History StockLightNovelHero / Literature

* ''LightNovel/ICouldntBecomeAHeroSoIReluctantlyDecidedToGetAJob'': Raul was once one of the strongest Heroes of his world and led a party of other Heroes against the forces of the Demon King. However, at some point during their adventure, someone else got to the Demon King first and slew him, meaning that the war was over and there was suddenly [[NoPlaceForAWarrior no need for Heroes like Raul]]. With no other prospects, he's forced to take a job in a department store. However, this is turned upside-down when Fino, the Demon King's daughter, starts working at the same store and troubles from his past begin popping up. Raul's skills as a Hero come in handy for dealing with these problems, and his bravery and NiceGuy status still draw the attention of an UnwantedHarem.

* ''LightNovel/MyEntireClassWasSummonedToAnotherWorldExceptForMe'': Parodied. Yato looks as though he will be a stereotypical [[TrappedInAnotherWorld Isekai]] Hero, except he is the only one of his class who did not get summoned over. For his trouble he does get powers though.

* ''LightNovel/InAnotherWorldWithMySmartphone'': Touya Mouchizuki takes the trope to an extreme. He's an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent who dies and gets transported to another world, acquires a BadassLongcoat, and quickly becomes a ShowyInvincibleHero with a harem. Unlike many shows of this type, however, this is the entire point--{{God}} feels guilty for killing him before his time and actively works to give Touya the best life ever, with nigh-unbeatable power and an endless supply of [[MarryThemAll women willing to share him in marriage]].

* ''LightNovel/GonnaBeTheTwinTail'': Souji Mitsuka[=/=]Tail Red is a ''[[SeriousBusiness huge]]'' [[GirlishPigtails twin-tail]] fanboy who protects the world from evil aliens, earning an UnwantedHarem that consists of his [[ChildhoodFriendRomance childhood friend]], the perverted scientist that gave him his powers, the StudentCouncilPresident and even one of his enemies. The parody is that his superhero alter ego is [[SuperGenderBender a little girl]], and he doesn't mind as long as he gets to enjoy his twintails, completely ignoring his harem. [[spoiler:The one time he showed interest in the female gender instead of just their twintails, he lost his will to fight for twintails, got stuck in his female form and even experienced a mild depression. It's only when he/she gets over it that Souji becomes more powerful than ever.]]

* ''LightNovel/IveBeenKillingSlimesFor300YearsAndMaxedOutMyLevel'': Azusa Aizawa is a gender-flipped variant. Being an office lady -- or as she prefers calling it, a "corporate slave" -- who died of overworking and reincarnated into a fantasy world as an immortal witch with nothing but a knife and an isolated house. Determined to relax as much as humanly possible, she embraces a lazy lifestyle of living outside of town, killing slimes when she goes to do her shopping, and selling their remains to buy what few resources she needs. By the time she is asked to check her status again, it turns out [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin she's been killing slimes for three hundred years and maxed out her level.]] Unfortunately, news of her updated status as one of the most powerful, if not '''the''' most powerful people in the world, leaks out and is quickly confirmed, which sets off the plot -- leading to her gaining a harem / family and generally dragging her out of her isolated, lazy life and into a life of adventure.

* ''LightNovel/{{Campione}}'': Godou Kusanagi is another OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent who winds up being TheChosenOne that [[DidYouJustPunchOutCthulhu kills a god]] and thus becomes the seventh and youngest "Campione". He is even special amongst that elite group by defeating the God of Victory, whose power allows him to kill any ''other'' god once Godou [[AwesomenessByAnalysis understands the god's origins and powers]]. The moment Godou becomes a Campione, Erica throws herself at him and "permits" him to have mistresses (although she insists he only have one) so long as it helps him fulfill his destiny. However, the fastest way to grant a Campione knowledge is by kissing them, and the GirlOfTheWeek is usually the only one with the knowledge he needs.

* ''LightNovel/DemonLordRetry'': Oono Akira is translated into a game world where he takes up the appearance and identity of MaouTheDemonKing (who, in this world, takes the position of a stoic, chain-smoking adult BadassInANiceSuit). Due to being one of the game's developers, he has access to numerous Administrator privileges, which makes him practically a god in this new world. Early into his travels, he meets several beautiful girls who fall in love with him (or one of his many other alter ego characters that he can randomly transform into).

** Emilia is the HeroAntagonist of the story and, thus, an inversion. But otherwise, Emilia fits the role of a Stock LightNovel protagonist including her massive fighting power that allowed her to [[OneManArmy almost single-handedly defeat Maou's forces]]. However, because she lacks the main character status, she lacks the rest of the trope's requirements, such as a harem. [[spoiler:In fact, by later volumes, she is slowly becoming a member of Maou's harem.]]
* ''LightNovel/DidntISayToMakeMyAbilitiesAverageInTheNextLife'': Adele von Ascham (born Misato Kurihara) is a female variant, though still lampshades and parodies the traditionally male version of this trope. Being an overachieving student who is burdened with high expectations in the real world, upon performing a HeroicSacrifice to save the life of a little girl from being struck by a truck, Misato meets {{God}} and is given the chance to reincarnate. However Misato requests in her next life she be [[IJustWantToBeNormal as average as possible]]. But the Creator's idea of 'average' has her reincarnated as Adele, a girl with power that is exactly half of the highest possible value, which is still still ''massively'' overpowered compared to everyone else.

* ''LightNovel/DragonarAcademy'': While not quite TheStoic nor an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent, Ash has a UniqueProtagonistAsset in that he [[spoiler:and his sister]] can ride any Dragon besides the one that belongs to him. In only a few chapters/episodes, he goes from being on the lowest end of the power spectrum to one of the highest as a Dragonar, with various characters promising that he isn't even ''close'' to his fullest potential. He's also the only known person whose Parr, Eco, has human form. In addition to the aforementioned Eco, he also has several girls who are either in love with him or want to have his child for a variety of reasons. And that's not even getting into the other things related to [[spoiler:being the Knight of Avalon]] which make him even ''more'' special.

* ''LightNovel/TheFamiliarOfZero'': Saito Hiraga is the UrExample of the "Isekai" version of the trope -- he is an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent that is summoned by accident to a fantasy world. While he is a NiceGuy and somewhat powerful, the EscapistCharacter aspects of the character are extremely subdued as he is only the {{Deuteragonist}} compared to the female lead. In fact, many early isekai protagonists that followed began as WishFulfillment "fan fics" that promoted Saito's role into the spotlight.

* ''LightNovel/Gamers2015'': This is parodied by way of subversion. While Amano has the plain appearance and UnwantedHarem, he lacks every other traits like skill or exceptional moral character, and the show repeatedly demonstrates that he has no interest in either. One short scene further cements this by demonstrating that a minor character, Misumi, actually has every cliche and characteristic that the standard SLNH would possess, but [[HeroOfAnotherStory isn't concerned with his story at all]].

* ''LightNovel/GrimgarOfFantasyAndAsh'': Haruhiro and his party members [[FailureHero aren't even close to being overpowered]], nor are they particularly GenreSavvy or quick to adapt to the world they've been transported to. They struggle to defeat even low-level monsters, and most of the series is just focused on them trying to survive rather than going on an adventure. Which furthers the deconstruction: Haruhiro isn't the strongest party member, nor is he the main focus of the series. [[ThePowerOfFriendship It's only due to the entire party that they're able to keep going]]. In any other series, they'd be the nameless, faceless background characters that the actual {{stock light novel hero}}es save.

[[folder: I - M]]

* ''LightNovel/InfiniteStratos'': Ichika Orimura is the only male in the world that can pilot the titular PoweredArmor, which means he is the only male in a school dedicated to training ''IS'' pilots and gets an UnwantedHarem. He is also a pretty good homemaker, dedicated and passionate about his beliefs and draws strength from his conviction to protect his loved ones. Unlike other examples of this trope, though, Ichika is ''not'' overpowered. His successes are due simply to his determination, courage and whit. In addition, [[CluelessChickMagnet he has no idea that the girls have feelings for him]] and the series derives lots of its humor from his lack of romantic awareness, until it is later implied he only [[ObfuscatingStupidity pretends to be unaware]] of the girls' romance towards him as to avoid getting into further trouble with them.
* ''LightNovel/TheIrregularAtMagicHighSchool'': One of the oldest {{Trope Codifier}}s, especially for the ExtranormalInstitute variety of trope. Further, unlike many later characters like this, the traits associated with the trope are analyzed or [[UnbuiltTrope deconstructed]]. Thanks to its [[{{Anvilicious}} heavy political themes]], Tatsuya Shiba discovers this trope's setbacks. InvincibleHero? His soul was changed when he was still in his mother's stomach, and in childhood was forced to become {{Child Soldier|s}} to master the most powerful magic known to man so that he could guard the Yotsuba family forever. Many people, however, fear a possible BewareTheSuperman scenario and would rather keep their distance from him. The Yotsuba family even [[spoiler:created Miyuki to restrain him]]. [[TheStoic Stoicism]]? Not by choice. To prevent him from destroying the world on a whim, the Yotsubas altered his brain chemistry and made him unable to feel any strong emotion, except for his love for his sister Miyuki.

* ''LightNovel/IsThisAZombie'': Ayumu Aikawa was an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent until one day he died, but soon after he gets brought back to life as a zombie. Though [[OurZombiesAreDifferent he's not the stereotypical]] [[FleshEatingZombie flesh-eating]], mindless, rotting zombie. He's an [[RevenantZombie intelligent]], [[AttractiveZombie attractive]] FriendlyZombie who doesn't act any different to how he was back when he was alive. Really, the only difference after he was brought BackFromTheDead the assortment of powers he gained, such as a HealingFactor, SuperStrength, and being NighInvulnerable. Also, he has his own SupportingHarem of girls who are all supernatural creatures, including the very necromancer who brought him back to life.

* ''LightNovel/TheMasterOfRagnarokAndBlesserOfEinherjar'': Yuuto was an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent and a bit of a history nerd. He's summoned to the magical world of Yggdrasil to help the Wolf Clan win battles against their neighboring clans and, by the time the story begins two years later, his strategies and [[GivingRadioToTheRomans knowledge of future technology]] have helped him evolve into the Patriarch of the Wolf Clan as it expands and absorbs several other neighboring ones. This earns him not only the reverence of the clan, but (by way of the "chalice oath" system of fealty in this world) the loyalty and love of several beautiful girls, who he adopts as daughters or sisters, and all of whom want to bear his ''seed''.

* '' LightNovel/MyEntireClassWasSummonedToAnotherWorldExceptForMe'': Parodied. Yato looks as though he will be a stereotypical [[TrappedInAnotherWorld Isekai]] Hero, except he is the only one of his class who did not get summoned over. For his trouble he does get powers though.

* ''Literature/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'': The series begins by [[LampshadeHanging lampshading]] the usual formula, having protagonist Iwatani Naofumi constantly point out all the traits that make him a standard LightNovel hero, right up to him being summoned to another world. The subversion starts immediately after that, with him being only one of ''four'' heroes summoned, the only one of the four that ''isn't'' a [[TheStoic confident badass]], the only one of the four that ''isn't'' a GodlikeGamer, and the one unfortunately chosen to bear the shield, a weapon [[DudeWheresMyRespect that even the people]] that summoned them [[LoserProtagonist snub their noses at]]. He quickly learns why: the shield has no offensive power whatsoever, meaning he struggles to even kill ''[[TheGoomba the weakest enemies]]'', meaning that he [[RPGMechanicsVerse can't earn any XP to level up]], and even when he does level up, it still only increases his ''defense'' and just makes the next level even harder to achieve. Thus, he is continually [[AllOfTheOtherReindeer disrespected at every turn]], and though his first party member is an incredibly beautiful woman, she winds up betraying, robbing, and [[FalseRapeAccusation falsely accusing him of attempted rape]], thus destroying the little respect he had to the point that the entire kingdom sees him as pure scum. This event is the CynicismCatalyst that defines Naofumi's personality for the rest of the series, as he decides to [[ThenLetMeBeEvil play up his role]] as a [[GoodIsNotNice jerkass hero]] because no one will take him seriously otherwise. Later points in the story slowly start the {{Double Subver|ted}}sion, with Naofumi starting to learn more useful abilities, and gaining a party of female charaters that could ''technically'' be considered a "harem".

* ''LightNovel/KnightsAndMagic'': Ernesti Echevalier is a former otaku {{reincarnate|InAnotherWorld}}d into another world where {{Mecha}} are the primary combat tools, and immediately manages to increase his kingdom's technology level by a comparable magnitude to what it took the kingdom's best military minds hundreds of years to do in the past despite being [[ImprobableAge only in middle school]], gets a carte blanche from the king to engage in adventure wherever he likes with a small band of his TrueCompanions, and eventually almost singlehandedly saves another small kingdom from an invasion by TheEmpire, all the while treating warfare as nothing but a fun game because he's [[ShowyInvincibleHero just that overpowered]]. He lacks the appearance (as he's a silver-haired, [[DudeLooksLikeALady androgynous]] preteen boy) and the harem (as only one girl shows signs of attraction toward him, and because of their age it's ambiguous whether it's truly romantic or just platonic in nature), although those are justified as the novel is for a younger demographic than what's normally intended here.

* Chiba from ''LightNovel/JKHaruIsASexWorkerInAnotherWorld'' is a deconstruction, especially since he's ''not'' the protagonist; unlike most light novels which narrate from this character type's point of view, we instead see him through the perspective of main character Haru (who's not male, an {{otaku}} or someone given special powers), which shows how he's actually a pathetic jerk. His design is less like your typical light novel protagonist and more like someone trying to cosplay as one, complete with dyed hair. Personality-wise, he's more of a HeroicWannabe than anything, viewing Haru as a victim to save rather than an actual person and coming across as [[EntitledToHaveYou entitled to her affections]]. Even his nerdier traits, which would usually be ways for the audience to relate to him, just make him come across as irritating instead.

* ''Literature/AccelWorld'': Haruyuki mostly fits the trope. He was once an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent, albeit a [[{{Gonk}} very unattractive one]] with a NonStandardCharacterDesign, who finds his life changed forever when he gets introduced to Brain Burst, an augmented reality game. As a Burst Linker, Haruyuki gains PoweredArmor and fights other Burst Linkers. While he's fairly pathetic at first, he soon discovers he's one of the only Burst Linkers to have a Duel Avatar with ''wings'', giving him the ability to fly and a huge advantage over everyone else. As the series progresses, he also acquires an UnwantedHarem of girls fawning for his attention.

* ''Literature/AccelWorld'': Haruyuki mostly fits the trope. He was once an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent, albeit a very unattractive one with a NonStandardCharacterDesign, who finds his life changed forever when he gets introduced to Brain Burst, an augmented reality game. As a Burst Linker, Haruyuki gains PoweredArmor and fights other Burst Linkers. While he's fairly pathetic at first, he soon discovers he's one of the only Burst Linkers to have a Duel Avatar with ''wings'', giving him the ability to fly and a huge advantage over everyone else. As the series progresses, he also acquires an UnwantedHarem of girls fawning for his attention.

* ''LightNovel/DeathMarchToTheParallelWorldRhapsody'': Satou is a quintessential example of the trope, being an [[SummonEverymanHero Everyman summoned into another world]], who quickly gains an absurd level of power, can acquire new abilities basically any time he wants, and gains an ever-growing [[UnwantedHarem harem of pretty girls]] to accompany him. Even appearance-wise, he sports the standard short black hair and BadassLongcoat.

* ''LightNovel/MyNextLifeAsAVillainessAllRoutesLeadToDoom'': Catarina Claes parodies the "Princess" and otome flavor of heroine. In her previous life, Catarina was a free-spirited girl who took a liking to a RomanceGame called ''Fortune Lover''. When she dies young and reincarnates, she realizes she's been reborn in the game's world as the snobbish, villainous HateSink Catarina Claes and seeks to avert the myriad terrible fates the character faced in the game -- except that her combination of PastLifeMemories and sincere NiceGirl demeanor causes every other character's backstories to go OffTheRails and make ''her'' the target of the love interests' affections ([[EvenTheGirlsWantHer including the characters that were supposed to be female rivals]] ''[[EvenTheGirlsWantHer and]]'' [[EvenTheGirlsWantHer the original main character]]). She's different from many characters of this type in that she is a ''very'' blatant {{Idiot Hero}}ine, and she wasn't actually all that good at ''Fortune Lover'' when she played it back in her previous life. Also, she is utterly skillless and lackluster in both swordsmanship and magic. Thus, it's not her knowledge, pragmatism or skill that make her special, but her [[BlitheSpirit quirky]] and [[MagneticHero magnetic]] personality that causes everyone to adore her.

* ''LightNovel/TheDeathMageWhoDoesntWantAFourthTime'': Played with. On one hand, Vandalieu once was an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent, has a unique power and is outwardly quite stoic, but he had such a crappy family life he thought a new life would be better. His second life was so horrible he downright swears vengeance against those who killed him, even if he has calmed down since. On his third life he decides to live to its fullest, charming women and gaining power, but he's far from an AllLovingHero, being a PragmaticHero instead. He also finds himself physically unable to let his many eager suitors to bear his children (being a child and all).

* ''Literature/{{Konosuba}}'':

* ''Literature/{{Overlord|2012}}'': Ainz (aka Momonga aka Satoru) is an interesting variation in that he's not a human but a lich, finding himself incarnated as his MMORPG character InAWorld that shares a lot of similarities with said MMO, but he soon discovers it's not the same as being inside the game. While he does possess ridiculous power (being at max level and inheriting everything from his former guild), he also tries to avoid flaunting it for fear of other players hearing about him and deciding to kill him (and he constantly misjudges just how overleveled he is compared to the rest of the world), and most of his early plans involve recruiting many unique-ability-having people (as it seems neither he nor his allies can learn new abilities) to work for him to round out Nazarick's skillset. His lich body also constantly suppresses his emotions for good or evil, and he finds himself committing ever more atrocities without batting an eye in the name of his utopia. He also has an UnwantedHarem, but he simply can't benefit from it in anyway, lacking the necessary parts or even emotions for love (and of the three girls, none are human, one was programmed to be a necrophile, one is InLoveWithYourCarnage, and another was accidentally programmed to love him as a joke). Finally, he went through an edgelord phase a few years back and is now thoroughly ashamed of what it produced: a LargeHam NPC prone to PuttingOnTheReich and GratuitousGerman.

* ''LightNovel/AsuraCryin'': Tomoharu is an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent who happens to have a best friend that's a ghost. However, it turns out that said "ghosts" are actually [[PoweredByAForsakenChild the power sources]] of HumongousMecha called "Asura Machina". In addition to this, various factions become worried about Tomo's growing relationship with various beautiful demon girls, because any romantic and/or sexual commitment to a demon allows a human to gain a {{Familiar}} called a "Daughter". A human with both an Asura and a Daughter is called an "Asura Cryin"--a PersonOfMassDestruction whose own powers erase both their memories and ability to love, driving them mad.

* ''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, [[LightNovel/MushokuTensei 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.
* ''LightNovel/BeingAbleToEditSkillsInAnotherWorldIGainedOpWaifus'': Nagi Soma is summoned to another world along with his entire highschool class when the schoolbus they were riding gets summoned there. Because he's GenreSavvy enough to ask King Nadla the proper questions regarding their situation, instead of simply going along with what the king says at face value, like the rest of his class does, the king has the royal knights literally throw him out with little more than the clothes on his back. The rest of the story is him getting one slave haremette after another dumped on him by circumstances beyond his control, and having to use his unique "skill restructure" ability to make them all into over-powered warriors, just to get by.

* ''LightNovel/BladedanceOfElementalers'': Kamito Kazehaya is the only known male Elementaler, a person who is able to make contracts with spirits. This, of course, means that he is the only boy to attend a school devoted to that craft, thus guaranteeing an UnwantedHarem. Also, he is secretly Ren Ashbell, the [[WorldsBestWarrior world's greatest bladedancer]], capable of defeating just about any opponent singlehandedly once [[LetsGetDangerous he gets serious]]. Further, he is contracted to two immensely powerful spirits: Est, [[LegendaryWeapon one of the most powerful holy swords ever created]], and Restia, another powerful sword which is the literal manifestation of the goddess of Darkness.
* The ''LightNovel/BoogiepopSeries'' makes this an UnbuiltTrope, as they were written long before this character archetype became standard. Nagi Kirima is CrazyPrepared, [[GeniusBruiser extremely physically and intellectually gifted]], and throws herself into danger on a daily basis for no reason. Unlike other examples, her ChronicHeroSyndrome is a deliberate choice because [[MartyrWithoutACause she actually does have a death wish]], and even though she has plans within plans, she rarely saves the day on her own, generally requiring the timely intervention of the title character. Unlike other stock light novel heroes who tend to be {{magnetic|Hero}}, most others, save for the few who know, just find her weird and avoid her.

* ''LightNovel/FateApocrypha'': The protagonist was just a nameless Homunculus created by the Yggdmillenia to be a slave in the Holy Grail War, until he attempts to escape and gets heavily injured. The hero Siegfried sacrifices his heart to save him, dying in the process. Renaming himself Sieg in honor of his fallen savior, the protagonist goes on to become a leader to his fellow homunculii, a major figure in the war and one of the most powerful characters in the story [[spoiler:albeit not [[DeadlyUpgrade without cost]]]]. He lacks the {{Harem}} traits though, as he's both ObliviousToLove and only one girl character is actually in love with him, though his male best friend ([[DudeLooksLikeALady not that you could tell at a glance]]) isn't shy about his affection either.

* ''LightNovel/TheHeroIsOverpoweredButOverlyCautious'': A hilarious parody of the trope. The goddess Ristarte is charged with saving an S-ranked world (the most difficult) and chooses to summon Seiya because he has some of the highest stats of any potential hero. Seiya is also a dark-haired, handsome {{hunk}} with a chiseled body and [[TheStoic stoic persona]]. From the moment he appears, Rista [[EatingTheEyeCandy lusts over him]], and eventually, he gains the admiration of ''several'' other goddesses within the divine realm. ...However, he is TheParanoiac that won't do ''anything'' unless he is [[{{Catchphrase}} "Ready Perfectly"]]. He will spend ''weeks'' at a time doing nothing but training or working out until he has maxxed out every single skill available, synethesizes the most powerful weapon as well as backups of those weapons and ''backups to the backups'', buys hundreds of helpful items in bulk, and treats every single person he meets with complete suspicion and caution... including his own party members and Ristarte herself. [[spoiler:And [[ProperlyParanoid it's a good thing]], because the villains of this world are just as [[NoNonsenseNemesis savvy and prepared]]]]. His strength and paranoia are even eventually given a concrete explanation...[[spoiler:it turns out it isn't his first rodeo being summoned to another world, and his lack of caution back then cost him dearly]]. In effect, he's actually closer to a StockShonenHero.

* ''LightNovel/HighSchoolDXD'': Issei Hyoudou sits on the fence between this trope and StockShonenHero. He looks and acts more like a shonen protagonist, but (aside from literally debuting in a light novel) fills the HaremGenre, OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent and "power acquisition" requirements. He's the current host of the Red Dragon Emperor--a being so powerful that Angels, Demons AND Fallen Angels [[EnemyMine had to join forces]] to break up a fight with its ArchEnemy. The harem aspect, however, is not by accident--Issei's greatest dream is [[HaremSeeker to become the "Harem King"]].

* ''LightNovel/HowNotToSummonADemonLord'': This trope is PlayedForLaughs regarding Diablo with the cliches exaggerated to ridiculous levels. He's a GodlikeGamer and a shut-in {{NEET}} back in the real world before he is abruptly summoned into an RPGVerse where he becomes his overpowered player avatar, and finds [[ComicallyInvincibleHero that everyone around him is laughably under leveled]][[note]]being level 150 in a world where level 30 is considered normal[[/note]]. He gets a [[SupportingHarem harem]] of two girls fighting over him from his very first appearance, however the twist is that they actually get turned into his slaves by accident so he technically ''owns'' them, and he keeps acquiring more girls after that. He's unusual that he's not a {{bishonen}} human, but a imposing demon lord. Unlike most examples of this trope, he [[TheRoleplayer roleplays]] the mean, selfish Demon Lord[[note]]as that is the only form of social contact he knows about[[/note]], meaning he generally doesn't show altruistic traits on the surface like the typical light novel protagonist. This extends to the relationship he has with the girls, who he is quite perverted towards including groping them on a few occasions. It takes scratching the surface and getting to know him better to see his nicer side underneath who is willing to help his girls when they are in trouble.

* ''LightNovel/IsItWrongToTryToPickUpGirlsInADungeon'':

* ''LightNovel/MushokuTenseiJoblessReincarnation'': Dying on Earth saving a couple high schoolers from an incoming truck, Rudeus Greyrat was reborn in a new world with the loving family he always wanted, as well as an immense amount of magical capabilities to become the WorldsStrongestMan and gains himself a harem. [[spoiler:In an interesting twist, it's his descendants that are the ChosenOne that will save the world.]]

* ''LightNovel/MyriadColorsPhantomWorld'': Haruhiko Ichijo is a ChickMagnet, {{Bishonen}}, OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent in a world where supernatural creatures known as phantoms roam free. He joins a club where students accept jobs in handling phantoms, with his club being full of girls that make up his BattleHarem. He also possesses special ability to seal phantoms in his sketch book.

* ''LightNovel/{{Overlord|2012}}'': Ainz (aka Momonga aka Satoru) is an interesting variation in that he's not a human but a lich, finding himself incarnated as his MMORPG character InAWorld that shares a lot of similarities with said MMO, but he soon discovers it's not the same as being inside the game. While he does possess ridiculous power (being at max level and inheriting everything from his former guild), he also tries to avoid flaunting it for fear of other players hearing about him and deciding to kill him (and he constantly misjudges just how overleveled he is compared to the rest of the world), and most of his early plans involve recruiting many unique-ability-having people (as it seems neither he nor his allies can learn new abilities) to work for him to round out Nazarick's skillset. His lich body also constantly suppresses his emotions for good or evil, and he finds himself committing ever more atrocities without batting an eye in the name of his utopia. He also has an UnwantedHarem, but he simply can't benefit from it in anyway, lacking the necessary parts or even emotions for love (and of the three girls, none are human, one was programmed to be a necrophile, one is InLoveWithYourCarnage, and another was accidentally programmed to love him as a joke). Finally, he went through an edgelord phase a few years back and is now thoroughly ashamed of what it produced: a LargeHam NPC prone to PuttingOnTheReich and GratuitousGerman.

* ''LightNovel/TheHeroLaughsWhileWalkingThePathOfVengeanceASecondTime'': Deconstructed with [[VillainProtagonist Ueki Kaito]]. Possibly the darkest deconstruction to date. Summoned against his will, home and family destroyed outside his knowledge, he spent three years struggling to save the new world from the Demon Lord, only to have his "companions" turn on him when he succeeds, get hunted down like an animal for a year, and stabbed to death by said "companions" as they're happily patting themselves on the back rejoicing at "the death of evil" and whining about how long it took them to kill him. [[ResetButton And then the universe resets to the day he was summoned, the the local god having assumed that anyone summoned to another world would have died far, far earlier and had planned on giving him a second chance to get it right.]] Now having some (but not all) of his powers, but every single bit of his memories, he decides to [[JumpingOffTheSlipperySlope do a swan dive off the slippery slope]] and punish as many people as possible for what they did to him in the previous timeline.

* ''Literature/RedoOfHealer'''s main character Keyaru is a dark example (picture [[LightNovel/TheHeroLaughsWhileWalkingThePathOfVengeanceASecondTime Kaito]] without any informed consent), similar to ''Literature/TheRisingOfTheShieldHero'' minus the [[TrappedInAnotherWorld isekai part]] and with the SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism turned so far into the "cynicism" end that it's at serious risk of [[BrokeTheRatingScale breaking the scale]]. Main character Keyaru, a young apple farmer, finds out that he is a Hero destined to fight alongside a party of other legendary heroes. Unfortunately for Keyaru, his power is healing, and he's a healer of the [[EmpathicHealer empathic variety]]. Even more unfortunately, the kingdom where he lives is [[TheEmpire a hopelessly corrupt tyranny]] and a WorldOfJerkass, and the "heroes" he's to fight alongside are awful to match and don't really need much healing in the first place, so he's MadeASlave and mostly used as a pack mule [[RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil and a sex toy]]. By the time he manages to break himself free of their hold, he is a deeply broken VillainProtagonist whose sole reason for existing is [[PayEvilUntoEvil dishing out proportionately horrific revenge]], almost always involving KarmicRape galore. As usual for the trope, Keyaru is a GuileHero with the obligatory [[StoryBreakerPower "cheat"]] ability (turns out, the umbrella of what classifies as "healing" [[ShapeShifting is]] [[OneHitKill much]] [[JackOfAllStats more]] [[{{Telepathy}} more]] [[MindManipulation versatile]] than you'd think). His obligatory harem, however, is unusual - about half of it consists of people with a similar grudge to his to whom he's giving a chance to act out their revenge in return for helping him with his, while the other half were {{Brainwashed}} into joining.

* ''LightNovel/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.

* ''LightNovel/{{Bakemonogatari}}'': Koyomi Araragi is a blend of both this trope ''and'' StockLightNovelEveryman. He's your average guy possessed by the strongest vampire in existence and suffers from a desire [[TheDulcineaEffect to help any cute girl he meets even if he barely knows her]]. But in a world where problems are solved with [[TalkingTheMonsterToDeath words]] and not fighting, his powers are hardly useful. He's gotten his ass kicked to the point of death multiple times. In fact, his ChronicHeroSyndrome [[FreudianExcuse comes from]] a FriendlessBackground; his sense of self-worth is so low that the only way he feels useful is to [[DeathSeeker sacrifice himself for someone]]. He does his best to help, but can't fix their problems for them--they have to do it themselves, and some of the arc resolutions make you wonder if his actions [[FailureHero even made a difference at all]]. Furthermore, most of the girls he saves end up attracted to him. Sounds great, except that [[OfficialCouple he enters a relationship with one of them very early in the story]], and stays with her until the end. The way neither the other girls nor his girlfriend seem to care about the UnwantedHarem only shows that they're [[DysfunctionJunction all really traumatized in some way or another]], and it's not usually presented as something cute or healthy. In fact, Koyomi's inability to just reject his {{Hopeless Suitor}}s ends up [[spoiler:causing the main conflict of the Second Season of the novels, when Nadeko Sengoku ends up possessed by an evil god due to [[{{Yandere}} her insane love for him]] and threatens to kill him and Senjougahara if he doesn't go out with her instead...and everything above is mentioned in Kaiki's TheReasonYouSuckSpeech to Koyomi, because all of it could have been avoided if he'd just had the courage to reject Nadeko, and continuing to act in a way that would convince her she still had a chance with him was just causing her to suffer for no reason]].

* ''Literature/TheBeginningAfterTheEnd'': Arthur Leywin fits several of the criteria for an {{Isekai}} protagonist, being comparable to the TropeCodifier for the ReincarnateInAnotherWorld variant, [[LightNovel/MushokuTensei Rudeus Greyrat]] in that he reincarnates as a child into a fantasy world. He is a MagicKnight able to control the four classical elements [[spoiler:and even ElementNo5]]. 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:a race of gods from which said dragon originated from]]. 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.

* ''LightNovel/MushokuTenseiJoblessReincarnation'': Dying on Earth saving a couple high schoolers from an incoming truck, Rudeus Greyrat was reborn in a new world with the loving family he always wanted, as well as an immense amount of magical capabilities to become the WorldsStrongestMan and gains himself a harem. [[spoiler:In an interesting twist, it's his descendants that are the ChosenOne that will save the world.]]
** Somewhat of an UnbuiltTrope example as well, due to having to work hard to get powerful unlike most examples, and that he was originally a fat, overweight 34 something NEET as opposed to being a teenager, and that he's reincarnated as a child as opposed to transmogrified to another world like his contemporaries.

* ''LightNovel/NoGameNoLife'': Sora fits most of the criteria; he's a {{NEET}} that is unparalleled in both his gaming skills. In addition, and the main reason he fits this trope more than his sister, is because he gains a veritable harem of hot women ([[LittleSisterHeroine including said sister]]) who either love or become his ''property'' by one means or another. What distinguishes him from most light novel protagonists is he's not a stereotypical NiceGuy, being [[SmugSuper incredibly arrogant]] and often [[GuileHero manipulates those around him for personal gain]], along with the fact he's in all aspects still a normal human and defeats others using his own wits rather than any powers that he acquires along the way. It's a plot point that Immanity are the "weakest" species in Disboard, Sora instead sees this as the ultimate strength and he only becomes more formidable as he [[DefeatMeansFriendship defeats and forms alliances]] with the various other species.

* ''LightNovel/BanishedFromTheHerosParty I Decided To Live A Quiet Life In The Countryside'': Exactly like it says in the title, D-Rank Adventurer Red was exiled from the Hero's party during her quest to defeat [[MaouTheDemonKing the Demon Lord]], so he opens up a apothecary in a small village and dedicates his life to making medicine and running a successful shop with the A-Rank adventurer Rit. Though Red appears weak due to his D-Rank status, he's actually a GeniusBruiser that ''easily'' defeats even B- and A-Rank adventurers with little effort. While at his village, he constantly gets drawn back into conspiracies and conflicts involving the demons and other villains, but he remains adamant that (despite his strength) he will ''not'' get drawn back into the human/demon war and just wants to live with Rit in peace and quiet.

* ''LightNovel/BofuriIDontWantToGetHurtSoIllMaxOutMyDefense'': A unique light-hearted take on the subgenre. Maple is a newbie gamer whose timid disposition motivates her to build her character with every point placed in Defense. Thanks also to Maple's [[FearlessFool fearless ignorance]] she also stumbles into some of the strongest monsters that the game devs never intended to be fought with her specific set of skills, and thus gains insanely powerful skills and equipment from the rewards. Maple quickly becomes known for being one of the most powerful players in the game, but her [[{{Moe}} cute]] and friendly personality can't help but win her many friends and allies. This being a "cute girls doing cute things" type of show, Bofuri lacks any type of harem elements.

* ''LightNovel/AssassinsPride'': Zigzagged with Kufa. In terms of appearance and role in the plot, he seems to be the definition of this trope: he has the short dark hair with soft facial features that one would expect of a Japanese protagonist (even though the series doesn't even take place on our Earth), wears dark clothing, is much stronger than most of the cast from the start, and is surrounded by pretty girls who like him and fight together with him. When you see his personality and backstory however, he has a lot of unique aspects: his skill is not simply innate power, but also from having far more experience in battle than a person his age should have. He may look like an AllLovingHero at first glance, but that's just a façade he puts on for the sake of his mission, in reality he is cold and calculating. And while he does comes to genuinely care about one girl, his core personality remains the same and he only looks more heroic than he actually is due to [[PragmaticVillainy pragmatism]].

* ''LightNovel/DrugstoreInAnotherWorld'': Reiji Kirio, a Japanese {{salaryman}}, gets TrappedInAnotherWorld and starts a drugstore, where he learns how to treat all sorts of magical and unusual ailments plaguing different people and fantasy races. The story is almost entirely without violent conflict, and is more about the wacky hijinks of the main case of loveable goofballs.

* ''LightNovel/TheExecutionerAndHerWayOfLife'' features a subverted example with Mitsuki Mutou. He's an OrdinaryHighSchoolStudent with short black hair and a school uniform who gets called by a SummonEverymanHero spell to a world just out of the medieval era where everyone speaks Japanese. He's initially cast out due to lacking a NewLifeInAnotherWorldBonus, but he encounters a beautiful priestess girl named Menou who forms a quick rapport with him and convinces him to work harder. Soon after, he unlocks his true power, which is the Pure Concept of Null, allowing him to destroy anything, and he immediately begins crowing about how he's going to take revenge on everyone who wronged him... at which Menou stabs him through the head, revealing him to be nothing more than a DecoyProtagonist and herself to be an assassin.

* ''LightNovel/LogHorizon'': Shiroe is [[TrappedInAnotherWorld trapped in a game world]] along with many other players, and he happens to be one of the greatest strategists alive with the highest level cap (at first) in the game. His exploits earn him the affections of multiple women, and as he learns more about how the mechanics of the game world work, he learns that his abilities and his intellect are perfectly suited to allow him to [[RealityWarper break reality itself]] through {{Magically Binding Contract}}s.

* ''LightNovel/{{Maoyu}}'': Yuusha is [[TheChosenOne the Legendary Hero]] fated to defeat Maou, the Demon Lord. To this end, he was born with [[WorldsBestWarrior absurd skill and power]] well beyond that of any human or demon, capable [[OneManArmy of defeating entire armies with ease]]. However, when he meets Maou (the Demon ''Queen''), he learns that she's a very wise and benevolent woman who knows that even if this war comes to an end, nothing will change. She instead proposes that the two of them join forces to [[GivingRadioToTheRomans introduce the very primitive and socially backward world]] to concepts such as agriculture, advanced economics, and social reform. However, this causes him to [[NoPlaceForMeThere to feel that he's become useless]] outside of the occasional use of force when peaceful measures won't work. Further fitting the trope, he turns out to be quite the ChickMagnet, with both the Demon Queen and the Female Knight vying for his affections...as well as many more female admirers who desire him as well.

* ''LightNovel/TheAsteriskWar'': Ayato Amagiri is a talented fighter who claims ownership of one of the most powerful weapons in the world thanks to his enormous magical potential, becomes an instant celebrity amongst his peers and gains the affection of several girls across the Asterisk city. The family of one of the aforementioned girls has even considered putting him in an ArrangedMarriage because of the possible political benefits such union could bring.