Why Did The Gun Devil Want Denji’s Heart?

If I were to point out a pattern in the Chainsaw Man manga, then it would be how every single adversary was interested in Denji’s heart, including the Gun Devil. 

When the Gun Devil is first introduced, he was seen as this all powerful final adversary. So why would the Gun Devil need Denji’s heart? Denji, who is literally a nobody.

But, let’s not forget that it is Pochita who is currently Denji’s heart. And by being after Denji’s heart, it could mean that the Gun Devil is actually after Pochita, or the Chainsaw Devil.

Now, this is a shonen manga, and in every shonen manga, there is a cliched shonen troupe. Going by this logic, we can deduce that the Chainsaw Devil is insanely powerful, and the Gun Devil desires this power.

So the answer we seek is quite simple isn’t it? The Gun Devil wants Denji’s heart because he wants Pochita or the Chainsaw Devil’s powers. Right?

NO!!

All of these assumptions only sit true until the fate of the Gun Devil is actually revealed in the manga. Well, the part about the Chainsaw Devil being extremely powerful is true. But the Gun Devil wanting Denji’s heart isn’t. Read on to know why!

PS: Major manga spoilers ahead!!

Makima reveals that the Gun Devil has actually been defeated, and various countries are now in possession of its parts. The devil is not even sentient, less alone be able to command lackey devils to go after Pochita, or Denji’s heart. Read more about what happened to the Gun Devil by checking out the article linked below!

Read More: What happened to the Gun Devil?

But then, everyone from the Eternity Devil, who had a piece of the Gun Devil’s flesh, and Akane Sawatari, who claimed to have made a contract with the Gun Devil, were after Denji’s heart.

So who exactly were Akane and the Eternity Devil working for if not the Gun Devil. Who was pulling the strings from the darkness? 

Allow me to say this: Fujimoto is a master of foreshadowing. And all the proofs he laid down in the manga point to one person – Makima.

Why did the Eternity devil want to kill Denji?

On the surface, it seems that the Eternity Devil was working for its own benefit. And the reason it was after Denji was to get revenge. Well, that part may be true considering one of his dialogues in the manga.

When Denji was busy sawing off the Eternity Devil, the latter mentions that the Chainsaw Man has grown weaker, suggesting that they had fought each other sometime in the past. The Eternity Devil was probably killed by the Chainsaw Man in hell, causing its rebirth on Earth.

While that assumption might be true, let me draw your attention to something else. How is it that the Eternity Devil got a piece of the Gun Devil?

If you read the previous article about what happened to the Gun Devil, you’ll understand that there is a good chance that the Eternity Devil might just have chanced upon a piece of the Gun Devil’s flesh which was left behind.

However, I am inclined to believe that it was Makima who was responsible for this. And her role in all of this is very subtly hinted at throughout the manga.

The very first clue that we come across is in chapter 13 of Chainsaw Man, when Himeno questions if the devils consumed the gun chunks on their own or if they were fed the pieces by someone.

Then there’s this whole deal with Akane Sawatari.

Who was Akane Sawatari working for?

Let’s get one thing straight before we proceed any further. Akane was the one who was pulling the Katana Man’s strings. She was the one who made him a hybrid and strangely enough, she’s the one who brings the Gun Devil’s deal to the table.

However, we know that the Gun Devil was not sentient enough to form a contract with Akane. And if that is the case, who exactly was Akane working for?

The more we think about it, the more the whole situation stinks and reeks of Makima. And by the time you are done reading this article, I shall make Makima’s involvement in this fiasco very clear!

Now stay with me as I sieve through the manga and put things into perspective.

Well, it’s not as if Makima managed to stay away from the shadow of doubt to begin with.

Madoka is the first one to question how much Makima knew about the ambush on the members of the Special Division (chapter 28). And this is where we start seeing her in a different light.

Even Kishibe, with that slightly crazy head of his, knew that something was amiss.

When he goes to meet Makima (chapter 32), he suggests that Makima let the ambush on Special Divisions happen. This further heightens our suspicions about her.

However, after the Katana Man is captured, Makima reports to the higher ups that Akane had a contract with the Gun Devil. Akane herself believes so. And as a part of her contract with the Gun Devil, she arms the terrorists working for her with guns.

Does this mean she was actually working for the Gun Devil? Not at all! Take a look at chapter 73 where we get more information on guns and the Gun Devil.

Even though people claim they obtained guns by making a contract with the Gun Devil, in reality it is the governments that circulate guns, which they themselves manufactured in secret.

This proves that the Gun Devil was never a part of the equation.

While we now have more clarity on the Gun Devil’s lack of involvement, none of the above instances outright confirm that Akane was working for Makima. Fret not, for there’s a panel in the manga which allays all our doubts!

In Chainsaw Man chapter 76, we see that Akane is connected to Makima by a chain. She even invokes the ability of the Snake Devil via Akane’s contract.

This proves beyond doubt that Akane was under Makima’s control and the latter was the one pulling the strings, or the chain.

If this was the case, then why did Akane believe that she was working for the Gun Devil? Was she simply lying to mislead everyone? Seems not.

The subtle deception:

Akane genuinely believed that she had a contract with the Gun Devil. This too, sadly, was a side-effect of being under Makima’s control!!

Related: Is Makima devil, fiend or a hybrid? Why does she look human?

Let’s revisit the chapters where Makima’s true identity is revealed. Her powers had made Angel Devil forget what he actually did in the past.

Akane too, like Angel Devil, was oblivious to the fact that she was under Makima’s control. This explains why she never realized who she really had a contract with!

A couple of more incidents from the Chainsaw Man manga help build our case against Makima. Akane’s death is one of them.

No matter how you look at it, the Gun Devil doesn’t have a very strong reason to eliminate Akane. She was killed because the real instigator of the incident wished to remain in the shadows.

While describing the incidents to the higher ups Makima talks about the involuntary suicide pact that Akane might have had in her contract, which resulted in the Snake Devil lopping her head off.

This is a very subtle deception on her side, in order to mislead the sniffing dogs that were on her tail.

It makes sense for Makima to include such a term, because it completely eliminated the possibility of her involvement coming to light.

Then there’s also this small detail about how she knew the names of everyone who was involved in the ambush. And rather than detaining them for questioning, she outright killed them all, leaving no loose ends behind.

The Katana Man was the only one who was captured alive. And we don’t see any mention of him, until chapter 86, where he had already turned into one of her pawns, suggesting she held dominion over him too.

So, to sum up and answer in short, Makima was the one who orchestrated the ambush on the Special Divisions using Akane. The Gun Devil never wanted Denji’s heart. It was all a huge setup by Makima.

But why? Why would Makima do all this? What did she gain from doing so?

Makima’s reason for arranging the ambush:

Let’s go back to the meeting between Makima and Kishibe. Makima tells him why she wants the operation to be successful. But he calls her a liar.

But not all of what she mentioned was a lie.

Makima’s end goal, by orchestrating the whole incident with the Eternity Devil and the Katana man, really was to give division 4 more freedom to operate. 

Also Read: What is Makima’s goal? Why did she want the Chainsaw Man?

Not only did she manage to eliminate the other members of the Special Division, the stocks of Denji, Power, and Aki went up in the eyes of the higher-ups. The resulting personnel shortage allowed Makima to form a division filled with odd members, including fiends and devils (Spider and Angel) who were all under her control. 

This eventually set her plan in motion, which was necessary for achieving her goal. Read the following article to know what Makima’s goal was:

Akane and the Katana Man would never have succeeded in kidnapping Denji. They were set up to fail from the start. They were going to be the fall guys, just so she could get more leeway in the Public Safe Devil Hunter division, and go ahead with the least resistance!

And the part about aggressive reporting? That’s not a lie either. 

This too was a part of her plan which involved defeating Chainsaw man. By putting him in the limelight, and making him the hero of the masses, she ensured that the fear surrounding the Chainsaw Man would reduce, which subsequently made him weaker.

She needed to weaken him in order to stand a chance at defeating him. Makima subtly mentions this in chapter 94.

In the end, all of this was a cold and calculated move, so that Makima could get her hands on the Chainsaw Man, and achieve what she really wanted! The Gun Devil’s name was paraded only to keep the true instigator out of question!

Were you able to figure out Makima’s role in the whole operation? Do you think Akane was working for someone else? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!!