furthermore, the whole attempted rape scene at the start i think could be symbolic of how victims of trauma usualyl become the abusers (cycle of abuse) or internalize/normalize the abusive behaviours that have happened to them- making them feel like a monster, different, disgusting, etc.

You seem to be confusing the original Niehara eaten by our favorite worm with the monster who replaced him.

Monster Niehara also attempted to rape Itou in Chapter 11.

furthermore, the whole attempted rape scene at the start i think could be symbolic of how victims of trauma usualyl become the abusers (cycle of abuse) or internalize/normalize the abusive behaviours that have happened to them- making them feel like a monster, different, disgusting, etc.

You seem to be confusing the original Niehara eaten by our favorite worm with the monster who replaced him.

Monster Niehara also attempted to rape Itou in Chapter 11.

Right, forgot about that.

@JuniperPengold

In fact, I still use they/them for Niehara the most part, though sometimes I use she/her due to my aforementioned interpretation. There's ultimately no contradiction between a transfem interpretation of Niehara and one that has them using they/them pronouns; I know other transfems IRL who only go by they/them.

You are right I suppose. One reason why I don't use the terms transfeminine and transmasculine is that they are vague and can be used different ways by different people. I don't feel like I receive much information if it's not meant as an analogue for trans man or woman, whereas trans man / trans woman / nonbinary are used in a more consistent way. I also don't care about people's birth assignment that much unless it's relevant for some reason.

However, there are certainly people who identify as transfeminine or transmasculine while using they/them pronouns. If you all were thinking of it that way then I will concede it's a correct usage.

@Cogito

I think a transfem analysis of Niehara could be very interesting, but I think it needs to be informed by a similar analysis of Takahashi, who I feel is much more clearly transfem since she seems much more committed to presenting as a girl.

I'm not sure she is. She can't change as easily, so once she picks a suit she sticks with it. We have not seen any evidence of her ever using a male suit, but that doesn't mean she hasn't done it or dislikes it. More info will come in future chapters, which should give more of a sense of if she has any history or feelings about this topic.

Monster Niehara also attempted to rape Itou in Chapter 11.

I still think this may not have been a real attempt but a pretend action to manipulate Takahashi. That is some dark content if they were imitating their own abuser, though.

Given earlier posts by other commenters, I should say that is NOT generally what abused people do. It is what abused people do who internalized their abuser's actions as morally justified. For instance, many abused boys become adults who feel violence is the natural response to weakness. They are hyper vigilant about maintaining that dominant position of strength for themselves to prevent a repeat of what they experienced. They feel justified using violence to achieve this.

An abused boy who feels it was wrong for him to be abused is likely to have emotional issues as an adult, like overreacting to criticism or assuming negative intentions from others. Despite that, they will not employ violence as a strategy in the same way because they feel no one is justified in being treated that way. Most likely, they had some type of support to help them understand what they were experiencing was not their fault or justified. They are more likely to be involved in advocacy than to employ violence as a strategy.

Real life abused people are not mimics who feel that they have no valued identity nor any moral worth, though. Slender might really imitate actions they see as unjustified, as they themselves as fulfilling that type of role in a story.

@JavelinR

I don't think the author wants you too feel too bad for the mimic, given what they did immediately after that backstory. Rather I think it shows it's species doesn't know much, or anything, about humanity by the time they first take human form. Her/his first experience with a human was an abuser obsessed with movies. And now the mimic thinks nothing of hurting others while obsessing over acting out it's own movie.

Even a mimic as articulate as Mr. N is still operating off a mimic logic. I think that's the point of the backstory. You can say "monsters don't operate off the same logic as humans", but this chapter shows how one type of monster develops and what it takes from its experiences.

... Sounds about right, as far as that goes, which is the part of the story that has no real world analogue.

last edited at Apr 4, 2026 1:23PM

In the picture hiraizumi has the same sort of eyes as a known monster. Was she a monster? Was she hunting our main character and thats why? It seems random for Mister N to do this otherwise....