Naofumi Iwatani

Naofumi Iwatani, often referred to as the Shield Hero, is the titular main protagonist in The Rising of the Shield Hero franchise. 
A former otaku and university student, Naofumi's life changed forever when he was transported to the Kingdom of Melromarc alongside three other youths, each from an alternative version of Japan. Together, these four men became the Cardinal Heroes, legendary figures who were granted access to incredible power necessary to save their new world from destruction at the hands of the Waves of Calamity. Unfortunately, Naofumi received the Legendary Shield, which gave him a disadvantage since he did not have any offensive buffs or stats. However, this turned out to be least of Naofumi's problems.
Within 72 hours of his summoning, (a day in the manga), Naofumi was betrayed by his former companion Myne Sophia (who was really Malty S. Melromarc, firstborn of King Aultcray and second princess of Melromarc). Framed for a crime he did not commit, the Shield Hero became a pariah in Melromarc, hated by almost everybody. Full of rage, Naofumi left the castle with nothing but the clothes on his back and his Legendary Shield. From there, he began a series of adventurers that would see his rise from the falsely accused criminal to the worlds savior.
Outside of the Rising of the Shield Hero franchise, Naofumi is a significant supporting character in the second season of the anime Isekai Quartet. This is a crossover series, which features various characters from the "Isekai" genre.
Naofumi is voiced by Kaito Ishikawa in the original Japanese version and by the late Billy Kametz in the English version, who also voiced Haruo Koga in Japan Sinks 2020 and Josuke Higashikata in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable. In Season 2, Naofumi is voiced by Stephen Fu, who replaced Billy Kametz due to his diagnosis of stage IV colon cancer.
==Appearance==
Naofumi is introduced as a 20-year-old young man. He is taller than his fellow heroes Ren Amaki (the Sword Hero) and Itsuki Kawasumi (the Bow Hero), but shorter than Motoyasu Kitamura (the Spear Hero). Naofumi is lean and reasonably muscled, with short spiky black hair and green eyes. 
When summoned by the Church of the Three Heroes Naofumi was wearing a green and white hoodie, with a black undershirt, black trousers and trainers. These were later stolen by Malty Melromarc. He later purchased a beige undershirt, black trousers and brown boots. His decision to sleep in these kept them from being stolen. However, the chain mail he had bought alongside these was taken and "gifted" to Motoyasu.
Following an encounter with Erhard the blacksmith, Naofumi was provided with a basic armor and green cape. He would continue to wear the cape for the rest of the series, but his original armor has undergone several modifications. Currently, his favored set is Barbarian Armor Type 3, but he also has access to several other high level pieces of equipment, provided throughout the story.
Due to his status as the Shield Hero, the Legendary Shield is affixed to Naofumi's body, usually on one of his arms. Although he cannot take it off, Naofumi is capable of changing both its appearance and location with a single thought or command. Having fed numerous monster parts and other materials into his shield Naofumi has access to several different types of magical shields, each with their own unique abilities. Just like with his armor, the Shield Hero will use the appropriate shield relevant to his situation.
==Personality==
At first, Naofumi was a kind and trusting man. However, after being framed and hated by the country, he grew bitter, wicked and resentful. He hates Malty and her father for their cruelty, and has a strong contempt for the other three heroes for their incompetence and ignorance. After Raphtalia became his slave and joined his party, he began to go back to his kinder nature, though he remained somewhat bitter.
While his naivete meant he was almost seduced by Malty upon their initial cooperation, after she accused him of rape, and destroyed his reputation, he ceased showing any signs of romantic interest. Even after he had largely repaired his reputation and built partnerships who knew he was falsely accused, he still doesn't allow himself to entertain any of the numerous new romantic interests that gather around him; whether this is out of fear of a repeated ruination or simply lack of self-esteem, isn't clear. One of his admirers, his first and closest partner, Raphtalia, he doesn't seem willing to pursue her romantic attachment, not due to fear or lack of confidence, rather the fact that he had bought/adopted her when she was a child, and despite her evolution into a late teenage form, he finds it too inappropriate to enter a romantic relationship with someone he basically raised; also, like some other relationships, he values their friendship too much to jeopardize them.
Naofumi is heavily pragmatic, to the point callousness. When he realized bandits planned to make him out as the villain after stopping them from attacking a merchant, Naofumi was more than willing to feed them to Filo if it meant covering his tracks to avoid any trouble.
He can be sadistic, taking pleasure in the humiliation of others. While sparing the king and princess from a beheading as a punishment for their crimes, he ensured that their names would be changed to Trash and Bitch/Whore as lifelong humiliation in retaliation for all the trouble they put him through.
Despite all this, Naofumi is ironically the most effective, competent, reliable and useful among the heroes of the current generation. According to Mirellia, Naofumi is the only one among the current heroes who lives up to his title, while Motoyasu, Ren and Itsuki are arrogant, narcissistic, delusional and hypocritical idiots, who only seek and care only about fame, glory, money and power, Naofumi he is a realistic man, pragmatic, serious, careful and always thinks with his head and considered all possibilities, including the disadvantages. This can be seen at several different times; he is the only one among the heroes to know from the start that the world they were summoned to was not a game, but real life, he managed to solve all the problems that the other three caused or made worse, he was the only one to take the queen's efforts seriously to make heroes and their companions stronger and while Motoyasu, Itsuki and Ren attacked the Spirit Turtle without thinking about the consequences, being completely crushed and causing countless deaths, leading to its reputation being destroyed, Naofumi joined the military, stopped the Spirit Turtle's advance and began to be seen by people around the world as the only genuine hero.
==Powers & Abilities==
Legendary Shield: As the Shield Hero, he wields the Legendary Shield, which can absorb materials, store items, and gives him great defensive power but also later created offensive abilities.
*Air Strike Shield: Creates a Shield-shaped barrier. It can be thrown at opponents or be used as a platform. Can create two.
*Shield Prison: Creates a large spherical object with various chains, used to trap opponents.
*Merchant Skills: Due to the country hating him, he had to make money on his own. He became a merchant to do so, allowing him to learn many skills from haggling to negotiating.
* Crafting: After becoming a merchant, he learned how to craft things, from Potions to Accessories.
* Healing and Support Magic: As the Shield Hero, he has a natural talent for healing and support magic.
** First Heal: A basic healing spell.
**First Guard: A basic defense boost spell.
**Hate Reaction: Causes select monster(s) to chase and attack him.
* Shield of Wrath: A shield created from Naofumi's pure anger. When he uses this shield, he can counter enemy attacks with an evil flame that creates burns that put enemies in a weakened state. However, it corrupts Naofumi's mind when he uses it.
==Quotes==
==Gallery==
===Images===
Naofumi Iwatani (Light Novel).png|Naofumi in the Light Novel
Naofumi Iwatani (Manga).png|Naofumi in the Manga
Naofumi-iwatani-64299.jpg|The Shield Hero.
Manga Shield Hero.jpg|Naofumi in the Manga Adaptation
Naofumi turning his back on the king.png|Naofumi as he walks out of the throne room as he faces away from the king.
Naofumi leaves the throne room.png|leaving the throne room.
==Trivia==
*Billy Kametz (Naofumi’s original English voice actor) Passed away from Colon Caner in 2022 at the age of 35.
*In Seasons 2 and 3 (in the English dub) he is voiced by Stephen Fu.
*Billy Kametz (Naofumi's English voice actor) also voiced: 
**Josuke Higashikata in JoJo's Bizarre Adventure.
**Metal Lee in Boruto: Naruto Next Generations.
**Kyouya Mitsurugi in KonoSuba: God's Blessing on this Wonderful World!.
*Naofumi is the only one of the summoned heroes to not have died originally in his world when the summoning was activated. Its unknown why this happened, but it's heavily implied to be blind chance from finding the book that activated his summoning. His life was notably much different from the other three in that it didn't suck and wasn't down a fatal path; it was just normal.
**Perhaps this is a quality needed for a shield hero. A shield guards life, while bow, spear and sword take life.
*The shield is stuck to Naofumi's body until the Waves are stopped and he is returned to Earth; there's no magic there, so the shield will part with him.
==External Links==
*Naofumi Iwatani on The Rising of the Shield Hero Wiki
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