Chainsaw Man: Aging Devil, Explained

Chainsaw Man: Aging Devil, Explained

Key Takeaways

  • The aging Devil is a transcendent being representing gerascophobia, one of the most powerful Devils, with unsettling, powerful abilities.
  • The aging Devil made a contract with Public Safety to erase itself, demanding 10,000 children’s lives.
  • The aging Devil can manipulate time, create a nightmarish realm, and has strong ties to Hell through the use of mirrors.
Manga DebutChapter 173, “Hard of Hearing”
AffiliationPublic Safety Devil Hunters

As a gamer with over 20 years of experience under my belt, I can confidently say that the Aging Devil from Chainsaw Man is one of the most chilling and formidable enemies I’ve ever encountered in any game or manga. Its design alone is enough to send shivers down your spine, but its abilities are truly terrifying.


In the world of Chainsaw Man, the Elder Devil stands as one of the strongest Devils yet presented. This particular Devil symbolizes the phobia of aging, or gerascophobia, making it one of the most formidable foes that Denji has encountered due to the raw terror associated with its concept.

In human psychology, aging is deeply feared, which makes the Aging Devil one of the fundamental fears, or what we might call a ‘transcendent entity.’ Now, let’s delve into who the Aging Devil is and its role in the story of Chainsaw Man.


Neither Chainsaw Man nor War Devil are mature enough to talk to me. Time to have them grow up.

– Aging Devil

A Primal Fear

One of the Most Powerful Devils in Existence

Chainsaw Man: Aging Devil, Explained

In the world of Chainsaw Man, the Elder Demon stands out among other demon designs due to its chilling appearance that perfectly embodies its assigned theme. Its emaciated, towering figure and wrinkled, sinewy skin barely hiding bones, with numerous holes scattered across its body, including where a heart would typically be in a human. The Elder Demon has a single large mouth splitting the head of an old person, who seems connected to it via string-like tendons. In Hell, this demon sits majestically on a throne made from human flesh and bone, using humans as its legs.

Amongst the Primordial Fears, the Aging Fiend boasts immense power as it personifies one of the oldest human fears, dating back to the dawn of humanity. This fear is so deeply ingrained that it overpowers other terrors such as the Chainsaw Fiend and effortlessly disassembles some of Asa/Yoru’s attacks from her most potent weapon. Even the War Fiend, equipped with the might of the Gun Fiend and Tank Fiend combined into weapons, struggles to make any impact on the Aging Fiend.

Most Powerful Devils in Chainsaw Man so Far
1. Death Devil – the oldest of the Four Horsemen
Primal Fears
Aging Devil Darkness Devil Falling Devil
Four Horsemen
Control Famine War

In this storyline, much like regular devils, the Elder Devil has a knack for making pacts with individuals. At present, the law enforcement agency known as Public Safety has entered into a deal with the Fear Devil. As part of the agreement, they will allow the Chainsaw Devil to consume and eliminate the Elder Devil. In return, the Elder Devil requests that Public Safety execute 10,000 Japanese children aged between infancy and nine years old in front of mirrors. This proposition is abhorrent to many, but former Japanese Minister of Finance, Tadashi Hasegawa, a senior, wheelchair-bound man, sees it as a minimal sacrifice for Japan’s future. His approval of such an atrocity stems from the understanding that eliminating the Elder Devil would also eradicate the concept of aging. With the Elder Devil’s powers, they could then compel Chainsaw Man to eliminate various other concepts in a bid to force human evolution.

What Are Some of the Aging Devil’s Abilities?

Talk About Time Dilation

The Aging Devil, known for its eternal life, making agreements with humans, and causing objects to decay, has a profound link with Hell. It possesses the power to create mirrors that lead directly to this realm, allowing interaction between it and humans via these reflective surfaces. Mirrors symbolize aging because they represent the deterioration people try to avoid witnessing; they are a reminder of time’s harshness as it leaves its mark on their bodies, eventually leading to their demise.

As a gamer, I’ve encountered this formidable foe known as the Aging Devil. Time manipulation is one of its extraordinary skills, evident when it paused a bullet from Asa/Yoru that was on track to cross continents – speed you’d expect from an intercontinental ballistic missile. However, what truly sets it apart is its capacity to transport targets to another realm. This peculiar place initially appears as a verdant forest with a lake, but when I unleash the Snow Devil, the environment transforms into a snowy landscape.

In this realm, there’s no hunger, thirst, or death, but over time, the residents lose their sanity. Supernatural powers are ineffective, and the only means of escape is by spending a thousand years in the Aging World, transforming into a tree. The tree must eventually rot, return to soil, and blend with nature before the individual can reclaim their body in the real world. This process mirrors the concept of contrapasso, a punishment for the soul based on processes that either resemble or contrast sin, from the second ring of the seventh circle of Hell in Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy. Here, the Aging World serves as an allegory for eternal youth being a curse rather than a blessing, turning it into an endless torment reminiscent of many stories depicting the downsides of immortality.

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2024-11-15 05:35