| Introduction |
“ Since long ago, I have been incredibly and undeniably cowardly, fretful, fearful, and far from wise enough to ever make light of mankind.
—Solitär to Macht, in Chapter 94
Solitär ｢ソリテール Soritēru?｣, also known as the Nameless Greater Demon ｢
Personality[]
Solitär is stated to be an eccentric demon who engages in research on living beings, unlike the majority of demons who devote their lives to battle and improving their magic. She seems to have intimate knowledge of biological life forms, even being aware of complex scientific theories, such as the theory of evolution.[1] Additionally, she understands the differences between different living species, such as the shark and the orca. Unlike most demons, she owned a living quarters, which she repurposed from that of humans, where she stored her research materials and animal specimens.[2]
Solitär appears to be amiable and friendly towards others, even when her hospitality is not returned. She was willing to receive Macht and answered his questions genuinely, even though she believed them to be pointless and trivial. She is knowledgeable about humans and their behaviors, and she even replicates them in her daily life even when she is not in the presence of humans. Even though it was not necessary and not reciprocated by the other, she still invited Macht to her house and offered him tea and sweets. Solitär also seems to understand, on some conceptual level, emotions exclusive to mankind, as evidenced when she referenced the concept of grief on her own without any external prompt. Even though she went on to say it was an emotions demons would never be able to understand, she seems to have some understanding of human emotions to be able to refer to them herself. It is possibly why she appears to take great interest in Macht, who wished to attain coexistence with mankind through understanding their emotions, and she considers him to be fascinating.[3]
Solitär also seems to hold great respect and even fear towards the abilities of humankind, claiming she is either too cowardly, scared, or simply wise enough to never underestimate them.[4] She holds the potential of humans in extremely high regard. Solitär extends the same respect towards the magical achievements of mankind, as she had familiarized herself with and admired the numerous magical theories that comprised the Great Barrier of the Golden Land and expressed regret for having to destroy it. Solitär admits that this fear of humanity and their potential is the main reason as to why she tries to avoid them as much as possible and hide her identity as much as she can from them. Unlike many demons, Solitär makes the effort to not underestimate humans despite her being a Greater Demon with immense magical power, and she does not allow the excessive pride most demons have for their magical prowess to cloud her judgment.
While fascinated by the shared desire of Macht and the Demon King to understand humanity and coexist with them, Solitär understands that such a thing will never happen no matter how much research and experimentation the two perform, and she believes that such a way of thinking will only endanger demonkind. Although she finds human emotions fascinating, Solitär is aware that the demons' lack of empathy and emotions is a major factor as to why their race has not yet gone extinct, and feeling emotions like guilt and remorse for their prey will be detrimental to them due to their natural instinct to harm and kill humans. Thus, while she considers humanity and human emotions intriguing, Solitär is more keen on studying and observing them rather than trying to gain these qualities for herself.
Solitär has also displayed friendliness towards her fellow demons, a trait that is unusual for her kind. She refers to the many demons who died during the Demon King's war against humanity as her "friends,"[5] and she seems to maintain friendly relationships with many other Greater Demons, such as Grausam, Tot, Schlacht, and Rivale.[6] Furthermore, Solitär also harbors a level of worry for the fate of her race. She reflected that, in an effort to understand humans, the Demon King waged a war against humanity that nearly led to the annihilation of demonkind, and she considered this war to be unproductive and a waste of her fellow demons' lives. Solitär also proactively takes action to protect her race, such as when she initially considered killing Macht after considering that his attempts to understand humans could be a detriment to demonkind, similar to the war caused by the Demon King.[5] Additionally, when Frieren is sent to the past, Solitär volunteers to help Grausam steal memories from the future to help demonkind and ensure their continued survival and prosperity.[7]
Frieren considers that, out of all the demons she has faced and interacted with, Solitär is the demon who understands human mentality, emotion, and psychology the most, making her exceptionally skilled in playing mind games and manipulating human beings. However, despite knowing, and, to a degree, understanding these traits, Solitär is unable to experience them herself. As such, her behavior towards humanity is more reminiscent of provoking a caged animal for study.[8]
Appearance[]
Solitär is a demon of short and slim stature. She has green eyes and long and unevenly cut turquoise hair that reaches past her torso. Her horns are very small and protrude slightly above her forehead, separating her front bangs. She wears a necklace with a tube-shaped pendant that hangs in front of her chest.
When she first encountered Macht, Solitär wore a yellow sleeveless dress consisting of two lapels and a white underlayer. She had bracelets on both of her hands and wore sandals with ribbons. In the present day, she wears the same outfit but with an orange cardigan layered on top.
Synopsis[]
History[]
Solitär is an eccentric demon who is interested in researching natural life. She was directly acquainted to the Demon King, who had taught her the concept of convergent evolution. She has implied to have had close encounters with humankind, prompting her respect and fear towards them.
Around a century ago, Macht of the Golden Land came to find her with questions about emotions exclusive to mankind. She told him that demons would never be able to feel those emotions, but Macht was not deterred. He expressed his wish to coexist with people once he became able to feel those emotions. Solitär was fascinated by the demon's preoccupation with coexistence, calling him interesting. She later introduced Macht to humankind's magic.
Seven years after the Hero Party began their adventure, when Frieren was sent back in time due to the Goddess's Monument, Solitär summoned fellow Greater Demons Rivale, Tot, and Grausam. Their goal was to have Grausam steal Frieren's memories of the future and then kill her.
Sometime thereafter, Solitär is implied to have singlehandedly destroyed a fortified city in the northernmost part of the Northern Plateau, the event which resulted in Macht being equipped with the Stone Bracelet of Servitude.[9]
The Golden Land Arc[]
Solitär reappears at the Great Barrier of the Golden Land around the time that Frieren has decided to help Denken undo the curse that has engulfed the Fortress City of Weise.[10] Solitär has come with the intent to witness the encounter between Macht and Frieren. The elven mage is, to her judgment, extremely brilliant and capable of killing Macht once she is done with the analysis of Macht's memories. She is fascinated to see the "conclusion" of Macht's battle for coexistence. Solitär admires the complex magic of the barrier, which is deeply rooted in humanity's magic theory and would be impossible to dispel if one didn't have knowledge of those theories. As such, for demons, the barrier should be all but impossible to dispel, but Solitär estimates that it will take her two months time to analyze the barrier.[11] She then begins to analyze the barrier with the intent of helping Macht in his confrontation against Frieren. Though Fern briefly senses another mana signature, Solitär's skill in mana restriction means that she remains undetected as she works.
After two months pass, with Solitär and Frieren racing against each other unbeknownst to each other, Solitär is finally able to dispel the barrier. As she uses her mana to shatter the barrier, she alarms the mages Fern and Denken of her presence. Both humans sense with their mana detection a demon who possess great enough mana to rival Macht's power.[12][13]
Upon the collapse of the barrier, Solitär enters the city of Weise and meets up with Macht. He demands an explanation for her appearance. Solitär wants to convince Macht to move on. While sure of the impossibility, she says that she will assist him in his quest for seeking coexistence with humans and wishes to witness the outcome of his endeavor. After he takes Solitär's proposal indifferently, she leaves him be[14] and goes off to satisfy her curiosity about humans. They are preparing to evacuate the areas surrounding the city of Weise, because the curse of Diagoldze is spreading now, which is not longer held back by the barrier.[15]
On the way, she encounters Fern and Stark, who have stayed behind to hold her off. In her illusory politeness she requests an introduction from them and introduces herself in turn as the Greater Demon Solitär, which prompts extreme caution in both her opponents. Solitär, upon overhearing Fern and Stark come to the conclusion that she has never let anyone who encounters her flee alive, lies and tells them that she has never once killed a person. She then tells them to not be scared and that she only wants to converse with them. However, Fern sees through this and attacks her immediately. Solitär counters the attack with defensive magic and becomes even more interested in Fern. She rapidly questions Fern about various personal details, demonstrating her in depth knowledge of different human patterns and customs. She asks Fern about her Southern Lands heritage, her butterfly hair ornament, her master, and her well worn staff. Fern ignores Solitär's questions and tries to attack Solitär again with Zoltraak, but seeing that Fern is antagonistic, Solitär conjures blades from mana out of thin air and stabs Fern through the shoulder with one of them. As the sky fills with Solitär's conjured blades, Stark tells Fern to run and attempts to defend Fern from Solitär. Solitär notes that Stark is exhibiting tremendous fear before she brings him down with several blades in his back. She continuous her inquiry, but threatens to punish misbehavior. The fight between them is prolonged and Solitär gets overly excited having humans to speak to. Since she is intrigued with mankind's customs, civilization, and magical techniques she is fine with disabling them just so she can continue questioning them about concepts, like family, that are unfamiliar to demons.[16] Though Solitär is capable of using defensive magic, Fern uses her rapid-fire Zoltraak to evade those defenses. Despite landing several direct hits, Solitär appears almost completely unaffected, and Fern realizes it is because her mana protects her from other spells. Upon witnessing this form of Zoltraak, Solitär reciprocates by demonstrating her own magical specialty: mana strike.[17] However, not having given up, Fern manages to land a direct hit on Solitär's shoulder by increasing the density of mana in her spell to break through Solitär's pure mana defense. Solitär gauges the wound on her shoulder and realize that if aimed at her heart, it would have had the potential to be fatal. She then licks the blood off her fingers from the wound, now even more fascinated by her two opponents. However, before Solitär is able to employ even more drastic inquisitive methods, the fight is then and there interrupted by the rapidly spreading Diagoldze curse which turns Fern and Stark into gold.[18]
After her encounter abruptly ended she walks off, just in time to intercept Denken who is fleeing from his clash with Macht and the spreading curse. Solitär attacks Denken with her mana blades, telling him that if he wishes to try to flee, then he should at least let her hear his last words. Judging that he cannot block or evade Solitär's blades in time, Denken chooses to drop Mistilziela and allow Macht's Diagoldze to turn his body into indestructible gold, and Solitär calls Denken an excellent mage as well.[19]
After the conclusion of the battle, Solitär meets up with Macht, and notes that he seems bored. Macht replies that he is always bored, before suggesting that they move on. However, Solitär then senses something. When Macht asks her what is wrong, she reports to him her findings from an investigation into the demise of Aura the Guillotine. She investigated the traces of the battle between Frieren and Aura and found out that Frieren was able to successfully dispel Aura's signature spell Auserlese. For that reason, Solitär is convinced that Frieren, after analyzing Macht's memories, can come up with a way to dispel Diagoldze. Though Macht is doubtful of this, Solitär explains to him that humans have been capable of handling the unknown since ancient times through observation. This prompts Macht to realize that Frieren was analyzing his memories, and that he has used Diagoldze innumerable times over the last century, providing Frieren with plenty to observe.
Frieren frees herself from the curse and reaches Denken next. She cast a dispel removing his gold curse. In doing so she makes herself known to Solitär and Macht. Both demons approach the two mages.[20] In the conversation between the four of them Frieren explains what lead her to being able to dispel Diagoldze. And that it is not flawless. So much so that she can soon dispel it all. Macht by having his signature spell challenged wants to kill Frieren. Solitär sees Frieren as very dangerous, but still wants to have a chat with her. She is of the opinion that Frieren can not withstand two greater demons. It ensues a battle. Denken engages Solitär, while Frieren duels Macht. While they are fighting Frieren talks about Machts ambition to coexist with humans and how she will end it right here. Denken interrupts and declares that he will fight Macht to the end. With Frieren catering to Denken's request Solitär becomes her main target.[21]
Solitär and Frieren use different approaches to get through each others defense. While this is ongoing Solitär remarks how demons have a tendency to arrogantly overlook as predators that humans defy them.[22] Eliminating Frieren is therefore an urgency. Solitär whittles Frieren seriously down with her mana strike spell. Frieren looking battered, gives Solitär pause. Solitär express her astonishment of Frieren being able to suppress her mana, implying the deception by portrayal of weakness. She found out about Frieren's suppression when investigating Auras death.[23] Solitär acknowledges Frierens comrades to be skilled foes. When questioned about them getting away Solitär says she killed the two of them. With that spoken out she tries to hit Frieren with a close proximity mana strike, but get mirrored by Frieren who has analyzed mana strike as to replicate it herself.[24] They hereafter blast each other to a temporary stalemate, which may end in a battle of attrition.[25] Solitär convinced having the upper hand agitates Frieren with more conversation. Frieren thinks about Solitärs wound, that Fern caused in their battle. The mage goes through iterations of Zoltraak and comes to the conclusion that it was a denser version which struck the demon. Solitär acknowledges the finding, but tells Frieren off as she has learned defensive magic to counter it.[26] In the meantime of their back and forth Frieren finished more of her analyses of Diagoldze, enabling her to revert the curse for the land itself. Solitär is surprised that Frieren did do so while in combat.[27] The lie killing Frieren's comrades catches up to Solitär. Fern was not dead and with the area dispel got back into action. Seemingly out of nowhere, beyond her mana detection, Solitär gets hit by Ferns long range Zoltraak spell. Her last word "magnificent" shortly before Frieren casts the finishing blow.[28]
Goddess's Monument Arc[]
Seven years into the Hero Party's journey, Solitär senses a disturbance in space-time and tracks its source to the Monument of the Goddess. While there, she reflects on how demon-kind faces a formidable enemy in the Goddess of Creation, whose Divine Force allows time to be bent at will. Almost immediately afterwards, Grausam arrives with Tot and Rivale. Together, they plan their operation to steal Frieren's memories of the future and eliminate her.
Despite Tot's decision to leave, the three remaining Greater Demons continue with their mission. After Rivale and Eisen engage in single combat, Solitär supports Grausam from a distance with her blades, enabling him to cast his spell, Ansehelschella, which puts Himmel, Heiter, and Frieren to sleep. However, Heiter resists the spell through the Goddess's Divine Grace.
Eventually, Himmel manages to move while still trapped in the illusion and engages Grausam in battle. Solitär aids him by attacking both Himmel and Frieren. Despite this, Himmel cuts off Grausam's arm, dispelling the illusion. Frieren then reawakens and heads to the Monument of the Goddess, returning to her own time. Realizing their mission has failed, Solitär calls off the battle and retreats with Grausam.
Abilities[]
Solitär is implied to be an extremely powerful demon; a Greater Demon comparable to the likes of the Seven Sages of Destruction, who was capable of felling a Fortress City by herself.[29] Frieren considers Solitär to be a "nameless greater demon," which means there are no existing records of her as no one has lived to tell the tale. Due to this, Fern was instructed to flee on sight against the likes of her. While witnessing her attacks, Frieren thinks that Solitär's level of control over mana defies all logic and is in a different dimension compared to her own.[30]
- Immense mana output: Fern notes that Solitär possesses an incredible amount of mana.[31] Her levels of mana are estimated to be large enough to rival Macht.[13][32] Frieren later states that Solitär's mana is not significantly different in size compared to her own.[33]
- Keen intellect: Solitär understands psychology of mankind better then any demon that Frieren has encountered and uses this knowledge as part of her strategy in battle.[34] By observing her opponent, Solitär can read their personality and use psychological warfare against them in what would seem to be a regular conversation.
Spells[]
- Human magic: As part of her research, Solitär is proficient in human magic. She appears to have a large collection of grimoires. Macht credited her as the person whom he learned human magic from. Her knowledge enabled her to analyze and break the complex barrier surrounding the Golden Land which was said to be sophisticated coalescence of magic theories from many human cultures—a feat that was impossible even for Macht.
- Defensive magic: Like most modern mages, Solitär is capable of casting defensive magic in the form of a hexagonal protective barriers.[35]
Solitar summons her mana blades.
- Spell to create blades of mana: Solitär is capable of summoning multiple swords with triangular blades in the air that can then be launched towards her opponents or be wielded herself in battle. These swords appear to be physical blades, which allows them to persist after Solitär uses or stops controlling them. Others are also able to wield them as weapons.[36]
- Mana Strike: Solitär's most powerful spell. It is the simplest and purest forms of magic spells that simply blasts away the user's mana. Solitär's mana is said to be particularly dense enough to even pierce through Frieren's defense magic.
- Pure mana defense: Solitär is incredibly skilled at controlling her mana to the point of being able to create an aura of dense mana to protect against most spells with the exception of highly condensed Zoltraak. She later learns to create an even more condensed layer of mana shield that counters this weakness.
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 | Memory Debut |
| Chapter 89: Guilt | Absent |
| Chapter 90: Glück | Absent |
| Chapter 91: Onstage | Flashback |
| Chapter 92: The End of Weise | Cameo |
| Chapter 93: The Great Barrier | Appears |
| Chapter 94: Analysis | Appears |
| Chapter 95: Nameless Great Demon | Appears |
| Chapter 96: Master and Apprentice | Mentioned |
| Chapter 97: Observation | Appears |
| Chapter 98: Retribution | Appears |
| Chapter 99: Offense and Defense | Appears |
| Chapter 100: The Fundamentals of Mages | Appears |
| Chapter 101: Breakthrough | Appears |
| Chapter 102: A Tie | Appears |
| Chapter 103: Time for Retribution | Flashback |
| Chapter 104: A Visit to Her Grave | Absent |
| Chapter 105: Golem | Absent |
| Chapter 106: Sky-Mountain Dragon | Absent |
| Chapter 107: The Monument of the Goddess | Absent |
| Chapter 108: Reunion | Absent |
| Chapter 109: Zart the Remnant | Absent |
| Chapter 110: The Party of Heroes | Absent |
| Chapter 111: Escort Mission | Absent |
| Chapter 112: Faith | Absent |
| Chapter 113: Abyssal Dragon | Absent |
| Chapter 114: The Sword of the Hero | Absent |
| Chapter 115: Best Friend | Absent |
| Chapter 116: Spell to Return | Appears |
| Chapter 117: Miraculous Illusion | Appears |
| Chapter 118: Vialathor | Appears |
| Chapter 119: Memories | Absent |
Trivia[]
- "Solitär" is a German loan word from the French "solitaire" (meaning "lonely" or "reclusive"). When used as an adjective, it can mean "solitary" or "hermit." In the context of gemstones, it refers to a big, single-socketed brilliant.
- Viz Media has localized Solitär's alias, 無名の大魔族 (Mumei no Daimazoku), as both Nameless Greater Demon[37][note 1] and Nameless Great Demon.[38]
- Solitär ranked the following in the official popularity polls:
- 14th in the first popularity contest.
- 9th in the second popularity contest with 352,524 votes, where multiple votes per character were counted.
- In this same contest, Solitär ranked 35th when counting only unique votes (one vote per character per person).
Notes[]
- ↑ Chapter title for Chapter 95.
References[]
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 88 (pp. 16-17).
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 88 (p. 14).
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 88.
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 94 (p. 12).
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 103 (pp. 5-8).
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 117 (pp. 2-6).
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 117 (p. 3).
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 100 (p. 11).
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 92 (pp. 9-10).
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 93 (p. 17).
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 94 (p. 13).
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 94 (p. 17).
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 95 (p. 2).
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 95 (p. 3-5).
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 95 (p. 6).
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 95 (p. 8).
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 97 (p. 7-8).
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 97 (p. 10).
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 97 (p. 13).
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 98 (pp. 5-7).
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 98 (pp. 8-18).
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 99 (p. 7).
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 99 (pp. 13-14).
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 99 (pp. 16-18).
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 100 (pp. 1-11).
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 101 (pp. 10-16).
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 102 (pp. 8, 13).
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 102 (p. 14).
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 92 (p. 8).
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 99 (pp. 11-12).
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 93 (p. 18).
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 98 (p. 8).
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 99 (p. 10).
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 100 (p. 10).
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 95 (p. 12).
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 117 (p. 20).
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 95.
- ↑ Frieren: Beyond Journey's End Manga: Chapter 116 (p. 18).