| Introduction |
Richter ｢リヒター Rihitā?｣ is a second-class mage who participated in the First-Class Mage Exam at the same time as Frieren and Fern. He owns a magical store in Äußerst where he specializes in repairing things.
Personality[]
Richter is a pessimist with a gloomy demeanor who comes across as unfriendly and untrustworthy, often showing little respect for others regardless of their stature. Despite this, he can develop a soft spot for others, as evidenced by his willingness to spend time with his former team members after some convincing. He is also seen to be kind to an old woman who frequents his shop despite not wanting to be treated like a kid.
As a mage, Richter exhibits a ruthless nature in battle, showing no hesitation when it comes to eliminating other mages to secure victory or prevent their success. He is a pragmatic individual who prefers to assess the situation before taking action and is open to cooperation with others. Richter is also arrogant and confident of his own abilities, to a point where others can easily take advantage of him. He notably takes offense to Frieren giving up from requesting his help on repairing Fern's staff when he initially refused to, ultimately deciding to assist the elf.
Appearance[]
Richter is a middle-aged man[1] with short, neatly combed dark brown hair. He is dressed formally. Richter wears black dress shoes paired with maroon slacks, complemented by a matching maroon coat that falls just above his knees. The coat is accented by black lapels, trim, and cuffs, and is neatly buttoned. Underneath, he sports a white shirt with a high collar that peeks out above the coat's neckline.
Synopsis[]
First-Class Mage Exam Arc (First Stage)[]
Richter's introduction.
Richter is one of the examinees for the First-Class Mage Exam in Äußerst. He is put in the thirteenth party with second-class mage Denken and third-class mage Laufen for the first stage of the exam. Richter, along with his party, witness the freezing of the lake at the center of the exam area while searching for a Stille. As other parties attempt to melt the ice, Richter asks Denken what to do next, to which Denken responds that they will steal the Stille from the second party.
As they traverse the forest in search of the Second Party, Denken observes that the other parties, having realized that the Stille won't return to the lake and are now searching for other water sources, are failing to conceal their mana effectively. He notes that this lack of skill leaves them vulnerable to aerial threats. Richter comments that these parties are clearly inexperienced.
Afterwards, the team comes across casualties who were attacked by Geisel. Laufen remarks that the Continental Magic Association seems indifferent to whether examinees survive, but Richter explains that the Association prioritizes the quality of its mages, and if someone dies during the exam, they were never qualified to be a first-class mage to begin with. However, Denken disagrees, stating that the Association's ideas are outdated. This perspective surprises Richter, who had assumed that Denken would align with the Continental Magic Association's views.
As the three mages explore the exam site, Laufen remarks that they are having difficulty locating the second party, which Richter attributes to that party's efforts to hide and conceal their mana. While examining a water hole, Denken notes the faint presence of mana in every water source they've encountered, although both Laufen and Richter struggle to detect it. Denken then instructs his teammates to wait patiently for the second party to reveal their location. Their patience eventually pays off, as when Frieren uses her spell to capture a bird, they locate the second party.
Denken and Richter confronts the second party.
Laufen quickly takes the second party's Stille with Jilwer and hides with it. Knowing Frieren will be able to track her, Denken and Richter confront Frieren's team. The two teams face off with Denken focused on Frieren, and Richter taking on Lawine and Kanne. Richter plans to kill either Lawine or Kanne to force the second party to withdraw. However, Denken instructs him not to kill either girl, emphasizing that their goal is merely to obstruct them and prevent them from reclaiming the Stille. Richter is surprised, having thought that Denken, as an Imperial Mage known for eliminating political opponents, would be more ruthless.
Denken dismisses the value of being a first-class mage and the necessity of causing unnecessary death. Frieren agrees, stating that the title of "first-class mage" is just a meaningless label. Richter is astonished and asks Frieren if she took the exam without knowing about the privileges associated with achieving first-class mage status. He then proceeds to explain the history of the Continental Magic Association and the privilege of attaining first-class, which is being granted any magic that one desires by the Great Mage Serie herself. This allows one to attain enormous wealth, tremendous power, or the ability to treat any grave illness. Richter concludes by saying that having any spell one desires is essentially allowing one's dream to become true. Denken finds this ridiculous while Frieren barely reacts. Richter notes to Denken that he, and others like him who disregard the privilege, are in the minority.
Richter separates Kanne and Lawine from Frieren with Bargland.
Denken continues to emphasize to Richter to not kill the two girls, telling him to just put them to sleep for three hours. Richter then proceeds to split the ground with his Earth Control: Bargland, which separates him, Kanne, and Lawine and leaves Denken and Frieren below.
Richter overwhelms Kanne and Lawine.
Initially, Richter effortlessly dispatches Kanne and Lawine, while even giving them a lecture on the history of defense magic. He warns them to stay down, as his role is to oversee them rather than eliminate them. Observing from the plateau, Richter witnesses Frieren’s battle against Denken. Frieren ultimately defeats Denken and reclaims the Stille from Laufen, prompting Richter to attempt to eliminate Kanne and Lawine. However, Frieren then manages to decipher and break through Serie's barrier, allowing rain to pour into the exam grounds. Frieren states that she cannot envision defeating a mage that manipulates water in the rain, and asks Denken whether Richter could.
During the renewed battle, Lawine freezes Richter's hands to the ground, allowing Kanne to prepare a decisive attack. Utilizing her water manipulation spell, Reamstroha, Kanne unleashes a massive sphere of rainwater upon Richter, breaking through his defense and defeating him. Richter is knocked off the plateau and, acknowledging his defeat, apologizes to Denken. However, Denken remarks that Richter’s defeat was inevitable once the barrier was broken.
Richter watches as Laufen treats Denken's injuries after the brawl.
Despite their loss and being out of mana, Denken refuses to give up and leads his party in searching for other competitors. Eventually, they find a pair who have just lost their third member and have no way of passing anymore, though they are still holding on to their Stille. With both parties out of mana, Denken brings Richter along for a final fistfight against the pair. They secure a victory and obtain the Stille, passing the first stage of the exam. The first stage concludes with six parties remaining and eighteen participants advancing.
First-Class Mage Exam Arc (Second Stage)[]
During the second stage of the exam, Richter is one of four other mages who stays behind when Denken proposes that they all cooperate to clear the dungeon together. The others are Laufen, Länge, and Methode. The five of them enter the dungeon together, and Denken's expertise helps them evade an early trap in the dungeon. However, in the next room, gargoyles attack them and Länge is trapped in a small room away from everyone else. The room has spikes on both walls that slowly close in on the victim in the middle. Denken fires Catastravia at the wall to no avail; he directs Länge to break her golem bottle. After she does, the rest of the party watch in awe as the golem carries Länge to safety.
Richter, Denken, Laufen and Methode prepare to fight against Frieren's clone.
The party later comes across a clone of Laufen, though they're able to defeat it quickly. The next clone they come across is Frieren's. The party is unable to defeat it and are forced to retreat. While trying to come up with ways to defeat Frieren's clone, they are joined by Frieren and Fern, who are accompanied by Sense. While trying to come up with a plan, Richter mentions that hypnosis and restraining magic are needed to defeat a superior mage, to which Frieren responds that she is resistant to both.
Shortly thereafter, Dünste joins the group and informs them that the clones lack minds of their own, making hypnosis magic ineffective. Richter then wonders if the clones might have a specific weakness, to which Lawine, arriving with Kanne, responds that they do not. She explains that the clones have no inherent weakness and are perfect replicas of the original, created by the Spiegel. With this information, Fern suggests that Frieren's clone may share the same vulnerabilities as Frieren herself. After observing a demonstration of this, Richter comments that, despite this weakness, Frieren is still highly skilled, and few mages will be able to exploit it. Still, a strategy meeting is called to discuss their course of action.
Richter participates in the strategy meeting.
During the group's strategy meeting, Methode raises concerns about three clones she is unable to detect: those of Sense, Fern, and Denken, with Sense's clone being particularly threatening. Richter reprimands Sense for causing this issue by accompanying them, but Sense counters that first-class mages are expected to overcome such adversities. After Fern and Frieren engage the latter's clone, Denken holds another meeting where they discuss how to deal with the individual clones who will be converging upon them.
Richter and Lawine are ambushed by Sense's clone.
Following their plan, Richter teams up with Lawine and engage the clones of Kanne and Lawine in battle, eventually defeating them. However, despite not neglecting his mana detection, both Richter and Lawine are then ambushed by Sense's clone, and are gravely injured. Richter recognizes the severity of the situation and tells Lawine to break her bottle, which he does as well.
Outside of the Ruins of the King's Tomb, Richter is seen being healed by his golem with healing magic, as Edel explains the golem's abilities to him. Confused, he asks her who she is.
First-Class Mage Exam Arc (Final Stage)[]
Before the start of the third stage of the exam, both Denken and Laufen visit Richter at his magic store. An irritated Richter tells both of them to leave, remarking that they aren’t a party anymore since he failed the second test. When Denken responds that he is a customer, Richter suggests he should hurry up and buy something. Noticing Richter’s bad mood, Laufen offers him half of her donut, which he declines. Denken comments that Richter was just unlucky in the second exam, but Richter, still sore about his failure, asks him not to bring it up again.
Denken notes that despite Richter’s bad mood, he still opened his shop. Richter curtly reminds him that he cannot afford to skip work just because he's unhappy and adds that his failure might actually be a blessing, as Denken might not live until the next first-class mage exam. Denken agrees, though Richter remarks that he shouldn’t.
Richter repairs Fern's staff.
After Denken and Laufen leave without making a purchase, Frieren arrives. She hands over Fern's staff, asking if he can repair it, mentioning that the townsfolk recommended his shop. Richter, initially dismissive, examines the staff and tells Frieren his shop is not for discarding trash, though he eventually agrees to repair it. As he works on the staff, he apologizes for calling it trash, noting that it is clearly well-maintained and loved.
Abilities[]
Richter possesses decent magical ability, as he was able to reach the rank of a second-class mage. While fighting inside Serie's barrier, he was able to overwhelm both Kanne and Lawine and only lost after they gained access to large quantity of water. Unlike most mages, Richter does not use a staff when casting spells.
Spells[]
- Earth Control: Bargland: Richter specializes in controlling the earth to attack and defend against spells. He take advantage of how basic defensive magic does not protect against overwhelming physical damage as well as it does against spells.
- Defensive magic: Like most modern mages, Richter is capable of casting defensive magic in the form of a hexagonal protective barriers. It can be used to block basic attacks, however, it is not strong enough to stop attacks of overwhelming mass, such as Kanne's Reamstroha.[2]
- Unnamed repair magic: Richter is said to be capable of repairing any damaged magical staves using magic. It is unknown if he relies on the same magic to fix other broken items brought to his shop.
Manga Appearance[]
| Chapter 77: A Thunder of Dragons | Absent |
| Chapter 78: Lake Korridor | Absent |
| Chapter 79: The Great Tor Canyon | Absent |
| Chapter 80: Holy Snow Crystals | Absent |
| Chapter 81: The Golden Land | Absent |
| Chapter 82: Diagoldze—The Spell to Transmute All Creation into Gold | Absent |
| Chapter 83: The Stone Bracelet of Servitude | Absent |
| Chapter 84: Daredevil | Absent |
| Chapter 85: Malice | Absent |
| Chapter 86: Discussions | Absent |
| Chapter 87: Affection | Absent |
| Chapter 88: Solitär | Absent |
| Chapter 89: Guilt | Absent |
| Chapter 90: Glück | Absent |
| Chapter 91: Onstage | Absent |
| Chapter 92: The End of Weise | Absent |
| Chapter 93: The Great Barrier | Absent |
| Chapter 94: Analysis | Absent |
| Chapter 95: Nameless Great Demon | Absent |
| Chapter 96: Master and Apprentice | Absent |
| Chapter 97: Observation | Absent |
| Chapter 98: Retribution | Absent |
| Chapter 99: Offense and Defense | Absent |
| Chapter 100: The Fundamentals of Mages | Flashback |
| Chapter 101: Breakthrough | Absent |
| Chapter 102: A Tie | Absent |
| Chapter 103: Time for Retribution | Absent |
| Chapter 104: A Visit to Her Grave | Absent |
Anime Appearance[]
Trivia[]
- "Richter" is German for "judge." His name may also be a reference to Charles Richter's Richter scale, which is used as a measure for earthquake magnitude. This ties in with his battle magic, which revolves around controlling and shifting the ground around him.
- Another origin of the name can stem from the German verb "richten" (lit. to make right) as he is shown to be an expert at fixing things.
- Richter appears to be sensitive to others referring to him as a middle-aged man.[1][3]
- He likes to give lectures during battles.[4]
- He is a regular at the restaurant Bell owned by Lecker.[4]
- Richter ranked the following in the official popularity polls:
- 44th in the first popularity contest.
- 33rd in the second popularity contest, where multiple votes per character were counted.
- In this same contest, Richter ranked 32nd when counting only unique votes (one vote per character per person).
References[]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 52 (p. 7).
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 45 (p. 10).
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Volume 6 (volume extras).
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Frieren: Beyond Journey's End: Official Fan Book (Chapter 2: Frieren and Mages).