Frieren and Why We Don't Need to Rehabilitate Demons

Our stories should involve demon-slaying or demon-crushing, not attempts at reaching the demonic community.

What if something bad was actually good?

This is the premise of so much modern entertainment. The softer version of this is something like Wicked, which posits the Wicked Witch of the West was a misunderstood scapegoat. The play and the movie it’s based on are fun forays and are largely innocuous when seen in isolation. But much like a piece of candy here and there won’t do much harm, a diet of the stuff is a quick way to rotting teeth and a shriveled pancreas.

Only this time, what’s affected is the soul because that’s what stories target, forging a path through our emotions and affections.

And Wicked is not alone. The Twilight series was a cultural event that attempted to rehabilitate vampires. In one scene, after Bella gets bitten by a vampire, we get a description of the poison burning and “healing.” Wow, a poison that heals. Readers are being groomed, much like Eve in the Garden, that this fate isn’t really a curse. “Take this poison. You shall not surely die.”

In its wake, we now have an entire genre of paranormal romance. We have TV shows that play with the idea of there being good vampires and bad vampires. The latest Rings of Power season portrayed an Orc as a family man, not wanting to pillage and kill the innocent but only wanting to stay home with his wife and baby orc.

The manga and anime Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba is all about the tension of a demon slayer who has a sister who was turned into a demon. She’s actually a good demon who can control her demonic impulses, though at least one of the main drivers of the show is searching for a cure. Her state is not one to be envied, which is something, at least.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer played with the idea of good vampires and bad vampires before it was cool, though the good vampires were in the very small minority of two. And that was because they had re-acquired their soul. There was at least some nod to the corruption of vampirism; it was always assumed that vampires were meant to be killed first and don’t even bother asking questions later.

Which is how it should be. I want my vampires and demons and orcs and goblins slain. That is their purpose in healthy stories.

Which brings me to Frieren.

No Sentimentalism Allowed

Frieren is a show that is one long wink and nod toward Dungeons and Dragons. It begins at the end, when the heroic party has defeated the Demon King and saved the world. What happens next? Frieren is an elf who will live for thousands of years, and one by one, her old party members die.

Eventually, she goes on another journey with her young apprentice. They stumble across an area besieged by one of the Demon King’s lieutenants and her zombie army. When they enter the city, Frieren sees a few demons walking down the street and immediately attempts to destroy them. The city guard subdues her and imprisons her, and she allows it even though she is one of the strongest mortals walking the earth.

The demons are envoys from the Demon King’s lieutenant, sent to engage in peace talks. Frieren says the town leader is being deceived. Demons are monsters that need to be put down. Nothing more, nothing less.

Indeed, the demons put on a good show, enough to make the viewer wonder if they are sincere. At this point, I’m rolling my eyes. Was I about to be subjected to a “very special episode” about prejudice against demons, aka racism? Did our heroine need to learn to be more inclusive?

I was pleasantly surprised when the answer to these questions was a resounding NO! In a series of flashbacks mirroring the current predicament, we learn that demons evolved speech and human mannerisms only to catch their prey more easily.

A demon girl-child cries out “mommy” several times, and before destroying it, Frieren asks why the demon keeps repeating the cry since demons don’t have mothers.

“Because every time I say it, it makes humans pause.” And that pause gives her an opening to kill.

Frieren is vindicated. Demons are meant to be slain. The town is saved.

What a refreshing take.

Kill, Don’t Argue

The whole episode reminded me of Perelandra by C.S Lewis, in which Ransom, the main character, argues and reasons with a demon. When Ransom realizes he is losing, he comes to the right conclusion. He was not sent to the planet to debate the demon. He was sent to the planet to kill the demon.

You don’t argue with evil. You destroy it. You don’t befriend Dracula. You kill him. You don’t parlay with orcs. You fight them. Stories that tap-dance around this truth are lowering your defenses, tempting you to look again and again at the forbidden fruit.

I think Lewis would approve of Frieren’s posture toward demons.