"a land of talking dogs": The Humanity and Monstrosity of Chimera Falin
I've been re-reading the Dungeon Meshi manga from the start (as I originally picked up reading it after watching season 1 of the anime and missed reading the early chapters) and was struck by this moment in Chapter 37, when Chimera Falin (or Faligon) reveals herself to the party and, during the struggle, is bitten by Kuro. Her reaction fascinates me. I think it's such a brilliant moment of storytelling especially in contrast with what Kabru says here—
—that tells the audience from the get-go that Falin is still in there.
In Chapter 26, we see a little bit of Falin and Laios's childhood, including the poignant scene where Falin's skill with magic and ghosts is revealed in front of her family and town. But what's more important here is what comes after. When Laios tries to comfort her with all the ways magic could improve her life, we see this exchange:
The most excitement and movement in these three panels comes from that last one, when she's given the idea that she could visit a land of talking dogs. Or, what Laios means, kobolds.
The Toudens are clearly fond of dogs. Marcille remarks, in Chapter 17, that Falin "bragged about you, too, Laios." Though she purposefully leaves out what specifically Falin was bragging about...
It's not just Laios's dog impression that Falin likes, though. In the Dungeon Meshi Adventurer's Bible, we have a short strip about Laios and Falin's childhood again.
Aside from this (adorable) panel of young Falin fawning over the family's puppies, we also have confirmation from Marcille that "Falin mentioned" she'd grown up with lots of dogs. It's something she talked about enough for Marcille to remember. It's something that brought her joy. Of course she was excited about a land of talking dogs: Falin loves dogs.
Which brings me back to the Faligon fight in Chapter 37.
We first get a panel of her eye. Inhuman, yes, but open and seemingly more curious than fierce or angry. She removes the blade from her body, but when she pulls Kuro forward, she does not attack him. In that bottom right panel, even as he is growling in her face, her expression is calm (perhaps even placid) as she reaches towards him. To do what? That isn't the approach of an attack, but a caress. It looks almost like she want to pet him.
Her expression hardens. Her eyes are sharp and narrowed, her brows drawn together, nose scrunched, face shaded with disdain—but she is not bearing her teeth, she is frowning. She looks almost betrayed. And compare her eyes in that bottom left panel to the first shot of her eye: it makes it all the more clear that her first look is at least neutral, if not a positive expression.
When she first appears, she doesn't respond to Marcille calling her name. She doesn't respond to the faces of her friends. Not even her brother, who she started the series sacrificing herself to protect. Falin, who up to this point had been lauded by our characters as a kind, patient, compassionate and gentle person, has been recklessly and brutally killing the humans in a manner so uncharacteristic to not just her, but any human, that Kabru (who's defining skill set and passion is understanding humans...)
deems her unmistakably inhuman.
And yet. In those few seconds, we saw Falin the tall-man. The girl who loves dogs. The girl who wanted to see the land of talking dogs. Falin the human.
The thing that the Toudens will always recognise first is not humanity, but the inhuman. Or, in this case, demi-human.
Despite having seen the whole party before, Laios only recognises Kuro. Just like Falin, whose gentleness does not respond to her loved ones but to Kuro.
Maizuru, Benichidori, Inutade and Hien are all slaughtered before this. But it is only after watching Falin kill Kuro that Laios finally see her as a monster.
It is the dog's tail crushed beneath Falin's foot that convinces Laios she is a monster, and must be dealt with as such.
But this preoccupation with the inhuman or monstrous doesn't change the fact that the Toudens care about people. They care about their friends. They care about each other: Falin gives her life for the party, but most especially Laios; Laios dives right back in to save her, party be damned, and sacrifices his leg (risking far more than that) to kill the dragon that ate her.
Maybe they resonate with the inhuman first...
But, ultimately, humanity is what they're looking for in the inhuman—in monstrosity.
They've both been mistreated and outcast by humans. They both found comfort and comradery in animals and monsters. But they still crave human connection.
And Laios knows that Kabru was wrong.
Falin is still in there. It is her. It isn't just a monster.
That's his little sister.
