Devil

== Devils ==
Devils are a race of supernatural entities appearing throughout the galaxy. They are creatures that feed upon humanity's fears.
== Overview ==
=== Origin ===
Devils are born in Hell. All Devils are born with a "name" that correlates to a concept. These can range from highly tangible (Fish, Tomato) to entirely abstract (Future, Curse). The concept does not have to refer to something that exists; there is no indication that ghosts, zombies or angels exist in the galaxy, yet all these names have corresponding Devils. Each name is unique to its respective Devil, though some overlap based on specificity is possible as there have been both a War Devil and a World War II Devil. Devils manifest according to the collective consciousness surrounding their names (for example: the Gun Devil appears to be constructed out of guns and has gun related abilities). They are the embodiment of the fear that "name" represents, so as long as that "name" holds fear, they continue to reincarnate.
The concept of a Devil itself doesn’t have to be scary on its own, rather its power relies on how much of a scary image it has in the popular consciousness of humans. For example, cars aren’t necessarily scary on their own, but Makima states that a Car Devil would be powerful because of the scariness of car crashes and other car related incidents. Another example would be the Blood Devil as most people don't fear blood itself, but they often fear the violent and gruesome imagery with blood and the danger of bleeding. Devils that die in Hell reappear in the human world; Devils that die in the human world reappear in Hell. Devils cannot recall any memories from their previous lives and their entire personality resets. Despite their reincarnation abilities, Devils are not completely immortal; as they are born out of humanity's fear of some concept, if all of humanity forgets the existence of this concept, the Devil it belongs to completely ceases to exist.
According to the Angel Devil, him and the other Devils of Special Division 4 all remember the sound of the Chainsaw Devil's engine roaring before they died in Hell.
=== Physiology ===
The appearance and physiology of a Devil varies from one to another, as their shape and bodily structure often have to do with the "name" they embody. Most Devils possess human limbs, faces, bones, and other body parts, such as the Snake Devil's mouth being made of interlocking human arms, even their fears wouldn't indicate organs or limbs, given the Tomato Devil and Grape Devil both possess human eyes and limbs despite being based on plants. Other Devils, such as the Fox Devil or the Octopus Devil, don't appear to have these features (at least on what parts of them have been shown). Devils do not reproduce as most organisms do, instead simply "appearing" in Hell. What criteria, if any, cause a Devil to be born are completely unknown
Devils who are friendly and are more inclined to humans will take on a very humanoid form in the natural state of their incarnation, some being indistinguishable from a human save from some subtle tells. There have still been some non-humanoid Devils who have been friendly towards humans such as the Fox Devil.
Devils primarily feed on the blood and fear of humans, however they can also survive by drinking the blood of other creatures (such as Fiends and other Devils). While fear makes Devils more powerful, consuming blood allows them to quickly heal their injuries as well as grow in power — meaning that consuming humans is more than just instinctual hatred, but often necessary to their survival. For that reason, while Devils and Fiends can also consume other kinds of foods, such as vegetables and fruits, most refuse to live off of them, since it will not heal their wounds or give them more power. It is unclear whether or not their blood is properly nourishing to them, but given consistent remarks that they have a terrible or unusual taste, it's likely that Hybrids aren't as nourishing to Devils as humans (despite being mostly human).
Devils also appear to be incapable of dying due to old age; they can live indefinitely until killed by external factors. The age of most Devils are unknown.
Some Devils also have a "near-death" state where their appearance changes to a weaker form. An example: Pochita, the dog-like weakened form of the Chainsaw Devil.
=== Interspecies Relationship ===
Naturally, most Devils are extremely hostile considering their requirements to feed on the blood and fear of humans. Some, however, are relatively friendly and feed by alternative means: Some Devils, such as the Fox Devil, choose to form contracts with humans, allowing humans to borrow some of their power in exchange for a sacrifice. Other Devils outright choose to become Devil Hunters, allowing them to live in human society and buy food with the money that they make. As a general guideline, the more human the Devil looks, the more friendly they tend to behave. However it is worth noting that Devils do not have human rights and therefore there is no legal repercussions if they are killed by a human. For that reason, some Devils and Fiends are coerced into helping humans out of fear of dying rather than doing it out of their own free will. Devil Hunters will sometimes capture Devils to use them for contracts.
While uncommon, it is possible for a human and a Devil/Fiend to form an emotional bond. In some rare cases it might even develop into a romantic relationship.
== Abilities ==
=== General Abilities ===
* Fear Empowerment: All Devils are born with a "name" that ties them to a concept. Devils feed on the fear that humans and other creatures have towards that concept, gaining their strength from it. Because of this, a Devil's power is deeply related to how humans perceive the concept and the visual images that their "name" inspire. The more fear is associated with a "name", the more powerful the Devil who possesses it becomes. An example offered by Makima is how a Car Devil would be stronger than a Coffee Devil, since cars conjures up the mental image of getting run over and dying, while coffee does not evoke any scary ideas; another example is the Chicken Devil, which is so weak that it was kept as a class pet for a high school and killed when a student fell onto it. The fear that humans have towards Devils in general is also a source of power that they can utilize, since it was stated that after the Gun Devil attack, Devils grew stronger due to people being more afraid of them. Devils can also feed on the fear that other Devils have towards them, with the Chainsaw Devil managing to become extremely strong by using Devils fear as his source of power.
* Blood Consumption: All Devils can consume blood of other creatures to heal their injuries, it is also implied that Devils can grow more powerful by consuming blood. While all Devils can consume blood to quickly regenerate, powerful Devils have shown to possess better regeneration. Hybrids and other powerful Devils, such as the Gun Devil and Darkness Devil, have really potent healing factors. The flesh or blood of a Devil can be fed to other creatures, making them stronger and even giving them the ability of the Devil they’ve eaten, however this only works if the flesh/blood they ate came from a Devil that is still alive as Leo did not get more powerful or gained the Control Devil’s ability, despite consuming Makima’s entire body.
* Contract Creation: All Devils can make contracts with humans, allowing humans to borrow some of their power in exchange for a sacrifice. However, Fiends are unable to perform contracts and Devils are unable to perform contracts between each other.
* Corpse Possession: All Devils can also possess human corpses. This in most cases ends up creating a Fiend, though in rare cases it can end up creating a Hybrid instead under certain circumstances. The personality of the Fiend may mirror that of the corpse if the brain is still intact, as evident by the Violence Fiend's polite and gentle attitude. In these scenarios, the Devil may also retain some memories from the body they took over. In rare instances, Devils deliberately would like to retain the personality of the possessed corpse, effectively reviving them, and take over their personalities from time to time. The only known instance of this happening is with the War Devil, who took over Asa Mitaka's body while keeping her ego intact.
* Reincarnation: Another ability common among all Devils is reincarnation: when a Devil dies, they reincarnate in Hell; when they die in Hell, they reincarnate on planets. This ability makes them practically immortal. However every time they reincarnate, their memories and personalities are reset, making them completely different individuals from their previous incarnation. However, if the concept to which the Devil belongs is forgotten by humanity, they are unable to reincarnate and cease to exist.
* Flesh Power Boost: It is said that a Devil or human of any power can have their abilities boosted if they eat the flesh of a super powerful Devil no matter what their original power level was. Some examples are the numerous Devils who became more powerful by eating the Gun Devil’s flesh, Santa Claus becoming a very powerful abomination after consuming the flesh of the Darkness Devil, and Power gaining her full devil form restored from.
=== Unique Abilities ===
Devils also may possess other supernatural abilities correlating with their name. The conditions and effects of each supernatural ability is unique to the respective Devil. Using these abilities usually consumes a portion of their blood. Despite each Devil has their own abilities, these may be common between different Devils or Fiends such as Force Manipulation which used by the Control Devil and the Darkness Devil or intangibility which used by the Spider Devil and the Shark Fiend. According to Aki, a Devil's abilities are undone upon death.
Sometimes a Devil's natural ability or special ability may not always correlate or link up with what exactly their concept represents, or at the very least, won't represent a trait that is instantly known with the concept. The reason for these can be because of things like a more powerful Devil being able to have access to more abilities, like how the Snake Devil barely uses traditional snake ways of attacking, such as venom, but has shown "cheats" like consuming another Devil to make that Devil fight on their side. But it might not always or only apply to powerful Devils.
== Weaknesses ==
* Positive Emotions: Just like fear can make a Devil stronger, positive emotions can make a Devil weaker. When a large group of humans develop love or admiration towards a Devil, those emotions will start to eat the Devil's strength, making them weaker.
* Forgotten Concept: If the concept for a Devil is often forgotten, ignored or less thought of they become much less feared and can even not exist anymore.