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Pochita = The Oblivion Devil (Fear of Change)
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He’s cute isn’t he???? (He will eat you and erase your entire existence)
ok so. pochita brainrot time.
everyone always says “pochita is secretly the birth/creation devil” and like, I get why that’s appealing thematically, but the more I think about it the more it doesn’t line up with what he actually does in-universe.
devils are literally the embodiment of fear. like, not the concept itself, the fear of that concept. gun devil = fear of guns, war devil = fear of war, etc. the more people are scared of a thing, the stronger the devil.
pochita’s real, unique power is not “chainsaw go brrr.” his real power is: when chainsaw man eats a devil, the entire concept that devil represents gets erased from reality. people forget it ever existed, history rewrites itself around the hole, and devils connected to that concept just… never show up again.
that is not a “birth” or “creation” power. that is an edit the universe power.
so if we actually take the mechanics seriously, what does that imply he’s the fear of?
it’s tempting to just say “oh he’s the oblivion devil,” like, the fear of non-existence. but I think that’s actually too small. oblivion is the final state, but it’s not the whole domain. the thing that really scares people isn’t just “I’ll die,” it’s:
and not cute, self-help-poster “change.” I mean the kind of change that rips up the floorboards. new things that overwrite the old. old things that won’t let the new exist. being replaced by someone younger, prettier, more useful. your body changing with age. your beliefs becoming outdated. your trauma losing context because the world just moved on without you.
pochita is like… the weaponized version of that.
so the way I’m starting to read it is:
pochita’s true domain is change, and “oblivion” is just what happens when he takes that change to its logical extreme.
when chainsaw man eats a devil, he doesn’t just kill them. he forces a change so drastic that the concept itself is retroactively removed. the before-state is not just gone, it becomes a reality that never was. you don’t get to say “remember when ___ existed?” because no you don’t. it has been chainsawed out of the timeline.
that’s why I love calling him something like:
chainsaw is just the cover identity. it’s the aesthetic. he’s not the “chainsaw devil” because chainsaws happen to be the scariest thing, he’s the chainsaw devil because a chainsaw is such a perfect image for what he does:
he chews straight through structure. he doesn’t make a clean cut, he shreds continuity. it’s loud, messy, impossible to ignore, and what’s gone is gone.
and that’s where he gets to be the natural predator of other devils.
like, think about it from their perspective. you’re war or gun or famine or darkness or whatever. your whole existence depends on humans fearing your thing. you want to be eternal. you want your concept to never be solved, never be outgrown. that’s the only way you stay strong.
then somewhere out there, there’s this tiny orange dog-monster whose entire deal is:
of course every major devil and every horseman is obsessed with him. it’s not just power jealousy. he represents the one class of change they can’t adapt to. they can live with being weakened or temporarily sealed or defeated in a fight — that’s just losing a round. chainsaw man is “patch notes dropped, your character and your power set have been removed from the game files.”
and this is where the Eternity Devil comes in and everything clicks.
the Eternity Devil is fear of endless time / being trapped in a moment that never ends. that whole hotel loop is literally:
what does Denji do?
he doesn’t solve it with some clever time paradox or deep emotional breakthrough. he chooses the most unhinged possible response to eternity:
he makes it unbearable for eternity itself.
he basically goes:
like, that’s insane, but it’s also perfectly on-theme. Denji weaponizes change against eternity. he turns stasis into suffering. he takes something that wants to be endless and makes it want out. the Eternity Devil, embodiment of “this will go on forever,” ends up begging for change — begging for death — and the only one who can grant that is Pochita.
so you literally have:
that’s why I don’t buy Pochita as the Birth Devil. birth is just one type of change, and honestly not the scariest one. it’s loud and bloody and painful, sure, but it comes with a shape. it’s expected. it’s something we’ve ritualized. there’s a reason people romanticize it.
what Pochita represents is the kind of change that absolutely terrifies everyone, devils included:
so yeah. for me it’s not “pochita is secretly the creation devil.” it’s more like:
pochita is the devil of change-as-obliteration. the chainsaw that cuts through concepts. the thing that makes even eternity beg for something different — and then gives it the only “different” that’s left:
no more.
1__fTm55KjnlJlLZagUxYSng.png
(I originally posted this on Medium: https://femcelbassmentdweller.medium...e-ea3ed9f6d637)
1_W6xmwvOHMzDA6Pb7OkMm9w.png
He’s cute isn’t he???? (He will eat you and erase your entire existence)
ok so. pochita brainrot time.
everyone always says “pochita is secretly the birth/creation devil” and like, I get why that’s appealing thematically, but the more I think about it the more it doesn’t line up with what he actually does in-universe.
devils are literally the embodiment of fear. like, not the concept itself, the fear of that concept. gun devil = fear of guns, war devil = fear of war, etc. the more people are scared of a thing, the stronger the devil.
pochita’s real, unique power is not “chainsaw go brrr.” his real power is: when chainsaw man eats a devil, the entire concept that devil represents gets erased from reality. people forget it ever existed, history rewrites itself around the hole, and devils connected to that concept just… never show up again.
that is not a “birth” or “creation” power. that is an edit the universe power.
so if we actually take the mechanics seriously, what does that imply he’s the fear of?
it’s tempting to just say “oh he’s the oblivion devil,” like, the fear of non-existence. but I think that’s actually too small. oblivion is the final state, but it’s not the whole domain. the thing that really scares people isn’t just “I’ll die,” it’s:
- my memories can be erased
- my place in the story can be overwritten
- the rules can change underneath me without my consent
- everything I am can be replaced, updated, patched out
and not cute, self-help-poster “change.” I mean the kind of change that rips up the floorboards. new things that overwrite the old. old things that won’t let the new exist. being replaced by someone younger, prettier, more useful. your body changing with age. your beliefs becoming outdated. your trauma losing context because the world just moved on without you.
pochita is like… the weaponized version of that.
so the way I’m starting to read it is:
pochita’s true domain is change, and “oblivion” is just what happens when he takes that change to its logical extreme.
when chainsaw man eats a devil, he doesn’t just kill them. he forces a change so drastic that the concept itself is retroactively removed. the before-state is not just gone, it becomes a reality that never was. you don’t get to say “remember when ___ existed?” because no you don’t. it has been chainsawed out of the timeline.
that’s why I love calling him something like:
“the Oblivion Devil who represents the fear of change — the fear of new things, the fear of old things, the fear of replacement, the fear of age, the fear that all things come to an end at his hands.”
chainsaw is just the cover identity. it’s the aesthetic. he’s not the “chainsaw devil” because chainsaws happen to be the scariest thing, he’s the chainsaw devil because a chainsaw is such a perfect image for what he does:
he chews straight through structure. he doesn’t make a clean cut, he shreds continuity. it’s loud, messy, impossible to ignore, and what’s gone is gone.
and that’s where he gets to be the natural predator of other devils.
like, think about it from their perspective. you’re war or gun or famine or darkness or whatever. your whole existence depends on humans fearing your thing. you want to be eternal. you want your concept to never be solved, never be outgrown. that’s the only way you stay strong.
then somewhere out there, there’s this tiny orange dog-monster whose entire deal is:
“I can force a reality update where you never existed, and nobody will even remember missing you.”
of course every major devil and every horseman is obsessed with him. it’s not just power jealousy. he represents the one class of change they can’t adapt to. they can live with being weakened or temporarily sealed or defeated in a fight — that’s just losing a round. chainsaw man is “patch notes dropped, your character and your power set have been removed from the game files.”
and this is where the Eternity Devil comes in and everything clicks.
the Eternity Devil is fear of endless time / being trapped in a moment that never ends. that whole hotel loop is literally:
- a space cut away from normal time
- a “room” of the universe where nothing moves forward
- a situation where everyone is stuck running in circles
what does Denji do?
he doesn’t solve it with some clever time paradox or deep emotional breakthrough. he chooses the most unhinged possible response to eternity:
he makes it unbearable for eternity itself.
he basically goes:
“If you can’t die, then I will just keep chainsawing you forever until you beg me to end this.”
like, that’s insane, but it’s also perfectly on-theme. Denji weaponizes change against eternity. he turns stasis into suffering. he takes something that wants to be endless and makes it want out. the Eternity Devil, embodiment of “this will go on forever,” ends up begging for change — begging for death — and the only one who can grant that is Pochita.
so you literally have:
- Eternity = fear of infinite time, fear there will be no end
- Pochita = fear that things can end so hard they never even were
that’s why I don’t buy Pochita as the Birth Devil. birth is just one type of change, and honestly not the scariest one. it’s loud and bloody and painful, sure, but it comes with a shape. it’s expected. it’s something we’ve ritualized. there’s a reason people romanticize it.
what Pochita represents is the kind of change that absolutely terrifies everyone, devils included:
- the job that replaces you
- the friend group that moves on without you
- the city that gets rebuilt until it doesn’t remember the people it crushed
- the history that gets rewritten until certain horrors never “officially” happened
- the realization that even your enemies can be erased, so your suffering doesn’t even get the dignity of context
so yeah. for me it’s not “pochita is secretly the creation devil.” it’s more like:
pochita is the devil of change-as-obliteration. the chainsaw that cuts through concepts. the thing that makes even eternity beg for something different — and then gives it the only “different” that’s left:
no more.
1__fTm55KjnlJlLZagUxYSng.png
(I originally posted this on Medium: https://femcelbassmentdweller.medium...e-ea3ed9f6d637)