Eugeo met his end when he sacrificed himself to seriously injure the Administrator that had brought so much suffering in Underworld. But as Eugeo reunited with the Alice of his youth and started to fade away to the afterlife, he got Summoned to Melromarc to be this World's new Legendary Sword Hero. "Remember Kirito's words... stay cool."
The Blue Rose Sword Hero
is a Sword Art Online/The Rising of the Shield Hero Crossover fanfic written by Gadget boy. Also, a "Let's Watch Our Show" Plot spinoff written by the same author can be found here.
Beware of unmarked spoilers for the fic, Sword Art Online, and The Rising of the Shield Hero.
The Blue Rose Sword Hero contains examples of:
- Adaptation Species Change:
- Downplayed with Eugeo as he's still a human, but he was originally a very advanced A.I. descended from the first group of A.I. born out of the human consciousness. After being transported to the world of The Rising of the Shield Hero, he's now a flesh and blood human.
- Played straight with Alice Zuberg. Like Eugeo, she's also originally a very advanced A.I. descended from the first group of A.I. born out of the human consciousness. After being transported to the world of The Rising of the Shield Hero, she's now a spirit of the legendary holy weapon that Eugeo wields and is capable of manifesting a physical form.
- Adaptational Angst Downgrade:
- While Naofumi is still traumatized by the False Rape Accusation by Malty in a Kangaroo Court, to the point that it first awakened his Curse Series and still loses his sense of taste, Eugeo's subtle intervention mitigates this somewhat, leading to him recovering much faster than canon.
- Raphtalia also doesn't lose her Best Friend from being brutally killed in slavery, ensuring a happy reunion with Rifana in chapter 10.
- Adaptational Heroism:
- Justified with the Hero of the Sword, as its Eugeo who took the place of Ren Amaki in fic. While Ren was also the Token Good Teammate of the three Cardinal Heroes in the canon series, he similarly believed that the world works like a game, pigeon-hole himself in how to level up, is rather aloof, and prone to Toxic Friend Influence by Itsuki and Motoyasu.
- Naofumi's more unsavory traits from the canon series after his False Rape Accusation are toned down in the fic due to Eugeo's support and subtle actions, with much more emphasis on the "Heart of Gold" part as a Jerk with a Heart of Gold.
- Adaptational Name Change: Filo's name is changed to Guinevere in the fic, mainly thanks to Mash intervening.
- Adaptational Nice Guy: Due to Eugeo's support and subtle intervention in the fic, Naofumi didn't fully lose his initial kindness and become the bitter and jaded Anti-Hero from canon.
- Adapted Out: Ren Amaki is replaced by Eugeo in the fic as the Sword Hero.
- All Amazons Want Hercules: Overlapping with Single Woman Seeks Good Man. Kirin Toudou is an Action Girl with immense prowess in swordsmanship and isn't interested in any of the male natives of the world of The Rising of the Shield Hero due to them being either all bark, no skill, cruel, and/or a combination of the three. Never mind the fact that none of them or any suitors were able to best her in combat. Then Eugeo came along and fought her to a standstill, and she slowly developed feelings for the Sword Hero due to his kindness, and strength in both integrity and swordsmanship.
- Alternate Universe Fic: As explained in the fic and its reaction spinoff, Eugeo is transported to an alternate world of The Rising of the Shield Hero with many differences and divergences from the canon series.
- Berserk Button: Assholes who abuse their power to torment and rape the innocent are a huge one for Eugeo. A trait that is greatly shared by his Love Interests and friends.
- Best Friend:
- Despite being Trapped in Another World, Eugeo still regards Kirito as his close friend besides Alice.
- Rifana is one for Raphtalia, even after being Made a Slave and separated from each other. When they both reunite by chance upon Eugeo and Naofumi's third Psychic Link in the Mental World as young women after much level grinding, the two demihuman girls tearfully embrace each other.
- Birds of a Feather:
- Eugeo and Alice Zuberg both bonded and fell for each other due to their kindness for others and hatred for evil people who abuse their authority and power to torment and rape innocents.
- Eugeo and Kirin Toudou also fell for each other, though more on the latter's case, due to their shared origins from the Sword Art Online world (transported for Eugeo and reincarnated for Kirin), perchance for people who are genuinely talented and skilled as warriors, their hatred for slavery and corrupt authorities, their desire to help others in need, and their close connection with a skilled swordsman (Kirito for Eugeo and Asuna for Kirin in her past life as "Yuuki Konno").
- Childhood Friend Romance: Eugeo and Alice Zuberg were Childhood Friendss that blossom into romance at the beginning of the fic.
- Experienced Protagonist: One of the advantages Eugeo has over the other Cardinal Heroes is that he's already a trained Magic Knight who hails from a world with similar cultures, social customs, and a magic system, whereas the rest are either Muggle college students (i.e. Naofumi and Motoyasu) from a world that is Like Reality, Unless Noted or high school student from a world where people have Psychic Powers (Itsuki).
- Fish out of Temporal Water: Averted and very downplayed with Eugeo. The world of The Rising of the Shield Hero has similar cultures, social customs, and magic system to the Underworld (even though it's a virtual reality created through very advanced technology with the people living inside being created from human consciousness), allowing him to adapt to his new surroundings better than the other Cardinal Heroes aside from his experience as a Magic Knight. The very downplayed part comes in regarding him hearing other Cardinal Heroes when they talk about "online computer games" or "modern technology", while he can't fully comprehend what they mean, he's still able to grasp a rudimentary concept of Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game when Naofumi explains to him in chapter 1.
- Foil: Eugeo serves as this to Ren Amaki from the canon series.
- In the canon series, Ren was considered a "backup" wielder for the Legendary Sword while Eugeo is the original desired wielder in the fic.
- While both are Ordinary High-School Students (since Eugeo never technically graduated from the Sword Mastery Academy) who were transported to another world, Eugeo came from a Medieval European Fantasy world while Ren came from a world that is Like Reality, Unless Noted with technologically being more advanced.
- While Eugeo was originally a "Fluctlight" (i.e. living Artificial Intelligence) who later gains a flesh-and-blood body upon being transported, Ren has always been a flesh-and-blood human.
- While Eugeo is Strong and Skilled due to learning swordsmanship in an academy and having actual combat experience, Ren is Skilled, but Naive due to his swordsmanship relying entirely on how he played Brave Star Online back in his own world.
- They both come from humble backgrounds and companies with a Childhood Friend. Whereas Eugeo's friendship with Alice Zuberg blossoms into romance, Ren is forever separated by his own unless he defeats the waves.
- The nature of their Heroic Sacrifice that led to them being transported are similar but different. While Ren died upon saving his childhood friend from being murdered by a murderer on a killing spree, Eugeo, along with Alice Zuberg, died from giving his best friend an opening to kill Quinella once and for all.
- While both are the Token Good Teammate compared to the other Cardinal Heroes (i.e. Itsuki and Motoyasu), Ren is a Rookie Red Ranger naive about the new world being a game with plenty of rougher edges that lead to him making great mistakes. Eugeo, on the other hand, is an Experienced Protagonist capable of noticing his surroundings and resolves many of the series' original canon events.
- Lastly, their connection to Kirito, both In-Universe and out-of-universe.
- While Ren Amaki is a blatant expy of Kirito, they're still very different people, and those differences are highlighted in both the canon series of Sword Art Online and The Rising of the Shield Hero, and through their interactions and other people's analysis of them in the reaction fic. Eugeo, despite growing up in a different world, is far more similar to Kirito due to their physical appearance, backgrounds, beliefs, strong friendship, and sword style.
- Similar to Kirito, Ren is implied to have grown up with a normal family and is a huge fan of MMORPGs. But unlike Kirito, Ren lacks the angst of having to grow up with a family who turned out to be distant relatives and is capable of having one childhood friend compared to Kirito's Friendless Background before Aincard. On the other hand, Eugeo is similar to Kirito due to suffering from a Dark and Troubled Past involving Parental Neglect and emotional abuse from his father due to Parental Favouritism, among other things, while having a caring sister.
- Furthermore, if Ren Amaki Corrupted Character Copy by representing nearly all of Kirito's negative traits in Pre-Character Development, then Eugeo represents the more noble aspects of Kirito before and after the latter's Character Development.
- Identical Stranger:
Word of God states that Rifana's "grown up form" looks like a pink haired Suguha Kirigaya. - Irony:
- Eugeo replaced Ren Amaki's role as the Hero of the Sword, who the latter is very much an expy of his best friend Kirito (even sharing the same Japanese VA in the anime).
- The other Cardinal Heroes (Naofumi, Itsuki, and Motoyasu) were Genre Savvy online gamers in their own way and believe Eugeo comes from a Medieval European Fantasy world that's similar to the world they're currently transported to. What they don't know is that Eugeo's world was actually a Cyberspace with an RPG Mechanics 'Verse created as a top-secret government project to produce living A.I. for military purposes. For added irony, Eugeo never found out that his own world was a virtual one as well.
- In the past, Rifana greatly admires the Shield Hero and expresses a somewhat childish desire to marry him compared to Raphtalia, who also shares similar desires for marrying a Cardinal Hero. By the present time, Rifana's Best Friend, Raphtalia, is the one who falls for the Shield Hero after being purchased by him and treated with care whereas her admiration and previous crush transferred to the Sword Hero after she and the other demihumans were rescued by him from slavery, as explained in both chapters 11 and 24. However, she still greatly respects the Hero of the Shield. Furthermore, Rifana is the first to undergo a Relationship Upgrade with a Cardinal Hero way before Raphtalia does with hers.
- "Let's Watch Our Show" Plot: By the same author, he wrote a reaction spinoff with the canon cast of both Sword Art Online and The Rising of the Shield Hero being transported in the "Hollow Observatory" by Zelretch to watch the events of The Blue Rose Sword Hero with all the humor, exasperation, drama, and tearjerking moment that ensues.
- Magic by Any Other Name: In Eugeo's case, it's "Sacred Arts By Any Other Name" as the magic system in the world of The Rising of the Shield Hero works very similar to one in his own world. Ironically, Eugeo never learned that his world was a Cyberspace with an RPG Mechanics 'Verse.
- Mirror Character: Despite their differences, both Raphtalia and Rifana are incredibly similar, which makes them Best Friends in the first place.
- They both invert the usual bad stereotypes of the animals associated with their demihuman traits (tanuki for Raphtalia and weasel for Rifana).
- They're both Nice Girls who fight to protect others and the ones they personally cherish.
- They're both Made a Slave and suffered cruel abuse from plenty of slaveowners before meeting their respective Cardinal Heroes.
- Despite having trauma from their time as a slave, they both prove to be mentally resilient in their own ways and eventually recovered after being freed and spending time amongst their friends (even though Raphtalia took much longer to recover).
- They both express a desire to marry a Cardinal Hero as children and upon being rescued from slavery by a Cardinal Hero, they fell in love with them and would eventually develop a romantic relationship with them.
- They're both part of a group led by a Cardinal Hero and their Legendary Holy Weapons, with the other members consisting of another demihuman and a Filolial.
- They both tend to swoon from hearing romantic tales and have Cuteness Proximity from seeing the Puppy Love developing between Arthur and Ginny.
- They're both Hope Bringers to a group of demihumans that suffered from a terrible event.
- Point of Divergence: Due to the world of The Rising of the Shield Hero being an Alternate Universe from the canon series, there are plenty of changes before and after Eugeo's presence.
- A previous Bow and Sword Hero (i.e. alternate versions of Shirou Emiya and Autoria Pendragon) who fell in love after fighting together in the waves and established a clan known as the "Toudou Family" who secretly fights against the demihuman discrimination and corruption of The Church of the Three Heroes and Melromarc. Also, they established a popular restaurant known as "Emiya's Family Menu".
- While Malty's False Rape Accusation of Naofumi and the subsequent Kangaroo Court still happened, Eugeo's intervention through a Psychic Link with Naofumi in the Mental World allows the Shield Hero to have a slightly less traumatic experience compared to the canon series.
- In the canon series, Raphtalia mentioned her Best Friend dying in her arms after being cruelly tortured by their slavemaster before being sold to Naofumi. Here, Rifana is saved by Eugeo, Alice, and Kirin due to her slavemaster not killing her yet, mainly due to Anna's existence.
- Reincarnate in Another World: Kirin Toudou is Yuuki Konno's reincarnation in the world of The Rising of the Shield Hero, and slowly regaining her Past-Life Memories.
- Spared by the Adaptation:
- By some random chance, Eugeo is caught in the summoning spell upon his Heroic Sacrifice and transported to the world of The Rising of the Shield Hero.
- Alice Zuberg also survives by becoming Eugeo's Legendary Holy Sword and later manifesting a physical form.
- Downplayed as Yuuki Konno still died in her own world from HIV, but she is reincarnated as "Kirin Toudou" in the world of The Rising of the Shield Hero.
- As a result of not dying before being separated from Raphtalia and through Eugeo's intervention, with the help of Alice and Kirin, Rifana is spared from death in slavery by her cruel master.
- Strong and Skilled: Unlike the other Cardinal Heroes who are either Unskilled, but Strong with strong offense (Itsuki and Motoyasu) or Weak, but Skilled with strong defense (Naofumi), Eugeo is the only one who's both powerful with magic and skilled in swordsmanship.
- Token Good Teammate: Unlike the other Bow and Spear Hero, Eugeo is the only Cardinal Hero of the three heroes who is the most heroic and skilled of them all.
- Tomboy and Girly Girl: Raphtalia is the tomboy to Rifana's girly girl, as the latter is described by Raphtalia to be much kinder and feminine than her in canon. It's even reflected in their "grown-up" forms, with Rifana looking much more busty and curvaceous than Raphtalia.
- Twofer Token Minority: Among the Four Cardinal Heroes, Eugeo is a threefer; Non-Japanese, Non-human (more accurately, a "fluctlight"), and the only one who could wield magic beforehand and trained in swordsmanship.
- You Are Not Alone: Eugeo declares to Naofumi in the Mental World that the latter isn't alone in the world in response to his Despair Speech of what's to come for his False Rape Accusation.
- Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: Lampshaded by Mash in regards to Naofumi attempting to name his Filolial...well..."Filo" like his canon counterpart. Instead, she named her "Guinevere" to reflect Filo's status as a royal Filolial and in a not-so-subtle matchmaking attempt for Eugeo's royal Filolial, Arthur.
