Tate no Yuusha no Nariagari

[Ryllharu]

He's supposed to be the odd one out. He doesn't even fit the profile of the other three. The book for Naofumi, and whatever else for the others, grabbed three gamers and Naofumi. He's more into LNs than games. The others are otaku too, but are more focused on playing MMOs solo.

The mix seems intentional. The problem is the place they are summoned into expects them that way. A useless shield hero where the others are great fighters. That's suspicious as hell.

Contrasts heavily with the demi-human legends that have them cherishing the shield hero when the human nation shuns the shield hero.

[Kraco]

He's supposed to be the odd one out. He doesn't even fit the profile of the other three. The book for Naofumi, and whatever else for the others, grabbed three gamers and Naofumi. He's more into LNs than games. The others are otaku too, but are more focused on playing MMOs solo.

The mix seems intentional. The problem is the place they are summoned into expects them that way. A useless shield hero where the others are great fighters. That's suspicious as hell.

Contrasts heavily with the demi-human legends that have them cherishing the shield hero when the human nation shuns the shield hero.

It's quite an interesting take on it that the summoning ritual itself would force the Shield Hero to be different, as opposed to the past Shield Heroes simply having been annoying for the human kingdom. Although that being said, the world is somehow connected to the games and the LN, which meant the other dudes knew being the Shield Hero is to draw the short stick, so there's a fundamental reason for the Shield Hero being troublesome in the deepest background of the setting. So, whether the Shield Heroes weren't worth it for the humans from the beginning or whether their ill luck simply drove them to do unwated things, is the open question. If humans look down on you, wouldn't cooperate with you, and even try to get rid of you, it's quite natural you might then seek the company of the oppressed demi-humans, who, in turn, might look up to you. This, in turn, would make the humans even more annoyed.

Naofumi is a victim of both the initial setting of the Shield Hero being a difficult role to ace and the reality the humans of the kingdom consider the Shield Hero a waste of time and resources, due to their history with this whole summoning affair and maybe the deeds of the past Shield Heroes, which we don't really know, but which might have made the Shield Hero so despised.