Denken

* Present (Anime)
* Present (Manga)
* Past (Manga)

**Denken** 「デンケン, *Denken*?」 is an Imperial Mage and a First Class Mage. Born in the Weise Region, he lost both of his parents by demon attacks and was raised by Glück, the feudal lord of Weise. When he was young, he was the apprentice of Macht, who was serving as the personal mage of the Glück's family. Because of his wife's frail condition, Denken became a mage in the Imperial army and tried to gain power and influence in hopes of saving her life, but unfortunately she passed away before he could. After the death of his wife and the formation of El Dorado, Denken had delayed returning to his hometown until it was swallowed up by El Dorado. Since only a first-class mage was allowed to enter El Dorado, Denken took the First Class Mage Examination at the same time as Frieren and Fern. He was the oldest examinee who passed in that year's exam.

## Personality

As an Imperial Mage, Denken is renowned to be a cunning and ruthless politician who reigned supreme in a struggle of power at the Capital. However, in truth he is quite personable and attempts connections with others even to their reluctance, such as going out of his way to approach Richter outside of the first-class exams. He is also a rare mage who values coordination and cooperation rather than acting on his own, and was willing to go out of his way to secure allies. Unlike most mages, he does not put too much emphasis in reaching greater heights of power by all means. He believes that the value of magic lay in the pursuit of the magic itself instead of the result, an opinion which Frieren is in agreement with.

Denken is also a competent leader. He is a careful and contemplative person who often keeps his calm and analyzes the situation. In the first stage of the exam, he was the first to figure out Frieren's strategy and coordinated his team's conduct to moderate success. He also managed to bring together a team for the second stage of the exam, where he expressed dismay at the lack of cooperative spirit among the examinees.

Lernen, who was his long time friend, described Denken as a talented and passionate man, who had stood up for him until the end when he was expelled from his position in the Imperial army. Although his current conduct may not indicate it, Serie remarked that he still retains his passion and vigor in their interview and was impressed enough to let him pass the third stage of the First Class Mage Examinations. He has shown he is capable of going to great lengths to get what he wants, namely when he was ready to engage in a fistfight in order to pass the first stage of the exam. He has also been all willing to aim for feats which exceed his abilities, such as contemplating how to fight Serie, or attempting to defeat Macht, the most powerful Sage of Destruction.

For most of his life, Denken was weighed down by the death of his wife and was fearful of remembering the happy times he had spent with her. It is why he had delayed returning to visit his hometown for so long that it had become a restricted area due to El Dorado's expansion. However, the happy memories he had in his hometown with her became the impetus for his quest to defeat Macht and save his hometown.

## Appearance

Denken is an elderly man who has brown hair and a long, thick beard. He wears a monocle on his left eye. He is commonly seen wearing a long, black robe with white collars.

## Abilities

Denken is a powerful mage who achieved the rank of first-class mage, a title only under fifty people have ever been able to achieve.

* **Mystil'zla:** Also known as "Curse Reversal Magic", this spell reflects anything it perceives to be a curse back at the one who cast it. However, it uses a colossal amount of mana, comparable to the mana needed to erect omnidirectional defence magic. It also requires a hundred years of practice to learn, making it impossible for a human to learn through ordinary means. Denken was able to obtain it from Serie through her Spell Transfer Magic "Fearvelia" as his chosen spell awarded to him for becoming a First Class Mage.

## Trivia

* Denken is German / Dutch for "to think", if used as a verb, or for "the act of thinking", if used as a nounified verb, but it can also be used to mean "to believe" or "to imagine"