Chainsaw Man confirms Yoru's true powers are more frightening than Makima

When Fujimoto introduced Makima in Chainsaw Man Part 1, readers were baffled by how strong she was. She was immediately cemented as one of the most chilling antagonists in recent anime and manga history. Elegant, composed, and terrifying in her quiet cruelty, Makima embodied a kind of villainy that didn’t need rage to be horrifying.

She was all about control over people, emotions, and even death itself. Although with the events of Chapters 208–210, Yoru might have just surpassed Makima in power, brutality, and fear-inducing potential.

To appreciate how far Yoru has come, we first need to revisit what made Makima so terrifying. As the Control Devil, Makima’s powers relied on domination. Her terrifying ability to make contracts without consent, her regeneration through sacrificial offerings, and her subtle yet deadly manipulations made her almost untouchable. She didn’t just kill people; she broke them mentally and emotionally first.

Her most defining moment came during the International Assassins arc, where her encounter with the Darkness Devil, a Primal Fear representing humanity’s instinctive fear of the dark, showed the limits of even her vast power. Despite her composure, Makima was outclassed. She suffered brutal injuries, and her escape only came through a desperate sacrifice.

Yoru, the War Devil introduced in Chainsaw Man Part 2, begins her journey as Asa Mitaka’s intrusive counterpart. She’s angry, impatient, and obsessed with revenge against Chainsaw Man for devouring part of her essence. Initially, she’s far weaker than Makima, having lost significant power due to Pochita erasing the memories and fear of nuclear weapons, a key source of her strength.

However, Fujimoto planted the seeds early. Yoru was not just another Horseman Devil meant to parallel Makima; she was designed to evolve in a direction that perhaps even Makima never did, beyond her original concept. And now, the manga has made it clear: Yoru’s return to power is more than a comeback. It’s a warning.

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Yoru vs. Falling Devil: A turning point in power scaling in Chainsaw Man

The pivotal moment arrived in Chapters 208 to 210, when Yoru and Denji face off against the Falling Devil, another Primal Fear. Like Makima with the Darkness Devil, Yoru initially appears outmatched. The Falling Devil easily repels her attacks, and even her strongest weapon (her tank form) gets thrown back at her.

But something changes. When Asa/Yoru is stabbed in the head, a latent power activates. Yoru fights back, but it is not with calculation but with unrelenting violence. She tears through the Falling Devil, reducing her to legs and pulp. The visceral brutality of it makes Makima’s measured manipulation look tame.

Then comes the most frightening moment: Yoru remembers nuclear weapons. This “remembrance” isn’t just a symbolic nod to her power returning but the reawakening of a globally suppressed fear.

America reinventing nuclear weapons doesn’t just restore her strength, but rather it supercharges it. And suddenly, the War Devil isn’t just a concept. She’s history, trauma, and annihilation incarnate.

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Beyond weaponization: Yoru’s evolution is breaking the chains

Yoru’s early power set was impressive but limited: she could turn anything she “owned” into weapons. This included parts of her host body, animals, and even people she manipulated emotionally. Now, that limitation is seemingly gone.

By turning the Falling Devil into clothes, she’s crossed a line. No emotional tie. No ownership. No “permission.” This implies her conceptual hold over “war” may now include spoils, symbols, and conquest.

The Devil's powers in Chainsaw Man are supposed to be rooted in concepts. But if Yoru has gone from making “weapons of war” to turning enemies into trophies, then her domain in Chainsaw Man isn’t just expanding, it’s mutating. And that’s what makes her even more frightening than Makima. Makima bent the rules through manipulation. Yoru is breaking rules through evolution.

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Final thoughts

Makima in Chainsaw Man was a nightmare. Cold, calculated, and chilling. But Yoru is something far worse. Yoru is chaos weaponized. She doesn’t seek control, but she seeks obliteration. Her evolution in Chapters 208–210 rewrites what we thought devils could do. She doesn’t just represent war. She becomes every war humanity has fought and feared. She’s every nightmare a generation inherits without realizing it.