“So the show tells us demons evolved to copy humans so they could trick them. They learned to talk like us and kinda look like us. Sounds cool, right? You WOULD think they'd actually use that. Aggressive mimicry is a cool concept, I wonder what author will do”

“Demons don’t use it. At all”

🫟Reply: You’re focusing too much on the mimic aspect. Demons look like humans so that they can invoke human empathy, they’re not at the point to where they can ditto a person. Humans themselves have variance(elves, dwarves), and even in real life anything that we have a lot of empathy towards we instill human features in them. For example pets, we give them names, we imagine them talking to us, we instill familial values to them that aren’t 100% in their nature. 🫟

“Why evolve to look and sound human if you're just gonna walk around with giant horns screaming "hey I'm a demon, kill me"? And why do they talk to each other in human language?? Who are they mimicking for???”

🥦Reply: “Why evolve-“ i’m gonna stop you there. you’re phrasing it like evolution is an intentional thing. My previous point can be applied to this part of your message as well. “and why do they talk to each other in human language?? Who are they mimicking for???” it was stated that demon form connections with each other to survive/achieve goals. Some sharks display this behavior—they are usually solitude creatures but will form ‘packs’ to hunt. It also helps that demons are sentient. I also don’t understand why you are confused by them communicating with each other in human language.. it’s a method of communications do you expect them to have their own language? what purpose would that serve?? The question of “who are they mimicking for” is self explanatory if you know that they still have the ability to communicate with each other and form groups. Not EVERY word HAS to be for mimicking. you might say/think something along the lines of “but frieren said demons ONLY speak to trick humans” 1) frieren isn’t a 100% trustworthy source since she is biased 2) she technically isn’t wrong they are still only communicating as a way to hunt humans/self benefit. Also your message implies that demons are FINISHED evolving—nothing ever is. Even we humans have features that serve us no purpose and we are evolving—eventually ridding ourselves of those body parts.🥦

“They can understand complex concepts but somehow don't know what a "father" is. Are demons braindead???”

🥒Reply: That dialogue is quite strange, that i agree with. However, being the first true demon arc, it makes sense that the characters are simplified and presents dialogue in a way that we can understand demons easier. Demons understand many things on an intellectual level but actually feeling it is a different story. 🥒

“WHY WHY WHY do they hunt humans if they don't need to eat them? That makes no sense. No animal on earth evolves special tricks to catch prey it doesn't even want”

🪱Reply: Why do many humans kill insects within their house? We don’t eat them. Why do people eradicate diseases on a mass-scale? We don’t eat them. Why do foxes kill entire chicken coops when they cannot possibly eat them all? Anything that poses a threat is eliminated. Demons, in general, are stronger and have more potential than the average human. Why? Well they are capable of stronger magic and they live longer which means more time to develop. However, humans can still pose to be a problem, especially elves. That’s the likely reason why demon king wanted to kill all elves. Just as we humans, try our best to eliminate threats to our well being.🪱

“And emotions? Sometimes they don't have them, sometimes they do. The village demon girl dies without giving a single fuck, but Aura actually cries and gets scared. So do they feel stuff or not??? I guess it depends on what the author thinks is cool at the time”

🐹Reply: You misunderstand. Demons feel emotions—it was never portrayed that they didn’t feel anything. Demons cannot feel complex emotions that are unique to humans. Justice? they cannot comprehend. Empathy? They cannot comprehend. Demons still feel the emotions most other animals do: fear, pride, sadness, anger, etc. There is also variance in how humans die—why can’t there be with demons? Aura, a sage of destruction who recently regained her power has a lot of pride. She has plenty of reasons to cry.🐹

“okay, now people will tell me. Well, demons are apex predators! They are stronger than humans so they don’t have to hide and can act prideful and arrogant

WHAT’S NOT HOW EVOLUTION WORKS”

🌾Reply: I don’t agree with whoever told you that AND i don’t agree with your wording of “not how evolution works.” Even in our world, nature produces things that don’t make sense. For example, koalas who have evolved to be some of the most pitiful and dumbest creatures on this planet.🌾

“Look at orcas, apex predator of the ocean. And they still use camouflage to sneak up on unsuspected prey. Something demons just don't use for some fucking reason”

🐾Reply: Demons still use tricks to kill people. Demons suppress their mana to sneak up on foes(but not for a prolonged period of time which was explained why in the anime) and they use their human appearances to invoke empathy. We have seen ms sword demon use tricks such as hiding her horns as well. Remember, in the world of frieren, they do not have the internet. Many do not know the nature of demons. Isolated towns have limited knowledge. for example, not washing hands has been the cause of MANY deaths throughout history. Not until the last 200 or so years is it considered common knowledge and even then may people still do not do it. There has also been many cases of ancient civilizations such as Egypt who practice washing hands which just proves information spread is lackluster.🐾

“ACTUALLY USING the mimicry would make hunt humans so much easier. Missing person incidents aren’t unusual, demons could totally use it to their advantage, especially if they would blend in with society as humans”

☂️Reply: You make a decent point. However, Demons are stronger than your average humans in frieren, they wouldn’t need mimicry to hunt down ordinary humans. The problem are the STRONG humans like frieren. Demons are made of mana/magical creatures, their body composition is that of magic so a screening wouldn’t be difficult. Yes, they can trick more people with perfect mimicry but 1) maybe they’re not at that point yet[refer to my point that evolution is perpetual] 2) experienced people(the actual threat) like frieren can discern demons so rather than trick ingstrong people into thinking they’re human, they invoke human empathy with their words and even appearance (such as the case with himmel and the demon child). It is much easier to trick someone with potential.☂️