The Forsaken Hero Returns From Death to be the Demon King (Suterareta Yuusha wa Maou to Narite Shi ni Modoru, Suterareta Yuusha no Eiyuutan, 捨てられた勇者は魔王となりて死に戻る) is a Japanese Light Novel series written by Ran Yuujima with illustrations by teffish and was released on Nov 29, 2017.
Daichi, a youth that had suffered through gruesome bullying, suddenly teleported into another world together with his classmates.
Daichi did his best in trying to be a hero, but as he was useless even after reincarnating, he was abandoned in a Monster House to be a scapegoat.
Daichi should have died.
However, he rose, somehow unharmed.
The ability he gained was [Revenge of the Grudgebearer]. It was a unique ability, one that would revive him each and every time he died and bring him an extreme level of growth!
With the strongest ability in his grasp, Daichi set out to take his revenge…
Compares to series like Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest, Garbage Brave, Failure Frame, I'm The Only One With Unfavorable Skills, Isekai Summoning Rebellion, and Nito's Lazy Foreign World Syndrome where a group of students are isekai'd to another world, and the main character is ostracized for his weak skills before being betrayed.
Tropes included in the work.
- Adults Are Useless: Worse than useless. As Daichi was being bullied in class, the teachers not only turned a blind eye to it and the subsequent visits to the infirmary, including treatment for broken bones, they would go to his dorm room and physically drag him to class.
- Even after the Class Representative has a change of heart and reports the bullying, they do nothing to stop it, despite the fact that she admitted being pressured to participate.
- Cosmic Chess Game: The entire conflict is a proxy war between the goddesses Clare and Messiah over possession of the world of Rostalgia.
- Defeat Means Friendship: Invoked. Daichi's strongest companions turn out to be those he defeated in an honest, straight-up fight after he resurrected and enslaved them.
- Gray-and-Grey Morality: Both the human and demon factions are a mix of good and bad people. They even have identical definitions of the word "hero," though the context is different.
- Happiness in Slavery: In all flavors, but the prevailing model is the "lesser evil" category, as the alternative to being Daichi's slave is certain death, as all of his slaves are those he's resurrected with his unique ability, and breaking them free will kill them.
- Humans Are the Real Monsters: After carefully scrutinizing the history of both sides, Daichi learns that the humans in the world of Rostalgia are all, without exception, armed invaders brought by the goddess Claire from other worlds or their descendants. The demons created by the goddess Messiah are the natives and are simply protecting their homes.
- Late-Arrival Spoiler: Good luck trying to discuss this series without learning what happened in volume 4 of the webnovel... which is no longer considered canon...
- Lotus-Eater Machine: As part of Lily's Engagement Challenge in one of these, she forces all those girls who have feelings for Daichi to prove it, as if they were in a VR dating sim, with the high-school classroom as the backdrop.
- Takami: If the guy you've spent years bullying horrifically sees you have a sudden change of heart and start suddenly liking him for no discernible reason, he is going to react with suspicion and distrust, not gratitude.
- Shuri: No matter how wrong or horrific the bullying is, using lethal force to stop it, as the first resort, is going to result in the bullying victim viewing you with sheer terror, especially if you have a years-long history of ignoring his plight, at best.
- Mirroring Factions: The humans and demons in the world of Rostalgia are so similar, it's scary. Aside from superficial traits, like skin color and maybe horns and such, their anatomy, sense of morality, and ethics, are as close to identical as cultures can get.
- Questionable Consent: Subverted. Despite the fact that Daichi's harem is composed almost entirely of women he's enslaved, as a side-effect of resurrecting them, the consent in question is his to offer or withhold, as they're the ones offering themselves up to him, unprompted.
- Played straight with a couple of women Saejima "recruited" to be his bed partners. When given a chance to object, they pointedly and emphatically stated that they clearly did not enjoy it.
- Reality Is Unrealistic: One of the biggest complaints critics have regarding the series is that "people don't act that way" in regards to how Daichi reacts to being horrifically bullied, initially believing that he, somehow, someway, must have done something to deserve it, and the Happiness in Slavery his girls show upon finding themselves in his harem. Pick up a history book or a psychology book regarding cases of horrific long-term bullying and Stockholm Syndrome, and yeah, they do.
- Reincarnation: Subverted. The first time Daichi wakes up from a Cruel and Unusual Death, he initially believes he's been reincarnated in yet another world. Once he manages to get his bearings, he becomes aware of his Resurrective Immortality.
- School Bullying Is Harmless: While the class and teachers certainly believe so, Daichi himself did object quite loudly, but then rags were shoved into his mouth, and he was literally used to mop the floor...
- Trapped in Another World: Invoked. The whole class was transported to the world of Rostalgia by the goddess Claire. While they had the option of refusing, Saejima glared them down for his own ends.
- Villains Want Mercy: When Daichi's bullies find the tables turned on them after getting to Rostalgia, an enraged Daichi glaring down at them, none of them hesitate in begging for mercy, or their lives, despite ignoring Daichi's own pleas when they were bullying him, beating him to the brink of death on a near daily basis.
