History Characters / TheRisingOfTheShieldHeroAntagonists

* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: He becomes one for the TragicBigot. [[spoiler:Aultcray has a deep seething hatred towards demihumans and by extension the Shield Herowho they worship. Why is this? [[spoiler:Because his sister was kidnapped by demihumans and he believed they murdered her.]] That in itself is sympathetic... however, he takes out all his anger on Naofumi who has never heard of what happened or was even present at the time and has done very despicable things to him from trying to deny him party members to keeping his level capped and was willing to start a war with other countries and conspire with the Church of the Three Heroes, a cultish religion. All because he wanted revenge against a guy who is barely connected to him, making everything he does very petty in hindsight. Because of his actions he lost any sympathy he may have gained. [[spoiler:It takes meeting his sister's children and the death of his wife for him [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone to finally realize how much of an idiot he was]].]]

* TheSociopath: He has no empathy for others, no sense of guilt or shame, is pathologically obsessed with his own pleasure, to the point that he commits suicide when his MMO account is hacked and deleted, and has a hugely inflated ego. And when he's called out on his actions, he turns around and pulls the LogicalFallacy of appeal to hypocrisy to justify himself.

* {{Foil}}: He's one to [[spoiler:Fohl. Not only are their backstories nearly identical, being fallen nobles who were left caring for their younger sisters after being orphaned by war but they're similar enough that Atla mistakes Trash for her brother. Both became Seven Star Heroes in their youth, Aultcray with the Cane and [[spoiler:Fohl with the Gauntlet]] and both are prodigies in their own fields. However, the loss of their younger sisters have completely different effects on them. Whereas Trash was driven to take revenge and permanently affirmed his hatred of Demihumans, Fohl adjusts to it significantly better and never acquires a hatred for humans.]]

* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler:Just before he's about to be destroyed, he goes out smiling and taunting Naofumi, rather than break down like [[VillainousBreakdown the usual villain in the face of defeat]].]] [[spoiler:This isn't the case in the manga, where his soul desperately tries to bargain with the heroes as he's being destroyed. He goes as far as [[AintTooProudToBeg pleading with Yomogi to save him]], only to receive an [[EmptyEyes empty-eyed stare]] and silence from her after the reveal of his twisted nature.]]

** The king's condescending and entitled attitude towards Naofumi left the latter just about ready to take off and abandon Melromarc, leaving them with the other three increasingly lackluster Heroes that would have likely died during the waves. The anime actually worsens how bad this behavior is because Aultcray continues to antagonize and threaten Naofumi well past the point that the Shield Hero could quite literally kill the king and walk away unscathed. It's only sheer luck that Naofumi doesn't kill him on the spot at this point.
** The above points become exponentially worse when it's revealed that Demi-Human countries would have worshipped Naofumi as a divine figure. He'd already ticked them off by summoning all four Heroes to his own country so the revelation that he'd been actively '''and''' harshly mistreating a figure of worship would have pushed war from a likelihood to a '''certainty'''. The Queen has to keep exactly how badly Naofumi was treated because of her husband hidden to avoid that outcome.
** The kicker to all of this? Melromarc is a '''''matriarchy'''''. The Queen is the highest power in the country, not him, and he only got away with everything because the Queen was busy smoothing things over from his decision to summon all four Heroes to Melromarc in the first place. Once she finds out what he's done and returns to do something about it he suddenly finds himself in a pickle.
* DirtyCoward: Just like Malty, Aultcray has a habit of repeatedly antagonizing Naofumi behind his own laws and other people and tends to border between this and BullyingADragon. He's promptly put in his place personally when the latter spells out to him that, due to him and his knights being worthless at this point there's nothing stopping him from simply killing the king in his own throne room and being done with it for all the unjustified crap he put him through. It's taken even further in the anime where he sinks low enough to threaten Raphtalia and Filo with an ImpliedDeathThreat just because he can't tolerate crap being thrown right back at him. All it takes is one angry DeathGlare from Naofumi to cow him and his subordinates into silence ''before'' the latter directly threatens him back with the promise of a painful death should he be stupid enough to try and he only curses his name when he's almost out of the room.

* FaceDeathWithDignity: [[spoiler:Just before he's about to be destroyed, he goes out smiling and taunting Naofumi, rather than break down like [[VillainousBreakdown the usual villain in the face of defeat]].]]

* MoralMyopia: He takes this trope to truly insane levels, rivaling the Celestial Dragons of ''One Piece''. It all starts at Chapter 312, but truly reaches its zenith in chapter 344. Despite Naofumi reminding Tact, repeatedly, that everything he's being forced to watch is ''equal retribution for his crimes and the crimes of his followers, no more, no less'' from the friends and families of those he's victimized, he spends every moment that he's not gagged or being beaten into silence (and then healed up again) ranting that HE is the victim and promising ''righteous vengeance''. In this respect, he's effectively just a pair of CoolShades away from being [[Manga/OnePiece Donquixote Doflamingo.]]

* ElementalPowers: He is able to cast spells of [[PlayingWithFire fire]], [[LightEmUp light]] and [[BlowYouAway wind]].

* UnskilledButStrong: Except for Kyo and Syne's sister none of them can wield their stolen weapons effectively. This still makes them formidable until they face the heroes after they know about their ability to steal weapons while being skilled in using their weapons '''and''' are strong. However, they start to become SkilledAndStrong as time goes on.

* TallPoppySyndrome: {{Inverted}} and {{deconstructed}}. Aultcray gave special treatment to every one of the Cardinal Heroes excluding Naofumi out of personal, petty prejudice to the point of actively hindering the latter at every turn. Not only has this caused numerous problems in the long run, but to add insult to injury Naofumi wound up being the most competent and effective of the four heroes ''because'' of his and Malty's underhanded actions showing him just how real the world was and how seriously he needed to take things just to survive. For bonus points, when Aultcray had the nerve to demand how he became so strong despite adamantly refusing to lend him any form of help to him at every turn Naofumi outright mocked him to his face in response, seeing he had nothing to lose since he wouldn't believe how he did it anyway.

* VillainsWantMercy: {{Averted}}. Despite facing execution for the crime of conspiracy and treason just to discredit and possibly kill the Shield Hero, Aultcray, unlike his elder daughter [[FaceDeathWithDignity does not beg Naofumi nor his wife for his life]].

BrokenPedestal: For his wife Mirellia after his actions with Malty. While his youngest daughter Melty never had a high opinion of him she outright loses her respect even after his change.

* BaitAndSwitch: When he hears Naofumi is using a {{demihuman}} slave he supports Motoyasu's attempt to free her, claiming Naofumi has "betrayed our customs." Naofumi's pretty disgusted to hear this coming from the king of the country who ''legalized'' slavery. [[spoiler: Later events make it clear that he didn't care Naofumi was a slave-owner but disgusted that one of the heroes had a demihuman in his party.]]

** In the anime, it takes him stupidly threatening his companions, and an outright ''painful'' '''death threat''' thrown in his face to finally sink in that Naofumi refuses to take anymore of his crap, that ''he's'' the powerless one now, and that one wrong move from his end will see his life taken in the most agonizing manner possible. King or no king, '''nothing''' is going to save him.
** Ultimately, it's him and Malty being forced to be held accountable for their ''numerous'' crimes, being stripped of their royalty and being given demeaning names to reflect their disgraced statuses. In the anime, this comes along with an execution (that was narrowly called off by Naofumi, their chief victim) with ''countless'' citizens screaming for his and Malty's heads after carelessly destroying so many lives.
* LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain: Implied, and not in a comedic way. The duel that threatened to take Raphtalia away that he not only forced onto Naofumi, but rigged alongside Malty had exposed the fact that the King was just as underhanded and dirty as the latter to everyone present (except the incredibly dense Motoyasu), especially since it's his very laws that give Naofumi every legal right to own her. He just acts like nothing happened as he goes back to giving Naofumi grief when the time came to give the heroes their royal stipend shortly after.

* MeaningfulRename: Changed [[spoiler:to Trash]]. After his HeelRealization, he accepts the name and stops Naofumi from calling him the Wise King.
* MisplacedRetribution: This is what his grudge against Naofumi boils down to. [[spoiler:His hatred for Naofumi stems from him simply being the latest Shield Hero; [[BecauseYouWereNiceToMe who is revered by the Demi-Humans for protecting them]]. Aultcrays' hatred stems from his little sister being kidnapped long ago by an extremist group of Demi-Humans, and is now taking his frustrations out on [[LockedOutOfTheLoop someone who has absolutely no knowledge of any of this.]]]]
* NeverMyFault: When he stripped of his royal status, he blames Naofumi for everything even though it's his own fault as he should of put behind his prejudice and worked with Naofumi rather than screwing him over and trying to have him killed.
* RageAgainstTheHeavens: Well, [[spoiler:the Shield Hero is revered as a god to the demi-humans]], so it makes Naofumi [[RevengeByProxy the closest thing he has to]] [[spoiler:a main target for what the demi-humans apparently did to his sister.]]

* RetiredBadass: Years ago, Aultcray was a powerful adventurer and wielded the Seven Star Cane while leading a war against Siltvelt. He retired from active adventuring and has settled into his role as King but has sadly let his skills grow rusty with age.

* RevengeMyopia: Naofumi's confrontation with him after the second wave [[spoiler:and when Mirelia forces him and Malty to be held accountable for their actions]] just '''reeks''' of this. He never stops to consider that all the shit he and his daughter heaped on him at the very start might give him every reason to give Aultcray shit back in return. In the animation, he threatens Naofumi's companions out of pure spite, and ''still'' curses his name when Naofumi reacts how you'd expect him to.

* ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem: Being the king, Aultclay has near-absolute authority over the country, which he has no problem abusing to impede Naofumi's progress as a Hero as much as possible. Naturally, this is Deconstructed as not only does the king need Naofumi as strong as possible along with the other Heroes to keep his country safe (something he and Malty ignore out of pure, petty spite), but when the latter becomes the strongest of them anyway, no amount of trying to assert his royal authority over him will even faze him in the slightest as he's too strong to be forced to do anything. In fact, a Naofumi gleefully tells the livid king to his face that there's nothing stopping him from simply killing him on the spot and leaving, and there's nothing that he, his knights, or even the other Heroes can do to physically stop him.
** What's more, Aultclay (and by extention, Malty) was abusing the authority granted to him as the consort of the true ruler of Melromarc, and when she arrives back home after cleaning up the huge mess he left for her, he is promptly booted off the throne and has all his political power removed.
* SelfFulfillingProphecy: [[spoiler:In his attempts to protect his family and screw over the Shield Hero at the same time, he's allowed Naofumi to become more popular than him or the other three heroes since he's actually done something to help that isn't problematic in the long term. And his summoning of all the heroes would ensure that the rest of the world would go to war with his family. His obliviousness to Malty's true personality has even allowed her to become dangerous to her sister and mother, something he is shocked to find out she was willing to kill her sister to be queen. In short, everything he fought to undo, he allowed to happen]].

* SkewedPriorities: For all his hatred and admonishment of Naofumi, he's clearly more concerned about giving him nothing but grief than the safety and well-being of his own subjects. In fact, along with the incompetence of the other heroes, his eldest daughter not bothering to hide her disgusting personality, and some of the knights' neglect during the second wave, it's implied that this contributed to the citizens of Melromarc seeing Naofumi positively, since he clearly seemed to give them more concern than the King himself ever did [[spoiler:pre-character development.]]

* TheStrategist: This is what got him such a high reputation. [[spoiler:When learning of Tact's main offensive plan for attack are using airplanes, guns, and bombers, he makes damn sure to understand everything to the finest details, from its applications and uses. And by sunset the same day, he had already prepared ''twenty'' plans and ideas to use. And after learning of Raph Species' ability to use illusion magic, one of his ''many'' plans was to fill the clear weather skies with mines on floating ore around Melromarc and having illusion magic cast on them to look invisible to take out the planes, with remarkable results]].

* TallPoppySyndrome: Inverted and Deconstructed. Aultcray gave special treatment to every one of the Cardinal Heroes excluding Naofumi out of personal, petty prejudice, to the point of actively hindering the latter at every turn. Not only has this caused numerous problems in the long run, but to add insult to injury, Naofumi wound up being the most competent and effective of the four heroes ''because'' of his and Malty's underhanded actions showing him just how real the world was, and how seriously he needed to take things just to survive. For bonus points, when Aultcray had the nerve to demand how he became so strong despite adamantly refusing to lend him any form of help to him at every turn, Naofumi outright mocked him to his face in response, seeing that he had nothing to lose since he wouldn't believe how he did it anyway.

* VillainHasAPoint: [[RightForTheWrongReasons Though it might have been how Naofumi was actually useful during the second wave]] compared [[TallPoppySyndrome to the other heroes]], Aultcray was at least right about two things; him having a power he probably shouldn't have had by virtue of the [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Wrath Shield]], likely being fully aware of the Legendary Shield's use at turning the user into the ultimate supportive tank to the point of CripplingOverspecialization, and the other heroes displaying a worryingly underwhelming amount of power for people that are supposed to handle the Waves.
* VillainousParentalInstinct: He's no saint himself, but he's still extremely overprotective of his daughters, and lets it cloud his judgment sometimes. [[spoiler:This is best shown during his trial, where a Slave Crest branded Malty admits that she tried to [[SiblingMurder kill her own sister]], which sends him into shock.]]
* VillainsWantMercy: Averted. Despite facing execution for the crime of conspiracy and treason just to discredit and possibly kill the Shield Hero, Aultcray, unlike his elder daughter, [[FaceDeathWithDignity does not beg Naofumi nor his wife for his life]].

* BeAllMySinsRemembered: [[spoiler:After his significant character development he refuses to take back his name when offered by Naofumi out of penance for his deplorable actions and his failures as a king and father.]]

** {{Subverted}} initially since Naofumi had no means of fighting back directly after screwing him over from the start, but then he acquires the [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Wrath Shield]], a shield that was not only [[DramaticIrony born from the misery and injustice directly inflicted on him by King Aultcray and Malty]] but also partly powered by the core of the [[OurDragonsAreDifferent dragon]] Gaelion. He witnesses it's fearsome power in the second wave and is somehow convinced his royal knights (which are cannon fodder at this point in comparison) are enough to subdue Naofumi, who he not only witnessed slaying the main boss of the wave with a '''giant iron maiden''', but the latter also ''outright stated'' that he could easily walk into the castle, kill the king and walk out like it was nothing.

* CainAndAbel: Even at his worst, he is ''still'' the Abel to The King Faubley's Cain. Even '''''Malty''''' considers him a monster, so it was not like the bar was set very high for Aultcray.

* DirtyCoward: Just like Malty, Aultcray has a habit of repeatedly antagonizing Naofumi behind his own laws and other people and tends to border between this and BullyingADragon. He's promptly put in his place personally when the latter spells out to him that, due to him and his knights being cannon fodder at this point there's nothing stopping him from simply killing the king in his own throne room and being done with it for all the unjustified crap he put him through. It's taken even further in the anime where he sinks low enough to threaten Raphtalia and Filo with an ImpliedDeathThreat just because he can't tolerate crap being thrown right back at him. All it takes is one angry DeathGlare from Naofumi to cow him and his subordinates into silence ''before'' the latter directly threatens him back with the promise of a painful death should he be stupid enough to try and he only curses his name when he's almost out of the room.
* DotingParent: This is what has allowed Malty to get away with her crimes for so long. While he loves both daughters equally he was only able to spoil Malty since the queen started to notice her bad personality, something he couldn't (or wouldn't) admit. He's held a KangarooCourt over Naofumi for her sake, given to her authority over various towns and hosting battles between Naofumi and Motoyasu and many more. [[spoiler:So once his wife, the higher authority returns she takes away both of their noble privileges and thus the power they had to ruin the world. Malty's continued villainous escalations got so bad even he refused to save her from her [[OffWithHerHead execution]] after getting her mother killed.]]

** Later on, Queen Mirelia surmises that Aultcray had done so to give Motoyasu an edge over the other heroes as part of his [[RoyalFavorite preferential treatment]] for being partnered with Malty. It still doesn't excuse how he didn't expect Naofumi's justified contempt for him to make him mock the King to his face in response.

* FallenHero: [[spoiler:He was once a beloved hero who fought Siltvelt head-on in their quest for world domination, managing to overthrow their king and save many countries. By the time the series begins, thanks to his years of hatred toward Demi-Humansand the manipulations of his daughter he's become a shell of the wise and intelligent strategist he once was, and he's long since lost the ability to summon his Seven Star weapon.]]
* {{Foil}}: He's one to [[spoiler:Fohl. Not only are their backstories nearly identical, being fallen nobles who were left caring for their younger sisters after being orphaned by war but they're similar enough that Atla mistakes Trash for her brother. Both became Seven Star Heroes in their youth, Aultcray with the Cane and [[spoiler:Fohl with the Gauntlet]] and both are prodigies in their own fields. However, the loss of their younger sisters have completely different effects on them. Whereas Trash was driven to take revenge and permanently affirmed his hatred of Demi-Humans, Fohl adjusts to it significantly better and never acquires a hatred for humans.]]

* GeneralRipper: It's implied from how much his hatred runs deep and the circumstances of the conspiracy that he may have been possibly willing to risk starting a war with the demi-humans for a chance at revenge. [[spoiler:Later on, it turns out the rest of the countries worship the Four Heroes equally so hogging all of them to Melromarc and treating the Shield Hero like shit for petty reasons risked ''all of them'' declaring war on the kingdom, not just Siltvelt. Good thing it was stopped before it could even begin.]]

* HeelRealization: [[spoiler:After Mirelia's death]] he finally realizes that he treated Naofumi horribly for no good reason at all. He actually gets down on his knees and apologizes profusely to Naofumi and calls his past actions unforgivable.

** He tries to justify his actions [[spoiler:during his and Malty's trial]] by saying it was to protect his family. He had no problem threatening Raphtalia and Filo, implying that he knows they're Naofumi's surrogate family, as spite for Naofumi's for lack of cooperation, and still has the nerve to curse his name when he threatens to painfully '''end''' him in response.

** This ''also'' crosses into {{Hypocrite}} territory since his spiteful actions towards Naofumi showed that he was more concerned about giving him nothing but shit over the well being of his own citizens, which the latter actively went out of his way to save. Aultcray just responds by forcing a rigged duel to take his only companion away, and then refusing to give him his deserved pay despite knowing this, and being informed of how most of his knights were ineffective at their job during the first wave. [[spoiler:And then it turns out that the Waves were happening all over the world, and that summoning all four Heroes to Melromarc instead of letting each of the major countries summon one each left the rest of the world defenseless, not just his own neglected citizens. Apparently, "doing what he needed to do" involved screwing over the rest of the world and scapegoating Naofumi for abuse and ridicule after forcing him to don the Legendary Shield. And to add insult to injury, his actions indirectly put his family in danger anyway by ignoring the obvious CorruptChurch in favor of spiting Naofumi.]]
* ImpliedDeathThreat: In the anime, considering how Naofumi was initially supposed to be executed due to the false rape accusation hanging over his head, it's implied Aultcray was invoking this trope when he threatened to make the former's companions pay for his "crimes". [[PapaWolf Naofumi does]] ''[[PapaWolf not]]'' [[PapaWolf take it well]].
* InsaneTrollLogic: He's insulting and belittling Naofumi every chance he gets, seeing him as nothing but a liability that can't do anything. And yet, at the same time, he's ''actively going out of his way'' to hinder his attempts to actually do anything or get stronger. In the web novel, he outright accuses Naofumi of ''stealing the other heroes' power'' when he shows himself to be the most capable during the second wave and demands how he did it, refusing to acknowledge the idea that he might have simply worked to get stronger despite all the unfair handicaps he placed on him. He really is Malty's father, in both sheer stupidity and a refusal to just stop and '''think'''.

** In the anime, he cites his piss-poor treatment of Naofumi as justified in order to protect his family. This is ''after'' finding out Malty tried to kill her sister Melty to take the throne, and remembering what the former's crimes she committed after in the web novel... Yeah.

* IrrationalHatred: Towards Naofumi. At first, it seems like the rape accusation had completely blinded him to just how disgusting a person his own eldest daughter Malty is to realize he had been lied to like everyone else, but then it turns out he hated Naofumi since the very beginning solely for being the Shield Hero [[spoiler:the demi-humans fervently worshipped.]] [[spoiler:Deconstructed, as this leads to him being more of a massive hindrance than a help to his own country as he spends more time spiting Naofumi in any way he could than watching over his own citizens' safety and wellbeing, and to the point of indirectly putting ''both'' his own daughters in danger when the church enacts it's plans of disposing of the royal family along with the Heroes.]]

** Right after the rigged duel, he has the nerve to refuse to give him his promised pay despite going out of his way to save the citizens of a nearby town, instead going along with the idea that he was a "useless coward" for doing so and believing that the knights (most of whom were making things worse) could have easily done the same. In the manga and animation, he claims that the money is going to readministering Raphtalia's slave brand after it was removed, the latter action he ''forced'' on her in the first place just before his and Malty's callous deception was outed.

** And the crowning moment to all this, following a Backhanded Compliment, him insisting that Naofumi "confess" as to how he managed to be more effective than the other Heroes in the Third Wave, despite actively trying to handicap and hinder him. In the web novel, he deluded himself into thinking that Naofumi's hard-earned power was somehow ''stolen'' from the other Heroes, showing that he despises him to the point where he refuses to believe he's even capable working for it. Notably, ''this one'' causes Naofumi to get so fed up with the stupid prick that he winds up insulting him to his face right back, saying that he has to get on his knees and beg for it like the "squealing monkey" he is, and all but laughs in his face when he tries to outright threaten him. He's reduced to a screaming, angry mess when he realizes the hard way that this dog won't stand for being kicked anymore.
** In the animation, his last recorded moment involved a heavily implied death-threat being thrown at Naofumi's companions as one last act of spite for his (justified) disrespect. To [[PapaWolf someone]] that's ready and willing to kill in order to keep his companions safe, this also goes about as well as you'd expect.

** To see this trope in another way, the last time Naofumi was in his court, the latter mocked him and his apparent inability to get anything done on his own, ignoring how he prioritized saving his own citizens while the other heroes focused solely on the boss. Next time they meet, Naofumi is the one mocking him to his face despite his seeming importance, except it's obvious that Naofumi is the one actually doing his job competently while Aultcray is actively neglecting his country's wellbeing just to spite some whose only guilty of reacting realistically to his crap.

* ChildhoodFriendRomance: With Elle, the very first member of his harem. [[spoiler:Coincidentally, she was the first to die.]]

* SquishyWizard: Once an opponent gets past his tricks, Kyo wouldn't have much going for him physically.

!The Third Army

* UnskilledButStrong: Except for Kyo and Syne's sister, none of them can wield their stolen weapons effectively. This still makes them formidable, until they face the heroes after they know about their ability to steal their weapons while being skilled in using their weapons '''and''' are strong. However, they start to become SkilledAndStrong as time goes on.
* WeHaveReserves: [[spoiler:They are '''not''' the main fighting force that is coming and the person behind them does not care how many of them are killed. Seemingly the only important one is Malty]].

A Reincarnated Individual and an alchemist who was in Glass's world, intending to become the Hero of the Vassal Katana before Raphtalia beat him to it. [[NoNameGiven Due to his name never being revealed before dying]], Naofumi decides to posthumously dub him "Trash II".

* TheChosenWannabe: Even after the Vassal Katana chooses Raphtalia, he constantly insists that he was supposed to be the chosen one.
* DeaderThanDead: Kyo fed his soul to Soul Eaters after grabbing his dead body.

* TheFourGods: Has one large and two small clones of Byakko, one of the Guardian Beasts in the Glass' World, but being imitations they turned to be not as powerful as we've thought.

* KarmicDeath: He was willing to kill Naofumi and co. over the Vassal Katana. He ends up getting killed by Raphtalia, and with the same weapon that chose her instead.

* MilesGloriosus: Proclaims himself a genius, and yet he relies on predictable attacks and his cloned beasts. Even his spells hit with less power than they should since he refuses to use their respective chants.

* NoNameGiven: Naofumi never learns his name before dying, so opts to just call him "Trash II".
* RefusedByTheCall: He tries to get Vassal Katana from its stone in a public ritual, only for the weapon to immediately jump to Raphtalia's hands. He throws a fit and sends guards after her.
* OffWithHisHead: Before his companions could defuse the effects of Raphtalia's Instant Blade - Mist attack, he takes a step and gets decapitated from the shoulder up, just as Raphtalia warned him.
* PunnyName: His name in anime, "Kazuki" is close to "Kasu" which roughly means scum / leftovers.
* RunningGag: In the light novel Naofumi never learns his name, as he had stopped paying attention to his long winded speach by the time he said it. After that when ever his name is spoken something happens to drown it out and Naofumi couldn't hear it. Rather than bother to learn it, he simply calls him Trash II.
* SimplifiedSpellcasting: The [[NewLifeInAnotherWorldBonus cheat skill]] granted to him upon accepting the Mysterious Villain's deal to reincarnate him in Glass' world. Slightly deconstructed since his spells are noted to have less raw power than a spell involving chanting.
* SoreLoser: His response to the Vassal Katana he coveted flying out of his hands and into Raphtalia's? Declare her, L'Arc, and the others thieves and try to kill them with White Tiger Beasts.
* TooDumbToLive: Kyo confirms Raphtalia's words to him that Kazuki[=/=]Trash II would die if he makes a step. He, while two healers are desperately trying to fix his wound, gets angry, and [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe gets decapitated from the shoulder up]] while [[KilledMidSentence ranting]].
* YouAreAlreadyDead: Raphtalia cuts him with Vassal Katana, but he won't get hurt as long as he doesn't move. As Kyo berates him for his failure in keeping Raphtalia imprisoned and preventing her from getting the Vassal Katana, Kazuki grows impatient and [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe falls into halves from the shoulder up]].

* FantasticRacism: Hates Filo for being a fililo and Leluda for being a dragon.

* AuthorityInNameOnly: He's eventually revealed to be only a King consort, with the real ruler of Melromarc being his wife, who makes it clear that he has ''massively'' overstepped his authority when she finally returns.
* BaitAndSwitch: When he hears Naofumi is using a demihuman slave, he supports Motoyasu's attempt to free her, claiming that Naofumi has "betrayed our customs." Naofumi's pretty disgusted to hear this coming from the king of the country who ''legalized'' slavery. [[spoiler: Later events make it clear that he didn't care that Naofumi was a slave-owner, but was disgusted that one of the sacred heroes had a demihuman in his party.]]
* BeAllMySinsRemembered: [[spoiler:After his significant character development, he refuses to take back his name when offered by Naofumi, out of penance for his deplorable actions towards the shield hero, and his failures as a king and father.]]

** Subverted initially, since Naofumi had no means of fighting back directly after screwing him over from the start, but then he acquires the [[SuperpoweredEvilSide Wrath Shield]], a shield that was not only [[DramaticIrony born from the misery and injustice directly inflicted on him by King Aultcray and Malty]], but also partly powered by the core of the dragon Gaelion. He witnesses it's fearsome power in the second wave, and is somehow convinced that his royal knights (which are cannon fodder at this point in comparison) are enough to subdue Naofumi, who he not only witnessed slaying the main boss of the wave with a '''giant iron maiden''', but the latter also ''outright stated'' that he could easily walk into the castle, kill the king, and walk out like it was nothing.
** In the anime, he makes a threat that heavily implies he intends to execute Naofumi's companions for his (justifiable) lack of respect. The latter's [[DeathGlare immediate reaction]] all but tells you he's just ''barely'' restraining himself from killing the now-scared shit-less king on the spot, but just leaves after dropping a terrifying death threat of his own.

* TheCaligula: While he has an impressive history as a general, he makes a poor sovereign when his wife is not around. He has the Four Cardinal Heroes summoned without the permission of every other kingdom, his wife's absence at the beginning of the series being her working to put out the political fires this decision created. He is also incredibly racist against demihumans, this prejudice having resulted in massive events of injustice committed to demihuman citizens in Melromarc and has given him an irrational hatred to Naofumi for being the Shield Hero, as demihumans worship the Shield Hero. He is also very gullible, Malty manipulating him by stroking his ego and making Naofumi a target of her mischief and had nearly let Melromarc's monarchy be overthrown by the [[CorruptChurch Church of the Three Heroes]] in his negligence.
* CharacterDevelopment: ''Very'' long in the making. [[spoiler:He slowly begins to come around after being forced to face some of his early life trauma]].
* CharacterDrivenStrategy: In [[Recap/TheRisingOfTheShieldHeroVolume3 Volume 3]], Melty claims that her father King Aultcray is a brilliant game player, managing to outdo his wife and daughters effortlessly in games that emphasize strategy. However, he will often throw a game whenever he plays against Malty (who is a terrible gamer), showing that all of the strategic genius in the world doesn't matter when Aultcray lets his paternal affection cloud his judgement.

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Throughout the run of the series, he has been mostly displayed either as a bad leader, a sore loser, downright racist, and a spiteful bastard. [[spoiler:However, once he makes amends with Naofumi, sets himself straight, and planned out an attack on Tact, he has shown very clearly why those who speak of his reputation as a war hero are usually in high regard and the reason that Melromarc is still standing as a nation. Even Naofumi, who scoffed at his mentioned titles as a Seven Star Hero, a war hero and tactical genius at every turn when he was a fool before, understood why people spoke so highly of him after witnessing his strategies in action and also admitting that he would be totally creamed if ever faced Trash in his prime.]]
* CynicismCatalyst: He was a genuinely good person and very skilled on the battlefield, until [[spoiler:his beloved sister was abducted and made a concubine.]]
* DeconstructedCharacterArchetype: He becomes one for the TragicBigot trope. Aultcray has a deep seething hatred towards demihumans and by extension the Shield Hero [[spoiler:who they worship.]] Why is this? [[spoiler:Because his sister was kidnapped by demihumans and he believed they murdered her.]] That in itself is sympathetic... however, he takes out all his anger on Naofumi, who has never heard of what happened or was even present at the time, and has done very despicable things to him from trying to deny him party members to keeping his level capped, and was willing to start a war with other countries and conspire with the Church of Three Heroes, a cultish religion. All this because he wanted revenge against a guy who is barely connected to him, making everything he does very petty in hindsight. Because of his actions, he lost any sympathy he may have gained. [[spoiler:It takes meeting his sister's children and the death of his wife for him [[MyGodWhatHaveIDone to finally realize how much of an idiot he was]].]]
* DidntThinkThisThrough: King Aultcary has no concept of long-term consequences and it becomes blatantly clear he didn't put any forethought into his choices as the story goes on.
** Summoning all four heroes in Melromarc was only the start of his bad decisions. The intended method is for one hero to be summoned in one kingdom each. Summoning all four heroes quite rightly angered the other countries that were at risk from the waves and war was a genuine threat, leading his wife to put out the political fires he started.
** Doing his best to screw Naofumi over at every possible opportunity was especially short sighted. Regardless of his personal feelings or Naofumi's limited ability to actually contribute to fighting the waves at the start, the Shield Hero is still one of the Legendary Heroes needed to combat the waves so doing everything in your power to sabotage one of the best chances of survival you have is idiotic to the extreme.

** The kicker to all of this? Melromarc is a matriarchy. The Queen is the highest power in the country, not him, and he only got away with everything because the Queen was busy smoothing things over from his decision to summon all four Heroes to Melromarc in the first place. Once she finds out what he's done and returns to do something about it, he suddenly finds himself in a pickle.
* DirtyCoward: Just like Malty, Aultclay has a habit of repeatedly antagonizing Naofumi behind his own laws and other people, and tends to border between this and BullyingADragon. He's promptly put in his place personally when the latter spells out to him that, due to him and his knights being cannon fodder at this point, there's nothing stopping him from simply killing the king in his own throne room and being done with it for all the unjustified crap he put him through. It's taken even further in the anime where he sinks low enough to threaten Raphtalia and Filo with an ImpliedDeathThreat just because he can't tolerate crap being thrown right back at him. All it takes is one angry DeathGlare from Naofumi to cow him and his subordinates into silence ''before'' the latter directly threatens him back with the promise of a painful death should he be stupid enough to try, and he only curses his name when he's almost out of the room.
* DotingParent: This is what has allowed Malty to get away with her crimes for so long. While he loves both daughters equally, he was only able to spoil Malty since the queen started to notice her bad personality, something he couldn't (or wouldn't) admit. He's held a KangarooCourt over Naofumi for her sake, has given to her authority over various towns and hosting battles between Naofumi and Motoyasu, and many more. [[spoiler:So once his wife, the higher authority, returns, she takes away both of their noble privileges and thus the power they had to ruin the world. Malty's continued villainous escalations got so bad even he refused to save her from her [[OffWithHerHead execution]] after getting her mother killed.]]

** He tarnishes Naofumi's name from the start, trying to take Raphtalia away from him through a rigged duel, stiffs him out of a royal stipend despite going out of his way to save his subjects, legally forbids him from using Melromarc's Dragon Hourglass to remove his party's level restriction to get stronger, and gave him a StealthInsult about defeating the boss of the second wave himself. After all that, how exactly did he expect the former to respond to his demand to explain how he got stronger than the other heroes despite the negative stigma and unfair handicaps he forced on him? He ''still'' expected him to comply when it was clear as day that Naofumi has '''nothing''' resembling respect for him by this point for all the crap he's done, and somehow looks shocked and angered when the former gives him crap right back.
** In the web novel, he lets himself believe that Naofumi stole the other Heroes power and demands how he did it. [[SarcasmMode Because it's not like the Shield he has is widely-known as "Legendary" for a reason]], like directly boosting the party's stats in case ''something'' prevents them from getting stronger normally...
** Later on, Queen Mirelia surmises that Aultcray had done so to give Motoyasu an edge over the other heroes as part of his preferential treatment for being partnered with Malty. It still doesn't excuse how he didn't expect Naofumi's justified contempt for him to make him mock the King to his face in response.
* EvenEvilHasStandards: He was not part of the Church's plot to [[spoiler:kill Melty, frame Naofumi for it, and use that as excuse to kill him with the other Heroes as collateral]], and was appalled when he found out Malty ''was'' in part.
** He truly loves his family, unlike [[TheSociopath Malty who cares for no one except herself]]. His grudge against demihumans, and [[RevengeByProxy the Shield Hero by proxy]], was due to his mistaken belief that his sister was murdered by one. Aultcray's discovery of her children Atla and Fohl eventually makes him reconsider his stance. He was also genuinely horrified and disgusted that Malty would [[SiblingMurder murder her own sister Melty]] in order to become the sole successor to Melromarc's throne. Despite Queen Mirelia stripping him of his title as King, Aultcray still loved her and was so distraught over her death at Tact's hand that he [[IHaveNoDaughter rejected Malty's final plea for mercy]], knowing that Malty was the one who encouraged the deed.
* FallenHero: He was once a beloved hero who fought Siltvelt head-on in their quest for world domination, managing to overthrow their king and save many countries. By the time the series begins, thanks to his years of hatred toward Demi-Humans [[spoiler:and the manipulations of his daughter]], he's become a shell of the wise and intelligent strategist he once was, and he's long since lost the ability to summon his Seven Star weapon.
* {{Foil}}: He's one to [[spoiler:Fohl.]] Not only are their backstories nearly identical, being fallen nobles who were left caring for their younger sisters after being orphaned by war, but they're similar enough that [[spoiler:Atla mistakes Trash for her brother]]. Both became Seven Star Heroes in their youth, Aultcray with the Cane and [[spoiler:Fohl with the Gauntlet]], and both are prodigies in their own fields. However, [[spoiler:the loss of their younger sisters]] have completely different effects on them. Whereas Trash was driven to take revenge and permanently affirmed his hatred of Demi-Humans, [[spoiler:Fohl adjusts to it significantly better and never acquires a hatred for humans like his uncle]].

* ForgivenButNotForgotten: As long as he remains a good king, Naofumi won't press the issue.
* GeneralRipper: It's implied from how much his hatred runs deep and the circumstances of the conspiracy that he may have been possibly willing to risk starting a war with the demi-humans for a chance at revenge. [[spoiler:Later on, it turns out that the rest of the countries worship the Four Heroes equally, so hogging all of them to Melromarc and treating the Shield Hero like shit for petty reasons risked ''all of them'' declaring war on the kingdom, not just Siltvelt. Good thing it was stopped before it could even begin.]]
* HateSink: Is this up until his wife finally has him and Malty own up to their callous behavior, especially towards Naofumi. It isn't surprising, considering his underhanded actions toward the latter and just how little he's justified in doing so, especially after the full truth behind his behavior comes out. He grows out of it once his CharacterDevelopment starts proper.
* HeelRealization: [[spoiler:After Mirelia's death]], he finally realizes that he treated Naofumi horribly for no good reason at all. He actually gets down on his knees and apologizes profusely to Naofumi and calls his past actions unforgivable.
* HenpeckedHusband: He uses his power as the king to do whatever the hell he wants and get away with it. The moment the queen finally returns, she makes everyone know she's the one in charge and her husband can't even say anything against it.
* HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Especially when it comes to his daughter [[ManipulativeBitch Malty]]. It could be understandable that he believes what she says because she's his daughter, but even after her deception was revealed he continued to believe she was innocent while he still considers Naofumi to be an evil scumbag despite him protecting his other daughter Melty from being murdered by Malty. It takes his wife branding Malty with a Slave Crest to force a confession out and later watching Malty have Tact kill her mother to finally snap the King out of this delusion and realized how much of an idiot he was in doubting Naofumi and trusting his treacherous daughter.

* BonusBoss: It wasn't even necessary for the current Legendary Heroes to seek it out and fight it, but they still do in order to prove a point. It turns out there was a pretty damn good reason why the previous Legendary Heroes could only seal it away.

* BreakTheHaughty: This is what ultimately became his fate at the hands of [[spoiler: the resurrected Demon Dragon. Upon realising his ability to see the levels of his opponents, she used magic to disguise the levels of herself to appear lower than what they actually were, to give him and his party a false sense of security, as well as playing on his arrogant personality, believing himself to be superior than his opponent because his level was higher. It goes without saying that upon discovering the truth, and realising the dire situation that he and his party were in, he completely lost it, doing everything within his power to save his own skin, even going as far as to blatantly lie to his party, and use them as fodder to try and make his escape with his life. It makes his evitable demise, all the more satisfying, upon seeing just how low he would go, preserve his own life.]]
* DeaderThanDead:[[spoiler: His soul was devoured by the Demon Dragon after his party was massacred by her.]]

[[Characters/TheRisingOfTheShieldHeroMainCharacters Main Characters]] ([[Characters/TheRisingOfTheShieldHeroNaofumiIwatani Naofumi Iwatani]]) | [[Characters/TheRisingOfTheShieldHeroAllies Naofumi's Allies]] | [[Characters/TheRisingOfTheShieldHeroThreeHeroes Three Heroes and Allies]] ([[Characters/TheRisingOfTheShieldHeroMotoyasuKitamura Motoyasu Kitamura]]) | '''Antagonists''' ([[Characters/TheRisingOfTheShieldHeroMaltyMelromarc Malty Melromarc]]) | [[Characters/TheRisingOfTheShieldHeroOther Other Characters]] ]] -]]]

** Going along with Malty's bald-faced lie and condemning Naofumi as a rapist without even bothering to give him an actual trial was the first major one, never mind barely acknowledging his presence before that despite summoning him (ie yanking him from his home) directly.

!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/ShinnosukeTachibana (Japanese)

* TooDumbToLive: Kyo confirms Raphtalia's words to him that Trash II would die if he makes a step. He, while two healers are desperately trying to fix his wound, gets angry, and [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe gets severed in half]] while [[KilledMidSentence ranting]].
* YouAreAlreadyDead: Raphtalia cuts him with Vassal Katana, but he won't get hurt as long as he doesn't move. He grows impatient and [[HalfTheManHeUsedToBe falls into halves]].

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Throughout the first four volumes of the light novel, 32 chapters of the manga and 21 episodes of the first season of the anime, we can see that he didn't put any thought in the decisions he made.
** Summoning all the heroes to Melromarc when there was supposed to be one hero summoned to each country and keeping all the heroes in Melromarc infuriated the other countries, as they had no protection. This action would have started a full-scale war, so thank god Mirellia managed to convince the other countries otherwise.
** Screwing over Naofumi at every chance just because he's the Shield Hero, as well as trying to have him killed. This not only nearly caused Naofumi to abandon Melromarc outright, but it also could have resulted in Siltvelt attacking Melromarc, since they worship the Shield Hero as a god.
** Conspiring with the Three Heroes Church to kill Naofumi and his party, which almost got his two daughters killed by the corrupt church. The pope also planned to take over the kingdom for himself and destroy the Melromarc hierarchy once and for all for endangering so many lives.
** Aultcray knew that the queen has more power over the country, not the king, but because she was away in order to put out the political fires he started, he was allowed to get away with his crimes against Naofumi. Mirellia told him not to discriminate against Naofumi, but he did so anyways. Considering Mirellia's strict methods and ruthless ways to protect her country, even from her own family, he simply should have followed what she said and put his petty schemes behind him. This resulted in him losing his status as the king (in the anime, nearly executed as well) as well as his name legally being changed to "trash" as punishment by Naofumi.

* RevengeBeforeReason: Joining the conspiracy against the Shield Hero was this trope on his part. His FreudianExcuse projects his hatred of demihumans onto Naofumi but the consequences could have been severe. Going along with the conspiracy risked war with the rest of the world; persecuting the Shield Hero, in particular, would definitely provoke a war with the demihuman nations [[spoiler:as well as ''every other'' nation]] the moment news reached them. He risked his kingdom for petty revenge against someone who did not even personally slight him.

** He is this to the Cardinal heroes. Like them he's a hard-core gamer who sees the world like a game and behaves like an entitled manchild who does whatever he wants without thinking of the consequences. Difference being that while the three Cardinal Heroes at least ''try'' to play the part of heroes, Kyo has zero interest in it. He would rather become an outright villain and make no secrets about milking the world around him for his own benefit. Unfortunately for Naofumi, he doesn't sure their stupidity.

* FatBastard: He's very fat and not a [[NiceGuy nice person]].