Chainsaw Man has become a worldwide sensation. Denji has even garnered so much attention that he's being compared to ancient fossils by scientists.
Chainsaw Man is probably one of the most destructive characters in manga and anime. The show, which aired in 2023, garnered a lot of attention and hype and is also set for a season 2 eventually. It seems like that attention has even reached the world of academia, with fossils of ancient species getting compared to Tatsuki Fujimoto's creation.
In a personal blog post by Dr. Nick Longrich, he explains how an ancient predator reminded him of the popular manga and anime character.
Terrifying Predator Reminds Researcher Of Chainsaw Man
Dr. Nick Longrich a senior lecturer in evolutionary Biology at the University of Bath, posted on his personal blog on March 4. In the blog post, he revealed that a new form of mosasaur – an extinct group of large aquatic reptiles – had been found in Morocco.
Longrich described the find as ugly, stating that the Khinjaria acuta had "small and beady eyes with a short and massive face and along weirdly stretched skull".
Mosasaurs went extinct approximately 66 million years ago during the Cretaceous-Paleogene (K-Pg) extinction event. This catastrophic event, likely caused by a massive asteroid impact and volcanic activity, led to the demise of about 75% of Earth's species, including all non-avian dinosaurs, mosasaurs, and other marine reptiles of the time.
It’s pretty freakish-looking; a cruel and nightmarish-looking animal. Looking at the skull and teeth, I can’t help but think of the series Chainsaw Man.
The creature was so ugly and terrifying that the first name suggested for it was Shaytania pandaemonium, but because the name had the Arabic word for devil in it, they decided to go for something a little different, instead deciding to name this newly found monster Khinjaria acuta which translates to "sharp dagger".
Honestly, this also fits very well, especially after looking at the fossils of this huge creature, which apparently grew to over eight meters in size.
But what reminded Longrich of Chainsaw Man? Well, the large head, which apparently was around 1 meter big, as well as the sharp teeth and long snout seem to resemble the outline of Denji when he transformed into Chainsaw Man.
Honestly, while I don't see the full comparison, it's still interesting to see that we continue to learn of new creatures that once inhabited our planet. And who knows maybe one day we get to see a Khinjaria acuta inspired monster in Chainsaw Man?