Meng Fan

Biodata

Background / History

Meng Fan arrived in a world where humans and devils coexist after transmigrating from the twenty-first century. He signed a permanent contract with Freddy, the Dream Devil, becoming a devil-human capable of freely using its powers. With no friends, relatives, or practical skills to support him, he became a Civilian Devil Hunter and earned his living through commissions 1.

After hearing about Denji, Meng Fan waited at his wooden shack to meet him. Although he presented himself as a friendly fellow hunter, he immediately stole Denji’s bread, threatened to take Pochita, and deliberately frightened him. He then offered to help Denji become a hero and resolve his debt by slaughtering the gangsters exploiting him. Meng Fan described himself as an independent hunter with a year and a half of experience 1 2.

Appearance

Meng Fan has refined human features and a face that appears to be in his twenties. His voice is raspy and described as carrying the world-weariness of a man in his thirties 4 5.

• Devil face: His features twist into a grotesque appearance capable of terrifying nearby humans 4.
• Freddy transformation: His pale body darkens, his skin becomes rough, and raised veins spread across his arms and thighs 39.
• Blade claws: His fingernails extend into sharp, white blades. During the Morino Hotel battle, they are longer than before and serrated near their bases 3 39.
• Black hat: He puts on a black hat before transforming to confront the Mouse Devil 7.

Personality

Meng Fan mixes friendliness with intimidation, teasing, and calculated manipulation. He deliberately provokes Denji’s fear during their first meeting, later refers to him as his “most important pawn,” and secures his agreement to become a disciple by threatening to tally the cost of their outings 1 12 13.

His treatment of companions is rough but often protective. He rescues Denji, prevents Aki from sacrificing himself against the Eternity Devil, and leaves his body to obtain food for the trapped Fourth Division. At the nightclub, he puts the Poppy Devil’s human victims to sleep rather than killing them 39 50.

He enjoys expensive food, alcohol, flirtation, and opportunities to live comfortably. His interest in Public Safety includes becoming a civil servant without an examination and eventually collecting a pension. Despite his boasts, he recognizes that being difficult to kill does not make him invincible 6 18 25 35.

Abilities & Skills

Dream Devil Contract

Meng Fan’s permanent contract with Freddy grants him free use of the Dream Devil’s power and the ability to transform into its devil form 1 39.

• Uses blade claws without always undergoing a full visible transformation 3 11.
• Possesses strength and speed several times beyond human limits in Dream Devil form 50.
• Can adopt a frightening devil face while retaining his otherwise human appearance 4.

Sleep and Nightmare Attacks

Meng Fan can put targets to sleep and attack them through dreams 14 50.

• Causes the Yakuza pursuing him and Denji to collapse into sleep; their bodies then levitate and are cut apart before he revives 14.
• Gives the Poppy Devil’s controlled clubgoers nightmares, causing them to fall into a deep sleep without killing them 50.
• Tells Denji that he arranged Pochita’s dream the previous night 13.

Dream-Based Revival

Meng Fan explains that he revives whenever someone dreams about him. He can also force people to dream of him after his death 25.

• Revives after being shot repeatedly by the Yakuza 13 14.
• Survives Makima’s beheading and subsequently joins Special Division 4 17 18.
• Survives being accidentally cut in half by Denji during the Fly Devil mission 20 21.
• Explicitly distinguishes his survival ability from invincibility: strong opponents or someone who discovers his weakness can still threaten him 25.

Astral Projection

Meng Fan can send his soul outside his body while leaving the body behind 39.

• Uses this ability to gather food while his teammates remain trapped in the Morino Hotel 39.
• His unattended body becomes motionless, cold, and apparently lifeless, with no detectable heartbeat 37.
• Returns with sushi, eel rice, mochi, and additional bentos for the team 39.

Blade Claws and Physical Combat

His claws are powerful cutting weapons, supported by superhuman mobility and close-combat skill 3 39.

• Leaps more than six meters into the air and opens the Cucumber Devil’s belly with a single descending attack 3.
• Splits the Mouse Devil’s head and kills every escaping parasitic mouse, preventing its revival 7.
• Cuts the transformed Headless Devil contractor into five pieces 11.
• Injures the Ghost Devil’s hand when it grabs him, surprising Himeno 17.
• Moves too quickly for human observers to follow during his fight with the Eternity Devil 39.
• Cannot reliably block gunfire: his attempt against the Yakuza leaves him riddled with bullets 13.

Rat and Fly Swarms

Meng Fan uses swarms of rats and flies to defeat the Bat Devil and the Leech Devil 32 33.

• The swarms devour the Bat Devil and the Leech Devil inside it, leaving remains for him to collect 33.
• He does not explain the origin or acquisition of this ability in the provided passages 33.

Corpse-Collection Ritual

Meng Fan draws circles with his own blood around devil corpses. Completed rituals cause the remains to sink into the ground 33 50.

• Performs the ritual around the Bat and Leech Devils’ skeletons and the Poppy Devil’s corpse 33 50.
• Begins drawing a blood circle around the Fly Devil after killing it 20.
• Takes an interest in usable remains, including the Mosquito Devil’s relatively intact head 27.
• Natsume Fan Zhi discusses Meng Fan potentially absorbing the Poppy Devil’s ability, but no such acquisition is demonstrated in the supplied chapters 46 50.

Resistance to Mental Control

Meng Fan resists the weakened Poppy Devil’s control and pretends to obey it in order to extract information 49 50.

• Feigns immobilization and forced spinning while retaining control of himself 49.
• Uses the conversation to establish that the Poppy Devil does not recognize the Apple murder case 49.
• Later notes that the Poppy Devil had less than a tenth of its peak strength; the encounter does not establish immunity to every form of mental control 50.

Investigation and Tactical Instruction

Meng Fan combines observation, devil knowledge, and practical combat coaching 10 11 20 40.

• Exposes Eiko’s killer by examining the survivor’s account, the staged attack, and her suspicious words upon awakening 10 11.
• Links the apples left at murder scenes to missing food, consumed bodies, and Power’s escalating appetite 23 27 44.
• Advises hunters to prepare advantageous tools before battle and uses a gas explosion against the Fly Devil’s swarm 20.
• Teaches Denji to coordinate his head and arm chainsaws, reducing gaps between attacks and correcting his balance 40.
• Explains the Poppy Devil’s mental-control limitations and recommends a small team with strong mental fortitude 45 46.
• Attributes his broader knowledge to having visited the Cosmos Devil’s library 45.

Equipment / Items

• Black hat — Carried in his shoulder bag and worn during his Freddy-like transformation against the Mouse Devil 7.
• Shoulder/crossbody bag — Used to carry money and his hat 6 7 8.
• Vehicles — Takes Ino’s Honda, later drives a Toyota Crown Eighth Generation 130, and forcibly obtains a Mercedes after a crash 3 5 31 32.
• VIP wristband — Supplied by Natsume Fan Zhi for entry to the Poppy Devil’s nightclub; grants access through the VIP entrance and complimentary drinks 48 49.

Relationships

• Freddy / Dream Devil — His permanent contract partner and the source of his devil-human powers 1.
• Denji — His disciple. Meng Fan initially frightens and manipulates him, but introduces him to comforts he has never experienced, repeatedly saves him, and trains his Chainsaw Man combat skills. Denji comes to regard him sincerely as his master 1 13 14 39 40.
• Pochita — Recognizes him as the Chainsaw Devil during their first meeting. Meng Fan threatens to take him from Denji, considers borrowing him as a weapon, and later claims to have arranged his dream 1 3 13.
• Aki Hayakawa — Fourth Division teammate and housemate. Their early encounters include fighting, but Aki comes to approve of Meng Fan as a rookie and trusts his capabilities. Meng Fan prevents him from using a potentially fatal curse against the Eternity Devil 17 24 37 39.
• Himeno — Teammate who strongly trusts his ability to protect the division. They exchange flirtatious jokes, and she remains convinced he will return while his projected soul is absent 25 37 39 48.
• Power — Teammate and housemate. He rescues her cat, suggests the name Yuumi, and pursues the Poppy Devil while she faces execution. Her apple dependency also drives her to attack him 24 33 44 46 48.
• Makima — Public Safety superior and adversarial figure. She beheads him during their first confrontation, later appoints him temporary team leader, and assigns him to kill the Gun Devil. Her decision to execute Power prompts him to suggest putting her to sleep forever 17 33 48.
• Natsume Fan Zhi — A fellow hunter and trading associate who says they have been friends for over a year. He supplies devil corpses and information, but the nightclub trap leads Meng Fan to suspect betrayal and demand the identity of his hidden employer 46 48 50.
• Kobeni and Arai — Fellow hunters whose morale improves after his return at the hotel. He helps Denji reconcile with them, then forces Kobeni into the hallway, where she eventually kills the Eternity Devil’s heart 39 41.
• Nanako — A Yakuza boss’s wife whom he and Denji are assigned to protect during the Zombie Devil incident; she openly flirts with him after her husband’s death 15 16.

Story Role / Major Arcs

Early Hunts and Denji’s Apprenticeship

• Joins Denji’s Cucumber Devil job, defeats the devil, and secures direct payment from the farmer rather than allowing the Yakuza to take a cut 2 3 4.
• Takes a gang-owned car to a dealership, kills the armed men confronting him, and leaves with nearly two and a half million yen 4 5.
• Kills the Mouse Devil during a restaurant outing, then exposes and defeats Eiko’s murderous friend at the hot springs 7 10 11.
• Makes Denji his disciple before returning to the countryside, where they find Denji’s shack burned down. After the Yakuza shoot him, Meng Fan kills them through dream attacks and revives 13 14.

Entry into Public Safety

• Protects Nanako with Denji during the Zombie Devil incident and encounters Makima’s group after the devil’s defeat 15 17.
• Fights Makima, Aki, and the Ghost Devil. Makima beheads him, then abruptly becomes drowsy and collapses 17.
• Joins Special Division 4, takes part in the Fly Devil hunt, and investigates the ramen-shop murders that introduce the mysterious red apples 18 20 22 23.

Power’s Cat Rescue

• Proposes rescuing Power’s cat and uses Denji as bait while retrieving it from the Bat Devil’s cabin 29 32.
• Defeats the Bat and Leech Devils with rat and fly swarms, returns the cat to Power, and collects the devils’ remains 33.
• Is appointed team leader while Aki recovers and receives Makima’s order to kill the Gun Devil 33.

Morino Hotel

• Initially holds back so the rookies can gain combat experience 35.
• Leaves his body to gather food, causing his teammates to believe he may have died 37 39.
• Returns to rescue Denji and drive back the Eternity Devil, then deliberately preserves it as a training opponent for his disciple 39 40.
• Teaches Denji coordinated chainsaw attacks. Kobeni ultimately destroys the devil’s heart, ending the hotel trap 40 41.

Apple Investigation and Poppy Devil Hunt

• Finds three apples beside twenty corpses at the hotel and identifies Power’s reaction as escalating hunger and dependence 44.
• Questions whether the Poppy Devil is truly responsible, despite the proposed plan to kill it before Power’s execution 46.
• Accepts Natsume’s offer of money, devil corpses, and the Poppy Devil’s location in exchange for its corpse 46 48.
• Enters the nightclub, feigns submission, and learns that the Poppy Devil is unfamiliar with the Apple murders 49.
• Kills the Poppy Devil, collects its corpse, and escapes by impersonating it. When he confronts Natsume, the latter communicates in writing that their conversation is being monitored 50.

Notable Quotes

“I came here for one reason: to make you afraid of me.” 1

“I just can't die. I'm not invincible.” 25

“I'll save my own disciple. I don't need anyone else to do it.” 39

Trivia

• Jokingly calls himself the Bread Devil after eating Denji’s bread, and dismissively agrees with Denji’s guess that he is the Claw Devil. Neither is his actual contract identity 5.
• Cannot cook and directs Power to Aki when she demands breakfast 26.
• Teaches the hotel team the six-player card game Gouji while Denji fights the Eternity Devil 40.
• Wants to make films and considers producing Inception, Knives Out, A Nightmare on Elm Street, and Wrong Turn ahead of their time 43.