To say that Chainsaw Man is a unique take on the supernatural lore would be an understatement. Even in the wild world of anime, the Chainsaw Man mythos of “devils” and “devil hunters” is one of the most creative twists on this horror staple we’ve seen. But three episodes into the Chainsaw Man anime, a lot of fans may still be wondering how it all works. Well, in Chainsaw Man Episode 3 Makima actually breaks down how devils work and what makes them truly unique as enemies (and subsequently entities within the Chainsaw Man mythos).

In Chainsaw Man Episode 3 “Meowy’s Whereabouts”, Denji and Power fight over their public execution of the cucumber devil. Makima tasks the pair with finding some camaraderie that will work together (so that they are both not executed for being devils) and has them hunt down a new enemy, the Bat Devil, who has stolen Power’s cat Meowy.

While Denji and Power go hunting for the Bat Devil, Makima has a conversation with Aki about whether Denji can hack him as a Devil Hunter. Rationalizing his logic for bringing in Denji Makimo, he breaks down the entire process of how the Devils work:

An explanation of the forms and powers of the chainsaw man

“All devils are born with names. And the more they fear those names, the more powerful the devil is said to become,” explains Makima. This is a key point about how the devil’s power works – and existence itself. As Makima goes on to explain, the hierarchy of power among devils is equally fickle:

“Coffee isn’t considered very scary, so Coffee Devil would probably be weak. But what about Auto Devil? It’s easy to imagine getting run over and dying, so it would probably be strong. And Denji can turn into a chainsaw.” I find it quite interesting.”

This explanation opens the door wide to the possibility of Chainsaw Man continuing to introduce new and different forms of devils with little restriction on what crazy and/or terrifying forms they take. We already have concepts like the “Zombie Devil” from Episode 1 and the “Sea Cucumber Devil” from Episode 2. Episode 3 will definitely step it up by introducing the “Bat Devil” who seems to be a level up from the previous devils that Denji fights like a chainsaw fiend.

Makima’s breakdown also prompts an interesting question that the anime has sidelined: which Master Devil will we see revealed as the series’ biggest villain? And what form does that master Devil take?