History Characters / HopeOfTheShieldHero

* {{Masochist}}: Every time Naofumi or anyone acts a bit cutthroat with him he's giddily excited to do business with him, which raises the eyebrows of Naofumi and everyone with him.

* TombstoneTeeth (see also RepulsiveRingmaster): Beloukas is a short, rotund man who styles himself after a [[RepulsiveRingmaster circus ringmaster]] and constantly sports a too-wide grin of unusually rectangular teeth. His [[AffablyEvil theatrically cheerful attitude belies a deeply sinister nature]] and serves mainly as a lure for potential customers and victims alike.

* AuthorityGrantsAssKicking: He is the head of the Church and all four Heroes have trouble dealing with him until Naofumi hits him with Pandora's Box. That said, it's not really his fighting skills that make him dangerous, just the sheer power of his weapon powered by the faith of his followers.

* HeroicLegacy: She's the descendant of a previous Sword Hero.

* ArcherArchetype (see also LongRangeFighter): He is the Bow Hero after all.

* WomenAreWiser: Most certainly in this case. While her husband made stupid decisions thanks to their eldest daughter and the Church, Mirelia was busy handling diplomatic affairs in other countries. She also takes great pains to get the Heroes on her side, both because she feels remorse for her daughter's actions, and because she knows that as someone who is worshipped in demi-human countries, the Shield Hero would make for a powerful ally should war break out.

* ForWantOfANail: Thanks to Motoyasu running off, Malty needed a new attack dog, so she decided to use Rino for that role.

* TheLastOfTheseIsNotLikeTheOthers: She is the only former slave to not be a demihuman.

* AdaptationalIntelligence: Thanks to noticing Myne getting into bed with Motoyasu not long after the FalseRapeAccusation, he starts to not believe it, having known a real victim of attempted rape in his home world. He also goes out of his way to help Naofumi escape from the Church and investigates them far earlier than in canon, though this almost gets him and his party killed by them.

-> '''Level: 80's''' Raphtalia's World
-> '''Level: 38''' Glass' World

* {{Otaku}}: Looks like a stereotypical one, being short and covered in ankles.

* LetsGetDangerous: Trash's confession makes Kizuna throw the 'peace' option out the window, as the sack of scum is clearly not deserving of life any longer. While she can't hurt 'him' specifically, she showcases how dangerous she is by one-shotting a bunch of powerful monsters, all at once, with one skill; and then proceeds to tell him to either surrender or die.
* LudicrousGibs: The usual result of her skill '''Blood Flower Strike'''. It connects together all of her enemies' weak points that she than strike simultaneously to render them into bloody chunks. Some powerful monsters can survive the move, but only barely.

[[folder: Hoshi Isao]]

[[folder: Glass]]

* FreudianExcuse: Chapter 84 of ''Diligence'' reveals that [[spoiler:he was originally a Japanese man who spent his entire youth studying due to his AbusiveParents, only to find himself in ruin when they died just as he graduated (leaving him at the mercy of the {{Loan Shark}}s his parents borrowed from), and forcing him into menial jobs because of the extremely corporate-driven culture of his Japan where his engineering skills weren't enough to get a decent job, which turned him into a MisanthropeSupreme and made him an easy target for a DealWithTheDevil]].

* IgnoredEpiphany: When Kizuna openly expressed her gratitude towards him for helping with defeating the Demon Dragon back in their homeworld and even wishing to invite him on stage to give him the recognition he oh so desperately craves, something he was actually fuming over internally mere moments ago, he briefly considered taking her up on her offer and even began to feel a bit of camaraderie toward the Hero. Unfortunately, he quickly stomped the feeling dead, played his well-practiced HumbleHero act, and internally swore to achieve his evil scheme to make the world bend at the knee to him. [[spioler:The fact that he was also being forced by "Them" into killing Kizuna didn't help matters.]]

* PowerCopying: Thanks to his control over Spirit Tortoise and its functions, Kyo can replicate some of its most powerful abilities like the [[BarrierWarrior forcefield]] around its heart or its [[GravityMaster gravity magic]].

* SpellBook: His Book vassal weapon is a deceptively simple-looking grimoire. The Book has all of the traditional abilities one would associate with an enchanted grimoire like spending flurries of papers to slice apart enemies or acting as a medium for his spells.

* BookWorm: Has a **VERY** fond appreciation for books. If anyone even insults books, [[BerserkButton she glares or sometimes even hisses at them]].

* PayEvilUntoEvil: Deconstructed. Kyo experiments on Trash after his previous body is killed by Raphtalia, and inflicts a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown on Albert the Mirror Hero so he can make him his new test subject. Even though the two of them are utterly despicable people, what Kyo does to them in his experiments is so horrific and inhumane that nobody can take catharsis in what happened to them. Trash’s soul is splintered into multiple homunculi bodies and no longer able to coherently think, and Albert is left to suffer intense BodyHorror and [[AndIMustScream unable to die]].

A dark-haired, strong fighter who wears heavy armor, he acts as Itsuki's tank. Initially nicknamed "Armor", he eventually moves on to be called by his first name. He's a very nice guy and the target of teasing by the other members of his party.

-> '''Level: 68''' Raphtalia's World
-> '''Level: 46''' Glass' World

The young daughter of an impoverished noble family, she joined the Bow Hero's party after he saved them. While she has not had many appearances, she's slowly gaining protagonism as she grows as a character with (surprisingly) Itsuki's help.

* ForWantOfANail: Since Itsuki doesn't kick her out of his party, she doesn't suffer from a BrokenPedestal and doesn't join Naofumi's party.

* AndIMustScream: [[spoiler:It's implied that Kyo's actual personality is buried so deep it can only come back out in certain situations.]]

* IgnoredEpiphany: When Kizuna openly expressed her gratitude towards him for helping with defeating the Demon Dragon back in their homeworld and even wishing to invite him on stage to give him the recognition he oh so desperately craves, something he was actually fuming over internally mere moments ago, he briefly considered taking her up on her offer and even began to feel a bit of camaraderie toward the Hero. Unfortunately, he quickly stomped the feeling dead, played his well-practiced HumbleHero act, and internally swore to achieve his evil scheme to make the world bend at the knee to him.

* FamilyExtermination: Invoked. Trash sold out his entire family, his own father in particular, to the Demon Dragon's army all just so he try to get the Vassal Katana. Keep in mind he did this as a [[EnfantTerrible child]].

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* While he's normally laidback, if he gets pissed off enough in a fight, he will bring out a battle form skill called 'War Scythe'. It points the blade of his scythe forward and increases his attack power at the cost of his defense. When he brings it out, people know he's going all out to kill whatever he's facing.

* VillainExitStageLeft: Escaped in the chaos during the fight with the Pope.
* VillainousPrincess: She is the BigBad of the series who kicks off the plot by making a FalseRapeAccusation against Naofumi, turning him into an outcast. She also treats her more kind-hearted sister like trash and is behind a lot of the bad happenings in the series. She also screwed over a lot of other people besides Naofumi as well.

* MagikarpPower: Naofumis' method of getting stronger back before he learned the other Heroes Strengthening Methods was to simply stuff as much crap as he could find into his Shield in order to unlock new Shield forms and equip stats, and spend time with those Shields equipped in order to make those stats a permanent feature to the Shield even if the corresponding Shield isn't currently equipped to him. [[spoiler:It's what allowed him to start beating a Level 66 Bitch while he was 24 levels lower than her through sheer attrition before having switched to either the Blessed and Cursed Series.]]

** Naofumi uses his shields' absorption ability to clean up after giving Raphtalia a haircut, so he basically treats it as an infinite trash can.

* TeamMemberInTheAdaptation: In Canon, Melty was simply a GuestStarPartyMember during the Three Heroes Churches' Coup before rejoining her mother in the Capital after the Church was abolished and remains a staunch ally to Naofumi; here however, since the majority of the Church managed to escape into hiding along with Malty still being a threat, Melty now remains an actual member of Naofumis' Party for her own protection.

* AdaptationalBadass: By way of joining Ren's Party to fight against The Waves; including taking the fight directly to the Three Heroes Church at both Idol Rabiers Estate and within the Capital, and later participating in the Second Wave where she and Ren had to [[CurbStompCushion fight]] against Glass. All this [[TookALevelInBadass earning Wyndia far more levels of Badass]] than her Canon self: who's just one of many residents that lives in Naofumis' village.

* TeamMemberInTheAdaptation: In Canon, she was a Slave that Naofumi bought to help populate his growing village. Here; she's an effective member of Rens' Party.

* RagTagBunchOfMisfits: After learning of Melromarcs' Slave Trade industry from Raphtalia and Naofumi, Itsuki wanting to go through with a SlaveLiberation saw to a large number of his Party (including [[ToxicFriendInfluence Mauld]]) to leave him. The few who stayed with Itsuki helped direct the Bow Hero to other potential recruits and even liberated Slaves that wanted to help him out.

* AdaptationalHeroism: Itsuki in canon was ThePoorlyChosenOne because he cared more about the fame and glory he could receive as a hero. His party members stroked his ego until it was so bad that he made decisions that proved detrimental to other people in the long run[[note]]Such as killing a king for overtaxing his citizens and leaving a new government to take over but not helping to establish a better alternative, so the [[FullCircleRevolution new government ends up overtaxing its citizens just as much]].[[/note]] and he refuses to take responsibility for it. It takes being betrayed by his party members, falling victim to the Cursed Series, and having the Cursed Series kicked out of him by Rishia for him to get his act together. Here, Itsuki gets more PetTheDog moments and takes Raphtalia's words about helping free the Demi-Human slaves to heart, leading him to root out Melromarc's corruption far before his former party of [[ToxicFriendInfluence church zealots and nobles had corrupted him.]] Perhaps the most noticeable change is how Itsuki actually grows to care about Rishia far earlier than in canon, showing remorse and deep concern when he accidentally injures her and being relieved when she's healed whereas Pre-{{Character Development}} Itsuki in canon abandoned her because of his party convincing him that she was weak and useless to their cause.

* HeelFaceTurn: After hearing about how Melromarc Nobles were keeping and abusing Demi-Human Slaves, Itsuki makes it his mission to go after them thinking that it's a Questline Story (at first); after seeing a Noble brutally kill a Demi-Kid, and that the Noble said it was their Gods' will: caused Itsuki to undergo this completely; turning his back on the Three Heroes Church because of it. [[spoiler:It is later revealed by Ren's Party that The first Bow Hero originally came from the same world as the Shield Hero and Demi-Humans [[MergedReality when their worlds' collided long ago]], and that Itsuki was the first Bow Hero since to re-join the Demi-Humans side again.]]

* MalignedMixedMarriage: His parents were one. His human father was whipped by the Three Heroes' Church, and his kitsune mother and three siblings (all of whom had inherited their mother's characteristics) were enslaved. The only reason he avoided the same fate was that his father managed to convince the priests that he was the son born of an affair with a human woman.

* SmallRoleBigImpact: While only introduced by name in the chapter that he dies in, it's in Itsuki seeing Marxs' death that serves as The Bow Heroes' breaking point to make Itsuki realize that [[NotAGame he truly wasn't playing a game.]]

* KarmicDeath: He entered Luroluna Village after having killed off Lord Seatto and sold off the villagers due to their reverence for The Shield Hero, Months later; he is killed off by Seattos' daughter Eclair; who originally left the Queen in order to join The Shield Heroes' party.

* BeliefMakesYouStupid: The Church Knights take their faith to ungodly levels by marching off into battle without carrying any shields to protect them. [[spoiler:Come Chapter 53 when they are facing off against Queen Mirellias' Royal Knights, the Church Knights are immediately routed and suffer far more casualties due to arrows and spells that are fired at them by the Royal Knights: who are carrying both weapons ''and'' [[LuckilyMyShieldWillProtectMe shields]].]]

* BestialityIsDepraved: According to the Church of the Three Heroes' theology, demi-humans are the product of humans mating with monsters and are thus abominations in the eyes of God, this being a primary motivator for racism against them in Melromarc. This is, in fact, a lie- the real reason is so that Demihumans, [[RapidAging with their exceedingly fast growth rate through leveling]], don't outnumber humans and drive them to extinction.

* HideTheEvidence: [[spoiler:It is revealed by Ren that The Three Heroes Church held knowledge into the origins of the Demi-Humans: not as the result of Humans mating with Monsters, but through a MergedReality that brought the Beastmen and Demi-Humans' from their world to this one: in doing so, it also made the Legendary Shield and Bow that was a part of that world now native to this one. Over time, the predecessors of the Church [[FaceHeelTurn managed to convert the Bow Hero to their side]]; yet the Legendary Shield and its bearers remained steadfast to its original worlds' inhabitants.]]

* ShieldsAreUseless: Or rather, ''"Shields are Evil"'' due to the fact that The Shield Hero is seen as the Devil of their religion, this belief is so strong that even Knights loyal to the Church go without carrying any sort of shield to protect them. The Pope foregoes using the Replica Weapons' Shield Form when he is fighting against the other Heroes [[TheLawOfDiminishingDefensiveEffort and instead relies on a Magic barrier and a Cathedral powered by his followers to protect him.]]

* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: He believes Naofumi is a follower of the devil just because [[TheChooserOfTheOne the Legendary Shield]] had chose Naofumi as its' Bearer, even though Naofumi didn`t do anything wrong and was earnestly helping the world fight against the waves of calamity. Naofumi was also helping the Heroes the Church did worship to grow more powerful and do good things. This just shows how delusional this fanatic is.

* UnskilledButStrong: The Replica Weapon gives the Pope the power of a Level 216 person, on top of his own personal levels and buffs, with access to the strongest skills of each Legendary Weapon that the other Heroes haven't even unlocked yet, the abundance of donated mana from both past and current followers means that he can spam powerful skills left and right, and his skills take less time to charge up and have no cooldown. However, the stats of his high level is only for a normal person instead of the stats of a Hero of equivalent level, he hasn't gotten increases from Strengthening Methods, Equipment Bonuses or Hero bonuses, and the Replica's versions of the skills of the Legendary Weapons are weaker than theirs'. But on the other hand, the level difference between the Replica and the Legendary Heroes at that point is too large for that last fact to matter.

* GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff: Like in Canon, The folks of Siltvelt all love The Shield Hero; whom they see as a GodInHumanForm and treat as the rightful King of their nation, [[StopWorshippingMe regardless of how Naofumi himself feels about it.]] [[spoiler:Most of this stems from the MergedReality trope: whereupon after the Beastmen and Demi-Humans world merged with this one, and the natives decided to launch a campaign of extermination, The Bow Hero had performed a FaceHeelTurn to join with Humanity. [[MyCountryRightOrWrong The Shield Hero was the only one of their worlds' original Cardinal Heroes that stood firmly on their side all this time.]]]]

* MergedReality: [[spoiler:It's revealed by a book within The Three Heroes' Church that this was the origin of Demi-Humans from their world merging with this one: bringing with them not only the Beastmen and Demi-Humans; but also their Legendary Shield and Legendary Bow along with several Vassal Weapons; including the Vassal Claw that were all a part of their original world.]]

The Holy Hero of the Hunting tools from Glass's world. Was originally summoned before the Waves to defeat a world threat foe known as the Demon Dragon. She was successful alongside her friends and allies. However, she disappeared sometime before the Waves started. Glass and co have no idea as to her current whereabouts. All they know for sure is that she's still alive out there somewhere.

* SelfDisposingVillain: Much like his Canon Self, he unseals the monstrous Tyrant Dragon Rex from its' Obelisk in one last attempt to kill Naofumi and his friends. It promptly crushes the fat lord under its foot without even really looking at him.

* FantasticRacism: ''Very'' much averted. He's one of the few nobles who actively try to foster peace between humans and demihumans.

* TheStrategist: When Itsuki decided to start liberating Demi-Human Slaves from corrupt Nobles, Van Reichnott was the one to provide The Bow Hero with information on his targets and how to best liberate those slaves from bondage. In a more higher-tech setting; Van would have easily been MissionControl.

* TwoGirlsAndAGuy: Naofumi's party was composed of himself, Raphtalia, and Filo until Eclair, Dou-Lou, and Melty came along (and still, the females outnumber the males in the same proportion before Ost joined).

* DeathGlare: She constantly gives these to Blue the Filolial whenever she shes him with Ren.

** In canon, Wyndia relies on her magical skills and knowledge of monsters to aid in the fight. Here, she learns how to fight with a wazikashi and learns how to use normal magic, allowing her to fight both close-up and at long range.

** It is possible she was already around 15 to 16 at this point in time, but thanks to being under a better diet with Ren and his party than what she would have gotten being raised by a dragon, as well as swords Ren unlocked to strengthen his party, she grew up, if only a little bit.

* GloryHound: Like canon, glory and praise are a primary reason for his actions. He grows out of it for the most part, but is still a little egotistical, but is not near as bad as his canon counterpart.

* ILetGwenStacyDie: [[spoiler:Marx's death weighed heavily on Itsuki that it finally snapped his delusions that [[NotAGame this world really wasn't Dimension Web]].]]

** It's even worse when, after losing control in the Cursed Series a second tune, he remembers all the people he'd killed, as well as the fact that he'd not only tried to kill a group of demi-kids, but also Naofumi, Ren, and his own party.

A dark-haired, strong fighter that wears heavy armor, he acts as Itsuki's tank. Initially nicknamed "Armor", he eventually moves on to be called by his first name. He's a very nice guy and the target of teasing by the other members of his party.

* {{Foreshadowing}}: While training in Hengen Musou with Itsuki, she is noted to have an easier time learning it than him or Motoyasu. This foreshadows her inherited skill at the martial art.

* TheLoad: Downplayed, unlike in canon, since Itsuki and the rest of the party is more supportive here, Rishia is still able to provide valuable support to the group despite not being one of their best fighters initially.
** Once again, when she and Naofumi are stuck in the Endless Labyrinth in Kizuna's world, despite her terrible stats, she is still a force to be reckon with thanks to her newly mastered Hengen Musou techniques.

** And it only seems to continue growing from there as others point out how cute Rishia and him look together and want them to just kiss already.
* WeakButSkilled: Rishia has abysmal stat despite her consistently leveling up with her party. However, thanks to her affinity for Hengen Musou martial arts, which don't rely on stats but rather on the user's skills, she can make quick work on almost anything in her way, including a super-charged Kyo.

* RageBreakingPoint: Hearing Kyo detailing his EvilPlan and all the things he's done to carry it out, Kizuna ''snaps'' and unlocks her Cursed Series.

* WeakButSkilled: Rishia has abysmal stat despite her consistently leveling up with her party. However, thanks to her affinity for Hengen Musou martial arts, which doesn't rely on stats but rather on the user's skills, she can make quick work on almost anything in her way, including a super-charged Kyo.

[[folder:Glass]]

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* FashionVictimVillain: To the pointed the author had to dedicate an omake just to point how terrible it is. Kyo seems to have a taste for layering on things that shouldn't be layered like his double gloves, boots, and coats. The bastard is also carrying so many vials, flasks, and scrolls that don't seem to help him in combat or otherwise, that's almost comical.

* IgnoredEpiphany: When Kizuna openly expressed her gratitude towards him for helping with defeating the Demon Dragon back in their homeworld and even wishing to invite him on stage to give him the recognition he oh so desperately craves, something he was actually fuming over internally mere moments ago, he had briefly considered taking her up on her offer and even began to feel a bit of camaraderie toward the Hero. Unfortunately, he quickly stomped the feeling dead, played his well-practiced HumbleHero act, and internally swore to achieve his evil scheme to make the world bend at the knee to him.

* BeastMaster: Managed to find a way to coin clones of the White Tiger guardian beast which he then enslave using special talismans to become his personal attack animals.

* BookDumb: Part of Malty's problem is that she is so busy scheming, that she never learned to actually be a strategist or even basic book knowledge. She gets slightly better after her dad forced her to study when Motoyasu exiled himself. Even if she wasn't evil, she's far to lacking in knowledge of strategy, politics and finances to actually make a competent ruler.

* ForWantOfANail: Due to her father deciding to discipline her for messing up with Lute, she ends up receiving actual training in swordsmanship, battle tactics, and magic, making her a more genuine MagicKnight DarkActionGirl than her canon self could ever hope to be.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: A literal version as her sending Motoyasu flying with a swift kick to the crotch becomes a running gag.

* KickTheSonOfABitch: Kyo experiments on Trash after his previous body is killed by Raphtalia, and inflicts a NoHoldsBarredBeatdown on Albert the Mirror Hero so he can make him his new test subject. Horrific as it may be, both victims were downright horrible people and the epitome of SmugSnake, since Trash murdered Kenshiro and his family just so he can take the Vassal Katana for himself while Albert trapped Kizuna in the Endless Labyrinth and actually wanted to torture her out of petty hatred.

* TwoGirlsAndAGuy: Naofumi's party was composed of himself, Raphtalia, and Filo until Eclair, Dou-Lou, and Melty came along (and still, the females outnumber the males in the same proportion before Ost joined). Also doubles as ThreeAmigos.