So you may have noticed something odd about “That time I got reincarnated as a slime”. Rimaru is periodically said to be unusual in comparison to other slimes. Of course, he’s pretty unusual compared to just about anyone, but you get my drift. Slimes are supposed to be the level 1 monsters, the bottom link on the food chain, the lowest rung on the ladder of life. The hoi polloi, as it were. Nature’s proletariat.
However, in fact Rimaru sets himself apart from other slimes simply by existing. That is, we never see a single slime apart from him. Oh, everyone he meets knows that slimes are the creme de la wimp, but do they even mention ever laying eyes on one before? Search the whole series, and you won’t find another slime. Go ahead; I’ll wait for you. Actually, no I won’t.
Let’s assume that slimes are not generally mythical or extinct; and furthermore, let’s presume that ecology there functions more or less analogously to how it does in our own world. The lower something is in the food chain, the more of that thing there generally is. That’s because prey need to provide a sufficient meal to their predators and have enough population left over to ensure the survival of the species.
The closest living creature I can think of to a slime is a slug. If you’ve raised a garden, you know how easily slugs can conquer the produce section. Snakes, turtles, beetles, and birds all feast on slugs, and yet the slimy little gastropods frequently proliferate out of control.
Either slimes have natural predators, or they don’t. If they do, there should be a lot of slimes in order to sustain whatever creature thinks it can stomach slimes; and if they don’t, there should be even more. Something is seriously wrong in Rimaru’s world.
But what if there are a lot of slimes, and they just happen to thrive in places that don’t get any screentime? Certainly it’s plausible that there are thousands of habitats in that world which our main characters never trot through in their adventures. Perhaps slimes are restricted to those?
In general, I find this plausible, but it raises two weird questions: They aren’t insurmountable, but they do exist. First, the environment that Rimaru spawned into seemed like an ideal habitat for slimes. Moist, dark, underground, with plenty of delicious magic plants and rocks, and apparently no predators or competition for resources. And yet, apart from Rimaru, we don’t see a one.
Second, slimes seemingly being a simple form of life and low on the ecological totem pole, one would expect them to have evolved to fill many, many different kinds of environments. Think of how many types of insects there are, or even just how many species of beetle there are, and all the types of places you are not only likely but guaranteed to find them. So one would think that there would be slimes adapted to and living in all sorts of places. But we don’t find this.
Other options seem pretty far out:
- Slime-ocalypse: The slimes were wiped out a la the dinosaurs, but recently enough that everyone remembers them.
- Slime rapture: Jesus returned, and the slimes were the only creatures worthy of salvation. This raises a Ph.D. thesis’s worth of theological problems, especially in a world where reincarnation is a given, but happily none that are ecological.
- Slime transcendence: The slimes as a whole ascended to a higher plane of existence. Now they either do not concern themselves with the mundane affairs of mere mortals, or they serve as bodhisattvas to help the rest of us achieve slime enlightenment. A thankless task, no doubt.
- Slime-olution: The slimes evolved into something else, like the dinosaurs and birds.
- Dark Slimes: 90% of the slimes are not directly detectable using current technologies.
What do you think, dear readers? I’d be especially curious to hear from anyone with a background in the natural sciences.
Whatever the cause, someone should do a documentary of this bizarre ecological gap. It could be called “The Land That Slime Forgot“.
Wait, so is Rimaru the Messiah?
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Well, here’s my comeback as a gamer and researcher rather than a natural science freak (although I am that, too). From the first episode of this anime I personally took this to be a game world, and thus expected mechanics relating to slimes to be more like D&D, where they are a low level monster that sometimes has surprisingly destructive powers (One of my characters had an unfortunate encounter with an acidic form slime – more info here: .https://www.dandwiki.com/wiki/Giant_Slime_(5e_Creature) ) Rimaru also reminds me of the movie, The Blob, which was shown over and over and over on TV when I was young. Here’s a taste: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CkOfeSNsWpM . But as I slide on down this rabbit hole, it appears that he is actually intentionally modeled very much on the Slime characters in Dragon Quest, who share his ability to learn spells and to be sort of cute and witty. It’s also where that line “I’m not a bad slime” was taken from. Info here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slime_(Dragon_Quest)
However, I join you in wondering where the other slimes are. Even if we take the DragonQuest world as the model where they can be a playable character or an easily defeated enemy, they hardly seem to be “unique” monsters in their environment.
To go all natural sciences on you but in a totally creepy direction – an animal that is doing extremely well in it’s environment is driven to reproduce. A simple animal such as a slime probably reproduces asexually by simply splitting itself in to two individuals. Seems like Nimaru should be doing that any second now. Perhaps this is somehow related to his clear attraction to well endowed human females. After all, well endowed females are attractive to the male because they are perceived as good breeding stock. Of course, Rimaru’s human form is sexless. Maybe he is subliminally admiring these fertile motherly women because he wishes to be one. Popping out baby slimes. Ew. Okay, enough with the visuals.
OTH perhaps he is fulfilling this urge by “parenting” the monsters he names, from goblins and dire wolves to trolls. Especially in the case of the goblins he has taken a paternal role of responsibility. Thus he feels no need to reproduce, or to seek out the companionship of other slimes.
It’s all getting too weird for me now. Thanks for the trip down the rabbit hole!
Man, thank you for this really in-depth reply! I’ll hopefully reply at length soon, but for now just wanted to thank you.
Thank you for this post. It raises questions about where the other slime are. Happy new year
You’re welcome. Glad you liked it!
My pleasure! Glad you enjoyed it!
Maybe the Slime Bene Gesserit planted the seeds to make everything think Slimes were weak to prepare for Rimaru, the Slime Haderach? Is Rimaru really Usul, the strength at the base of the food chain?
🤣🤣🤣