DEVILMAN
THE BIRTH
What is this?
Professor Fudo! By your foot!
It's alive!
Run!
Dear!
What happened to Yamanobe?
Yamanobe!
Usatarou...
I'm so glad you're okay.
How terrible!
Poor thing.
How could anyone be so cruel?
Who's there?
Oh?
What's up?
I don't usually see you waiting around, Miki.
Well, once in a while.
I saw Fudo earlier at the rabbit hutch.
Thank you. If he doesn't show up soon, I'll go over there.
Yeah? Well, good luck. Bye!
Don't give me that! You know who we are!
It's the freeloader who's staying with Makimura.
"I'm so glad you're okay! How terrible!"
Hey, lover boy! Is Miki your pet too?
A cozy arrangement, with your parents missing.
You could take the rabbit's place as target practice.
Please, don't go.
You better release the rabbit before we really hurt you.
Stop this... Uh, I beg of you.
What's this begging crap?
Now, hand over the rabbit!
Masa wants it for practice.
Give it up, kid. He'll really kill you.
Give him the bunny.
No!
Knock it off! You'll kill him!
Hey, kid.
You've got guts. I underestimated you.
But next time, be smarter or you'll get yourself killed.
We're busy here!
Come back later.
What are you guys being so sneaky about?
Akira!
Here comes his keeper. Let's go.
Akira! Are you okay?
Doesn't look like it...
Hey, you guys! Hold it!
What are you doing? Hurry up, come here.
It's just a scratch. I'll be alright.
No wonder they ran off. One look at me would startle anyone.
Next time I see those guys, I'll kick their asses!
You'd better not, Miki. Don't get involved.
What are you talking about? I'm already involved.
I can't sit by and let them do this to one of my guests.
Here, let me see your face.
Ouch! I'll do it myself.
You should let me do it. I'm used to taking care of Tare.
Thank you.
You should think about yourself a little. That will probably leave a scar.
I was in shock earlier, I thought my heart was gonna stop!
Stupid! It's late, let's go home.
Miki!
Let's take a shortcut.
Miki...
I...
Well...
Akira!
Akira Fudo!
It's Ryo!
It's been awhile!
This is my classmate from my last school, Ryo Asuka.
This is Miki Makimura.
Nice to meet you.
Akira, I need you. Come to my house.
Right now?
Come.
Hey, Asuka... Today isn't good for Akira.
He's been injured.
And we were in the middle of an important conversation.
Our business is much more important.
Wait!
Akira!
Are you really leaving with him?
Yeah, he's acting kind of weird...
I get it. He's pretty, isn't he?
Miki! Ryo is a guy!
Alright, then I'll go too!
Ryo, would it be a problem if Miki came with?
Stop it, Ryo!
I have no need for her. There's no time.
Please come, Akira.
Why are you carrying such a dangerous thing?
I think I'm in danger.
But what if you hurt someone?
I don't care.
My father died.
But he seemed fine the last time I saw him.
He didn't die from an illness.
It was suicide.
He doused himself in gasoline and lit a match.
He kept pouring the gasoline on himself until the end.
One morning, I found my canary dead. Its body ripped to pieces.
That's when it started.
Next, I found my dog John, beheaded.
Father, John is...
It's fine, Ryo. Don't worry.
That dog went mad. I had to put him down.
Don't worry. I'll get you a new dog.
Yes, I'll get you one large enough to be worth killing!
Father!
He tried to kill you?!
And then, he died.
His charred body was twice as heavy as when he was alive!
But his size never changed...
Only his weight doubled.
No way. It's like a ghost story...
My father left me an inheritance. A terrifying one.
Something I wish I'd never seen.
But now that I know... I have to face it.
However, it's not something I can handle by myself.
Akira Fudo, I want to share my father's horrifying inheritance with you.
Don't I have to take my shoes off?
It doesn't matter.
You knew that my father was an archaeologist.
Of course. He was famous.
It began when he was surveying some Mayan ruins.
While in the jungle nearby, he slipped into a hole masked by the underbrush.
It was a narrow hole at the surface, but it went down very deep.
He slid for a long time down a steep incline.
And at the bottom, he discovered something strange.
Hey, it's so dark...
What about the lights?
We can see without the lights. Look!
A monster!
Take a good look. It's artificial.
Artificial?
What does it look like to you?
T-The Devil.
It's mankind's image of the Devil, certainly.
Was it created by an ancient civilization?
No, no human being made this. Humans didn't exist yet.
It comes from before the Great Flood, from before the Ice Age, even.
But... It doesn't look natural.
Right. It was definitely crafted.
How? You said humans didn't exist yet.
What if it was made by something other than human?
Other than human?
The primeval dwellers of the Earth, the demons! Devils, to be precise.
Demons had no written language.
They wove their memories into these.
It's a demon history book.
Ryo!
The history of the world of demons is projected
directly into the brain of whoever wears this thing.
Akira, please put this on.
It gives me the creeps...
Put it on!
M-Maybe next time...
Akira!
My father gave his life for this!
If you don't put it on, you'll never learn the reason for his suicide.
You still won't do it?
Okay, Ryo.
Don't take it off. Look! Look closely!
That is the world of the devils!
Just as humans developed weapons,
demons developed the power of fusion.
Demons with this ability, in order to grow stronger,
would combine with others over and over,
until they became grotesque creatures with strange powers.
I can't believe that devils really existed!
I see this has been shocking for you. I know how sensitive you are.
I suppose mankind was lucky.
The demons perished,
which meant there were no terrible enemies to oppose mankind's evolution.
Or did they?
If demons were really extinct, how would humans know about them?
What about the legends of demons from all over the world?
Until now, the Devil was thought to be a figment of imagination, just like God.
But devils did exist!
Have you heard of "The Divine Comedy" by Dante?
No.
Dante was an Italian poet of the 13th century.
He wrote a tale of a journey through Hell, Purgatory and Heaven.
He describes the deepest pit of Hell where the Devil is entombed in ice.
In dreadful cold, Lucifer, the giant bat-winged Lord of Demons
is buried up to his chest in ice, suffering in motionless torment.
What do you think of this story?
Maybe a demon was trapped during the Ice Age. Maybe Dante really saw it.
The demon was trapped in his icy prison, in suspended animation. Still alive.
Now it is about to be reborn in our modern world to claim the Earth once more.
No...
What would happen if I asked the army to go to Antarctica to kill the Devil?
They'd think I was crazy.
Demons know that, without weapons, mankind is weak.
So, before mankind can take up arms...
Before they can learn of the existence of demons...
They will slink in like shadows, and kill us all.
That's crazy! Humanity isn't defenseless!
We have terrible weapons! The hydrogen bomb!
Demons develop their bodies the same way we develop weapons.
There may be one with the power of a hydrogen bomb.
Demons love nothing more than fighting.
They delight in the slaughter of the living.
There is no love in the heart of a demon.
They are devils indeed.
It can't be! How can you be so sure?
It's something my father sacrificed himself to learn.
In order to find out how demons think...
my father united with one.
His diary and will explained everything.
Why he had to die...
and how to battle the demons.
That is the inheritance he left me.
Is that the terrible thing you spoke of before?
Yes, that's right.
Follow me.
It's underground.
A demon!
Akira!
It's here!
Hold on tight!
Die!
It's still alive!
Use this.
No way... I can't!
If you don't want to die, then shoot!
N-No way...
What's wrong?
Dammit!
A demon! It's taken over the car! The door!
No good! It won't open!
Come on! Break the window!
Ryo!
Run!
So, this is a demon...
Yes.
Akira, I'm sorry for dragging you into all of this,
but everyone except you looks like the enemy to me.
You are the only one I can trust, Akira Fudo.
Please understand...
Akira!
Shoot!
Akira!
Akira.
The demon is dead.
You did well.
Let's head back.
My parents were eaten by some creature at the glacier.
Could it be...
I don't know. I don't know, but... it probably was.
You said there was a way we could fight the demons.
And that was your father's terrifying inheritance.
It's coming!
There's no escape for us now.
Yeah.
I'll take on your inheritance.
Ryo, tell it to me straight.
What is this terrifying inheritance you've talked about?
There can't be many ways to fight monsters with supernatural powers.
I can only think of one.
You already knew...
You chose to accept my inheritance, knowing what it would mean.
The only way to fight the demons is to become a demon yourself.
Do you know what this means, Akira?
What it means to no longer be human?
All the happiness... the sorrow... the essence of life itself...
All of it must be abandoned.
These are the last words of my father's will.
Only one kind of human can unite with a demon
and gain its power, while maintaining their humanity.
Someone with a pure heart, and a will powerful enough to hold the demon back.
A young man who loves justice.
That's why I have chosen you, Akira Fudo!
I don't know... I guess I have the "young man" part down, at least...
Don't worry. I believe in you.
What if I realize I can't hold the demon back?
Then choose death, like my father.
At best, I'll transform and fight the demons until my death.
At worst, I become a monster and burn myself to death.
And you won't get to choose between them.
It all depends on how the union goes.
Truly a terrifying inheritance!
It is a tremendous burden my father left.
Ryo, you're my Lord Enma guiding me straight to Hell!
Let's go, Enma! Open the gates of Hell!
This is the entrance to Hell... The Sanzu River!
What is this?!
What is this? Some kind of joke?
Ryo!
It's the Sabbath.
There have long been two kinds of ceremonies regarding the Devil.
The Black Mass and the Sabbath.
My father thought that these ceremonies created the conditions
that made it easier for humans to join with demons.
You mean all of this is necessary for the transformation?
That's right.
Demons can combine with any creature, yet they rarely combine with humans.
That's because humans have one trait that demons abhor.
Their reason.
The one thing that keeps humans human. Reason.
Since demons live to satisfy their instincts, they despise reason.
So, to unite with a demon, I must abandon all reason.
Exactly! When a human abandons their reason and acts only on instinct,
that is when a demon and a human can unite!
The people I gathered here are small-time hoodlums.
They seek only pleasure. They are used to abandoning their reason.
Hanging out with them would make it easy for us to do the same, right?
Drink this.
Hold it, Ryo! Won't these people become demons too?
Yes, they will all transform.
But I've told them nothing. They have no knowledge of the demons.
That means...
As soon as they become possessed, they will lose their souls.
When we unite with the demons they will all become our enemies.
But...
If that's true, it's all of them against us! We'll be killed immediately!
We can't beat all those demons!
And yet, we must beat them!
Think about what we're going to have to do!
You and I alone must fight against thousands of demons!
If we can't join with a demon strong enough to defeat this many,
then there's no point in joining at all!
It's unlikely that both of us will survive.
But if one of us does, the survivor must protect humanity.
We can't hand the Earth over to them.
What are you doing just talking with another guy?
Come on, dance with me!
Hang on! Ryo!
The Black Mass teaches us one other thing...
Demons love blood!
I will bathe this room in blood!
Bastard!
Stop it!
I hate fighting and I despise blood!
Shut up! Your friend started this!
Come on, kid! Get a grip on yourself!
You want mama's tits, huh?
Suck on this, brat!
Ryo!
Akira, is anything happening to your body?
No! I don't feel anything!
Damn, we failed!
I have it now!
I have... the body of a demon!
I am...
Devilman!
What are you doing, Amon?
He's gone mad!
I am not Amon!
I am the devil born to wipe you demons from the face of Earth!
Devilman!
Your consciousness has been conquered by a human!
It is I who has conquered the demon's body...
and his supernatural powers!
Is that... Is that really Akira?
The gentle and sensitive Akira Fudo?
He finds pleasure in battle
and rejoices in slaughter!
To me, he appears...
much worse than a devil!
He has become a devil among devils!
Could it be... By trying to create mankind's ally...
I may have created our worst enemy!
Oh, no! Ryo! Ryo!
If Ryo transformed, I might have killed him too!
Ryo! Where are you?
Ryo!
Don't leave me alone in this Hell!
Ryo!
You can't die, Ryo!
Ryo!