In the Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken universe, all races are classified into two basic categories, physical and spiritual beings, each of which are further divided into three more sections: Humans, Demi-Humans and Monsters for physical existences, and Angels, Spirits and Demons for spiritual existences.
The Soul and the Origin of the Major Races
Sister article: Soul
In the Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken Universe, all living beings have souls. If something doesn't have a soul, it isn't considered a living being at all. Meaning, there can be some creatures that live on pure intention or instinct but have no soul.
All souls/living beings have three layers: the astral body, the spiritual body and the physical. The Core/Soul is the being or individual itself. To be considered a proper existence, the soul needs an astral body. This acts as a container for the individual's existence. However, with only an astral body, the soul will only dissipate into pure energy again, hence a medium to record memories is needed, which is the spiritual body. These memories keeps the existence of 'self' intact, but even so, it is not permanent, which is why the physical body is needed.
The final rule only applies to souls that wish to reside in the physical world. Veldanava created two worlds, the spiritual and the physical, neither of which can freely interfere with one another. For a spirit or soul to reside in the physical world it would need a physical body. And for a physical being to survive in the spiritual world, it would need to be able to transform into a Spiritual Lifeform.
Thus the two worlds were kept separated from each other, aside from some exceptions such as True Dragon and being with high magical quantity, who can create a physical body using there enormous magic reserves, and Demon Lords and Demi Gods who have become spiritual existences.
Till now, there were simply the physical and the spiritual, and nothing more. But later, Veldanava, who had been observing multiple worlds/universes falling into chaos and war brought about another change, which was 'alignments'. He noticed that among the spirits, some were inherently 'bad' and others inherently 'good'. And among the physical world, there were always 'humans', hence a gradient of humans to demi-humans to least human (monsters).
And among those beings, he noticed, were individuals with more matured souls. These individuals were later made the overseers of the three alignments of spiritual beings. Dino, the leader of the orderly and 'good' aligned race, the Angels. Ramiris, the leader of the free-spirited and 'neutral' aligned race, the Spirits. Guy, the leader of the chaotic and 'evil' aligned race, the Demons.
Physical Beings
Humans
Humans, although weak at birth can grow stronger if they have talent & work hard but the strongest they can get atmost is Rank A (unless they have an Hero's Egg within them), if they are liked by a couple or many spirits but as an individual, it has not been stated yet. However, through evolution they can become as follows:[1]
|
Rank |
Species[1] |
|---|---|
| SS | Demi-God |
| S |
True Hero,Human Saint |
| A+ | Hero-> (with Hero's Egg) |
| A ~ A+ (for some) | Human Sage |
| E ~ A | Human (Varies greatly) |
Demi-Humans
Demi-Humans are those who resemble humans although are not completely humans. They are inferior tribes which have the ability to reproduce & are special among the monsters. The information regarding their evolution has not been stated yet.
Their examples are: Elves, Dwarves, Beastmen or Lycanthropes, Goblins, Orcs, Lizardmen etc.
Monsters
For monsters, each individual monster race evolves into their own unique species. However, this may differ for an individual monster or group of monsters based on what race/species is of the Individual/Master they choose to serve under.
Also, even though every monster race evolves differently, they all do share the common goal of evolving into a complete Spiritual Being/Entity.
Spiritual Beings
Spiritual Beings are those who are born as Spirits, requiring a Body or Summoning to interact with the Physical World & Physical beings who have evolved into one such Spirits, although having their own body.
Also, Spirits when killed will reincarnate into their own respective worlds i.e., Demon Realm, Spirit World & Heaven or Celestial World etc.
Their examples are: Angels, Demons, Monsters (evolved into spirits) etc.
| Good Alignment (Holy Spirit / Divine Spirit) |
Neutral Alignment (Holy Demonic Spirit / Divine Monster Spirit) |
Evil Alignment (Demonic Spirit) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Highest tier | |||
| Higher/Upper tier | Water Spirit Insect Wind Spirit Wolf War Spirit Oni Earth Spirit Beast |
||
| Middle tier |
Angels
Angels are Spiritiual life forms that are aligned/compatible with Holy atrribute. Unlike Demons who have their evolution sealed they can evolve to their highest but have their individual Wills sealed, which demons do have. Although that can be undone by acquiring all 7 Ultimate Skills of Virtue Series.
They can be summoned through the Ultimate Skill "Justice King Michael" but do appear in the Physical World after every 500 years through Heaven's Gate to keep the society in Order.
Also, the highest evolution for Angels is known to be as "Seraphim".
Spirits
Spirits, they do not have an ego at birth but do gain one as Time passes & they gain more Power. So, in other words they are a Mass of Pure Energy which can gain an ego & can even become a monster.[2] Although, they too have different species, their evolution (although not confirmed to be as complete) is as follows:
|
Species |
|---|
| Common Spirit |
| Great Spirit |
| King Spirit[3] |
Demons
Demons are pure Dark Spiritual life form that have strong mind and ego unlike Humans and most other spirits. They are beings who are compatible with Dark or Demonic Attribute. They have their evolution sealed but that can be undone by acquiring all 7 Ultimate Skills of the Sin Series or through Summoning and being granted Names or acquiring Souls.
However, the highest they can evolve in their own world without using any of the above-mentioned ways (except summoning since they do acquire more power through summoning), is up to an "Arch Demon". Though even as Arch Demon their strength may vary as per for how much time they lived & experienced as being one. They evolve as follows:
|
Rank |
Species |
|---|---|
| SS | Demon God[1] |
| S | Demon King |
| A+ | Demon Noble
|
| A | Arch Demon |
| A- | Greater Demon |
| B | Lesser Demon |
Terminologies
It is to be noted that all beings, regardless of physicality or spirituality, with some form of "evil" alignment are referred to as "Demonic-kin" 「魔族, Mazoku」. This can be especially confusing in translations as Mazoku is written as both 'demons' and 'monsters' in different circumstances. Mazoku includes all of Monsters, Demons and Devils (魔 meaning "evil" or "demonic").
Next are Monsters 「魔物, Mamono/Mabutsu meaning "Demonic Beings/Creatures"」. They include all physical beings that don't have a 'proper civilization' and don't have many, if not any, relations/treaties with civilized races. Examples are Goblins, Orcs, Fanged Wolves, Slimes, Black Serpent, Giant Spider, Lizardmen and many others.
Devils 「魔人, Majin meaning "Demonic People"」 refer to any humanoid Mazoku. This includes Beastmen, Ogres, Kijin, Harpies, Dragonoids and individuals like Gelmudo, Clayman and Laplace. Sometimes, depending on their reputation and power, certain Demi-Humans may also be referred to as a Devil. Also, Demons that take on a human or humanoid appearance when summoned can also be called a Devil.
Finally Demons 「悪魔 Akuma」 are very specific. They only refer to the spiritual beings known as Demons. They are a race of their own and have their own evolution chain.