What are your thoughts on the demon tribe in the anime Funeral of Fleurian?

Inhumane and Human-like Demons

Demons without humanity are those who lack empathy and compassion.

Demons with humanity are those who are well-trained and capable of disguise.

The Differences Between Demons and Humans

As the manga series delves deeper into the story, there will be more new details about the origin and characteristics of demons. However, there is one basic premise that will not be shaken: demons are a completely different species from humans.

From the human perspective:

“Spirit control magic only works on humans and similar creatures; it has no effect on demons. The way demons are born and their mental construct are completely different from humans. As humans, we cannot speculate on the thoughts of demons nor can we resonate with them.”

From the perspective of demons:

“Both physically and mentally, humans and demons have completely different physiological structures.”

Madame Suo, a demon anthropologist, has combined the teachings of the Demon King with her own research and drawn a series of conclusions that come closest to explaining the fundamental differences between demons and humans.

Convergent evolution refers to the phenomenon in which organisms from different ancestors change in a similar direction due to similar lifestyles, resulting in overall or partial morphological changes.

Madame Suo uses the example of fish and whales.

Mahaat: “There are such large fish in the sea!”

Madame Suo: “That’s right, this creature really looks like a fish.”

Here we have fish, and here we have mammals. It is said that their ancestors originally lived on land, but thousands of years of oceanic life gradually changed their appearances, making them similar to some massive fish.

Despite their similar appearances, they are actually two completely different species.

Convergence refers to the phenomenon in which two or more distantly related species evolve similar morphological features or structures due to inhabiting similar types of environments.

“Why don’t we have malice and guilt? If deceiving humans would cause us pain, the demon race would have been extinct long ago.”

(Human emotions) are something we cannot understand in our entire lives.

Similar appearance, the same language as humans, and similar behaviors are all evolutionary traits acquired by demons in order to deceive and capture humans.

No matter how similar our forms may be, there will always be a significant difference between us and humans… Demons and humans are completely different beings, and it is not strange at all that we cannot fully understand each other’s emotions.

In fact, there is no need for Madame Suo to remind us; Mahaat demonstrates on a daily basis the insurmountable gap between humans and demons in understanding.

Firian: “You claim to want to coexist with humans, so why do you kill so many humans?”

Mahaat’s question: “I also have a question: Why are you asking me something like this?”

Mahaat’s behavior perfectly aligns with Madame Suo’s conclusion, similar to “Do you care about how many ants you have stepped on?”

And he cannot even comprehend that this proves that humans and demons will never understand each other.

If Firian’s journey chasing the phantoms of her past comrades proves her low emotional intelligence and long reflex arc, then demons from the very beginning lacked the emotional intelligence or reflex arc common to humans.

Humans and demons are completely different beings.

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Another shared viewpoint between humans and demons is that demons prioritize their own lives above all else.

From the judgment of the ancestors:

The ancestors order Mahaat to restore the city, saying, “Hurry up, for demons, there is nothing more important than life.”

From the words of demon researcher Madame Suo (may not be entirely true):

Madame Suo: “I came here with the intention of killing you.”

Madame Suo: “But now I am afraid to fight you. I am not so obsessed with preserving the existence of our race that I am willing to risk my life. No matter how much I think about it, no matter how strange or extreme the outsiders may be, we are ultimately demons, be it the Demon Lord, Shuraat, or you. Although our appearances may be different, we cannot escape the essence of being demons.”

From the confession of demon Mahaat:

Mahaat: “Demons, what pitiful creatures we are. From the moment we put on the Domination Ring, I believed that I would no longer fear death.”

Mahaat: “Even if it means losing my life, I am willing to do so for emotions that I cannot understand, for the sake of coexisting with humans, and for the retribution that awaits. However, in reality, I am desperately running away to save my own life. In doing so, what difference is there between me and other demons?”

Because demons cherish life, let us welcome the four great demon races to share their secrets to longevity.

Madame Suo: “Never reveal yourself on a battlefield when the situation is against you. That is the secret to longevity.”

Glaosam uses spiritual magic that can deceive even the Great Demon to never let anyone see my true face. That is the secret to longevity.

The bloodstained God of War: “Longevity doesn’t require a secret. It’s merely wholeheartedly dancing on the battlefield.”

And the secret to the Saint’s longevity is endurance: “I am not good at fighting, and I don’t want to die. Let me quietly live for a hundred years in anonymity.”

Let’s make sure that another tragedy like Aoula’s does not happen again. We should thoroughly investigate taming magic to deal with this Saint.

Sometimes I feel like the demons in this manga are evolved humanoid monsters, who only care about the most basic desires of survival and nourishment. At other times, I feel that demons are emotionally damaged AIs created by a goddess, frequently making explosive remarks like “a family of five,” unaware of their own nature. However, the information about the goddess is currently rather mysterious.

Characteristics of the Demon Clan

Not everything that passes the Turing test is human; it could also be a member of the Demon Clan.

If something looks like a human, feels like a human, and sounds like a human, then it is a member of the Demon Clan.

Those without emotions are members of the Demon Clan, while those with emotions are well-trained members of the Demon Clan.

All members of the Demon Clan must be killed!

Differences Between the Demon Clan and the Dwarves and the Perception of Humans

The work “Burial of Furen” has its own unique characteristics, highlighting the differences and contradictions between humans and other races. In this animation, Furen, step by step, returns to the warmth that should exist among teammates on the former adventure, bringing a different feeling to the audience. Isn’t this caused by the differences between races?

The attitude of the Demon Clan towards humans is very interesting. Nowadays, most works in other worlds portray the Demon Clan as too anthropomorphic. In almost all otherworldly anime, the Demon Clan is nothing more than some humans with strange abilities.

These demons can at most add a few patches of ruthlessness, killing without blinking, and treating humans as ants. In fact, humans can also achieve these few points. Such people have always existed. And under the feudal system and slave system of the past thousands of years, they were even more unscrupulous.

Let’s speculate about what the demons in the animation are like by putting ourselves in their shoes:

Currently, the image of demons includes the following points:

• They have their own expertise and extreme confidence or even conceit in magic, contrasting with our extreme reliance and confidence in technology.

• Compared to humans, demons have longer lifespans. The beheader is a top-notch wise king and is 500 years old, which is equivalent to a top-notch human with a lifespan of 90 years contrasted with a creature with only 20 years of lifespan.

• They do not understand human emotions. Demons do not know what a father is. We can reverse this and wonder why demons do not have emotions towards other demon friends they have been together with for so long, but only have interests.

This is also the fundamental reason why the Demon Clan and humans can never form an alliance. Their basic understanding is too different from that of humans. It seems that besides basic interests and power, they do not have any other emotions.

Then…

Suppose one day the surface is no longer suitable for our survival, and we discover the Dwarves underground and establish some fortresses as bases. The Dwarves:

• They only have a lifespan of 15-20 years.

• We can learn their language through translation, as they have the ability to learn and some geniuses among them. They are still in the age of cold weapons and lack understanding of basic physical laws, not to mention our electronic technology products.

• They have richer emotions than us. Even distant relatives can have the same intense emotions as our close relatives. Killing their fellow tribesmen in battle will cause us to feel inexplicably angry. A small injury might make us feel as grieved as if we killed them. In their eyes, humans are very ruthless. To humans, the underground people are very ugly and their living habits are completely different, making humans feel disgusted.

• We can eat their meat, and it tastes good.

There is not only one type of underground people in the depths. There are also goblins that live longer than humans by several generations, and they have powerful technology. However, their technology is still in the steam age, and their reproduction rate is too low. In order to prevent the goblins from surpassing humans in technology, humans issued an extermination order against them.

There are also dwarves who are incredibly strong and can easily smash our tanks.

So, among these underground people, there are four geniuses. They are Shenmeier, an underground person who wields swords, with incredible speed, strength, and skills, like a secret agent in a movie who can dodge bullets and is incredibly lucky.

There is Haiya, an underground person with decent medical skills who likes drinking.

There is a goblin named Fulielian who is good at and enjoys learning physical laws, collecting various mechanical manufacturing methods, and using steam technology for crossbows and cannons.

There is also the strongest warrior among the dwarves, Aizhe.

This team of underground adventurers broke through and eliminated human tanks and cannons, and killed the highest commander (the Demon King) of humans in the underground base, as well as many human generals. So the remaining humans temporarily suspended attacks on the underground people. Fortunately, the underground people have short lifespans, and after twenty years, their leader, an underground person, died of old age. The goblin Fulielian secretly studied physics and took on a very clever underground apprentice, Feilunhai, and brought along the young dwarf disciple, Xiutiexiaoer, setting out on an adventurous journey again. In the tenth episode, they encountered a general of the underground people who liked eating spicy underground heads. The general didn’t expect that Fulielian had already developed thermal-pressure shells and killed him instantly.

At this time, an underground person posted a question on their bulletin board, asking for opinions on these humans who attacked them.

Coexistence between the Demon Clan and Humans

It has already been mentioned before that the Demon Clan has always been predators of humans, and this fact remains unchanged until the latest chapter.

In the most recent plot, there are two demons who experiment firsthand on how to coexist with humans.

One of them is “Mahat, the Golden Town”, whose ability is to turn targets within a certain area into gold. This ability does not require physical contact, activation conditions, cooldowns, or casting delays. It can only be exempted by using rule-based spells or completely deciphered.

He believes that demons lack a sense of guilt and are unable to distinguish between good and evil, which is why coexistence is impossible.

Therefore, his approach is:

“First, establish long-term intimate relationships with humans, and then, when the trust reaches its peak, kill all the humans with whom he has formed a relationship.”

This is to experience a sense of guilt.

The result is “nothing gained”, merely another massacre.

The other one is the “Demon King” whose actions have caused the extinction of one-third of humanity (leaked from the dialogue).

Therefore, the plot makes it clear that this is a conflict between two races, just like the relationship between Neanderthals and Homo sapiens, and coexistence is fundamentally impossible.

A Real Depiction of the Demon Tribe

The author is earnestly portraying the appearance of the demon tribe that may exist in a world of swords and magic, rather than depicting them as a subhuman presence.

The Definition of Demons Has Nothing to Do with Genius Skills

They are a proud, cunning, and self-proclaimed extraordinary race. In comics, demons are defined as creatures that can speak. They originated from creatures that imitated the voice of “save me” in the darkness to attract humans for prey. The demon race worships power and thus has an extremely strong release of magic. Although they have a certain talent in magic, they disdain the explosive magical skills brought about by genius leadership or diligent research by other races.

Demon Setting and Sociality, Acts of Goodwill, and the Demon King

Currently, the setting for demons is not yet fully developed, but there are a few interesting points worth noting.

Generally speaking, demons do not possess sociality, emotions, or most feelings. However, a small number of demons have displayed “altruism,” so it is not entirely accurate to say that they lack sociality. It can be seen that this is not absolute, but rather, the vast majority of demons do not possess sociality.

In the manga, there are two concepts that demons clearly cannot understand: guilt and malice. However, they can release goodwill towards others and act based on this foundation. Both Mahat and the Demon King are like this. In the manga, Mahat actually has some concept of complex interpersonal relationships and has a certain level of emotional feedback.

The Demon King is currently portrayed almost entirely negatively, but his characterization is revealed in some character plotlines. For example, Solite is also a character with sociality, and her behavior is almost close to having fully developed social anti-social personality traits. Her relationship with the Demon King is unclear. Although she claims to be anti-Demon King, her actions in the Golden Village Arc are highly in line with the Demon King’s desires. Despite her death, she still appears in the time-travel arc. This character may be closely bound to the Demon King, and I look forward to a specific portrayal of the Demon King in the flashback scenes.

In addition, demons have a very exceptional setting, which is the need to kill. Demons kill not for pleasure or appetite, but simply for the sake of killing. Neither their psyche nor their bodies require killing, but it is something ingrained in their instincts. This concept may involve the underlying setting of the worldview, such as the relationship between demons and humans in mythological times, which is difficult to draw firm conclusions on at present.

Cold and Beautiful

Without morals, devoid of emotions, focused on a particular hobby, possessing great power of action, completely self-centered, with a mindset beyond common sense, like a cold and cruel beast with an AI-like twisted sense of humor, the ideal perfect race in my mind. Sadly, it is destined to be a struggle for survival against humans… But it’s also fitting, I suppose.

Truly, they are so beautiful, the race of demons.

The Difference Between Demonkin and Demons

There is a difference between demons and monsters, as monsters leave behind a corpse after death. On the other hand, demonkin vanish into thin air upon death, so I believe they resemble humanoid AI creatures designed by game developers. Alternatively, they may be the result of experimental failures, similar to golems gone awry.

Referring to them as talking monsters is perhaps a way for the human race to cope with emotions…because both the strengths and weaknesses of humans are tied to emotions.