Why Did the Eternity Devil Want to Eat Denji in Chainsaw Man? Explained

The Chainsaw Man anime and manga has a wide array of threats its protagonist Denji faces, and one of the most intimidating foes early on is the Eternity Devil. Capable of trapping him and his allies until they agree to sacrifice Denji for their own survival, it stood the best chance of putting him in an early grave. However, its focus on Denji likely left you asking: Why did the Eternity Devil want to eat Denji in Chainsaw Man, and what would it gain from doing so?

We had the same question, and after doing some research, we’ve got some answers for you. In order to give a full explanation, though, we’ll need to go into some Major Story Spoilers.

Why Does the Eternity Devil Try to Eat Denji in Chainsaw Man? Explained

There were two major reasons the Eternity Devil wanted to eat Denji in Chainsaw Man, and they were closely linked to each other.

One reason is that it was afraid of being erased by the Chainsaw Devil’s powers. Near the end of the Public Safety saga, it’s revealed that any Devil the Chainsaw Devil consumes is erased from existence. This means they won’t be able to reincarnate even if people still fear them, and they won’t return to the world until they’re literally ripped out of the Chainsaw Devil’s stomach.

The Eternity Devil is aware of this fact. Once Denji showed up in its hunting ground, it felt cornered and like its only option was to consume him in order to prevent the Chainsaw Devil from devouring and erasing it.

At the same time, though, this drove the other reason the Eternity Devil wanted to eat Denji: If it consumed the Chainsaw Devil, it would grow immensely more powerful. When combined with the power it already had due to the prevalent fear of eternity among humanity, it would have become strong enough to exert a much larger amount of control and influence over the world.

For both these reasons, it offered to let the rest of Division 4 go in exchange for being allowed to eat Denji. If it had succeeded, it would have grown immensely more powerful while also eliminating a direct threat to its continued existence in the world.

Hopefully this cleared up why the Eternity Devil wanted to eat Denji in Chainsaw Man. For more on the series, check out any of the related articles down below. We’ve also got plenty of other explainer guides for the Chainsaw Man universe, including ones on whether or not Pochita is dead, what a Fiend is and what Power’s 76.1 shirt means.