Characters / The Rising of the Shield Hero - Main Characters

The Rising of the Shield Hero Main Character Index
Main Series: Main Characters (Naofumi Iwatani) | Naofumi's Allies | Three Heroes and Allies (Motoyasu Kitamura) | Antagonists (Malty Melromarc) | Other Characters
Spin-Offs: The Reprise of the Spear Hero

The primary cast of the story.

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Main Characters

In General

• Clingy Jealous Girl: Raphtalia, Filo, and Atla all vie for Naofumi's affection.
• Dark and Troubled Past: With the exception of Filo, every member of Naofumi's party and Naofumi himself, had a really sad background.
  • Naofumi was betrayed by Malty and lost everything he had until he met Raphtalia.
  • Raphtalia once lived in a demi-human village until the Wave came and killed her parents and friends. She became a slave and she was treated harshly by her first master.
  • Rishia came from an impoverished noble family and she joined Itsuki's party. Itsuki treated her like a burden, and his party tricked him and betrayed her. She contemplated suicide until she was stopped by Naofumi.
  • The Hakuko siblings lost their parents while they were young. Atla was afflicted with a deadly illness until Naofumi met her, and Fohl was forced to fight in death matches to pay for her treatment.
• Guest-Star Party Member: Ake, Melty, the Three Cardinal Heroes, Glass and her companions, and the King.
• Happiness in Slavery: With the exception of Rishia, Naofumi's party is composed of slaves he had bought. However, Raphtalia and the others are happy to remain as Naofumi's slaves- in major part because he eventually becomes just about the only slave owner who treats his slaves with any sense of decency- and consider their slave brands as proof of their loyalty to him.
• Hero's Slave Harem: Most of Naofumi's party qualifies because many of them have crushes on him. After being cured of an illness, being well taken care of, and taught to become a stronger person, Raphtalia quickly falls in love with Naofumi and happily continues to be his slave. He also later gains several other slaves as well, some of whom also fall in love with him. Later averted, when Raphtalia’s Slave Crest is removed by the Vassal Katana, but that’s all that changes; her devotion to Naofumi remains.
• Morality Chain: They all serve as this towards Naofumi at different points in the story, bringing him back whenever his rage starts to consume him.
• Nice Mean And In Between: The initial trio have this dynamic; Raphtalia is Nice, being a Nice Girl who acts as the Team Mom and Morality Pet to Naofumi, Naofumi is Mean, being a grumpy, ruthless and often greedy Jerk with a Heart of Gold, and Filo is In-Between, being generally friendly but can also be rather bratty at times due to her young age.
• Took a Level in Badass: They each have a slow start, but eventually become a Badass Crew.
  • Raphtalia went on from a sickly little girl to a skilled swordswoman capable of defeating foes. She also became the Hero of the Katana in the Light Novel, or the Hammer in the Web Novel.
  • Rishia went on to defeat a Legendary Hero before being chosen as the Hero of the Projectile by the Legendary Bow.
  • Atla now can beat Filo and Fohl by literally poking them despite having a lower level than both of them.
  • Fohl grows up and becomes stronger under Naofumi, and is later gifted the Vassal Gauntlets.
• True Companions: In spite of their Clingy Jealous Girl tendencies towards Naofumi, they all still care for each other and try to win Naofumi's affection fairly without hurting each other, physically or emotionally.
• Two Girls and a Guy: Naofumi's party was composed of himself, Raphtalia and Filo until Rishia, Atla, and Fohl came along (and still, the females outnumber the males in the same proportion).

Naofumi Iwatani/Hero of the Shield

Naofumi Iwatani / The Hero of the Shield

Voiced by: Kaito Ishikawa (Japanese), Billy Kametz (English, Season 1), Stephen Fu (Season 2)^note Other languages: Alan Bravo (Latin American Spanish), Federico Viola (Italian)

Naofumi Iwatani is a regular college student and otaku who found a book titled "Four Heavenly Weapon's Manual" which told the story of four Heroes summoned to defend another world. In an instant this became his reality as he found himself in a new world and declared one of the Legendary Heroes. Summoned as the Hero of the Shield Naofumi briefly fantasized about the adventures he would lead only to be betrayed and have his name dragged through the mud. His eyes opened and filled with deep anger, Naofumi vows to get his revenge.

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See his separate character page.

Raphtalia

Raphtalia

Voiced by: Asami Seto (Japanese), Erica Mendez (English)^note Other languages: Jocelyn Robles (Latin American Spanish), Francesca Bielli (Italian)

^{Click here to see to see her as a child when Naofumi first met her}

^{Click here to see to see her as a child in Season 2}

^{Click here to see to see her as the Katana Vassal Hero}

A sickly tanuki demi-human child enslaved by humans, Raphtalia had given up hope after a Trauma Conga Line consisting of the brutal deaths of her parents and being made a slave to an abusive master. Purchased by Naofumi at a discount and given a weapon she was made to act as his sword, attacking where he could not. Quickly cured of her sickness, Raphtalia became a skilled fighter and fell in love with Naofumi.

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• Act of True Love: She proves her love and loyalty towards Naofumi are genuine when she's briefly freed of her slave seal. She stands up for Naofumi in front of all the other Summoned Heroes and nobles who mock him, stating no one has treated her as kindly as Naofumi has. Raphtalia then affirms she heard the rumors of Naofumi being a rapist, but she knows that it's all a lie. In the light novel, she even offers to get a new slave seal if that will convince everyone of her sincerity. Realizing Raphtalia truly is on his side, slave or not, moves Naofumi so much that he breaks down in tears.
• Afraid of Blood: She was initially terrified to kill monsters that would bleed. She soon overcomes it thanks to Naofumi.
• Angry Cheek Puff: During her teenage years Raphtalia tended to pout in a cute-ish manner by puffing her cheeks whenever she got upset (such as when Naofumi wouldn't let her sleep with him), as she was still young but growing to have a backbone.
• Armor-Piercing Question: Gives one to Motoyasu after he removes the Slave Crest from her following his rigged victory. When she calls out Motoyasu for freeing her when she never asked for or wanted it, Motoyasu tries to argue that slavery is evil and Naofumi is evil for owning one, Raphtalia tells him that Naofumi has actually done a lot more to help her and asks if he's even capable of showing the same kindness. When Motoyasu weakly replies that he would, Raphtalia tells him that he would have a rescued slave speaking on his behalf if that were true rather than a sycophantic princess, indirectly pointing out his Bystander Syndrome and Horrible Judge of Character.
• Badass Boast: After being accosted by a particularly antagonistic group of city guards, Raphtalia charges them, blade drawn, and lays down the law.
  Raphtalia: I am Master Naofumi's sword! Respect him or die!
• Battle Couple: With Naofumi. They can interpret and predict each other's movements, and Raphtalia can often know what Naofumi is thinking just by looking at his face. Raphtalia's romantic feelings are painfully obvious, but Naofumi is in denial and tries to keep their relationship on a parent-child level, to Raphtalia's dismay. By the end of the web novel, Naofumi gives up all of his attack power in exchange for absolute defense, and Raphtalia exchanges all of her defensive power for even greater offense. In doing this, they place absolute trust in the fact that he will always protect her and she will always fight for him.
• Beauty Equals Goodness: Following her Rapid Aging, Raphtalia grows up into quite the looker. And unlike Malty, she is an absolute sweetheart.
• Beautiful Slave Girl: After leveling up, Raphtalia grows into an attractive young woman. The slave trader tells Naofumi a slave girl as pretty as her would be worth a fortune.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: She's happy to be Naofumi's slave because he's the only master who never abused her. While he still uses her for fighting, Naofumi goes out of his way to look after Raphtalia's well-being and helped her overcome her traumas. As a result, Raphtalia grows to not just trust her master, but love him.
• Beware the Nice Ones: Not only is Raphtalia fully capable of killing someone that threatens Naofumi and her True Companions, she can be rather ruthless if she has to ensure something or someone dies. And Good Is Not Soft enters full effect if slavery is involved; when former members of the Three Heroes Church attempt to enslave the demi-humans of Naofumi's village, Raphtalia is the one to come up with the idea of selling the perpetrators into human slavery as Laser-Guided Karma. The manga goes so far as to depict her with Empty Eyes when this topic comes up to highlight how utterly pissed she is despite her calm demeanor.
• Break the Cutie: As her belated Backstory reveals, Raphtalia was once an incredibly strong-willed child. After her village was wiped out in the first Wave, including her own parents, Raphtalia encouraged the survivors to rebuild with a Rousing Speech. When sold into slavery, she would grit her teeth and refuse to cry out when her master tortured her, and put up a strong front for her friends, promising them they would come back home some day. Unfortunately, her master's cruelty combined with helplessly watching her friends suffer gradually wore down her spirit until she was the cringing, broken, sickly girl Naofumi first met. Her support and encouragement of the Shield Hero can be seen as Raphtalia coming back to her old self.
• Break Them by Talking: She demolishes Motoyasu's flimsy excuses for forcibly freeing her from Naofumi.
• Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: The Gentle Girl to Naofumi's Brooding Boy. In a world where almost everyone treats him like a despicable criminal, Raphtalia is the one person who is always there for Naofumi to comfort him with kind words. Even on the rare occasions when Naofumi returns the favour, he does so by reminding her of everything she's done for him.
  Naofumi: If it wasn't for you being in my life, I would have run from this world without ever trusting anyone.
• Calling Your Attacks: Starts doing this after being chosen to wield the Katana Vassal Weapon, similar to Naofumi.
• The Champion: As Raphtalia herself says, she's Naofumi's sword and she exists for the purpose of fighting for him.
• Character Development: Raphtalia started as a shy and scared girl till she was purchased by Naofumi. Naofumi trained and took care of her which turned her into a fighter and could defend herself and Naofumi from any harm even becoming Naofumi`s most loyal follower and develop feelings for him.
• Childhood Friend Romance: The original web novel ending has Raph be cosmically adjusted into Naofumi's childhood friend when they go back to Earth together.
• The Chosen One: Of the Vassal Katanna.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: She gets easily jealous of other girls getting too close to Naofumi. She butts heads with Filo when competing for Naofumi's attention (even before Filo could transform).
• The Conscience: Early on, she was the literal voice of reason for Naofumi, who had become a sociopath. It's also the Running Gag whenever Naofumi acts sadistically when giving punishments.
• The Consigliere: If Naofumi listens to anyone's advice, it will be Raphtalia's, such as taking better care of himself or to be more polite to allies. Take this scene where Melty advices Naofumi to rest before they resume traveling, and Naofumi refused until Raptalia said essentially the same thing.
  Melty: Why do you listen to what Raphtalia says instead of me?
  Naofumi: [Doesn't even look at her as he walks away] Don't worry about it.
• Cool Big Sis: She shares this role with Sadina, and is this for many in Naofumi's circle of friends and allies. While Sadina is more laid-back and open, Raphtalia offers both kindness and discipline to the younger slaves in Naofumi's new village. Even the Hot-Blooded Fohl, who barely listens to a thing Naofumi says, eventually yields to her authority.
• Curtains Match the Window: Light brown hair to match her light brown eyes.
• Cute Monster Girl: She's a Tanuki.
• The Cutie: When first introduced, she is a cute little girl who becomes quite cheerful and sweet after Naofumi cures her illness and takes care of her. As she grows up, she triggers "wow, you're cute" reactions in a lot of people, from food shop vendors who give her extra food, to Elhart who gives her a discount on a magic iron sword, to Spear Hero who hits on her immediately after seeing her for the first time. While definitely still cute as an adult, the cuteness takes a different form.
• Declaration of Protection: Eventually, while saying that she is truly grateful to have met Naofumi and thanking him for all that he's done, Raphtalia vows to stay by his side forever as his sword. Where he goes, she goes.
• Deity of Human Origin: She starts out as a regular demi-human, but journeying throughout the space between worlds turns her into a goddess in all but name.
• Delicate and Sickly: At first. When Naofumi buys her, she's in poor health and constantly coughing. Thanks to Naofumi giving her medicine and training her, she soon gets better.
• Dual Wielding: She can summon a second katanna with a different form from the other one.
• Fan of Underdog: Even before she met Naofumi, Raphtalia looked up to the Shield Hero because her parents told her he was kind to demi-humans. Naofumi treating her nicely despite being his slave cemented her love and admiration for him.
• Fantastic Arousal: Apparently, stroking her tail does this. By the time chapter 265 rolls around, Naofumi has developed a liking for petting soft things (Filo's feathers, Kiel's fur, etc.), so it was only a matter of time before he tried to do the same to her tail. Unfortunately, his obliviousness towards women and emotions prevents him from realizing why this might not be such a good idea.
• First Girl Wins: She's the first girl to officially join Naofumi's party, his main combat partner, and the one he's closest to. She eventually becomes his first bride.
• Fountain of Youth: When her, Naofumi, Filo, and Rishia travel to Glass' world, everybody has their levels reset due to their stats being specific to each world. As a consequence, her being chronologically around 10-11 means that the reset reverts her to being a child. She retains her more adult mindset, though, since her mental maturity was unaffected by the Rapid Aging and instead gained through regular experience.
• Fragile Speedster: To compliment Naofumi's Stone Wall abilities, she's very fast and focuses on pure offensive. On the flip side, she has very little defensive abilities, and so tends to focus on overpowering her foe as quickly as possible.
• Glass Cannon: She has potent attack power and speed, but doesn't handle defense much because she leaves that to Naofumi. By the end of the web novel, Raphtalia exchanges her defensive power for greater offense, pushing her even further into this archetype.
• Happiness in Slavery: She wants to be Naofumi's slave, even when offered the chance to be freed, as she knows that Naofumi only trusts slaves. There are a number of reasons why being a slave ultimately benefits her moreso than one might think:
  • The fact that she grew up hearing stories of the Shield Hero as a Folk Hero for demi-humans certainly helps in her decision. That being said, Raphtalia did not start this way; she was very upset at her role as Naofumi's slave and it wasn't until he started treating her like a person that she grew to like him.
  • Chapters 76-80 of the web novel demonstrate a far darker reason for this desire. At the time Rapthalia was offered her freedom in chapter 23, the Fantastic Racism in Melromarc was so severe that demi-humans and worse, beastmen, had the same legal standing as monsters. Had Rapthalia remained free under those conditions, Malty could — and considering her personality, probably would — have hunted Rapthalia down for sport without fear of legal retribution. As Naofumi's slave, Rapthalia does have some legal protection against such things.
  • Raphtalia receives stat bonuses as she levels up since Naofumi's status as a Legendary Hero means that any slave under his command grows more quickly and more powerful compared to a regular party member.
  • It's to the point that when her slave brand is removed a second time in Glass's world by her bonding with the Katana Vassal Weapon, she worries that he'll reject her again. Fortunately, by this time Naofumi has gone through enough Character Development that he no longer cares: he's just happy to have her with him again.
• Hime Cut: She has blunt bangs, cheek-length sidelocks, and tailbone-length straight hair. At first the hairstyle doesn't seem to fit with a slave girl, but it's eventually revealed that Raphtalia is the daughter of a runaway nobleman and heir to the throne of a country that is the equivalent of Japan in her world. She also starts dressing like a Miko in later volumes of the light novels.
• Hidden Buxom: Due to her armour, Raphtalia doesn't really show off much of her figure. Seeing her in the hot springs or in a swimsuit shows that's she's actually got quite a busty figure.
• Heroic BSoD: Suffers one in Episode 15, after finding out that Rifana has been long dead, causing her to break into tears and doubt herself until Naofumi reassures her.
• Ignored Enamored Underling: Raphtalia is clearly in love with her master Naofumi, but he is incapable of recognizing this because he still hasn't gotten over getting set up by the first attractive lady he trusted. Also, he technically adopted Raphtalia, so Naofumi likely thinks it's wrong to see her as a woman. She gets annoyed and protests whenever Naofumi refers to her as his "daughter".
• Invisibility: She can cast a spell to make herself invisible during a fight, which makes it easier to defeat her enemies.
• Just a Kid: It takes Naofumi a while to even notice her accelerated growth and despite that, he still treats her like the kid he needs to babysit for the most part. This annoys Raphtalia to no end since she wants Naofumi to show interest in her as a woman.
• Katanas Are Just Better: Rather than becoming the Hammer Hero like in the web novel, in the light novel, while traveling in Glass' world, she was chosen by the vassal weapon Katana.
• The Lad-ette: Downplayed in that she's pretty mild-mannered by default, but can become a rowdy drunk under the right conditions, more than happy to initiate a bar fight or an arm-wrestling contest with any other boorish oaf in the room with a stern look on her flushed face.
• Little Bit Beastly: All demi-humans exhibit the physical traits of some kind of animal. In Raphtalia's case, she has a tanuki's ears and tail.
• Living Emotional Crutch: She serves as Naofumi's emotional support and most trusted companion. Without her, Naofumi probably would have gone off the deep end early on.
• Lost Orphaned Royalty: In the original web novel, Sadina reveals to Naofumi that Raphtalia's father is a noble who eloped with Raphtalia's commoner mother from the Japan counterpart in that world. In the light novel, things are a bit more complicated. It turns out that Raphtalia's father was not only a noble, but also the son of that country's emperor, and therefore the heir to the throne. He had technically forfeited that right when he left the country with Raphtalia's mother, but the government that took his place grew so paranoid at the possibility of one of his descendants taking the throne that they sent spies to keep tabs on Raphtalia ever since. Naofumi was understandably furious when he learned this, because this meant that they watched her suffer as a slave and did nothing to help.
• Made a Slave: She was sold into slavery after her hometown was destroyed and her parents were killed by a Hellhound. Lucky for her that Naofumi was the one who bought her, because he treats her better than anyone else in the world.
• Master of Illusion: Raphtalia has an affinity for illusion magic due to being a Tanuki. Her Illusion Sword creates the illusion of the blade of a sword used to attack the enemy. This blade does not damage its target physically but causes mental damage associated with the supposed strike of the sword.
• Me's a Crowd: After becoming a goddess, she leaves mortal copies of herself in her and Naofumi's home worlds to live normal lives alongside their friends.
• Miko: Her outfit after becoming the Katana Vassal Hero is designed like this.
• Miss Conception: In the anime, likely due to her still having a child's understanding of romance, she believes kissing is all it takes to become pregnant.
• Morality Chain: Her staying by Naofumi's side is what keeps him from going over the edge and embracing his unfair reputation as a criminal.
• Morality Pet: She's one of the few people who can reach Naofumi when he goes into a berserker rage under the effect of the Cursed Shield, and bring him back to his normal self. It is her unconditional trust and belief that helps him recover from the bitterness of Malty's betrayal.
• Ms. Fanservice: Following her Rapid Aging from levelling up, she develops a very beautiful and overall attractive body befitting of a young woman, with scenarios like wearing a swimsuit at the beach or wandering naked in a hot spring showing that her figure has improved quite nicely compared to her original body as a malnourished child. It's to the point that plenty of men in-story find her to be one heck of a woman lookswise, though she's rather disappointed that Naofumi, the one man she wants to see her as an attractive woman, simply views her as his cute daughter.
• Nice Girl: Raphtalia is easily one of the nicest characters in the entire story, being kind, caring and loyal to a fault. Even if she doesn't particularly like someone, she'll be nice to them until they give her a reason not to be.
• Not So Above It All: Usually one of Naofumi's more down to earth companions, but even she can get into some crazy trouble or shenanigans at times. Such as brawling against Mald when the Heroes are at a meeting after he insults Naofumi.
• Official Couple: She's Naofumi's first bride in the "historical" documents of chapter 377.
• Physical God: In order to stop the goddess Medea, Raphtalia and Naofumi enter the void that exists between worlds and gain godlike powers from it.
• Plagued by Nightmares: After being bought by Naofumi, she suffers from recurrent night terrors stemming from the trauma of her parents' deaths. He helps her move past these, even telling her to confront and kill a monster that resembles the one that wiped out her village, which helps start her Undying Loyalty to him.
• Plot-Relevant Age-Up: It's a trait of her people for children to quickly mature when they level up, so she goes from looking like the young child she chronologically is in the first two episodes to looking about Naofumi's age by episode 4.
  • Also happens to her again in Season 2 Episode 10, where after spending three episodes back in her child form, after the Vassal Katana chooses her to be its wielder, she is restored back to her adult form.
• Precocious Crush: She was physically and mentally a child when she fell in love with Naofumi. After she levels up, she looks around the same age as him despite technically still being ten. She wants Naofumi to think of her as a woman and hates how he keeps treating her like a little kid most of the time.
• Rapid Aging: Since Demi-human children and teens age as they level up, she becomes a grown-up over the course of a week because she spent all that time level-grinding with Naofumi to prepare for the Waves of Destruction. She experiences an even more drastic case when in Glass' world, as after being de-aged by a level reset, becoming the Katana Hero instantly returned her to an adult age despite not having leveled enough beforehand to do so naturally.
• Rightful King Returns: Volumes 13 and 14 of the LN are centered around Raphtalia's return to her parents' home country, of which her father was the prince and she is the rightful ruler. Of course, that also means she has to take it back from the tyrannical government that cropped up in her father's absence.
• Rude Hero, Nice Sidekick: Raphtalia is a lot gentler and more openly compassionate than Naofumi, who plays the grumpy jerk towards anyone he meets. She scolds Naofumi whenever he's being too gruff or hostile and tries to persuade him to show his good side more often.
• Servile Snarker: She develops quite the skill at sassing Naofumi without triggering her brand, especially when it's for his own good.
• She Is All Grown Up: Demi-humans age as they level up so due to all the fighting she quickly physically matures. Naofumi plays this trope especially straight at the end of the first volume as, after being completely oblivious to her aging, he abruptly notices it and wonders why she's not a child.
• Sickly Child Grew Up Strong: When Naofumi first bought her, Raphtalia was a fragile and sickly little girl. Thanks to Naofumi training her and treating her illness, Raphtalia levels up quickly, her body undergoes Rapid Aging into a young woman and she's now an accomplished swordswoman who can fight to protect Naofumi.
• Spiteful Gluttony: While staying at a hot spring resort, Raphtalia purchases two bottles of a drink she wants to share with Naofumi, but as she walks into his room, she finds him brushing the hair of Filo. Bitterly reminiscing about the time he used to do the same for her before her Plot-Relevant Age-Up, she scarfs down one of the bottles. Filo sees her and asks Raphtalia for the other bottle, prompting Raphtalia to angrily drink that one too just to spite Filo.
• Stating the Simple Solution: In the Web Novel, the king not only refuses to pay Naofumi for his services in the first wave, but refuses to even acknowledge he even did anything useful. This is despite him and Raphtalia going out of his way to protect the villagers in a nearby town being assaulted with monsters, and the best most of the knights could do was set the whole town on fire rather than charge in directly. While the latter is understandably furious about this, Raphtalia points out that this means they don't have a single reason to go anywhere near Melromarc castle since he'll only receive nothing but derision and insults. Ironically enough, the next wave's conclusion led to Naofumi being summoned to the castle directly.
• Stepford Smiler: During her time as a slave, she forced herself to smile to keep strong and give hope to her friends. The torture eventually took its toll on her, though, and after she was forcibly separated from Rifana, she even forgot how to smile until she met Naofumi.
• Straight Man: Often lampshaded. She's usually the one to bring Naofumi's strange and/or sadistic behavior to a halt by reprimanding him.
• Subordinate Excuse: Raphtalia is happy to be Naofumi's sword because she loves him and sees it as her purpose in life. She wants to do whatever she can for him.
• Survivor Guilt: A very big part of her initial PTSD is her guilt of surviving because her parents sacrificed themselves to save her from a Hellhound that devoured them instead.
• Team Mom: Acts as this for her party, being the most nurturing and emotionally supportive member. This fits well with Naofumi's Team Dad role, as Raphtalia is usually the one to talk Naofumi down when his approach to something comes off as too harsh.
• Too Hungry to Be Polite: As a child, she messily devoured her food, but learned proper manners from an innkeeper so she could eat more like Naofumi (explored in an omake).
• Top Wife: At the end of the web novel, Raphtalia becomes the first official wife of Naofumi before he takes multiple wives.
• Trauma Button: Her parents were devoured by a Hellhound. Raphtalia is paralyzed in fear when she faces a similar monster. Facing the possibility of losing Naofumi in the same way is what motivates her to fight the monster.
• Undying Loyalty: To Naofumi. She devotes herself to being his second-in-command as well as his sword, and is willing to lay down her life for his sake.
  • Late in the story, when Naofumi offers to take her back with him to his world, he also warns her that adjusting to her new life with him will be hard, and she might end up regretting it. Raphtalia's response is "I go where you go. That's all there is to it."
  • She stands up for Naofumi in front of all the other Summoned Heroes and nobles who mock him, stating no one has treated her as kindly as Naofumi has. She then affirms she heard the rumors of Naofumi being a rapist, but she knows that it's all a lie. This Act of True Love moves Naofumi to tears because, at the time, Raphtalia's slave seal is disabled. So she has no obligation to defend him, but does anyway out of genuine love and loyalty towards him.
• Unwanted Rescue: She gets pissed at Motoyasu for freeing her from Naofumi's command when she never wanted or asked for that.
• Violently Protective Girlfriend: Since Naofumi isn't allowed to wield weapons, Raphtalia fights on his behalf as his sword and defends him from anything that tries to harm him or insult him.
• Wise Beyond Their Years: She's chronologically around 10-11 and her level-based Rapid Aging doesn't affect her mind, but due to the fact she Had to Be Sharp in a Crapsack World full of Fantastic Racism, her mental and emotional maturity is on the level of her physical age, as shown well during her Fountain of Youth incident, retaining her adult mindset despite physically being a child. That said, she's still innocent in ways unrelated to war and fighting, like baby-making.
• You Are Not Alone: When Naofumi is breaking down and in the process of unsealing a terrible power right after the 'duel' with Motoyasu, Raphtalia walks up to him and gives him a hug, telling him that she believes him and that she'll remain by his side. He openly weeps in her arms.
• Younger than She Looks: She's not as old in terms of years as her physical maturity suggests due to her aging as she levels up. This is shown when she goes to another world, loses nearly all her levels, and reverts to a child.

Filo

Filo

Voiced by: Rina Hidaka (Japanese), Brianna Knickerbocker (English)^note Other languages: Jessica Ángeles (Latin American Spanish), Sabrina Bonfitto (Italian)

A Filolial hatched from an egg that Naofumi bought from the Slave Merchant. Due to being hatched by a Legendary Hero, Filo is a Filolial Queen and so stronger, smarter, and faster than most Filolials. She can shapeshift between her Filolial form and a human form, a pre-adolescent girl with wings.

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• Age Lift: Slightly. In the light novel, Naofumi describes Filo as looking like a girl of ten, while in the anime, her figure as seen in her nude scene implies a couple years more into puberty.
• Ambiguous Innocence: While she looks and acts like a young child, Filo is still a predatory bird with limited understanding of human morals. As such there are times when she'll say something that seems completely shocking given her innocence, such as wanting eat other Filolials.
• Angelic Beauty: Her human form is that of a little blonde girl with feathered white wings on her back. Others think she looks like a gorgeous angel. Motoyasu adores her for this.
• Annoying Younger Sibling: She acts like one towards Raphtalia, since both are Naofumi's adopted daughters of sorts. Filo usually teases her and gets into fights for Naofumi's attention.
• The Baby of the Bunch: She was born very recently even though she looks like a little girl, making her the youngest member of Naofumi's party.
• Badass Adorable: A small, adorable angel-like girl who is The Baby of the Bunch. Her kick is stronger than the Hero of the Sword's swing. She is twenty levels lower than someone but still the stronger of the two.
• Barefoot Loon: She's barefoot in her human form, as her magical clothes, which shapeshift along with her, don't include shoes. In the light novel, Naofumi equates the trait with her carefree nature, even musing she "looks like a foreign pop idol who runs around barefoot" (maybe he was thinking of Shakira?).
• Berserk Button: Ever since they first met, Motoyasu's very existence makes her want to kick him with her full strength any time she sees him, since he not only constantly insulted her as a Filolial, but he's so obsessive towards her human form that it freaks her out, not to mention that him constantly putting down and insulting Naofumi makes her blood boil. Even when he's not being particularly jerkish and thus isn't triggering her immediate desire to punt him, she's always intensely wary of him and is prepared to hit him the instant it looks like he'll do something funny.
• Big Eater: Even after reaching her full size, Naofumi ends up devoting a cart to carrying food for her.
• The Big Girl: At least before Atla, Filo is the heaviest hitter of Naofumi's group.
• Bishōnen Line: She starts off as a small pink chick, then a larger long-necked bird, then an even larger stout feathered bird and finally a much smaller pre-adolescent, blonde girl with wings. This is downplayed as she can switch between the larger plump bird form and humanoid form at any time. The reason for this drastic change is strongly implied to be due to being a Filolial Queen candidate as the previous Filolial Queen has the same ability.
• Blood Knight: Why is she unhappy when she successfully finishes a mission with Naofumi and Raphtalia? She was enjoying the combat and wanted to fight more. She's also happy when she gets talons as a new weapon.
• Blow You Away: She has wind affinity, which gives the ability to create powerful gusts and small tornados.
• Captain Ersatz: Motoyasu explicitly compares her to his universe's version of Flonne from Disgaea: Hour of Darkness.
• Clingy Jealous Girl: She hates anyone else other than Melty getting too close to her Master. She has even come to blows (or nearly so) once with Rapthtalia.
• Extreme Omnivore: The things that she won't eat can be counted on one hand. She was even willing to eat other Filolials, or the rotten flesh of a Zombie Dragon.
• Flight: In the web novel, Naofumi during his Mad Scientist phase granted her this ability. In the light novel, when she is transported to Kizuna's world, she turns from a flightless Filolial into another species entirely: a humming falcon, a bird that can fly.
• Glass Cannon: Of Naofumi's core group, Filo is extremely fast and can hit hard (enough to outright shatter a Nue's skull), making her the strongest fighter the group has in raw power. However, as Fitoria shows and exploits, she can easily be blocked by a reasonably intelligent fighter, and takes lots of damage from counter-attacks.
• Godiva Hair: Her Naked on Arrival scene has her hair covering up her undeveloped breasts.
• Good Wings, Evil Wings: Has one of the angel variation in her human form.
• Groin Attack: Is fond of pulling these in giant bird mode against Motoyasu, usually after he says or does something jerkassed.
• Hair of Gold, Heart of Gold: Her human form has blonde hair, fitting her cheerful and childlike nature and angelic appearance.
• Happiness in Slavery: Is very content being Naofumi's beast of burden. She even complains and gets bored when the wagon she pulls becomes too light. In the heroes' defense however, they were not expecting her to be able to have a human form, and clearly were expecting a simple animal upon first purchasing.
• Head Pet: As a hatchling, she rode on Naofumi's fuzzy black crown until she got too big.
• Hey, You!: Filo always calls Motoyasu Kitamura "Spear Guy"
• Horse of a Different Color: As a large Filolial, Filo often acts as Naofumi's and friends' main means of transport, since she'll pull around their wagon and carry them on her back when necessary. Unusually, for the trope though, Filo also acts as just another member in Naofumi's party, since she is sentient and even has a humanoid form.
• Idiot Hair: Gets one as a powerup from the current Filolial Queen, present in both her forms. She was not happy.
• Idol Singer: She enjoys singing in taverns and became immensely popular, to the point that during a festival she headlined a concert that was selling idol memorabilia.
• Inappropriate Hunger: Her interest in eating rotting dragon flesh and other Filolials leaves Naofumi a little disgusted. He does abuse her extreme hunger by convincing bandits she'll eat them on command, but she actually doesn't want to eat humans.
• Innocent Blue Eyes: Blue eyes for a newborn Filolial with the innocence of a little child.
• Innocent Fanservice Girl: Since she's actually a bird, Filo is naked in her human form until she gets some special clothes for her transformations, and is totally and completely unaware why humans wear clothes in the first place.
• Interspecies Adoption: Naofumi is the first person she sees after hatching and so she basically imprints on him. He then handfeeds her while she is a chick.
• Kick Chick: Due to her strong legs in bird form, she tends to utilize a lot of dropkicks and crotch-crushing punts on her enemies.
• A Lizard Named "Liz": Naofumi names her Filo for being a Filolial. Raphtalia quickly lampshades how uncreative it is.
• Lust Object: Motoyasu begins lusting after her "angel" form the moment he lays his eyes on it. Later in the series, she becomes the only female he can feel any attraction to.
• Magical Accessory: Naofumi gives her a hairpin which is actually an item that increases her agility.
• Mating Season Mayhem: In the web novel, Filo ends up going into heat with Naofumi as her target. Naofumi naturally has a very understandable objection, but Filo won't go back to normal until she's gotten out of her system, and she wants to do it in bird form. After her condition is worsened by a run-in with a cursed Motoyasu, Naofumi barely escapes by redirecting Filo's lust onto Melty. Future adaptations of the story sensibly change this scene — no mating season happens, and Filo is unaffected by Motoyasu's curse as a result.
• Naked First Impression: Naofumi and Raphtalia first meet her humanoid form while she's naked.
• Naked on Arrival: While she never technically wore clothes in bird form, the first time she transforms into a human, Naofumi is shocked to wake up to a fully naked little girl sleeping on him.
• Not Quite Flight: She can't fly while in her bird form, but she can jump pretty high. Also, she's able to glide by spreading her wings, allowing her to cover even more distance in the air.
• Older Than They Look: Her human form looks like a relatively little girl, but her Naked First Impression shows she already has small breasts, making her a pubescent. Being slightly shorter than Melty also helps to hide this.
• Poisonous Person: She wanted to become the type that would spit poison and would have chosen that for her Class Up had it not been for her Idiot Hair.
• Power Fist: Gains a set of magic gloves which increases her strength in human form to match that of her bird form.
• Present Absence: In The Reprise of the Spear Hero spin-off, Filo is absent in the new timeline because Naofumi never bought her egg there. She's still the main subject of Motoyasu's thoughts and motivations.
• Pseudo-Romantic Friendship: She quickly develops a very intimate friendship with princess Melty. In the original web novel, it's heavily implied she ravishes Melty in a magic induced lust while fighting a cursed Motoyasu.
• Really Was Born Yesterday: Thanks to Naofumi leveling her up quickly, Filo is already a fully-grown Filolial Queen. She also can take the form of a winged child. The truth is she hatched from her egg very recently, making her practically a toddler.
• Right in Front of Me: At one point, Motoyasu flirts with Filo and also remarks about "the fat bird". Filo changes back to bird form...

  Filo: [transforms] I hate you spear guy!
  Motoyasu: Huh? Y-You were that fat bir...?

• Running Gag: After the first time Filo kicked Motoyasu at least 5 meters away, Naofumi explicitly instructs her to do the same thing every time they meet. She does so.
• Shapeshifting Excludes Clothing: She tears off any normal clothes whenever she turns back into a bird. Naofumi has to get some magic crystals to create special threads needed to make her magical clothes that appear and disappear with her transformations.
• Talking Animal: After she first takes human form, she retains her ability to speak even when she turns back into a bird.
• Third-Person Person:
  • In the original Japanese VO track, she often refers to herself in the third person when speaking. This could be attributed to her young age and immaturity.
  • This is downplayed in the English dub, where she mainly refers to herself in first person (i.e. "I", "my", etc), though still had a few instances of referring to herself in third person.
  • Bizarrely enough, this is kept in the Latin American Spanish dub, despite the very negative implications the use of such language implies for Spanish speakers.^note See the trope under Real Life for a detailed explanation. Keep in mind the dub was made in Mexico, where the stereotypes about this trope are very strong.
• Token Mini-Moe: Filo in humanoid form is the little girl in Naofumi's party since by the time she joins Raphtalia already grew into a older teen/young adult.
• Winged Humanoid: Her humanoid form is that of a young girl with wings on her back.
• Wings Do Nothing: The wings on her back are just for show because Filolials are flightless birds.
• Wolverine Claws: To increase her fighting power, Naofumi has her wear a large set of steel claws on her feet when in bird form which she wields in her hands as a human. She becomes the Seven Star Hero of the Claw when Naofumi disperses Tact's stolen Weapons.

Rishia Ivyred

Rishia Ivyred

Voiced by: Natsuko Hara (Japanese), Kira Buckland (English)

The daughter of a fallen noble whose family was saved by Itsuki. To repay her debt Rishia joined Itsuki's party, but was constantly bullied and mocked by his companions. Eventually, the companions arranged to have Rishia banished and Naofumi recruited her. She is a Jack of All Trades, able to cast Magic, Heal and use a sword, though she has a preference for magic.

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• The Ace: Despite what her clumsy nature and low stats would have you believe, she is surprisingly capable once she gets her act together. She was skilled in various academic subjects, skilled with swords and magic and is a prodigy of the Hengen Muso style.
• Act of True Love: When Queen Mirellia offers her land and a noble title for her part in foiling Malty's coup, Rishia rejects those rewards and instead asks for the Queen to forgive Itsuki despite him being one of Malty's conspirators, albeit unwilling. Afterwards, Rishia personally nurses Itsuki back to health and sanity. It's even more poignant when you consider the fact that she's the only one of Itsuki's former adventuring companions who didn't betray him in the end.
• Athletically Challenged: While she's surprisingly good at martial arts, she isn't what you'd call an athlete. She constantly trips over her own feet and it is noted gym was the only class she was bad at.
• Badass Normal: Long in the making. This weak, cowardly-looking girl can and will go toe-to-toe with heroes despite not having a holy or vassal weapon at first, and as a prodigy of the Hengen Muso style she doesn't even need a weapon to do so. This trope comes in full bloom during her one-on-one fight with a curse-series empowered Itsuki.
• Book Smart: She was noted to have been gifted in many classes, to the point she had trouble deciding what to major in when she attended school.
• Broken Pedestal: Downplayed. She idolized Itsuki and put up with whatever crap he and his party member gave her because of her low self-esteem. After getting kicked out of his party, and later Itsuki attacking innocents and brainwashing others with his Curse weapon, Rishia is angered by his egotistical tyranny and calls him out on his broken sense of "justice". Although she lost her respect for him for a while, she still believed in Itsuki, and helps him recover from his curse's side effects to become a true hero.
• Butt-Monkey: Got roped into carrying out commands by both Melty and Queen Melromarc during the Wave in Cal Mira while she's visibly freaking out. First her lifeboat is forcibly hijacked by Melty so she could be delivered to the front lines alongside Naofumi's party, and then Queen Melromarc tasks her with launching casks of Alky berries to splash unto Naofumi's opponents, the potency of which forces the enemy's retreat... And accentuates Rishia's seasickness with further inebriation.
• Character Development: When Naofumi gets her, she had just tried to commit suicide because she was abandoned by the Bow Hero. A level reset and a new trainer later, she becomes a force unto herself and develops enough confidence to go against the ones who treated her badly before when she was in Bow Hero's party.
• Character Tic: Sighing with a loud "Fue, Fueh, Feh", between sentences: Naofumi calls her out on it so many times.
• Cosplay Otaku Girl: Downplayed. Since she is painfully shy and doesn't want people worrying about her, she tends to put on various animal costumes to hide her identity and feelings. She initially wears a squirrel costume while with Itsuki's party, but switches to a penguin costume and later a Filolial costume when she joins Naofumi.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: She can be painfully shy and submissive at times, and in the face of an enemy there is many a case where Rishia could do nothing but cower and shriek in fear. But when the chips are down, Rishia can more than pull her own weight and has been the deciding factor in several key battles with near-impossible-to-beat foes, some of which include Kyo, who was able to control the friggin Spirit Tortoise, and Itsuki, a holy hero who's abilities had already skyrocketed due to the curse he was under. In fact, Naofumi himself admits that the reason he hasn't given up on her yet despite her very low stats was because of her ability to brilliantly rise to the occasion.
• Curtains Match the Windows: Green hair and green eyes.
• Distaff Counterpart: She's Itsuki's counterpart. She believes in upholding justice as he does, and in his eyes, she serves as a reminder of what he used to be. She's even granted the Vassal Projectile by the Legendary Bow itself so that she can defeat him when he's corrupted by Pride.
• Driven to Suicide: After being abandoned by Itsuki who bluntly admits she's an unwanted burden, she attempts suicide by drowning in the ocean but is saved in time by Filo.
• Foil: To Raphtalia. While both have Undying Loyalty towards the Hero they travel with, Rishia (at least initially) can't think of Itsuki as being anything less than perfect, and lets him and his companions walk all over her with the excuse that he saved her once; Raphtalia, on the other hand, is devoted to Naofumi, but can see his faults as well as his virtues, and she's devoted to him not because he saved her, but because he treats her with dignity and respect.
• Happily Married: To Itsuki after freeing him from his curse series in the web novel.
• Heir to the Dojo: Somewhat. Granny, the last teacher of the Hengen Muso style, proclaims that Rishia has an innate talent that appears only once every one hundred years, and wants Rishia to succeed her in teaching the style once she passes on.
• Hidden Buxom: When trying on swimsuits, her bust is comparable to grown-up Raphtalia's.
• Hidden Disdain Reveal: On the receiving end of this from Naofumi after succumbing to his rage from the ghost dragon, ridiculing her for her feelings towards Itsuki. To his surprise, she’s actually happy to know how he really feels about her, but reaches out to Naofumi when she realizes he’s not himself by reminding him of his bonds with Raphtalia and Filo. This is enough to break the ghost dragon’s hold over him.
• Impoverished Patrician: Before she joined Itsuki and later Naofumi, Rishia's family were once Nobles that ruled over a village that had fallen on hard times; having grown up in a farmhouse instead of a mansion as a result of their financial issues.
• Improbable Aiming Skills: In Glass's world, despite showing a lack of skill with her swordsmanship, her accuracy when it comes to throwing the ofuda (paper charms) was exceptional and her shots hit right on their mark. Naofumi mentioned when it comes to throwing weapons or objects, she excels greatly in this. This may be one of the factors that allowed her to be the Vassal weapon holder of the Projectile Weapon.
• Morph Weapon: The Vassal Projectile's base form is a semi-transparent knife. It has the ability to transform into different projectile weapons such as chakrams, kunai, hatchets, boomerangs, and short spears.
• No-Sell: Thanks to her training in the Hengen Muso style, she isn’t weighted down by gravity magic, which Kyo learned the hard way.
• Older Than She Looks: She looks young, but she's actually 17 years old.
• One Degree of Separation: Naofumi suspects that both Rishia and Malty might have studied in the same school with a few years between them.
• Shrinking Violet: Doesn't like confrontations and when she was in Itsuki's party they all take advantage of her.
• Sorry I Fell on Your Fist: Initially, Rishia believed that all the bullying she was receiving from Itsuki's "friends" was justified by the fact that she was weak.
• Squishy Wizard: Before her level in badass.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: She gives a scathing one to Kyo during their fight in the Spirit Tortoise, calling him weak for relying on power that he stole instead of his own power.
• Token Good Teammate: She was this during her time as a member of Itsuki's party.
• Took a Level in Badass: Takes even more than Raphtalia! She reaches the point where she's able to fight one of the Legendary Heroes and becomes the Hero of the Projectile.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Gives one to Itsuki in Chapter 243 about his warped Justice while the latter is under the effects of the curse series.
• You Are Better Than You Think You Are: Naofumi thinks this way about her after she was kicked out of Itsuki's Party when he offered for Rishia to join his instead, stating that she managed to help him in his fight against Glass during the Wave.

Atla Fayon

Atla Fayon

Voiced by: Konomi Kohara (Japanese)

A blind Hakuko (white tiger) demi-human who Naofumi bought in Zeltbur along with her brother Fohl. She originally had a deadly illness that was cured by Naofumi's Yggdrasil Medicine and as a result, fell in love with him.

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• Badass Adorable: Thanks to her former illness, she permanently looks like a child, but even as a level 1 she could make Filo or Fohl cry in pain by just poking them in the right spot.
• Blind Seer: Despite being blind she can sense other people better than most people can see. She is able to see the flows of power and energy all around her, giving her a range of 'sight' far beyond virtually everyone in the cast.
• Character Exaggeration: While she still retains her devotion to Naofumi from the web novel, the light novel version of Atla is a lot more fanatical, calling him a god on more than one occasion and declaring that he could do no wrong. If there is even the barest slight is made against Naofumi, expect her to take punishments to the most extreme, at one point even vowing death on an anonymous person who sent all kinds of gifts and valuable items to Naofumi, all because their actions slightly inconvenienced him. Even Naofumi has to tell her to cool it.
• Charles Atlas Superpower: She has superhuman strength in chapter 376.
• Childhood Friend Romance: She sets herself up as Naofumi's childhood friend turned love interest in Naofumi's world using the Shield's power.
• Combat Compliment: She and Raphtalia aren't fond of each other for obvious reasons, but when it comes to sparring, they each give credit where it is due and commend the other's skill. Atla also does this whenever she meets a particularly strong opponent in real battles.
• Curb-Stomp Battle: Hands these out to nearly everyone she encounters.
• Empathic Weapon: She doesn't wield one, she becomes one by merging her soul with the Spirit of Naofumi's Shield after she's killed by Houou's explosion. Atla is rather pleased with this situation since she always wanted to be Naofumi's shield.
• The Gift: Not only is she a Hakuko who has a level limit of 120, but she is also a prodigy in fighting.
• Graceful Loser: As she lay dying from Houou's attack, Atla admits that though she tried her hardest, she always knew that she was never going to be Naofumi's "number one." Instead, she encourages Raphtalia to continue taking care of him in her place and tells Naofumi that he needs to open his eyes to both his own feelings and the feelings of those around him, so they can all live without regrets.
• Heroic Sacrifice: She dies to save Naofumi and following her request, her body is absorbed by his Shield, unlocking the Compassion Shield.
• Lady of War: Far and away the most graceful physical fighter Naofumi has at his disposal.
• Like a God to Me: Atla's devotion to Naofumi borders on zealotry.
• Mystical White Hair: The Hakuko are a white tiger type of demihumans.
• Not Growing Up Sucks: Unlike other demihumans who grow up as they get stronger, Atla will always look like a child regardless of her level thanks to her past illness. This upsets her since she feels Naofumi will never see her in a romantic light.
• Precocious Crush: On Naofumi, only it's not so innocent.
• Stalker with a Crush: Played for Laughs. She keeps trying to sleep with Naofumi, so he develops a number of countermeasures including having Filo sleep with him. When Filo can't do that and he decides to sleep on an offshore island, she tracks him down and tries to get Gaelion to fly her to it.
• Uncanny Family Resemblance: She looks like a younger version of her mother, including the white hair. The only difference between them is that Atla has black stripes in her hair and a pair of tiger ears.
• The Unfettered: She will do anything for Naofumi. And being a tiger Demihuman, she can be pretty ruthless.

Fohl Fayon

Fohl Fayon

Voiced by: Kōhei Amasaki (Japanese), Kieran Regan (English)

A Hakuko (white tiger) demi-human who Naofumi bought in Zeltbur along with his sister Atla. Since a little after the fall of his family, he has been the one taking care of his sister even as a slave and his loyalty lies solely with her.

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• Adaptation Personality Change: In the anime, Fohl begs for Naofumi to buy him and his sister so she can get some medical help and accepts help from the other village kids regarding Atla's care. In the manga and light novels, he threatens Naofumi when he comes close for the first time and scolds the kids in the village for getting close to Atla.
• Babies Ever After: With Kiel in the webnovel, according to the epilogue.
• Bash Brothers: With Naofumi against Tact.
• Big Brother Instinct: Protected Atla even as a slave and hates Naofumi because Atla is in love with him. Naofumi and Rapthalia think it's something else. Raphtalia even says it out loud.
• Good Old Fisticuffs: His preferred method of fighting. This really comes to his aid when he becomes the Hero of the Gauntlet.
• Mistaken for Gay: Naofumi wonders if he has pent-up homosexual desires, and wonders if he can bring them out. This is right after Atla's death, and a depressed Naofumi wants to sleep with him because he reminds him of her. He runs away before anything can happen and has Sadina confront Naofumi about his sadness.
• Undying Loyalty: At first, Fohl truly hated Naofumi for multiple reasons, but grew to grudingly respect him after Atla was cured and he was able to access his theriathrope form. What cements Fohl's loyalty to Naofumi is when Naofumi declares he is going to avenge Atla, going as far as to acknowledge Naofumi as his brother.
• Unskilled, but Strong: Being a Hakuko, he already has a lot of natural strength. Naofumi gives him to a martial artist to train him so that he'll grow out of it.
• Vitriolic Best Buds: Eventually develops this relationship with Naofumi.

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