Frieren: Who Is Stoltz & What Happened to Him? Meet Stark’s Brother!

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 another character who has made only a brief appearance so far but whose impact on the story is big, as he has influenced one of the protagonists – Stark – in many ways. The character we are talking about is Stoltz, Stark’s older brother, and in this article, we will tell you who he is and what happened to him in the series.

Stoltz was a brave and skilled warrior in Frieren

On his 18th birthday, while traveling in the Appetit region, Stark gave us a series of flashbacks from his childhood, showing us where he lived and what his childhood was. We found out that he lived in a village of warriors and that his father was a very strict instructor and, from what we could deduce the village chief. But, aside from his father, Stark also had another family member and that person was his older brother, Stoltz, who was initially introduced as the best warrior in the village, who was able to defeat a monster without any injuries or fatigue, not even getting his robes dirty.

Stoltz was Stark’s older brother and someone Stark looked up to. He was a brilliant warrior, exceptionally strong and skilled, and the pride of the family and the whole village. On the other hand, Stark was considered to be useless and weak.

While no one cared about Stark then, his brother would often train with him and even prepare food for his birthday, indicating that he was the only one who cared about him. We’ll discuss their relationship in the last section of this article.

Sadly, there is not much we can tell you about Stoltz, as he was only seen in these short flashbacks, while the rest of his story will probably – if ever – be told later in the manga, again through flashbacks. We are now going to see what happened to him.

Stoltz presumably died when the demon attacked his home village

As far as Stoltz’s fate in the series is concerned, officially, he is listed as being deceased. We know that a demon attacked their home village at one point, and from what we could gather – it was a very powerful demon. Stark’s village was a village of powerful warriors, so they were prepared to face strong opponents. Still, the demon was able to burn the whole village down and kill many of the warriors there, confirming that it had probably been a very powerful enemy. At one point, the warriors had the demon surrounded, and this is when Stoltz turned to his brother and told him to run.

After some kind words, Stark, indeed, ran, and from what we could assume, based on his flashbacks, his brother and the other villages died. We do not know what happened to the demon, whether they killed each other mutually or not, but as far as things stand now – Stoltz is dead. There is a chance that he might be alive, as the story was presented from Stark’s perspective, and he ran away before the battle was over, but that is something we do not know now.

He was the only one who seemingly cared for Stark when he was younger

The final aspect we want to explain is the relationship between Stark and Stoltz. Initially, when we see the first flashbacks, it doesn’t seem like Stoltz cares much for Stark. His father openly disliked Stark and called him useless because he wasn’t a fearless warrior, completely ignoring that Stark was still a child then. Stark tried, but he was too small and did not dare to face life’s dangers with such proficiency.

Although his father discouraged Stoltz from spending time with Stark, Stoltz did it. He trained with his younger brother, and although Stark remembers him as being somewhat distant, he was the only one who would remember his birthday and he even made him hamburg stakes, which are traditionally given to warriors who had trained a lot. This is also what Eisen would prepare him for his birthdays, although Stark only later realized how important these gifts were.

Stoltz undoubtedly cared for his brother and realized that Stark was just a child and needed care, not discipline. He was probably the only person who cared for the boy as a child. This is why, when the demon attacked their village, he told Stark to run and live his life – he knew that Stark would die fighting the Demon; he simply couldn’t do anything there, and that is why he told him to run. He disregarded the hero code and his father’s teachings and told his brother to run away because he cared more about Stark’s living than about honoring a silly code.

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