Frieren: Here’s What Happens to Demons When They Die!

Being a fantasy manga, Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End is naturally filled with fantasy creatures, including demons. We have seen only a small number of the villainous demons that will appear in the series, which means that we also have only a portion of the information on them. But, while more data is still to come, we have decided to focus this article on a very special moment that is related to the fate of demons in Frieren, as you are going to find out what happens to Demons when they die in the series and why their death is so much different.

Demons die just like everyone else, but their deaths are a bit different

There are numerous different races in the world of Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, and Demons are one of them; they are, as you might expect, a major faction in the series. The Demons are, as Frieren described them, sentient monsters who can imitate humans for their benefit.

However they can speak, but they are limited in understanding many concepts they talk about and use them simply to put themselves in a better position in front of humans. Their essence is beast-like, in the end, and they are vile and wicked creatures who care only for themselves.

While they can collaborate and form groups, they are intrinsically solitary creatures and obey only those who are more powerful than themselves or whom they can actually benefit from in some way. Their appearance varies from monster-like (e.g., Qual) to completely human-like (e.g., Aura), although all of them have characteristic horns on their heads that make it possible to recognize them with ease. They are isolated from the other races, as they generally want to either kill them, as is the case with Elves, or eat them, as is the case with humans. They are also generally good with magic.

Now, the average lifespan of a Demon is quite long. In that aspect, they are very similar to Elves, which is why it is quite logical that they are natural enemies, as Elves aren’t intrinsically evil.

We know that the Demon King lived for over 1,000 years, so we assume that other Demons can also live for a very long time. But, also, like Elves, they are not immortal. They will eventually die of old age, just as Elves, and they can be killed, just as Elves. But, while we know very little of how Elves dies, we have seen several Demon deaths in the series so far, and their death is quite specific, as Frieren herself said.

So far, we have seen Qual die, we have seen the demon girl from the past die, and we have seen Draht die in the series; sure, the Demon King died as well, but his death was not shown on-screen, just like the deaths of many other powerful Demons. Frieren had a role in each of the three on-screen deaths, and thanks to these scenes, we can actually explain how Demons die in Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End.

Namely, unlike other species, who die and leave a corpse behind them, Demons leave nothing. When they are dying, their body becomes black, like charcoal, and starts to rot, with ash-like particles flying around them as their body disappears. As Frieren explained, when a Demon dies, his body turns back into mana, and the particles are scattered around, probably being reabsorbed back into the environment, which is the primary source of mana in the first place.

This is why it is exceptionally difficult to prove that a Demon died, as there are no physical traces.

A dead Demon leaves no corpse behind him, and the body disappears completely. His blood, if any was spilled, seems to remain there as proof, as suggested via a scene from the anime, but since there was no way of identifying whose blood it is, it isn’t generally of much use. And that is how Demons in Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End die.

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