The following contains spoilers for Reincarnated as a Sword Episode 4, “The Terrifying Goblin Stampede”, now streaming on HIDIVE.
Monsters may be horrifying and oftentimes deadly in anime, but they are an important component of every fantasy series’ lore. Given that most isekai anime are set in a world where monsters and demons roam freely, the existence of these creatures is almost always taken as a given. The viewers mostly don’t question where these creatures come from or who created them. However, Reincarnated as a Sword goes a step further and explains how the monsters of its world came to be.
The monsters in the world of Reincarnated as a Sword made their debut almost at the same time as the anime’s titular main character. However, their role was far less grand. The monsters became Teacher’s primary mode of getting stronger. By destroying the crystals deep embedded within their bodies, Teacher earned experience and skills. The skills, of course, were taken from the eliminated monster’s skill set.
Reincarnated as a Sword’s Pantheon of Gods
Episode 3 explained that the world of Reincarnated as a Sword started with the appearance of ten main gods. Among them was the Goddess of Chaos, who was responsible for the world’s reincarnation. Their harmony created both the world and the life on it. Afterward, their descendants, the seventy-eight gods, gave color to the world. They used their powers to influence the world and its events. Though the Goddess of Chaos’s name sounds intimidating, she served a very important role. She spread chaos throughout the world to make the world’s denizens strive for development and progression, and one of her creations was the dungeons.
Garrus, the Dwarf who was able to appraise Teacher, explained that the dungeons were supposed to be a test for humankind. These dungeons appeared randomly. While the dungeons housed various creatures, they were not the monsters’ origin. The dungeon’s core simply searched for the nearest monsters and turn them into dungeon masters. Interestingly, the monsters’ origins had to do something with the God of War.
The Origin of Monsters
The God of War was blinded by his greed for power and turned evil. He gained an insurmountable amount of power after turning to the dark side. But as his power grew, so did his ego. The God of War challenged the other gods, but the God of War lost and was chopped up. The pieces were then sent and sealed in various places. The seals, however, couldn’t completely contain every piece. Whatever escaped from these pieces turned into various monsters — Goblins, Orcs, and such.
Episode 4 of Reincarnated as a Sword reveals that the monsters roaming its world came from one of the seventy-eight gods, the God of War. After attempting to dominate the other gods, he is chopped up and sealed. However, not all pieces are sealed properly, and the energy that escapes is what gives life to the monsters. That being said, simply defeating the monsters will never result in their extinction. If Fran and Teacher will ever have to rid of these creatures in the future, they will have to eliminate the God of War in his entirety.
