Iwatani Naofumi was summoned into a parallel world along with 3 other people to become the world's Heroes. Each of the heroes were respectively equipped with their own legendary equipment when summoned. Naofumi happened to receive the Legendary Shield, the sole defensive equipment, while the others received weapons capable of attacking.
Due to Naofumi's lack of charisma and experience, he ended up with only a single teammate, a beautiful woman, while others had several. Unfortunately, on his third day Naofumi was betrayed, falsely accused, and robbed by the said teammate.
Shunned by everyone from king to peasants, Naofumi's thoughts were filled with nothing but vengeance and hatred. Thus, his destiny in a parallel world begins...
Main Characters
Naofumi Iwatani
The Hero of the Shield and the protagonist. Naofumi was a university student who was summoned from another world after finding a book about the four heroes. While originally a kind and sort of socially awkward person, his experiences with Malty Melromac very shortly after being summoned have made him a dark and cynical, but still a generally good person. Although he experiences a slow start because of the Malty incident and is on a much lower level than the other heroes, he is still able to keep up and even occasionally outshine them due to his wide variety of shields which both buff him and his allies and debuff his opponents. His Curse weapon is Wrath, which gives him immense strength when enraged, but which will also lower his stats dramatically for a time afterwards. He also gains the New Seven Deadly Sins shields later, which represent the sins of modern man and which carry more bizarre and abstract drawbacks. He's 20 when summoned, making him the second oldest of the four summoned heroes.
He was initially unable to taste or witness Raphtalia's growth due to his mind being stuck in vengeance and anger. But he is cured when she proves her loyalty to him by not abandoning him. His only form of offense is the Wrath shield. It burns any close combat attack with a burning curse and its damage increases with his anger. He later obtains another attack when he fuses his shield with the zombie dragon core called 'Iron Maiden' which creates a giant iron maiden and traps his enemies within. He upgrades this to 'Blutopher' (German for 'blood sacrifice') which forms a number of consecutive steel teeth, not unlike a bear trap, around the opponent that constantly opens and closes eventually reducing the foe to a bloody pulp. The cost of Blutopher however is that it places a massive curse on his body and even physically damages him. The curse is so strong that it can only be reduced to the point where it weakens him for several months.
Eventually he is granted an amnesty by the Queen, the true power of the throne, but is still discriminated against due to his low attack power and previous rumors, however he is treated much better than before and is even worshipped by the country's demihumans as their savior.
At one point, Naofumi, purchases several slaves and founded a small town, where Raphtalia's once was. While, somewhat harsh and strict, he treats the slaves well, and they grow to love him, despite his own cold attitude. At the end of the series the town is named 'Rock Valley' due to the characters of his family name which can be read as the same, despite the town itself not being in a valley.
Raphtalia (ラフタリア)
A Tanuki Demi-human. Naofumi picked her up when she was a slave and pretty much raised her. Her real age is around 10 but she looks around 20 as Demi-humans age as they level up. She and Firo are the only beings who have his complete trust. She loves Naofumi and often asks him if he will return to his world or what kind of woman he likes. She later becomes the Hero of the Hammer. In the end of the series, she becomes Naofumi's wife and bears his children.
Firo (フィーロ)
A Philorial Queen. Naofumi bought her as an egg from the same slave trader that he got Raphtalia from. She is an incredibly rare species known as a Queen Philo Rial (which resembles a Chocobo from the Final Fantasy series). She is the strongest member in their group rivaling even Ren. She is extremely fast and can even use wind magic. She later becomes the Hero of the Claws.
Kitamura Motoyasu
The Hero of the Spear. Motoyasu was a university student before he was summoned to the world after being stabbed to death by his mentally unstable childhood friend and a rich classmate, both of whom he had been dating behind the other's back. He is generally a nice person however he is easily fooled by women which causes him anguish. He will listen to anything a woman says. He is the leader of the party Malty Melromarc is initially in. He is a skirt chaser who asks both Raphtalia and Firo to leave Naofumi and join his party the instant he meets each of them, only to be violently rebuked several times. His Curse weapons are Lust and Envy, which have caused him to now perceive human women as pigs and has made him attracted to Philorials instead. Unlike most, he seems to retain a certain amount of control when using his curse weapons. He is betrayed and abandoned by his party during the battle with the Spirit Turtle, leaving him suicidally depressed and borderline catatonic until Firo comforts him; after recovering somewhat, Motoyasu is revealed to have coped with the betrayal of Malty and his party by completely erasing any knowledge of them from his memory, making him the only Hero unaware that his Curse weapons have any kind of drawback. He makes up with Naofumi after moving to his village and begins farming and training himself until his strength is the highest of the four heroes. He's 21 when summoned, making the oldest of the four summoned heroes.
Amaki Ren
The Hero of the Sword. Ren was a high school student before he failed to save his childhood friend in his old world and was instead killed in the process of her rescue. Ren initially mistook the world he was summoned to be exactly like the VRMMO game from his world "Brave Star Online" where Level came first and Status Boosts second in priority making his strengthening method extremely inefficient and also leading to the collapse of his party. His Curse weapons are Greed and Gluttony, which have made it impossible for him to collect money or experience points anymore. His entire party was killed by the Spirit Turtle, temporarily driving him mad with grief and jealousy after Naofumi killed it single-handedly. He's 16 when summoned, making him the youngest of the four summoned heroes. He is calmest of the other three heroes but he is also the strongest. He killed a dragon for its "precious" materials to increase his strength which later zombified and was eventually killed by Naofumi. Due to the fact that the core of the dragon is fused with his shield Naofumi feels great anger towards Ren whenever he uses the shield of Wrath.
Kawasumi Itsuki (川澄樹)
The Hero of the Bow. Itsuki was a high school student before he was killed in his old world after a large truck took a sudden left turn. He is rumored to be the strongest Hero, but he has a messiah complex and claims everything he does is in the name of justice. His complex comes from the fact that in his world psychic powers are the norm and Itsuki, despite his claims to the contrary, was an incredibly weak esper who was bullied relentlessly. He vanquishes those he sees as evildoers without thinking of the consequences of his actions. His Curse weapon is Pride, which has caused him to become seriously depressed and filled with self-hate. It has also made him unable to recover Mana or SP. He was brainwashed by the Church of the Three Heroes to become a killing machine after his party abandons him, but was freed by his fellow heroes and their remaining companions. He's 17 when summoned, making him the second youngest of the four summoned heroes.
Malty Melromarc/Medea (マルティ＝メルロマルク)
The former first Princess of Melromarc, also known as Mein Sophia, Bitch, Whore and Witch. She (or rather Medea, the being who she splintered from) is the primary antagonist of the series. Malty was the first (and only) person to join Naofumi in the beginning, but shortly after, she stole his money and equipment, minus his shield, and then claimed he raped her. Her actions made Naofumi into a dark, cynical, and distrustful person. She manipulated the other three heroes after the Queen ousted her and The King, planning to use each other to retake her place in the palace following her renaming and disownment. She was married off to her sadistic uncle where she was tortured and "killed" until she reappeared alive and attempted to lead a coup, but was unsuccessful and was executed. She was then revealed to be a piece of Medea's soul in human form, and then Medea attempted to kill Naofumi and the others, except Itsuki, but only managed to send them back to their respective worlds, along with sending Raphtalia with Naofumi. Naofumi returns with the others, while becoming a god himself. She was finally killed for good when Naofumi managed to completely redirect her final attack back at her. The attack strikes all forms of the person from all realities, essentially destroying their existence completely.
Fohl
A White Tiger Demi-human. He is one of the many slaves owned by Naofumi. He and his sister are both related to royalty from the Silt Welt, but as their family was chased out when they were babies, they were found and raised as slaves. While he often reacts coldly to Naofumi, he does show some respect to him. He later becomes the Hero of the Guantlet.
Atlas
A White Tiger Demi-human, and sister to Fohl. She had a weak constitution, and suffered from several aliments at once when she and her brother were found by Naofumi. Fohl, did everything for her, but was unable to help her as her sicknesses was too severe. However Naofumi, managed to produce Yggdrasil medicine, the most powerful healing elixir, and gave it to her. While it cured her illness, it could not cure her eyes, which were severely damaged beyond repair. She grew to love Naofumi, much to the irritation of her brother. She learned to 'see' by using chi energy.
She died in the battle against the Houou, protecting Naofumi. As her final request he absorbed her body into his shield which unlocked the 'Shield of Compassion', a blessed version of his Cursed Shield, which had the same move set, but without the backlash. Her spirit from then on resided within the Shield and would remain there, often appearing to talk to the others.
Melty Q. Melromarc
The Second princess and heir to the throne. Unlike her sister, she is good natured and kind. She holds an extreme fondness for Philorials. At one point, Naofumi makes the incorrect assumption that she and Firo are lovers. Initially, Naofumi assumed she was like her sister, until she was nearly assassinated by the same knights who protected her. Eventually he grew to accept her as an ally and she fell in love with him. She was constantly egged on by her mother. In the end she, like Raphtalia, married Naofumi and had his children.
Trash Melromrac XXXII
The King of Melromarc. Initially he followed the religion of the Three heroes, accepting the belief that the Shield hero was a demon. He and Malty both made Naofumi's existence a living hell. Eventually when the Queen returned he was stripped of his powers and renamed Trash by Naofumi.
In his youth he was the Hero of the Cane and was also called the Great King of Wisdom. When he realizes the errors of his actions, he deeply regrets them and apologizes to Naofumi, and kept the name Trash, stating that he was no better than trash.
Mirellia Q Melromarc
The true ruler of Melromarc. She is initially not present due to her efforts to maintain peace between kingdoms. When she discovers what happened, she is furious and returns and brings up the accusations that Malty had against Naofumi. She not only proves them false, but she offers compensation to Naofumi. After this she grants him many benefits and exemptions in return for his services as a hero.
She is killed in Malty's attempted uprising. Naofumi is greatly hurt by this because he was unable to protect her. Melty takes her place as queen, but she returns briefly as a revived spirit, at the end.
Rishia Ivyred
Originally a member of Itsuki's team, she was thrown out due to her weak abilities and false accusations of stealing. She was taken in by Naofumi, who helps her train and become stronger. She grows to respect Naofumi, but she loves Itsuki despite being thrown out of his team due to the help he gave her before. She eventually marries Itsuki in the end.
