Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End is a fantasy anime series whose first season aired in fall 2023 as a continuous two cour broadcast. Season two is scheduled to air from January 2026. This article introduces Himmel, one of the central characters of the series, covering his profile, background, abilities, and voice actor, along with a summary of his role and actions throughout the story.

See more Himmel's Images

About Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End

Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End, based on the manga serialized in Weekly Shonen Sunday since April 2020, tells a post-epic fantasy story of the elf mage Frieren after the Hero’s party has defeated the Demon King. The manga has earned critical acclaim, winning the Manga Taisho 2021 Grand Prize, and has surpassed 30 million copies in circulation.

Himmel Profile

Name: HimmelHis name comes from the German word meaning sky or heaven.
Race: Human
Occupation: Hero
Voice Actor: Nobuhiko Okamoto
Age:
At the start of the journey: 16
At the time of defeating the Demon King: approximately 25 to 26
At the time of death: approximately 76, fifty years after the Demon King’s defeat
Favorite Food: rüf omelette
Popularity:Despite dying in the very first episode, Himmel ranked first in an official popularity poll, reflecting his overwhelming support and lasting impact among fans.

Voice Actor (JP)

Himmel is voiced by Nobuhiko Okamoto, a highly acclaimed Japanese voice actor.

Okamoto is widely known for portraying Katsuki Bakugo in My Hero Academia and Genya Shinazugawa in Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba.

Background

■Childhood and Early Life
Himmel grew up in an orphanage, though he was not born there and spent part of his early childhood with his mother. Heiter, who later became a priest, was raised in the same orphanage and remained Himmel’s lifelong friend.

During his boyhood, Himmel once became lost in a forest and encountered the elf mage Frieren. Sensing his anxiety, Frieren showed him a spell that created a field of flowers. While this moment left a deep impression on Himmel, Frieren herself did not recall the encounter until after his death, highlighting the difference in how humans and elves perceive time and memory.

■The Journey to Defeat the Demon King
At sixteen, Himmel set out on a journey to defeat the Demon King. He formed a party with Eisen the warrior, Heiter the priest, and Frieren the mage. Their adventure lasted ten long years.

On the day of their departure, Himmel and Eisen spoke casually to the king, nearly being executed for disrespect. Throughout the journey, Himmel’s kindhearted nature led him to help people whenever he could, no matter how small the request. As a result, the party’s progress was slow but meaningful, leaving behind countless lives changed for the better.

However, Himmel also carried deep regret. In the past, he once spared a demon that appeared as a child, only for villagers to be killed later. After that incident, he adopted an uncompromising stance toward demons who could speak human language.

■Defeating the Demon King and Life Afterward
Around the age of twenty five or twenty six, Himmel successfully defeated the Demon King, bringing peace to the world. Notably, he was never chosen by the legendary sword. Instead, he accomplished this feat through his own strength and resolve.

After the victory, Himmel kept the Dark Dragon Horn that Frieren had found in the Demon King’s castle, safeguarding it in his home for fifty years.

■Final Years and Death
Fifty years after the Demon King’s defeat, Himmel reunited with his former companions. By then, he had become an elderly man with a bald head and a long white beard.
Together, the four set out on a final journey to witness the Half Century Meteor Shower, a breathtaking sight that marked their last shared adventure. Soon after, Himmel passed away quietly from old age.

His death and the tears shed at his funeral deeply affected Frieren. This moment became the catalyst for her decision to embark on a new journey to understand humans and their fleeting lives. Within the story, time is often marked as a certain number of years since the death of Hero Himmel, underscoring his role as the emotional and thematic foundation of the series.

Appearance

In his youth, Himmel was known as a strikingly handsome man, distinguished by a tear mole beneath his eye. He openly acknowledged himself as a good looking man and carried great confidence in his appearance.

Fifty years after the defeat of the Demon King, his appearance changed dramatically in his later years. He became an elderly man with a bald head and a full white beard, reflecting the natural passage of time that contrasts strongly with Frieren’s unchanging youth.

Personality

Himmel was an extreme show off and a devoted narcissist. He was obsessed with leaving behind bronze statues of himself across the land, openly stating that his goal was to preserve his handsome image for future generations. One well known episode tells of how he spent eighteen hours agonizing over the perfect pose for a statue, eventually infuriating the craftsman.

He was also free spirited and unconcerned with rigid etiquette. On one occasion, he casually spoke to the king without honorifics and nearly faced execution for his disrespect.

Beneath this playful and flamboyant exterior, however, Himmel possessed the heart of a true hero. He was exceptionally kind and could never abandon those in need. Even the smallest and most trivial requests were accepted without hesitation. As a result, the journey to defeat the Demon King progressed at an extremely slow pace, yet his compassion earned him deep admiration and trust from countless people.

He also displayed a side reminiscent of an avid role playing game enthusiast. He insisted on collecting every treasure chest in a dungeon and grew more excited the more complex and challenging the dungeon became.

■Stance Toward Demons
Although gentle by nature, Himmel showed a cold and merciless attitude toward demons. This stemmed from a traumatic past experience in which he spared a child like demon who could speak human language, only for innocent villagers to be killed afterward.

From that point on, he showed no hesitation toward demons who attempted to deceive humans through speech, drawing a clear and unforgiving line between compassion and responsibility.

■Feelings for Frieren
Himmel held deep affection for Frieren that went far beyond simple companionship. His feelings are evident through numerous words and actions.

One of the most iconic scenes shows him gifting Frieren a Mirror Lotus ring, a flower symbolizing eternal love, kneeling as he placed it on her left ring finger. In another moment, when a young boy lifted Frieren’s skirt, Himmel angrily exclaimed that he wanted to see it too, revealing his honest and unguarded emotions.

The true reason Himmel left behind statues of himself was not merely vanity. More than preserving his appearance, he wished to ensure that when the long lived Frieren eventually found herself alone, the memories of her former companions would serve as guiding markers to ease her loneliness. This quiet consideration reflects the depth of his love and foresight.

Abilities

Himmel was not a mage, nor did he belong to a special bloodline or a race blessed with magical power. He was, in every sense, an ordinary human. Despite this, he possessed overwhelming combat ability as the leader of the party that defeated the Demon King.

Direct depictions of his battles are mostly limited to flashbacks, yet his strength is portrayed as far beyond human norms. One notable example is his ability to leave visible damage on the barrier of The Immortal Böse of the Seven Sages of Destruction, a feat that even Frieren at the time was unable to accomplish.

Himmel was never chosen by the Legendary Sword that symbolizes the hero. However, rather than submitting to fate, he went on to defeat the Demon King using only a replica sword and his own strength.

His swordsmanship was extraordinary. The pressure generated merely by swinging his blade was powerful enough to cut down entire groups of trees in a forest. His combat ability was not limited to raw power, as he also possessed exceptional speed that prevented demons from finding any opening to cast spells.

■Combat Feats and Speed
Battle against Aura the GuillotineAura possessed a spell that forced submission upon those with less mana than herself. It is strongly implied that Himmel defeated her by closing the distance instantly, giving her no opportunity to activate her magic.

Rescuing civiliansWhen a demon attacked a child, Himmel used rapid movement to sever the demon’s arm and rescue the victim immediately.

■Resistance to Mental Interference
Himmel also demonstrated astonishing resistance to mental interference magic. During his battle with Grausam the Miraculous, his mind was trapped within illusion magic, yet he maintained consciousness and overwhelmed his enemies regardless.

In this encounter, he managed to corner not only Grausam but also Solitär, a demon who had been secretly providing support from the shadows.

■Fear Among the Demons
Himmel’s power was deeply feared by demons. Remnants of the demon forces, including Aura the Guillotine, remained in hiding for as long as he lived. Only after Himmel passed away from old age did they begin to reemerge and act openly.
E
ven in his advanced years, his strength had not faded. He was still capable of traveling across the perilous northern continent, a region densely populated with powerful monsters, proving that his abilities endured until the very end of his life.

Related Characters

■Frieren
Frieren is an elf mage who traveled alongside Himmel for ten years during the journey to defeat the Demon King. To Himmel, she was far more than just a companion. The series strongly indicates that he held deep affection and romantic feelings for her.

The ring and proposal like gestureAs a reward from a subjugation request, Himmel gifted Frieren a ring decorated with the motif of the Mirror Lotus. This flower symbolizes eternal love. Knowing its meaning, Himmel knelt and placed the ring on Frieren’s left ring finger, an act that closely resembled a proposal.

The true meaning behind the statuesThe primary reason Himmel left bronze statues of himself across the land was not solely due to narcissism. He hoped that when the long lived Frieren eventually found herself alone, memories of her former companions would serve as guiding markers to ease her loneliness.

His lasting influenceHimmel’s death and the tears shed at his funeral became the direct catalyst for Frieren’s decision to embark on a journey to understand humans.

Their first meetingIn fact, before the adventure ever began, Himmel encountered Frieren once during his childhood after becoming lost in a forest. At that time, she showed him a spell that created a field of flowers.

■Heiter
Heiter was Himmel’s childhood friend from the same orphanage and a companion on the journey to defeat the Demon King. The two shared a close and familiar bond. Heiter often teased Himmel for his flamboyant personality, such as when Himmel repeatedly demanded revisions to the pose of his bronze statues.

Heiter lived for more than twenty years after Himmel’s death and continued to support his ideals and feelings toward Frieren indirectly through his actions and guidance.

■Eisen
Eisen is a dwarf warrior who accompanied Himmel on the Demon King subjugation journey. He shared a mischievous, almost bad friend like relationship with Himmel.

On the day they set out on their adventure, Eisen joined Himmel in speaking casually to the king, resulting in both of them nearly being executed for their disrespect. This episode highlights the strong bond and shared recklessness between the two warriors.

Himmel’s Role in the Story

Himmel passes away peacefully in the first episode after living out his natural lifespan. However, he continues to appear frequently throughout the series through flashback scenes.

The words he left behind and the actions he took during his lifetime serve as guiding principles for Frieren’s present journey. Whenever Frieren faces difficult decisions, the question of what Himmel would have done becomes a moral compass, allowing him to guide the party even after his death.

Himmel’s journey was not defined solely by the defeat of the Demon King. By consistently helping others, even through the smallest acts of kindness, he left a lasting impression on countless people. These memories endure through the stories passed down across the land, alongside the bronze statues that continue to bear his likeness.

Frieren Characters List

■Frieren Party
Frieren: フリーレン
Fern: フェルン
Stark: シュタルク
Sein: ザイン

■Hero Himmel Party
Himmel: ヒンメル
Heiter: ハイター
Eisen: アイゼン

■Demon king & The Seven Sages of Destruction
Demon King: 魔王
Aura: アウラ
Macht: マハト
Grausam: グラオザーム
Böse: ベーゼ

■Demon
Schlacht: シュラハト
Solitär: ソリテール
Tot: トート
Rivale: リヴァーレ
Qual: クヴァール
Lügner: リュグナー
Linie: リーニエ
Draht: ドラート
Revolte: レヴォルテ
Zart: ツァルト

■Continental Magic Association
Serie: ゼーリエ
Sense: ゼンゼ
Genau: ゲナウ
Methode: メトーデ
Falsch: ファルシュ
Lernen: レルネン
Lineal: リネアール

■First-Class Mage Exam Arc
Denken: デンケン
Übel: ユーベル
Land: ラント
Wirbel: ヴィアベル
Kanne: カンネ
Lawine: ラヴィーネ
Edel: エーデル
Richter: リヒター
Scharf: シャルフ
Laufen: ラオフェン
Ehre: エーレ
Blei: ブライ
Dünste: ドゥンスト

■Others
Flamme: フランメ
Kreis (Gorilla Warrior): クライス（戦士ゴリラ）
Granat: グラナト
Kraft: クラフト
Hero of the South: 南の勇者

Source : Frieren: Beyond Journeys End Official Web Site