I have mentioned this before, but let me say it once again. Makima is an enigma. There seems to be no rhyme or reason to her actions most of the time. She is the one who engineers a lot of chaos, but at the same time, she also claims to have end goals that are noble.
We all want to ask Makima the same thing that Kishibe asked her, “Just what the hell are you?”
However, if we look closely, everything that Makima has done in the series till now is aligned with her goal, which stems from her dream. And once we look at that, I shall also pass a judgement on whether Makima was really evil!!
Here we go…
What is Makima’s goal:
Well, the answer to this might sound absurd, but it’s true all the way; Makima’s goal really was to create a better world for humans. She mentions this in chapter 84 of Chainsaw Man.
According to her, war, hunger, poverty, death, etc. were things that humanity could do without. If she was somehow able to eradicate all of this, Makima believed that humans would be happier and the world would be a better place.
But if that was her goal, why was she after the Chainsaw Man?
We know Makima too was one of the people who was after Denji’s heart. And everything she does in the manga, every action that she took was so that she could get her hands on him.
This also involved breaking Denji to a point that his contract with Pochita would break, forcing the Chainsaw Devil to take control over his body and resurrect.
Also Read: What is Denji and Pochita’s contract? Did it break?
But why?
Why did Makima want Pochita/Chainsaw Man?
Makima wanted Pochita, or Denji’s heart, because she wanted to use the Chainsaw Devil to achieve her dream of a better world for humans.
How?
She knew that anything that is consumed by the Chainsaw Man is erased out of existence. That’s why she zeroes in on him. Makima wanted to use his powers to blot out the concepts of war, death, hunger etc.
But, to make the Chainsaw Man do her bidding, she would have to defeat the Chainsaw Man. However, being a fan of the hero of hell, this might have come across as something not so easy for Makima.
She admired Chainsaw Man. That devil is a legend. Not easily defeated, not easily killed. A symbol of hope, chaos and destruction all at the same time.
Read More: Makima’s powers and abilities explained!
But if Makima were to defeat him, the Chainsaw Man would no longer be her idol. It would turn out to be just another devil she was able to control. So, let’s say it was a minor conundrum that she had to face.
This conflict aside, Makima was totally determined to see through her plan of making humanity happier. So, she decides to go ahead and defeat the Chainsaw Man anyway. This explains why she went to war with him in the past along with the horsemen and the weapons devil.
However, the Chainsaw Devil evades her and continues to exist in a near death form, namely Pochita. And before she could get her hands on him, Pochita formed a contract with Denji.
This is the reason why Makima was after Denji’s heart. And realizing that Denji and Pochita now had a contract, Makima was now forced to come up with a plan to break it.
Unless Denji can’t keep up his end of the contract, the contract won’t break and she won’t have a chance to resurrect the Chainsaw Devil.
So begins her lengthy masterplan to give Denji happiness and then take it all away, subsequently breaking him in the process. Making Aki the Gun Fiend and killing Power were all parts of this elaborate scheme she concocted.
Read to know: How did Aki become the Gun Fiend?
It doesn’t end here!
Makima knew she wasn’t strong enough to defeat the Chainsaw Man. So she orchestrated the ambush on the Special Division using Akane Sawatari, and made Denji defeat the Gun Devil, giving a boost to his image as a hero, and in turn decreasing the fear that people had of the devil.
Read More: Who was Akane Sawatari working for?
This considerably weakened the Chainsaw Man, and she would have succeeded in defeated him, if not for Power and Pochita teaming up!
But then why? Why would a devil scheme to bring happiness to humans? To understand that, we need to know what Makima really wanted!
What did Makima really want?
By now, its beyond doubt that Makima is the Control Devil. The only way she could interact with people or form a bond with them was by controlling them through her powers. As Pochita mentions, all Makima did was form relationships by fear. But she longed for something else.
So ,the answer for what Makima really wanted is this; Makima wanted to form equal relationships with others. She wanted her bonds to be formed, not by fear, but by people genuinely liking her. She wanted people to be close to her by their own will. In short, she longed to have something like a family. This was her dream.
However, being a devil, she found this hard to come by. Humans feared the devils. Makima probably thought that if humans were happier, if the world wasn’t plagued by bad things, then she would be able to achieve her dream. Thus, she aimed for eternal peace to descend upon humanity.
Related: Why does Makima look human?
And so Makima decided to eradicate the world of things that brought about pain and sadness to humanity, in hopes of creating a world where she’ll be able to form relationships with people without having to instill fear in them or by controlling them.
True, the way she went about achieving them is not perfect. But then, it’s hard not to sympathize with the Control Devil once you know her true feelings. Just like Pochita says, Denji should do his best to help Nayuta, aka the little reincarnated control devil achieve her dream.
Now that we have tackled the question about her goal, let’s move on to the next important question. Is Makima an evil character?
Is Makima evil?
Well, if you were to ask this to Makima herself, she would vehemently state that she is not an outright evil entity. As she herself pointed out in the manga, the Japanese Prime Minister wouldn’t have made a contract with her if she were truly evil.
Instead she hints at being a necessary evil to bring about the better for humanity!
That’s only one side of the story, though.
At first look, Makima comes across as a character who is cold, calculating, cunning and someone who’d stop at nothing to achieve her goals. She saw everyone as pawns in her elaborate scheme.
There is no way we can forgive Makima for what she has done. From killing Reze and Power, to absolutely ruining Denji’s life, her misdeeds outweigh anything good that she might have done.
However, one can argue that all the sacrifices she did were for the greater good, at least in her mind. But, it doesn’t justify any of the things that she did completely.
In the end, no matter what way you look at it, Makima is an evil character. Though she aimed for the greater good, her acts only brought misery to others. And that cannot be overlooked.
Like Kishibe mentioned, being under the care of the government might have made Makima who she is. And that’s the main reason he decides to entrust Nayuta to Denji. He did want to end up creating another Makima.
Do you think there was more to Makima’s goals than what is explained in the blog here? Do you think she is evil? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!!