Future Devil

The Future Devil is one of several devils imprisoned in a special underground facility managed by Public Safety.

It is considered a particularly powerful and strategically important devil due to its future-sight abilities.

Its appearance resembles a muscular humanoid fused with a tree, giving it an eerie, totem-like presence.

It has only one leg, stands in a constant T-pose, and exudes an almost divine or religious aura despite being a devil.

Its head has three pairs of eyes, all twisted into a permanent grin so that they look like closed, smiling eyes most of the time.

In addition, it has a large hollow in its abdomen, within which sits a huge single eye that is central to its ability.

The Future Devil’s first-person pronoun is “I,” and it speaks in a casual, almost cheerful tone.

Despite being confined, it is treated by Public Safety as a critical “asset” for intelligence and prediction.

Fans have often compared its silhouette and presence to a forest or nature deity, and it is sometimes said to resemble the Forest Spirit from certain fantasy works.

Its striking design and behavior quickly made it one of the most memorable devils in the series outside the main cast.

The Future Devil’s personality is extremely high-energy and over-the-top.

It frequently shouts its catchphrase “The future rules!” over and over, dancing and posing while doing so.

It is unusually friendly and talkative toward humans compared to many other devils.

This friendliness, however, is entirely superficial and rooted in self-interest and sadistic enjoyment.

At its core, the Future Devil’s primary desire is to witness miserable, tragic human futures.

When it declares that “the future rules,” what it really means is “a future full of suffering is the best.”

The devil prefers to toy with its contractors, sometimes showing them unwanted visions just to torment them.

Even when it cooperates, it is doing so because the outcome amuses it, not out of loyalty or kindness.

Its contracts tend to exact extremely heavy prices, such as multiple senses or half of a person’s remaining lifespan.

However, it also adjusts its price based on how entertaining a person’s future will be, giving “discounts” if the misery is especially appealing.

In this sense, it is one of the most purely “devilish” beings in the story:

it does not care if thousands of humans or even other devils die, as long as it can enjoy watching the worst possible futures play out.

Future Vision

The Future Devil can see future events, with its most focused and powerful visions occurring through the large eye inside its abdominal hollow.

If a person inserts their head into this hollow, the Future Devil can observe that individual’s entire future, from that point until their death.

It can see the complete timeline of that person’s life and fate.

It then uses this knowledge to decide whether and how to contract with them, as well as what price to demand.

Power Granted to Contractors

To contractors, the Future Devil lends the ability to see a few seconds into the future.

This vision usually manifests through the contractor’s eye(s), such as in the case of Aki Hayakawa.

In combat, this allows the contractor to foresee enemy movements and incoming attacks in advance.

They can dodge surprise strikes, react to blind-spot assaults, and stay ahead of otherwise unavoidable blows.

The power is useful beyond combat as well, allowing contractors to sense imminent danger to surrounding allies.

They can warn others or move pre-emptively, turning the tide in tactical or high-risk situations.

However, the ability is not omnipotent.

The future can be seen, but how to respond is entirely up to the contractor’s judgment, reflexes, and physical capability.

If a contractor is too slow, unskilled, or emotionally overwhelmed, merely seeing the future will not save them.

The Future Devil also reserves the right to show visions at arbitrary times for its own amusement, making the power psychologically taxing.

Contract Terms and Prices

The Future Devil’s contracts are permanent-type bargains where, once formed, its power can be used indefinitely.

Because of this permanence and the strength of its ability, it usually demands extremely heavy compensation.

Known contracts with Public Safety include individuals who have given up both eyes, or their sense of taste and touch, or even half of their remaining lifespan.

These steep prices reflect how valuable and dangerous its power is considered.

However, the Future Devil customizes its price based on the human’s future.

If it glimpses a particularly horrific and “delicious” fate, it may ask for a surprisingly light price, simply to ensure it gets to witness that ending.

This reveals its twisted logic: the worse your future is, the better the deal you might get.

It is essentially investing in the “entertainment value” of your suffering.

Contract with Aki Hayakawa

After the battle against the Katana Devil, Aki Hayakawa loses the use of the Fox Devil and is forbidden from using the Curse Devil after his remaining lifespan is reduced to only two years.

Determined to continue working as a Devil Hunter, he is introduced to the Future Devil by Yutaro Kurose and Michiko Tendo, agents sent from Kyoto.

Aki descends into the underground facility where the Future Devil is imprisoned.

There, the devil evaluates him, remarking on Aki’s extremely poor attitude and calling it the “worst behavior” it has ever seen from a visitor.

When Aki places his head into the Future Devil’s abdominal hollow, the devil sees the entirety of Aki’s remaining life.

It begins laughing maniacally, stating that Aki has the “worst possible death” ahead of him.

Because it is so thrilled by Aki’s doomed fate, the Future Devil offers a shockingly lenient bargain.

The price is simply to “live inside” Aki’s right eye, far lighter than what other Public Safety agents have sacrificed.

From that point onward, the Future Devil resides in Aki’s right eye and grants him short-term future sight.

During battles, it shows him incoming attacks or looming threats toward allies, allowing him to perform remarkably sharp evasions and countermeasures.

It proves to be an incredibly strong support in combat, saving Aki from situations that would normally be inescapable.

However, it also occasionally forces visions of tragic futures on him without consent, purely to enjoy his reaction.

Despite constantly shouting “The future rules!” and asking Aki to repeat the phrase, Aki refuses to indulge it.

Outside of combat, he rarely interacts with the Future Devil at all, maintaining his hostility toward devils.

As Aki’s destined end draws closer, the Future Devil drops any pretense of neutrality.

Its glee and malice become more obvious, as it eagerly anticipates watching the “worst possible death” unfold.

When Aki finally meets his end, the Future Devil observes from within him, metaphorically watching from a high vantage point.

It seems deeply satisfied, commenting that Aki indeed died in the worst possible way, especially from the perspective of a key character whose feelings were involved in that tragedy.

What happens to the Future Devil immediately after Aki’s death is not shown.

It is later implied that it returned to Public Safety’s custody.

Later Appearance and the Nostradamus Prediction

In the second part of Chainsaw Man, the Future Devil is mentioned again in a conversation between Kiga and Hirofumi Yoshida.

It is revealed that the devil has been returned to its underground cell and is still considered an important asset.

To verify the infamous Nostradamus prediction that foretells catastrophe in July 1999, Public Safety arranges a large-scale experiment.

They secure thirty death-row inmates via plea deals and have all of them form contracts with the Future Devil.

The Future Devil examines each of the thirty prisoners’ futures.

The result is chilling: it predicts that twenty-three of them will die in July 1999.

On the basis of this result, Public Safety concludes that the Nostradamus prediction is real and extremely serious.

They quietly begin moving behind the scenes to investigate and prepare for the coming disaster.

The remaining seven inmates, according to the Future Devil, are doomed to die within the same week that Kiga and Yoshida discuss these results.

The specific reasons for their imminent deaths remain unclear at the time.

This arc underscores how central the Future Devil’s abilities are to high-level decision-making in the world.

Despite being a malevolent entity, it is indispensable when it comes to global-scale foresight.

The Future Devil has at least three known contractors within Public Safety aside from Aki.

One of them has given up both eyes, another has sacrificed taste and touch, and another has surrendered half their remaining lifespan.

These extreme sacrifices demonstrate that most people must pay a terrifying price for the same power Aki receives nearly for free.

Aki’s discounted contract is purely because the Future Devil finds his fate uniquely entertaining.

The devil shows no attachment to any of its contractors beyond their entertainment value.

It does not care whether they live happy or long lives, and in fact prefers that their lives end in despair.

Its relationship with Public Safety is transactional and opportunistic.

By remaining imprisoned and cooperating when asked, it gains access to an endless flow of humans whose futures it can enjoy.

Among non-main characters, the Future Devil is one of the most popular devils in Chainsaw Man, often mentioned alongside major figures like the Darkness Devil.

In a popularity poll published in a 2020 issue of Weekly Shonen Jump, it ranked a surprisingly high 21st place, just behind an obscure character named Nakamura.

Its catchphrase “The future rules!” has become iconic among fans.

When the first part of Chainsaw Man ended and the anime plus second part were announced, many fans flooded social media with that phrase, pushing it into trending topics.

Later, when the anime adaptation aired, the Future Devil’s brief appearance in the opening sequence—where it dances energetically with rainbow lighting—fueled even more fan enthusiasm.

Many manga readers joked that they were just like the Future Devil, eagerly waiting to watch anime-only viewers react in horror to the events it had already “seen” in the manga.

The character’s blend of absurd humor, striking design, and genuine horror makes it stand out.

It embodies the series’ knack for mixing comedy with cruelty in unforgettable ways.

According to comments from the author, one of the main visual inspirations for the Future Devil is a scarecrow.

Its single leg, wooden-like body, and T-shaped stance all support this idea.

The character also fits into Chainsaw Man’s broader use of religious and mythological imagery.

Its semi-divine posture, multiple eyes, and prophetic role evoke associations with sacred or prophetic figures, including interpretations likening it to a distorted, messianic or saint-like image.

Additionally, its status as a “seer” imprisoned underground and used for guidance mirrors a recurring trope in fiction.

There are several works featuring powerful, dangerous individuals confined below ground and consulted for prophecy or strategic advice, such as genius killers or prophetic demons exploited by human authorities.

One particularly close parallel cited by fans is a character from the series GS Mikami: a future-seeing devil imprisoned underground by humans so that its ability can be exploited.

This shows how the Future Devil sits at the intersection of horror, dark comedy, and classic “oracular prisoner” storytelling.

Overall, the Future Devil is designed to be unsettling yet oddly charismatic.

Its role as a laughing prophet of misery makes it one of the most unique entities in the Chainsaw Man universe.