History Characters / GoblinSlayerGoblinSlayer

* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: Goblin Slayer does ''not'' see himself as a hero, nor as a real adventurer. Just someone who is willing to keep the goblins at bay, nothing more. He's also aware just how fucked up he is mentally and that he's an outcast amongst the other adventurers. However, this does not stop many small villages and towns turning him into a {{FolkHero}} for all the good he's done slaying goblins. And many among the guild gradually show more respect towards him the more they begin to know him personally and know he's still a good man at the end of the day.

* YouAreBetterThanYouThinkYouAre: Goblin Slayer does ''not'' see himself as a hero, nor as a real adventurer. Just someone who is willing to keep the goblins at bay, nothing more. However, his party members, those within the guild and many others have expressed to him the positive impact he's had in the world. He may not be widely revered by the entire planet, but many small villages and towns still sing his praises.

* CosmicPlaything: Inverted to an astounding degree -- Every living being in the world is one, actually... everyone, ''except him''. The gods of the world [[spoiler: use the world as the setting for their CosmicChessGame of a roleplay campaign]], and they determine fate by chance. Goblin Slayer himself is explicitly described as unremarkable, with no attributes, abilities, genius, or much else of note, and for all intents there is no greater purpose ahead for him. Yet, he is too meticulous to leave anything to luck, [[TheUnchosenOne so not even the gods know where his fate will eventually end up]]. In the light novel, the very first action he does in the story (saving Priestess) is seen from a cosmic scale as a game piece suddenly challenging the results of a terrible dice roll and altering another character's fate.

The series' main character, an experienced Silver-ranked adventurer whose only concern is hunting goblins. He doesn't take any other jobs unless they involve goblins.

* WouldHurtAChild: Goblin Slayer has no mercy toward even the youngest of the goblins he kills, and is not averse to killing goblin children by clubbing them to death. When he says he wants to kill every goblin, ''he means he wants to kill every goblin''. {{Justified}} as goblins in this setting are AlwaysChaoticEvil, thus goblin children will grow up to continue the cycle of violence. [[spoiler:Given the goblin lord in Volume 1 got his start by immediately murdering the adventurer who made the mistake of sparing him, he has a point.]]

* BoomHeadshot: Has spent several years training specifically to aim his throwing knives at the necks of goblins. In a more traditional example, the climatic battle of volume 12 sees him finally down the "fire goblin" with a metal dart that nails it square in the center of its forehead.
* BoringButPractical: His equipment is mundane, plain, and rather low-quality, exacerbated by his decision to leave it coated in grime as camouflage, but it doesn't need to be fancy to kill goblins. {{Lampshaded}} by Dwarf Shaman upon meeting Goblin Slayer.

* BrokenHero: Beneath his eccentricity and single-minded determination is a broken man that finds it very difficult to form relationships of affection or friendship with others because of the horrific trauma he underwent.

* BusmansHoliday: By volume 13, he's agreed to a few non-goblin related quests, but just because they start that way in writing doesn't mean they ever stay that way.

* CelibateHero: Or ChasteHero, depending on one's interpretation. In stark contrast to his sworn enemies, sex and nudity do nothing for him. It is downplayed in that he ''is'' aware about concepts like marriage and workplace dating, and was quick to figure out that Female Knight was carrying a torch for Heavy Warrior. It is just that he is either disinterested or blind to such topics if they involve himself.

* GiverOfLameNames: Is the one to call the Giant Eyeball that, because why waste time thinking of a more elaborate moniker? Dwarf Shaman finds it hilarious, and Priestess imagines [[ADogNamedDog he do the same with the canary]].

* GroinAttack: Sometimes, whether in the main series or in the prequel, Goblin Slayer has attacked several goblins in the groin, either by kicking them in the balls or throwing a weapon in the groin. At one point, he threw a knife in a hobgoblin's groin and then kick it deeper into the groin. According to him, the groin area is a vital point of goblins, and he managed to kill one by throwing an axe in a goblin's groin. He generally resorts to this trope whenever a hobgoblin uses a HumanShield, noting that they are horrible at using shields properly, leaving them vulnerable to groin attacks.

* GuileHero: Is shockingly sneaky in volume 14; when the Vikings demand the party perform a trial to earn their aid, he nominates Priestess to play a board game. When High Elf Archer pesters him why he didn't play, he says "she is a better adventurer". But Priestess can't win. However, she gets so caught up in replaying the game for fun that the Vikings agree to help anyway just over being so taken by her, which is what Goblin Slayer was counting on all along.

* ArtificialGill: His collection of Breath Rings give him the magical ability to breathe in any environment, from underwater to a sealed chamber where a fire consumed all the oxygen.

* AxCrazy: Stoic he may be but that doesn't change the fact that under his shell lies a murderous instinct towards the goblins. In fact his obsession downright makes him seem unstable towards everyone and though [[TranquilFury he doesn't show off his fury much]] he does have an unhealthy way of coping and killing goblins, as he even starts to relish hunting them with brutal killings.

* BadassInDistress: During the third arc of the ''Year One'' manga, [[spoiler:Goblin Slayer gets captured by goblins who rammed their way through the wall and hit him on the back of his head. Luckily, his helmet protected him from a deadly injury, and the goblin underlings convince the Goblin Lord to spare his life and use him as a bait to catch Capital Inspector. Goblin Slayer, tied to a rotten chair, gets tortured and beaten by goblins, but not only doesn't he cry in pain, so that he wouldn't give his captors any satisfaction, his body endures their beatings, while the rotten chair does not. Thus, Goblin Slayer is able to break free and fights back. Although he does end up needing saving from Capital Inspector when the goblins gain the upper-hand]].
* BadassNormal: For all of his feats, it is quite easy to forget that he is not much more than an athletic young man. No magical talent, no fortune of the gods, no beneficial racial attributes, and no enchanted weapons, unique armor, or special techniques. He achieved his high rank through practice and resourcefulness alone. In ''Year-One'', the gods mention that there's nothing special about him other than his higher than average VIT.
* BadWithTheBone: In Volume 9, he manages to grab a human femur when charging through a goblin ambush site, and without halting or slowing his sprint he brings it down on one goblin's head hard enough to shatter and then shoves the splintered stump left through the eye of another.

** To a much lesser extent, people tricking him into doing things. In the beginning of Volume 8, Guild Girl mistakenly gives the party a quest to hunt some FishPeople due to the notice calling them “sea goblins.” When he figures out the error, Goblin Slayer wants to quit the quest immediately until Priestess entreats him to help the preyed-upon villagers, and when they finish and return to town he lays into Guild Girl, replete with GlowingEyesOfDoom, until she manages to swear it was a genuine accident. Makes sense why High Elf Archer never tried that stunt intentionally to get him on a “real adventure” yet.
* BewareTheQuietOnes: Goblin Slayer is not one who talks a lot. When he gets angry, it usually gets him into a UnstoppableRage.

* TheBigGuy: He shares this role with Lizard Priest in their party. It's not even that he's exceptionally beefy (he's of average height and mostly lean-muscle) but as High Elf Archer says, he's the party's only dedicated front-line fighter and thus absolutely necessary to tackle any sort of extended melee or head-on assault..
* BigGuyRodeo: He hops on the Water Town goblin champion's back and strangles him with a hair rope, grimly holding on even as it freaks out and starts slamming its back against a wall.

* BloodKnight: He loves goblin hunting a little too much. To the point where everyone starts to wonder if he's even stable anymore, but during the battlefield he seems more at home when he's killing goblins.
* BloodSplatteredWarrior: He can never seem to complete his job without being drenched in goblin blood first. His armor is noted by others to be covered in suspiciously-crimson stains. In fact, he even purposefully does the bare minimum in cleaning his armor, because a polished set would give his position away to the goblins' sense of smell.

* BodyCountCompetition: Always endeavors to keep count of every goblin struck down during a hunt. Like [[VideoGame/{{Vermintide}} Kerillian]], its a compulsion and not him competing with anybody.

* BusmansHoliday: By volume 13, he's agreed to a few non-goblin related quests, but just because they start that way in the write doesn't mean they ever stay that way.

* ByronicHero: Very troubled background, intensely introspective, highly intelligent, heavily brooding, severely antisocial, incredibly zealous in his personal mission, potentially self-destructive, and strangely charismatic. He more than checks all the boxes.

* CaptainOblivious: Due to his monomaniacal devotion to his personal crusade, he has disregarded the daily going ons of the world around him for most of his life. He's been living in town for over 7 years and only realizes there is an annual summer festival where the temple of the Earth Mother makes wines when Priestess brings it up in Volume 10.

*** Goblins in an old elf tree fortress and they've already proved strong enough to kill experienced adventurers? [[KillItWithFire Light the fortress on fire with fire bomb arrows]] and then [[NotTheIntendedUse trap the little buggers inside with your white mage's shield spell]].

*** He's also mentioned that he sometimes re-directs a nearby river to flood their lair and is not above causing a cave-in to bury them alive.

** High Elf Archer tells him not to use fire, water, or poison when hunting goblins in Water Town's sewer so they don't cause any collateral damage for the town's human inhabitants. So Goblin Slayer uses dust explosions, and she is so exaperated with him she can't talk coherently through it.

* CoolHelmet: The narration insists its cheap-looking, but can you deny it's this trope after seeing what it actually looks like? Among other things, they possess distinct nubs at the side [[spoiler:that used to be a full pair of horns, [[ScarredEquipment but has since been broken off]]]].

* CripplingOverspecialization: He has spent literally more than half his life training to kill goblins ''specifically'', and bottle-necked himself further by specializing in ambush tactics and environmental warfare. The few times he is forced to engage in direct combat, sure he can knock out bog-standard goblins easily, but against literally anything even slightly stronger or more skilled? More often than not he proves [[PaperTiger shockingly weak for a fighter of his rank and track record.]] But then, this trope is also {{ZigZagged}} in that his out-of-the-box thinking and ruthlessness can lead to him devising and deploying devastatingly lethal battle strategies against hordes and even the occasional high-level monster, and when he's in his element he shows an undeniable degree of high skill in combat, so he's more of an overhyped mid-tier fighter than an out-and-out FakeUltimateHero[[note]]This assessment is helped along by Dark Elf, who rates his fighting skill at around the level of an Emerald- or Ruby-ranked adventurer, two or three ranks below the Silver he holds[[/note]].

* DoubleTake: He of all people does in the ''Memoria Freese'' crossover when Bell Cranel tells him he can cast Firebolt up to 70 times in a row before passing out from magic overuse. Given that miracles that can be cast more than once a day are rarity in Goblin Slayer's world, it's understandable why he'd be impressed.

* AlasPoorYorrick: Picks up the skull of a destroyed Dragontooth Warrior after the final battle of Volume 16 and wonders how much awareness they possess and if he could ever give a proper reward, not just to them but to anyone that has helped him in his quests over the years.

* SociallyAwkwardHero: He knows how to slay goblin better than anyone, but it's difficult for him to simply have a normal conversation that doesn't involve goblins. For most of his adventuring career, he tramples over interactions with all the delicacy and care of a snowplow. Starting from Vol. 6, however, he is becoming increasingly frustrated at his inability to console others.

* TraumaButton: The circumstances of his first major quest at the end of ''Year One'' Volume 1 (to defend Chosen Heroine’s Town) keep making him think back to his own village. He is extremely distracted during his preparations and becomes particularly demented when fighting the goblins threatening it.

* CatchAndReturn: In volume 14 a goblin on a boat hurls a stone axe with ridiculously good fortune such that it flies unveeringly at Priestess who can only duck and pray. Goblin Slayer just snatches it by the handle a foot over her head and throws it back with significantly good form to kill the tosser. Several Vikings stop in their tracks in the middle of shooting suppressive fire to gawk at him.

* TerrorHero: He knows he is pant-shittingly horrifying to goblins, and is perfectly willing to leverage that into psychological warfare for an extra boost in battle. Most significantly in Volume 2, where he bluffs the entire still-sizable horde into retreating with their champion even after he lost attack initiative and was dying as he stood.

* TheLostLenore: Non-romantic example towards his sister, during the Manga Year One it is clear that he terribly misses her and is not over her death. During the main serie he still misses her and mourns her deeply, citing her a story told by her as a source of knowledge. By that point it has been ten years.

* ThinkingTic: Has an unconscious habit of staring off into space when engaging in deep thought. It's surprisingly easy to identify in the manga.

* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: His one special talent beyond his ridiculous durability and extreme out-of-the-box thinking is his throwing arm; he can chuck anything at hand and land a critical blow. And because he knows he's good and sees all his equipment as utterly disposable, he ''will'' throw anything at hand to score a kill at first chance. He also [[ShownTheirWork practices proper weapon launching technique]] using a javelin throwing for straight swords and only flings things end-over-end if they are designed for it, like his mambele.

* TopHeavyGuy: Downplayed, but when stripped of his armor Goblin Slayer exposes a surprising broad chest and shoulders that are just a touch disproportionate to the rest of his frame, with quite lean legs and forearms and a gaunt midriff and neck.

* WillfullyWeak: Goblin Slayer could easily afford masterwork enchanted weapons and armor as well as magic items, but sticks to plain, low-quality arms and home-made tools. [[spoiler:''Year One'' states that the reason for this is that he fully anticipates one day dying on the field, and wants to make sure the horde that finally does him in gets no better loot off his corpse than some average-at-best mundane gear. Besides, magical items would usually not be too useful to him as goblins (barring some very rare variants) will usually die in one hit from standard weapons anyways, and magical auras and flashy effects would undercut the effectiveness of his subtlety-based tactics]]. When trading blows with Dark Elf in the climax of Volume 3, the villain [[TellMeHowYouFight deduces his combat strength]] as being around the fighting level of the average Emerald- or maybe Ruby-ranked adventurer with his sub-standard gear.
* WisdomFromTheGutter: Female Knight asks Goblin Slayer (yes, him of all people) for relationship advice in Volume 3, specifically for attracting Heavy Warrior's attention and whether or not putting on ChainmailBikini will work. After initially taking her intentions with the armor literally, then making a goblin-slaying analogy, he suggests she should put on some [[SheCleansUpNicely civilian clothes]].

* YouAreNotAlone: His realization that he has party members and people in the adventurer's guild who support him. For years he always saw himself as a loner and imagined he'd one day die forgotten fighting against goblin hordes. This was never true. Even before meeting his current party there was Cow Girl and Guild Girl. Witch and Spearman, in their own odd ways, showed concern for him from time to time. If he were to die, many people would be upset. If he's ever cornered into an unwinnable situation, others are willing to help him find a means to victory. The most explicit illustration comes in Volume 9, when his final gambit to neutralize the second Ogre fails and he exhaustedly prepares to fight to the death, only for the rest of his team to come sledding in to save his hide.

* YouHaveGotToBeKiddingMe: In Volume 10, he is face to face with a goblin battle wagon, barely keeping from getting run over, and scrambling to come up with an idea to get past its defences, when a whistle alerts him that their are goblin boats coming up the river. It's perhaps the first time he's let himself get visibly frustrated and overwhelmed during a goblin fight, though he immediately chides himself to suck it up and focus on making a plan. In volume 11, he comments that it feels like some bad joke when he sees a goblin actually trying to ride a dragon.

* YoungAndInCharge: It is not called upon very much, but Lizard Priest and Dwarf Shaman are middle aged men, with loads of experience under their belts, High Elf Archer is two thousand years old at the very least, although Elves age in a different way, she has far more years of adventuring than probably any of her fellows. Priestess is the only member of his party that is younger than him. Yet all of them tend to default to his leadership.

* AlwaysSaveTheGirl: His older sister told him as a little boy that "you have to protect girls," and in the wake of losing her to a grisly fate he has resolved to live up to her expectations by [[WifeBasherBasher ruthlessly cutting down goblins and anything else he catches committing violence against women]], and doing everything he can think of to keep Cow Girl safe and happy. High Elf Archer also notes in Volume 6 that if there's a chance for a woman taken by Goblins to still be alive, he'll abstain from his usual method of using poisons, flooding the caves, or burning it down until he's explicitly saved them. As much as he prizes efficiency when it comes to killing Goblins, he doesn't want to risk them being caught as collateral damage. In Volume 9, he doesn't hesitate to charge past the Ogre and his goblin horde to retrieve two crucified hostages, and carries to safety before turning to continue fighting.

* TheBait: [[spoiler:The nascent goblin lord in ''Year One'' attempted to have him tortured in a huge cavern to lure out Capital Inspector. Though he breaks free, he does end up needing rescue, which goes on to mop up the remainder of the intended ambush with little issue.]]

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/goblinslayeryearone.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:Goblin Slayer in ''Year One'']]

'''Other Characters:''' [[Characters/GoblinSlayerOtherSignificantPlayers Other Significant Players]] | [[Characters/GoblinSlayerTheGods The Gods]] | [[Characters/GoblinSlayerAntagonists Antagonists]]]]-]

* ThereAreNoTherapists: Goblin Slayer has undergone some horrific trauma and abuse from a young age, and it has left permanent marks on his psyche. People around him do the best they can to help him move on, but clearly don't know where to begin, some of them rely on ''him'' to acheive peace of mind themselves, and even after years have only managed baby steps. His goblin crusade is theorized by some fans to be in part an attempt at exposure therapy, but that aspect would be accidental at best and, given how deranged and blood-thirsty he gets on hunts, isn't working.

* CreateYourOwnHero: The goblins are notorious for taking no prisoners, yet they don't think about searching thoroughly for any survivors that escaped their immediate wrath. It just so happens that Goblin Slayer is one of those survivors and has now become the bane of their very existence.

* CreateYourOwnHero: The goblins are notorious for taking no prisoners, yet they don't think about searching thoroughly for any survivors that escaped their immediate wrath. It just so happens that Goblin Slayer is one of those survivors and has now become the bane of their very existence.

* MommasBoy: Believe it or not, towards his deceased sister. His parents didn't survive long enough to register in his memory, meaning his sister was his caretaker throughout his entire childhood. Even in the present day, he holds her memory and her words close to heart like an obedient son.

* HeroProtagonist: He's the main character and is actually closer to the IdealHero than what the narration and the story may imply. Ironically he is "Choosen Heroine" personal Hero, since it was his actions (By virtue of being untouched by Fate) that saved her and her village from a Goblin Horde, while the rest of the Guild was busy with the Rock Eater. As of Volume Five he has defeated a new brand of Goblin that would have presented a very serious Threat to the World, had it been allowed to grow. And in Volume 8 he and his group stop the resurrection of the Demon Lord. And as a side note, his actions tend to support Choosen Heroine's own actions.

* HeroProtagonist: He's the main character and is actually closer to the HeroicArchetype than what the narration and the story may imply. Ironically he is "Choosen Heroine" personal Hero, since it was his actions (By virtue of being untouched by Fate) that saved her and her village from a Goblin Horde, while the rest of the Guild was busy with the Rock Eater. As of Volume Five he has defeated a new brand of Goblin that would have presented a very serious Threat to the World, had it been allowed to grow. And in Volume 8 he and his group stop the resurrection of the Demon Lord. And as a side note, his actions tend to support Choosen Heroine's own actions.