The Insightful Raving of Mephisto Pheles (Blue Exorcist)

If there is one character that is extremely hard to read and whose mindset continues to question his peers, it’s none other than Mephisto Pheles from Blue Exorcist. In the beginning of Chapter 44, the flamboyant demon decides to lecture readers about what makes human beings go. He talks about the three main desires of human beings: material desire, sexual desire, and more importantly, the desire of knowledge. Mephisto’s words highlight a time where information has become even more key to succeed.

The desire for knowledge is what keeps everyone alive. What do we need to make money? How do we hunt for food? Where do we find ideas for growth? What do we need to do in order to be independent? It is a natural feeling that we all have. Knowledge does equal power. The more you know, the more you have an advantage.

Mephisto takes a peek at Yukio Okumura’s desires to understand his life. The boy just went through a lot during the big battle against the Impure King detailed in Volumes 6-9. He wants to know Mephisto’s intentions and why he is interested in him and his brother, Rin Okumura, in the first place. Mephisto teases Yukio’s behavior around Shiemi Moriyama during a tutoring session and jokes about opposite-sex interactions being used to relieve stress. He also notices that Yukio seems to be looking at his dilemma as nothing too complicated.

Mephisto’s rant poses two interesting points: how much knowledge is too much and what will one do once they find what they were looking for. One can argue that the desire for knowledge can be the vice of curiosity. What happens when your curiosity is sated? Will you become bored and seek more answers to other questions? Will that knowledge ruin your life? Such questions need to be addressed.

We live in a world where information is everywhere and easily accessible. What happens when we decide to learn everything? Can we apply it to our daily lives? Maybe that’s the most important thing that Mephisto is trying to point out. We should gain knowledge to mostly fulfill our needs, not our wants. Our society today focuses way too much with wants and is blurring the lines between what is important versus what isn’t. Mephisto crudely remarks that people who want to know more than they need to are pathetic. 

Yes, knowledge is power, but if there’s one thing that makes it powerful - it’s to make sure you know your limits.