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| “ | I'm obsessed with angels. | „ |
| ~ Motoyasu revealing his obssession over Filo. |
Motoyasu Kitamura, also known as Sir Motoyasu, the Spear Hero and the Hero of the Spear, is one of the main characters in The Rising of the Shield Hero franchise.
Along with Naofumi Iwatani, Ren Amaki and Itsuki Kawasumi, Motoyasu was summoned to a parallel dimension to serve the Kingdom of Melromarc, as one of the Cardinal Heroes. As the latest incarnation of the Spear Hero, Motoyasu's duty was to protect this new world from the cataclysmic event known as the Waves of Calamity. However, due to a combination of his own delusional beliefs and the manipulation of his “allies”, particularly Malty S. Melromarc, King Aultcray Melromarc, the Pope and the Church of the Three Heroes, he serves as a prominent enemy to Naofumi, the series protagonist.
Outside of the books, Motoyasu has appeared as an antagonist in the Rising of the Shield Hero's manga and anime adaptations. For his televised appearances, Motoyasu's voice was provided by Makoto Takahashi in the original Japanese version. For the English adaptation he is portrayed by Xander Mobus.
Role in the Series[]
Motoyasu has appeared or influenced most of the Rising of the Shield Hero story lines. His level of villainy varied across these story lines, which are summed up in the bullet points below: -
- Between Volumes 1 - 4, Motoyasu served as one of the series main antagonists. An unwitting pawn of the real villains, his actions directly opposed those of Naofumi as well as the Shield Heroes companions: Raphtalia, Filo and Princess Melty. Although Motoyasu held no vendetta against the three girls, he saw his fellow hero as both a criminal and scoundrel who needed to be stopped and (after the false rape accusation) deserved every hardship that came his way. Motoyasu's actions ranged from interfering directly with Naofumi's life, to open hostility and eventually trying to kill him.
- He served as an ostensible ally of Naofumi's between, Volumes 5 - 10, despite neither liking nor trusting Naofumi. Although he now knew that the accusations against his fellow hero had been false, Motoyasu soon grew jealous of Naofumi's clear superiority in spite of any offensive capabilities, in conjunction with the Shield Hero's glory hogging and attention from all the girls. Thus, in Volume 6, Motoyasu, along with Ren and Itsuki, finally rebelled when a new calamity threatened the worlds survival. The trio tried to destroy this new threat only to be defeated and incapacitated for some time afterwards.
- After suffering a mental breakdown in Volume 11, in conjunction to losing all of his allies, reputation and privileges, Motoyasu's love for Filo, eventually led him to reform. He became a staunch ally of the Shield Hero, following Naofumi's example in order to become a better hero.
- This perspective continued until Volume 23, where Motoyasu became the secondary antagonist after being deceived by the villainous Idol Rabier.
- He also serves as the titular main protagonist of the spin off series known as Reprise of the Spear Hero.
- He will also appear in the third season of the crossover series, Isekai Quartet as the main antagonist.
Appearance[]
Motoyasu Kitamura is the tallest of the Cardinal Heroes. He has shoulder length blonde hair, which apart from a couple of bangs are tied back in a single ponytail. The Spear Hero's eyes are orange bordering on red. Like the rest of the Cardinal Heroes, since coming to Melromarc, Motoyasu is never seen without his legendary weapon. The Cardinal Spear itself has a black, silver trimmed head with a large red jewel at its centre and a white, gold trimmed shaft.
Basking in his new found glory, Motoyasu initially maintained a well kept appearance. Discarding the red hoodie, beige trousers and white vest he was summoned in, Motoyasu's first set of armor was a chain-mail vest, gifted to him by his companion Malty (after she stole it from Naofumi). In the intervening weeks, Motoyasu purchased highest quality gear to combat the Waves. His new armor consisted of a sleeveless red tunic trimmed with gold, which he wore over his original chain-mail, along with a set of silver pauldrons, gauntlets and grieves. A pair of belts one black, one white and gold were tied around his waist, fastened by a silver clasp and his gloves appear to have been made of leather.
Although the Spear Hero initially kept this attire following the events of the Spirit Tortoise, he was forced to conceal it beneath a black/red cloak, due to a need to maintain a low profile. After suffering a mental breakdown following his parties betrayal and desertion, Motoyasu threw away most of his expensive gear as part of his redemption. Keeping his tunic, the Spear Hero bought a new set of gloves and boots, both made of red leather with gold trimming. He now wears a set of black trousers and a red cape lined with filolial feathers. Altogether, this new appearance gives the Spear Hero the appearance of an over sized filolial king.
Personality[]
Despite being a villain, Motoyasu does possess a number of redeemable qualities. He treats his party members extremely well and is also the friendliest of the Cardinal heroes. He also does not discriminate against demi-humans or beastmen and despises the concept of slavery, despite living in a human supremacist counrty. This later inspired him to try and rescue Naofumi's companions, Raphtalia and Filo from what he believed to be cruel treatment at the hands of the Shield Hero.
Unfortunately, these aspects are overshadowed by his less than savory attributes. Motoyasu is shown to be an arrogant, hypocritical, brash, impulsive, extremely naive and gullible person. Convinced that he is always in the right, the Spear Hero has demonstrated on multiple occasions that he has selective perception and will only see things as he wants to see them. He will only recognize the truth when it is spelt out to him, usually by the villains themselves. Being a very sore loser however, Motoyasu will never own up to his mistakes or admit that he was in the wrong.
Like Ren and Itsuki, Motoyasu wants to be the strongest hero and initially believed this new world to be a video-game. Due to the similiarities between this new world and the one from his video game, Motoyasu thought he already knew everything there was to know about this world, from the creatures it contained to levelling up methods. Motoyasu refused to share any of the information with the other heroes, believing it would give him an advantage. Unfortunately, this misconception caused Motoyasu to make several hasty decisions without regard or consideration for the potential consequence, which in turn made his reputation and overall effectiveness suffer.
The Spear Hero's greatest weakness however, is women. A notorious playboy, Motoyasu is a self-confessed polygamist, who dated multiple women at the same time back in his own dimension. Despite being murdered by two of these love interests, since coming to this new world Motoyasu has stated that it is his intention to build a harem. Everything he does is done to garner the attention of the women around him. In accordance with his desires, Motoyasu gives women preferential treatment, showering them with gifts and affection whilst ignoring his male allies. By his own admittance, Motoyasu possess a soft spot for angel like characters.
At the same time however, Motoyasu operates under the warped belief that women are perfect angels, incapable of any wrong-doing or deception. He judges people based upon their appearance and will believe anything that a pretty woman tells him, even evidence to the contrary is put in front of him. This has allowed manipulative people like Myne Sophia to take advantage of him. The only time Motoyasu does not listen, is when a woman says something that he doesn't want to hear or believe. The best example of this was Malty's trial. Despite all the evidence against her, Motoyasu continued to insist that she was a good person, who was being framed and set up. As such, he was the only person in the whole country that refused to accept Naofumi's innocence.
After being betrayed during the events of Volume 11 however, Motoyasu lost many of his villainous traits. Although slightly more bloodthirsty, he became much less reckless and started taking his duties much more seriously. He trained hard, using everything that Naofumi had previously told him to improve his stats and abilities. He also became Naofumi's most devoted follower, treating his orders as if they were the law. Since he could no longer trust women, whom he now saw as anthropomorphic pigs, the Spear Hero also gave up many of his flirtatious ways and desires for a harem.
As of Volume 23, Motyatsu reverted back to his flirtatious ways, regained many of his villainous traits and became more and more reckless. He would also become a rapist, now viewing women as tools to give birth to a future heir.
Fighting Style[]
Motoyasu arguably has the most versatile weapon of any of the Cardinal Heroes. Whilst mostly used to engage his enemies at a controlled distance, he can also use his spear as a magical staff or javelin. Like the other legendary weapons however, the Cardinal Spear will not let Motoyasu pick up or use any other weapon, including shields. To get around this, the Spear Hero uses the weapon copy system, whereby he copies any powerful spears that he finds, allowing him to not only unlock new skills, but easily increase his arsenal.
Motoyasu rarely employs strategy in battle, preferring to attack his enemies head-on and overwhelm them with a powerful skill or endless barage of attacks. This was easy for him, as the Spear Hero had already reached a considerably high level before the onset of the second wave. To bolster his own ego and make himself look good, Motoyasu would do most of the fighting, whilst the women in his party stood back and cheered him on. The girls would only intervene when necessary, using magic spells and powerful buffs to enhance the offensive capabilities of his weapon. This changed after Volume 11 where Motoyasu's filolial companions would willingly aid him in a fight.
Despite these advantages, Motoyasu does possess a number of weaknesses. His high attack statistic comes at the expense of a poor defensive stats, which was shown when Naofumi managed to injure the level forty-three Spear Hero with an orange balloon, the weakest monster in all of Melromarc. Motoyasu's lack of strategy has also worked against him, as has his familiarity with defeating his opponents swiftly. He struggles against opponents with high resilience, regenerative capabilities or years of combat training, such as Naofumi, the Spirit Tortoise, the Kraken in the Cal Mira Wave and Glass. Since the spear is designed to keep his enemies at a distance, Motoyasu against close quarter fighters and is completely defenseless if someone restrains his spear, which happened during his fight with Naofumi in Volume 4. The Spear Hero's greatest weaknesses of all though, are his arrogance and pride. Motoyasu will never participate in a fight unless it is one that he is convinced he can win. Whenever he does lose (which is very often), he does not take it well and is always making up excuses as to why he lost.
Relationships[]
Cardinal Heroes[]
The Bow and Sword Heroes[]
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| Motoyasu's relationship with the two younger heroes was originally friendly but ostentatious. Although the three men agreed on a large number of things, such as this new world being a video game from their home dimensions and the fact that Naofumi was a scumbag who they should not associate with, there were a large number of things that they did not agree on. Each of them had different ideas on how to run their parties, power up their weapons and assist the ordinary citizens. As such, whilst the group maintained an amicable facade and fought alongside each other during the waves, there was an underlying rivalry between the three heroes. Each of them wanted to be the strongest and most famous hero possible, for their own selfish reasons.
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The Shield Hero[]
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"Maybe I was summoned to this world to stop you! ... You really are the scum of the Earth!" - Motoyasu to Naofumi, The Rising of the Shield Hero anime, Episode 18, A Conspiracy Linked. | |
| To say that Motoyasu and Naofumi did not like each other in the early stages of the story, would be a gross understatement. From the moment they met, Motoyasu looked down upon Naofumi due to both his lack of knowledge about this new world and his status as the Shield Hero. Due to his gaming experience, Motoyasu considered the Shield Class to be both impractical and worthless. He even said words to this effect straight to Naofumi's face, offering his fellow hero no assistance or showing any concern for his feelings.
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Love Interests[]
Malty Melromarc/Myne Sophia[]
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| Motoyasu had the longest and strongest "relationship" with Malty out of any of the Cardinal Heroes. She was not only the foremost member of his original party, but his second in command, as well as, his lover (despite such a relationship being forbidden). The Spear Hero never saw any reason to doubt Malty and remained completely oblivious to her true sinister nature for some time. He showed Myne favoritism over all of the other girls in his party/harem, believing everything she said and following her instructions to the letter. Even when evidence was finally presented that proved her true, sinister nature, Motoyasu refused to believe it and continued to stand by Malty, although like everyone else he was forced to call her "Bitch" from now on.
Unfortunately, Motoyasu's trust in Malty not only more akin to blind faith, but totally misplaced. The evil princess thought no more of him than she did anybody else and from the moment she joined his party, he was putty in her hands. If she said jump he would do so without hesitation or asking how high. Although she acted sweet, benign and loving to his face, the sociopathic Malty took complete advantage of Motoyasu's kindness and naivety. Leeching off of Motoyasu's money and status in order to live the easy life, Malty also forced him into several unnecessary conflicts with the Shield Hero, whilst deliberately misusing his power and position to exploit several innocent civilians. She also kept secret tabs on the rest of their companions. If any girls joined Motoyasu's group that she did not like, Malty would get rid of them by secretly selling these girls into slavery (despite human trafficking being illegal in Melromarc). Motoyasu for his part was completely unaware of this and believed Myne's lies that the girls had simply left. Despite Motoyasu's ongoing support and care following her downfall, Bitch never (knowingly) showed him any gratitude and ultimately put a decisive end to their relationship. During the Battle with the Spirit Tortoise, Motoyasu was swiftly defeated and subsequently captured by the Book Hero Kyo. Instead of being concerned, Bitch decided that Motoyasu's usefulness to her had run its course and abandoned her ex-boyfriend to his fate without a moments hesitation or a second thought. When the couple were finally reunited some time later, Bitch finally revealed showed Motoyasu her true colors. Together with Lesty, she framed the Spear Hero for blackmail, mistreatment of his party members and sexual assault. Now unable to deny the truth, Motoyasu was left completely devastated and broken by the revelation that everything Malty had said or done for him had been an act. As a result of this betrayal, Motoyasu not only suffered a complete mental breakdown but developed a deep hatred for his former companion. Despite his mental instability altering his perception of women, Motoyasu is able to recognize Malty somewhat and would henceforth referring to the "pig" that represents her as the Red Swine. As a result of this, Malty was never able to manipulate the Spear Hero ever again. | |
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Filo[]
Companions[]
Elena Haven[]
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| Elena was one of the talented adventurers that joined Motoyasu at the start of his adventure. Along with Lesty and Malty, she was meant to help guide Motoyasu through his adventures and help him defeat the waves. The exact nature of hers and Motoyasu relationship is not known, but it is possible that unlike Malty, she was not his lover, but his one-side crush. Unlike Malty or Lesty, Elena was not a wholly evil person. She only manipulated Motoyasu because she was lazy and wanted to live an easy life. This ironically, made her the Spear Hero's only genuinely loyal companion.
Although he favored Malty, Motoyasu did shower Elena with gifts and affection throughout their adventure. However, Elena's opinion of the Spear Hero gradually began to wane and her crush faded as she realised that Motoyasu was nowhere near as powerful or intelligent as she thought he was. As such, she was the first person to leave his party. When Motoyasu battled the Spirit Tortoise, Elena was the only person in the group to recognize that they stood no chance against it. With the others distracted by the battle, Elena seized her opportunity and ran back home. Once he had recovered from the battle, Motoyasu (now a wanted criminal) began a desperate frantic search for his missing party members. Elena was the first girl encountered. However, whilst glad to see that Motoyasu was alive, Elena told him flat out that her adventuring days with him were over, whilst pointing out all his flaws to his face. Having already made a deal with Naofumi and the Queen beforehand, Elena then betrayed her former companion, selling him out in order to save her own neck, but Motoyasu managed to escape. The pair have remained allies due to their mutual association with Naofumi, but Motoyasu no longer trusts Elena and can only see her as a giant squealing pig. | |
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Lesty[]
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| Another talented adventurer and Malty Melromarc's best friend, Lesty joined Motoyasu's party at the start of his adventure and remained by his side until the events of the Spirit Tortoise. Like Malty, she was a manipulative sociopath, who exploited and used Motoyasu for her own benefit. She was also a willing accomplice in many of Malty's schemes, which usually involved bullying or disposing of their former companions/party members, much to Motoyasu's ignorance.
After Motoyasu had been defeated by the Spirit Tortoise, Lesty left with Malty, abandoning her former companion to his fate. When the pair next saw each other, Lesty helped to portray Motoyasu as a criminal and a fiend in order to win favor with the Sword Hero. This betrayal contributed to Motoyasu's mental breakdown, a fate from which he never truly recovered. Motoyasu and Lesty remained enemies from that point onwards, right up until the latter's death at the hands of Naofumi in Volume 18. | |
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Rino[]
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| Unlike Malty, Lesty or Elena, Rino joined the Spear Hero's party shortly after Motoyasu began his adventures. Like Elena, Rino was not an overly evil person and joined the group due to genuine affection for the Spear Hero. Unfortunately, this caused Malty to view Rino as a threat to her position as Motoyasu's favorite girl. As such, she and the other girls betrayed Rino, selling her off into slavery.
At one point, Rino spotted Motoyasu and shouted for help. Alas, since Motoyasu was walking down an unsavory alleyway and had Malty on hand to manipulate him, the Spear Hero remained deaf to his former partners pleas. As a result of this, Rino's view of the Spear Hero shifted from affection to hatred. Although she ultimately hates Malty Melromarc more, since being freed, Rino still wants to give the hero that abandoned her a piece of her mind. | |
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Filolial Herd[]
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| After being abandoned by his original party, Motoyasu formed a new adventuring group as part of his healing process and redemption. Since he could no longer trust women, the Spear Hero decided to follow Naofumi's example of raising monsters. His new party is comprised entirely out of an ever-expanding herd of filolials. Due to Motoyasu's careful nurturing and affection for them, three of them (Crimmy, Marine, and Green) developed the ability to turn into Filolial Kings and Queens, whom the Spear Hero can communicate with without issue. Unlike their human counterparts, Motoyasu's avian companions love the Spear Hero sincerely and unconditionally. Motoyasu in-turn reciprocates these feelings, but in a platonic way due to his love for Filo (much to the herd's annoyance and jealousy). He regards each and every single one of the filolials as his own children. | |
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Allies[]
King Aultcray Melromarc XXXII[]
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| Motoyasu's relationship with the two younger heroes was originally friendly but ostentatious. Although the three men agreed on a large number of things, such as this new world being a video game from their home dimensions and the fact that Naofumi was a scumbag who they should not associate with, there were a large number of things that they did not agree on. Each of them had different ideas on how to run their parties, power up their weapons and assist the ordinary citizens. As such, whilst the group maintained an amicable facade and fought alongside each other during the waves, there was an underlying rivalry between the three heroes. Each of them wanted to be the strongest and most famous hero possible, for their own selfish reasons.
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Raphtalia[]
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| Motoyasu has displayed a minor attraction towards Raphtalia, though it has faded significantly since developing his crush upon Filo. He tried to flirt with her during their first meeting, showing no concern over the fact she was a demi-human, a species generally not tolerated within Melromarc. He was horrified to learn that she Naofumi's companion and later, after being informed about her status as a slave, challenged the Shield Hero to a fight for her freedom. He won due to Myne's interference, but Raphtalia returned to the Shield Hero's side after slapping Motoyasu hard across the face and humiliating him in front of the entire audience. Despite the tanuki's proclamations that she was happy with Naofumi, the Spear Hero refused to believe it and concluded that Raphtalia was brainwashed.
This opinion continued until the events of Volume 5. Following the battle with the Pope and the exposure of Malty and Aultcray's crimes, Motoyasu appeared to accept that Raphtalia is genunely happy with Naofumi, even though he still does not like the fact that she is still technically a slave. After Malty betrayed him, Raphtalia, despite not liking the Spear Hero, was one of the people that did try to comfort Motoyasu without much success. She later became one of the few women that Motoyasu could see and talk to as a normal person, as he came to regard her as Filo's sister. | |
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Motoyasu slapped by Raphtalia.
Princess Melty Melromarc[]
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| Motoyasu shows little respect or concern for Melty's authority, despite her status as the Crown Princess of Melromarc. During their few interactions, he disregards her orders and will ignore everything she says in favor of Malty's declarations. Even so, he did try to rescue her after being told that Naofumi had kidnapped, then brainwashed her. Following Naofumi's acquittal, Motoyasu and Melty have become allies. | |
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Queen Mirellia Q. Melromarc[]
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| Motoyasu respects the Queen of Melromarc's authority but does not appear to like or look up to her as much as he did her husband, the King. He dislikes Mirellia's preferential treatment of Naofumi, despite it being justified(which is another proof of Motoyasu's hypocrisy, as the King gave him preferential treatment) and is unappreciative of the efforts she went to in order to help the heroes reach their full potential since these training methods were not ones that he was comfortable with.
Mirellia for her part displayed exceptional tolerance towards Motoyasu (alongside the equally unreasonable Ren and Itsuki) and even agreed to grant him free reign if he would help her investigate an emerging calamity. Unfortunately, Motoyasu betrayed that trust when he and his companions ran off to face this new threat, the Spirit Tortoise, without alerting her to the approaching danger. This led to disaster all round, which only ended thanks to the efforts of Naofumi and his companions. Recognizing her mistake, the Queen subsequently had the comatose Motoyasu brought back to Melromarc. He was placed under house arrest until he recovered, with the Queen intending to deal with him after he recovered. Unfortunately, Motoyasu escaped before she could do so. Furious, Mirellia put out a bounty on the Spear Hero's head and put several orders in place, which severely restricted his movements. Coupled with his previous folleys, this made life extremely difficult for the Spear Hero. Yet, Motoyasu did not dare to return to the castle or turn himself in for fear of being punished. | |
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Others[]
Citizens of Melromarc[]
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| Motoyasu was initially hailed as a hero by the citizens of Melromarc, along with Ren and Itsuki, who looked to the group for hope and salvation. Unfortunately, whilst Motoyasu did take his newfound position relatively seriously, he also made several blunders that put hundreds if not thousands of innocent lives in jeopardy, causing his reputation to suffer.
Following the incident with the Spirit Tortoise, the citizens of Melromarc, despite Mirellia's best efforts, finally saw Motoyasu for the rash, incompetent idiot that he really was. Since Motoyasu, Ren and Itsuki, had all willingly played a role in the awakening of the Divine Beast, they were rightfully blamed for the deaths and devastation that followed. Motoyasu was subsequently branded as a false hero, his reputation was all but destroyed. Since joining Naofumi, Motoyasu has kept a low profile but with the Shield Hero's help and guidance is working hard to become the hero he needs to be. | |
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Alternative Timelines[]
Outside of the Rising of the Shield Hero light novels, manga and anime, Aneko Yusagi, the franchise author has also published a number of alternative storylines. Motoyasu is usually featured or mentioned within these spin-off's or short what if scenarios. The events of these stories show how things would have turned out had Motoyasu or one of the characters chosen a different path.
The tables below demonstrate notable examples. Please be aware of major spoilers.
Reprise of the Spear Hero[]
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| Setting - A spin-off series comprising of five volumes. After apparently being killed in battle, Motoyasu mysteriously travels back in time to where he and the other heroes were first summoned. Knowing what Aultcray and the others plan to do, Motoyasu sets out to try and prevent Naofumi's bad future and reunite with his beloved Filo. |
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Motoyasu the Shield Hero[]
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| Setting - A "What If" story where Motoyasu is summoned as the Shield Hero and Naofumi as the Spear Hero. |
| The story begins with the King's adventurers choosing which Cardinal Hero they want to partner with.
Like the true timeline, nobody wanted to partner with the Shield Hero, despite Motoyasu's knowledge of the new world being "considerably better" than Naofumi's. The sole exception was Myne Sophia, who "left" the Bow Hero's party to join Motoyasu. Everything plays out like it did with Naofumi in the canon timeline until the evening. When Myne offers Motoyasu some wine, he happily accepts it, having no reason to doubt or suspect her. The drink was laced with a sedative, however, causing Motoyasu to wake up the following morning with a massive hangover and no memory of what happened. Just like in the original timeline, Myne used this opportunity to steal all of the Shield Hero's gear and frame him for sexual assault. Due to Motoyasu's stupidity, amnesia and actions from the previous evening, the two royals had a much easier job painting him in a negative light, By the end of the "trial" Motoyasu had been convicted, with Ren, Itsuki, their companions, the King and the citizens of Melromarc turning their backs on him. Although not confirmed, it is heavily implied that not even Erhard (the blacksmith) believed in the Shield Hero's innocence. Only Naofumi, who saw Myne's mannerism and eye-taunt had any doubts. A few days later, whilst walking alone, Naofumi found Motoyasu. The latter was an emaciated, broken, homeless, friendless and jobless shell of a man, about to rob a food store to in a desperate bid to fight off starvation. Knowing this would only lead to more trouble, Naofumi intervened and bought Motoyasu food, realising that his assumptions were correct and that Motoyasu was genuinely innocent. Unfortunately for the Spear Hero, he could not think of any way to prove it or convince the masses. Fortunately for Motoyasu, salvation appeared moments later when Naofumi spotted the emissaries of Siltvelt watching them from the shadows. Following a short conversation, during which the two heroes learnt about Melromarc's opinion of the Shield Hero, Naofumi told Motoyasu to go with the ambassadors, knowing that the citizens of Silvelt would take proper care of him. This act saved Motoyasu's life and earned the new Spear Hero both the Shield Hero and the emissary's gratitude. Unfortunately, it also led to dire consequences for the Kingdom of Melromarc and (arguably) the world. When the citizens of Siltvelt found out what their long-time enemy had done to the latest incarnation of their God, the Kingdom ended their negotiations with Queen Mirellia and (presumably with the backing of Shieldfreeden) declared war upon the Kingdom of Melromarc. When news of this development reached King Aultcray, he immediately petitioned the Three Heroes for help. The justice-driven Itsuki immediately answered the call, wanting revenge upon Motoyasu for starting a war and for what he had "done " to Myne. Naofumi and Ren, however, quickly realised that they could not deal with an invasion and the Waves of Calamity simultaneously. With the writing on the wall, the Spear and Sword Heroes fled, abandoning their comrade and the nation that summoned them to their fate. The story ends here and what happened afterwards is not known! |
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Trivia[]
- Motoyasu is the only Legendary Hero besides Naofumi to receive a protagonist’s role in a spin-off of Shield Hero franchise.
- Aneko Yusagi, the author of The Rising of the Shield Hero has confirmed that each Cardinal Hero is a deconstruction of specific isekai archetypes. Motoyasu is a deconstruction of both the harem and idiot protagonist.
- A typical harem protagonist usually builds an ever-increasing number of loyal followers, usually from the opposite gender. These people fall in love with the main character not only due to their power but their loyalty, selflessness, kindness and generosity. Depending upon the genre, the protagonist and their party members will not only protect each other, but help each other become more powerful. Motoyasu is presented as the very opposite of these things. Whilst arguably kind and loyal, he is a prolific womaniser and skirt-chaser who repeatedly tries to get new girls to join his party in spite of their own feelings. Meanwhile, his "harem" is comprised of selfish and lazy gold diggers, who make Motoyasu do all the work whilst they reap the rewards. These backstabbers only follow Motoyasu because it's beneficial to them, whilst driving away anybody who might upset their perfect dynamic. In the end, however, once Motoyasu was of no further use to them, the women ditched Motoyasu without a second thought.
- Meanwhile, an idiot hero, despite a lack of mental fortitude will always come out on top. Despite lacking in the intelligence department, they make up for it in other ways until, with a bit of help from loyal followers, manage to defeat the main villain. Motoyasu does not qualify as this because, with the exception of the rigged duel, he has never managed to best Naofumi. This may be partly because he and his companions are the actual villains, rather than Naofumi who is himself a rather twisted representation of a pragmatic hero.
- Due to this, Motoyasu can be described as completely useless at best, and a complete waste of life at worst.
- Motoyasu's party is not only the largest, but has changed the most throughout the story.
- In 2019's Rising of the Shield Hero character poll, Motoyasu finished in thirteenth place, making him the least popular of the Cardinal Heroes. For context, Naofumi finished in 1st place, Ren came 8th and Itsuki 12th (only beating Motoyasu by one hundred and eleven votes). Surprisingly, Malty, who was arguably responsible for much of Motoyasu's came in 11th place. Although not stated, the reason Motoyasu finished so low is probably due to his perverted nature, gullibility and general stupidity.
- This negative opinion can also be seen in Rising of the Shield Hero fanfictions. Although Motoyasu eventually underwent both character development and redemption in the canon storylines, several fan authors continue to portray him in an antagonistic light, highlighting and even exaggerating his less than desirable qualities. Whilst Ren and Itsuki are usually shown to redeem themselves in both Naofumi and the readers eyes, the Spear Hero is usually portrayed as being even more villainous or at the very least, the last of the Cardinal Heroes to undergo redemption.
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