Chainsaw Man is a wild, bloody, and subversive shonen anime series that earned its place in the "dark trio" thanks to its brutal action sequences and twisted characters, including the heroes. In Chainsaw Man, the line between hero and villain is blurred and subjective, as characters like Makima and Power make abundantly clear. In another anime, Power would be a villain, but in Chainsaw Man's topsy-turvy world, she is a hero, if only barely.
Power made a strong first impression when she first appeared, just like her new boss Makima, but they are very different people on the inside and outside. Makima was introduced as a sinister, mysterious kuudere who's not what she seems to be, while Power is a refreshingly blunt shonen heroine who will gladly show Denji and Chainsaw Man anime fans what she is all about -- and fans love it.
What Are Power's Abilities & Origins?
Several of Chainsaw Man's best characters had a rough upbringing or grew up in obscurity, such as Denji growing up in poverty with Pochita the chainsaw dog and Kobeni's family using her to fund her brother's college tuition. Power the fiend was much the same, being a lone wanderer with no friends, no purpose, and no clothes. Power's backstory began with her life as a fiend, or a devil that was reborn in a dead human's body while retaining some of their devilish powers. Nothing is known about the teenage girl body whose body Power eventually possessed, nor do Chainsaw Man anime fans know much about Power's original life as a proper devil, but what matters most is that after becoming a horned fiend, Power gradually began her own redemption, even without Denji and Makima around.
Power lived on pure instinct like a wild animal, almost acting like a more unsavory Inosuke Hashibira from Demon Slayer. She wandered about, killing and eating just for survival's sake, but something good awakened in her when she met an ordinary cat. Power saw a bit of herself in that lonely animal, and even if Power promised herself to eat that cat after fattening it up, she couldn't bring herself to harm it. The cat, dubbed Meowy, became Power's pet and first friend, the anime's first hint that Power can care about another creature besides herself. That eventually put Power in a position to be trusted as a devil hunter in Makima's employ, where she met her new partner Denji.
Power wields the power of blood manipulation, not unlike My Hero Academia's hero Vlad King, which suggests she was once a blood devil, a creature born of hemophobia. In Chainsaw Man's main story, Power can reshape her own body's blood to form weapons, most often oversized hammers to crush lesser devils with one hit. She can also form bladed weapons to stab or slash devils either up close or from a moderate distance, making her more flexible in combat. If need be, Power can even transfer her blood to another person to heal them, such as Chainsaw Man, who is healed after consuming blood. Power can even make devil contracts with other parties, though she is hardly ever seen using that particular ability.
What Does Power Mean to Denji & Makima?
Power is clearly portrayed as a selfish, juvenile, and short-sighted person who only acts to satisfy her own desires and whims, not unlike Denji himself, but Power has still built up some intriguing relationships in Chainsaw Man's anime by this point. Power isn't a lone wolf any longer -- she is now a team player, if only barely, and will cooperate with Denji on missions to hunt devils and Makima's other enemies. On a more personal level, Power and Denji are almost like a twisted found family with their senior Aki Hayakawa, proving that wholesome found families like the Forgers in Spy x Family aren't always the rule. Even dysfunctional people like Denji and Power can be like a family, especially since they were at their lowest point when they met one another. They needed one another, and after they resolved Power's betrayal in the bat devil arc, they settled down as a proper anime squad.
Anime fans love to ship characters who spend quality time together, but Chainsaw Man made it clear that a Denji/Power romance is not meant to be. Denji longs for a girlfriend, but it won't be Power, and not just because she is a crude, punkish fiend who once sold him out. Power and Denji are like foster brother and sister in their found family, having some mutual trust and respect while also teasing and annoying one another in their everyday lives. They irritate each other, but they still have an understanding, and they know they're not enemies even if they argue and gross each other out. They're the only family they're ever going to have, so they cherish it, juvenile antics and all. It's also a great example of male/female friendships that aren't pressured to become romantic, setting a good example for more uplifting and innocent shonen series like Demon Slayer and My Hero Academia. Friendships like that are underrated and underused.
Power's relationship with Makima is a little less clear, and more suspenseful. On the outside, they're boss and employee, but Power doesn't seem to view Makima as a mother figure the way Denji does. Power and Makima don't often speak to one another, and when they do, it's mostly as professionals. There's no sign Power has any real respect for Makima and clearly doesn't want to be her friend, and given Makima's strength and Power's vulnerable backstory, Power might even fear Makima, hence their chilly distance from one another. If Makima ever does anything to threaten Chainsaw Man's heroes, Power will probably be the first to defy her and rally her co-workers against that threat.
What Does Power Mean to Chainsaw Man Fans?
Unusual anime characters like Chainsaw Man's Power tend to stand out, and they often prove a point while doing so. Chainsaw Man is one of several subversive anime series to gain popularity recently, and these series and their characters tend to break the rules to comment on unusual themes or deconstruct their genres or character archetypes. Just the way Ai Hoshino tore apart the lovable lies of pop idols, Power deconstructs what shonen anime girls "should" be, even more so than Nobara Kugisaki in Jujutsu Kaisen. Shonen anime girls are often same-y, being formulaic Best Girl or waifu candidates to contrast with the male lead, while the boys are more varied in their personalities and worldview. Power defies the norm and is far more than a token girl like Sakura Haruno and Orihime Inoue once were.
Instead, Chainsaw Man's Power is a crude, obnoxious, highly unfeminine person not just because she's a fiend, but because Chainsaw Man is subverting the rules about what shonen action heroes should be, token girls included. Power is free to be her own person, flaws and all, and she does not physically or mentally behave herself or doll herself up to be Best Girl material in the conventional sense. As a girl who's true to herself, Power lets her freak flag fly, and that means she goes full circle from an outrageously unfeminine girl to Best Girl after all. Paradoxically, Power is Best Girl because she's so aggressively written to be unlike most female shonen heroes, and fans love her for it. She's unusual, authentic, and memorable as the gross girl who misbehaves and won't ever be anyone's dream girlfriend -- not even Denji's.
