Frieren: Who Is Kraft the Monk & What Happens to Him? Is He an Elf?

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End has perfectly combined Japanese fiction’s artistry with Western fiction’s tropes to create a wonderful fantasy work that is extremely popular worldwide, and for a good reason. While the protagonists are the story’s focus, in this article, we will discuss a secondary character who has appeared in a couple of scenes and promised Frieren that the two of them will meet again. The character in question is the benevolent Elven monk (priest) named Kraft, whom Frieren, Fern, and Stark met in the Northern Lands. Who is he, and what is his role in the story? Keep reading to find out!

Kraft was a quirky, yet extremely benevolent character

The story of how Frieren, Fern, and Stark met with Kraft is funny, but we need to give you some context first. Namely, Frieren, Fern, and Stark are on a journey to find Heaven; on that journey, they encounter many characters and have many adventures. And since their story follows a certain narrative stream, we must elaborate on the events that preceded a certain encounter to completely clarify it.

So, long story short, Frieren, Fern, and Stark helped Graf Granat defeat Aura the Guillotine and her forces in his domain; Aura had wanted Granat to lower the defenses of his town so that she could enter it and kill all the humans, but Frieren and her friends stopped her. After defeating the evil Demon, they spent time in the town, being lauded and celebrated as heroes. After resting there, they decided to continue north to reach Ende, as originally planned. But, on their way, they had to cross the snow-covered mountains of the Northern Lands, which was not particularly easy.

Namely, as Frieren revealed, the winters in the Northern Lands were exceptionally harsh. These winters killed the largest amount of men in the Northern Lands; it wasn’t the Demon King or his lackey – it was the climate. As soon as she said that, they were caught in a snowstorm and ended up lost; Stark immediately passed out, and Fern had to carry him. Frieren said there should be a hut somewhere in the vicinity, and while Fern was unsure whether the hut was still there (as the last time Frieren was there was roughly 80 years prior), they – luckily – managed to find it. And this is where Kraft comes in.

As they opened the door, they found a shirtless Kraft exercising and paying little to no attention to them. Fern immediately labeled him as a pervert and wanted to leave, but it turned out that he was simply training to keep himself warm.

As soon as that was cleared up, Kraft recognized that Frieren was, like him, an Elf and was happy to see someone of his kind for the first time in about 300 years. They then entered the hut and lit a fire while Kraft told them that he had crossed the mountains and that he had to take shelter because of the winter. They then agreed to spend the winter in the hut, all four of them.

They helped each other, and we found out part of Kraft’s story. He was once a skilled warrior and was also a benevolent one; it is known that he once saved a village in the Northern Lands, somewhere alongside Rohr Road, which is why he is celebrated as a hero there.

But, seeing how he was an Elf, he was cursed with living much longer than other races, so those who praised him and his deeds passed away, and he was left in a void akin to an existential crisis.

Being pious, he turned to the Goddess of Creation and decided to become a monk; his faith helped him, as he now believed that the Goddess would honor and praise him, meaning he could enter Heaven as a true hero.

He talked to Frieren a lot, especially because she did not believe in the Goddess, but deduced that she had good friends based on her reactions (this is where we find out that she was actually very friendly with Heiter, and he said that he would be the one to praise her if there was no one else to do it).

After the winter calmed down, Kraft continued, parting ways with his friends and deducing that he would meet with Frieren again after a few centuries. He left Fern a pendant and continued to Granat’s domain.

Along the way, he would meet the troublesome mage Übel, who was also on the way to Äußerst, like Frieren and her friends. Deducing that she was killing thieves along the road, he chased away a group of them, thus saving their lives. Not long after that, he parted ways with Übel. And that is his story so far – he might appear again later in the story, but this is all we know now.

Have something to add? Let us know in the comments below!