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Arc Villain: Mine/Malty is technically the main villain of the novel, being responsible for the hardships Naofumi has to endure, and setting up the climatic duel at the end indirectly, but thanks to their circumstances, Naofumi never gets a chance to confront her directly. Instead, Motoyasu, being the hero she latches onto next and the one who most firmly believes in her, serves as the climatic fight against Naofumi during the rigged duel. The Two-headed dog in the mines is also a short-term version of this for Naofumi and Raptalia
Appeal to Force: When a seller in the market tries ripping Naofumi off for his collection of balloon skins, he threatens him with various balloons still clinging to his body.
Big Brother Instinct: Before Naofumi was taken to Melromarc, Naofumi had a younger brother. When their parents gave up on Naofumi accomplishing anything, they foisted all of their expectations onto his brother. When the pressure started to get to him, Naofumi would allow him to spend time with him and play video games. He immediately caught on to Dating Sims and it helped alleviate the pressure and did wonders for his psyche.
Born Unlucky: Naofumi is quickly written off by the other Heroes because Shield-class characters are inherently lame. Word then very quickly spreads that he is less intimate with Melromarc's world and no one is willing to team up with him. When Myne teams up with him, she steals all of his belongings and falsely accuses him of rape For the Evulz, leaving him broke, unable to level-grind and unable to go back to his own world, trapped in a new world that now hates his guts with a weapon that everyone thinks makes him useless.
Establishing Character Moment: When the four cardinal heroes are summoned to Melromarc and are told that they are the prophesied heroes of legend, Ren, Itsuki and Motoyasu are quick to question what's in it for them and why they should even do what they tell them while Naofumi patiently listened. In their tone of voice, Naofumi could tell that they were internally squealing at the potential Power Fantasy their situation lends them and they were just stringing everybody along.
False Rape Accusation: Naofumi is accused of rape by Myne, his attractive red-haired adventuring partner, and his pleas to the contrary are ignored. Even the blacksmith who was friendly toward him initially believes the slander, though he quickly realizes Naofumi is innocent. The accusation turns him against the King, the other Heroes, and most of the populace.
Foreshadowing: In-Universe. The book Naofumi reads before he's transported to melromarc outright tells him that the princess of the Story is manipulative and obsessed with the heroes, with Naofumi himself calling her horrible, but because Mine never reveals her identity as Princess malty when she and Naofumi are first introduced, he never puts two and two together about what her real intentions are, despite having become one of the heroes in the story he was reading.
Harem Seeker: Naofumi thinks that he could find a girlfriend in Melromarc when he was unable to in his own world. He soon gives this up when Myne betrays him.
His Own Worst Enemy: Naofumi would more likely state Malty is his worst Enemy, but he certainly doesn't do himself any favours following his fall from grace. He tosses away the only resource he had to work with on an impulsive symbolic gesture of disgust against Motoyasu for his 'betrayal', which leaves him scavenging for every single resource he can find to best support himself financially throughout the rest of the Novel, his soured attitude towards everybody makes it easy for people like the other heroes to believe the rumours and refuse to help him, or deny him access to the help he needs to be an effective hero, and he refuses to take on actual party members to work alongside him, despite the fact his legendary Shield pretty much forces him into being a Support Party Member who can't adventure solo. The last one is slightly Justified as Naofumi rightfully believes that people would only join up with him to take advantage of the disgraced Shield hero, aware that anything they did to him would be overlooked by the populace because of his poor reputation, as shown when several thugs offer to 'join' his party, only to get upset when he makes it clear he won't be toyed around with like Mine/Malty did to him when they 'adventured' together, and attempt to rob him. On the other hand, it's later revealed that several offers of help that Naofumi received during this time were genuine, either from other kingdoms or from Demi-humans who worship the shield like a living god, but due to his broken trust and damaged perception of the world due to the trauma he'd endured Naofumi couldn't believe them at all, and ordered them to go away and leave him alone. In the case of the Demi-humans, because Naofumi's word is close to law, this meant that rumours spread about that demi-humans were to steer clear of the Shield hero, resulting in them 'following his wishes' and keeping a wide berth from Naofumi, when he really could have used the help.
Human Traffickers: Played With. The kingdom Naofumi finds himself trapped in practices human supremacy and Beast Man and Demihuman are offered as slaves to perform menial labor or serve as body guards. They are sealed with a curse that forces obedience. Naofumi comes across a shady merchant offering slaves for sale. While Naofumi initially rejects the offer, when the Slave Trader points out that slaves cannot lie or betray their masters, Naofumi chooses to listen and looks over the slaves.
The Multiverse: The first clue we get that the series has one is that each of the heroes come from a version of Japan where historical events happened differently.
Irony: Naofumi lacks much of the video game knowledge that the other heroes use to swiftly improve themselves and start preparing for the waves, but in exchange, the method by which he was summoned to the world tells him in advance the true nature of Malty, something that would have been beneficial for all the heroes if Naofumi had been able to realize what kind of person she was in advance and prevent much of the resulting traumas that affect all four of them down the line.
I Have No Idea What I'm Doing: Naofumi lacks most of the video game knowledge that the other heroes, themselves avid gamer Otakus, possess, resulting in him having little idea for the concepts they grasp so easily. This is also used as a pretext for none of the offered adventurers joining up with Naofumi, with the King pointing out that the legends state that the heroes would possess Knowledge about their world in advance, and Naofumi's lack of such leaves others lacking faith in him as a hero. As it later turns out, the real reason had little to do with Naofumi' s lack of knowledge. As a result, when Naofumi is left penniless and friendless, he has no choice but to experiment with his weapon and available resources to see what works in order to improve himself before the wave hits. This will pay off later down the line for him.
Otaku: It seems all four of the Heroes summoned to the fantasy world are otaku, with three of them having been exposed to this world through various forms of computer games or virtual reality.
Properly Paranoid: When Naofumi first does to sleep after his first day of adventuring with Mine, he stashes 30 pieces of silver underneath his shield, in part out of habit from having so much money on hand and wanting to keep it safe, like many people do back in his world. This comes in handy when he's arrested thanks to Malty's accusation the following morning, as he still has the money on him despite being stripped of pretty much everything else bar the bedclothes he was yanked away in— except Naofumi, fresh off his recent revelation that Malty framed him and his reputation is now in the pits, not to mention he's now Trapped in Another World, notices the money on his way out the throne room. Still believing Motoyasu was involved in Malty's as part of a Frame-Up to get his money and gear, Naofumi can't resist the Judas Shoutout and tosses the money in his face, thus wasting his only remaining resource despite the stroke of good luck he had in retaining it.
Rage Breaking Point: Either that or Despair Event Horizon. Naomi is brought to the very brink of these when he realises Mine betrayed him and that literally nobody, not even his fellow heroes, believes he didn't rape her, based on her word over his. On top of the general unequal treatment Naofumi had been receiving throughout his stay in Melromarc thus far, this ends up pushing him to the point he partially snaps, his personality afterwards becoming dark, cynical and more unfriendly and paranoid to those around him. Upon unfairly losing the rigged duel in the Novel's climax, and being forced to lose Raptalia as his slave as well, Naofumi fully starts to cross these, having reached the necessary negative emotions to start unlocking the Wrath Shield, with Raptalia's affirmation of her Undying Loyalty to him being the only thing that drags him back from fully succumbing to his more negative desires.
Revenge Before Reason: A minor example, but Naofumi unexpectedly manages to conceal 30 pieces of silver on him by happenstance when he's summoned before the king and stripped of basically everything else but the bedclothes he was wearing at the time. Still believing that Motoyasu was part of the 'conspiracy' to frame him and get his gear, (there is a conspiracy, but Motoyasu and the other heroes are totally ignorant of it,) Naofumi impulsively tosses the coins into his face on the way out, just to make the Judas comparison more explicit. This deprives Naofumi of the only remaining resource he had to work with besides the shield, which severely handicaps him for the rest of the novel as he has to spend time picking herbs and farming weak monster drops for pittance in order to slowly build up his financial situation and earn enough to first buy a slave, then equip Raptalia enough to fight for him.
Shout-Out: The story flatout compares the filolials to chocobos from the Final Fantasy series.
Super-Persistent Predator: Testing Raphtalia's use with a hunting knife, he has her stab an orange balloon monster that has been gnawing at his side for a week straight.
Through the Eyes of Madness: Naofumi realises something's wrong with him following Malty's betrayal, finding out that his sense of taste has become dull and listless, eating meals and other food only wastes like flavourless gum, which is Ironic considering that he turns out to be a Talented Chef when preparing Raptalia's meals, but cannot enjoy the food he creates for others. This gets used to great effect at the Novel's climax, with Naofumi's perception of the world also having been affected, seeing things as grey and lifeless, he fails to realise/is subconsciously ignoring the fact that Raptalia has grown into a young beautiful woman in the span of a few weeks with him, leading him to think a startling majority of the people in melromarc are Pedophiles or similar for complimenting Raptalia, a 'young girl' to his eyes, on her looks and beauty. It's not until Raptalia affirms her loyalty and trust on Naofumi, despite everything everyone's saying about him, that the veil is lifted from his eyes and he sees her for who she really is, accentuated by a two-page spread to hammer the moment home.
Trapped in Another World: Naofumi finds himself transported to another world where he's expected to help save the world from strange portals in the air that allow monsters to invade the world. After he is falsely accused of rape, he insists on being sent back home only to learn he can't be sent home until the Waves are defeated.
What Kind of Lame Power Is Heart, Anyway?: Ren, Itsuki and Motoyasu all dismiss Naofumi off because every game they're familiar with presents Shielder-types as the weakest, no "real gamer" ever playing them. They also equate to Naofumi's comparative lack of gamer knowledge as being a trait of being the Shield Hero.

Recap / The Rising of the Shield Hero Volume 1

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Recap / The Rising of the Shield Hero Volume 1

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