With the release of the latest Bungo Stray Dogs manga chapter, Kafka Asagiri answers one of the story’s long-standing mysteries—Fyodor Dostoevsky himself and Fyodor’s ability Crime and Punishment. While Fyodor’s possession of the ability is well-known, its true nature has long remained a mystery for the Bungo fans. Prepare for a rollercoaster ride of revelations as the story takes an even wilder turn.
If you can handle major spoilers for Chapter 114.5 and Bungo Stray Dogs itself, then buckle up for the journey ahead.
Karma’s Death
Introduced in Chapter 42, Crime and Punishment was initially believed to be able to kill someone with a single touch, and the death of Port Mafia’s Karma supported this speculation. With just a mere press of a finger on Karma’s forehead, Fyodor ultimately granted him the “great silence.”
However, Fyodor imposes greater threat as an opponent as we realize his ability is not only restricted to skin-to-skin contact. After getting cornered by Fitzgerald, Dazai, and the military police as the Mutual Destruction incident was nearing its conclusion in Chapter 53, Fyodor was set to get arrested by Ango. When a police officer abruptly grabbed his wrist despite Dazai’s warning, Fyodor’s sinister grin preceded the officer’s instantaneous death, even though he was wearing gloves. This confirms that Fyodor’s ability surpasses the limitations of skin-to-skin contact.
In Chapter 114, Dazai theorizes that Fyodor deliberately misled them about his ability being activated by touch. Tracing back to Fyodor’s arrest in Chapter 53, Dazai suggests Fyodor likely prepared a blood bullet from Hawthorne beforehand, transferring it to the police officer who grabbed his wrist, thus causing his immediate demise. This sheds light on one of Fyodor’s strengths: a villain to whom cunning comes as second nature.
Fyodor’s Backstory Through Sigma’s Ability
With Sigma’s ability allowing him to exchange information with anyone he touches, he loses consciousness following the information overload triggered by Fyodor’s ancient memories. Sigma witnesses Fyodor’s execution in an underground location possibly centuries ago. Fyodor’s blood spills on his executioner as he dies, where the latter writhes in agony and his body was later fully taken control by Fyodor. This aligns with Dazai’s theory that Fyodor’s ability activates not through touch: it activates when Fyodor himself is killed.
Bram: “The Next Dostoevsky”
Just as those who rooted for the Armed Detective Agency celebrated what seemed to be the demise of Fyodor in a helicopter crash steered by a mindless vampire during his escape from Meursault in Chapter 112, it appears that the rat did not meet his end after all.
In Chapter 114, Dazai and Chuuya are taken aback as they inspected what they believed to be Fyodor’s “corpse.” Dazai realizes that the vampire, who was steering the helicopter, did not kill Fyodor in his own will, as he was only a puppet at one’s fingertips: it was the undead king, Bram Stoker, who killed Fyodor with intent.
The chapter ends with Fyodor creating a tripolar singularity with the use of the three extremes: the Divine Blade: Amenogozen, the Holy Sword Soluz Levni, and the ability to increase the strength of a weapon hundredfold. This might also be the explanation of the 2-hours-later bit at the anime’s fifth season finale.
Shibusawa’s Mist in Dead Apple
In the events of Dead Apple, Tatsuhiko Shibusawa engulfed Yokohama with his mysterious mist, which separated abilities from their users. These abilities manifested themselves in a rather unique form: glowing, faceless, and silhouette-like of the ability’s original form. However, Fyodor’s ability remained unaffected by Shibusawa’s fog, where it even explicitly stated that it was the “punishment” for Fyodor’s actions.
While the full extent of his abilities remains unclear, Fyodor embodies the traits of a formidable antagonist, requiring both meticulousness and cunning.
What does Fyodor’s Ability Do?
Chapter 114.5 tells us that he can subsume his murderer as “the next Dostoevsky,” making them his “new vessel” perhaps. Just imagine what he can do if he can also use all of their abilities. As expected, fans speculate about how he is going to meet his end, pondering if he can only be killed naturally (such as due to old age) or by someone capable of nullifying abilities (definitely not talking about Dazai).
Bungo Stray Dogs is anything but predictable, after all. We’ll have to wait patiently for further developments, likely for another month or two.
© Kafka Asagiri, Harukawa35/KADOKAWA/Bungo Stray Dogs Production Committee
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