He thought after defeating his father he could finally have a fresh start with his loved ones. Instead he finds himself pulled into another world as their "shield hero." And he would like nothing more than to return home. Unfortunately it seems the world has other plans for him.
Rising of the Sleeping Soldier is a Castlevania (2017)/The Rising of the Shield Hero Crossover fanfic written by Vanix, and can be read here
on Archive of Our Own.
Rising of the Sleeping Soldier provides examples of:
- Abhorrent Admirer: Myne tries several times to wrap Alucard around her finger with every seductive trick in the book. Since Alucard is not the type who is easily impressed and he can tell that she has ulterior motives, everything she does only serves to piss him off.With her lips on the glass she made a show of turning her head and downing the entire glass in the most elegant way she thought possible. She faintly gasped as her shiny lips left the edge of the now empty glass. She looked at him with bedroom eyes, the candle light bringing out the green in her eyes and the red blush on her face.
Trevor sloppily chugging through ale after ale was more appealing than whatever the hell this was. - Adaptational Nice Guy: While canon!Motoyasu refused to believe that Naofumi could be a good person or that Myne is a Bitch in Sheep's Clothing when Myne's rape accusation is proven false, here Motoyasu is aghast and appalled when Alucard is still convicted after it was revealed that Myne was lying about everything he did out of Fantastic Racism.
- Awesome, but Impractical: The more Alucard discovers how the cardinal weapons work, the more he marvels at just how impractical they are. He points out that the weapons discouraging the heroes in fighting together also discourages cooperation between them. When he discovers that he is magically forbidden to use his One-Handed Zweihänder (or any other weapon than his shield) by the cardinal weapon's very design, he points out that this limits versatility and encourages Crippling Overspecialization.What kind of bullshittery was this!? It made no sense to force your so called last hope to only use one weapon type. It eliminates any sort of versatility or variety in battle. But the more obvious detriment was how it didn't allow the primarily defensive weapon to do anything but defend from attacks. Oh god what if this restriction applied to his all of his powers as well? If that were the case he'd be completely unable to do anything offensive and defending against attacks could only work for so long. This would just completely fuck over the Shield user. Why would it be designed this way?
- Black Sheep: While being the Shield Hero sets him apart from the other heroes as is, Alucard is the only one from a world pre-Industrial Revolution, the only one with any battle experience or monster-hunting experience, is the only Caucasian one (as well as the only one not from any iteration of Japan) and is the only non-human (not counting being half-human on his mother's side) among them. Twofer Token Minority wouldn't even begin to cut it.
- Crapsack World: When the other heroes ask Alucard what his world is like, he describes it plainly as "[c]overed in shit, piss, and gore. The church is corrupt and everyone is dead or in the process of dying." Considering it's Dark Age Europe with demons roaming the woods, the description is not too far off.
- Cruel Mercy: Alucard lets Beloukas live after slashing out his vocal cords not because he wants to show the slave trader any genuine mercy, but because he'd rather let the people who've suffered under his cruelty extract their pound of flesh from their enslaver, which they do after they have Beloukas at their (nonexistent) mercy.
- Dishing Out Dirt: The Beast Man slave sent to capture Alucard wields powerful earth magic, able to make the land warp and shape as well as creating stone spikes to impale victims.
- Egopolis: Alucard remarks that the fact that the kingdom was named after its ruling matriarch was a little narcissistic.
- Fantastic Racism: While Alucard proves that Myne was lying about the False Rape Accusation, King Aultcrey declares that he cannot be trusted solely on the grounds that he is not entirely human and is therefore no better than a common demi-human.King Aultcrey: Even if you didn't commit any crimes, how could anyone believe you? The mere word of a demi-human is near worthless in the court of law never mind to the citizens of this land. No one will ever believe your innocence no matter how much evidence you present. The punishment alone for a demi-human being accused of sexual assault is imprisonment for life, if not death.
- Fish out of Water:
- Since Alucard comes from 15th century Wallachia, all of the Video Game Tropes that Ren, Itsuki and Motoyasu know by heart go completely over his head. Also, since he isn't Japanese, he does not know what a yen is.
- Inversely, Ren, Itsuki and Motoyasu are all otakus that have been thrust into a world only vaguely like a Sword and Sorcery RPG. All Alucard needed to do was spend one night reading up on Melromarc's written language, history, politics and economy to understand the world way more than they do.
- Hero of Another Story: When King Aultcray demands to know who he is when Alucard demands he sends him back, questioning how saving their world from the Waves is treated as trivial to him, Alucard gives a complete and comprehensive rundown as to why.Alucard: I am Adrian Fahrenheit Tepés, Known to the Wallachians as Alucard, the sleeping soldier and defender of humanity. Age 19. My world is already under constant threat from all manner of monsters and demons. They wish to snuff out the entire human race or turn what's left of them after mass slaughter into nothing but slaves. The people have no means to defend themselves as all those who could have fought back have long since passed except for me and my companions. We are the last line of defense for humanity and I know they cannot fight without me as I cannot without them. That is why I cannot fight for you. Without my presence my world will suffer.
- Honey Trap: When her attempt at joining Alucard's party fails, Malty breaks into his room and tries to sleep with him. He does not fall for it for a second, literally fetching Motoyasu just to get rid of her.
- Hope Spot: During his phony trial, Alucard easily picks apart Malty's False Rape Accusation and reveals her identity which almost results in the case being dropped. Then Malty points out the existence of Alucard's fangs which out him as a Vampire. While Vampires are unknown in Melromarc, his not being a human is enough to effectively lose his perks and become a pariah in the highly racist and human-supremacist Melromarc.
- In Spite of a Nail:
- Despite Myne's failed attempts at gaining Alucard's trust and the outcome, the False Rape Accusation still happened.
- While the False Rape Accusation is all bit disproven, the Shield Hero is still stripped of every perk and banished from the castle because he isn't a human.
- Kangaroo Court: The trial Alucard goes through following Malty's False Rape Accusation. He's quickly reminded of the farce of a trial that resulted in his mother's death.
- Like a Duck Takes to Water: Naofumi was a naive teenager who had no idea what he was dealing with before Myne/Malty set him up. Alucard on the other hand is an experienced monster hunter, an absurdly powerful Dhampir and was raised as royalty. Not only does he not need anyone's help in monster fighting (even with the massive drawbacks of being the Shield Hero), but Myne's low-functioning sociopathy makes her an open book to Alucard (who was raised as a noble and therefore is familiar with decorum and intent behind subtle actions) and he sees right through her act, rejecting her offer to join his party.
- Living Lie Detector: Having been raised as a royal in a rather cutthroat world, Alucard is able to tell when someone is lying to him or is hiding their true intentions through wording, tone and very subtle gestures. He was able to tell that his escort was lying about him as to why he was not allowed in the library and could see that Malty had malicious intentions right from the get-go.The look in her eyes was frankly off-putting and everything about her seemed false. Not to mention the look the king was giving the both of them was suspicious as all hell. Beyond that he had to ask himself, what would she gain by spontaneously deciding to join up with him when just a minute ago she avoided him just like the rest? It didn't make any sense.
And as he looked at her he couldn't help but think back to that story book and the meddling princess. There were already four heroes so what if the princess showed up as well? Her clothes stuck out from every other volunteer due to its high quality, every other Hero had simple clothing and armor but hers looked custom tailored. The way she held herself in comparison was different as well. If she somehow wasn't royalty than she at least had to be some sort of nobleman's daughter. Either way, better safe than sorry. - Loophole Abuse: While his shield forbids Alucard from touching his One-Handed Zweihänder directly, he is still able to use his Mind over Matter powers on it just fine.
- Mistaken for Gay: When Motoyasu thinks that Alucard's companions are his harem, he mentally apologizes to Sypha and tells him that they are both male just to mess with him.Motoyasu: Well. Huh. Guess you swing that way...
- My God, What Have I Done?: Despite being the first to go along with Myne's accusations and demonize Alucard, Motoyasu is shocked by how the king punishes Alucard simply for being a Dhampyr when the rape accusation was proven false. As such, he feels guilty for unintentionally exposing Alucard and tries to apologize to him before the man shuts the door in his face.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: When Ren, Itsuki and Motoyasu see Alucard's fangs, they all correctly assume him to be a vampire. Since vampires (both real or in legend) don't exist in Melromarc, they are forced to describe what vampires are to the court. Since all they have to go on with vampires is folklore and pop-culture (including Dracula), they describe them as Always Chaotic Evil and unwittingly have Alucard lose the trial on the grounds of Fantastic Racism.
- Point of Divergence:
- While Naofumi's False Rape Accusation ends with a full miscarriage of justice and Naofumi's name dragged through the mud, here Ren and Itsuki were just within range of the event that they provide evidence that contradicts Myne's claims. As she continues to try and fail to throw in claims and false-evidence, Alucard continues to give concise and logical reasonings that disprove every single one of them. While Aultcrey still wins Myne the case by revealing that he is a vampire, it had nothing to do with what he was accused of and the other heroes are left with doubts about the validity of the trial.
- In-canon, Myne's relation to the King is not revealed until after she wins Motoyasu the duel for Raphtalia's "freedom". Here, Alucard casually reveals this fact during his False Rape Accusation, having figured it out through various context clues presented to him (how comfortable she is in the King's vicinity, her high allowance, various physical similarities, etc).
- Polyamory: According to the relationship tags at least, Alucard, Trevor, and Sypha are in an open relationship.
- Pop-Cultural Osmosis: Not only do Ren, Itsuki and Motoyasu know what vampires are, but they all know about Dracula and recognize that Alucard's name is just "Dracula" spelled backwards.
- Supernatural Gold Eyes: The fact that Alucard's eyes are as blonde as his hair is cited as being unusual once Motoyasu notices them. Alucard immediately starts to worry that this would give away his Dhampyr nature, unsure how Melromarc would react to a vampire in their midst or if they even have them. He quickly covers it up by pointing out that unusual eye-color could be expected due genetics in alternate worlds, citing the King's purple eyes as an example.
- Surrounded by Idiots: While Alucard is the second oldest of the cardinal heroes (himself being 19 and Motoyasu being 21), he is the most mature out of all of them and quickly starts to feel like the only adult among them due to their collective tendency to act like they're the smartest one in the room when the facts point the other way.
- Your Costume Needs Work: When Alucard first meets the other cardinal heroes, they all think that he is a cosplayer (given his flamboyant dressing and gorgeous design) and that his "Savior of Humanity" spiel (as quoted in Hero of Another Story above) was all a dramatic reading. Motoyasu even calls it a "Chuunibyou phase." It takes him levitating before their very eyes before they are convinced.
