Fanfic / The Summoned Hero Is A Historical Materialist??

The Summoned Hero Is A Historical Materialist?? is a Fix Fic of The Rising of the Shield Hero written by melmonella/SableGM, an author who is known for their deconstructions of common fantasy anime/manhua cliches and in-depth analyses of tabletop RPG mechanics. As one may expect from such an author, the fic endeavors to criticize and rectify its source material's Unfortunate Implications (particularly surrounding slavery), flesh out its characters, and expand upon its worldbuilding.

Naofumi Iwatani is a 20-year old college student and socialist anarchist who suddenly and inexplicably finds himself inside a video game set in a fantasy world on the cusp of an industrial revolution after taking a trip to the library. However, things quickly go awry: being the only person who didn't get sucked into the game by playing it and armed with the weakest weapon in the game, he finds himself at a great disadvantage. To make matters worse, there are worse enemies than the monsters that he and his fellow heroes have been summoned to fight; the Kingdom of Melromarc's ruling class is thoroughly corrupt, slavery runs amok within the kingdom, and for whatever reason, the king and his younger daughter, Myne (Melty is the older of the two in this continuity), are out to get him.

As he slowly gathers a party, fights for the freedom of Melromarc's slaves, and organizes a socialist uprising amongst the people, Naofumi must navigate the internal politics of the kingdom and gather the rest of the Heroes and other important figures for his cause as he balances fighting to overthrow the monarchy and keeping the waves of monsters that threaten to destroy the nation entirely at bay.

The Summoned Hero Is A Historical Materialist?? can be read on RoyalRoad, SufficientVelocity, and AO3.

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The Summoned Hero Is A Historical Materialist?? contains examples of:

• Adaptational Context Change: Naofumi still ends up buying Raphtalia from the slave trader. However, instead of buying her because she was the cheapest option as in canon, he's utterly aghast upon finding her in her cell and only buys her at all because he isn't strong enough yet to kill the slave trader right then and there and break her out. Raphtalia being branded with a slave seal is also Played for Drama here as Naofumi curses himself for not having any other viable option to free her while probably struggling not to wince at Raphtalia's pained twitching from the slave seal, and while prose isn't conducive to background music, whatever the background track would be here if this were an actual stage production or anime would most certainly NOT be the cheery, bouncy music that plays over the canon counterpart of this scene in the anime.
• Adaptational Heroism: Naofumi is much less accepting of slavery than his canon self and actually isn't a misogynist in this continuity. He frees Raphtalia and Filo at the first chance he gets, only buying Raphtalia in the first place because he wasn't strong enough at the time to free her by force, and even then, he turns off her slave seal's coercive effects as a temporary solution until he finds out how to remove slave seals. In addition, he actively fights for a socialist society built on equity and human (and demihuman) rights and endeavors to overthrow the oppressive feudal monarchy that rules over Melromarc.
• Adaptational Intelligence: The three heroes are significantly less idiotic than their canon counterparts, with the exception of Motoyasu. Likewise, Myne is no longer a Stupid Evil walking incel stereotype.
• Adaptational Karma: In Chapter 21, the slave trader (Beloukas in canon) dies at Filo's hands as Raphtalia kills his guards. (see entry for Death by Adaptation)
• Adaptational Nice Guy:
  • Naofumi is not a cynic in this continuity. In fact, he believes that (to quote the Spirit of the Past) "humanity can always do better," a belief that drives him to action and keeps him going even at his lowest.
  • While their ideologies may not align perfectly with Naofumi's, the three heroes are significantly less jerkish than their canon counterparts (though Motoyasu still has some Jerkass tendencies).
  • Greatly downplayed with Myne; while she's still very much a bitch whose face you'll likely want to punch, she cares about her sister and has believable and sometimes even admirable goals. (It definitely helps that she isn't a fragment of an evil goddess in this continuity.)
• Adaptational Romance Downgrade: None of the source material's harem elements are present in this continuity. Most notably, Raphtalia and Naofumi's relationship is now completely platonic, with Raphtalia being Naofumi's right-hand woman, pupil, and friend rather than a love interest.
• Adaptational Villainy: Appropriately enough for someone of his career, the slave trader is never shown in an even slightly sympathetic light.
• Adaptation Expansion: And how. The world and its magic system, technology, economy, and geopolitics as well as Melromarc's internal politics have all been greatly fleshed out in comparison to canon. The leveling system, which the author has noted was frustratingly inconsistent in canon, is somewhat made consistent as well with a sensible progression curve.
• Age Lift: To rectify the source material's rather... strange treatment of several characters who are minors, the characters in question have been aged up.
  • Raphtalia is older than her canon self, being roughly 16 years old when Naofumi meets her.
  • Filo's human form is that of a tall, muscular adult woman (befitting her role as The Big Girl of the party) rather than a child as in canon.
  • Likewise, Melty is (as mentioned above) the older of the Melromarc siblings, being in her early 20s.
• Apocalypse How: Class 4. The appropriately-named Waves of Apocalypse threaten to wipe out humanity and demi-humanity and require the intervention of the Four Heroes to be stopped.
• Aristocrats Are Evil: The aristocracy of Melromarc is thoroughly corrupt.
• Awesome, but Impractical: Melromarc's magic arrows are noted to be this; they're said to be better than bullets, but they can only be produced by mages, who can only produce so much magical ammunition a day. Melromarc only manages to have such a large supply of magic arrows by stocking up on them between wars. This, combined with the fact that practically all of Melromarc's mages are part of the aristocracy or clergy, means that Naofumi and his allies must import guns from Faubrey.
• Bar Brawl: In Chapter 28, Raphtalia and Filo get into one with a group of guards who are spending time at the Seven Soldiers tavern before their shifts as part of a plan to force Count Merpet to accept aid from Naofumi and Melty's demihuman forces. It works.
• Death by Adaptation: In Chapter 21, the slave trader dies at Filo's hands as Raphtalia kills his guards. (see entry for Adaptational Karma)
• Evil Doppelgänger: Dark Naofumi, the manifestation of Naofumi's Curse Shield and a massive tankie, tries to manipulate Naofumi into doing deeply unethical things such as only recruiting the most loyal of the former slaves in Chapter 7 and mind-controlling Melty and Filo in Chapter 32. Thankfully, none of his bullshit works on Naofumi.
• Fantastic Racism: Demihumans such as Raphtalia and Constance are widely regarded as less than human by the dominant human population of Melromarc and are often targeted and enslaved.
• Fantasy Gun Control: Downplayed. Guns are nowhere to be found and even outright banned in Melromarc, but they are noted to exist in Faubrey, from where Naofumi seeks to import firearms to arm his troops. Justified by the presence of magic in the world in which Melromarc and Faubrey exist; Melromarc uses magic arrows instead of guns, and they are noted to be on par with bullets. However, they require dedicated mages for their production, and mages can only produce so much magic ammunition a day. This, combined with Melromarc's mages being more or less entirely opposed to Naofumi and his allies due to their affinity with the ruling class and clergy, means that firearms are much more practical weapons for the socialists.
• Fascist, but Inefficient: The Kingdom of Melromarc is an oppressive feudal hellhole where demihumans are discriminated at every turn, class inequality is through the roof, and slavery makes up a significant portion of the economy. Among other things, its rulers also follow the Church of the Three Heroes, which is staunchly anti-Shield to the point that the king and Myne are willing to screw Naofumi over before even knowing he is a socialist (for example, leaving him for dead with zero support and even actively trying to kill him during and in the immediate aftermath of the monster raid at Lute Village) when it might be more practical to have all four heroes cooperating against the Waves of Apocalypse. Also, as Naofumi points out to Melty during their first debate, slavery is an inherently inefficient system that only serves to stuff the pockets of slavers, as most funds and resources ultimately go to them rather than benefiting the national economy.
• Gunpowder Fantasy: The world in which the four heroes find themselves has been compared by the author to late 18th-century England technologically speaking. Industries such as steelmaking, dye production, potionmaking, and glass production are flourishing, and firearms comparable to those found in pre-Napoleonic Europe are produced in Faubrey where they are presumably a mainstay of the nation's military (though they are banned in Melromarc, which prefers to employ magic arrows; see the example for Fantasy Gun Control above).
• Inner Monologue: The inner monologues of the main characters are personified as "spirits" that talk and argue with each other, representing said characters' inner conflicts and decision-making.
• La Résistance: Naofumi and his party, along with Itsuki, are leading a socialist revolution against the corrupt feudal monarchy ruling over Melromarc.
• Named by the Adaptation: Inverted with the slave trader. His name is provided as Beloukas in canon, but he doesn't recur enough times for his name to be brought up here, only appearing to sell Raphtalia to a reluctant and righteously indignant Naofumi and then to die at Naofumi, Raphtalia, and Filo's hands.
• Script Fic: Best known for the gags in the dramatis personae sections of each of its chapters. For example:

NAOFUMI IWATANI, THE SHIELD HERO. The real first socialist. The other one is a blind fool.

KAWASUMI ITSUKI, THE BOW HERO. The actual first socialist. The other one is a naive moron.

(Chapter 11)

• Shout-Out:
  • Constance von Marukievich is named for the real-world Irish socialist, suffragete, and revolutionary Constance Markievicz, a dead giveaway for anyone already familiar with her namesake that she's on Naofumi's side even before she drops the pretense of being a slaver with him in Chapter 12. Her design also draws significantly from her namesake.
  • The Chapter 19 dramatis personae section references Disco Elysium in calling Ren Amaki "the vilest of the vile - a liberal."
  • According to freshryeroll herself, who created some of the character designs for this fic, Filo's design was partially inspired by that of Toast from Bee and Puppycat.
• Shown Their Work: And boy does it show. The author has published some of their worldbuilding notes in the appendices, but from the explanations and discussions of political and economic theory to the references to real-world history, it's abundantly clear that their research and knowledge on the subjects being discussed go far beyond what is written in the appendices alone.
• Shut Up, Hannibal!: In Chapter 15, after Idoru Reibia, who apparently hasn't learned yet that Naofumi already freed Raphtalia and Filo, tries to tell Naofumi that he's no better than him due to also being a slave owner and that he should thus free him, Constance and Naofumi are quick to shut him up. Also, every encounter between Naofumi and Dark Naofumi ends this way.
• Slave Liberation: Naofumi is staunchly anti-slavery and goes out of his way to fight for the liberation of Melromarc's slaves whenever possible. He's done all three types at various points in the story, though he strongly prefers encouraging slaves to rise up.
• Slavery Is a Special Kind of Evil: In spades. Slaver antagonists such as the slave trader, Idoru Reibia, and Leuria are depicted as being especially despicable, and Naofumi and his allies are staunchly dedicated to snuffing out slavery and freeing all slaves within Melromarc and beyond.
• Teeth-Clenched Teamwork: Melty often ends up butting heads with Raphtalia and Naofumi over their clashing ideologies, but this doesn't really get in the way of their united efforts. Played for Laughs in the dramatis personae section of Chapter 28, where all three (and Constance) are labeled as "suspected traitors to the revolution." This also occurs between Naofumi and the other heroes to varying degrees in their struggle against the monarchy and the Waves.