Frieren: Who Is Heiter? Everything You Need to Know About the “Corrupt Priest”!

The characters we’ve seen in Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End are truly amazing. Although Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End is a Japanese work, the authors behind the project have tried to create a fantasy world familiar to both Japanese and Western fans of the series. In this article, we will discuss one of the main characters in the series, Heiter the Priest, whom Frieren constantly calls the “Corrupt Priest.” In this article, we are going to tell you everything you need to know about Heiter and his story in Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End.

Heiter was the most unlikely hero in the original group, but while “corrupt,” he was not a bad person

At the start of the Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End manga, a group of four characters travels to the Royal Capital after defeating the Demon Lord. Among them is a young priest with glasses who exclaims that he wants a job in the future that will allow him to drink alcohol, as he is a big fan of alcoholic beverages. Frieren, the Elf mage of the group, calls him a “corrupt priest.” Later, he is seen drinking while celebrating their success, and he agrees with Frieren’s promise to see the meteor shower once more.

And that actually happened. As promised, Frieren reunited the group fifty years later and took them to a special place from where the meteor shower was even more beautiful. At the time, most of them looked older than before, except for Frieren, who looked completely identical, and Eisen, who looked more or less the same but was weaker. After the shower, their former leader, Himmel, died of old age, and the group disbanded once again after the funeral. At that moment, Heiter said that his years of alcohol consumption had caught up to him and that he would also die soon, asking Frieren to bring some alcohol to his grave once she visited him.

But, as it turned out, Frieren did visit the Holy City 20 years later, and instead of Heiter’s grave, she met Heiter, who told her that he had seemingly made a mistake then. He, of course, took Frieren in and asked her to take on an orphan girl he had been taking care of, Fern, as an apprentice. Frieren rejected the idea, claiming that Fern would be a burden, to which Heiter then gave her the grimoire of Ewig the Sage, asking her to decipher it for him, hoping that it could prolong his life or make him immortal.

Frieren then asked him about his change of heart, as he seemed to be less afraid of death 20 years prior, to which Heiter said that he was simply putting on a brave face back then and that he was now more afraid of it than then; plus, living a long life would be the best way to honor his religious teachings, to which Frieren once again called him a “corrupt priest.” She then remained with him for another five or six years, which is when she could decipher the grimoire. In the meantime, she taught Fern how to use magic.

As the years passed, Heiter became older and weaker until one day, he simply collapsed and could not get out of bed. Frieren managed to decipher the grimoire in time, revealing that it was a fake; Heiter confirmed that he was well aware of that fact, as he was certain that Ewig would’ve used his techniques on himself had he discovered a way to become immortal. He then asked Frieren whether Fern was still a burden and if she could take her with her now, and Frieren then realized that he had tricked her.

From the start, he knew that the grimoire was a fake, but he gave it to Frieren so that she could remain with them, teach Fern, and then take her with her when they were done. He cared for the young girl very much and did not want to see her alone again. Frieren commented how unconventional it was to save someone like that, but Heiter said Himmel inspired him to be a better person.

Not long after that, he spent more time with Fern so that the two of them could create more memories before he died, and soon after, he really did die. Although he had given up drinking after taking Fern in, Frieren still respected his 20-year-old wish and poured two bottles of alcohol on his tombstone. Soon after, Frieren and Fern continue their journey, with Frieren constantly reminding herself of the time she spent with her original group. Later, we also discovered that Heiter and Eisen had kept in touch via letters after Himmel’s death.

And that is Heiter’s main story. We skipped over some individual scenes from the past, as our goal was to portray him in a general manner. We shall now discuss the issue of his age.

How old is Heiter?

As far as his age is concerned, this is a fact that the authors have not revealed in the series, which is strange, as many of the characters’ ages are known. Based on the chronology and the fact that he is a human, we assume he was between 20 and 30 when their first journey concluded. Namely, we know that the original journey lasted ten years, and a scene showed that he wasn’t really a child when it all started, so we assume that he was in his late teens when they began their journey.

But, the fact that he is a human causes some confusion because – as he himself said, he was an alcoholic for the biggest part of his life, which certainly reduced his lifespan. But, as far as the chronology is concerned, it seems that he lived for about 100 years. Namely, we know that he died some c. 25 years after Himmel, and Himmel died 50 years after the end of their adventures. This would mean that it’s been 75 years since then, meaning that he was between 90 and 100 years old when he died.

We don’t have confirmation of this, but the maths do add up, and if the authors reveal any new information, we will update this article for certain.

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