Chainsaw Man Chapter 122 alludes to a terrifying prophecy that is already starting to unfold by Chapter 131. So, what is the Nostradamus Prophecy in Chainsaw Man, and why is it important?
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Nostradamus' Prophecies: A Quick Overview
Nostradamus was a French physician and astrologer who lived in the 16th century.
He's well-known for a series of nearly 1,000 poems which are often referred to as prophecies.
Researchers do not attribute to Nostradamus any actual prophetic or otherwise supernatural powers.
That being said, supporters have attempted to fit these so-called prophecies into events that happened, retrospectively claiming that these events were prophesied.
The vagueness of the poems allows them to be interpreted in multiple ways, which makes it easier for those who want to believe in them to come up with semi-plausible interpretations.
This isn't the first time Chainsaw Man has used an existing popular supernatural topic.
For instance, four of the most powerful Devils, the ones who remember the names of the Devils that Chainsaw Man has eaten, are collectively known as the Four Horsemen.
What Is the Nostradamus Prophecy in Chainsaw Man?
In the context of Chainsaw Man's latest arc, the Nostradamus Prophecy refers to a prophecy according to which an apocalyptic event will kill all humans and kickstart an era of Devils.
The event is supposed to take place in July 1999. Since it's currently 1999 in the universe of Chainsaw Man, this is a huge and immediate threat.
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Is the Chainsaw Man Apocalypse Based on a Real Prophecy?
Tatsuki Fujimoto didn't make the prophecy up. Nostradamus' prophecy isn't true for our world in the sense that the world is still standing long past 1999.
But Nostradamus did write the words attributed to him in Chainsaw Man.
Here is an English translation of the prophecy, according to the Washington Post:
The year one thousand nine ninety-nine seven month
From the sky shall come a great King of terror,
[Shall be] revived the great King of Angoulmois.
Before and after, Mars [shall] reign as chance will have it.
For our purposes, the "King of Terror" refers to a particularly strong and scary Devil who will bring the end of humanity.
"Mars" likely refers to the Roman god of war, also known in Greek as Ares.
Given the recent developments, it is very likely that this part of the prophecy is about Yoru, the War Devil.
The most perplexing element in the poem is the reference to "Angoulmois."
It is thought that in Nostradamus' work, this word refers to Genghis Khan, as it's an almost perfect anagram of "Mongolians".
Who Is the King of Terror?
In Chainsaw Man Chapter 146, Nayuta finally reveals the entirety of Fami's plan as she understands it. She mentions that the King of Terror is actually the Death Devil; her and Fami's eldest sister.
The Death Devil is one of the Four Horsemen, the other three being Fami (Famine Devil), Asa/Yoru (War Devil), and Nayuta (formerly Makima, aka the Control Devil).
Fami's plan, according to Nayuta, is to use the terror spread by the Chainsaw Man Church to make people as afraid of Chainsaw Man and the War Devil as possible.
This will hopefully make them strong enough to defeat the Death Devil and prevent the apocalypse.
Who Knows About the Prophecy?
There are three Chainsaw Man characters who know about the prophecy, namely, Fami, Nayuta, and Hirofumi Yoshida.
Based on what information we have about them, it appears that they all want to keep the prophecy from being fulfilled.
In Chapter 122, we see Yoshida, who works in Public Safety, questioning Fami. He threatens her with torture in order to find out what she knows about the prophecy.
From this, we can assume that he wants to prevent the prophecy. However, his motivations are painfully enigmatic and will hopefully be revealed in later chapters.
Chapter 131 reveals that Fami isn't as villainous as we thought. She actually wants humans to win, even if just for her own selfish motivations.
While Nayuta thinks that an apocalypse would be fun, she soon comes to share Fami's viewpoint, so they are likely to support whoever wants to prevent the disaster.
As the story progresses, more people find out about the prophecy, but no one knows as much as these three.
Will the Nostradamus Prophecy Come True in Chainsaw Man?
Chainsaw Man isn't your typical shounen anime, so pretty much anything could happen. That being said, we don't think that Tatsuki Fujimoto would want to completely destroy the world he has created.
It seems that the War Devil aka Yoru (and possibly, Asa Mitaka too) is the only one who can prevent the prophecy.
Perhaps this is the reason Asa came in as a second protagonist. Throughout her life, Asa was purposeless and plagued by tragedy.
Could saving the world in an unorthodox way give her a new purpose?
Stay tuned to find out! We're going to continue explaining the Nostradamus Prophecy as more details unfold.
Discover more of our insights and the latest anime news by following us on Twitter @epicstreamanime.
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