Warning: MAJOR SPOILERS for Chainsaw Man (anime and manga).
The main villain of Chainsaw Man Part 1 could have actually engineered their own demise. The skills and abilities that Denji learns from Kishibe during his special training are the reason why he wins the final battle in the series, and Denji would have never gotten that training if not for the villain themselves.
Readers of the Chainsaw Man manga already know that Power, the Blood Devil Fiend, into it. To make them ready to fight powerful Devils, Makima arranged for Devil and Power to be trained by Kishibe, who is perhaps the strongest Devil Hunter in the world.
Denji and Power's training is seen in episode #10 of the Chainsaw Man anime, but only manga readers know how important this will be in the future. During the training, Kishibe uses a cruel but effective approach that hinges on the fact that Denji and Power cannot be killed, as long as someone feeds them blood. So, he repeatedly attacks and kills them, day after day. The purpose is to make the two sharpen their physical and mental skills, but also to force them to come up with clever and creative ways to fight against a stronger opponent, using their brains as much as their muscles. The intense and brutal training regime also strengthens the bond between Denji and Power, who begin to develop a true friendship from that point onward.
Makima Made Denji Train With Kishibe, Which Allowed Him To Defeat Her In The End
In his final battle against Makima, Denji uses the exact same set of skills he learned from Kishibe to defeat the overwhelming power of the Control Devil. He decides to "fight smart", ripping out a piece of his heart and making that duplicate fight Makima and her Devil Hybrids, while the real Denji sneaks up behind her and, correctly guessing that Makima only perceives other people from their smell, takes her down in one hit. Also, the only reason why Denji could recover from his first battle against Makima was that Power gave her life for him, something that would have not happened if their bond was not so strong. Without the training Denji received from Kishibe, then, Makima would have never been defeated.
Does this mean that Makima actually engineered her own defeat? Much about the Control Devil remains a mystery, so it's only possible to make speculations. Surely, Makima had an interest in keeping Denji alive until she was able to break him emotionally and sever his contract with Pochita, allowing the dormant Chainsaw Devil to take over completely. However, Kishibe is an incredibly dangerous man who is the first to catch up to Makima's schemes and secrets, so it would have been wiser to keep Denji away from him. Considering that, in the end, the Control Devil reincarnated in a new body, there is still a chance that this was Makima's goal all along, but it would contradict everything the character ever said in the series.
As Chainsaw Man Part 2 progresses, fans could have the chance to learn more about Makima and her goals, maybe through her newly-introduced fellow Four Horsemen Devils. Until that happens, however, the doubt will remain that Chainsaw Man's biggest villain actually engineered her own defeat.
The latest chapters of the Chainsaw Man manga are available from Viz Media. The Chainsaw Man anime is streaming on Crunchyroll.
