Laufen
A supporting character in Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, Laufen is a young Third-Class Mage originating from a mountain tribe in the Southern Lands. Traveling to the magic city of Oihrst to take the First-Class Mage Exam, she is assigned to Team 13 alongside the veteran mage Denken and the magic item shopkeeper Richter. Although still developing her foundational skills, she relies on her traditional high-speed folk magic and agile physical combat to navigate the dangerous trials.
Overview
A supporting character in Frieren: Beyond Journey's End, Laufen is a young Third-Class Mage originating from a mountain tribe in the Southern Lands. Traveling to the magic city of Oihrst to take the First-Class Mage Exam, she is assigned to Team 13 alongside the veteran mage Denken and the magic item shopkeeper Richter. Although still developing her foundational skills, she relies on her traditional high-speed folk magic and agile physical combat to navigate the dangerous trials.
Appearance
Laufen has light brown or orange hair tied into twin hairbuns decorated with hanging tassels on each side, paired with slanted asymmetrical bangs and orange-brown eyes. Her outfit consists of a dark Chinese-style dress featuring deep side slits, bare shoulders, white line details, and crossing white shoulder straps anchored by a gemstone with twin tassels. Beneath the slit dress, she wears short white safety shorts. She also equips black arm bracers and calf-length black boots, both adorned with small matching tassels, and carries a wooden magic staff.
Personality
Laufen possesses an earnest, gentle, and compassionate nature. Unlike many ruthless mages in the exam, she shows genuine concern for the lives of fellow examinees and feels compelled to honor those who fall in battle. Though somewhat naive and straightforward, she demonstrates brave loyalty, willingly risking her safety to protect her comrades. She is also a passionate lover of sweets, particularly donuts, showing a cheerful and childlike innocence whenever offered her favorite treats.
Abilities
She specializes in high-speed movement magic (Jilwer), a traditional folk spell handed down through the mountain tribes of the Southern Lands that allows her to instantaneously relocate herself alongside objects. While this spell gives her explosive speed capable of ambushing upper-tier mages, her lack of refinement leaves noticeable residual mana traces, enabling experienced mages to easily track and intercept her. In combat, she complements her magic with physical staff-fighting skills and can coat her staff in mana to stretch it into a glowing magical whip for mid-range attacks.
Background
Hailing from the Southern Lands, Laufen traveled to Oihrst to participate in the First-Class Mage Exam. During the first stage, she joined Team 13 with Denken and Richter, utilizing her speed magic to steal a Stille target bird. Although she was briefly captured by Frieren, her team secured another bird and passed. In the second stage at the King's Tomb, she cooperated with other examinees to battle magical clones, successfully reaching the end. However, in the final stage, the ancient mage Serie failed her after sensing her fear of Serie's overwhelming mana. Despite her defeat, she maintained a warm connection with her teammates.
Relationships
Denken treats Laufen with doting affection like his own granddaughter, frequently buying her donuts and full meals while reminding her to eat vegetables, while she warmly addresses him as Grandpa. Her relationship with teammate Richter begins with her stubbornly refusing to share her sweets, though she later offers him a donut to comfort him after he fails the second exam. During the exam, Frieren easily outmaneuvered her speed magic by tracking her residual mana, and the ancient founder Serie deemed her unqualified after Laufen faltered under her aura.
Trivia
Her name is derived from the German verb meaning to run, perfectly matching her high-speed movement magic despite her distinctly Chinese-inspired visual design. Due to her endearing interactions with Denken, she became affectionately dubbed as the ultimate granddaughter figure among the fanbase, a nickname eventually adopted by official promotional media and social network accounts.
