilder.

Devils aren’t the only problem Denji has to worry about. Episode two picks up with Denji being taken into custody by Makima after she stops the Public Safety Devil Hunters from killing him. They ride in the car and she’s telling him the rules of joining them, which amounts to him saying “yes” or “woof” to anything she tells him to do. He’s a little more than a glorified pet, but he’s fine with it because of his infatuation with her. After they eat, she introduces him to Aki Hawayaki who started three years before him and Denji learns that he’ll be part of the experimental Public Safety Devil Extermination Special Division 4.

After a rough start where the two men fight each other in an alley and are forced to become roommates, Denji and Aki go on a mission. A Fiend has been reported in an east Nerima residence and when they arrive, police are on the scene. The police hand it over to the experts and they enter the home. Denji asks what a fiend is and Aki says it’s when a devil takes control of a human corpse. Denji wonders if he’s a Fiend since he technically died and his devil companion Pochita replaced his heart, but it does not. Fiends have heads that are demonically characteristic and it should be obvious to spot one. Devils who become Fiends also lose a critical amount of supernatural power and they can no longer make contracts.

Denji and Aki go into a second-story room and they find the Fiend they’re looking for. He has pincers on his face and he’s eating a bird with his sharp teeth. Aki commands Denji to kill him so he can get a good look at his devil abilities, but Denji just cuts off his head with an ax without having to transform. Denji wanted to end his suffering quickly because when he uses his powers things get “real messed up.” Aki disapproves of this and reveals that as a child he saw his parents murdered by a devil before his eyes and he wants them to suffer. After Aki leaves the room, Denji admits he didn’t use his chainsaws because he didn’t want to get blood on the dirty magazines that were lying around.

They return to the Tokyo headquarters for Devil Hunters and Makima has a new partner for Denji. A female Fiend named Power bursts into the room and announces herself, and Denji is confused. He didn’t know that Fiends could be Devil Hunters, but Makima assures him that she’s highly rational. She reiterates that this is an experimental unit and that the higher-ups will be looking to shut them down so they need to get results.

Denji and Power go on patrol and they have to stick to the rooftops because she’s conspicuous with two red horns on her head. Power is craving for something to kill and she’s hungry for blood, but they’re having no luck finding devils to hunt. She admits to him later that before she was a Fiend she was a devil and demonic peons are likely smelling her scent and keeping away from her. Denji is frustrated by this information because if they fail then they’ll be killed like devils.

Suddenly, Power gets the scent of blood and knows a devil is nearby. The two of them race across the roofs and she shouts her catchphrase, “The battle is joined!” as she gets closer to the location. The Sea Cucumber Devil has been spotted outside of the Nerima Station and as Power leaps off of the building, blood releases from her wrist and forms into a hammer that she uses to smash it so it’s just blood and guts. She screams in victory as Denji watches from above in shock.

Two Fiends were revealed this episode of Chainsaw Man: one had pincers on his face and ate birds, the other was a Fiend who was more in control of her actions. While Power had a thirst for blood, she wasn’t a full devil. She’s a bit like Denji in that she’s not so monstrous that she can’t get the job done.