They are something else, that’s for sure.
Summary:
- A lot of series give their demons human qualities.
- Frieren demons are not like that.
- They’re completely void of human emotions, and that’s what makes them stand out.
Frieren: Beyond Journey's End (Sousou no Frieren) is not the first (and we’re sure, not the last) anime to have demons in them, but the way they are written in this particular series is quite exciting and, we dare say, unusual.
Frieren’s demons are different
The thing with most series is that their demons always have something human-like in them. They are not void of emotions, they can care, get angry or even scared. No matter how horrible their deeds are, they are often given a chance for redemption.
Let’s address the elephant in the room and mention Demon Slayer (Kimetsu no Yaiba) for comparison. Demons in this series are not void of humanity. Sure, they’re dangerous and brutal, but their stories can be touching and they can care about each other. To be honest, we shed a few tears for Daki and Gyutaro.
Frieren is not like that when it comes to demons. They can understand human language and use it to manipulate people and prey on them, but they’re incapable of human emotions.
They don’t understand humans
Frieren’s demons know just the right thing to say. One of the demon girls that Frieren’s party encountered knew that saying the word “mom” would prevent humans from killing her, but she had no idea what this word meant.
She couldn’t understand family connections either and thought that giving a new daughter to a family whose girl she murdered would get her forgiveness.
Lügner is just as good at playing the “my father” card without even fully understanding the true meaning of family for people. He just knows it’ll work, but he has no idea why because family means nothing to him. He is incapable of forming bonds.
This is exactly the thing that makes Frieren’s demons stand out. They are not angry or necessarily evil. They just don’t understand the concepts of good and evil. They have their own motives and do whatever they have to do to achieve their goal.
This makes Frieren’s demons great antagonists because they feel like asocial aliens capable of anything. We know they can’t be trusted, but we also know that there’s no malice to them, they just don’t care about humans. That’s why it’s natural to want to believe them at times. Only to get disappointed a second later.