Characters appearing in Banished from the Hero's Party. Beware of spoilers.

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Main Characters

Red

Red, né Gideon Ragnason

Voiced by: Ryōta Suzuki (Japanese, anime), Yuichiro Umehara (Japanese, Drama CD), Aaron Campbell (English)

Blessing: Guide

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shinnonakama_red.png

A young man blessed with a thirty-level headstart since birth. As his Blessing indicates, his role is to guide people down the paths they are destined to live. Having trained with the Bahamut Knights since childhood, by seventeen he was deemed powerful enough to be an obvious addition to the party of the Hero, who so happens to be his younger sister Ruti.

However, as his Blessing is limited to that headstart, he began falling behind his comrades-in-arms and was eventually kicked out by the party Sage, Ares. Ever since, Gideon has settled down in the frontier town of Zoltan as "Red", where he uses the knowledge he gained throughout his journey to run an apothecary.

Almighty Janitor: Red's power is comparable to a slightly above-average knight who has reached his limits. Coupled with his intelligence and knowledge, this puts him at least on B-rank level, possibly A-rank, and he was part of an S-rank party, the strongest party that exists, yet he is merely known as a D-rank adventurer in Zoltan. Nowadays, people know him more as "the apothecary who is Rit's partner."
Badass Bookworm: Downplayed. Red usually wins his fights with his book smarts. His knowledge about Blessings and their weaknesses is tremendous, and he makes sure to analyze the situation (sometimes by charging ahead of the party) properly, which allows him to overcome enemies that theoretically are stronger than him (and the party).
Big Brother Instinct: The person he wanted to protect the most was Ruti. This was the main reason he joined the Bahamut Knights, so he could guide her until she was strong enough and could find companions that would support her. Part of the reason why he left the party willingly was because he thought his wish had come true and she didn't need him anymore.
Big Brother Mentor: To Ruti and Al.
- At the start, Ruti knew nothing. Nowadays, she is an expert in fighting and information gathering, all of which her brother taught her. She even imagines a Helpful Hallucination of him when she needs to think.
- Al is trained both by Rit and Red. While Rit is an expert with Al's weapon, Red also has so much experience that Al is in awe of Red's strength.
Can't Catch Up: Once someone matches his level, he pretty much becomes this. Due to his Blessing, he does not have access to anything beyond common skills, which he has to train to make valuable. And even if he trains all of his common skills as far as possible, they will constantly fall short of specialized skills granted by other Blessings.
Crutch Character: Gideon was given a level boost when he was born, but that's basically it. He is at a level of an average knight, but he eventually realized that he Can't Catch Up to the rest of the party. His Blessing also doesn't give him access to unique skills that, for instance, exist in the Warrior or Mage trees, leaving him with nothing but common skills to invest in. When the Hero's party was formed, he was initially stronger than Ruti, but she and their companions eventually overtook him.
Foil: To both Ares and Albert.
- To Ares. Red believes a Blessing should never be all that defines someone, including his sister Ruti, and is kind, selfless, and cares nothing for fame or power. On the other hand, Ares believes that one's Divine Blessing is all the worth a person can have and is arrogant, ambitious, and utterly self-centered.
- To Albert. Red is a kind-hearted and selfless man who was a member of the Hero's Party but isn't interested in fame or fortune, is hiding the extent of his skills when he comes to Zoltan, and just wants a quiet and peaceful life running his apothecary. In contrast, Albert is a selfish and arrogant man who believes himself to be stronger than he actually is, and destined for fame and power leads him down a dark path, using Demon drugs and sorcery to make himself more powerful.
Guile Hero: Gideon was The Social Expert and The Smart Guy of the party, who usually leave the combat planning and communications with local citizens and nobility to him, and his people smarts and amicable personality also made it easier for him to gain allies and gather information.
The Heart: Back when he was Gideon, Red's mere presence helped iron out the contrasting personalities of the Hero's Party, not to mention being the one person that kept Ruti motivated. After Ares forces him to leave, the party starts falling apart without him to keep them together.
Heroic Neutral: Red is completely, emphatically uninterested in the idea of rising up the ranks of the world's adventurers, let alone defeating the Demon Lord. He would very much rather continue his life as a simple apothecary in Zoltan, but will still not hesitate to get involved if a situation involves any of his friends or loved ones.
Heroes Prefer Swords: As Gideon, he wielded the treasured sword, Thunderwaker. As Red, he still uses a sword, but it's a cheap one made of bronze.
Heroic Self-Deprecation: Gideon takes the Humble Hero to the extreme. As his Blessing does not allow him to grow uniquely, he only can acquire common skills, which is why he does not see himself as anything special and expects to eventually be left behind. When Ares dismissed him as The Load, he took it to heart without consulting the rest of the party, who would have instead paid him the respect he deserved and pointed out that his strategic, logistical, and social skills are just as valuable to the war effort.
Jack of All Trades: Gideon has learned a lot of common skills, as those are the only skills he could learn. He has Survival skills, which means he can't get lost, but his Sense skill is nothing compared to a Hunter or a Thief. He can cook, but not as well as someone with a Chef's Blessing. He can use Repair, but it becomes redundant once a mage learns the spell for it. He actually mastered some useful skills like Lightning Speed and Immunity to Fatigue, but since they are common skills, anyone could learn them, which makes him nothing special. His mastery of First Aid, however, is so high he knows what the right medicine is even if he doesn't know the ailment.
The Lancer: The mastermind, levelheaded, and charismatic kind of leader. While Ruti is technically the leader of the party and has the final word, she is socially distant to everyone due to her Blessing. Gideon on the other hand was The Face, as he can easily make allies and was the person in the party who did most of the planning, negotiated with other people and kept the team together. Ares tries to take over most of Gideon's duties but utterly fails, which causes friction within the party. Ruti doesn't do anything about it and just lets it happen, which leads to Yarandrala and Danan leaving the party, and Theodora grows more and more frustrated with Ares.
Living Emotional Crutch: Gideon was the only person Ruti truly cared about. Her Blessing robs her of most of her emotions, but Gideon gave her the emotional support she needed. She is utterly unhappy after he left and Gideon is possibly the only person that still gives her the strength to resist her Blessing's Emotion Suppression.
Life Saving Misfortune: According to an alternate-timeline side story where Gideon chose to stick to the party, he is going to die due to being a Master of None, and his death would be used as rallying banner for the party and a Memento MacGuffin for Rizlet.
Magnetic Hero: Red is easily able to befriend people due to his likeability and his humility. He puts his pride behind if it can save lives, which quickly changed Rit's opinion of him.
Master of None: Gideon trained several of his common skills much farther than most people ever bother attempting, but he knows that even that level falls short of the related specialized skills granted by Blessings that focus on that field.
Mayfly–December Friendship: With Yarandrala, a high elf. Gideon is a dear friend of hers, but she does not view Gideon as a love interest due to their lifespans.
Nice Guy: Red is naturally affable and is a very pleasant companion to be with; this quality of his is what made Rit immediately fall in love with him, and is the reason the Hero's Party held together for as long as it did despite its members' wildly contrasting personalities.
The Reliable One: Gideon was so reliable that Yarandrala felt like people take him for granted and since he isn't flawless, he would eventually need a person he can share his worries with. The Hero's Party's journey went smoothly because Gideon took care of most things. His presence is dearly missed and the party is slowly falling apart without him.
Retired Badass: Despite once being the second-in-command of the Bahamut Knights and a member of the Hero's Party, Red considers his journey and fight against the Demon Lord's army over. Feeling like he fulfilled his role as Ruti's guide, all he wants to do now is to lead a quiet life as an apothecary together with Rit.
Riches to Rags: Gideon's high position afforded him the luxury to live like an aristocrat. As Red, he lives a modest life on the outskirts.
The Smart Guy: Gideon was The Strategist of the Hero's Party, being able to analyze situations and enemies quickly and coming up with plans that allowed the party to easily kill most of their foes.
Stealth Expert: Gideon worked on common skills that allow him to track people. This in return means he also knows how to hide any traces of him to the point that even Yarandrala can't track him down. He also is a Master of Disguise, but he accomplishes this with common tools without any magic.
Secretly Selfish: Gideon doesn't really care too much about saving the world. He is just doing his part as a Crutch Character for the sake of his sister who happens to be the Hero. He was also planning to leave as he notices his Power Creep is affecting the party, trying to lessen the physical and emotional costs the quest to defeat the Demon King is forcing on his sister. It just happens that being kicked out accelerated his plans.
The Social Expert: One of Red's greatest assets, on and off the battlefield, is the ease with which he deals with people, being able to quickly deduce their likes and dislikes the play with them to his advantage. In fact, when Ares kicks him out of the party, the party runs into a lot of troubles due to Ares taking over and not being close to Gideon's level of social skills and talent for negotiations.
Stock Light-Novel Hero: Interestingly, aside from his looks, Red is almost a complete inversion of this trope. He is very explicitly not any kind of special hero, he fully commits into a romantic relationship with Rit almost immediately, and even before the story began he'd already maxed out all his available (exclusively commonplace and utterly ordinary) skills with almost no room for additional growth.
Supreme Chef: One of the common skills he has acquired is cooking. It's only the very basic Elementary Cooking but due to his generally high level, he can still make simple-yet-tasty dishes. He admits that it's not on the level of someone with a Chef's Blessing, but it's actually very useful for an adventurer.
Utility Party Member: Despite Ares' accusations of him being The Load, Gideon was skilled in things outside of battle like cooking, logistics, medicine, intel gathering, and negotiations with local citizens and nobles. Ares tried to fill in the roles Gideon used to hold, but due to his incompetence just makes things harder for the party.
Weak, but Skilled: Compared to his former comrades-in-arms the monsters they faced, Gideon fell behind combat-wise. What he lacks in raw power, however, he more than makes up with his vast experience and knowledge, and since he had no special skills to invest to, he could invest in a lot of common utility skills that give him an edge and make the rest of the party's life easier. Danan and Theodora, two of the most accomplished warriors that exist, even tell Ares that, despite his weaknesses, Gideon is still a reliable warrior in his own right.

Rit

Rit, née Princess Rizlet of Loggervia

Voiced by: Kanon Takao (Japanese, anime), Yumiri Hanamori (Japanese, Drama CD), Dani Chambers (English)

Blessing: Spirit Scout (Warrior)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shinnonakama_rit.png

Second princess of the Duchy of Loggervia and temporary member of the Hero's party during a battle against the Asura demon Shisandan three years ago.

In the present, having grown weary of the fighting, she chose to lie low as the adventurer Rit, and when she meets Gideon/Red again, she wastes no time settling down as his shop assistant, at the same time rekindling their romance.

Action Girlfriend: The ace adventurer of Zoltan actively pursues the protagonist Red and is also a more dangerous fighter being the princess of a warrior nation who has the Spirit Scout Blessing, as opposed to Red who is limited by his Guide Blessing.
Blood Knight: Rit is hailed as a Knight in Shining Armor in Zoltan, as unlike Albert, she accepts the most difficult quests regardless of client and/or reward. In truth, she is more interested in the challenge, and money isn't an issue, since she is royalty and has more than enough.
Big-Breast Pride: Downplayed, but Rit seems to enjoy using her large breasts to tease Red, especially when they share a bath together deliberately pressing them against his chest to get a reaction out of him.
Break the Haughty: In the past, Rizlet believed that she didn't need the Hero's Party to stop the demons' invasion of Loggervia. She changes her tune after Shisandan murders her mentor and party, and is saved by Gideon and Ruti from the same fate.
Buxom Beauty Standard: A good chunk of her sex appeal, along with Red trying to look away from her enormous bust.
Character Tics: When embarrassed, Rit has a habit of pulling her scarf over her face or otherwise hiding it. In one instance, when Red has been flirting with Rit, he gets her to pull her face out of hiding, revealing her to be hiding a goofily happy expression.
Cleavage Window: Her default outfit features one for her ample bosom.
Covert Pervert: When Red is too embarrassed when she tries to buy a double-sized bed, she calls him a wimp under her breath. The anime might have done away with the covert part, as it's implied that she said it loud enough for Red/Gideon to hear her.
Fire-Forged Friends: Rizlet was initially hostile towards the Hero's Party and declared that she wouldn't need them to fend off the Demon Lord's army. Thanks to Gideon's humble and amiable personality, she quickly grew closer to them and they fought side by side during the conflict. At the end Gideon considered her a true companion and invited her to join them.
Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Has golden blonde hair down to her hips, and is a sweet and loving woman, especially towards her beloved Red.
Heroes Prefer Swords: Rit specializes in the shotel, a curved sword.
Honorary True Companion: After the conflict in Loggervia was resolved, Rizlet had the option to join the Hero's party. Gideon welcomed her as a comrade of theirs, but she decided to stay to rebuild Loggervia and to recover from the trauma of her mentor Gaius being murdered and impersonated by Shisandan.
Magic Knight: The magical part is downplayed. Rit is mostly a Warrior with superhuman abilities. Her spirit magic is a hidden trump card that she rarely uses outside of analyzing objects, scouting, and tracking.
Ms. Fanservice: Huge breasts, blonde hair, a short skirt and Cleavage Window, and has several nude bathing scenes (albeit with convenient censoring).
Rebellious Princess: Rit absolutely refuses to get involved in the Succession Crisis back home in Loggervia, even though she is the foremost choice of the citizenry. She even pledges to give up her royal title and fortune in order to stay with Red. This is part of her Spirit Scout Blessing, which makes her crave freedom.
Refusal of the Call: She refuses any and all attempts by others to make her go back to being an adventurer.
Retired Badass: She decides to retire as an adventurer to work with Red in an apothecary. Despite tons of offers (and even threats) to get her back in the adventurer business, she refuses. She only accepts requests that directly involve her or her friends.
Scarily Competent Tracker: This is one of the abilities she was given thanks to her Blessing.
Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Back when they were temporary teammates, Rizlet fell in love with Gideon's humble and heroic personality. In the present, when they met again as Rit and Red, they almost immediately settled into what may as well be a married life in all but name.
Tsundere: In the past at least. Rizlet couldn't be honest with her feelings and always reacted angrily towards Gideon when she was embarrassed. Yarandrala suggested to Rit to tone this down and approach Gideon more openly with her feelings, as he clearly has feelings for Rit too and would no doubt respond to her accordingly then. Yarandrala was correct and she and Red rather quickly advance to what might as well be married life in Zoltan.
Violently Protective Girlfriend: Don't you dare hurt Red or she will make you pay for it. Albert learns this the hard way.
Warrior Princess: Rit is actually Rizlet, the second princess of Loggervia, who often sneaked out to work as an adventurer and mercenary. During the conflict against the demon lord, she was one of Loggervia's most stalwart defenders.

The Hero's Party

In General

Breaking the Fellowship: After Gideon's unceremonious departure, the party had a very hard time keeping themselves together. After Ares and Theodora's betrayal, the party breaks apart completely.
Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: While there was some of this dynamic while Gideon was still in the party, it wasn't until his departure that their vastly contrasting personalities finally begin screwing them over.

Ruti Ragnason

Voiced by: Naomi Ozora (Japanese, anime), Ayana Taketatsu (Japanese, Drama CD), Tia Ballard (English)

Blessing: Hero

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shinnonakama_ruti.png

Younger sister of Gideon/Red and the chosen Hero of humanity in their struggle against the Demon Lord. Deeply adoring her brother despite his increasingly limited capabilities in combat, his abrupt departure clearly hurt her despite her inability to openly express any emotion due to the influence of her Blessing, which also obliges her to save humans... even if that includes Ares, the party's Sage who she blames for said departure.

Alliterative Name: Ruti Ragnason.
Always a Bigger Fish: Turns out, Ruti is this to Van. No matter how powerful he is, Van's overreliance on his Blessing costs him any experience using skills like Martial Arts or magic, whereas Ruti, even without the Hero's Blessing, possesses enough super strength to knock him out in one punch.
And I Must Scream: As a result of her Blessing turning her into a human-robot she can't do anything about it.
Beware the Quiet Ones: Her Blessing prevents her from being hostile, verbally or physically, towards her allies, and has made her very emotionally withdrawn, which hides how much she hates most of her comrades-in-arms, let alone being forced to go on this quest at all. If it were not for her Blessing, she would have left Ares to die after attacking him in a fit of rage when he learned that he kicked her brother out of the party.
Big Brother Attraction: Ruti says she is fine with Red marrying Rit, because siblings can't marry. Instead she will just be Red's lover and that he has enough love for multiple women.
Big Brother Worship: As he's the only one who ever treated her like a person and not the Hero during her childhood, Ruti thinks the world of Gideon, to the point of being overly protective of him when it comes to critics like Ares and potential love interests like Rit.
Blessed with Suck: While gifted with the immense power of the Hero, Ruti is the most obvious victim of the Divine Blessings, as she does not require food or sleep, has most of her emotions suppressed and is unable to move away from her heroic instincts. This, combined with her preexisting psychological issues, leads to dire situations, as seen when she almost kills Ares after immediately figuring out he was the one who pressured Gideon out of the party, only to immediately heal him because he isn't a direct threat to her life.
Broken Ace: On one hand, Ruti is one of humanity's greatest hopes against the Demon Lord's forces, divinely endowed with monstrous strength and endurance. On the other hand, that blessing came at the cost of robbing her of most of her humanity, mostly able only to express herself in the presence of her brother.
Call to Agriculture: After finally, permanently overcoming her Hero Blessing, she decides to settle on a small farm outside of Zoltan with Tisse, growing medicinal herbs to supply her brother's shop. She still does adventurer jobs as a side gig, though.
The Chosen One: She has the Hero Blessing, easily the most powerful blessing in the current world that makes her incredibly strong and impervious to most attacks and ailments. Not that it's a good thing.
Chronic Hero Syndrome: Deconstructed and exaggerated. Her Blessing forces her to save anyone no matter the threat to her life or how much she hates them. This nearly got her killed at age five when she was compelled to help look for a lost child despite her youth and lack of skills and then to attack a monster threatening said child, far too powerful for someone her age to handle.
Clingy Jealous Girl: The reason she didn't push for having Rizlet join the party back when they first met, despite how useful a Spirit Scout would have been to their quest, is because she was jealous of how close she and her brother Gideon were getting.
Creepy Good: She's The Hero fighting to save the world from demonic forces. To everyone but Gideon, however, she can come across as creepy and unemotional at best, downright terrifying at worst. And after seeing her in action against Shisandan three years ago, Rizlet calls her the most frightening thing in the world.
Cuddle Bug: One of her few ways of showing emotion is embracing Gideon, such as after a tough battle.
Did You Think I Can't Feel?: Most people don't see much of her emotions, except for Red. But Tisse becomes able to read her over time.
The Dreaded: Tends to instill fear into everyone around her, though people can learn to look beyond it.
Drink-Based Characterization: Her favorite drink is warm milk with honey. It was what her brother used to make for her all the time as a child, and even with her Blessing suppressing her sense of taste, she can still remember what it tasted like, and the happier times she had with her brother before being forced to be the Hero.
Earn Your Happy Ending: Despite Ares' and Shisandan's attempt to re-brainwash her into being the Hero again, she finally manages to permanently remove her Blessing, and joins her brother in a quiet, peaceful life in Zoltan.
Emotion Suppression: Her Hero Blessing means that she doesn't showcase any emotions unless they become strong enough to overcome her Blessing.
Humanizing Tears: The otherwise nigh-emotionless Ruti breaks down in tears during a Bathtub Bonding with Rit and Tisse, confessing how much she hates being the Hero, and likewise how much she'd like to be free like Rit.
I Just Want to Be Normal: She doesn't want to be the Hero. She just wants to live a normal life with her brother, make friends, and be happy. Unsurprisingly, as soon as her blessing is disabled she abandons her quest and proceeds to move to Zoltan to be with her brother and live as an herb farmer who is also a part-time adventurer.
Incapable of Disobeying: Ruti represents the most extreme case of a blessing's control over an individual. Her Blessing of the Hero makes her effectively The Chosen One and a potential One-Woman Army who will defeat the Demon Lord's Army, and she has no choice in the matter whatsoever. From as young as five, her blessing compelled her not only to search for a missing child alone but to fight the monster threatening the kid despite her knowing she had no chance, because her blessing prioritizes helping others over her own survival. When she realizes Ares chased Gideon out of the party, she attacks him in a moment of rage that is all Ruti, only for the Hero, who cannot harm allies or leave an injured person alone, to heal him immediately afterward. She can't even go after Gideon and bring him back, even though it's the thing she wants most because it would be a hindrance to the Hero's Journey. Theodora comes to realize that, of all the people involved in the fight with the Demon Lord's Army, Ruti is the one who was given no choice in the matter. Given all this, as soon as Ruti learns what Demon's Blessing can do, she chugs a dose on the spot and, able to act on her own wishes for the first time in ages, if not first time ever, goes in search of the alchemist who created it to procure more.
It Sucks to Be the Chosen One: Ruti is the chosen Hero of humanity... and she hates every minute of it, what with the attendant emotional suppression and psychological damage, especially after her brother fell victim to one of her comrades-in-arms political machinations.
Kidnapped by the Call: Not as though her Blessing is allowing her much choice about being The Hero. At one point Red notes to himself that while he wasn't the first member of the Hero's party to leave it - several others had departed for various reasons - every member of the party, past and present, chose to be a member of it, with the exception of Ruti herself.
Killing Intent: She has this bad habit of giving off a deadly aura to people around her, whether she intends any harm or not. Even complete strangers who don't know who she is tend to freak out when they make eye contact with her.
Nominal Hero: She is The Chosen One destined to defeat the Demon King... because she has a divine blessing that takes away her free will and forces her to accomplish this goal. Ruti herself doesn't give a damn about the world.
No Social Skills: Her Blessing of the Hero has left her social skills completely stunted to the point that she can't act normal even when she wants to. Which is a problem for trying to remain inconspicuous.
Perpetual-Motion Monster: A rare heroic example. Her Hero Blessing means she never needs food or rest no matter how much she exerts herself, and essentially nothing can stop her from pressing on to kill the Demon Lord. She can't even stop herself.
The Poorly Chosen One: Literally the only thing keeping her going on her quest is the fact that she's the Hero and doesn't have a choice in the matter. As soon as she gets the ability to turn it off, she abandons her quest and retires to a backwoods town far from the war against the Demon King.
Powered by a Forsaken Child: What her Blessing amounts to. The Hero is the ultimate weapon against the Demon Lord's army, but in return one girl has to lose her ability to feel, express emotions, taste, sleep, and make her own decisions, with the effects only worsening the further along the quest she goes.
Rage Breaking Point: Learning from Ares that he pressured Gideon into leaving the party sends Ruti into such a terrifying fit of rage, she manages to temporarily override the Emotion Suppression that comes with her Hero Blessing, literally punch a hole through him, and would have left him for dead if it wasn't for her Blessing regaining control and forcing her to heal him.
Real Name as an Alias: After renouncing the Blessing and role of Hero, she takes the name of Ruti Ruhr.
Rei Ayanami Expy: A blue-haired, red-eyed girl related to one of the main characters who has trouble expressing her emotions due to fantastical reasons, and is deeply tied into the underlying lore of the story.
Sense Freak: She's actually ecstatic that she can get cold once the Hero's Blessing gets disabled due to her living so long with the Blessing numbing her of all sensations.
The Stoic: Her Blessing doesn't allow her to feel much of any major emotion. She is able to cry and smile once more after taking the Devil's Blessing and suppressing her power, though even then she is still rather emotionally subdued overall outside of certain specific circumstances.
Socially Awkward Hero: Her Hero Blessing gives her incredible fighting talent, various resistances including not needing to sleep or eat, and an array of magic skills, which makes her a One-Man Army. Perfect for slaying the Demon King's army. But, this comes at the cost of her emotions being suppressed and she is forced to go on this mission. Once her Blessing has been suppressed and she has her free will, Ruti finds she isn't well adjusted to social interaction. Case in point, she unintentionally frightened Tisse into drawing her weapon, when all Ruti wanted was to simply pet Mr. Crawly-Wawly.
Supernatural Fear Inducer: Her aura as the Hero is such that even when she’s trying to be friendly and pleasant, friends and strangers alike are terrified to the point of flight-or-fight responses being triggered. Only Red seems to be immune.
When She Smiles: She gains a warm, blissful smile upon reuniting with Red.

Ares Srowa

Voiced by: Taku Yashiro (Japanese), Brandon McInnis (English)

Blessing: Sage (Mage)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shinnonakama_ares.png

An ambitious man who forced Gideon out of the party for being perceived as a liability.

0% Approval Rating: His relationship with the rest of the party was already testy, to say the least, even long before he pressured Gideon out of the party, and it only grows worse with each passing day ever since.
Adaptational Nice Guy: The anime adaptation describes him as having been corrupted by his own blessing rather than have him be an outright villain, and removes his advances towards Ruti.
Ain't Too Proud to Beg: Pleads the demon Shisandan to save him after being mortally defeated.
Alas, Poor Villain: Despite his behavior, Red and the heroes still hold a funeral for him, and feel sympathy for him due to where his Blessing lead him, hoping he has a more peaceful blessing in his next life.
Ambition Is Evil: His long-term goal is to climb up the ranks of nobility, and he's not above stepping on a toe or two to get there, be it sucking up to other nobles or kicking out Gideon for being a "liability."
Asshole Victim: On top of being a jerk who pushed Red out of the party, he's also revealed to be a fascist who wants to conquer the world after the demon king war and kill or enslave all the "weak" divine blessings, an Entitled Bastard who believes Ruti has to be his wife, and a traitor who joins forces with one of the direct subordinates of the Demon King when things aren't going his way. As such, everyone turns against him and he gets killed by Red.
Bad Liar: When he tries convincing the Hero Party that Gideon had left the party of his own free will, not a single person buys it. Even when he talked Gideon into leaving, trying to convince him that the Party had all came to a vote, Gideon only left because he thought Ares had a point about his lack of combat abilities by comparison made him a liability.
Bond Breaker: By expelling Gideon out of the party, he unwittingly destroys the cohesion of the Hero's Party.
Bullying a Dragon: His treatment of Yarandrala and Ruti (though the latter was more sycophancy and stupidity) gets him on the receiving end of their Blessings.
Didn't See That Coming: What manages to undo him at the very end was Tisse and Ugeuge, who he had completely disregarded as useless and out of their element in a fight against him, stringing him from finishing a spell he could've used to kill Gideon. Thanks to a handy distraction by Godwin, who uncharacteristically attacked Ares only to get thwarted shortly after, the sole spider's web prevents Ares' continuous incantation in its tracks long enough for Gideon to disarm him. It's to the point that he's bragging internally about the fact that Gideon had no way of ever knowing about such a spell, that he didn't even bother to remember Tisse did know, having trained it in front of her.
Didn't Think This Through: Forcing Gideon/Red out of the Hero's Party ends up causing no small amount of grief for Ruti, the Hero's Party, and even himself:
- While Gideon's combat skills may have fallen behind the rest of the Party, his non-combat skills such as cooking, medicine, logistics, intel gathering, and negotiation, as well as his position as The Heart of the Party, are all sorely missed after his departure, causing their morale to quickly plummet. As a result, the Party's resentment of Ares soon turns into outright hatred of him.
- Gideon also served as The Strategist of the team, with his keen insight, ability to discern opponents' Blessings, and knowledge of monsters and their strengths and weaknesses often being the key to the party steamrolling their way to victory after victory. Once bereft of his intellect, the Party's tactics quickly devolve into simply bashing their enemies until they die, which would have likely failed but for Ruti's monstrous strength and endurance, and monsters they otherwise would have easily picked apart have become major obstacles.
- One of the main reasons Ares wanted Gideon out of the party was so he could take his place as Ruti's confidant and second-in-command, with the goal of romancing and eventually marrying her as part of his agenda of climbing up the ranks of nobility. Not once did it occur to him that Ruti would rightfully blame him for driving her beloved brother away, to the point where she tells Ares in no uncertain terms how much she hates him for it, and would have gladly killed him if her Blessing didn't prevent her from killing anyone who's not a direct threat to her life.
- He also assumed the rest of the party hated Gideon as much as he did, as they were always critical of Gideon's fighting ability ^note, and that they would thank him for getting rid of the "dead weight". Instead, with the party sorely missing his mental and social skills, Yarandrala immediately quit in outrage, Danan left to bring Gideon back to the party, and Theodora would have followed suit but for Danan asking her to stay by Ruti's side so she'd have at least one trustworthy person watching her back.
- Ares never realized (or more likely, refused to acknowledge) that Gideon went out of his way to watch his back during large battles, keeping him covered while he cast his spells. After Gideon's departure, Ares is nearly killed by a monster during a Dungeon Crawl, and Ruti lets him know she has no intention of protecting the man who drove away her beloved brother.
Dirty Coward: Ares only attacks targets that are weaker than him but if an opponent is stronger than him then he cowers in fear. He stays away at a distance or just doesn't fight back. Even his Blessing doesn't give him any confidence to fight in battle and even his death was portrayed as cowardly as the other characters think of him as this even in his final moments and after death.
Dude, Where's My Respect?: He's always harping on the other party members for not treating him with respect despite his status as a Sage and nobleman. It gets worse after Gideon leaves.
Entitled to Have You: His inner monologue reveals that he thinks as the Sage he is destined to marry the Hero... despite Ruti being considerably younger than him and goes from not showing any real interest to outright loathing him.
Even Evil Has Standards: Although it fails to spark a Heel Realization, he's nonetheless disturbed at how calm he is when he thinks he helped Shisandan kill Dadan.
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: As he grows more and more twisted, every sense of empathy escapes him as he becomes The Sociopath. Case in point, going out of his way to arrogantly proclaim he can do Theodora's job of healing others, as part of a threat to kick her out of the party. When she points out that one has to understand the feelings and pain of the target to actually use it worth a damn, Ares outright says he doesn't understand and can't be bothered to understand, because he's the Sage.
Family Honor: One of his main motivations in joining the Hero's party was to restore his family name, a task made difficult by what his great-grandfather did to disgrace it in the first place. However, it turns out that this is just what others think upon learning his backstory. In reality, he hates his family and only wants the prestige for his own sake.
Fascist, but Inefficient: He refuses to see value beyond the Blessings/social status people have, and suffers a terrible lack of judgement and empathy that causes his schemes to fall apart.
Fatal Flaw: He has something of a buffet of these.
- His Inferiority Superiority Complex causes him to blindly chase prestige and try to eliminate what he sees as obstacles without any consideration for things like the feelings of other people.
- His fervent belief in blessings and social status as the be-all-end-all of personal worth causes him to severely underestimate others who don't fit his narrow worldview.
- He is so used to being able to discern a person's abilities with Appraisal and being the smartest person in the room that he can't fathom that his knowledge could be lacking that he doesn't even think to second guess his assumptions.
- His excessive pride in his blessing and need for recognition leaves him extremely vulnerable to manipulation by flattery.
Foil: To Gideon/Red. Ares believes that one's Divine Blessing defines someone, and is arrogant, ambitious, and utterly self-centered. This is in contrast to Red, who believes a Blessing should never be all that defines someone, including his sister Ruti, and is kind, selfless and cares nothing for fame or power.
Freudian Excuse: The House of Srowa is a clan of disgraced nobles desperate to regain its glory at all costs, and Ares himself is not even first in line in the family's hierarchy. This contributed to his issues of strength-seeking and resentment. The anime gives him another major one as part of making him an Adaptational Nice Guy Tragic Villain - his Blessing is eating his brain just like Ruti's is, resulting in the poor guy being Driven To Vilainy.
The Friend Nobody Likes: Nobody in the party likes him because of his abrasive and arrogant personality, and it only gets worse after he kicks Gideon out. Though he seems to believe otherwise.
Horrible Judge of Character: Ares' chief Fatal Flaw is his gullibility and willingness to accept any kind of ostensible help, however unscrupulous the other party is, so long as they know how to pander to his massive Inferiority Superiority Complex.
- Back when Gideon was still in the party, he trusted the Obviously Evil mercenary Dir and his gang to watch their backs during their trek through the Enthralling Forest, even when everybody else could tell how shifty they were. Predictably, Dir immediately sold them out to the Demon Lord's Army, who set up an ambush outside the forest.
- After Ruti abandons her mission to defeat the Demon Lord to join her brother in Zoltan, Ares willingly joins the demon Shisandan, who the party fought long ago and knew as an unscrupulous backstabber. Ares' allegiance was gained by promising to help him force Ruti back into becoming a Hero by giving her one of the swords of the ancient Heroes. All this gets Ares is death at the hands of Gideon/Red and Ruti. And even had the plan worked, his partner would have just turned on him and Ruti and killed them both.
Hypocrite: Ares comes to the conclusion that Red is trying to marry Rit for her nobility status but one of the reasons he wants Ruti is to gain a noble status himself.
Inferiority Superiority Complex: As the child of a noble who was not first in line, the only thing he ever had that set him apart from his siblings was his Sage blessing, and thus he has become obsessed with how special a blessing is and can't stand anyone with a "lesser" blessing proving themselves more capable or better than him.
Ironic Name: Named after the Greek god of war but he's a massive coward who can't hold his own against his enemies.
It's All About Me: He is very self-centered and cannot stand the idea of anyone being greater than him, particularly if they're not nobility or have divine blessings "weaker" than his own. Ares also becomes very irrational when things don't go the way he wants and he is willing to use very questionable measures to ensure that they do. He drove Gideon away in order to become Ruti's new confidant, but this becomes the first of many bad decisions that Ares makes to shore up his fragile ego and it gets worse from there...
Jerkass: He's a massive prick who only cares about himself, is rude to everyone else and especially Gideon, and shows almost no redeemable qualities. The only thing that just barely keeps him from being a total Hate Sink character is the fact that after his death, the heroes hold a funeral for him and show sympathy for how his Blessing had corrupted him.
Jerkass Has a Point: Downplayed. Ares correctly states that Red simply wasn't keeping up with the rest of the party despite doing his best. The Light Novel explicitly notes that Red not only couldn't damage an enemy called Desmond the Earth, but the enemy was actively ignoring him and he still nearly got caught in an Area of Effect spell. At some point, he would become a larger liability if he stuck with them and considering what would happen if Gideon did stay he would become a martyr. However, Ares completely overlooked Red's non-combat contributions to the party, such as handling the Party's logistics (something Ares was completely unprepared to take over in Red's absence) as well as keeping Ruti motivated, without which the Party's cohesion immediately deteriorated.
Karmic Death: Having aligned himself with Shisandan in an effort to force Ruti back into becoming a Hero, he meets his end at the hands of both Ragnason siblings—Ruti, the girl he is obsessing over; and Gideon/Red, her brother who he kicked out of the party.
Kick the Dog: When Gideon agrees to leave the party, Ares confiscates his gear and trusty sword Thunderwaker, saying it belongs to the party, not him. He also goes back on his promise to tell Ruti that Gideon left on a scouting mission in Demon territory, lying to her and saying Gideon left out of shame at how much of a liability he'd become to the party.
Lack of Empathy: Unless you're Ruti (who he lusts after) then he couldn't give two damns about your wellbeing as he is willing to cast aside or even kill anyone who gets in his way regardless of who he hurts.
Long-Range Fighter: He can throw powerful spells at people from a distance but once you get past those defenses, he can be brought down hard.
Madness Makeover: He gains ugly stubble and a much gaunter appearance as he begins buckling under the weight of his own poor decisions.
Narcissist: Pretty much a textbook definition. He has an absurd self-aggrandizing sense of self-worth and an ego so fragile that he adamantly refuses to accept responsibility for any of his actions.
Never My Fault: Blames people for being lower class than him for all of his mistakes. This includes blaming Gideon for his failure to do all the tactical and logistics work Gideon did in the party after he pressured Gideon to leave.
Not Helping Your Case: He's correct when he says that Gideon left the party of his own volition, not because Ares forced him out or threatened him. But the fact that Ares insulted and criticized Gideon at every turn, even long after his departure, only made him look all the more sketchy, with the rest of the Party suspecting Ares may have sold out, or even murdered, Gideon.
Oh, Crap!: A couple times, like Ruti kicking his ass before being forced to heal him because she's the Hero, but no time is as spectacular as his defeat, especially in the manga. Absolute assurance that he's going to kill Gideon with an instant death, consecutive casting technique he made after the latter left the part is snapped in half when Tisse and Ugeuge hold one of his fingers with a single hidden string from completing the incantation, as they did know about it. This gives Gideon enough time to cut his hands off, leaving Ares a screaming, manic mess before he's finally cut down.
Professional Butt-Kisser: Perhaps the only real non-combat skill Ares had is sucking up to influential people and nobility, a skill indoctrinated into him since childhood as part of the House of Srowa's campaign to regain their prestige.
Rewarded as a Traitor Deserves: His ultimate fate. Circumstances and mercy saved Ares before, but when he allies with Shisandan in an attempt to force Ruti back into being the Hero, Red and Ruti finally end him.
Right for the Wrong Reasons: A side story showed that Ares was actually right about Gideon's dismal fighting abilities as he ended up getting killed and ended up a martyr. Of course, Ares had no concern for Gideon's well-being and only booted him out to replace him as Ruti's Number Two.
Sanity Slippage: Suffers a major one over the course of the tale, culminating in him allying with his own enemy to get Ruti back on his side.
Screw the Rules, I Have Supernatural Powers!: He's a firm believer in one's blessing being important to one's worth, seeing his blessing's uniqueness as something that makes him vital to the Hero Party when in reality, he's a liability.
Seven Deadly Sins: Ares proves on various occasions to suffer from all of the Seven Deadly Sins.
- Lust: His main motivation as he thinks that Ruti belongs to him and will get rid of anyone he sees as a threat to her affection and attention especially Red.
- Envy: He's incredibly jealous of Red as he not only gets respect from the other party members but gains the attention of Ruti which makes him want to kill him even more.
- Wrath: Easily becomes enraged if things don't go his way and short-tempered as Ruti doesn't go along with him or does what he says then will angrily take her by force.
- Pride: Arrogant, narcissistic, and smug. He thinks that he's the only person that matters in the party or can help Ruti fulfill her role as the hero.
- Sloth: Ares is lazy as he doesn't try to get stronger as he believes that his blessing is the only thing he needs to survive.
- Greed: Ares believes that all the fame and glory belongs to him and if you think so otherwise then he'll just take it by force.
- Gluttony: Not much on eating, but he's a glutton for power, as he wants all the power for himself and even wants to gain Red's abilities so he can kill him and Rit.
Smug Snake: Even before kicking out Gideon, he had a major smug streak, and that is why he can't cover for him. He is so arrogant he refuses to understand the importance of negotiating with the desert dwellers since they defy the king.
Social Climber: Spends more time improving his relationship amongst the nobles of the country than with the efforts to defeat the Demon Lord.
Sympathy for the Devil: In spite of what a horrible person he was, Red and the heroes still hold a funeral for him while showing pity for how his Blessing had warped him.
Third-Person Person: In some translations, he initially just uses his role as the Sage as a title of authority. Once he undergoes his Sanity Slippage, while he'll still refer to himself more personally, he'll continuously and elaborately use "the Sage Ares" as if trying to bolster his own confidence that his Blessing makes him everything he is.
Too Dumb to Live: When Ruti decides she's had enough of the party and Ares' creepy advances, she turns him into a mess across the wall before healing him out of her Blessing's obligation. Somehow Ares interprets this as being Gideon's influence and ignores every ounce of it to continue pursuing her.
Tragic Villain: The anime makes him this, his death and madness were due to his Blessing making him a victim as much as Ruti, as his desire to be the Sage lead him to villainy.
White Hair, Black Heart: Has silverish-white hair, and is a selfish, rude, entitled, narcissistic Jerkass with few redeeming qualities, and was responsible for Gideon leaving and the subsequent deterioration of the party.

Danan LeBeau

Voiced by: Kenta Miyake (Japanese), Chris Rager (English)

Blessing: Martial Artist (Warrior)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shinnonakama_danan.png

A martial artist who joined the Hero's party to avenge the destruction of his hometown by demons. After Ares kicks Gideon out of the party, Danan eventually goes searching for him after it becomes clear the party will collapse without him.

The Atoner: After realizing he's partly to blame for Gideon's departure, he sets off to find him and apologize.
Blood Knight: His Martial Artist blessing makes him love a good fight.
Cruel to Be Kind: Danan thought that, by constantly calling out Gideon's fighting skills (or lack thereof), the latter would be motivated to improve himself. It wasn't until Gideon left that he realized that giving nothing but insults with no constructive criticism in between is far from helpful.
Dumb Muscle: He's this by his own admission.
Gut Feeling: He gets "feelings" when dangerous foes are nearby, even without actually seeing them.
Handicapped Badass: Shisandan ambushes him and eats his right arm to assume his form, but Danan escapes before the demon can consume the rest of his body. He can nonetheless still be a formidable fighter.
Hot-Blooded: His Martial Artist Blessing compels him to fight. As he already enjoys the thrill of the fight, his Blessing is a perfect fit for him.
Jerk with a Heart of Gold: He's belligerent and only joined the Hero's party to get revenge for his hometown after the Demon King's Army destroyed it. However, he also values the friendships he's made and readily stands on the side of Red and Ruti when Ruti refuses to continue to be the Hero any longer.
My God, What Have I Done?: He had been on Gideon's case about falling behind in combat, but once he is gone he feels awful that he did so since he was a worthy member of the party whose brains helped a lot with the party's success.
Pet the Dog: After learning from Red that Ruti no longer wishes to be the Hero and wants to live a normal life, Danan's response is not only wholeheartedly accepting but self-reflective. He acknowledges that it's not fair to push those expectations onto Ruti and it would just mean that he would need to think about what he wants to do with his own life going forward.
Supreme Chef: Turns out, even without both hands, Danan is a surprisingly good chef.

Theodora Dephilo

Voiced by: Aya Uchida (Japanese), Dawn M. Bennett (English)

Blessing: Crusader (Warrior)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shinnonakama_theodora.png

A Crusader in the party, a calm and refined Lady of War.

Aloof Dark-Haired Girl: Although more emotive than Ruti, she had also criticized Gideon for falling behind in combat, but did recognize his worth, unlike Ares.
Always Someone Better: Ruti believes Theodora is this to her. While Ruti has the Hero's Blessing and all the absurd powers it implies, it doesn't give her the drive to actually be a Hero; the Blessing just makes her move on autopilot. Meanwhile, Theodora actually does have that drive, and it's because of this that Ruti believes the Hero's Blessing would've been better in Theodora's hands than hers.
The Fettered: She is the most responsible and determined member of the Hero's Party, putting the duty of defeating the Demon Lord first and foremost regardless of personal feelings. It ironically ends up becoming inverted due to said devotion to duty, however. Disappointed by her teammates' lack of resolve in fighting evil, Theodora aided Ares in compelling Ruti to become a hero again after she joined her brother Red in living a quiet life despite the ongoing war against the Demon Lord and his forces.
Forgiven, but Not Forgotten: After the failure of her and Ares' plan to force Ruti back into becoming a hero, Ruti and the others choose to spare her because at least her motivations are noble (in contrast to Ares, who had more selfish reasons, and was killed by both Ruti and Red for it), though it has become clear that they can never work together as a party again. Theodora instead elects to head the frontlines of the war with the Demon Lord's Army, still believing in her The Needs of the Many ideology even if she must sacrifice herself.
Hypocrite: She tells Albert she doesn't believe that you should define yourself by your Blessing alone, and that people have free will for that reason, only to turn around later, and help Ares try and brainwash and force Ruti to be the Hero again, despite Ruti very clearly wanting to not be the Hero.
Jerkass Has a Point: She isn't nearly as much of a jerk as Ares, but it still stands that she prioritizes Ruti's role as a hero over her personal happiness. Despite this, she isn't exactly wrong when she tells Ruti, Rit, and Red that they basically just left the world at the mercy of the Demon Lord.
The Mentor: Tries being this to Van of Flamberge, Ruti's successor as Hero, under the alias of Esta, doing her best to steer him towards being an Ideal Hero. Unfortunately for her, Van's so set on his beliefs that he often disregards her advice and counters whatever she tries telling him with preaching about his own warped worldview. Theodora can't help but muse that despite acting like he respects her and values her council, he never actually takes what she says to heart and continues to act like a Knight Templar Jerkass. She's naturally dejected that Red makes more progress in the span of a day than she has in what was likely months.
Well-Intentioned Extremist: She joined Ares' plan to force Ruti's Hero blessing back on because Ruti can save countless people in exchange for her mental health, as her blessing takes her emotions, senses, and free will as the price for creating the ultimate hero. While Theodora has nobler reasons than Ares, and her former companions cannot completely refute them, they still consider her a traitor because she chose to betray their trust for her own ideals. For her part, Theodora feels that they lack the conviction needed to fight evil and she's not wrong about that either.

Yarandrala

Voiced by: Sora Amamiya (Japanese), Alexis Tipton (English)

Blessing: Singer of the Trees (Mage)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shinnonakama_yarandrala.png

A high elf with the ability to communicate with plants, who Gideon befriended. Yarandrala went adventuring with the Hero's party before and permanently joined them after saving Loggervia from the demon lord's army. After she learned of Gideon's expulsion from the party, she got into an argument with Ares and subsequently left.

Ascended Extra: While only making a few appearances in Season 1, she becomes a major supporting character once she moves to Zoltan in the second season.
Beware the Nice Ones: High elves are typically slow to anger, but when they do get angry, they get really angry. Ares calling Gideon a deserter, after Yarandrala suspected that Ares may have killed him, sends her into a rage which ends with her punching Ares and calling forth a wooden giant against his meteorite that would have killed either one of them but for Danan and Theodora's intervention.
Cuddle Bug: High elves usually keep their distance to strangers, but once they have become friends with someone, they get very intimate. Yarandrala loves Gideon platonically and hugged him a lot, to the jealousy of Rizlet.
Green Thumb: Her blessing grants her the power to communicate with and control plants.
I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Yarandrala categorically rules out a Mayfly–December Romance with Gideon. She sees how he needs a person he can rely on when he's hurting, which is why she encouraged Rit to be more honest with Gideon. She wants Gideon to fall in love with someone and obtain ordinary happiness, and she cannot give him that.
Mayfly–December Friendship: Yarandrala may be close to Gideon, but she thinks she doesn't deserve to be his girlfriend due their vastly different lifespans. She considers him her best friend, a comrade in arms, or the human she trusts the most, but never someone she could romantically love. (In the anime, she implies that she had a romantic relationship with a human in the past; she does not want to re-experience the heartbreak of outliving her lover.)
Really 700 Years Old: High elves are a Long-Lived race. Yarandrala says she's actually quite old, but she still looks like a woman in her twenties.
Resign in Protest: She storms off in tears after Gideon leaves the party, not understanding how her comrades could just let this happen and let Ares insult Gideon like that.
Shipper on Deck: She sees how clearly Rizlet and Gideon have feelings for each other and tells her that she should go for it, as Gideon will very likely respond to her feelings.

Tisse Garland

Voiced by: Rie Kugimiya (Japanese), Jad Saxton (English)

Blessing: Assassin

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shinnonakama_tisse.png

A young but highly skilled assassin hired by Ares to replace Gideon after the latter was removed from the Hero's party. Though exceptionally skilled at assassination and intel gathering, she is also very socially awkward, making her incapable of filling the negotiation and procurement roles Gideon once held. She has a pet spider who assists her named Mr. Crawly Wawly.

Ambiguously Gay: Tisse is incredibly close and loyal to Ruti, even betraying the hero party to help her find a cure/suppressant for her Hero Blessing so she could live a normal life. The fact the two live together in Zoltan after finding a lasting cure for her Blessing in a way similar to Gideon and Red only adds to this.
Badass Adorable: Tisse is so skilled a hitman, it's easy to forget that she is still a young girl, and her Inner Monologues reveal an endearingly childish side to her, at times hysterically reacting (internally) towards many of Ruti's quirks.
First Friend: She becomes Ruti's first real friend, to the point she risks her life to help Ruti, and the two actually remain a party after the Hero's party falls apart. After hearing from Ruti how much she resents her role, Tisse resolves to help free her from her fate.
Hidden Depths: She is a bath connoisseur and was called a Bath critic back at her guild.
Insistent Terminology: Her pet spider's name is "Mr. Crawly Wawly" (Ugeuge-san). The "Mr." (-san) is part of the name.
Irony: After separating from the Hero Party with Ruti she warns her about a warrior to watch out for. The person in question? Ruti's brother and former Hero Party member Red/Gideon Ragnason.
Nice Girl: At first, she is afraid of Ruti, but after getting to know her, Tisse realizes how her Blessing has left Ruti emotionally and socially stunted and empathizes with her. As a result, she becomes Ruti's first-ever friend.
The Profiler: She's really good at analyzing people. When she first met Red she noticed that he noticed that she was armed.
Ridiculously Cute Critter: Her pet spider Mr. Crawly Wawly has big round eyes and cartoon proportions that, along with his friendly, almost mouse-like mannerisms and chirpy vocalizations, make him exceptionally cute rather than scary looking.
Shrinking Violet: She was raised to be a stealthy assassin, and as a result hadn't had a lot of social interactions before joining the Hero's party. As such, she tends to be very quiet and needs encouragement from Mr. Crawly Wawly to express herself.
Spanner in the Works: Alongside Godwin playing distraction for them, she and her spider are the final and most integral piece of stopping Ares' murderous insanity towards Red dead in its tracks and letting him get cut down to size once and for all.
The Stoic: On the outside, Tisse looks completely blank-faced and apathetic most of the time, as an assassin should. On the inside, she's constantly overthinking, imagining things and daydreaming, and freaking the hell out the moment Ruti does anything that might be abnormal or dangerous.
You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: She doesn't say these words but she was clearly thinking this when Ruti's actions (which included, among other things, slaying a half-ton monster and casually dragging the carcass to the nearest town to sell to a butcher) didn't reveal herself after leaving the Hero's party.

Zoltan

Albert

Albert Leland

Voiced by: Kōhei Amasaki (Japanese), Aaron Roberts (English)

Blessing: Champion

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shinnonakama_albert.png

A B-rank adventurer and one of the most powerful adventurers in Zoltan before Rit's arrival.

An Arm and a Leg: Red lops off his right, sword hand after he attacks the former while on a frenzy, consumed by his ambition of wanting to join the Hero's Party.
Blood Knight: A downplayed example. He doesn't enjoy killing, but it's what his Blessing enables him to do.
The Champion: The name of his blessing. A rare case of this trope is that he isn't a champion to any particular damsel or deity.
Deal with the Devil: He slowly becomes more and more aligned with the Demons, using their drugs and sorcery to make himself more powerful in the hopes of reaching Ruti's level.
I Just Want to Be Special: His Blessing compels him to reach greater and greater heights of fame and power, even hoping he will become powerful enough to rival Ruti and her allies.
Jumped at the Call: His Champion Blessing compels him to seek out greater and greater adventures all the time.
Lack of Empathy: The nature of his Blessing makes him completely incapable of understanding how powerful adventurers like Rit and Red could be content to live simple, peaceful lives in Zoltan.
Mugging the Monster: He constantly picks fights and antagonizes Red, not realizing how skilled and powerful he really is. It ends up costing him his right hand when his Face–Heel Turn is revealed.
Normal Fish in a Tiny Pond: B-Rank adventurers are relatively common in the more populous areas and on the front lines of the war with the Demons. But in Zoltan, a sleepy frontier town no one really cares about, he's easily the strongest and most capable adventurer around until Rit shows up.
Small Name, Big Ego: He believes he's destined to be a world-famous hero on par with Ruti, even though he's just a no-name adventurer living in a frontier town.
Surrounded by Idiots: His opinion of his local adventuring party, since they are all lower-rank than he is.
Underestimating Badassery: To Red and ultimately Subverted. After he loses his right hand, he reveals that he already knew that Red was stronger than him the whole time, and much of his behavior towards Red was due to his inability to comprehend why Red was content to hide his power.

Gonze

Voiced by: Masahiro Yamanaka (Japanese), Kyle Phillips (English)

A half-elf carpenter and Red's neighbor and best friend.

Best Friend: He was Red's first friend when he settled in Zoltan.
Cool Uncle: To Tanta, even building Red's apothecary shop out of gratitude for Red saving Tanta's life.
Foolish Sibling, Responsible Sibling: Downplayed, since Nao can be quirky as well, but she does chide him for staying in the sauna too long and collapsing.

Nao

Nao Stow

Voiced by: Sora Tokui (Japanese), Sarah Roach (English)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shinnonakama_nao.png

Another half-elf, sister of Gonze, and mother of Tanta.

Mum Looks Like a Sister: She doesn't look that much older than her own son.
Shameless Fanservice Girl: Downplayed, but she has no problem joining Red with Rit in the sauna, since she is wearing a towel and teases Red for his shyness.
Shipper on Deck: For Red and Rit.
Undying Loyalty: To the local sauna, refusing to abandon the old man, and pushes Red and Rit to come up with ideas to help her revitalize it.

Mido

Voiced by: Takeru Mishina (Japanese), Ivan Jasso (English)

Nao's human husband and father to Tanta, as well as a fellow carpenter with his brother-in-law Gonze.

Tanta

Tanta Stow

Voiced by: Yuu Serizawa (Japanese), Kristen McGuire (English)

https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/shinnonakama_tanta.png

Nao and Mido's quarter-elf son and one of Red's first friends when he first settled in Zoltan.

Delicate and Sickly: Nearly dies of a plague, which necessitates Red going into the mountains to find ingredients despite them being off-limits.
Uneven Hybrid: Quarter Elf, Three-Quarters human, and his ears are slightly more rounded then his mother and uncle.

Al

Voiced by: Suzuna Kinoshita (Japanese), Apphia Yu (English)

Blessing: Weapon Master (Warrior)

Bighawk

Voiced by: Tetsu Inada (Japanese), Christopher Sabat (English)

Blessing: Master of Torture

The Conqueror: What he aspires to be.
Deal with the Devil: How he got his resources and which ends with his Demonic Possession.
Thieves' Guild: The leader, no less.
Would Hurt a Child: Depends on if you count "get addicted to drugs", "kidnapping", and "emotional blackmail" to be "harm".
You Have Failed Me: Punishes failure from any of his subordinates very severely.

Demons

Shisandan

Voiced by: Kazuyuki Okitsu (Japanese), Jim Foronda (English)

An Asura demon who serves as one of the current Demon Lord's direct subordinates. Ruti killed him once years ago, but somehow he managed to survive.

Even Evil Has Standards: He thinks that a hero needs to be willing and have the full motivation to be the hero. Unfortunately, rather than just acknowledge that Ruti's Blessing would be better for someone else, he decides to forcibly mold her into his vision of a hero by artificially forcing the motivation onto her.
Kill and Replace: He did this to Rit's mentor Gaius, nearly bringing down the kingdom of Loggervia in the process. Later tries to do this to Danan, but he survives the attempt (minus an arm) and comes after him.
Shapeshifter: He can take the form of anyone he eats, including their Blessings and memories.
Villain Respect: He thinks somewhat highly of Red and even helps him out a bit while incognito. This is a far cry from Ares, who he thinks is a complete idiot.
You Are Who You Eat: Has the power to shapeshift into any being he consumes a part of, and use their Divine Blessing. The more of them he consumes, the more he can copy.

Characters introduced in Season 2

The Church

Van

Van of Flamberge

Blessing: Hero (formerly Cardinal)

The former prince of a fallen kingdom, and the successor to Ruti to the position of the Hero of humanity.

Adaptational Early Appearance: In the light novels, he is not introduced until the end of Volume 7. In the anime adaptation, he first appears in Season 2 Episode 1, which mainly adapts Volume 5. His presence as a whole functions as this since his arc occurs earlier in the anime than in the light novel.
Attack! Attack! Attack!: What Red surmises his mindset to be. Compared to Ruti he has no technique, no tactics, nothing but the most straight forward method of dealing with his foes. This is demonstrated by the fact that he has leveled exactly none of his other abilities, and only his blessing, citing that swordsmanship itself is for humans who lack a heroes blessing.
Ax-Crazy: While he can appear calm and collected under normal circumstances, Van is an unhinged maniac who has no problem murdering all those he deems "evil".
Black-and-White Insanity: This guy does not believe in shades of grey. To him, people are either saints or monsters, and monsters are meant to be slain.
Curb-Stomp Battle: He's completely blindsided by Ruti, who very nearly killed him with a single punch.
Dark Is Evil: His hair and armor are dark navy blue, and he's a murderous lunatic.
Dissonant Serenity: Even when murdering people in cold blood, his serene smile never fades.
Egocentrically Religious: His faith in the Almighty and preordained fate basically boils down to him never wanting to reflect on his past actions and to always be justified in every terrible thing he does.
Evil Cannot Comprehend Good: His warped worldview blinds him to the idea that people can live without committing fully to their Blessing. In his mind, he sees such an idealogy as an affront to Demis's will and it must be corrected by any means necessary.
Evil Counterpart: He's what Ruti would've become if she'd kept her Hero's Blessing. Van has the Hero's Blessing just like she used to, but unlike Ruti he embraced his Blessing to the point of willingly letting it consume his humanity.
Evil Hero: While he may have the drive to fight the Demon Lord, Van is by no means a great Hero. He believes his vile actions, like letting comrades die in battle or killing a man who could have simply been incapacitated and arrested, to be justified as part of the Almighty's will, believing that he, his allies, and victims are filling out a role and feels no remorse for the lives lost. Van also acts rudely to civilians offering hospitality. He'll even attack and kill monsters that pose no threat to civilians, stating that they go against the gods will by not willingly playing out their monstrous roles. He later tops himself by trying to force the citizens of Zoltan to leave their homes and fight the war with him, showing little care for how they feel, and even attempting to brainwash them into joining him. he later decides to kill Red, Ruti, and everyone associated with them to set himself back on the path of his warped heroism.
Evil Overlooker: The poster for Season 2 shows him overlooking all the other characters.
The Fatalist: He believes every person's fate has been preordained long before the person in question is born. As such, he feels no guilt at all when killing his enemies or failing to save innocents.
Freudian Excuse: His parents were amongst the royal and noble families who believed that raising their own children was a mark of shame, leading to them abandoning Van at a monastery whose teachings greatly contributed to his twisted morality. He only got worse after receiving the Hero's Blessing, which he let turn him into the psychopath he is in the present day.
Hate Sink: Between his atrocities, his callousness, his rotten personality, and his insane way of thinking, it's clear that Van only exists to draw as much audience hatred as possible. His actions make him far worse than Ares.
Heel–Face Turn: After a good dose of Warrior Therapist from Red, his Blessing seems to have at least loosened its iron grip, causing him to repent for his actions against the people of Zoltan. The ending implies that he can reform from an Evil Hero to a true Hero. Sadly this doesn't last long as he continues his atrocities shortly afterwards and plans to kill Ruti and Red.
Insane Troll Logic: As one can see from the rest of the tropes here, Van runs on this. No matter how heinous his actions are, he will always work up some kind of crazy justification.
Jerkass: In contrast to his constantly present smile and clear respect for Ljubo and Theodora, under the alias of Esta, Van can come off to most others as a rude brat. Alongside justifying both intentional and Failure-to-Save Murder as simply being the victims' "fate", he's very unsociable and snappy with the commoners he's meant to protect, such as refusing to partake in the welcome party a village set up for him, and never takes Esta's advice on how he should behave into consideration despite his supposed respect for her. The sole exception to his rude behavior are children, and that's solely because they haven't awakened to their Blessings and therefore haven't been given a "role" yet, and he'll easily get snippy if they express a desire to find work outside of their Blessing. The only one he shows any genuine respect is Red, and that's only because his Blessing-centred world view makes him more inclined to listening to him due to his Guide Blessing.
Lack of Empathy: He is utterly indifferent to the death and suffering he causes. All he cares about is fulfilling his role as the Hero.
Parental Abandonment: His parents wanted nothing to do with him due to them being amongst the royal and noble families who believed that raising their own children was a mark of shame and instead abandoned him at the monastery he spent most of his life in. Needless to say, their teachings weren't the best influence on him.
The Poorly Chosen One: For as much as this trope applies to Ruti, Van may be even worse! At least Ruti acted as an ideal and virtuous hero, largely due to Gideon's guidance. But Van acts less like a hero and more like an entitled jerkass who thinks being the hero gives him the right to do whatever he wants, with his only obligation being defeating the Demon King.
Red Eyes, Take Warning: He has crimson eyes, which reflects his bloodthirsty attitude and his viciousness.
Sketchy Successor: He became the one to inherit the Hero's Blessing after Ruti managed to shake its hold on her. Unlike her however, he willingly let it consume his humanity which combined with his upbringing turned him into a danger to everyone around him.
Sole Survivor: His country was overrun and destroyed by the Demon Lord's forces, leaving him as the only survivor.
Tautological Templar: Van believes that, as the Hero, everything he does is automatically justified since he, his allies, and his victims are simply playing out their roles in a grand scheme laid out by the gods.
Took a Level in Kindness: After he comes to Zoltan, makes a (brain-washing assisted) attempt at conscripting the villagers, and expresses a desire to kill Ruti after she deals a Curb-Stomp Battle against him, the groups' aim becomes Invoking this by having Red serve as Morality Pet like he did with Ruti, as well as trying to convince his allies to call off his Ruti hunt.
Ungrateful Bastard: When he arrives in one village and partakes in a welcome party set up for him, he stoically keeps to himself and when he isn't, he's snapping at the servers for daring to try giving him food out of the haughty belief that the Hero can't get hungry.
Unskilled, but Strong: He mainly relies on his Blessing's power to obtain victory when he fights. While he can kill monsters easily, he has little experience fighting people, such as Yarandrala and Danan, though he can still hold his own. Red also briefly neutralizes him with superior swordsmanship, and a surprise punch from Ruti hands Van his first on-screen defeat.
Van Helsing Hate Crimes: In Van's warped point of view, monsters staying peacefully at home are evil, since they should be helping adventurers to "level up" by getting killed by them.
Villainous Breakdown: He was already crazy and unstable, but after suffering a miserable defeat at the hands of Ruti, what little grasp on reality he had vanishes. He gets even worse after the Hero's Blessing stops communicating to him, which he takes as a consequence of him wavering in his duties and sets his sights on killing Ruti, Red, and everyone else whom he considers an obstacle.

Lavender

A fairy who is Van's only friend having presumably known him long before the Hero's Blessing had taken hold of him. She is extremely loyal to him and will side with him in pretty much everything.

Always Chaotic Evil: It turns out she's the Sole Survivor of a race of Archfays who did nothing but spread destruction across the lands with their immense power. With that in mind, it's pretty obvious why she wouldn't have a problem following someone as wantonly violent and insane as Van.
Evil Counterpart: To Rit. While they can get along amicably when talking about love, their definition of love differs greatly. While Rit believes in growing as a person and falling in love even more with her special someone, Lavender is perfectly fine with a stagnant, albeit toxic, one-sided love, and flatly refuses to help Van change his ways.
Fairy Companion: She's a cute little fairy that follows Van everywhere. Although, it turns out not to be her true form.
Jerkass: She is pretty unpleasant to everyone she meets, except to Van.
Last of Her Kind: She's revealed to belong to the Ketu, a race of very powerful and very destructive Archfays who wreaked havoc across the land long ago before being wiped out by the ancient elves and dragons to protect civilization. How exactly Lavender survived is unknown, with the only theory being that she'd been deep in hiding until recently.
Our Fairies Are Different: The Ketu were a race of Archfays who long ago were considered "living calamities" due to their enormous magical power and very destructive and violent behavior, which led to them being branded a huge threat to the advancement of civilization and eradicated by the ancient elves and dragons. Unfortunately, it turns out they missed one.
Psycho Supporter: As far as Lavender is concerned, everything Van does is right. It probably helps that her race is already destructive by nature.
Undying Loyalty: Because of her Mad Love for him, she willingly does anything Van asks, however immoral, because nothing else matters to her.

Monsters

The Gem Beast

A monster that had encroached into the gem giants' territory. Due to its favorite diet of gems and various metals, it directly threatens the giants' survival. What is worse, due to its ability to turn any mineral into lead, it's indirectly causing problems on the forest below due to how the lead poisons the ground water.

Aura Vision: "Sees" minerals or mineral-made items (like steel weaponry).
Breath Weapon: In this case, a beam-like blast that turns anything it hits to lead.
Meteor-Summoning Attack: Uses its Fire-based blessing to summons a Meteor Swarm to attack Red and his friends.
My Rules Are Not Your Rules: It seems to be using multiple Blessings, which goes against how beings should only have one Blessing at a time. Obviously this causes a LOT of problems.
Rock Monster: With a dash of Crystalline Creature, the Gem Beast looks like a gigantic turtle monster made out of rock with gem outcroppings spread around on it.
Power Copying: On top of its durability and sheer power, the Gem Beast also has this, as the party soon discovers when it uses Rutie and Yarandrala's spells against them.
Weaksauce Weakness: Ultimately defeated by a vial of Blessing-dampening medicine. And a punch from Rutie to make sure it stays down.

Characters / Banished from the Hero's Party

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