The Rising of the Shield Hero

The Rising of the Shield Hero (盾の勇者の成り上がり, Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari) is a Japanese light novel series written by Aneko Yusagi. Originally published as a web novel, the series has since been published by Media Factory with illustrations by Minami Seira. As of september 1st, 2016, 14 volumes have been published.

The novel series was adapted into a manga series by Aiya Kyū and published by Media Factory, with six volumes released as of july 23, 2016. Both the novel and manga series were licensed by One Peace Books and were published in North American starting in September 2015.^[1]

Plot

Iwatani Naofumi was summoned into a parallel world along with 3 other people to become the world's Heroes. Each of the heroes were respectively equipped with their own legendary equipment when summoned. Naofumi happened to receive the Legendary Shield, the sole defensive equipment, while the others received weapons capable of attacking.

Due to Naofumi's lack of charisma and experience, he ended up with only a single teammate, a beautiful woman, while others had several. Unfortunately, on his third day Naofumi was betrayed, falsely accused, and robbed by the said teammate.

Shunned by everyone from king to peasants, Naofumi's thoughts were filled with nothing but vengeance and hatred. Thus, his destiny in a parallel world begins...

Characters

Main Characters

Naofumi Iwatani

The Hero of the Shield and the protagonist. Naofumi was a university student who was summoned from another world after finding a book about the four heroes. While originally a kind and sort of socially awkward person, his experiences with Malty Melromac very shortly after being summoned have made him a dark and cynical, but still a generally good person. Although he experiences a slow start because of the Malty incident and is on a much lower level than the other heroes, he is still able to keep up and even occasionally outshine them due to his wide variety of shields which both buff him and his allies and debuff his opponents. His Curse weapon is Wrath, which gives him immense strength when enraged, but which will also lower his stats dramatically for a time afterwards. He also gains the New Seven Deadly Sins shields later, which represent the sins of modern man and which carry more bizarre and abstract drawbacks. He's 20 when summoned, making him the second oldest of the four summoned heroes.

He was initially unable to taste or witness Raphtalia's growth due to his mind being stuck in vengeance and anger. But he is cured when she proves her loyalty to him by not abandoning him. His only form of offense is the Wrath shield. It burns any close combat attack with a burning curse and its damage increases with his anger. He later obtains another attack when he fuses his shield with the zombie dragon core called 'Iron Maiden' which creates a giant iron maiden and traps his enemies within. He upgrades this to 'Blutopher' (German for 'blood sacrifice') which forms a number of consecutive steel teeth not unlike a bear trap around the opponent that constantly open and close eventually reducing the foe to a bloody pulp. The cost of Blutopher is that it places a massive curse on his body and even physically damages him. The curse is so strong it can only be reduced to the point where it weakens him for months.

Eventually he is granted an amnesty by the Queen, the true power on the throne, but his still discriminated due to his low attack power and previous rumours, however he is treated much better and is even worshipped by the country's demihumans as a savior.

At one point, Naofumi, purchases several slaves and founds a small town, where Raphtalia's once was. While, somewhat harsh and strict, he treats the slaves well, and they grown to love him, despite his own cold attitude. In the end of the series the town is named 'Rock Valley' due to the characters of his family name which can be read as the same, despite the town itself not being in a valley.

Raphtalia (ラフタリア)

A Tanuki Demi-human. Naofumi picked her up when she was a slave and pretty much raised her. Her real age is around 10 but she looks around 20 as Demi-humans age as they level. She and Firo are the only beings who have his complete trust. She loves Naofumi and often asks him if he will return to his world or what kind of woman he likes. She later becomes Hero of the Hammer. In the end of the series, she becomes Naofumi's wife and bears his children.

Firo (フィーロ)

A Filorial Queen. Naofumi bought her egg from the same slave trader that he got Raphtalia from. She is an incredibly rare species known as a Queen Filo Rial (which resembles a Chocobo from Final Fantasy series). She is the strongest member in their group rivalling even Ren. She is extremely fast and can even use wind magic. She later becomes Hero of the Claws.

Four Summoned Heroes

Kitamura Motoyasu

The Hero of the Spear. Motoyasu was a university student before he was summoned to the world after being stabbed to death by his mentally unstable childhood friend and a rich classmate, both of whom he had been dating behind the other's back. He is generally a nice person however he is easily fooled by women which causes him anguish. He will listen to anything a woman says. He is the leader of the party Malty Melromarc is initially in. He is a skirt chaser who asks both Raphtalia and Firo to leave Naofumi and join his party the instant he meets each of them, only to be violently rebuked several times. His Curse weapons are Lust and Envy, which have caused him to now perceive human women as pigs and has made him attracted to Filo Rials instead. Unlike most, he seems to retain a certain amount of control when using his curse weapons. He is betrayed and abandoned by his party during the battle with the Spirit Turtle, leaving him suicidally depressed and borderline catatonic until Firo comforts him. He makes up with Naofumi after moving to his village and begins farming and training himself until his strength is the highest of the four heroes. He's 21 when summoned, making the oldest of the four summoned heroes.

Amaki Ren

The Hero of the Sword. Ren was a high school student before he failed to save his childhood friend in his old world and was instead killed in the process of her rescue. Ren initially mistook the world he was summoned to be exactly like the VRMMO game from his world "Brave Star Online" where Level came first and Status Boosts second in priority making his strengthening method extremely inefficient also leading to the collapse of his party. His Curse weapons are Greed and Gluttony, which have made it impossible for him to collect money or experience points anymore. His entire party was killed by the Spirit Turtle, temporarily driving him mad with grief and jealousy after Naofumi killed it single-handedly. He's 16 when summoned, making him the youngest of the four summoned heroes. He is calmest of the three other heroes but he is also the strongest. He killed a dragon for its "precious" materials to increase his strength which later zombified and was killed by Naofumi. Due to the fact that the core of the dragon is fused with his shield Naofumi feel great anger towards Ren when he uses the Wrath shield.

Kawasumi Itsuki (川澄樹)

The Hero of the Bow. Itsuki was a high school student before he was killed in his old world after a large truck took a sudden left turn. He is rumored to be the strongest Hero, but he has a messiah complex and claims everything he does is in the name of justice. His complex comes from the fact that, in his world, psychic powers are the norm and Itsuki, despite his claims to the contrary, was an incredibly weak esper who was bullied relentlessly. He vanquishes those he sees as evildoers without thinking of the consequences of his actions. His Curse weapon is Pride, which has caused him to become seriously depressed and filled with self-hate. He was brainwashed by the Church of the Three Heroes to become a killing machine after his party abandons him, but was freed by his fellow heroes and their remaining companions. He's 17 when summoned, making him the second youngest of the four summoned heroes.

Heroes Companions

Motoyasu's Party

Malty Melromarc/ Medea (マルティ＝メルロマルク)

The former first Princess of Melromarc, also known as Mein Sophia, Bitch, Whore and Witch. She (or rather Medea, the being who she splintered from) is the primary antagonist of the series. Malty was the first (and only) person to join Naofumi in the beginning, but shortly after, she stole his money and equipment, minus his shield, and then claimed he raped her. Her actions made Naofumi into a dark, cynical, and distrustful person. She manipulated the other three heroes after the Queen ousted her and The King, planning to use each other to retake her place in the palace following her renaming and disownment. She was married off to her sadistic uncle where she was tortured and "killed" until she reappeared alive and attempted to lead a coup, but was unsuccessful and was executed. She was then revealed to be a piece of Medea's soul in human form, and then Medea attempted to kill Naofumi and the others, except Itsuki, but only managed to send them back to their respective worlds, along with sending Raphtalia with Naofumi. Naofumi returned with the others, while becoming a god himself. She was finally killed completely when Naofumi managed to completely redirect her final attack back at her. The attack strikes all forms of the person from all realities, essentially destroying their existence completely.

Naofumi's Companians

Fohl

A White Tiger Demi-human. He is one of the many slaves owned by Naofumi. He and his sister are both related to royalty from the Silt Welt, but as their family was chased out when they were babies, they were found and raised as slaves. While he often reacts coldly to Naofumi, he does show some respect to him. He becomes Hero of the Guantlet.

Atlas

A White Tiger Demi-human, and sister to Fohl. She had a weak constitution, and suffered from several aliments at once when she and her brother were found by Naofumi. Fohl, did everything for her, but was unable to help her as her sicknesses were to severe. However Naofumi, managed to produce Yggdrasil medicine, the most powerful healing elixir, and gave it to her. While it cured her, it could not cure her eyes, which were to severely damaged to be repaired. She grew to love Naofumi, much to the irritation of her brother. She learnt to 'see' by using chi energy.

She died in the battle against the Houou, protecting Naofumi. As her final request he absorbed her body in his shield which unlocked the 'Shield of Compassion', a blessed version of his Cursed Shield, which had the same move set, but without the backlash. Her spirit from then resided in the Shield and would remain there, often appearing to talk to the others.

Melty Q. Melromarc

The Second princess and heir to the throne. Unlike her sister, she is good natured and kind. She holds an extreme fondness for Filorials. At one point, Naofumi makes the incorrect assumption that she and Firo are lovers. Initially, Naofumi assumed she was like her sister, until she was nearly assassinated by the same. Eventually he grew to accept her as an ally and she fell in love with him. She was constantly egged on by her mother. In the end she, like Raphtalia married Naofumi and had his children.

Trash Melromrac XXXII

The King of Melromarc. Initially he followed the religion of the Three heroes, accepting the belief that the Shield hero was a demon. He and Malty both made Naofumi's existence a hell. Eventually when the Queen returned he was stripped of his powers and renamed Trash by Naofumi.

In his youth he was the Hero of the Cane and was also called the Great King of Wisdom. When he realizes the errors of his actions, he deeply regrets them and apologizes to Naofumi, and keeping the name Trash, stating that he no better than trash.

Mirellia Q Melromarc

The true ruler of Melromarc. She is initially not present due to her efforts to maintain peace between kingdoms. When she discovers what happened, she is furious and returns and brings up the accusations that Malty had against Naofumi. She not only proves them false, but she offers compensation to Naofumi. After this she grants him many benefits and exemptions in return for his services as a hero.

She killed in Malty's attempted uprising. Naofumi is greatly hurt by this because he was unable to protect her. Melty takes her place as queen, but she returns briefly as a revived spirit, at the end.

Rishia Ivyred

Originally a member of Itsuki's team, she was thrown out due to her weak abilities and false accusations of stealing. She was taken in by Naofumi, who helps her, train and become stronger. She grows to respect Naofumi, but she loves Itsuki despite being thrown out of his team due to help he gave her before. She eventually marries Itsuki in the end.

Media

Light novel

Manga

Is released up to chapter 29

References

External links

• Official website (Japanese)