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* CatSmile: In the manga, when Goblin Slayer asks if she knew all along about the Water Town goblin nest before hiring him, and admits to having no basis for suspecting any conspiracy and had decided to interrogate all the quest-givers on a whim, Sword Maiden gives a tiny, rueful smirk at having fallen for the bluff and confessing so readily.
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Cut trope atm.
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* RapunzelHair: The Archbishop of the Supreme God has the longest mane in the series by a large margin, the ends of her hair tickle her calves. She's the quest-giver these days, after all, so she has to mind her image. She even has an Attendant.
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[[/folder]]
[[folder:Noble Fencer]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/SumireUesaka (Japanese), Creator/AnairisQuinones (English)
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/noblefencer.jpg]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/noblefencer2.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Noble Fencer after the events of Volume 5]]
An aristocratic young woman who ran away from home to become an adventurer. The plot of the fifth volume of the light novel is kicked off when Goblin Slayer and his party are hired to recover her when she goes missing hunting goblins in an ice mountain.
----
* AncestralWeapon: She wields an ancient silver rapier that is a heirloom of her house. [[spoiler:She begs Goblin Slayer to let her accompany the party to retrieve it from the goblin paladin after he saves her and makes clear he intends to finish the job on her horde-extermination quest]].
* ArcHero: Of Volume 5, as the mission of that volume was to rescue her and later she acts as a GuestStarPartyMember to Goblin Slayer's team in their quest to stop the [[spoiler: Goblin Paladin]].
* BavarianFireDrill: She enters the secret enemy fortress in volume 11 by bluffing she is a collaborating merchant and just plowing through conversations attempting to steer her away from the garrison.
* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Survives her experience with the goblins with only the brand on her neck, and rape. [[spoiler: Justified in that since she was powering the Goblin Paladin's magic, he probably wanted her in a good condition so she wouldn't die.]]
* BigLittleSister: Priestess explicitly sees and treats her as a little sister, even though she is much taller and more developed.
* BirdsOfAFeather: With Priestess. [[spoiler:Just like her, she had her entire rookie party killed and was the sole survivor]].
* BlingBlingBang: Her sword has a gold-plated hilt with a large gemstone set in front and under the blade.
* BlueBlood: Noted to be high in station, enough that Sword Maiden got involved in deciding who to send to rescue her.
* BreakTheCutie: She runs away from home to become an adventurer, with her first mission being a goblin-slaying one. [[spoiler:Her plan results in her team being killed and her body being branded, leaving her vengeful and broken with a desire to kill all goblins]].
* BuxomIsBetter: Literally one of the first things the light novel narration mentions about her is how well she fills out her breastplate.
* CantHoldHerLiquor: Admits quite frankly that she’s not very good with alcohol when offered an ale.
* CastFromHitPoints: [[spoiler:The goblin paladin is able to use the brand of the God of Wisdom his lackeys gave her to use her lifeforce as fuel to perform magic at no cost to his own energy]].
* ClaimedByTheSupernatural: [[spoiler:The goblins branded her with the sign of the God of Wisdom and made her the living covenant that allows the goblin paladin to receive divine favor]].
* CoolSword: Her personal weapon is an amazingly light sword that is strong and sharp enough to cut through steel, and is made of incredibly rare and valuable aluminum.
* CurtainsMatchTheWindow: Colored illustrations reveal that she has blonde hair and golden eyes.
* DeerInTheHeadlights: Freezes up while climbing over her carriage in the middle of a goblin ambush, Goblin Slayer covers her and snaps her out f it.
* DefiledForever: It was stated that her chastity was among the precious things that the goblins have taken from her.
* DidntThinkThisThrough:
** She tried to eliminate the goblins by starving them out, but this resulted in her party draining their resources and energy over the course of weeks of camping in the mountain winter. [[spoiler:Which led to her party being wiped out and herself being captured and made into a sacrifice.]] Goblin Slayer himself admits that it wasn't a bad method, where it went wrong was [[spoiler:in not realizing that the cave they staked out wasn't the goblins' den, but their auxiliary temple]].
** She also depleted the nearby village of crucial supplies for the winter so she not only endangered her own team but the village she was working for.
** Worse, the novel makes it clear on multiple occasions she could've pulled the plug on the mission and regrouped at any point, but refused to do so out of stubbornness that she "couldn't be wrong".
* EmotionSuppression: [[spoiler:Does this almost instantly upon waking up back in the inn from being rescued from the goblin's temple. Priestess just as immediately sets about breaking her walls]].
* EpiphanyTherapy: [[spoiler:Upon seeing the goblin paladin again all the emotions she had been repressing since her rescue: her guilt over causing her friends' death, fear and sorrow from being taken by the goblins, and admission to not being as ready to be an adventurer as she thought, come crashing into all at once. But once she accepts what happened to her, she is able to properly engage with the fight against the goblins and later move on from the experience]].
* EscortMission: Is the object of one in volume 11, to justify bringing the party with her as she infiltrates and investigates the Desert Kingdom.
* EtTuBrute: Noble Fencer was most fond of Half-Elf Fighter, thinking they were getting along great while marching together and feeling hurt that she in particular was snubbing her.
* FatalFlaw: Her {{pride}}. Her failed plan resulted in her party being placed in a dangerous position. Instead of retreating or calling off the quest when things were getting dangerous, she persisted out of fear of becoming a laughing stock for failing to complete a goblin subjection quest.[[spoiler:This ultimately leads to the death of her party members along with her being captured.]]
* GuestStarPartyMember: [[spoiler:Insists on accompanying the party to find and kill the goblin paladin, which Goblin Slayer and Priestess agree to.]]
* HandyHelper: After being healed and retired from adventuring, Noble Fencer decides to stay and operate her part of the family business in Water Town and spends what time she can get away with as an unofficial assistant to Sword Maiden, fielding correspondence, managing meetings, and making court appearances alongside her.
* HartmanHips: The manga gives her extremely wide, curvaceous hips that she often has cocked during talking scenes.
* HatesBeingTouched: Downplayed. Noble Fencer is perfectly fine with people she knows, but nearly blows her cover during an infiltration in Volume 11 when a soldier touches her. Given her experiences, she's understandably jumpy with strangers.
* HoneyTrap: [[spoiler: Incapacitates a garrison of enemy soldiers by hotboxing them in a small room with her drugged perfume as she pretends to be a merchant come to cater on them.]]
* ImportantHaircut: Shears off her long hair at her neck [[spoiler:and offers it to Goblin Slayer as payment to let her join his party and fight to reclaim her stolen sword]].
* InadequateInheritor: Her principle motivations for running away to become an adventurer was how she nearly cracked under the pressure to live up to her family name and her insecurity over [[WellDoneDaughterGal being in her father’s shadow]] and owing her every material possession to his fortune. She hoped starting a legacy all her own from scratch would be easier, make her feel freer, and be more rewarding. [[TraumaCongaLine It wasn’t.]]
* ItsAllAboutMe: Before her CharacterDevelopment and some horrible life altering events, Noble Fencer's goal was to simply make a name for herself, achieve glory, and climb up the Guild Ranks to become Gold- or Platinum-ranked in no time. To this end she didn't think out her strategies and didn't realize her rookie mistakes were piling up into a disaster.
* JuniorCounterpart: To Sword Maiden, or at least that how the older woman sees it. Sword Maiden certainly knows they share similar experiences, and takes Noble Fencer under her wing in an attempt to guide her away from some of the emotional pitfalls that left her a long-term wreck before.
* LeeroyJenkins: [[spoiler:Unable to calm herself while seeing a goblin wearing the robes of her dead companion, she attacks one and forces the group to change their plans while in the goblin territory.]]
* MadeASlave: [[spoiler: Goblin Slayer theorized that the goblin paladin kept her alive for this reason after he "breaks her spirit". Once she becomes his subservient slave, he would force her to use her ShockAndAwe magic to forge new weapons for his horde and eventually work her to death. Luckily, Goblin Slayer's party was able to save her before this can happen]].
* MagicalGesture: Draws sigils with her fingers to power up her Lightning spell.
* MagicKnight: She can use spells alongside her swordplay.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Her plan to safely eliminate the goblins involved starving them out, but her failing to perform proper reconnaissance or factor in the amount of supplies needed to maintain her party out in the wilderness over the course of weeks results [[spoiler:in her party being slaughtered and her being used as a sacrifice, which allows the goblin paladin to come into being.]]
* PartingWordsRegret: The last time she got to interact with her party, they were hazing her for the "bad" plan to starve out the goblins. Despite her team being the ones to say the hurtful parting word, their final conversation still fills Noble Fencer with regret.
* PenPals: It’s stated that after returning home to become a merchant she is friends and stays in contact with Priestess (and possibly High Elf Archer) with regular letters.
* RapeAndRevenge: [[spoiler: After being captured by a goblin horde led by a goblin paladin, she ended up being raped and branded by the monsters. The traumatic experience left her in a very vengeful state after she was saved. She was able to convince Goblin Slayer's party to let her join them on their mission and she was ultimately able to kill most of the goblins that tormented her after causing an avalanche to wipe them out]].
* RescueRomance: Subverted. While she's immensely grateful for everything Goblin Slayer has done for her, a conversation with Sword Maiden in Volume 6 confirms no underlying feelings for the man... [[ClingyJealousGirl much to Sword Maiden's barely-disguised relief]].
* PseudoRomanticFriendship: Initially tried to form one with her fellow party member Half-Elf Warrior, which ended tragically. Afterwards, she does end up forming one with Priestess who acted as her LivingEmotionalCrutch throughout Volume 5 after Noble Fencer's traumatic experience with the goblins. Some of their interactions include frequent hand holding (especially in [[TheMovie Goblin's Crown]]), Priestess often trying to comfort her, and Noble Fencer beating a goblin priest to death after it hurt Priestess.
* RoyalRapier: Her sword seems to be one, with its extremely thin, long thrusting blade and ornate hilt.
* ScarsAreForever: Sword Maiden is able to neutralize the magic of the seal on her neck, but not even she is strong enough to erase it entirely.
* SchizoTech: Her CoolSword is made out of aluminum, which is well beyond the ability of a medieval tech base to refine and produce. Also a case of ConspicuousConsumption, since aluminum was so rare even when it could be made that it was more valuable than gold.
* ShockAndAwe: She has a Lightning spell. [[spoiler:The goblin paladin wanted to enslave her in the first place to make her use this magic to help him in his attempts to learn smithing. Goblin Slayer has her instead blast the top off a mountain to induce an avalanche.]]
* TheSocialExpert: Her experience navigating royal banquets and merchant negotiations gives her a highly developed charisma and sense of how to manipulate non-hostile opposing persons, something commonborn pure adventurers lack.
* SoleSurvivor: Of her party, she's the only one left alive.
* StartMyOwn: The reason she ran away and became an adventurer was because she wanted to achieve power and fame through her own abilities and not rely on her family name for prestige. [[spoiler:She learns that attaining personal glory is a more arduous and perilous task than she first assumed, and in the most gruesome manner possible]].
* ThatManIsDead: [[spoiler:Though the effect probably isn't meant to be as final as this trope usually comes off as. Come Volume 8 she has shelved any remaining desire or dream to be an adventurer and the narrative rebrands her Female Merchant Leader.]]
* ThisIsSomethingHesGotToDoHimself: [[spoiler:The reason Goblin Slayer and Priestess decide to bring her on their assault on the goblin stronghold is that they can tell that getting back in the saddle right now and confronting her trauma head-on is the only possible way she is ever going to have a chance at reclaiming her self-respect and recovering psychologically.]]
* WalkingSpoiler: A given when her role in the story [[spoiler:is so closely bound up in a major [[TheReveal reveal]] of a new goblin evolution and the race's true potential for evil plans overall]].
* WealthyPhilanthropist: Becomes this after returning to her family and entering their merchant business, being the one to put the down payment on Guild Girl's training camp in Volume 6 in the hope of properly preparing other rookies for the hazards of adventuring.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: She has a bit of PTSD from the goblins, and has difficulty facing them when her hate cools.
* YellowLightningBlueLightning: Her final Lightning spell in volume 11 is purple.
* YoungerThanTheyLook: She's a year and change younger than Priestess, but taller and more womanly than her and High Elf Archer.
----
[[folder:Noble Fencer]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/SumireUesaka (Japanese), Creator/AnairisQuinones (English)
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/noblefencer.jpg]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/noblefencer2.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Noble Fencer after the events of Volume 5]]
An aristocratic young woman who ran away from home to become an adventurer. The plot of the fifth volume of the light novel is kicked off when Goblin Slayer and his party are hired to recover her when she goes missing hunting goblins in an ice mountain.
----
* AncestralWeapon: She wields an ancient silver rapier that is a heirloom of her house. [[spoiler:She begs Goblin Slayer to let her accompany the party to retrieve it from the goblin paladin after he saves her and makes clear he intends to finish the job on her horde-extermination quest]].
* ArcHero: Of Volume 5, as the mission of that volume was to rescue her and later she acts as a GuestStarPartyMember to Goblin Slayer's team in their quest to stop the [[spoiler: Goblin Paladin]].
* BavarianFireDrill: She enters the secret enemy fortress in volume 11 by bluffing she is a collaborating merchant and just plowing through conversations attempting to steer her away from the garrison.
* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Survives her experience with the goblins with only the brand on her neck, and rape. [[spoiler: Justified in that since she was powering the Goblin Paladin's magic, he probably wanted her in a good condition so she wouldn't die.]]
* BigLittleSister: Priestess explicitly sees and treats her as a little sister, even though she is much taller and more developed.
* BirdsOfAFeather: With Priestess. [[spoiler:Just like her, she had her entire rookie party killed and was the sole survivor]].
* BlingBlingBang: Her sword has a gold-plated hilt with a large gemstone set in front and under the blade.
* BlueBlood: Noted to be high in station, enough that Sword Maiden got involved in deciding who to send to rescue her.
* BreakTheCutie: She runs away from home to become an adventurer, with her first mission being a goblin-slaying one. [[spoiler:Her plan results in her team being killed and her body being branded, leaving her vengeful and broken with a desire to kill all goblins]].
* BuxomIsBetter: Literally one of the first things the light novel narration mentions about her is how well she fills out her breastplate.
* CantHoldHerLiquor: Admits quite frankly that she’s not very good with alcohol when offered an ale.
* CastFromHitPoints: [[spoiler:The goblin paladin is able to use the brand of the God of Wisdom his lackeys gave her to use her lifeforce as fuel to perform magic at no cost to his own energy]].
* ClaimedByTheSupernatural: [[spoiler:The goblins branded her with the sign of the God of Wisdom and made her the living covenant that allows the goblin paladin to receive divine favor]].
* CoolSword: Her personal weapon is an amazingly light sword that is strong and sharp enough to cut through steel, and is made of incredibly rare and valuable aluminum.
* CurtainsMatchTheWindow: Colored illustrations reveal that she has blonde hair and golden eyes.
* DeerInTheHeadlights: Freezes up while climbing over her carriage in the middle of a goblin ambush, Goblin Slayer covers her and snaps her out f it.
* DefiledForever: It was stated that her chastity was among the precious things that the goblins have taken from her.
* DidntThinkThisThrough:
** She tried to eliminate the goblins by starving them out, but this resulted in her party draining their resources and energy over the course of weeks of camping in the mountain winter. [[spoiler:Which led to her party being wiped out and herself being captured and made into a sacrifice.]] Goblin Slayer himself admits that it wasn't a bad method, where it went wrong was [[spoiler:in not realizing that the cave they staked out wasn't the goblins' den, but their auxiliary temple]].
** She also depleted the nearby village of crucial supplies for the winter so she not only endangered her own team but the village she was working for.
** Worse, the novel makes it clear on multiple occasions she could've pulled the plug on the mission and regrouped at any point, but refused to do so out of stubbornness that she "couldn't be wrong".
* EmotionSuppression: [[spoiler:Does this almost instantly upon waking up back in the inn from being rescued from the goblin's temple. Priestess just as immediately sets about breaking her walls]].
* EpiphanyTherapy: [[spoiler:Upon seeing the goblin paladin again all the emotions she had been repressing since her rescue: her guilt over causing her friends' death, fear and sorrow from being taken by the goblins, and admission to not being as ready to be an adventurer as she thought, come crashing into all at once. But once she accepts what happened to her, she is able to properly engage with the fight against the goblins and later move on from the experience]].
* EscortMission: Is the object of one in volume 11, to justify bringing the party with her as she infiltrates and investigates the Desert Kingdom.
* EtTuBrute: Noble Fencer was most fond of Half-Elf Fighter, thinking they were getting along great while marching together and feeling hurt that she in particular was snubbing her.
* FatalFlaw: Her {{pride}}. Her failed plan resulted in her party being placed in a dangerous position. Instead of retreating or calling off the quest when things were getting dangerous, she persisted out of fear of becoming a laughing stock for failing to complete a goblin subjection quest.[[spoiler:This ultimately leads to the death of her party members along with her being captured.]]
* GuestStarPartyMember: [[spoiler:Insists on accompanying the party to find and kill the goblin paladin, which Goblin Slayer and Priestess agree to.]]
* HandyHelper: After being healed and retired from adventuring, Noble Fencer decides to stay and operate her part of the family business in Water Town and spends what time she can get away with as an unofficial assistant to Sword Maiden, fielding correspondence, managing meetings, and making court appearances alongside her.
* HartmanHips: The manga gives her extremely wide, curvaceous hips that she often has cocked during talking scenes.
* HatesBeingTouched: Downplayed. Noble Fencer is perfectly fine with people she knows, but nearly blows her cover during an infiltration in Volume 11 when a soldier touches her. Given her experiences, she's understandably jumpy with strangers.
* HoneyTrap: [[spoiler: Incapacitates a garrison of enemy soldiers by hotboxing them in a small room with her drugged perfume as she pretends to be a merchant come to cater on them.]]
* ImportantHaircut: Shears off her long hair at her neck [[spoiler:and offers it to Goblin Slayer as payment to let her join his party and fight to reclaim her stolen sword]].
* InadequateInheritor: Her principle motivations for running away to become an adventurer was how she nearly cracked under the pressure to live up to her family name and her insecurity over [[WellDoneDaughterGal being in her father’s shadow]] and owing her every material possession to his fortune. She hoped starting a legacy all her own from scratch would be easier, make her feel freer, and be more rewarding. [[TraumaCongaLine It wasn’t.]]
* ItsAllAboutMe: Before her CharacterDevelopment and some horrible life altering events, Noble Fencer's goal was to simply make a name for herself, achieve glory, and climb up the Guild Ranks to become Gold- or Platinum-ranked in no time. To this end she didn't think out her strategies and didn't realize her rookie mistakes were piling up into a disaster.
* JuniorCounterpart: To Sword Maiden, or at least that how the older woman sees it. Sword Maiden certainly knows they share similar experiences, and takes Noble Fencer under her wing in an attempt to guide her away from some of the emotional pitfalls that left her a long-term wreck before.
* LeeroyJenkins: [[spoiler:Unable to calm herself while seeing a goblin wearing the robes of her dead companion, she attacks one and forces the group to change their plans while in the goblin territory.]]
* MadeASlave: [[spoiler: Goblin Slayer theorized that the goblin paladin kept her alive for this reason after he "breaks her spirit". Once she becomes his subservient slave, he would force her to use her ShockAndAwe magic to forge new weapons for his horde and eventually work her to death. Luckily, Goblin Slayer's party was able to save her before this can happen]].
* MagicalGesture: Draws sigils with her fingers to power up her Lightning spell.
* MagicKnight: She can use spells alongside her swordplay.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Her plan to safely eliminate the goblins involved starving them out, but her failing to perform proper reconnaissance or factor in the amount of supplies needed to maintain her party out in the wilderness over the course of weeks results [[spoiler:in her party being slaughtered and her being used as a sacrifice, which allows the goblin paladin to come into being.]]
* PartingWordsRegret: The last time she got to interact with her party, they were hazing her for the "bad" plan to starve out the goblins. Despite her team being the ones to say the hurtful parting word, their final conversation still fills Noble Fencer with regret.
* PenPals: It’s stated that after returning home to become a merchant she is friends and stays in contact with Priestess (and possibly High Elf Archer) with regular letters.
* RapeAndRevenge: [[spoiler: After being captured by a goblin horde led by a goblin paladin, she ended up being raped and branded by the monsters. The traumatic experience left her in a very vengeful state after she was saved. She was able to convince Goblin Slayer's party to let her join them on their mission and she was ultimately able to kill most of the goblins that tormented her after causing an avalanche to wipe them out]].
* RescueRomance: Subverted. While she's immensely grateful for everything Goblin Slayer has done for her, a conversation with Sword Maiden in Volume 6 confirms no underlying feelings for the man... [[ClingyJealousGirl much to Sword Maiden's barely-disguised relief]].
* PseudoRomanticFriendship: Initially tried to form one with her fellow party member Half-Elf Warrior, which ended tragically. Afterwards, she does end up forming one with Priestess who acted as her LivingEmotionalCrutch throughout Volume 5 after Noble Fencer's traumatic experience with the goblins. Some of their interactions include frequent hand holding (especially in [[TheMovie Goblin's Crown]]), Priestess often trying to comfort her, and Noble Fencer beating a goblin priest to death after it hurt Priestess.
* RoyalRapier: Her sword seems to be one, with its extremely thin, long thrusting blade and ornate hilt.
* ScarsAreForever: Sword Maiden is able to neutralize the magic of the seal on her neck, but not even she is strong enough to erase it entirely.
* SchizoTech: Her CoolSword is made out of aluminum, which is well beyond the ability of a medieval tech base to refine and produce. Also a case of ConspicuousConsumption, since aluminum was so rare even when it could be made that it was more valuable than gold.
* ShockAndAwe: She has a Lightning spell. [[spoiler:The goblin paladin wanted to enslave her in the first place to make her use this magic to help him in his attempts to learn smithing. Goblin Slayer has her instead blast the top off a mountain to induce an avalanche.]]
* TheSocialExpert: Her experience navigating royal banquets and merchant negotiations gives her a highly developed charisma and sense of how to manipulate non-hostile opposing persons, something commonborn pure adventurers lack.
* SoleSurvivor: Of her party, she's the only one left alive.
* StartMyOwn: The reason she ran away and became an adventurer was because she wanted to achieve power and fame through her own abilities and not rely on her family name for prestige. [[spoiler:She learns that attaining personal glory is a more arduous and perilous task than she first assumed, and in the most gruesome manner possible]].
* ThatManIsDead: [[spoiler:Though the effect probably isn't meant to be as final as this trope usually comes off as. Come Volume 8 she has shelved any remaining desire or dream to be an adventurer and the narrative rebrands her Female Merchant Leader.]]
* ThisIsSomethingHesGotToDoHimself: [[spoiler:The reason Goblin Slayer and Priestess decide to bring her on their assault on the goblin stronghold is that they can tell that getting back in the saddle right now and confronting her trauma head-on is the only possible way she is ever going to have a chance at reclaiming her self-respect and recovering psychologically.]]
* WalkingSpoiler: A given when her role in the story [[spoiler:is so closely bound up in a major [[TheReveal reveal]] of a new goblin evolution and the race's true potential for evil plans overall]].
* WealthyPhilanthropist: Becomes this after returning to her family and entering their merchant business, being the one to put the down payment on Guild Girl's training camp in Volume 6 in the hope of properly preparing other rookies for the hazards of adventuring.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: She has a bit of PTSD from the goblins, and has difficulty facing them when her hate cools.
* YellowLightningBlueLightning: Her final Lightning spell in volume 11 is purple.
* YoungerThanTheyLook: She's a year and change younger than Priestess, but taller and more womanly than her and High Elf Archer.
----
to:
[[folder:Noble Fencer]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/SumireUesaka (Japanese), Creator/AnairisQuinones (English)
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/noblefencer.jpg]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/noblefencer2.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Noble Fencer after the events of Volume 5]]
An aristocratic young woman who ran away from home to become an adventurer. The plot of the fifth volume of the light novel is kicked off when Goblin Slayer and his party are hired to recover her when she goes missing hunting goblins in an ice mountain.
----
* AncestralWeapon: She wields an ancient silver rapier that is a heirloom of her house. [[spoiler:She begs Goblin Slayer to let her accompany the party to retrieve it from the goblin paladin after he saves her and makes clear he intends to finish the job on her horde-extermination quest]].
* ArcHero: Of Volume 5, as the mission of that volume was to rescue her and later she acts as a GuestStarPartyMember to Goblin Slayer's team in their quest to stop the [[spoiler: Goblin Paladin]].
* BavarianFireDrill: She enters the secret enemy fortress in volume 11 by bluffing she is a collaborating merchant and just plowing through conversations attempting to steer her away from the garrison.
* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Survives her experience with the goblins with only the brand on her neck, and rape. [[spoiler: Justified in that since she was powering the Goblin Paladin's magic, he probably wanted her in a good condition so she wouldn't die.]]
* BigLittleSister: Priestess explicitly sees and treats her as a little sister, even though she is much taller and more developed.
* BirdsOfAFeather: With Priestess. [[spoiler:Just like her, she had her entire rookie party killed and was the sole survivor]].
* BlingBlingBang: Her sword has a gold-plated hilt with a large gemstone set in front and under the blade.
* BlueBlood: Noted to be high in station, enough that Sword Maiden got involved in deciding who to send to rescue her.
* BreakTheCutie: She runs away from home to become an adventurer, with her first mission being a goblin-slaying one. [[spoiler:Her plan results in her team being killed and her body being branded, leaving her vengeful and broken with a desire to kill all goblins]].
* BuxomIsBetter: Literally one of the first things the light novel narration mentions about her is how well she fills out her breastplate.
* CantHoldHerLiquor: Admits quite frankly that she’s not very good with alcohol when offered an ale.
* CastFromHitPoints: [[spoiler:The goblin paladin is able to use the brand of the God of Wisdom his lackeys gave her to use her lifeforce as fuel to perform magic at no cost to his own energy]].
* ClaimedByTheSupernatural: [[spoiler:The goblins branded her with the sign of the God of Wisdom and made her the living covenant that allows the goblin paladin to receive divine favor]].
* CoolSword: Her personal weapon is an amazingly light sword that is strong and sharp enough to cut through steel, and is made of incredibly rare and valuable aluminum.
* CurtainsMatchTheWindow: Colored illustrations reveal that she has blonde hair and golden eyes.
* DeerInTheHeadlights: Freezes up while climbing over her carriage in the middle of a goblin ambush, Goblin Slayer covers her and snaps her out f it.
* DefiledForever: It was stated that her chastity was among the precious things that the goblins have taken from her.
* DidntThinkThisThrough:
** She tried to eliminate the goblins by starving them out, but this resulted in her party draining their resources and energy over the course of weeks of camping in the mountain winter. [[spoiler:Which led to her party being wiped out and herself being captured and made into a sacrifice.]] Goblin Slayer himself admits that it wasn't a bad method, where it went wrong was [[spoiler:in not realizing that the cave they staked out wasn't the goblins' den, but their auxiliary temple]].
** She also depleted the nearby village of crucial supplies for the winter so she not only endangered her own team but the village she was working for.
** Worse, the novel makes it clear on multiple occasions she could've pulled the plug on the mission and regrouped at any point, but refused to do so out of stubbornness that she "couldn't be wrong".
* EmotionSuppression: [[spoiler:Does this almost instantly upon waking up back in the inn from being rescued from the goblin's temple. Priestess just as immediately sets about breaking her walls]].
* EpiphanyTherapy: [[spoiler:Upon seeing the goblin paladin again all the emotions she had been repressing since her rescue: her guilt over causing her friends' death, fear and sorrow from being taken by the goblins, and admission to not being as ready to be an adventurer as she thought, come crashing into all at once. But once she accepts what happened to her, she is able to properly engage with the fight against the goblins and later move on from the experience]].
* EscortMission: Is the object of one in volume 11, to justify bringing the party with her as she infiltrates and investigates the Desert Kingdom.
* EtTuBrute: Noble Fencer was most fond of Half-Elf Fighter, thinking they were getting along great while marching together and feeling hurt that she in particular was snubbing her.
* FatalFlaw: Her {{pride}}. Her failed plan resulted in her party being placed in a dangerous position. Instead of retreating or calling off the quest when things were getting dangerous, she persisted out of fear of becoming a laughing stock for failing to complete a goblin subjection quest.[[spoiler:This ultimately leads to the death of her party members along with her being captured.]]
* GuestStarPartyMember: [[spoiler:Insists on accompanying the party to find and kill the goblin paladin, which Goblin Slayer and Priestess agree to.]]
* HandyHelper: After being healed and retired from adventuring, Noble Fencer decides to stay and operate her part of the family business in Water Town and spends what time she can get away with as an unofficial assistant to Sword Maiden, fielding correspondence, managing meetings, and making court appearances alongside her.
* HartmanHips: The manga gives her extremely wide, curvaceous hips that she often has cocked during talking scenes.
* HatesBeingTouched: Downplayed. Noble Fencer is perfectly fine with people she knows, but nearly blows her cover during an infiltration in Volume 11 when a soldier touches her. Given her experiences, she's understandably jumpy with strangers.
* HoneyTrap: [[spoiler: Incapacitates a garrison of enemy soldiers by hotboxing them in a small room with her drugged perfume as she pretends to be a merchant come to cater on them.]]
* ImportantHaircut: Shears off her long hair at her neck [[spoiler:and offers it to Goblin Slayer as payment to let her join his party and fight to reclaim her stolen sword]].
* InadequateInheritor: Her principle motivations for running away to become an adventurer was how she nearly cracked under the pressure to live up to her family name and her insecurity over [[WellDoneDaughterGal being in her father’s shadow]] and owing her every material possession to his fortune. She hoped starting a legacy all her own from scratch would be easier, make her feel freer, and be more rewarding. [[TraumaCongaLine It wasn’t.]]
* ItsAllAboutMe: Before her CharacterDevelopment and some horrible life altering events, Noble Fencer's goal was to simply make a name for herself, achieve glory, and climb up the Guild Ranks to become Gold- or Platinum-ranked in no time. To this end she didn't think out her strategies and didn't realize her rookie mistakes were piling up into a disaster.
* JuniorCounterpart: To Sword Maiden, or at least that how the older woman sees it. Sword Maiden certainly knows they share similar experiences, and takes Noble Fencer under her wing in an attempt to guide her away from some of the emotional pitfalls that left her a long-term wreck before.
* LeeroyJenkins: [[spoiler:Unable to calm herself while seeing a goblin wearing the robes of her dead companion, she attacks one and forces the group to change their plans while in the goblin territory.]]
* MadeASlave: [[spoiler: Goblin Slayer theorized that the goblin paladin kept her alive for this reason after he "breaks her spirit". Once she becomes his subservient slave, he would force her to use her ShockAndAwe magic to forge new weapons for his horde and eventually work her to death. Luckily, Goblin Slayer's party was able to save her before this can happen]].
* MagicalGesture: Draws sigils with her fingers to power up her Lightning spell.
* MagicKnight: She can use spells alongside her swordplay.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Her plan to safely eliminate the goblins involved starving them out, but her failing to perform proper reconnaissance or factor in the amount of supplies needed to maintain her party out in the wilderness over the course of weeks results [[spoiler:in her party being slaughtered and her being used as a sacrifice, which allows the goblin paladin to come into being.]]
* PartingWordsRegret: The last time she got to interact with her party, they were hazing her for the "bad" plan to starve out the goblins. Despite her team being the ones to say the hurtful parting word, their final conversation still fills Noble Fencer with regret.
* PenPals: It’s stated that after returning home to become a merchant she is friends and stays in contact with Priestess (and possibly High Elf Archer) with regular letters.
* RapeAndRevenge: [[spoiler: After being captured by a goblin horde led by a goblin paladin, she ended up being raped and branded by the monsters. The traumatic experience left her in a very vengeful state after she was saved. She was able to convince Goblin Slayer's party to let her join them on their mission and she was ultimately able to kill most of the goblins that tormented her after causing an avalanche to wipe them out]].
* RescueRomance: Subverted. While she's immensely grateful for everything Goblin Slayer has done for her, a conversation with Sword Maiden in Volume 6 confirms no underlying feelings for the man... [[ClingyJealousGirl much to Sword Maiden's barely-disguised relief]].
* PseudoRomanticFriendship: Initially tried to form one with her fellow party member Half-Elf Warrior, which ended tragically. Afterwards, she does end up forming one with Priestess who acted as her LivingEmotionalCrutch throughout Volume 5 after Noble Fencer's traumatic experience with the goblins. Some of their interactions include frequent hand holding (especially in [[TheMovie Goblin's Crown]]), Priestess often trying to comfort her, and Noble Fencer beating a goblin priest to death after it hurt Priestess.
* RoyalRapier: Her sword seems to be one, with its extremely thin, long thrusting blade and ornate hilt.
* ScarsAreForever: Sword Maiden is able to neutralize the magic of the seal on her neck, but not even she is strong enough to erase it entirely.
* SchizoTech: Her CoolSword is made out of aluminum, which is well beyond the ability of a medieval tech base to refine and produce. Also a case of ConspicuousConsumption, since aluminum was so rare even when it could be made that it was more valuable than gold.
* ShockAndAwe: She has a Lightning spell. [[spoiler:The goblin paladin wanted to enslave her in the first place to make her use this magic to help him in his attempts to learn smithing. Goblin Slayer has her instead blast the top off a mountain to induce an avalanche.]]
* TheSocialExpert: Her experience navigating royal banquets and merchant negotiations gives her a highly developed charisma and sense of how to manipulate non-hostile opposing persons, something commonborn pure adventurers lack.
* SoleSurvivor: Of her party, she's the only one left alive.
* StartMyOwn: The reason she ran away and became an adventurer was because she wanted to achieve power and fame through her own abilities and not rely on her family name for prestige. [[spoiler:She learns that attaining personal glory is a more arduous and perilous task than she first assumed, and in the most gruesome manner possible]].
* ThatManIsDead: [[spoiler:Though the effect probably isn't meant to be as final as this trope usually comes off as. Come Volume 8 she has shelved any remaining desire or dream to be an adventurer and the narrative rebrands her Female Merchant Leader.]]
* ThisIsSomethingHesGotToDoHimself: [[spoiler:The reason Goblin Slayer and Priestess decide to bring her on their assault on the goblin stronghold is that they can tell that getting back in the saddle right now and confronting her trauma head-on is the only possible way she is ever going to have a chance at reclaiming her self-respect and recovering psychologically.]]
* WalkingSpoiler: A given when her role in the story [[spoiler:is so closely bound up in a major [[TheReveal reveal]] of a new goblin evolution and the race's true potential for evil plans overall]].
* WealthyPhilanthropist: Becomes this after returning to her family and entering their merchant business, being the one to put the down payment on Guild Girl's training camp in Volume 6 in the hope of properly preparing other rookies for the hazards of adventuring.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: She has a bit of PTSD from the goblins, and has difficulty facing them when her hate cools.
* YellowLightningBlueLightning: Her final Lightning spell in volume 11 is purple.
* YoungerThanTheyLook: She's a year and change younger than Priestess, but taller and more womanly than her and High Elf Archer.
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%% "Goblin" as a species (or others, like ogres) and sub-classes like hobgoblin, champion, lord and shaman are not meant to be capitalized. When they talk about an/the "elven wizard", it's written in lowercase letters, but since race and class names also serve as most characters' names, when it's clear that it's their name (usually no article), you can capitalize it.
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%% Stick to the official translation by Yen Press. If Yen Press translated it as Human Monk, it's Human Monk and not Human Nun/Cleric, and the padfoot waitress' name is therefore Padfoot Waitress and not Tavern Waitress.
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[[center: [-[[Characters/GoblinSlayer Main Character Index]]\\
'''[[Characters/GoblinSlayerTravelingCompanionsAndLovedOnes Traveling Companions and Loved Ones:]]''' ([[Characters/GoblinSlayerGoblinSlayer Goblin Slayer]] | [[Characters/GoblinSlayerPriestess Priestess]])\\
'''Adventurers Guild:''' ([[Characters/GoblinSlayerAdventurersGuildMembers Guild Members]] | [[Characters/GoblinSlayerAdventurersGuildStaff Staff]])\\
'''Other Characters:''' [[Characters/GoblinSlayerOtherSignificantPlayers Other Significant Players]] ('''Sword Maiden''') | [[Characters/GoblinSlayerTheGods The Gods]] | [[Characters/GoblinSlayerAntagonists Antagonists]]]]-]
!!Sword Maiden
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/AyaEndo (Japanese), Meg [=McClain=] (English)
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/swordmaiden.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''With these eyes, I see many things... things you cannot imagine...'']]
A blind woman and former Gold-ranked adventurer who runs the Temple of Law as Archbishop of the Supreme God. Having heard of Goblin Slayer's achievements, she enlists him and his party to slay goblins infesting the sewers underneath Water Town, the city her temple oversees.
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* TheAce: She made her mark in history ten years ago for her role in defeating the Demon Lord, in particular ending the machinations of an order known as the Evil Sect. Even long after her retirement, the group is no closer to summoning their god thanks to her power and influence.
* ACupAngst: She goes through this in ''Daikatana'', wishing she was bigger like some fellow adventuresses. Needless to say, she gets her wish and then some.
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: In her early days as Female Bishop, word got out that she failed her very first quest, a goblin-slaying mission no less. Almost every adventurer since gave her the cold shoulder because they didn't want to associate with such a beacon of bad luck and (perceived) incompetence, forcing her to peddle her services as an appraiser just to get by.
* BlindSeer: An encounter [[spoiler:with goblins]] early in her adventuring days left her eyes burned blind, but she was afterwards blessed with AuraVision that perceives enough to let her get around with minimal need for aid.
* BlingBlingBang: Her sword is gilded. Justified as she uses it as a MagicStaff and StaffOfAuthority rather than a melee weapon.
* BlowYouAway: Knows the spell "Blast Wind."
* BreakoutCharacter: She headlines SpinOff web novel ''Goblin Slayer Side Story 2: Tsubanari no Daikatana'' about her quest to take out the Demon Lord that was her original claim to fame, alongside her old party of adventurers.
* BrokenAce: Mixed with BrokenBird -- [[spoiler:a single mistake was all it took to make her what she is now. She is blinded, mentally-shattered, and instilled with a crippling fear of goblins. Her nights are constantly plagued with nightmares. Worst of all, no one would ever pay heed to her cries for help, because what would they, and a legendary hero like her, have to fear against the most common and lowliest of mooks]]?
* BrokenBird: A fragile and traumatized, but still lovely young woman. ''Daikatana'' describes her as "a girl of scant happiness," and adds the detail of laboring under harsh expectations before her disastrous adventuring debut.
* BrokenSmile: When Goblin Slayer rejected her romantic entreatments and mustered no sympathy for her past experiences, she cracked a wry, vacant little grin to his turned back as her inner demons rose up to drag her under completely... until Goblin Slayer relented and spoke words and promises that at last brought her reprieve from the trauma and nightmares of her past.
* CatSmile: In the manga, when Goblin Slayer asks if she knew all along about the Water Town goblin nest before hiring him, and admits to having no basis for suspecting any conspiracy and had decided to interrogate all the quest-givers on a whim, Sword Maiden gives a tiny, rueful smirk at having fallen for the bluff and confessing so readily.
* ChronicHeroSyndrome: She wants to help her fellow adventurers and work towards saving the world in whatever small way she can. If She can't be on the frontlines, she provide support or advocate on other's behalf.
* ClingyJealousGirl: [[spoiler:While speaking with Noble Fencer in Volume 6 and learning about her being rescued by Goblin Slayer, she immediately casts a spell to read her mind and learn her opinion and intentions toward him. When she visits the Adventurer's Guild to ask Goblin Slayer to be a temporary bodyguard in Volume 8, she uses the opportunity to scope out her competition]].
* ColorCodedEyes: Promo art and the anime show Sword Maiden's eyes to be a washed out blue-grey in color, further paled by her cataracts, and she more than fits their historic connotations of [[NaughtyNuns beauty]], [[BrokenBird cynicism]], and [[BlindSeer altered vision]].
* CombatMedic: As Female Bishop she had some healing miracles and was trained in first aid.
* CommonalityConnection: Feels kinship with Noble Fencer for their... [[RapeAsBackstory mutual trauma]], and takes her in a part-time assistant and informal apprentice when she sets up shop in Water Town as Female Merchant.
* CoveredWithScars: Her body is covered in several faint white lines that have all mostly healed by the time the events of the story take place. Her eyes, which she keeps behind a blindfold, were less so. [[spoiler:All evidence of having been a former toy for goblins]].
* CowardlyLion: [[spoiler:Even as late as Volume 8, she is not over her phobia of goblins despite how much peace of mind Goblin Slayer has helped her regain. She locks herself in her carriage for a full day after goblin wolf riders attempt to harass her caravan, and when she is sent as TheCavalry to get Goblin Slayer's injured party out of the Dungeon of the Dead, she is unable to bring herself to take any more active measures than shooting off one lighting spell from a far distance and clinging to her Alligator familiar as she watches her battle-priest retinue charge in for her (which is still an improvement in itself)]].
* DefiledForever: How she feels concerning her... experience in goblin captivity. Since ThereAreNoTherapists, she simply can't move on.
* {{Determinator}}: Even after being raped, abandoned by her first party, ridiculed by scum on the street for being "weak", left with no support for her PTSD, and reduced to working for a pittance, she still wants to be a hero.
* DorkKnight: Ex-Gold rank adventurer and an archbishop of the Church of the Supreme God. Gets chided by her attendant for poor sleeping behavior, sulks for it, and nibbles on her pillow.
* DoubleEntendre: Couldn't resist cracking a pointed remark about Goblin Slayer "sharing a bed" with her and Priestess to heal him with Resurrection, cementing her status as TheTease.
* DueToTheDead: Prays for destroyed undead to be able to rest in peace, even in the Dungeon of the Dead, where she knows that most zombies and skeletons aren't necesarily rising due to unquiet spirits.
* EatingTheEyeCandy: [[spoiler:A slightly different take on the norm given her condition, but the Resurrection miracle provided ample opportunity to burn the sensation of Goblin Slayer's naked chest into her memories.]]
* EnemyScan: Her ability to identify items and loot is a magic boon granted by her god. It can also detect curses.
* EyeScream: She wasn't always blind. [[spoiler:When goblins kidnapped her, among other things they burned her eyes with a torch]].
* FamedInStory: She was formerly a member of the adventuring party that slew a Demon Lord, becoming a household name in the process. A decade later, she is still regarded as a LivingLegend.
* {{Familiar}}: [[spoiler:[[SewerGator An albino alligator]]. It had been defending the sewers underneath Water Town well before Goblin Slayer's arrival and is the reason there are no giant rats to hunt]].
* FlashbackEcho: In the manga, Sword Maiden gets flashes of her time in the hands of goblins from just looking down at her own body.
* {{Foil}}:
** Both Sword Maiden and Goblin Slayer had their lives forever altered by the machinations of goblins at a young age. [[FreudianExcuse Shackled by intense trauma and mental baggage]], they are a pair of damaged goods who still pushed on and became successful adventurers. However, a closer look into their lives exhibits just how Sword Maiden is everything Goblin Slayer isn’t:
*** Sword Maiden is a stunningly beautiful woman whose looks and grace draws admiration from all, complemented by robes that show off her curves and leave little to the imagination. The only imperfection about her appearance is the blindfold that covers her useless eyes. [[HeroicBuild Goblin Slayer isn’t too bad]] [[BeautifulAllAlong on the looks department either]], but he covers everything behind plated armor and a closed helmet, and his eyes are ''never'' seen by the audience.
*** As an authority figure and dedicated caster of miracles, Sword Maiden rarely permits herself to take direct action, so she works through proxies such as hired help, astral projections, and familiars. Once she gets involved in a fight, though, she's packing enough power to bring even gods to their knees. Goblin Slayer is a frontlines man through and through, freely getting himself involved in the thick of combat. He's not an especially great fighter due to CripplingOverspecialization and cheap gear, but if it's good enough for goblins, then it's good enough for him.
*** Gold- and Silver-rank are granted only to the most powerful, skilled, and trustworthy adventurers as proof of their accomplishments. Naturally, Sword Maiden is utterly revered as an unquestioned LivingLegend for defeating the Demon Lord. By contrast, Goblin Slayer’s skill as an adventurer is frequently doubted upon by skeptics, especially since he was only given his rank as the Guild’s sole goblin exterminator.
*** However, it is ''because'' of Sword Maiden's accolades that [[LonelyAtTheTop she ends up finding herself distanced from her peers]], somebody to be admired from afar. Her subjects put too much faith in her abilities when she's the one who needs help the most. Until the events of Volume 2 occurred, she had virtually nothing to show for all the adulation heaped upon her. Goblin Slayer was mostly isolated too, but he’s always had at least ''someone'' willing to reach out to him and give support, be it his childhood friend, his receptionist, or his partners.
*** Sword Maiden's mental health issues are characterized by vivid night terrors, arrested development, and a [[DesperatelyCravesAffection desperate need for love from an empathetic soul]]. Because of this, [[LivingEmotionalCrutch she latches onto Goblin Slayer like a child does with a security blanket]], and reveals another side of herself that is [[SmittenTeenageGirl vulnerable, fanciful, coquettish, and occasionally even petty]] when she's not upholding her image. Goblin Slayer is also mentally inhibited and sometimes insecure, but his emotions are mostly numbed whenever he isn't in the midst of TranquilFury.
*** Ultimately, their fates at the hands of goblins have taken them through wildly different approaches with their lives, becoming the crux of the issue at the climax of Volume 2 -- Sword Maiden had her innocence destroyed through degradation by torture and rape; for her, goblins were something to be feared. Indeed, her paralyzing phobia would plague her for years to come. Even so, she managed to save the world, and would go on to live a mostly functional life as a world-renowned holy woman. Meanwhile, Goblin Slayer had his innocence destroyed along with his sister and his hometown; for him, goblins were meant to be butchered with a ''vengeance''. This anger has been focused into an understandable desire to take down as many of the bastards as possible, and it has worked wonders for the people he saved, Sword Maiden included. [[SmallStepsHero He's never going to aim for higher though]], and his future prospects aren't good if he's left to his own devices.
** Not only do she and Priestess share some physical traits, but she too differentiates from Goblin Slayer's age by about five years, [[ShrinkingViolet behaved very much like the younger girl in her adventuring days]], and understood how menacing goblins can be at around the same age as well. Given some years, experience, and... [[ShesAllGrownUp filling out]], Priestess may mature to resemble Sword Maiden in both stature and position. [[spoiler:So it is not too difficult to infer that she is a possible outcome of Priestess' future, had Goblin Slayer been too late to rescue her in their first encounter]].
* FreudianExcuse: She's an emotional wreck behind closed doors, and a frequent victim of night terrors. For an archbishop and a major figure, she can be surprisingly cynical about heroes and politics. Even with those she likes, she can be unnerving at times, as Priestess can attest to, and some of her actions ([[spoiler:like attempting to ''seduce'' Goblin Slayer with her personal story about being a ''[[FanDisservice rape victim]]'']]) show signs of a not-entirely well woman. [[spoiler:Just like how Goblin Slayer's experience with the monsters left a lasting impression on his psyche, her experience as a prisoner broke her completely, except she's now too afraid to ever face goblins on her own]].
* GirlyGirlWithATomboyStreak: Samurai Captain finds her to be surprisingly physically active for a demure spellcaster of noble heritage.
* GoodIsNotSoft: In spite of her beauty and gentle appearance, she can be surprisingly harsh at times, such as warning Priestess that Goblin Slayer cannot protect her forever [[spoiler:directly after implying first-hand experience with goblin savagery. She also takes direct control of her [[SewerGator alligator]] to stalk the underground labyrinth, tearing monsters apart and chasing away adventurers to prevent casualties]].
* HandicappedBadass: Back in her heyday. She was blinded ''before'' she went on to become a legendary hero, performing the deeds that promoted her into Gold-ranked status.
* HeroicLineage: One of her long-ago ancestors was a Platinum-ranked hero. This put enormous pressure on her as a young girl growing up in a time of ascendent monstrous threats.
* HeroicRROD: Casts [[FantasticNuke Fusion Blast]] by herself by entering Overcast, burning and exhausting herself.
* HeroicSelfDeprecation: Years of the people around her being unable to accept the idea that she could have ever been any less capable or untouchable than she is now have caused her to internalize a self-image of herself as still the hapless, unfortunate rookie that got overpowered by goblins on her first quest, referring to herself as "Just a weak little girl" in need of saving, despite having long since risen to become a demon-slaying, world-saving Gold Rank. Also, in ''Daikatana'', she needed constant assurance that she was [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking doing a good job with the map she was in charge of drawing]].
* HighPriest: She's an archbishop, after all.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Chastises Priestess during their shared bath scene for [[LivingEmotionalCrutch leaning on Goblin Slayer as a source of strength]], and warns her to keep in mind that he inevitably will fall someday. By the end of the Water Town goblin extermination quest, Sword Maiden [[spoiler:has formed a romantic obsession for Goblin Slayer, to the point of shamelessly propositioning him on his last day in the city and using the memory of his martial prowess as a sleep aid]].
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: [[spoiler:The vivisected girl in a back alley of Water Town that kick-started the whole investigation into potential goblins hiding in the sewers was a FrameUp... on the ''goblins''. Actual goblins would have taken the girl back to their nest first, not cut her apart in human territory, something that Goblin Slayer caught on from the start. The girl was really a victim of the Evil Sect's rituals, but the order was supposed to be dead, and Sword Maiden saw an opportunity to finally bring a proper scare and justification to actively hunt goblins in the sewers. Even if it means pinning the blame on the wrong culprit]].
* IJustWantToBeLoved: After losing her old adventuring party and finding herself [[LonelyAtTheTop isolated in a sea of supplicants, sycophants, and servants]], she is slowly falling apart from the need for someone, anyone at all, who understands her pain, likes her for herself, and is willing to comfort her in the face of the terrors of her past that still haunt her.
* InsecureLoveInterest: She is subtly upset upon learning that Goblin Slayer has a young woman waiting for him at home, and envies both her and Priestess for being much more emotionally resilient compared to a "desperate, weak girl" such as herself.
* IntimateHealing: What her miracle Resurrection essentially is. So long as the target is not actually dead, it can stitch shattered bones together, and restore a body to peak health and stamina. However, due to its [[AwesomeButImpractical extensive setup]] and [[VirginPower highly specific requirements]], she almost never uses it.
* IntimatePsychotherapy: Goblin Slayer, [[spoiler:a fellow victim of goblins]], seemed to fit what Sword Maiden wanted out of a confidant, and not just to empathize and soothe her anxieties: Come the opportunity to spend time together in private, [[ReadyForLovemaking her repeated pleas all but screamed exactly how she wanted him to "comfort" her]]. [[spoiler:Which is why she's crushed to learn the hard way that Goblin Slayer wouldn't (or couldn't) reciprocate her. He just kills goblins -- nothing more, nothing less. Sword Maiden would just have to make do with that instead]].
* IronicNickname: She is called the "Sword Maiden" but, as her backstory reveals, she was raped by goblins, thus is ''not'' a maiden at all. In a light novel interlude, a cultist of the gods of chaos spitefully {{lampshade|Hanging}}s this fact.
* IShouldHaveBeenBetter: Constantly berates herself for freezing up at jujst the mere mention of goblins in ''Daikatana''. Saqmurai Captain assures her that the rest of the party can handle them and she just needs to keep her cool for the other dangers of the dungeon.
* TheJinx: No one wants to party with her after she escaped the goblins because losing to them in the first place got her labelled as "unlucky."
* KnightInSourArmor: Though semi-retired, she remains a high-powered and stalwart keeper of the peace, and champion of the Supreme God. However, she remains all but psychologically broken from her early experiences of the depths of the depravity of monsters, and during the occupation of Water Town by Evil Sectarians and a goblin nest she is aghast at [[BystanderSyndrome how none of the city natives seem to care about the periodic disappearances and butchering so long as they aren't in their neighborhoods]]. Not helped by the fact she can't get the army, who could effectively handle the problem, to help because the King is focused on using the army to exterminate demons.
* LightEmUp: Holy Smite is a blast of burning holy energy directly from her god to her heretical foes.
* LoveConfession: [[spoiler:Or something to that effect to Goblin Slayer, seeing as he's the only one making an effort to help -- everyone else sees her as a powerful figure, so they don't recognize her fear of goblins. Whether or not he acknowledges her words, or even hears them, is a different matter entirely]].
-->'''Sword Maiden''': [[spoiler:I... I cherish you...!]]
* LovingAShadow: Sword Maiden's infatuation with Goblin Slayer began before she had ever met the man, having learned of his existence through folk songs. Once they meet, she willingly puts up with his brusque conduct, opens her heart to him, and more. It's quite a literal case too, considering her eyes; when she thinks of him, she imagines a figure clad in stalwart armor only tangentially related to Goblin Slayer's actual appearance. [[spoiler:In the end of Volume 2, Sword Maiden finally snaps and undergoes a mental breakdown when he firmly rejects her pleas to relieve her anguish. Having said that, his last words afterward not only bring her back from the brink, but reinforce her love and desire to pursue him.]]
* MagicFocusObject: Certain spells require specific catalysts, such as a horn for "Blast Wind."
* MagicalGesture: Performs mudras as well as mantras to cast arcane magic.
* MagicKnight: In ''Daikatana'' it's noted that while Female Bishop is unused to being on the front lines, she is trained in wielding martial weapons, and is at least strong enough to [[spoiler: cave in a brigand's head utterly with the hilt of her sword-staff.]]
* MagicStaff: A sword with gilded edges and scales hanging off the hilt, the sign of the Supreme God, serves as this.
* TheMillstone: Is convinced she is this for the Golden Party, and reassurances by Samurai Captain only work for a short time.
* MostCommonSuperpower: Has one of the largest busts of the entire cast, and her backstory marks her as the most powerful, if now retired, adventurer properly introduced as of yet.
* MsFanservice: She has a very voluptuous body, and gets both a FuroScene ''and'' a BedmateReveal scene involving Priestess, with Goblin Slayer participating in the latter. [[EvenTheGirlsWantHer Priestess herself has a hard time looking away]].
* NaughtyNuns: For someone intended to be a HighPriest, her ceremonial robes do a poor job at concealing her curves. [[spoiler:She is also deeply in love with Goblin Slayer and throws herself at his arms, alas he is too single-minded in his quest to pay any attention]].
* TheNavigator: Took over as cartographer and direction-giver for the Golden Party from Myrmidon Monk.
* NeverGetsDrunk: Or at least hungover, as she's noted to be tipsy after a night of merriment in ''Daikatana'' but is completely clear-headed the next day while Female Mage and even Myrmidon Monk are choking down hangover cures.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Her telling Priestess that there is good chance Goblin Slayer will die or disappear eventually, due to her own experiences, causes Priestess to FreakOut at a critical moment, nearly getting the entire party killed (or in the case of the females much, much worse).
* NoHeroToHisValet: The one person who treats Sword Maiden as just a woman besides Goblin Slayer is her Attendant, who freely chides and jokes about her lovelorn ways. She used to be just as stiff as anyone else when Sword Maiden was hiding her pain, but she's grateful for the newfound casualness all the same, particularly when she transcribes her letters to Goblin Slayer for her with discretion.
* NotHerself: Says that the main reason she was so harsh with Priestess in the bath was because mind-melding with her alligator familiar taxed her enough to rob her of her usual patience.
* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler:While Goblin Slayer's company were busy foiling Dark Elf's plan to summon Hecatoncheir in the flesh, Sword Maiden participated alongside a Platinum-ranked hero in fending off the genuine article within the spirit realm via AstralProjection. Said giant was so powerful, its mere presence manifested in the real world as the howling storm the company did battle in]].
* OrnamentalWeapon: Her sword is a glorified catalyst, decorated with a gold cap on the tip and hanging scales on the crossguard.
* PastExperienceNightmare: Plagued by nightmares about her time at the hands of goblins for years on end, until Goblin Slayer leaves her with a promise to always answer her call for salvation, even in her dreams. Her personal attendants note that she has slept soundly and restfully ever since.
* ThePerilsOfBeingTheBest: Ever since she helped topple the Demon Lord, achieved the Gold-rank, and assumed her position as Archbishop, the people around her have stayed at arm's length and insisted on treating her as an all-powerful pillar of strength, when what she wants and desperately needs is someone she can be comforted by and be vulnerable around. The pressure to live up to her pedestal and hide the marks of her past trauma have beaten her psyche down almost more than the actual trauma itself. This is best exemplified in Volume 8, [[spoiler:when the Capital's upper echelon, upon learning that goblins have taken the Princess to the Dungeon of the Dead, starts imploring Sword Maiden to head there and rescue her. Caught between their expectations, her violent flashbacks, and her goblin phobia, the poor woman came dangerously close to snapping like a twig.]]
* PsychicLink: Can establish one with her giant white alligator familiar to direct it in patrolling the sewers for monsters. She dislikes doing so because she then feels the sensations of everything it does.
* PsychoticSmirk: Samurai Captain is unnerved to discover that when helping to beat back rogue adventurers accosting them in the Dungeon of the Dead, Female Bishop often develops a small, cold, cruel smirk while putting them down.
* RapeAsBackstory: [[spoiler:Over ten years ago she was knocked unconscious and dragged into a goblin nest, where she was tortured and raped for an indefinite amount of time. How she managed to get out was not explained, but the experience left her scarred both physically and mentally, with no one to turn to for comfort]].
* RapunzelHair: The Archbishop of the Supreme God has the longest mane in the series by a large margin, the ends of her hair tickle her calves. She's the quest-giver these days, after all, so she has to mind her image. She even has an Attendant.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: She too is one of the few people outside of Goblin Slayer's circle to fully comprehend the horrors goblins represent. However, she is unique in that she is in an actual position of power to make a change, and was the one who authorized the investigation and consequent purging of the sewers before hiring him.
* TheRedMage: She uses arcane magic as well as miracles, and could even combo-cast with Female Mage as Female Bishop. She claims not to see what's so valuable about the skill compared to a more advanced single-type caster.
* ReflectionlessUselessEyes: [[spoiler:Though she's long since healed the worst of the burn scars on her face, the eyes themselves remain opaque and sightless under her blindfold]].
* SanitySlippage: She was actually much more well-adjusted as a marginalized rookie freshly recovered from her captivity than as a mature hero a decade past the event. Being separated from her old companions, having to shoulder the expectations of the entire nation, and [[SanityMeter being exposed to the Dungeon of the Dead]] have all worsened her mental condition exponentially.
* SensoryOverload: Gets almost knocked out by noisy or smelly places in ''Daikatana'' due to her SuperSenses.
* SewerGator: [[spoiler: She keeps a giant albino alligator as a {{Familiar}}, and uses it to patrol the sewers of Water Town. This is why Water Town never has giant rat extermination quests.]]
* SexForSolace: Ultimately what she wants from Goblin Slayer is a positive sexual experience. The anime plays it up after the Resurrection miracle as she gets ''very'' touchy and snugly with a [[ShirtlessScene shirtless]] Goblin Slayer.
* SkilledButNaive: ''Daikatana'' reveals her to have been this as an aspiring adventurer. Her initial class was [[PrestigeClass Bishop]] and it's stated that any decent Appraiser (her fallback career) needs to have an extensive background in magical studies to properly detect enchantments and curses on loot. All of this suggests either an exceptional prodigy or a woman who took extra time to fully develop her skills before taking to the field. It's just too bad that still wasn't enough to come out ahead on her first quest.
* SmellsSexy: Even Goblin Slayer himself can't help but take note of her beguiling fragrance.
* SourSupporter: Nakedly resents the King for dismissing her fear of goblins and supplications for proper military mobilization against them despite being her old adventuring partner and knowing the reason for her phobia, one example being him not doing anything about the growing Water Town goblin infestation problem. When he visits her to complain about Evil Wizard building a MageTower and shutting down regional trade routes while his army is still mopping up the demons, all she does is mock him for being both unwilling ''and'' unable to protect his subjects from local threats and sing a song celebrating the idea of him being violently deposed.
* StepfordSmiler: Is almost always smiling in all of her interactions. As the trope suggests, she's hiding a lot of depression and anxiety underneath.
* SuperSenses: Has heightened smell and hearing, which proves handy in tracking "newbie-hunting" rogues in ''Daikatana'' by the scent of blood that to others is completely covered by the sensory dampening magic of the Dungeon of the Dead. In volume 2, she can her a girl's muffled crying from across several busy market streets.
* {{Synchronization}}: She feels whatever her alligator familiar experiences. Seeing as she has it patrolling the sewers for monster swarms to fight and eat, she's often driven to the bathhouse to try to wash away the sensations.
* TearsOfJoy: After Goblin Slayer [[spoiler: promises to kill all goblins should she call for him, even in her dreams, she breaks down into these tears and declares her LoveConfession for him.]]
* TheTease: For an archbishop, [[NaughtyNuns she's surprisingly forward and flirty to Goblin Slayer]]. [[spoiler:It's genuine affection]]; much to her disappointment, [[IgnoreTheFanservice it never gets a rise out of him]].
* ThereAreNoTherapists: Forget professional help; almost none of the people around her that she wants to open up to about her torment are willing to believe that a woman of her power could have ever been taken advantage of by mere goblins, unwittingly shaming her for weakness and worsening her internal agony and self-disgust.
* TurnUndead: Is naturally able to strip away necromantic magic.
* TykeBomb: Says that she was "molded" by her noble family to become a hero for their lifetime, though she wants that for herself now too.
* TheUnchosenOne: Unlike the elusive Platinum-ranked heroes, she just happened to be an exceptional individual who wasn't destined to save the world, but managed anyway.
* UtilityPartyMember: Sword Maiden's main role in the Golden Party was as their map-drawer in the dungeon.
* VaporWear: Her outfit is sideless, showing she doesn't wear underwear.
* VirginPower: Her miracle Resurrection requires a virgin to be present. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, Sword Maiden has been violated by goblins and therefore can no longer perform it alone. She can, however, cast it with a virgin (such as Priestess) present nearby as a "material component" for her spell.]]
* WhenSheSmiles: When her attendant mentions Goblin Slayer and suggests writing a letter to him, Sword Maiden immediately perks up and her face literally beams with a huge smile. It's absolutely adorable.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: PlayedForDrama. [[spoiler:The entire reason why she hired Goblin Slayer in the first place is because she can never bring herself to confront goblins ever again -- she fears that if the goblin swarm within the sewers ever makes it above ground, she will just fall apart entirely at the seams, leaving Water Town defenseless]]. In ''Daikatana'' [[spoiler: she freezes when confronted by them and feels constant paranoia in the dungeon that they might spread even to parts with stronger monsters that always kill and eat them.]]
* WomanChild: She knows well enough to keep it hidden in public, but she can be a bit immature for a twenty-five-year-old. Sword Maiden has an especially noticeable habit of [[SmittenTeenageGirl sulking like a teenage girl]] whenever the subject involves Goblin Slayer.
* {{Workaholic}}: She used to bury herself in work to distract herself from her problems. She's a little more lax now, but her attendants still think she needs more rest.
* YellowLightningBlueLightning: When she leads to charge to save Goblin Slayer's party from the remains of the cultist horde in Volume 8, she launches a spell that hits their vanguard with purple lightning.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Noble Fencer]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/SumireUesaka (Japanese), Creator/AnairisQuinones (English)
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/noblefencer.jpg]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/noblefencer2.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Noble Fencer after the events of Volume 5]]
An aristocratic young woman who ran away from home to become an adventurer. The plot of the fifth volume of the light novel is kicked off when Goblin Slayer and his party are hired to recover her when she goes missing hunting goblins in an ice mountain.
----
* AncestralWeapon: She wields an ancient silver rapier that is a heirloom of her house. [[spoiler:She begs Goblin Slayer to let her accompany the party to retrieve it from the goblin paladin after he saves her and makes clear he intends to finish the job on her horde-extermination quest]].
* ArcHero: Of Volume 5, as the mission of that volume was to rescue her and later she acts as a GuestStarPartyMember to Goblin Slayer's team in their quest to stop the [[spoiler: Goblin Paladin]].
* BavarianFireDrill: She enters the secret enemy fortress in volume 11 by bluffing she is a collaborating merchant and just plowing through conversations attempting to steer her away from the garrison.
* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Survives her experience with the goblins with only the brand on her neck, and rape. [[spoiler: Justified in that since she was powering the Goblin Paladin's magic, he probably wanted her in a good condition so she wouldn't die.]]
* BigLittleSister: Priestess explicitly sees and treats her as a little sister, even though she is much taller and more developed.
* BirdsOfAFeather: With Priestess. [[spoiler:Just like her, she had her entire rookie party killed and was the sole survivor]].
* BlingBlingBang: Her sword has a gold-plated hilt with a large gemstone set in front and under the blade.
* BlueBlood: Noted to be high in station, enough that Sword Maiden got involved in deciding who to send to rescue her.
* BreakTheCutie: She runs away from home to become an adventurer, with her first mission being a goblin-slaying one. [[spoiler:Her plan results in her team being killed and her body being branded, leaving her vengeful and broken with a desire to kill all goblins]].
* BuxomIsBetter: Literally one of the first things the light novel narration mentions about her is how well she fills out her breastplate.
* CantHoldHerLiquor: Admits quite frankly that she’s not very good with alcohol when offered an ale.
* CastFromHitPoints: [[spoiler:The goblin paladin is able to use the brand of the God of Wisdom his lackeys gave her to use her lifeforce as fuel to perform magic at no cost to his own energy]].
* ClaimedByTheSupernatural: [[spoiler:The goblins branded her with the sign of the God of Wisdom and made her the living covenant that allows the goblin paladin to receive divine favor]].
* CoolSword: Her personal weapon is an amazingly light sword that is strong and sharp enough to cut through steel, and is made of incredibly rare and valuable aluminum.
* CurtainsMatchTheWindow: Colored illustrations reveal that she has blonde hair and golden eyes.
* DeerInTheHeadlights: Freezes up while climbing over her carriage in the middle of a goblin ambush, Goblin Slayer covers her and snaps her out f it.
* DefiledForever: It was stated that her chastity was among the precious things that the goblins have taken from her.
* DidntThinkThisThrough:
** She tried to eliminate the goblins by starving them out, but this resulted in her party draining their resources and energy over the course of weeks of camping in the mountain winter. [[spoiler:Which led to her party being wiped out and herself being captured and made into a sacrifice.]] Goblin Slayer himself admits that it wasn't a bad method, where it went wrong was [[spoiler:in not realizing that the cave they staked out wasn't the goblins' den, but their auxiliary temple]].
** She also depleted the nearby village of crucial supplies for the winter so she not only endangered her own team but the village she was working for.
** Worse, the novel makes it clear on multiple occasions she could've pulled the plug on the mission and regrouped at any point, but refused to do so out of stubbornness that she "couldn't be wrong".
* EmotionSuppression: [[spoiler:Does this almost instantly upon waking up back in the inn from being rescued from the goblin's temple. Priestess just as immediately sets about breaking her walls]].
* EpiphanyTherapy: [[spoiler:Upon seeing the goblin paladin again all the emotions she had been repressing since her rescue: her guilt over causing her friends' death, fear and sorrow from being taken by the goblins, and admission to not being as ready to be an adventurer as she thought, come crashing into all at once. But once she accepts what happened to her, she is able to properly engage with the fight against the goblins and later move on from the experience]].
* EscortMission: Is the object of one in volume 11, to justify bringing the party with her as she infiltrates and investigates the Desert Kingdom.
* EtTuBrute: Noble Fencer was most fond of Half-Elf Fighter, thinking they were getting along great while marching together and feeling hurt that she in particular was snubbing her.
* FatalFlaw: Her {{pride}}. Her failed plan resulted in her party being placed in a dangerous position. Instead of retreating or calling off the quest when things were getting dangerous, she persisted out of fear of becoming a laughing stock for failing to complete a goblin subjection quest.[[spoiler:This ultimately leads to the death of her party members along with her being captured.]]
* GuestStarPartyMember: [[spoiler:Insists on accompanying the party to find and kill the goblin paladin, which Goblin Slayer and Priestess agree to.]]
* HandyHelper: After being healed and retired from adventuring, Noble Fencer decides to stay and operate her part of the family business in Water Town and spends what time she can get away with as an unofficial assistant to Sword Maiden, fielding correspondence, managing meetings, and making court appearances alongside her.
* HartmanHips: The manga gives her extremely wide, curvaceous hips that she often has cocked during talking scenes.
* HatesBeingTouched: Downplayed. Noble Fencer is perfectly fine with people she knows, but nearly blows her cover during an infiltration in Volume 11 when a soldier touches her. Given her experiences, she's understandably jumpy with strangers.
* HoneyTrap: [[spoiler: Incapacitates a garrison of enemy soldiers by hotboxing them in a small room with her drugged perfume as she pretends to be a merchant come to cater on them.]]
* ImportantHaircut: Shears off her long hair at her neck [[spoiler:and offers it to Goblin Slayer as payment to let her join his party and fight to reclaim her stolen sword]].
* InadequateInheritor: Her principle motivations for running away to become an adventurer was how she nearly cracked under the pressure to live up to her family name and her insecurity over [[WellDoneDaughterGal being in her father’s shadow]] and owing her every material possession to his fortune. She hoped starting a legacy all her own from scratch would be easier, make her feel freer, and be more rewarding. [[TraumaCongaLine It wasn’t.]]
* ItsAllAboutMe: Before her CharacterDevelopment and some horrible life altering events, Noble Fencer's goal was to simply make a name for herself, achieve glory, and climb up the Guild Ranks to become Gold- or Platinum-ranked in no time. To this end she didn't think out her strategies and didn't realize her rookie mistakes were piling up into a disaster.
* JuniorCounterpart: To Sword Maiden, or at least that how the older woman sees it. Sword Maiden certainly knows they share similar experiences, and takes Noble Fencer under her wing in an attempt to guide her away from some of the emotional pitfalls that left her a long-term wreck before.
* LeeroyJenkins: [[spoiler:Unable to calm herself while seeing a goblin wearing the robes of her dead companion, she attacks one and forces the group to change their plans while in the goblin territory.]]
* MadeASlave: [[spoiler: Goblin Slayer theorized that the goblin paladin kept her alive for this reason after he "breaks her spirit". Once she becomes his subservient slave, he would force her to use her ShockAndAwe magic to forge new weapons for his horde and eventually work her to death. Luckily, Goblin Slayer's party was able to save her before this can happen]].
* MagicalGesture: Draws sigils with her fingers to power up her Lightning spell.
* MagicKnight: She can use spells alongside her swordplay.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Her plan to safely eliminate the goblins involved starving them out, but her failing to perform proper reconnaissance or factor in the amount of supplies needed to maintain her party out in the wilderness over the course of weeks results [[spoiler:in her party being slaughtered and her being used as a sacrifice, which allows the goblin paladin to come into being.]]
* PartingWordsRegret: The last time she got to interact with her party, they were hazing her for the "bad" plan to starve out the goblins. Despite her team being the ones to say the hurtful parting word, their final conversation still fills Noble Fencer with regret.
* PenPals: It’s stated that after returning home to become a merchant she is friends and stays in contact with Priestess (and possibly High Elf Archer) with regular letters.
* RapeAndRevenge: [[spoiler: After being captured by a goblin horde led by a goblin paladin, she ended up being raped and branded by the monsters. The traumatic experience left her in a very vengeful state after she was saved. She was able to convince Goblin Slayer's party to let her join them on their mission and she was ultimately able to kill most of the goblins that tormented her after causing an avalanche to wipe them out]].
* RescueRomance: Subverted. While she's immensely grateful for everything Goblin Slayer has done for her, a conversation with Sword Maiden in Volume 6 confirms no underlying feelings for the man... [[ClingyJealousGirl much to Sword Maiden's barely-disguised relief]].
* PseudoRomanticFriendship: Initially tried to form one with her fellow party member Half-Elf Warrior, which ended tragically. Afterwards, she does end up forming one with Priestess who acted as her LivingEmotionalCrutch throughout Volume 5 after Noble Fencer's traumatic experience with the goblins. Some of their interactions include frequent hand holding (especially in [[TheMovie Goblin's Crown]]), Priestess often trying to comfort her, and Noble Fencer beating a goblin priest to death after it hurt Priestess.
* RoyalRapier: Her sword seems to be one, with its extremely thin, long thrusting blade and ornate hilt.
* ScarsAreForever: Sword Maiden is able to neutralize the magic of the seal on her neck, but not even she is strong enough to erase it entirely.
* SchizoTech: Her CoolSword is made out of aluminum, which is well beyond the ability of a medieval tech base to refine and produce. Also a case of ConspicuousConsumption, since aluminum was so rare even when it could be made that it was more valuable than gold.
* ShockAndAwe: She has a Lightning spell. [[spoiler:The goblin paladin wanted to enslave her in the first place to make her use this magic to help him in his attempts to learn smithing. Goblin Slayer has her instead blast the top off a mountain to induce an avalanche.]]
* TheSocialExpert: Her experience navigating royal banquets and merchant negotiations gives her a highly developed charisma and sense of how to manipulate non-hostile opposing persons, something commonborn pure adventurers lack.
* SoleSurvivor: Of her party, she's the only one left alive.
* StartMyOwn: The reason she ran away and became an adventurer was because she wanted to achieve power and fame through her own abilities and not rely on her family name for prestige. [[spoiler:She learns that attaining personal glory is a more arduous and perilous task than she first assumed, and in the most gruesome manner possible]].
* ThatManIsDead: [[spoiler:Though the effect probably isn't meant to be as final as this trope usually comes off as. Come Volume 8 she has shelved any remaining desire or dream to be an adventurer and the narrative rebrands her Female Merchant Leader.]]
* ThisIsSomethingHesGotToDoHimself: [[spoiler:The reason Goblin Slayer and Priestess decide to bring her on their assault on the goblin stronghold is that they can tell that getting back in the saddle right now and confronting her trauma head-on is the only possible way she is ever going to have a chance at reclaiming her self-respect and recovering psychologically.]]
* WalkingSpoiler: A given when her role in the story [[spoiler:is so closely bound up in a major [[TheReveal reveal]] of a new goblin evolution and the race's true potential for evil plans overall]].
* WealthyPhilanthropist: Becomes this after returning to her family and entering their merchant business, being the one to put the down payment on Guild Girl's training camp in Volume 6 in the hope of properly preparing other rookies for the hazards of adventuring.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: She has a bit of PTSD from the goblins, and has difficulty facing them when her hate cools.
* YellowLightningBlueLightning: Her final Lightning spell in volume 11 is purple.
* YoungerThanTheyLook: She's a year and change younger than Priestess, but taller and more womanly than her and High Elf Archer.
----
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%% Administrivia/ZeroContextExample entries are not allowed on wiki pages. All such entries have been commented out. Add context to the entries before uncommenting them.
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%% Administrivia/ExampleIndentationInTropeLists must be followed. Don't make a new bullet point when you merely want to add a note to the trope, and try to avoid abbreviations (i.e. write Goblin Slayer instead of "GS").
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%% "Goblin" as a species (or others, like ogres) and sub-classes like hobgoblin, champion, lord and shaman are not meant to be capitalized. When they talk about an/the "elven wizard", it's written in lowercase letters, but since race and class names also serve as most characters' names, when it's clear that it's their name (usually no article), you can capitalize it.
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%% Stick to the official translation by Yen Press. If Yen Press translated it as Human Monk, it's Human Monk and not Human Nun/Cleric, and the padfoot waitress' name is therefore Padfoot Waitress and not Tavern Waitress.
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[[center: [-[[Characters/GoblinSlayer Main Character Index]]\\
'''[[Characters/GoblinSlayerTravelingCompanionsAndLovedOnes Traveling Companions and Loved Ones:]]''' ([[Characters/GoblinSlayerGoblinSlayer Goblin Slayer]] | [[Characters/GoblinSlayerPriestess Priestess]])\\
'''Adventurers Guild:''' ([[Characters/GoblinSlayerAdventurersGuildMembers Guild Members]] | [[Characters/GoblinSlayerAdventurersGuildStaff Staff]])\\
'''Other Characters:''' [[Characters/GoblinSlayerOtherSignificantPlayers Other Significant Players]] ('''Sword Maiden''') | [[Characters/GoblinSlayerTheGods The Gods]] | [[Characters/GoblinSlayerAntagonists Antagonists]]]]-]
!!Sword Maiden
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/AyaEndo (Japanese), Meg [=McClain=] (English)
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/swordmaiden.png]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''With these eyes, I see many things... things you cannot imagine...'']]
A blind woman and former Gold-ranked adventurer who runs the Temple of Law as Archbishop of the Supreme God. Having heard of Goblin Slayer's achievements, she enlists him and his party to slay goblins infesting the sewers underneath Water Town, the city her temple oversees.
----
* TheAce: She made her mark in history ten years ago for her role in defeating the Demon Lord, in particular ending the machinations of an order known as the Evil Sect. Even long after her retirement, the group is no closer to summoning their god thanks to her power and influence.
* ACupAngst: She goes through this in ''Daikatana'', wishing she was bigger like some fellow adventuresses. Needless to say, she gets her wish and then some.
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer: In her early days as Female Bishop, word got out that she failed her very first quest, a goblin-slaying mission no less. Almost every adventurer since gave her the cold shoulder because they didn't want to associate with such a beacon of bad luck and (perceived) incompetence, forcing her to peddle her services as an appraiser just to get by.
* BlindSeer: An encounter [[spoiler:with goblins]] early in her adventuring days left her eyes burned blind, but she was afterwards blessed with AuraVision that perceives enough to let her get around with minimal need for aid.
* BlingBlingBang: Her sword is gilded. Justified as she uses it as a MagicStaff and StaffOfAuthority rather than a melee weapon.
* BlowYouAway: Knows the spell "Blast Wind."
* BreakoutCharacter: She headlines SpinOff web novel ''Goblin Slayer Side Story 2: Tsubanari no Daikatana'' about her quest to take out the Demon Lord that was her original claim to fame, alongside her old party of adventurers.
* BrokenAce: Mixed with BrokenBird -- [[spoiler:a single mistake was all it took to make her what she is now. She is blinded, mentally-shattered, and instilled with a crippling fear of goblins. Her nights are constantly plagued with nightmares. Worst of all, no one would ever pay heed to her cries for help, because what would they, and a legendary hero like her, have to fear against the most common and lowliest of mooks]]?
* BrokenBird: A fragile and traumatized, but still lovely young woman. ''Daikatana'' describes her as "a girl of scant happiness," and adds the detail of laboring under harsh expectations before her disastrous adventuring debut.
* BrokenSmile: When Goblin Slayer rejected her romantic entreatments and mustered no sympathy for her past experiences, she cracked a wry, vacant little grin to his turned back as her inner demons rose up to drag her under completely... until Goblin Slayer relented and spoke words and promises that at last brought her reprieve from the trauma and nightmares of her past.
* CatSmile: In the manga, when Goblin Slayer asks if she knew all along about the Water Town goblin nest before hiring him, and admits to having no basis for suspecting any conspiracy and had decided to interrogate all the quest-givers on a whim, Sword Maiden gives a tiny, rueful smirk at having fallen for the bluff and confessing so readily.
* ChronicHeroSyndrome: She wants to help her fellow adventurers and work towards saving the world in whatever small way she can. If She can't be on the frontlines, she provide support or advocate on other's behalf.
* ClingyJealousGirl: [[spoiler:While speaking with Noble Fencer in Volume 6 and learning about her being rescued by Goblin Slayer, she immediately casts a spell to read her mind and learn her opinion and intentions toward him. When she visits the Adventurer's Guild to ask Goblin Slayer to be a temporary bodyguard in Volume 8, she uses the opportunity to scope out her competition]].
* ColorCodedEyes: Promo art and the anime show Sword Maiden's eyes to be a washed out blue-grey in color, further paled by her cataracts, and she more than fits their historic connotations of [[NaughtyNuns beauty]], [[BrokenBird cynicism]], and [[BlindSeer altered vision]].
* CombatMedic: As Female Bishop she had some healing miracles and was trained in first aid.
* CommonalityConnection: Feels kinship with Noble Fencer for their... [[RapeAsBackstory mutual trauma]], and takes her in a part-time assistant and informal apprentice when she sets up shop in Water Town as Female Merchant.
* CoveredWithScars: Her body is covered in several faint white lines that have all mostly healed by the time the events of the story take place. Her eyes, which she keeps behind a blindfold, were less so. [[spoiler:All evidence of having been a former toy for goblins]].
* CowardlyLion: [[spoiler:Even as late as Volume 8, she is not over her phobia of goblins despite how much peace of mind Goblin Slayer has helped her regain. She locks herself in her carriage for a full day after goblin wolf riders attempt to harass her caravan, and when she is sent as TheCavalry to get Goblin Slayer's injured party out of the Dungeon of the Dead, she is unable to bring herself to take any more active measures than shooting off one lighting spell from a far distance and clinging to her Alligator familiar as she watches her battle-priest retinue charge in for her (which is still an improvement in itself)]].
* DefiledForever: How she feels concerning her... experience in goblin captivity. Since ThereAreNoTherapists, she simply can't move on.
* {{Determinator}}: Even after being raped, abandoned by her first party, ridiculed by scum on the street for being "weak", left with no support for her PTSD, and reduced to working for a pittance, she still wants to be a hero.
* DorkKnight: Ex-Gold rank adventurer and an archbishop of the Church of the Supreme God. Gets chided by her attendant for poor sleeping behavior, sulks for it, and nibbles on her pillow.
* DoubleEntendre: Couldn't resist cracking a pointed remark about Goblin Slayer "sharing a bed" with her and Priestess to heal him with Resurrection, cementing her status as TheTease.
* DueToTheDead: Prays for destroyed undead to be able to rest in peace, even in the Dungeon of the Dead, where she knows that most zombies and skeletons aren't necesarily rising due to unquiet spirits.
* EatingTheEyeCandy: [[spoiler:A slightly different take on the norm given her condition, but the Resurrection miracle provided ample opportunity to burn the sensation of Goblin Slayer's naked chest into her memories.]]
* EnemyScan: Her ability to identify items and loot is a magic boon granted by her god. It can also detect curses.
* EyeScream: She wasn't always blind. [[spoiler:When goblins kidnapped her, among other things they burned her eyes with a torch]].
* FamedInStory: She was formerly a member of the adventuring party that slew a Demon Lord, becoming a household name in the process. A decade later, she is still regarded as a LivingLegend.
* {{Familiar}}: [[spoiler:[[SewerGator An albino alligator]]. It had been defending the sewers underneath Water Town well before Goblin Slayer's arrival and is the reason there are no giant rats to hunt]].
* FlashbackEcho: In the manga, Sword Maiden gets flashes of her time in the hands of goblins from just looking down at her own body.
* {{Foil}}:
** Both Sword Maiden and Goblin Slayer had their lives forever altered by the machinations of goblins at a young age. [[FreudianExcuse Shackled by intense trauma and mental baggage]], they are a pair of damaged goods who still pushed on and became successful adventurers. However, a closer look into their lives exhibits just how Sword Maiden is everything Goblin Slayer isn’t:
*** Sword Maiden is a stunningly beautiful woman whose looks and grace draws admiration from all, complemented by robes that show off her curves and leave little to the imagination. The only imperfection about her appearance is the blindfold that covers her useless eyes. [[HeroicBuild Goblin Slayer isn’t too bad]] [[BeautifulAllAlong on the looks department either]], but he covers everything behind plated armor and a closed helmet, and his eyes are ''never'' seen by the audience.
*** As an authority figure and dedicated caster of miracles, Sword Maiden rarely permits herself to take direct action, so she works through proxies such as hired help, astral projections, and familiars. Once she gets involved in a fight, though, she's packing enough power to bring even gods to their knees. Goblin Slayer is a frontlines man through and through, freely getting himself involved in the thick of combat. He's not an especially great fighter due to CripplingOverspecialization and cheap gear, but if it's good enough for goblins, then it's good enough for him.
*** Gold- and Silver-rank are granted only to the most powerful, skilled, and trustworthy adventurers as proof of their accomplishments. Naturally, Sword Maiden is utterly revered as an unquestioned LivingLegend for defeating the Demon Lord. By contrast, Goblin Slayer’s skill as an adventurer is frequently doubted upon by skeptics, especially since he was only given his rank as the Guild’s sole goblin exterminator.
*** However, it is ''because'' of Sword Maiden's accolades that [[LonelyAtTheTop she ends up finding herself distanced from her peers]], somebody to be admired from afar. Her subjects put too much faith in her abilities when she's the one who needs help the most. Until the events of Volume 2 occurred, she had virtually nothing to show for all the adulation heaped upon her. Goblin Slayer was mostly isolated too, but he’s always had at least ''someone'' willing to reach out to him and give support, be it his childhood friend, his receptionist, or his partners.
*** Sword Maiden's mental health issues are characterized by vivid night terrors, arrested development, and a [[DesperatelyCravesAffection desperate need for love from an empathetic soul]]. Because of this, [[LivingEmotionalCrutch she latches onto Goblin Slayer like a child does with a security blanket]], and reveals another side of herself that is [[SmittenTeenageGirl vulnerable, fanciful, coquettish, and occasionally even petty]] when she's not upholding her image. Goblin Slayer is also mentally inhibited and sometimes insecure, but his emotions are mostly numbed whenever he isn't in the midst of TranquilFury.
*** Ultimately, their fates at the hands of goblins have taken them through wildly different approaches with their lives, becoming the crux of the issue at the climax of Volume 2 -- Sword Maiden had her innocence destroyed through degradation by torture and rape; for her, goblins were something to be feared. Indeed, her paralyzing phobia would plague her for years to come. Even so, she managed to save the world, and would go on to live a mostly functional life as a world-renowned holy woman. Meanwhile, Goblin Slayer had his innocence destroyed along with his sister and his hometown; for him, goblins were meant to be butchered with a ''vengeance''. This anger has been focused into an understandable desire to take down as many of the bastards as possible, and it has worked wonders for the people he saved, Sword Maiden included. [[SmallStepsHero He's never going to aim for higher though]], and his future prospects aren't good if he's left to his own devices.
** Not only do she and Priestess share some physical traits, but she too differentiates from Goblin Slayer's age by about five years, [[ShrinkingViolet behaved very much like the younger girl in her adventuring days]], and understood how menacing goblins can be at around the same age as well. Given some years, experience, and... [[ShesAllGrownUp filling out]], Priestess may mature to resemble Sword Maiden in both stature and position. [[spoiler:So it is not too difficult to infer that she is a possible outcome of Priestess' future, had Goblin Slayer been too late to rescue her in their first encounter]].
* FreudianExcuse: She's an emotional wreck behind closed doors, and a frequent victim of night terrors. For an archbishop and a major figure, she can be surprisingly cynical about heroes and politics. Even with those she likes, she can be unnerving at times, as Priestess can attest to, and some of her actions ([[spoiler:like attempting to ''seduce'' Goblin Slayer with her personal story about being a ''[[FanDisservice rape victim]]'']]) show signs of a not-entirely well woman. [[spoiler:Just like how Goblin Slayer's experience with the monsters left a lasting impression on his psyche, her experience as a prisoner broke her completely, except she's now too afraid to ever face goblins on her own]].
* GirlyGirlWithATomboyStreak: Samurai Captain finds her to be surprisingly physically active for a demure spellcaster of noble heritage.
* GoodIsNotSoft: In spite of her beauty and gentle appearance, she can be surprisingly harsh at times, such as warning Priestess that Goblin Slayer cannot protect her forever [[spoiler:directly after implying first-hand experience with goblin savagery. She also takes direct control of her [[SewerGator alligator]] to stalk the underground labyrinth, tearing monsters apart and chasing away adventurers to prevent casualties]].
* HandicappedBadass: Back in her heyday. She was blinded ''before'' she went on to become a legendary hero, performing the deeds that promoted her into Gold-ranked status.
* HeroicLineage: One of her long-ago ancestors was a Platinum-ranked hero. This put enormous pressure on her as a young girl growing up in a time of ascendent monstrous threats.
* HeroicRROD: Casts [[FantasticNuke Fusion Blast]] by herself by entering Overcast, burning and exhausting herself.
* HeroicSelfDeprecation: Years of the people around her being unable to accept the idea that she could have ever been any less capable or untouchable than she is now have caused her to internalize a self-image of herself as still the hapless, unfortunate rookie that got overpowered by goblins on her first quest, referring to herself as "Just a weak little girl" in need of saving, despite having long since risen to become a demon-slaying, world-saving Gold Rank. Also, in ''Daikatana'', she needed constant assurance that she was [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking doing a good job with the map she was in charge of drawing]].
* HighPriest: She's an archbishop, after all.
* {{Hypocrite}}: Chastises Priestess during their shared bath scene for [[LivingEmotionalCrutch leaning on Goblin Slayer as a source of strength]], and warns her to keep in mind that he inevitably will fall someday. By the end of the Water Town goblin extermination quest, Sword Maiden [[spoiler:has formed a romantic obsession for Goblin Slayer, to the point of shamelessly propositioning him on his last day in the city and using the memory of his martial prowess as a sleep aid]].
* IDidWhatIHadToDo: [[spoiler:The vivisected girl in a back alley of Water Town that kick-started the whole investigation into potential goblins hiding in the sewers was a FrameUp... on the ''goblins''. Actual goblins would have taken the girl back to their nest first, not cut her apart in human territory, something that Goblin Slayer caught on from the start. The girl was really a victim of the Evil Sect's rituals, but the order was supposed to be dead, and Sword Maiden saw an opportunity to finally bring a proper scare and justification to actively hunt goblins in the sewers. Even if it means pinning the blame on the wrong culprit]].
* IJustWantToBeLoved: After losing her old adventuring party and finding herself [[LonelyAtTheTop isolated in a sea of supplicants, sycophants, and servants]], she is slowly falling apart from the need for someone, anyone at all, who understands her pain, likes her for herself, and is willing to comfort her in the face of the terrors of her past that still haunt her.
* InsecureLoveInterest: She is subtly upset upon learning that Goblin Slayer has a young woman waiting for him at home, and envies both her and Priestess for being much more emotionally resilient compared to a "desperate, weak girl" such as herself.
* IntimateHealing: What her miracle Resurrection essentially is. So long as the target is not actually dead, it can stitch shattered bones together, and restore a body to peak health and stamina. However, due to its [[AwesomeButImpractical extensive setup]] and [[VirginPower highly specific requirements]], she almost never uses it.
* IntimatePsychotherapy: Goblin Slayer, [[spoiler:a fellow victim of goblins]], seemed to fit what Sword Maiden wanted out of a confidant, and not just to empathize and soothe her anxieties: Come the opportunity to spend time together in private, [[ReadyForLovemaking her repeated pleas all but screamed exactly how she wanted him to "comfort" her]]. [[spoiler:Which is why she's crushed to learn the hard way that Goblin Slayer wouldn't (or couldn't) reciprocate her. He just kills goblins -- nothing more, nothing less. Sword Maiden would just have to make do with that instead]].
* IronicNickname: She is called the "Sword Maiden" but, as her backstory reveals, she was raped by goblins, thus is ''not'' a maiden at all. In a light novel interlude, a cultist of the gods of chaos spitefully {{lampshade|Hanging}}s this fact.
* IShouldHaveBeenBetter: Constantly berates herself for freezing up at jujst the mere mention of goblins in ''Daikatana''. Saqmurai Captain assures her that the rest of the party can handle them and she just needs to keep her cool for the other dangers of the dungeon.
* TheJinx: No one wants to party with her after she escaped the goblins because losing to them in the first place got her labelled as "unlucky."
* KnightInSourArmor: Though semi-retired, she remains a high-powered and stalwart keeper of the peace, and champion of the Supreme God. However, she remains all but psychologically broken from her early experiences of the depths of the depravity of monsters, and during the occupation of Water Town by Evil Sectarians and a goblin nest she is aghast at [[BystanderSyndrome how none of the city natives seem to care about the periodic disappearances and butchering so long as they aren't in their neighborhoods]]. Not helped by the fact she can't get the army, who could effectively handle the problem, to help because the King is focused on using the army to exterminate demons.
* LightEmUp: Holy Smite is a blast of burning holy energy directly from her god to her heretical foes.
* LoveConfession: [[spoiler:Or something to that effect to Goblin Slayer, seeing as he's the only one making an effort to help -- everyone else sees her as a powerful figure, so they don't recognize her fear of goblins. Whether or not he acknowledges her words, or even hears them, is a different matter entirely]].
-->'''Sword Maiden''': [[spoiler:I... I cherish you...!]]
* LovingAShadow: Sword Maiden's infatuation with Goblin Slayer began before she had ever met the man, having learned of his existence through folk songs. Once they meet, she willingly puts up with his brusque conduct, opens her heart to him, and more. It's quite a literal case too, considering her eyes; when she thinks of him, she imagines a figure clad in stalwart armor only tangentially related to Goblin Slayer's actual appearance. [[spoiler:In the end of Volume 2, Sword Maiden finally snaps and undergoes a mental breakdown when he firmly rejects her pleas to relieve her anguish. Having said that, his last words afterward not only bring her back from the brink, but reinforce her love and desire to pursue him.]]
* MagicFocusObject: Certain spells require specific catalysts, such as a horn for "Blast Wind."
* MagicalGesture: Performs mudras as well as mantras to cast arcane magic.
* MagicKnight: In ''Daikatana'' it's noted that while Female Bishop is unused to being on the front lines, she is trained in wielding martial weapons, and is at least strong enough to [[spoiler: cave in a brigand's head utterly with the hilt of her sword-staff.]]
* MagicStaff: A sword with gilded edges and scales hanging off the hilt, the sign of the Supreme God, serves as this.
* TheMillstone: Is convinced she is this for the Golden Party, and reassurances by Samurai Captain only work for a short time.
* MostCommonSuperpower: Has one of the largest busts of the entire cast, and her backstory marks her as the most powerful, if now retired, adventurer properly introduced as of yet.
* MsFanservice: She has a very voluptuous body, and gets both a FuroScene ''and'' a BedmateReveal scene involving Priestess, with Goblin Slayer participating in the latter. [[EvenTheGirlsWantHer Priestess herself has a hard time looking away]].
* NaughtyNuns: For someone intended to be a HighPriest, her ceremonial robes do a poor job at concealing her curves. [[spoiler:She is also deeply in love with Goblin Slayer and throws herself at his arms, alas he is too single-minded in his quest to pay any attention]].
* TheNavigator: Took over as cartographer and direction-giver for the Golden Party from Myrmidon Monk.
* NeverGetsDrunk: Or at least hungover, as she's noted to be tipsy after a night of merriment in ''Daikatana'' but is completely clear-headed the next day while Female Mage and even Myrmidon Monk are choking down hangover cures.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Her telling Priestess that there is good chance Goblin Slayer will die or disappear eventually, due to her own experiences, causes Priestess to FreakOut at a critical moment, nearly getting the entire party killed (or in the case of the females much, much worse).
* NoHeroToHisValet: The one person who treats Sword Maiden as just a woman besides Goblin Slayer is her Attendant, who freely chides and jokes about her lovelorn ways. She used to be just as stiff as anyone else when Sword Maiden was hiding her pain, but she's grateful for the newfound casualness all the same, particularly when she transcribes her letters to Goblin Slayer for her with discretion.
* NotHerself: Says that the main reason she was so harsh with Priestess in the bath was because mind-melding with her alligator familiar taxed her enough to rob her of her usual patience.
* OffscreenMomentOfAwesome: [[spoiler:While Goblin Slayer's company were busy foiling Dark Elf's plan to summon Hecatoncheir in the flesh, Sword Maiden participated alongside a Platinum-ranked hero in fending off the genuine article within the spirit realm via AstralProjection. Said giant was so powerful, its mere presence manifested in the real world as the howling storm the company did battle in]].
* OrnamentalWeapon: Her sword is a glorified catalyst, decorated with a gold cap on the tip and hanging scales on the crossguard.
* PastExperienceNightmare: Plagued by nightmares about her time at the hands of goblins for years on end, until Goblin Slayer leaves her with a promise to always answer her call for salvation, even in her dreams. Her personal attendants note that she has slept soundly and restfully ever since.
* ThePerilsOfBeingTheBest: Ever since she helped topple the Demon Lord, achieved the Gold-rank, and assumed her position as Archbishop, the people around her have stayed at arm's length and insisted on treating her as an all-powerful pillar of strength, when what she wants and desperately needs is someone she can be comforted by and be vulnerable around. The pressure to live up to her pedestal and hide the marks of her past trauma have beaten her psyche down almost more than the actual trauma itself. This is best exemplified in Volume 8, [[spoiler:when the Capital's upper echelon, upon learning that goblins have taken the Princess to the Dungeon of the Dead, starts imploring Sword Maiden to head there and rescue her. Caught between their expectations, her violent flashbacks, and her goblin phobia, the poor woman came dangerously close to snapping like a twig.]]
* PsychicLink: Can establish one with her giant white alligator familiar to direct it in patrolling the sewers for monsters. She dislikes doing so because she then feels the sensations of everything it does.
* PsychoticSmirk: Samurai Captain is unnerved to discover that when helping to beat back rogue adventurers accosting them in the Dungeon of the Dead, Female Bishop often develops a small, cold, cruel smirk while putting them down.
* RapeAsBackstory: [[spoiler:Over ten years ago she was knocked unconscious and dragged into a goblin nest, where she was tortured and raped for an indefinite amount of time. How she managed to get out was not explained, but the experience left her scarred both physically and mentally, with no one to turn to for comfort]].
* RapunzelHair: The Archbishop of the Supreme God has the longest mane in the series by a large margin, the ends of her hair tickle her calves. She's the quest-giver these days, after all, so she has to mind her image. She even has an Attendant.
* ReasonableAuthorityFigure: She too is one of the few people outside of Goblin Slayer's circle to fully comprehend the horrors goblins represent. However, she is unique in that she is in an actual position of power to make a change, and was the one who authorized the investigation and consequent purging of the sewers before hiring him.
* TheRedMage: She uses arcane magic as well as miracles, and could even combo-cast with Female Mage as Female Bishop. She claims not to see what's so valuable about the skill compared to a more advanced single-type caster.
* ReflectionlessUselessEyes: [[spoiler:Though she's long since healed the worst of the burn scars on her face, the eyes themselves remain opaque and sightless under her blindfold]].
* SanitySlippage: She was actually much more well-adjusted as a marginalized rookie freshly recovered from her captivity than as a mature hero a decade past the event. Being separated from her old companions, having to shoulder the expectations of the entire nation, and [[SanityMeter being exposed to the Dungeon of the Dead]] have all worsened her mental condition exponentially.
* SensoryOverload: Gets almost knocked out by noisy or smelly places in ''Daikatana'' due to her SuperSenses.
* SewerGator: [[spoiler: She keeps a giant albino alligator as a {{Familiar}}, and uses it to patrol the sewers of Water Town. This is why Water Town never has giant rat extermination quests.]]
* SexForSolace: Ultimately what she wants from Goblin Slayer is a positive sexual experience. The anime plays it up after the Resurrection miracle as she gets ''very'' touchy and snugly with a [[ShirtlessScene shirtless]] Goblin Slayer.
* SkilledButNaive: ''Daikatana'' reveals her to have been this as an aspiring adventurer. Her initial class was [[PrestigeClass Bishop]] and it's stated that any decent Appraiser (her fallback career) needs to have an extensive background in magical studies to properly detect enchantments and curses on loot. All of this suggests either an exceptional prodigy or a woman who took extra time to fully develop her skills before taking to the field. It's just too bad that still wasn't enough to come out ahead on her first quest.
* SmellsSexy: Even Goblin Slayer himself can't help but take note of her beguiling fragrance.
* SourSupporter: Nakedly resents the King for dismissing her fear of goblins and supplications for proper military mobilization against them despite being her old adventuring partner and knowing the reason for her phobia, one example being him not doing anything about the growing Water Town goblin infestation problem. When he visits her to complain about Evil Wizard building a MageTower and shutting down regional trade routes while his army is still mopping up the demons, all she does is mock him for being both unwilling ''and'' unable to protect his subjects from local threats and sing a song celebrating the idea of him being violently deposed.
* StepfordSmiler: Is almost always smiling in all of her interactions. As the trope suggests, she's hiding a lot of depression and anxiety underneath.
* SuperSenses: Has heightened smell and hearing, which proves handy in tracking "newbie-hunting" rogues in ''Daikatana'' by the scent of blood that to others is completely covered by the sensory dampening magic of the Dungeon of the Dead. In volume 2, she can her a girl's muffled crying from across several busy market streets.
* {{Synchronization}}: She feels whatever her alligator familiar experiences. Seeing as she has it patrolling the sewers for monster swarms to fight and eat, she's often driven to the bathhouse to try to wash away the sensations.
* TearsOfJoy: After Goblin Slayer [[spoiler: promises to kill all goblins should she call for him, even in her dreams, she breaks down into these tears and declares her LoveConfession for him.]]
* TheTease: For an archbishop, [[NaughtyNuns she's surprisingly forward and flirty to Goblin Slayer]]. [[spoiler:It's genuine affection]]; much to her disappointment, [[IgnoreTheFanservice it never gets a rise out of him]].
* ThereAreNoTherapists: Forget professional help; almost none of the people around her that she wants to open up to about her torment are willing to believe that a woman of her power could have ever been taken advantage of by mere goblins, unwittingly shaming her for weakness and worsening her internal agony and self-disgust.
* TurnUndead: Is naturally able to strip away necromantic magic.
* TykeBomb: Says that she was "molded" by her noble family to become a hero for their lifetime, though she wants that for herself now too.
* TheUnchosenOne: Unlike the elusive Platinum-ranked heroes, she just happened to be an exceptional individual who wasn't destined to save the world, but managed anyway.
* UtilityPartyMember: Sword Maiden's main role in the Golden Party was as their map-drawer in the dungeon.
* VaporWear: Her outfit is sideless, showing she doesn't wear underwear.
* VirginPower: Her miracle Resurrection requires a virgin to be present. [[spoiler:Unfortunately, Sword Maiden has been violated by goblins and therefore can no longer perform it alone. She can, however, cast it with a virgin (such as Priestess) present nearby as a "material component" for her spell.]]
* WhenSheSmiles: When her attendant mentions Goblin Slayer and suggests writing a letter to him, Sword Maiden immediately perks up and her face literally beams with a huge smile. It's absolutely adorable.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: PlayedForDrama. [[spoiler:The entire reason why she hired Goblin Slayer in the first place is because she can never bring herself to confront goblins ever again -- she fears that if the goblin swarm within the sewers ever makes it above ground, she will just fall apart entirely at the seams, leaving Water Town defenseless]]. In ''Daikatana'' [[spoiler: she freezes when confronted by them and feels constant paranoia in the dungeon that they might spread even to parts with stronger monsters that always kill and eat them.]]
* WomanChild: She knows well enough to keep it hidden in public, but she can be a bit immature for a twenty-five-year-old. Sword Maiden has an especially noticeable habit of [[SmittenTeenageGirl sulking like a teenage girl]] whenever the subject involves Goblin Slayer.
* {{Workaholic}}: She used to bury herself in work to distract herself from her problems. She's a little more lax now, but her attendants still think she needs more rest.
* YellowLightningBlueLightning: When she leads to charge to save Goblin Slayer's party from the remains of the cultist horde in Volume 8, she launches a spell that hits their vanguard with purple lightning.
[[/folder]]
[[folder:Noble Fencer]]
!!!'''Voiced by:''' Creator/SumireUesaka (Japanese), Creator/AnairisQuinones (English)
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/noblefencer.jpg]]
[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/noblefencer2.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:Noble Fencer after the events of Volume 5]]
An aristocratic young woman who ran away from home to become an adventurer. The plot of the fifth volume of the light novel is kicked off when Goblin Slayer and his party are hired to recover her when she goes missing hunting goblins in an ice mountain.
----
* AncestralWeapon: She wields an ancient silver rapier that is a heirloom of her house. [[spoiler:She begs Goblin Slayer to let her accompany the party to retrieve it from the goblin paladin after he saves her and makes clear he intends to finish the job on her horde-extermination quest]].
* ArcHero: Of Volume 5, as the mission of that volume was to rescue her and later she acts as a GuestStarPartyMember to Goblin Slayer's team in their quest to stop the [[spoiler: Goblin Paladin]].
* BavarianFireDrill: She enters the secret enemy fortress in volume 11 by bluffing she is a collaborating merchant and just plowing through conversations attempting to steer her away from the garrison.
* BeautyIsNeverTarnished: Survives her experience with the goblins with only the brand on her neck, and rape. [[spoiler: Justified in that since she was powering the Goblin Paladin's magic, he probably wanted her in a good condition so she wouldn't die.]]
* BigLittleSister: Priestess explicitly sees and treats her as a little sister, even though she is much taller and more developed.
* BirdsOfAFeather: With Priestess. [[spoiler:Just like her, she had her entire rookie party killed and was the sole survivor]].
* BlingBlingBang: Her sword has a gold-plated hilt with a large gemstone set in front and under the blade.
* BlueBlood: Noted to be high in station, enough that Sword Maiden got involved in deciding who to send to rescue her.
* BreakTheCutie: She runs away from home to become an adventurer, with her first mission being a goblin-slaying one. [[spoiler:Her plan results in her team being killed and her body being branded, leaving her vengeful and broken with a desire to kill all goblins]].
* BuxomIsBetter: Literally one of the first things the light novel narration mentions about her is how well she fills out her breastplate.
* CantHoldHerLiquor: Admits quite frankly that she’s not very good with alcohol when offered an ale.
* CastFromHitPoints: [[spoiler:The goblin paladin is able to use the brand of the God of Wisdom his lackeys gave her to use her lifeforce as fuel to perform magic at no cost to his own energy]].
* ClaimedByTheSupernatural: [[spoiler:The goblins branded her with the sign of the God of Wisdom and made her the living covenant that allows the goblin paladin to receive divine favor]].
* CoolSword: Her personal weapon is an amazingly light sword that is strong and sharp enough to cut through steel, and is made of incredibly rare and valuable aluminum.
* CurtainsMatchTheWindow: Colored illustrations reveal that she has blonde hair and golden eyes.
* DeerInTheHeadlights: Freezes up while climbing over her carriage in the middle of a goblin ambush, Goblin Slayer covers her and snaps her out f it.
* DefiledForever: It was stated that her chastity was among the precious things that the goblins have taken from her.
* DidntThinkThisThrough:
** She tried to eliminate the goblins by starving them out, but this resulted in her party draining their resources and energy over the course of weeks of camping in the mountain winter. [[spoiler:Which led to her party being wiped out and herself being captured and made into a sacrifice.]] Goblin Slayer himself admits that it wasn't a bad method, where it went wrong was [[spoiler:in not realizing that the cave they staked out wasn't the goblins' den, but their auxiliary temple]].
** She also depleted the nearby village of crucial supplies for the winter so she not only endangered her own team but the village she was working for.
** Worse, the novel makes it clear on multiple occasions she could've pulled the plug on the mission and regrouped at any point, but refused to do so out of stubbornness that she "couldn't be wrong".
* EmotionSuppression: [[spoiler:Does this almost instantly upon waking up back in the inn from being rescued from the goblin's temple. Priestess just as immediately sets about breaking her walls]].
* EpiphanyTherapy: [[spoiler:Upon seeing the goblin paladin again all the emotions she had been repressing since her rescue: her guilt over causing her friends' death, fear and sorrow from being taken by the goblins, and admission to not being as ready to be an adventurer as she thought, come crashing into all at once. But once she accepts what happened to her, she is able to properly engage with the fight against the goblins and later move on from the experience]].
* EscortMission: Is the object of one in volume 11, to justify bringing the party with her as she infiltrates and investigates the Desert Kingdom.
* EtTuBrute: Noble Fencer was most fond of Half-Elf Fighter, thinking they were getting along great while marching together and feeling hurt that she in particular was snubbing her.
* FatalFlaw: Her {{pride}}. Her failed plan resulted in her party being placed in a dangerous position. Instead of retreating or calling off the quest when things were getting dangerous, she persisted out of fear of becoming a laughing stock for failing to complete a goblin subjection quest.[[spoiler:This ultimately leads to the death of her party members along with her being captured.]]
* GuestStarPartyMember: [[spoiler:Insists on accompanying the party to find and kill the goblin paladin, which Goblin Slayer and Priestess agree to.]]
* HandyHelper: After being healed and retired from adventuring, Noble Fencer decides to stay and operate her part of the family business in Water Town and spends what time she can get away with as an unofficial assistant to Sword Maiden, fielding correspondence, managing meetings, and making court appearances alongside her.
* HartmanHips: The manga gives her extremely wide, curvaceous hips that she often has cocked during talking scenes.
* HatesBeingTouched: Downplayed. Noble Fencer is perfectly fine with people she knows, but nearly blows her cover during an infiltration in Volume 11 when a soldier touches her. Given her experiences, she's understandably jumpy with strangers.
* HoneyTrap: [[spoiler: Incapacitates a garrison of enemy soldiers by hotboxing them in a small room with her drugged perfume as she pretends to be a merchant come to cater on them.]]
* ImportantHaircut: Shears off her long hair at her neck [[spoiler:and offers it to Goblin Slayer as payment to let her join his party and fight to reclaim her stolen sword]].
* InadequateInheritor: Her principle motivations for running away to become an adventurer was how she nearly cracked under the pressure to live up to her family name and her insecurity over [[WellDoneDaughterGal being in her father’s shadow]] and owing her every material possession to his fortune. She hoped starting a legacy all her own from scratch would be easier, make her feel freer, and be more rewarding. [[TraumaCongaLine It wasn’t.]]
* ItsAllAboutMe: Before her CharacterDevelopment and some horrible life altering events, Noble Fencer's goal was to simply make a name for herself, achieve glory, and climb up the Guild Ranks to become Gold- or Platinum-ranked in no time. To this end she didn't think out her strategies and didn't realize her rookie mistakes were piling up into a disaster.
* JuniorCounterpart: To Sword Maiden, or at least that how the older woman sees it. Sword Maiden certainly knows they share similar experiences, and takes Noble Fencer under her wing in an attempt to guide her away from some of the emotional pitfalls that left her a long-term wreck before.
* LeeroyJenkins: [[spoiler:Unable to calm herself while seeing a goblin wearing the robes of her dead companion, she attacks one and forces the group to change their plans while in the goblin territory.]]
* MadeASlave: [[spoiler: Goblin Slayer theorized that the goblin paladin kept her alive for this reason after he "breaks her spirit". Once she becomes his subservient slave, he would force her to use her ShockAndAwe magic to forge new weapons for his horde and eventually work her to death. Luckily, Goblin Slayer's party was able to save her before this can happen]].
* MagicalGesture: Draws sigils with her fingers to power up her Lightning spell.
* MagicKnight: She can use spells alongside her swordplay.
* NiceJobBreakingItHero: Her plan to safely eliminate the goblins involved starving them out, but her failing to perform proper reconnaissance or factor in the amount of supplies needed to maintain her party out in the wilderness over the course of weeks results [[spoiler:in her party being slaughtered and her being used as a sacrifice, which allows the goblin paladin to come into being.]]
* PartingWordsRegret: The last time she got to interact with her party, they were hazing her for the "bad" plan to starve out the goblins. Despite her team being the ones to say the hurtful parting word, their final conversation still fills Noble Fencer with regret.
* PenPals: It’s stated that after returning home to become a merchant she is friends and stays in contact with Priestess (and possibly High Elf Archer) with regular letters.
* RapeAndRevenge: [[spoiler: After being captured by a goblin horde led by a goblin paladin, she ended up being raped and branded by the monsters. The traumatic experience left her in a very vengeful state after she was saved. She was able to convince Goblin Slayer's party to let her join them on their mission and she was ultimately able to kill most of the goblins that tormented her after causing an avalanche to wipe them out]].
* RescueRomance: Subverted. While she's immensely grateful for everything Goblin Slayer has done for her, a conversation with Sword Maiden in Volume 6 confirms no underlying feelings for the man... [[ClingyJealousGirl much to Sword Maiden's barely-disguised relief]].
* PseudoRomanticFriendship: Initially tried to form one with her fellow party member Half-Elf Warrior, which ended tragically. Afterwards, she does end up forming one with Priestess who acted as her LivingEmotionalCrutch throughout Volume 5 after Noble Fencer's traumatic experience with the goblins. Some of their interactions include frequent hand holding (especially in [[TheMovie Goblin's Crown]]), Priestess often trying to comfort her, and Noble Fencer beating a goblin priest to death after it hurt Priestess.
* RoyalRapier: Her sword seems to be one, with its extremely thin, long thrusting blade and ornate hilt.
* ScarsAreForever: Sword Maiden is able to neutralize the magic of the seal on her neck, but not even she is strong enough to erase it entirely.
* SchizoTech: Her CoolSword is made out of aluminum, which is well beyond the ability of a medieval tech base to refine and produce. Also a case of ConspicuousConsumption, since aluminum was so rare even when it could be made that it was more valuable than gold.
* ShockAndAwe: She has a Lightning spell. [[spoiler:The goblin paladin wanted to enslave her in the first place to make her use this magic to help him in his attempts to learn smithing. Goblin Slayer has her instead blast the top off a mountain to induce an avalanche.]]
* TheSocialExpert: Her experience navigating royal banquets and merchant negotiations gives her a highly developed charisma and sense of how to manipulate non-hostile opposing persons, something commonborn pure adventurers lack.
* SoleSurvivor: Of her party, she's the only one left alive.
* StartMyOwn: The reason she ran away and became an adventurer was because she wanted to achieve power and fame through her own abilities and not rely on her family name for prestige. [[spoiler:She learns that attaining personal glory is a more arduous and perilous task than she first assumed, and in the most gruesome manner possible]].
* ThatManIsDead: [[spoiler:Though the effect probably isn't meant to be as final as this trope usually comes off as. Come Volume 8 she has shelved any remaining desire or dream to be an adventurer and the narrative rebrands her Female Merchant Leader.]]
* ThisIsSomethingHesGotToDoHimself: [[spoiler:The reason Goblin Slayer and Priestess decide to bring her on their assault on the goblin stronghold is that they can tell that getting back in the saddle right now and confronting her trauma head-on is the only possible way she is ever going to have a chance at reclaiming her self-respect and recovering psychologically.]]
* WalkingSpoiler: A given when her role in the story [[spoiler:is so closely bound up in a major [[TheReveal reveal]] of a new goblin evolution and the race's true potential for evil plans overall]].
* WealthyPhilanthropist: Becomes this after returning to her family and entering their merchant business, being the one to put the down payment on Guild Girl's training camp in Volume 6 in the hope of properly preparing other rookies for the hazards of adventuring.
* WhyDidItHaveToBeSnakes: She has a bit of PTSD from the goblins, and has difficulty facing them when her hate cools.
* YellowLightningBlueLightning: Her final Lightning spell in volume 11 is purple.
* YoungerThanTheyLook: She's a year and change younger than Priestess, but taller and more womanly than her and High Elf Archer.
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