Akira Fudo

Lore & Background

In Devilman Crybaby, Akira Fudo is a shy teenager who lives with Miki Makimura and her family. His best friend, Ryo Asuka, asks him for help since Ryo's late father—a scientist or researcher—had claimed to discover the existence of demons hidden in society. Ryo contends that by seeking out demons and becoming like them, they can defeat them. Ryo takes Akira to a nightclub and attracts the attention of demons by drawing blood. In the ensuing melee, a demon known as Amon—the Lord of War, also called the "Beast of Hell"—consumes Akira. However, Akira manages to hold on to his own self-identity while assimilating Amon's character traits and powers, and becomes known as Devilman. Throughout the series, Devilman fights against many types of demons. In time, the demons launch a world war against humans, which triggers mass panic and paranoia across the planet. Akira fights demons alongside Ryo initially, and later actively recruits and leads other Devilmen like Kaim. But when Ryo makes his true allegiance to the demon race known by exposing Akira's demonic nature, Miki's parents are killed by the mob. To make things worse, a crazed mob murders Miki and her brother and Akira sees their corpses on display. Enraged, Akira kills the mob in a blind rage, driven by horror and despair rather than deliberate retribution. Akira goes on to fight Ryo, who reveals himself to be a disguised Satan. The final battle and the extinction of humanity occur within the same timeline; after both of their armies are destroyed, Akira dies at the hands of Ryo. His dismembered body remains on a rock next to a mournful Satan as God's angels descend upon earth.

In Their Own Story

The rain slicks the neon-lit streets, reflecting the crimson glow of distant fires as Akira stands amidst the chaos. His silhouette is jagged and imposing, horns curving sharply from his brow, yet his eyes hold a sorrowful warmth that no demon should possess. He looks down at a trembling child hiding behind a dumpster, ignoring the screams of the mob closing in with torches and pitchforks. 'It's okay,' he whispers, his voice vibrating with a power that could shatter mountains but is used only to gently lift the boy into safety. In this moment, the monster is not the one with claws; it is the world that refuses to see the heart beating beneath the scales.

Reader's Guide

Akira Fudo begins as an unassuming, kind-hearted high school student who values friendship above all else. His life changes irrevocably when his best friend, Ryo Asuka, reveals himself as a demon and orchestrates a ritual to fuse Akira with Amon, the King of Demons. Unlike other hosts who are consumed by their demonic counterparts, Akira's strong human will allows him to dominate the fusion, granting him immense power while keeping his conscience intact. His relationship with Ryo is complex; they start as inseparable friends and end as ideological opposites, with Ryo believing demons should rule humanity and Akira fighting for coexistence. As the apocalypse unfolds, Akira struggles to protect his loved ones from both demonic hordes and a hysterical human population that views him as a threat. Despite his heroic efforts, he is ultimately betrayed by his own kind. In the series' climax, after witnessing the total collapse of society into mutual destruction, Akira is killed by humans who no longer distinguish between friend and foe. His death triggers a final, devastating realization for Ryo: that true evil lies not in demons, but in humanity's capacity to destroy itself.

Did You Know?

• Akira Fudo was created by Go Nagai following the cancellation of Demon Lord Dante, after Toei Animation approached Nagai about turning Dante into a television series.
• In the original manga, Nagai wanted to show Akira at his lowest when he discovers Miki has been killed by humans and, in a fit of rage, murders all of them, claiming they were not humans due to not being able to consider humans as being capable of that degree of savagery.
• Director Masaaki Yuasa describes the character in Crybaby as: 'Akira/Devilman is a crybaby, and at the end he is able to make Satan cry.'
• In the spin-off Amon: The Darkside of the Devilman, Akira loses control of his humanity after witnessing the brutal murder of Miki and allows Amon to take control of him.
• At the end of Violence Jack, the protagonist Jack is revealed to be Akira Fudo himself after being resurrected by Ryo 'Satan' Asuka.