Why Was Naofumi Framed?
Naofumi Iwatani, from Tate no Yūsha no Nariagari (The Rising of the Shield Hero), is one of the Legendary Heroes and yet he is hated and eventually framed for multiple evil deeds. Why was Naofumi framed? Naofumi was framed because the nobility and church conspired against him for their own selfish reasons.
First off, Naofumi was perceived as the weakest hero right after he was summoned. One of the reasons for this is because all the other heroes have an attack based weapon. Motoyasu Kitamura, the Spear Hero, has a spear and is the physically strongest hero. Itsuki Kawasumi, the Bow Hero, has a bow and excels at long ranged attacks. Ren Amaki, the Sword Hero, is skilled in swordsmanship and excels at close combat. However, Naofumi is the Shield Hero and has only the Shield. He can mostly defend and use assist type magic. As a result, he needs other members in his party (like Raphtalia) to fight for him and is perceived by people as weak.
Why does Myne Hate Naofumi?
Myne hates Naofumi because she is part of the nobility that’s conspiring against him. Myne is a pathological liar and is deceitful by nature. Fooling Naofumi and gaining his trust and then accusing him of rape was an easy feat for her.
Myne framed Naofumi because she wanted to diminish his status and ruin his reputation as a hero. She does this because she’s influenced by the church and especially the King. The King has a huge agenda against Naofumi.
Why does the King Hate Naofumi?
The King hates Naofumi because he hated the previous Shield Hero. The King blames the last Shield Hero for actions that he believed led to the loss of his family.
The King also hates demi-humans. Demi-humans have historically revered the Shield Hero, so naturally the King would be at odds with them. For example, he would shuffle out demi-humans that were in leadership roles to remote regions to isolate them.
The Nobility and Church vs. Naofumi
After Myne accuses Naofumi of rape, he becomes hated and an outcast to society. Naofumi becomes more aggressive, cynical and less naive after being betrayed and develops a strong hatred of the nobility.
As he goes on his journey with his party members, Naofumi becomes loved by the people and hated by the nobility while the other heroes are hated by the people and loved by the nobility. Naofumi doesn’t trust the nobility at all and tries to avoid getting involved with them. Nobles blatantly criminalized Naofumi but during the waves, we see him helping the people and they see him as their savior. Interestingly, the actions of the other heroes end up causing great distress on the people, despite their intentions. It is Naofumi who actually comes through and helps the people. Even the soldiers were impressed by the way Naofumi fought in the first wave and asked to accompany him on the next wave. They wanted to fight with him and support his efforts.
The Church is also against the Shield Hero. This was made obvious when the clergy attempted to scam Naofumi with their lowest-quality Holy Water when he tries to give them gold coins for payment. When Naofumi realizes this and points it out, the Pope is forced to give their High Grade Pure Holy Water.
The Church and Nobility often collude together and even prevent Naofumi and his party from upgrading their class. When Naofumi goes to upgrade his class at the dragon hourglass, the church charge 15 gold pieces (high amount) and when they see he is actually ready to pay, they read a decree made by the king that the Shield Hero is forbidden from getting upgrades.
As the series progresses, Naofumi eventually outshines all the other heroes and the questions becomes….
Is Naofumi the Strongest Hero?
Naofumi eventually becomes the strongest hero of the legendary heroes. Not only does he have strong members in his party, but he slowly unlocks high level shield abilities. The reason why Naofumi is the strongest hero is because he utilizes his shield and skills more skillfully than the other heroes.
For example, he has an ability called Air Strike Shield, which allows him to instantly create a shield for defense anywhere within a certain range. Naofumi uses this ability skillfully by creating a shield in air that he can use to jump on and/or escape threats. He can also use it as offense by using the shield to knock his enemies off balance and catch them off guard. He also has an ability called Shield Prison, which allows him to create a cage of shields that can be used to protect himself or others as well as trap enemies. He is very creative with what he does to his enemies once they are trapped inside.
Another ability that Naofumi’s shield has is the ability to absorb certain substances and take their properties. This is similar to another protagonist, Rimuru Tempest, from another isekai anime, That Time I Got Reincarnated As a Slime (2018). However, Naofumi’s ability is not as OP as Rimuru’s (check out Is Rimuru Tempest Too OP?) since Naofumi isn’t able to transform his shield into every substance that he absorbs. One thing he does use is the Rope Shield, which allows him to transform his shield into a rope, which is useful for navigating tough terrains. He also has Dog Bite, where the shield grows two dog heads that bite at people who attack it. Naofumi is able to use this as both offense and defense.
Naofumi eventually unlocks very powerful but risky skills that that just puts him way over the other heroes. However, these skills have serious consequences to his body and takes alot of SP. One of the skills is called Iron Maiden, which is activated by Naofumi traps his enemy with Shield Prison. He then summons a giant iron maiden that slowly descends upon the shield prison. The iron maiden is filled with violent spikes and when the door closes, dealing heavy damage and/or killing the target. This is one of Naofumi’s most powerful skills, but it drains most of his SP.
Naofumi’s most dangerous skill is Blood Sacrifice. Naofumi’s blood is extracted from his body in a large amounts and takes shape as a trap that engulfs the enemy and repeatedly slices them to death. Naofumi is seriously wounded by the side effects and is cursed after using this ability (can be healed with purifying items).
Despite the fact the other heroes have attack based weapons, they aren’t as creative as Naofumi with their weapons. While many of the other heroes’ most powerful weapon skills don’t cause heavy strain on their bodies like Naofumi’s shield does, their weapon skills are also not as powerful.
Naofumi’s growing strength makes him even more of a threat to the Church and nobility, eventually leading to a climactic showdown.
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