Australian Devil
Australian Devil
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| オーストラリアデビル | |||
| Character Data | |||
| Romaji | Ōsutoraria Debiru
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| Debut | Kemono Friends (Anime) | ||
| Animal Data | |||
| Scientific Name | Sarcophilus harrisii
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| Distribution | Mainland Australia
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| Diet | Carnivore
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| Avg. Lifespan | 5-7 years
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| Read More | Tasmanian Devil
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| Conservation | 
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| Australian Devil | Anime | Season 2 | Pavilion | KF3 (V2) | Stage Play | Gallery |
“I’m always, always interested in Tasmanian Devil-chan…… Aah, will I be okay? I’m so worried. Can I do anything properly by myself?……”
—Australian Devil's introduction
The Australian Devil is a type of Marsupial Friend which debuted on Kemono Friends' official website. Her most major role is in Kemono Friends 3, as a member of the BATTEN Japari-Dan team with Tasmanian Devil and Blackbuck. The team is also an idol unit comprised of their corresponding voice actresses.
Appearance
Australian Devil's color palette is monochrome except her gloves and loafers which are brown. As the animal she's based on, she has irregular white patches on her tank top, her arm warmers and her hair. She wears a short circular skirt with pressed-in ridges, a pair of black thigh high socks and an apron which has a large pocket. She bears a bow attached to a collar that circle her neck. She long straight hair that reaches at least below the shoulder blades with part of it cut to about ears-length and a fringe slightly coiffed to the left just above her white eyepatch. She has brown, empty eyes befitting of a Friend that nearly went extinct; and judging by her facial expression, she seems nervous. She bears the tail and the ears of an Australian Devil.
Series Appearances
| Media | Role | First Appearance | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | Kemono Friends (2017 Anime) | ↪ Background character | Episode 8 |
| 2018 | Kemono Friends Pavilion | ↪ Observable character | |
| 2018 | Stage Play "Kemono Friends 2" ~Kemonos of the Snowy Night~ | ↪ Major character | |
| 2019 | Kemono Friends 2 | ↪ Background character | Epidode 8 |
| 2019 | Kemono Friends 3 | ↪ Major character, playable character | |
| 2019 | Kemono Friends 3: Planet Tours | ↪ Playable character | |
In Real Life
The tasmanian devil wasn't always restricted to its namesake island. The species as we know it descended from ancient marsupials at the time of the Gondwana supercontinent (550-180 million years ago) 1, who migrated from what is now South America to the land that would become Australia, and evolved as the climate became more arid. The precise point at where the current devil species came into being is unknown; fossils of species similar to modern devils have been found, but it is not known whether they were ancestors of the contemporary species, or whether the current devils co-existed with these species.
The date at which the tasmanian devil's mainland extinction occurred is also disputed, but is generally considered to be within the region of 6000-3000 years BP (before present). The cause of this extinction is similarly disputed, although a relatively common proposal attributes this to Dingoes; this is usually justified by the date of their introduction and proliferation generally correlating with the extinction date of the mainland devil population, as well as those of other mainland-extinct or wholly-extinct animals such as the Thylacine. However, recent studies question the involvement of dingoes, and instead primarily pin the blame on climate change and/or the increasing indigenous human population. 3
Trivia
- Some fans have speculated that Australian Devil's eyepatch is a reference to DFTD (devil facial tumour disease). This would be an anachronism in relation to Australian Devil, as the disease was only first observed in the late 90s (however, assuming this reference was deliberate, it's possible it was purely included for awareness).
- In late April 2021, 7 Tasmanian Devils were born in the wild on mainland Australia making it the first time Tasmanian Devil gave birth in mainland Australia for over 3000 years.
References
1. https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-jul-28-la-sci-marsupial-20100728-story.html Schiewe (2018). "Australia’s marsupials originated in what is now South America, study says". Los Angeles Times.
2. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03115510609506855 Brown, Oliver (2006). "Tasmanian devil (Sarcophilus harrisii) extinction on the Australian mainland in the mid-Holocene: multicausality and ENSO intensification". Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology. 31: 49–57.
3. https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/news/2013/09/dingoes-cleared-of-mainland-extinctions/ MacDonald (2013). "Dingoes cleared of mainland extinctions". Australian Geographic.