Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End: Frieren (INTP)

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End is a bittersweet anime, focused on the adventure after the adventure. It’s an interesting take that we don’t often see. As a character, Frieren presents like the prototypical INTP, which made her easy to identify. Of course, we made sure to consider other theories for Frieren, and double-check our evidence, but INTP was the only one with any significance. If you’re interested in reading about other characters from this show, check out Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End: Fern (ISTJ) In the near future, we also intend to type Stark, assuming there’s enough evidence.

Ti:

“Much like the demon’s magic, the principles behind the bulk of it aren’t understood. So it’s not the sort of thing that holds my interest.”

“You’re right. I’m doing this for me.”

Frieren presents as emotionally detached, and oftentimes, indifferent. Throughout the show, she continually struggles to portray any kind of emotion and form relationships with others. At one point, she shares with Fern that prior to choosing a hobby, she struggled with apathy. So, unsurprisingly, Frieren has no issues making hard decisions that others might emotionally (or morally) struggle with, like killing the young demon girl who called out for her mother. Of course, sometimes the decisions she tries to make end up being selfishly apathetic, and Fern steps in to stop her.

Frieren has an analytical nature, by default. She needs to understand the principles and the reasoning behind things. For instance, she explains that certain types of magic don’t interest her because the principles behind them aren’t understood. Similarly, before killing the young demon, she’s sure to ask the girl why she called out for a mother that she never knew. It didn’t make any sense, so Frieren needed to reconcile the logical contradiction.

Ultimately, Frieren even approaches her own emotions analytically, which is why she starts retracing her adventures with Himmel and the others. She essentially tells Fern that she’s trying to figure out if remembering her adventures is important to her, if they hold any meaning.

Ne:

“Many important historical discoveries were made by mages who trusted in that one percent chance. Let’s follow their lead. Come on, Fern.”

“We lack the information to make a conclusion. We should consider the possibility that it doesn’t have a mind.”

Frieren has little drive for physical experiences. This is made clear when she foregoes seeing the sunrise with her friends to spend her night reading books, as she always did. Instead, Frieren enjoys collecting spells and endlessly gaining knowledge, something that common for Ti-Ne. She’s not aiming for any specific spell, but rather gets excited by each one that she discovers. Ultimately, she seems to enjoy the novelty, and the possibilities they represent.

Frieren naturally pays attention to possibilities, finding them more desirable than concrete data. Of course, she considers all possibilities when strategizing. However, this tendency of hers much more prominently shows up in the reason she falls for fake treasure chests, in spite of the data proving them to be mimics. During the mage exam, when Fern tries to discourage her from opening a mimic, Frieren explains that the one percent possibility is worth the risk. After all, there could be a rare grimoire inside.

Lastly, Frieren tends to give long, in-depth explanations, regardless of the circumstances, which is common for high Ne users like the INTP. For instance, when Stark asks about whether they can make the carriage levitate (during a critical, time-sensitive situation), Frieren doesn’t just say “no”. Instead, she starts to give them a lecture, explaining the entire theory, which would ultimately lead up to a “no”. Stark stops her because they didn’t have time for that.

Si:

“Wherever possible, I’d like to retrace the adventures I had with Himmel and the others before all signs of it fade.”

“This meeting. It reminds me of the many whispers my party exchanged in dungeons.”

Fern actually spends most of the show fixated on her Si. It’s probably not fair to say she’s looping, because her Ne is definitely active. However, she spends the show actively analyzing her past, retracing her adventures with Himmel and the others. Frieren replays the moments, and tries to redo some of them correctly. For instance, she watches the sunrise that she skipped out on watching with them before, only this time she watches it with Fern. Frieren actively compares present moments to past ones, as she strives to figure out and understand what it all means to her.

Fe:

“Frieren’s sharp, but she can struggle to read emotions.” – Heiter

“Are you asking I get to know you? How needy.”

“Maybe we should find you a spell for understanding people’s feelings.” – Fern

Frieren’s greatest struggles lies within the realm of emotions and relationships, which is common for inferior Fe. Frieren doesn’t understand how to read emotions and interact with them. It can cause her to act insensitively, by accident, and struggle to connect with others. Heiter explains that she’s terrible at developing a mutual understanding with others, making working with her challenging.

In the past, Frieren takes this even farther, by devaluing relationships in general. For instance, when she believes that her master is asking that she get to know her, Frieren responds with “how needy.” For the longest time, Frieren remains overly detached from others, making no effort to connect and seeing little value in it. However, later on, when trying to retrace her steps, Frieren has begun developing her Fe, hence her desire to discover the value those memories and relationships hold for her.