The Rising of the Shield Hero is an isekai that deconstructs the video game characteristics. Unfortunately, many characters never think about the consequences of their actions to realize that deconstruction to the point Naofumi is justified by saying he is Surrounded by Idiots.
- The world is in danger because of a threat that brings monsters that can raze entire towns in moments, but there's a way to protect the world, the Four Heroes. However, there's an international agreement that each of the Heroes should be summoned by a different nation to ensure everyone is protected. The Queen of Melromarc (the actual monarch) has just left to open diplomatic measures with the neighboring countries to plan for this, leaving her husband Aultcray in charge.
You'd Expect: For Aultcray to not do anything and wait for his wife to return.
Or: Summon just one of the Heroes. It may cause some trouble since he acted without waiting for the others, but at least the other kingdoms can still summon the other Heroes.
Instead: He summons the Four Heroes to Melromarc.
As A Result: The Queen is forced to remain outside for far longer than expected because the other nations are threatening war and she has to make some concessions to prevent this.
Worse: It also keeps the Four Heroes in Melromarc as they are unable to learn that other countries are also in danger, forcing Fitoria to keep running around the world to stop the monsters on her own. - One of the Four Heroes is the Hero of the Shield. Unfortunately, Melromarc's main religion paints the latter as The Devil, because the demi-human people consider the Shield Hero their God and Melromarc is racist against demi-humans, made worse by a recent war they had with the demi-human nation of Siltvelt. Aultcray also hates demi-humans because his sister was killed by one of them while he was in a peace conference with the Siltvelt leaders.
You'd Expect: Them not to summon the Shield Hero.
Or: Summon the Hero and then send them on their way.
Or: Aultcray to realize that the person he's summoning has nothing to do with the troubles with the demi-humans and at least try to work with whoever appears - since he knows that the Heroes are the best bet the world has to survive.
Instead: They summon Naofumi Iwatani as the Shield Hero - and they proceed to treat him like shit just because of his association with a role he didn't ask for.
As A Result: Naofumi goes out on his own, which allows him to gain power on his own that he wouldn't have in different circumstances and prove to the people that he's actually a hero.- When the four heroes inspect their abilities, Naofumi notes that his defense is high but he can barely attack.
You'd Expect: The other heroes to consider that someone that can receive attacks and suffer little damage is very useful - the Tank role exists in games for a very good reason.
Instead: Since the other heroes are using games they have played as a measuring stick and none of them had a proper Tank class, they consider him weak.
- When the four heroes inspect their abilities, Naofumi notes that his defense is high but he can barely attack.
- Related to this, the other heroes see several similarities between the new world they are in and games they played in their previous lives (as the three of them died before being summoned).
You'd Expect: For them to consider that, in spite of that, there are many clear signs that what they are living is all too real.
Instead: They think it's all like a videogame and that there are no consequences to their actions like in games.
As A Result: The three of them keep causing multiple problems since they expect the world to act like a videogame's, and those problems are only solved because Naofumi manages to step in and deal with them - increasing his reputation while sinking theirs.
Also: Their attempting to apply videogame logic to their current situation ensures they are weaker than they could be, which proves detrimental to them in the future. - Naofumi wakes up to realize he has been robbed of pretty much everything he had, and tries to find his only partner, Myne, only to end up arrested and falsely accused by Myne of raping her. The other Heroes are present when Naofumi is brought to court wearing just his underclothes - and Naofumi notices that Myne has some of his things.
You'd Expect: Someone to ask Naofumi what happened the previous night. As proven later, there's magic that can be used to detect whether someone is saying the truth, so using it on him and asking him what happened should clear up his name.
Or: If there's going to be a trial, at the very least consider the possibility that he was being framed.
Or: Apply some common sense and wonder why Naofumi has been robbed or why he stayed in his room after committing a crime.
Instead: The king automatically assumes him to be guilty, and the other Heroes don't even consider the possibility of Naofumi being innocent. The king may have some of an excuse to believe Myne, since she is actually his eldest daughter Malty, but the others don't consider the alternative.
As A Result: Naofumi (who, as mentioned above, is one of the few that can save the world from the waves of monsters) is left with just his shield and what he was wearing at a time, and incredibly embittered against everyone else. - In the 4th episode, Motoyasu decides to challenge Naofumi to a duel because the latter keeps Raphtalia as a slave, and the King forces Naofumi to go through with it, even though (a) demi-human slavery is legal under his own laws and (b) Raphtalia is clearly treated by Naofumi as a partner. In spite of him having little to no offensive power, Naofumi manages to get the upper hand and is close to force Motoyasu to surrender when Malty blatantly uses magic to attack Naofumi.
You'd Expect: Someone to point out the blatant cheating, which by the rules of the duel means that Naofumi has won.
Instead: Thanks to being under orders from the king, the audience completely ignores this and the king names Motoyasu the winner.
As A Result: Raphtalia is forcibly freed and Naofumi gets hit with a HUGE Heroic BSoD, nearly crossing the Despair Event Horizon, awakening his Superpowered Evil Side, which if unleashed could have easily killed everyone in the palace.
Fortunately: Raphtalia convinces Naofumi that she will always believe him and be by his side, no matter what other people say, which brings him back from the brink. Also, in the anime Ren and Itsuki also call out the king for his blatant ignoring of the rules and force him to pay Naofumi the full reward he earned for saving an entire town from a wave of monsters. - In the 5th episode, Motoyasu decides to challenge Naofumi to a race in order to gain the right to rule Lute Village. Shortly before the race, he confronts Naofumi and his new Filoial mount, Filo, to which he smugly taunts, "You're gonna ride that bird thing, not a dragon?", to which Filo shoots Motoyasu a dirty look.
You'd Think: Motoyasu would notice how angry Filo looks and back down to avoid further trouble.
Instead: He pushes his luck and continues being smug and asks, "How can you possibly keep up with my dragon with that thing?"
As A Result: Filo responds with a kick to Motoyasu's crotch, to which Malty has to order some of her goons to get a healer for Motoyasu. - The above mentioned Church of the Three Heroes considers Naofumi The Devil, opposing him many times in spite of him actually doing good work to help people. They also know that, should one of the Legendary Heroes die, the future Waves of Catastrophe will turn even worse than normal.
You'd Expect: Them to use a little common sense and let Naofumi continue doing what he does.
Instead: They attempt to kill him whenever they can, even working with Malty to achieve this.
As A Result: They end up causing their own destruction when the four Heroes fight the Church's Pope and kill him, while the Queen of Melromarc disposes of the Church's army and later makes their religion illegal.- During the fight with the Pope, Ren and Itsuki appear (having faked their deaths) to help Naofumi and Motoyasu, throwing the Pope off.
You'd Expect: Them all to go full out against the Pope, who is clearly willing to kill them all, and settle accounts later.
Instead: They start to argue with each other, with Naofumi taking a long minute to bitterly lambaste them for all the messes they have made and that he's had to clean up.
As A Result: The Pope gets enough of a respite to gather more power, enough to put all the Heroes at risk of death.
- During the fight with the Pope, Ren and Itsuki appear (having faked their deaths) to help Naofumi and Motoyasu, throwing the Pope off.
- Ren, the Sword Hero, is a loner whose main game inspiration is Brave Star Online, where he was always playing without other partners. However, the dangers in this new world are much bigger than those in the game, and he has several people willing to support him in the fight.
You'd Expect: Him to swallow his pride and accept that he needs all the help he can get.
Instead: He keeps going out on his own to level up, never trying to learn how to work on a team and outright telling his team that he will leave them behind if they are too weak.
As A Result: While, surprisingly, they still remain loyal to him, their lack of teamwork gets them all killed at a later point. - Itsuki, Motoyasu, and Ren have seen their reputations completely tank because of their screw-ups, while Naofumi's become the most beloved of the Legendary Heroes because he's actually helping to save people. The three learn of the Spirit Tortoise, a terrible monster that was sealed by a previous group of the Legendary Heroes because they could not beat it.
You'd Expect: Them to leave the monster where he is. The previous heroes were quite probably stronger than they are, and they left warnings about why they just sealed it instead of killing it.
Instead: They unseal the monster, because each of them thinks they'll be able to defeat it on their own to regain the fame they previously had.
As A Result: The Spirit Tortoise begins to rampage, the three Legendary Heroes don't even make a dent in it, Ren's party dies in the fight while Motoyasu's and Itsuki's desert them, and thousands of people die. It takes Naofumi and an alliance of Knights from other countries to stop the creature, and Naofumi nearly kills himself in the process because he has to use a Dangerous Forbidden Technique to destroy the creature's heart. And because the People of Melromarc found out about why the Spirit Tortoise was unsealed, they became Public Enemy #1 to all of Melromarc. - In Season 2's 10th episode, Raphtalia, who has been reduced to her child form thanks to her level being reset to 1, has been captured by Kyo's goons and is taken to a prison facility called The Palace of Exhaustion - a place designed to drain and tire all prisoners inside, the guards having their powers augmented via magical talismans - before being used as a lab rat for Kyo's evil experiments.
You'd Think: That the baddies would toss Raphtalia into a cell with no one else occupying it, limiting her options. After all, the cell bars are magically made to drain one's power if they attempt to escape.
Instead: They toss her into a cell with Glass's group.
As A Result: After calling a truce to team up with Team Glass to take down Kyo, Raphtalia is able to stage a breakout by using her illusion magic to trick a guard into opening the cell door, then steal his magic talisman to give to Glass, who then fires a beam through the wall, allowing the four to escape and try to reach Sikul in the hopes to link up with Naofumi and Kizuna.
