WHO ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE?
I swear just when I think I’ve got Chainsaw Man all figured out, it just throws me another curve ball. I literally just learned what a fiend was AND I had to go back into my Catholic School Bible knowledge to explain who exactly the Four Horsemen are. And I thought that those grade school memories would stay locked in the “do not open” part of my mind FOREVER. At least these guys are human, right? I don’t have to re-traumatize myself with Christian dogma, right? RIGHT?
Let’s just get this over with…
Who are the Three Brothers and where do they come from?
The Three Brothers are three American born (spoiler alert) brothers who decided to become assassins after that asshole the Gun Devil murdered their family. Because they survived the catastrophic Gun Devil attack, they have adopted the delusional belief that they are immortal. Yes, immortal. They chalk up their un-killable nature to their personalities, and claim that they are able to survive because they are (for the most part) ruthless, soulless. and emotionless. This makes them a perfect fit to work for the U.S. government! They are contracted by the U.S.A. in order to track down Denji, kill him, and bring back his Chainsaw Devil Heart in exchange for two million dollars.
The eldest brother is so far unnamed, but is the de-facto leader of the group, and is (unsurprisingly) a total asshole. The middle brother Joey is equally charming, and is completely unfazed by killing. He likens murdering a human being to “stepping on a kitten” and is more perturbed by getting blood on his shoes than he is assassinating a person.
To aid them in their killings, each of the brothers has made a contract with the Skin Devil, the Devil embodying the fear… of skin? Because I guess that’s a thing? This allows the brothers to assume the form of any corpse they touch (and they make a lot of them) allowing them to masquerade as that person and get closer to a target. Aside from their spooky shapeshifting abilities, they are also formidable gunfighters. They are also really durable. Like you can throw them out a window and they’ll probably be fine.
So what about Aldo? He must be a real bastard too right?
Aldo is a bit of an exception to the bloody rule. Unlike his brothers, Aldo is kind of a lil’ sweetie. I mean, he’s not really a sweetie at all. In Tumblr morality terms, he is more of a Poor Little Meow Meow than he is a true cinnamon roll. He’s not exactly a fan of death, unlike his brothers grim. He even throws up when he sees a corpse sometimes! Like any normal person would! He is also empathetic to the person whose form he takes when using the powers of the Skin Devil. He once cried when he learned about the details of some poor sap’s life that was snuffed out by his brothers. He is also rather insecure about his abilities, and needs to constantly remind himself that he is “immortal” before entering into a stressful situation. He usually does this by mumbling “I’m immortal I’m immortal I’m immortal” to himself. It tends to work, to middling degree. Despite his attempts to bolster his own courage, he is cowardly in comparison to his two older brothers. He tries to walk in their footsteps, but he is also not a fan of blood on his shoes. It makes him nauseous.
Despite being less formidable than his older brothers, he is still not a person to be trifled with. He displays a considerable amount of cunning, even going so far as to successfully pretend to be one of the mindless thralls of the Doll Devil when The Public Safety Devil Hunters are pitted against it. Nevertheless, it seems like he needs to go home most of the time. Get a cup of hot chocolate. Have a little nap. He’s really not cut out for the whole “contract killing” line of work. And you know what? I think that’s a good thing. The world of Chainsaw Man is a nasty, brutal place. It is sorely lacking in characters with any sort of redeemable qualities. I just hope Aldo is able to hold on to his for as long as he can.
(Featured Image: MAPPA)
