History StockLightNovelHero / Literature

* Yogiri Takatou from ''[[Literature/MyInstantDeathAbilityIsSoOverpowered My Instant Death Ability is So Overpowered, No One in This Other World Stands a Chance Against Me!]]'' appeared to be an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent until one day he fell asleep on a high school field trip and finds the bus being attacked by a dragon. Turns out the bus was summoned to a parallel world by an AxCrazy sage named Sion, who declares all the students to be sage candidates and either granted them strange powers to become sages... or left them to be killed by the dragon, except for one girl, his classmate Tomochika Dannoura who [[TeamNormal gets nothing]] and remains his sole companion. In this new world, Yogiri has the power to OneHitKill, thus starts his overpowered journey TrappedInAnotherWorld. [[spoiler:Except it turns out that he already had those powers ''before'' he got transferred to the new world and according to the conversations of people who used to watch over him, he's actually a lot ''weaker'' than what he could do on Earth.]]

** Moreover, the series even [[DeconstructedCharacterArchetype deconstructs many aspects of the typical protagonists in this genre]] through the other three heroes. [[HeroesPreferSwords Ren]] is [[TheStoic a heroic but overall stoic badass]] who prefers to let his actions speak over words, and is bad at working with other people because nobody can tell what he's planning or thinking, resulting in him being an IneffectualLoner at the core. Motoyasu is TheCasanova and a HaremSeeker whose party is all filled with girls, making him easy prey for the manipulations of [[BitchInSheepsClothing Malty]] because he'll always fall for a pretty face, and doesn't realize that some of the members of his "harem" are PrettyFreeloaders who deep down can't stand him. Lastly, [[ArcherArchetype Itsuki]] is portrayed as an overall HumbleHero who wants to help those in need, but he intentionally plays himself as the IdealHero to get praise and is actually more arrogant than he lets on, not being above intentionally letting others fall into danger so he can [[BigDamnHeroes step in and save them at the last second]].

** ''Memoria Freese'' introduces Argonaut, who also plays with this trope. Although he's an AllLovingHero who eventually becomes the world's HopeBringer through his efforts and incredible optimism, he's ineffectually weak for most of the story, having to run from most threats and get by through the help of others or through his manipulations as a GuileHero. Even after getting a massive power boost from the spirit Jupiter, he ultimately [[spoiler:fails to defeat the Minotaur on his own, requiring Aria to help him finish the beast off.]] He's also a CasanovaWannabe who can't help but flirt with everyone he meets, but he only manages to steal the hearts of two girls, and this is only after [[RescueRomance he saves their lives]] and get to know him. Most of the other girls he tries to help tend to rebuke him or run off thinking he's a weirdo.

* ''Literature/TheBeginningAfterTheEnd'': Arthur Leywin fits several of the criteria for an {{Isekai}}, protagonist by virtue of being comparable to the TropeCodifier for the ReincarnateInAnotherWorld variant, [[Literature/MushokuTenseiJoblessReincarnation Rudeus Greyrat]], in that he reincarnates as a child into a fantasy world and becomes a prodigal mage and adventurer. He is a MagicKnight able to control the four classical elements and his power gradually accumulates over the course of the story through either his own past life experiences or via the aid of various mentors whom a normal person would not have been able to earn the attention of which includes a dragon, the royal family of the elves, a band of famed adventurers, a MagicalAcademy, the race of gods from which said dragon originated from, [[spoiler: and even the VirtualGhost[=s=] of his ancestors]]. To illustrate how quickly his power grows, he unlocked his mana core at a much younger age than usual in his universe which grants him a considerable head start compared to others his physical age. He also has a powerful familiar in the offspring of said dragon, which combined with his existing magical prowess grants him a share of unique abilities including some which are only useable by the highest of the gods such as being able to partially manipulate ElementNumberFive. In short, he effectively won the SuperpowerLottery in his new life.

* ''Literature/TheBeginningAfterTheEnd'': Arthur Leywin fits several of the criteria for an {{Isekai}} protagonist, by virtue of being comparable to the TropeCodifier for the ReincarnateInAnotherWorld variant, [[Literature/MushokuTenseiJoblessReincarnation Rudeus Greyrat]], in that he reincarnates as a child into a fantasy world and becomes a prodigal mage and adventurer. He is a MagicKnight able to control the four classical elements and his power gradually accumulates over the course of the story through either his own experience or via the aid of various mentors whom a normal person would not have been able to earn the attention of - including a dragon, the royal family of the elves, a band of famed adventurers, a MagicalAcademy, and even [[spoiler:the race of gods from which said dragon originated from]] - to illustrate how quickly his power grows, he unlocked his mana core at a much younger age than usual in his universe and it only grows faster from there. He also has a powerful familiar in the offspring of said dragon, which combined with his existing magical prowess grants him a share of unique abilities including some which are only useable [[spoiler:by the highest of the gods such as being able to partially manipulate ElementNo5]]. In short, he effectively won the SuperpowerLottery in his new life. However, he does play with the trope in a few areas. Namely, rather than having been an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent, {{Otaku}}, or {{Salaryman}} in his past life, he used to be a monarch named King Gray and as such him being a GeniusBruiser and InstantExpert even in his youth originates from him drawing on his past experiences on the battlefield and applying the know-how to his new life. In addition, rather than a harem he only has one LoveInterest, Tessia Eralith.

* ''Literature/ACertainMagicalIndex'' [[PlayingWith plays with]] this in regards to Touma Kamijou, despite being one of the [[TropeCodifier earliest]] and [[UnbuiltTrope most copied examples]]. Sure, he may have an ability that is [[GameBreaker incredibly overpowered]], but that doesn't mean he himself is invincible. In fact, his tendency to take quite the beating before winning, his spiky (if generically black) hair, his {{Determinator}} status, as well as being an AllLovingHero, put him closer to a StockShonenHero than the typical light novel protagonist. Played straight, however, with his UnwantedHarem, most of whom were [[DefeatMeansFriendship his former enemies]]. If anything, he could be seen as a sort of "Missing Link" between the StockShonenHero and the StockLightNovelHero.
** [[InvincibleHero Accelerator]], in a way, fits this to a T. If it only weren't for the fact that he used to kill 10,032 people to become a Level 6, so...

* ''Literature/SwordArtOnline'': Kirito is the most well-known example of the trope and quite possibly the TropeCodifier. He's an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent with a BadassLongcoat, a CluelessChickMagnet with a BattleHarem, and is known to be a [[TheStoic stoic]] IneffectualLoner. He's a GodlikeGamer in an RPGMechanicsVerse which allows him to become the WorldsBestWarrior of SAO, routinely gets given new abilities and skills such as his DualWielding, and he's an InvincibleHero with most enemies being fodder to him. He also quickly climbing the ranks in other virtual-reality games as well and is able to keep defying the limits the System has set. This is subverted in ''Alicization'' where despite this arc shifting the series closer to the [[TrappedInAnotherWorld Isekai]] genre, Kirito himself moves away from the usual cliches for this character archetype. He is a lot more underpowered than previous arcs as he has to gradually learn about the new world and work towards power, unlike previous arcs where he was often at his peak when he took on obstacles. Also the girls that join his SupportingHarem each arc has largely been replaced by a BashBrothers dynamic with Eugeo.

** Moreover, the series even [[DeconstructedCharacterArchetype deconstructs many aspects of the typical protagonists in this genre]] through the other three heroes. [[HeroesPreferSwords Ren]] is [[TheStoic a heroic but overall stoic badass]] who prefers to let his actions speak over words, and is bad at working with other people because nobody can tell what he's planning or thinking, resulting in him being an IneffectualLoner at the core. [[BladeOnAStick Motoyasu]] is TheCasanova and a HaremSeeker whose party is all filled with girls, making him easy prey for the manipulations of [[BitchInSheepsClothing Malty]] because he'll always fall for a pretty face, and doesn't realize that some of the members of his "harem" are PrettyFreeloaders who deep down can't stand him. Lastly, [[ArcherArchetype Itsuki]] is portrayed as an overall HumbleHero who wants to help those in need, but he intentionally plays himself as the IdealHero to get praise and is actually more arrogant than he lets on, not being above intentionally letting others fall into danger so he can [[BigDamnHeroes step in and save them at the last second]].

* In ''LightNovel/TheHeroWhoReturnedRemainsTheStrongestInTheModernWorld'', Daiki has all the trappings of one. He has dark hair, is an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent TrappedInAnotherWorld, soft facial features, and is a ShowyInvincibleHero. A lot of the humor of the story comes from him trying to use these powers as perks while living a normal life, only to run headlong into more supernatural situations than he'd care to deal with. Despite this, his personality quirks, such as his BizarreTasteInFood, move him farther away from TheEveryman version of this trope as the story goes on.

* ''LightNovel/{{Kampfer}}'': Natsuru Senou gets dragged against his will in a fight between Kampfers, superpowered girls who act proxies in a war between two planets. Since all Kampfers are female and Natsuru is a male, that means he is [[SuperGenderBender transformed into a girl]] upon becoming a Kampfer. His female form attracts the romantic interest of almost every guy [[EvenTheGirlsWantHer and girl]] in his high school, with only one girl interested in his male form, [[CluelessChickMagnet and he remains oblivious to their interest]] because he is already in love with one girl [[spoiler:who is actually working for the bad guys and is not above manipulating Natsuru in both forms to get what she wants.]] To top it all off, any meaningful development of the Kampfer war is largely put on hold for what's basically an {{ecchi}} comedy focusing on Natsuru's love life.

* ''LightNovel/OurLastCrusadeOrTheRiseOfANewWorld'': Iska is an obvious Kirito expy, and one of (of not the) strongest Saint Disciples in the world. He's got the standard unremarkable and pretty-boy facial features, and while not quite building a "harem", there are multiple women that are implied to have feelings for him.

[[folder: S - Z]]

* ''LightNovel/IsekaiCheatMagician'': Taichi Nishimura seems like a pretty standard example, being an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent where he was [[TrappedInAnotherWorld whisked away to another world]] full of [[RPGVerse magic, swords, and monsters]]. While there he discovers he possesses overwhelming magical powers which is so great he was considered a 'cheat'. However what sets this series apart is Taichi isn't the sole protagonist, sharing the spotlight with a girl named Rin who is the identical situation to him of being trapped in the world with cheat magic powers.