To Ghost Man, that asked me to compile a list in Diligence: Here you go.
The following is a guide I made with help from other people that address the trial in Shield Hero. It also addresses many various complaints and issues I've seen amongst fanfics or discussions on Discord, some of which are my own since I'm a bitch about respecting how the world(s) of Shield Hero work and breaking said rules makes the later part of the story, if writers ever get that far, make no sense whatsoever.
It seems that many of us want to change things at the beginning solely for the sake of the Trial, like giving Naofumi a lawyer, or giving him a lawyer background, or having another hero support him, or have him threaten to kill everyone or have him or someone else kill everyone for maximum EDGE: some kind of change that gives Naofumi a more 'fair' trial (still debating on how killing everyone in the beginning is considered fair , but anyway…).
I will proceed to show why and explain along the way the things many people fail to account for in this one-shot/story guide, whether because they only rely on anime knowledge (which doesn't explain much of anything and fumbles readers to this day) or because they lack understanding on certain concepts like culture, historic background, or GAME MECHANICS (this last one has especially gotten some people who think physics mean everything). I will also show some ways where you CAN change the outcome of the trial in a way that doesn't require screwing with the setting or the characters. I will also do what many writers fail to account for and address the consequences, both good and bad, for many of these scenarios.
Warning: This guide contains jabs at all kinds of bad writing. This includes power fantasy, wish fulfillment, Shirou wanking, railroaders, No consequences is me, its ma churater en e wil b OP shenanigans, etc. If you suffer from any of these deadly diseases or mistakenly believe that these constitute good writing, then this guide will offend you, I highly recommend not reading it. This guide will also contain spoilers from the 22 Light Novels of Shield Hero. I, and plenty of others, have read them. I will not waste my time listing every little thing that is explained in the books or on Aneko's blog. If you don't want to trust me (or anyone else that's read the books) and want to learn the mechanics and the like for yourself, buy the light novels. You'll have first class seats to Naofumi's pain and frustration about his lack of means to damage others just like me.
In the end, I'm not your mom (or your dad, if you want to be gender-specific). Read what you want and write what you want. But if you're here because you want to make a genuine fanfic that doesn't break everything over its knees. If you are struggling with why characters act the way they do (motivations) or why Naofumi doesn't do so and so (related to world rules), or if you want a good laugh at the fires this will no doubt turn up amongst those individuals listed above in the warning, then this guide is highly recommended for you.
Now, let us begin:
Warning: Prepare for OOCness (duh):
Lawyer route
"You know what, screw you! I demand a lawyer! You can't just blame me for all of this! This is ridiculous!" Naofumi yelled.
...
The eyebrows of everyone in attendance went up. "What? Why are you looking at me funny?!" Naofumi asked.
"... Heroes, will you please explain to us what a lawyer is?" Aultcray asked Ren, Itsuki, and Motoyasu.
This is the first problem you should address. You are dealing with a medieval European justice system. There is no lawyer or attorney or prosecutor. It is the person at the top who is your judge, jury, and in some cases, your executioner. In this scenario, that's Aultcray. Later on, after Mirellia returns, it's her.
Ever wondered why she had the power to execute her own husband and daughter? That's the power of monarchy. Thus, trying to lawyer up leads to this.
"In my world, a lawyer is someone assigned to protect the guilty from an accusation," Itsuki answered. "They can also help sway the judge's opinion on if someone is innocent or guilty by cross-examining the evidence and witness accounts."
"Same here." "Yeah." Ren and Motoyasu agreed.
"Hmmm…" Aultcray shrugged. "Whatever. Throw him out into the city. Word of his crime is already being spread. He has received his punishment." He gestured.
A look of OOC shock covered Naofumi's face. "But, but muh evidence!"
"Bitch, I'm the King." The OOC King replied. Nobody would ever be allowed to think that they could rape his daughter and get away with it. "You're guilty."
"Objection!"
"Objection denied. You're even more guilty now."
"But… but that's not how it works back in my world!"
"Well we ain't in your world now, are we?"
"I want a fair trial! Judge, defense and all!"
"Get rid of him please," Aultcray said with an annoyed sigh. He honestly wasn't even sure what Naofumi was ranting on about now. Were court systems really not this simple in the Hero's worlds?
How bothersome. Witnesses and evidence clearly showed Naofumi's guilt. Aultcray didn't need to waste any more time on this nonsense.
"You can't do this to me!" Guards grabbed Naofumi and began dragging him away. "I'll sue you! YOU HEAR ME!? I'LL SUE YOU FOR EVERY LAST YEN YOU HAVE!"
And the rest of the story went on as normal. With the added bonus of Naofumi literally being kicked out onto the street by the knights.
Possibly making him even more jaded than before.
And that sums up the lawyer route. Pretty cut and dry simple. Lawyering up does not work. And trying to have Naofumi be a lawyer in the way of trying to rip everyone apart while making himself look smart also will not work. I'll go over the why of that later as it connects to some other BS we've no doubt witnessed before.
Also, some things to keep in mind with what Aultcray said there.
Aultcray is not part of the scheme to frame Naofumi of rape in any form of canon.
He is legit acting like any rational father king whose daughter was raped, and who is also under the condition that he can't kill her rapist without starting another war. Stop thinking he's in on it. To be frank, if I were in his position with his power, I'd be sentencing my daughter's rapist to death in the worst, painful way possible, hero or not.
This is the other thing you should have realized. This is a 'show trial'. In other words, the verdict was prepared long in advance since the King already deemed Naofumi guilty based on what his daughter told him and the evidence he was given. You can try to demand a lawyer if you want, but that isn't going to change your outcome in the slightest. What WOULD change your outcome is you yourself providing 'convincing' evidence then and there that the rape accusation is false. More on that later.
You can whine and bitch all you want about how unfair that is. But as Aultcray said, "Bitch, I'm the King."
That's the way monarchy works. Get used to it.
But it does make it funnier when Mirellia shows up playing the UNO Reverse card and goes "Bitch, I'm the Queen," when punishing her husband and daughter.
How about we go the threaten/kill route next? That should be exciting.
Warning: Beware of OOC EDGE (duh).
Threaten/Kill
"You… you..." Naofumi breathed in and out heavily. His eyes bulged in their sockets. He bent backward as he screamed at the ceiling:
"You think you can do this to me?!"
"Oh, Gods. What is Naofumi doing now?" Ren groaned in an annoyed tone.
"It's just like two nights ago." Itsuki agreed, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"I am a Cardinal Hero!" Naofumi continued to scream. "You can't do this to me! I hold more power in my pinkie than you idiots do in your bodies! REEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
"... Heroes?" Aultcray looked confusedly at the other three.
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty. Naofumi is needlessly… what's the word… edgy?" Ren asked the others.
"Yeah." "Sounds about right." Motoyasu and Itsuki agreed.
Coming from the Sword Hero, a former chunibyo, that was not a good thing to be known for.
"I AM NOT EDGY!" Naofumi yelled at the three. "I'll kill you all! And that bitch whore too! You hear me Bitch! You can't hide behind your Heroes forever! I'll kill you if it's the last thing I ever-"
Naofumi was cut off, quite literally as he was skewered by the knights all around him.
Yeah, kind of obvious, but you should probably watch what you say. I know I said above that the King doesn't want to start a war. But you're only level 1, and any threats you make against the King, his daughter, or the other Heroes will reap you the consequences. The threat of war notwithstanding.
As for if you choose to go beyond threats and attack the knights… the answer should be obvious.
But where's the fun in not writing it out? XD
Warning: The following sections slam dunks on every single idea I or others have encountered to try and make the Shield cause damage to enemies far more powerful than Naofumi. It is quite extensive, and every idea is promptly shown from the rules of the setting. Also, fair warning, any complaints you have about attacks that I haven't addressed already will be added, as for 22 LN's of material, there hasn't been ONE way outside the Cursed Series that has allowed Naofumi to reasonably damage his enemies himself.
"REEEEEEEEEEEE!" Naofumi charged at a knight and slammed his fist into the guy's face.
Clang!
Even though Naofumi was angry, his ATT stat still didn't change. It appeared he hadn't crossed the Despair Event Horizon needed to unlock the Curse of EDGE.
"Aw come on-"
And he was thus skewered by the knights like in the last scenario.
How about if we make Naofumi big and swole?
"REEEEEEEEEEEE!" The giant Naofumi charged at a knight and slammed his huge giant fist into the guy's face.
Clang!
Despite his large, overly muscular size, he was still level one, and as the Shield Hero, his attack stat hadn't gone up at all. Being super big and strong did nothing in that regard.
"Aw come on-"
The knights skewered him again. And despite his large size, he died a horrible, painful death because, again, he was only level 1.
How about if he attacks the other Heroes?
"REEEEEEEEEEEE!" Naofumi charged to attack Itsuki.
He was skewered by the knights surrounding him before he got more than a few steps.
Now let's say you somehow got past those pesky knights that keep on killing you. What would happen then?
"REEEEEEEEEEEE!"
Clang!
Punching Itsuki in the face, once again, dealt no damage.
"Why can't this damn shield do anything-"
Proceeds to get skewered by the knights all over again.
Now you can tell by this point that it isn't fair to have Naofumi fight with only a Shield. Let's try and give him a sword!
"Ha! I'll use my gamer powers from a previous isekai to summon a weapon and-" Naofumi yelled as a sword appeared in his hands.
Zap!
The weapon was zapped out of his hands.
Warning. Legendary Heroes cannot wield other weapons besides the one they have. No exceptions.
"How does that even work?!" Naofumi screamed.
I'm a pillar of reality here bitch. I hold the freaking world together. Break me, and this world goes kaput.
"... REEEEEEEEEEEE-"
Skewered by knights.
How about we give Naofumi a Sword Shield then! That's a legit shield, so it should do some damage!
"REEEEEEE!"
Clang!
The blade of the shield bounced harmlessly off the knight's neck. Even though it was a blade, the legendary shield still didn't magically gain an attack stat. And no weapon besides the Cursed Series would ever give Naofumi an attack stat meaningful enough to damage other people no matter what form of deadly shield it took.
"Oh f you-"
As the edgy Shield Hero gave the Discord Server the middle finger, he was skewered by the knights around him again.
Let's go with some fancy martial arts! Yeah, that should work since it's only Naofumi using his fists or feet or whatever instead of his Shield!
"Hiya!" The black belt Naofumi did a karate chop to the knight's neck for a critical hit!
Clang!
But because his personal attack stat was too low thanks to the Shield on his arm, the attack still did nothing.
"FREAKING-"
Shield Hero shish kebab, anyone?
LETS TRY HAVING NAOF UMI USE A FRICKING JUDO THROW TO TURN THIS AROUND THEN!
"Ha, this is the-"
Zap!
Warning. Legendary Heroes cannot wield other weapons besides the one they have. NO EXCEPTIONS!
Because yes, using somebody's body against them counts as using them as a weapon. The other Heroes aren't allowed to do this either. In fact, every limitation Naofumi is under is something ALL Heroes are under. So technically, its fair.
You know, besides the lack of an attack stat. Though, then again, Naofumi isn't the only Holy Hero to suffer from this penalty. Anyone know the name Kizuna?
…
While Naofumi stood there processing that information, he received death by skewering.
Okay, I might be milking this a bit now, but let's say you attack the King! You somehow get past the knights, the Heroes, even Bitch, despite only being level 1! You continue to fight, knowing it's useless since you can't deal any form of damage whatsoever but you continue to do so because EDGE pushes you to commit acts of EDGE in the name of EDGE!
What would happen then?
"This is the end for you! When I'm done lining your heads on a neat line of pikes, I'll-"
The King stood up and outstretched a hand towards the charging Naofumi. "I am the source of all power, hear my cry and open the earth before me. Drifa Earth Hole!"
Naofumi was confused about what that was supposed to do at first. But then he charged head first into a hole that appeared in the floor right in front of his Majesty. He screamed as he fell headfirst into the deep pit.
Now this next part is if you somehow survive that and continue with your needlessly edgy persona, despite everything else to the contrary yelling at you that keeping this up might be a VERY BAD IDEA.
"Urgh…" A broken, bruised Naofumi slowly started to stand back up.
"You think, this will, stop me?!" He yelled up, despite the pain in his chest. He'd likely broken a rib. "I have far too much EDGE! One way or another, I'll kill you all! You hear me, I'll kill you! REEEEEEE-"
"I am the source of all power, hear my cry and rain down a swarm of death on my opponent! Drifa Earth Spikes!"
And thus, instead of being skewered to death by spears, Naofumi was skewered to death by large earthen spikes. "REEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"
He reeeed all the way to the moment he finally died.
…
The other three Heroes stared in shock at his Majesty. "H-H-How did you cast high-level magic so quickly?!" Itsuki finally managed to ask.
Aultcray shrugged. "High level, past combat experience, and my stint as the Staff Hero helped a lot. That demon also left me no choice. Now that he's out of the way, let's go back to business as usual."
Thus, not only did the Shield Hero meet an untimely and well-deserved death, but Siltvelt declared war on Melromarc. Mirellia, who barely fought her way through one assassination attempt after another, was furious at her husband when she finally got back.
But when she learned how the Shield Hero had been trying to attack everyone, she was forced to concede that he'd done the right thing.
After all, a hero that'd attack and try to kill everyone around him was no Hero at all.
In the end, they were all left wondering why the weapon had summoned such a psychopath to begin with?
Alright. To sum it up, attacks by the Shield Hero do nothing. Making yourself bigger and brawnier does nothing. Using attack shields, martial arts, or other forms of attack does nothing (and if it uses the opponent's body against them, the Shield or any other Legendary/Vassal weapon WILL consider it using them as a weapon and shock you). Even trying to use your gamer isekai powers does nothing (newsflash: Shield Hero is literally the anti-isekai of isekai. Your isekai powers are meaningless here, and using them is definitely a sign that your story is going to do nothing but wank off on the world people like me know and love).
If you somehow get past the higher-leveled knights, if you somehow get past the higher-powered offensive heroes, and if you somehow have the complete and utter stupidity of a chunibyo eighth-grader to charge the King and are constant throughout about enacting your revenge and killing them all…
You're going to be uber deleted, like, almost instantly.
Do not make dumb threats to attack the King at level 1.
Don't make a move to attack ANYONE at level one, or level five, or don't attack at all for that matter.
YOU'RE THE FRICKING SHIELD HERO! BE A HERO FOR CRYING OUT LOUD! YOU AREN'T MEANT FOR ATTACKING YOU MORON! FIND SOME OTHER WAY TO FIX YOUR PROBLEMS BESIDES EDGE!
Because seriously, if you don't get incinerated by the knights or the other heroes protecting themselves, you WILL get annihilated by the likely level 100 or so former Staff Hero Aultcray. And quite frankly, you'll deserve it.
You're not entirely out of luck though. As Naofumi demonstrated, the growth of Legendary Heroes is so great compared to even former Heroes like Aultcray that you can get away with making this kind of threat at Level 40 while having at least a Rank II Cursed Shield in your arsenal. That is something (and quite frankly, the only thing as the Shield Hero) you can attack with and do meaningful damage!
Basically, my thoughts on this section are thus:
Don't be an edgy power-edgy wish-fulfillment edgy idiot.
Drop the edge. It makes you stupid.
Let's continue to the next section, shall we?
FemNaofumi
I mean. There isn't really much to say here. If Naofumi is really a female, unless she's a tomboy who hides the fact that she's a girl or some other weird reason you want to come up with, there is absolutely no way in hell you should have a trial or at least a trial over a rape accusation.
That is railroading to the extreme. For those who don't know, railroading is a writing term that means forcing an event to happen when it shouldn't happen at all. That is basically the biggest complaint with fanfics. If you're going to make such a drastic change, you shouldn't get the same trial, hell, you shouldn't get the same events or the same story. Here's why.
Melromarc is a female dominant society. Disregarding that newsflash, Motoyasu is a simp. While bad in some cases, that can be used to your advantage even before you ever meet Bitch. He's loyal to females to a T. Meaning you can win his support before you ever meet that red-haired swine.
And besides that, a female Hero should make different choices and have a different attitude than a male protagonist. I've met plenty of girls in real life, and know that they're much smarter than us guys.
Thus, getting to the trial is not only unlikely but would have drastic changes in terms of structure and events than canon. If you write FemNaofumi or a female OC in Naofumi's place, I repeat:
DO NOT RAILROAD THE TRIAL!
Or at least, don't railroad the rape accusation. Do a murder accusation instead, or something else that's serious. Or just make the trial impossible to happen thanks to having Motoyasu's support. Because seriously, if you write Femfumi and do a gender reveal for a rape accusation thinking it makes you look smart and makes Bitch look dumb:
It does not do that. It makes you, the writer, look like an idiot.
Continuing on...
NonJapanese OC/OC Hero
"You know what! Screw this! I don't give a &^%$!" The rando Shielder flipped Aultcray off and began forcing his way to the exit.
"I'm American/Polish/Chilean/ *Insert nationality here* ! I'm freaking above all of you Japanese trash! I don't have to deal with this dumb crap! Get out of my way! I'm the boss man now! I'm-"
Moments later, he laid bleeding out on the ground. Stabbed all over by the pikes the different guards wielded.
Ooh, yes, more Shield Hero shish kebab, anyone?
I start out with that since that's what I see as the main attitude of people who write OC's like this in their fics. Is it clear what happens when you try to do power fantasy/wish-fulfillment to make threats in the beginning? Is it clear what happens if you don't control your language? Is it? IS IT?
No? Alright. Let's continue with this dumb bit I got reading another fic.
"Silence! Or else-" Aultcray began to declare.
"Or else what, you'll kill me?" The rando smirked as he T-posed for dominance. "You can't exactly do that now, can you? Do that, and you'll risk a war with the other nations. And if you try to imprison me, ha, I already registered at the hourglass, so that's impossible! Take away everything of mine, and-"
By this point, the knights around him grew tired of his bull ^%$# and skewered him on their pikes.
Mmmmm. Tasty.
Oh, and this fic went a step further! Somehow, this guy was already level 11 and had access to 50 different power-up methods from different worlds! So if I ignore how such a feat is actually impossible, and how having that many methods is completely wanking on the setting while ignoring the consequences their actions would have on everything at large…
Clang!
The pikes bounced ineffectively off the current Shield Hero.
"Aha! See, you can't kill me! Give me a few months and I'll be unstoppable, ahahaha-"
The King raised a bored hand. "Fast Lightning Strike."
The Shield Hero was obliterated on the spot.
Oh come on! He's level 11 and has 50 POWER UP WANKING METHODS! HE SHOULD BE ABLE TO SURVIVE-
"Zweite Lightning Strike."
The Shield Hero was obliterated on the spot... again
BUT HE HAS-
"Drifa Lightning Strike."
BOOM!
The entire center of the floor was blown away. The ashes of the ashes of the former Shield Hero had been incinerated completely.
… … … BUT-
"Liberation Lightning Strike, X."
Outside, the people of Melromarc witnessed a giant storm cloud suddenly appearing over the castle. There was a sound like thunder, along with a terrible shaking of the ground, until…
KABOOM!
…
...
Inside the throne room, the ashes of the ashes of the ashes of the Faker drifted through the giant hole in the ceiling. Never to be seen again.
To sum it up: What are you going to do, kill me?
Literally, everyone in there: "Yes."
Now, how about we bite into something more serious with this category?
"Where I'm from, it's innocent until proven guilty! Where's your proof-"
"Dude, we literally don't care about what it's like where you're from." Ren dryly interrupted.
"Rude! How can you not care?! I'm being framed!" The OC yelled at the Three Heroes angrily. Seriously, they were the worst heroes ever! His opinion of them was spot on!
"How should I put this?" Itsuki put his hand to his chin in thought.
"Where we're from, it's not innocent until proven guilty. It's guilty until proven innocent."
…
"What?" The rando looked completely blown away by that information. Did that mean not every country had the same justice system as the United States?
"Yeah! In our culture, if you're arrested for something, they're sure that you're the one guilty of the crime!" Motoyasu said indignantly. "So unless you provide some evidence to convince us otherwise, you're just as guilty in our eyes as theirs!"
...
"THAT DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE-"
"It should make perfect sense," Ren said calmly. "Unless you provide something to make us question Myne's testimony, we'll only look at you as guilty. And nothing you say will make us change our minds unless you start out with that."
"But, but I'm innocent!" The OC yelled again. As if yelling that would make the Three idiots wake up to the world. "I'm being falsely accused of rape! You can't do this to me!"
However, the Heroes ultimately did not wake up. The OC wasn't smart enough to actually bring out key evidence that would prove his innocence.
And he was once again cast out, just like Naofumi.
Okay, this is just to showcase something people don't seem to understand. Japanese culture is very different from American culture and I believe current European culture (Speaking of which, I need to brush up on that). This includes their court system. There, it is guilty until proven innocent, not innocent until proven guilty.
Yeah, this isn't a Japanese setting, but has that stopped Americans from being Americans when visiting other nations? Why should, or would, the Japanese Heroes do the same?
If you think they should, then allow me to buy you a pair of clown shoes, friend. You deserve them since you've failed to realize you're acting just like them, demanding innocent till proven guilty from a medieval monarchy. Realize that the medieval setting is closer to Japan's judicial system than ours, ya clown.
Anyway… in regards to if you ACTUALLY present evidence and DON'T BE A DICK while you're doing it (remember near the beginning when I talked about if Naofumi was a lawyer? This is literally all you need to do below)…
"Alright. This is my evidence for my innocence." The hero pulled a crystal ball, which he'd somehow acquired despite the King buying them all up, out of his Shield.
"How did you get that?" Aultcray asked.
"Just, please, observe for yourself, Your Majesty." The Hero asked. "I can prove I didn't rape Myne. I just need you to allow me to prove my innocence. Could you give me a moment to do that, please?"
"... very well. I will listen, however, this better not be a waste of my time." Aultcray, at the Shield Hero's politeness, sat back and observed.
A recording began to play. It was of the inside of the hero's room. It was almost like looking at a hologram, the Heroes there noted.
This was something native to the world. It could be used as evidence in a trial like this.
It showed the Shield Hero walk in. Lay a suit of armor that looked very similar to the one Motoyasu was wearing on a chair. He popped his neck, stretched his back, then lied in bed with a content smile on his face.
"What is that supposed to show us? Are you showing off how you felt after you raped Myne-" Motoyasu began to say.
"Please, just watch Motoyasu." The Shield Hero said, doing everything he could to keep his voice level.
The recording fast-forwarded. It showed the Hero shift around in his sleep a lot.
Then, the door opened.
Myne walked into the room.
Everyone watched as Myne took the armor that Motoyasu was now wearing. How she took the coins on the table. How she went through the drawers and took everything that the Shield Hero owned. Then, the icing on the cake, how she openly hid a torn lingerie set under his bed. She then giggled into her hand before leaving the room, her trove clearly seen in her hands.
…
…
The room was silent.
All heads turned to look at Myne.
Aultcray sighed, putting his hand to his forehead. He could already tell that he was going to have to send some more messengers out after this.
"Daughter… you have some explaining to do."
See, be polite, present your evidence accordingly, and bam, instant turn around. Being a lawyer won't do you crap especially if you're just a dick (in that regard, refer to Naofumi requesting for a lawyer to see what happens, or if you go a step beyond that, look at the EDGE section to learn your fate), but being smart and polite while telling Aultcray you can prove you didn't do it, and then providing evidence, will help you drastically.
Though how you got the crystal ball is anyone's guess. It's a minor enough detail however that most people including me will let it slide. As long as you don't RAILROAD what comes after that as this alone changes so many events down the road to not even be considered funny.
Replace another Hero and help Naofumi at the Trial
I'd say this would be pretty legit. Unfortunately, though, I've seen too many people treat it like this:
"I'm Level One Shirou Wank! I'm going to support Naofumi even though I hardly know him!" The replacement Sword Hero from Fate, whatever the heck that is, yelled.
Proceeds to Merc everyone around him in the setting. Sometimes including the King.
"Haha, yeah! I'm the strongest there ever was! Suck my big fat wee wee!"
One, you gave Shirou the wrong freaking weapon! He'd get the Bow if he was summoned because of his sense of justice! Weapons summon based on hero traits, not by what a person is proficient in! Gosh!
Two, you have drastically failed to capture what Shirou is actually like. I have watched Fate and seen what Shirou is like. That is probably the bigger of the offenses here. If you're going to crossover someone that's from another setting, at least TRY to write them properly! Nothing's more cringe than seeing our favorite character acting COMPLETELY OOC for the purpose of wanking all over other people's favorite characters.
Three, this is how it'd actually go down in the above scenario when you make him OOC:
"REEEEEEEEEE!"
The arrow from Shirou's Bow failed to pierce the knight's armor because of level and stat difference.
"Ah come on! I'm supposed to be far stronger than anyone-"
Proceeds to get merced by all the knights.
A Level 5-7 early Hero vs. Level 20+ knights does not bode well in almost all RPG games. However, in the case of him attacking another Hero.
"Huahhhhhh!"
"AH!" Ren fell to the ground, an arrow sticking out of his chest.
"Ha! You're weak! You're useless! I would have made a far better Sword Hero than-" Proceeds to get slashed to pieces by knights.
The other Hero is an appropriate target for getting hurt by an offensive Hero OC because they're around the same level and don't have crazy DEF… though again, you still have the HIGHER leveled knights to deal with.
And if you want to have your Shirou Wank or other power fantasy character attack the King, I suggest rereading the Edgy/Threat section on how good of an idea that is.
Or if you want some entertainment, read this short excerpt that Gamerteen13 wrote up for the Discord a couple of years ago.
Level 1 Bow Hero with "meta-knowledge (likely didn't read up to Volume 16)": "I will stop your corrupt acts before you can even start, cruel tyrant! Die!" (Fires an arrow at Aultcray)
(arrow produces an [INEFFECTUAL CLANG])
Bow Hero: "Uhhhh..."
Aultcray, the former Staff Hero: (sighs) "I, the King of Melromarc, am the source of all power. Shield my target from magical might and safeguard his life. Dreifach Magic Defense Up."
Bow Hero: (gets buffed) "Wha-"
Aultcray, the war hero: (exasperatedly) "I, the King of Melromarc, am the source of all power. Defend his life from the might of the storm. Dreifach Lightning Guard."
Bow Hero: (gets buffed) "...Huh?"
Aultcray, who is quite likely around Level 100: (Annoyed) "I, the King of Melromarc, am the source of all power. Restrict the overuse of magical might and safeguard the lives of my allies. Dreifach Magic Down." (gets debuffed)
Bow Hero: "The fuck are you-"
Aultcray: "Fast Lightning Strike."
Bow Hero: (literally blasted through the entrance doors to the throne room)
Just... wait until you're like, level 40-50 or so before you try fulfilling your power fantasy desires. Or level 60-70. Just, please wait till then. Because if your level 1-10 character somehow manages to kill a bunch of knights, hurt the other Heroes, strike fear into the King, or go beyond that and kill him, then I will just imagine you're gay for Shirou Wank. And so will many other people.
Seriously, don't do this crap. It sucks. It's horrid. And it will embarrass you years later in your life. Trust me, you will regret ever writing and publishing something like that for others to see.
Just do something like this and get on with the damn story:
"Look, I get that rape is wrong, but I'm not sure if I can believe all this." The replacement Bow Hero said seriously.
"What is there not to believe?!" Aultcray angrily demanded.
"Yeah, whose side are you on?!" Motoyasu angrily demanded.
"I mean, I'm not from the same culture as you guys." The OC said. "I don't think it's just guilty first, ask questions later. I need solid evidence beyond a ripped up lingerie set. I mean just look at him. He's a freaking shielder, and Myne is like, almost ten levels higher than him, right?" The guy asked. "How the hell would his weak stats allow him to rip those clothes off and rape her? That doesn't make any sense."
"That's, that's because the Shield tried to use his brainwashing powers on me to hold me in place!" Myne added to her testimony. "It's simple, really!"
"Brainwashing powers? Do you have any idea how outlandish that sounds?" The guy asked. "That power never existed, even among villains in the game I played. Did any of the classes in your games have anything like that?" He asked Motoyasu and Ren.
"Um… I don't think so." Motoyasu said unsurely.
"No," Ren answered.
"But that doesn't mean it isn't possible for Naofumi to have them now!" Motoyasu immediately argued.
"You know what, forget it. You all have wasted enough of my time as is." And with that, the replacement Bow Hero walked out of the throne room. "Call me when you actually have something important going on."
Doesn't seem like much changed, right? Naofumi will still be guilty, and notwithstanding that, news of his crime is still spreading around the kingdom.
However, the fact that you stood up for Naofumi, if only for a moment, changes everything. For example, Naofumi won't leave that trial jaded beyond belief since someone actually did stand up for him.
He won't wander around the Capital for a week in only his underwear, hating everyone and hating himself. He'll still retain some of his naiveness, he'll try to go out and level. He'll accept help from other people, including a certain envoy from Siltvelt that wants to bring him back to their nation. Seriously, just by doing something simple like this, you've changed how his outcome will turn out. Congrats.
Also, in regards to Ren, as he said, there "was" no brainwashing powers in his game. Yet Myne claimed that Naofumi had them. Suspicious, right? Our little Sword Hero is going to be investigating things a little earlier than normal.
Raphtalia is going to rot in a tent and die since Naofumi won't reach the point of desperation needed to purchase a slave. The Shield Hero also might die on his way to Siltvelt from a Church ambush. Ren will definitely be deleted by the Church for poking his nose where it doesn't belong. But congrats, you changed things at the trial!
Don't stand up for Naofumi yourself too much though. Otherwise, like Ren, you will be uber deleted by the Church.
"No, I don't care what evidence you provide! I'm supporting Naofumi, and screw all of you!"
The Bow Hero, Shirou Wank, left the castle with Naofumi. "Wow, thanks man, you really didn't have to do that for me." Naofumi said.
"Of course I had to. Those idiots obviously weren't going to listen to what you had to say. And they're pathetic for ganging up on you just because you got the Shield-"
He was cut off, literally, as high-leveled Shadows descended from the rooftops and annihilated the pair.
I guess this is the next tidbit you should be aware of. Malty didn't come up with this plot with dear old Aultcray, nor did she come up with it by herself. In fact, the majority of the plot was planned by the Church.
As you should already know, the Three Heroes Church believes the Shield to be the Devil, and teach that very fact to the people of Melromarc. They came up with the rape accusation plan to make sure the Shield Hero wouldn't get any support whatsoever from nonbelievers in the country and used Malty to move it forward since, being the daughter of the King, and since the King loves his family, the Shield Hero was guaranteed to be given a guilty verdict when Malty inevitably lied about being raped by the "Shield Demon" (since he didn't try to be polite or to defend himself at all). Thus, with his reputation ruined, he was destined to remain weak and to inevitably die to the monsters of the waves.
This also lines up with what I mentioned earlier about Femfumi. The Church isn't stupid enough to not realize the summoned Hero is a girl (quite literally, its their priests who summoned her ya dingus). They will plot a different approach to deal with the Shield Hero should the rape accusation prove to be impossible to enact (like, for example, not having Myne join your party and adventuring on your own, or in that case, BEING FEMALE).
Anyway, if you yourself show too much support and go against the Church, they will not hesitate to delete you, Cardinal Hero status notwithstanding.
I mean, for those who know the Reprise of the Spear Hero story, the only reason Motoyasu's able to get away with supporting Naofumi the way he does is because he's uber powerful. His level is in the triple digits, he has most of the strengthening methods, a freakton of weapon forms, and everything else he had before being reprised to the beginning (minus his sanity, but Brokoyasu is the best, let's be honest).
Had it not been for that, the pair of them would die repeatedly by the Church or the agents of the Church for majorly debunking the trial and outright supporting Naofumi. And to be frank, unless you do a sort of Reprise here (since in all other accounts, Heroes and other people brought into the universe HAVE to start at level one otherwise the trial will be the least of your concerns), it's a no dice scenario out right supporting Naofumi.
Just keep it simple and don't paint a huge freaking target on your back. And besides that, you're a self-insert that isn't the Shield Hero. You should be writing a story that doesn't railroad Naofumi's canon route. Go exercise your creativity and forge your own path through the world like Skyrim!
Replacing all the Heroes except for Naofumi with non-Japanese Heroes
This is like Femfumi. You would be very unlikely to have the trial occur. And if it did occur, Malty would have to provide stronger evidence to sway heroes that believe in innocent until guilty (unless you also summoned them from Japan, and at that point, I'd have to ask why you even replaced the other three heroes with other otakus that will more or less think the same). And it's likely that even then, one of them would still show support for Naofumi, so he wouldn't turn into an absolute edgelord after the trial. Meaning if you railroaded things for that to happen, you'd instantly earn the ire of many of us canon Bitches.
Replacing all the Heroes including Naofumi with non-Japanese Heroes
Too many changes. Too many freaking changes to address. Just write your own original story at this point.
Meta Knowledge for the Win
I pointed this out up above, but while Knowledge of what's actually happening could get you through the trial, you'd also paint a giant freaking target on your back for the Church of the Three Heroes.
And once again, your very low level would equal your untimely demise at their hands.
Aultcray may want to avoid a war, but the Church is another story entirely. You already know how crazy they are. That's how religious nuttery works. Don't do anything early on to antagonize them or push them into acting while you're low powered. Act against them once you've gained enough levels and have used the strengthening methods effectively to overpower them easily (which is hard, since all methods except four require materials, monster souls, and other things you won't start out with, and will take months to acquire and use effectively unless you don't want anything for money or equipment for yourself and your party)
Last thing to mention. What is the meta knowledge you're using? If you're anime only, you're going to mess up, badly (I've seen too many other anime-only fics as well as guides to convince me otherwise of that statement, I wrote this guide for you people to be honest since, again, the anime does a horrid job of explaining stuff).
If you're a manga reader, you might know a bit more and actually act a little more reasonably (hopefully).
If you're a Light Novel reader and a Reprise reader that's caught up, then you have no excuse to act like an idiot this early on. You should know how this trial works, you should know the motivations, you should know the consequences of going one way or another. Hell, why are you even reading this guide? You're more likely to teach me a thing or two!
If you're a web novel only reader, well, you're wasting your time. That canon is entirely separate from the rest of Shield Hero, courtesy of the author Aneko. If you rely on that knowledge, you are relying on another story. And if you insist on using it or arguing that the light novel is adapted from it etc., you're only proving you really don't know how different the two are and are going to make yourself look like a clown and an idiot all in one when you try to write a story and people ask why you didn't have the dog fight, or why Melty's meeting is different, or why you left out L'Arc and Therese, or why you didn't mention Kyo, or why your season two version of the story DOES NOT include the Otherworld Arc, just to name a few things you'd be skipping over earlier on that every anime or manga reader knows right now, not even including the complete arc changes and complete divorcal from the story that happens past the Otherworld Arc.
Alright, here's another horn dog I want to address. I'm surprised it took me this late in it since it is something literally EVERYONE wants (including me to be honest), but what if you fulfilled your hate boner.
What if you KILLED BITCH DURING THE TRIAL?!
I mean, ignoring the possibility of doing so as the Shield Hero. Ignoring the knights and the King that would have most certainly killed you before that point. Good news, you wouldn't be skewered!
Bad news, you'd be subjected to the worst, most painful form of death on Aultcray's orders. And after you died, the King would have your soul eaten by a Soul Worm. Completely wiping you from existence. And that about sums up what'd happen if you killed Bitch.
But that's boring. Let's say you somehow escape the overpowered angry Father King, the knights, and literally everyone else coming for a piece of your booty.
What would happen?
"Hahaha! Yes, finally, Bitch is gone!"
The Shield Hero ran with glee through the countryside. The bane of his existence had been dealt with only a few days prior. It didn't matter that he'd only known her for a brief time, it was like he'd vanquished the greatest of all evils!
Sure, he was now wanted for murdering the First Princess and would likely be sentenced to death when caught, but hey, she was evil! She'd definitely deserved it! So what if he had to live as a hermit for the rest of his life?! Bitches like her didn't deserve to live!
He didn't have to live with her betrayal breathing over his shoulder! He could go wherever he wanted! Marry whomever he wanted! He could… could...
"Huh, is that an airship in the distance? I didn't think this world had that kind of technology…"
Also, was the Shield Hero imagining it, or was the airship approaching him. He slowed to a stop, rubbing his eyes to check.
It was definitely heading in his direction.
"Why am I getting a bad feeling about this?"
As the large airship came closer, it appeared that someone with a set of claws on his hands was hanging out the door.
He did not look very happy.
"YOU KILLED MY FAVORITE GIRL!"
"Huh-"
"GET TACTED, BITCH!" The level 350 antagonist wielding the Vassal Claws and a host of other Vassal Weapons proceeded to completely merc the Shield Hero in a one-sided fight, stealing the Legendary Shield in the process since he had the ability to steal weapons from other Heroes.
He then gruesomely tortured the poor sap till he finally died. And thus, the antagonist went on to conquer the rest of the world minus Fitoria's domain.
Because nobody screwed around with Fitoria's domain.
Not even Tact.
Have you ever wondered why me and others have never killed Bitch in any fics early on? This is why. If she dies, you'll get what the Discord Server jokingly refers to as "Tact-Time".
To quote a friend: "Takt Time is very unfun, and 9999% hazardous to your health." He is level 350 and held in his area of influence only due to the fact that politics is an even bigger Bitch than I am. But the moment you kill Bitch, he'll come chugging in his airship for a piece of your ^%$.
So... don't kill Bitch. It might hurt, but you need her to live until you're strong enough to deal with Lv. 350 Tact-Time. Otherwise, regardless of consequences, he will come seeking your butt like a heat-seeking missile.
And unlike your level 5 puny butt that's not capable of portaling for another 45 levels, he has an airship to chase you with. And a lot of LV 250+ girls skilled in various forms of combat, illusion magic, or flight.
I'd honestly rather not be around when he takes his vengeance out on you.
Okay, so basically, most of these changes do diddly squat when taken seriously. Some would result in an outright avoidal of the trial entirely. Some might get you through, some are just too crackalastic to be taken seriously, and some of them will get you killed in one way or another.
Does that mean there is no legitimate way to get through the trial without changing the characters, the setting, or their backgrounds, or anything?
Actually, there is. But I have yet to see somebody else actually write the things I showed above. Or to write a scenario similar to what I'll write below. (if there is a fic that follows this, feel free to say so in the comments)
Needless to say, it does not take a lawyer. It does not take a businessman (As a business student, I have trauma from reading how some of you writers handle Shield Hero's economic system, I mean seriously, platinum coins?). It doesn't even take a female or replacing another hero with a more sensible or smarter or stronger character (seriously, it sounds so stupid every time I read that in a summary, that is not a good way to get me or others interested in your story, if thats in your summary, delete it at once and change it to 'bucks canon like a wild bull' or whatever floats your boat). The following is literally a legitimate way that sticks to the personalities of characters where you get through the trial, without altering anything beforehand.
"What do you have to say for yourself?!" Aultcray angrily demanded.
Naofumi looked at the King, then at Motoyasu, then at Myne. They were accusing him of rape. How the hell was he supposed to get through this?!
"Well?!"
"I…I swear, I didn't-" Naofumi muttered.
And then, he remembered something Myne had said in her testimony. "Your Majesty… I know I didn't do it. Because I can't get drunk."
…
There was a pause after that. With everyone's eyes staring intently at him. Naofumi gulped nervously but continued speaking. "Myne said that I came into her room in a drunken haze… but that's impossible because I've never been drunk before in my life."
"What do you mean you can't get drunk?! That's impossible!" Motoyasu argued.
"I'm not lying, I swear," Naofumi said. "I had friends I drank with in college. They'd drink until they passed out, but I never even got buzzed. Actually, it was because of experiences like that that I came to despise drinking entirely. It does nothing for me." Naofumi reaffirmed. "I told Myne that too during dinner when she offered me wine and I declined. Even if I drank it, there's no way I could have become drunk!"
Motoyasu still looked angry, but Ren and Itsuki were mulling it over in their heads. "He's obviously lying!" Myne intervened. "He just doesn't want to admit what he did to me!"
"I'm not lying! I'd never try to rape someone sober! And I don't know if I'd do it drunk because I've never been drunk in my life!" Naofumi argued back.
"Your Majesty, is there a way to test what Naofumi claims?" Itsuki asked.
Remember when Fitoria asked if Naofumi had even defended himself? Do that here. Motoyasu is forever a simp, but Itsuki comes from a world with people that have supernatural abilities. He'd at the very least be curious to know if Naofumi is being truthful or not.
Aultcray was still seething somewhat. He just wanted to pass judgment on his daughter's rapist and be done with it. However, at the Bow Hero's question, he sighed, figuring it'd be better to address this. After all, if the Shield Hero wasn't lying… this could really come to bite him in the butt with the other nations.
"Are you certain you can't get drunk, Shield?"
"I mean, I don't know what my limits are, but I know that ten beers do nothing to me," Naofumi answered. So one glass of wine should have done diddly squat.
"Ten beers?! That has to be a lie! I'd be hammered by that point!" Motoyasu said angrily.
Naofumi sighed. "If I have to drink that crap again, I'll do it to prove it."
"No, I believe there's a much simpler solution. Bring me a ruculu fruit!" Aultcray ordered.
You might think, isn't the King going too far here? Yes, yes he is. But Naofumi said he'd do ANYTHING to prove his innocence. Any harm that his daughter's rapist incurs would be his own fault, thus, no war would happen with Siltvelt.
At least, he'd hope no war would happen. But if you know Shield Hero as I do, you should probably already be able to tell what'll happen next.
Gasps and murmurs came from the assembled crowd that'd gathered for the trial, but no one questioned the King's orders. They were interested in seeing this for themselves.
A few minutes later, a knight came in, holding a single fruit in his hand no bigger than a cherry. However, the looks others gave it showed just how much they feared it.
"The God Dionysus would run away from that, yessir."
"The devil would flee in terror if he was told to eat that."
At Aultcray's orders, a drop was carefully squeezed into a small cup of water. "Consume that. And if it does nothing, I will give your argument merit." Aultcray ordered.
Naofumi looked down at the water that had somehow been tainted red. What the hell was this supposed to do? Yet everyone was staring at him, awaiting to see something. Hmmm…
Well, if this was what it took to prove his point. He downed the liquid without a second thought.
At first, the people were surprised at either how brave or how stupid Naofumi was… then, they grew steadily more surprised as Naofumi showed no reaction. Other than smacking his lips while trying to figure out what the taste reminded him of. "Um, can I try more?" Naofumi asked.
Everyone was staring at him. Even the King stared at him in shock. "By the Gods, how is he not reacting to the devil's fruit?" A knight said.
"The devil runs from that fruit. So what does that make him?"
"Um, hello?" Naofumi asked.
The King shook his head to clear it. "Give him the fruit!"
"But, but your Majesty-"
"He asked for it, so give it!" He angrily demanded. There was no way. It didn't seem possible.
Is it sinking in what's happening yet?
The knight gave the ruculu fruit to Naofumi. And, after giving it a once over, he popped it into his mouth and began chewing on it. "Hmmm… this doesn't actually taste half bad. It has a nice texture to it." He gulped it down. "Mmmm, you know, I wouldn't mind another one or two of those. It actually tastes really sweet and... why is everyone staring at me?" Naofumi asked.
Everyone in the room had paled. The knights, Aultcray, the noblemen and women observing, even Myne was white-faced. The only ones who hadn't gone white-faced were the Three Heroes, as they were confused.
"Um, what was that fruit, your Majesty?" Motoyasu asked.
…
Cue the realization that Aultcray was, indeed, never part of the plot to accuse Naofumi of rape.
"Daughter, can you explain to me why you said the Shield Hero raped you... in a drunken haze... again?" The King slowly moved his head to stare at Myne.
Myne looked beyond shocked. She hastily tried to think of something. "Um, uh, I th- I thought he was drunk Papa! I couldn't tell because of how quick it all was! Yeah, that's it!"
Wow, she was really talented at lying on her feet.
"But you kept on saying over and over how he was drunk when he did it. That was the entire basis of your argument." Ren pointed out. "That doesn't make much sense."
"I'm going out on a limb here and guessing that whatever Naofumi just ate was something that would have made him drunk," Itsuki said.
Cue the other Heroes showing that evidence made their opinion sway from guilty towards innocent, as it would for anyone else that grew up in Japan and is presented with this kind of evidence to cast heavy doubt on a testimony.
"This doesn't clear Naofumi, right?!" Motoyasu asked.
Cue loyal blonde simp remaining a loyal blonde simp.
"One drop would have been more than enough to make a normal man drunk. But to eat a whole fruit… that'd be enough alcohol to kill several men..."
WHAT?! Naofumi looked at his hands in shock. How was one fruit capable of doing that!?
Then again, he guessed he really was incapable of getting drunk. He didn't even feel buzzed after eating that.
Weird.
Note, if you really want to convince the King, get Ren, or Itsuki, or both on your side. Even if he might not like it, one or two Heroes changing their minds will make the below scenario occur.
Aultcray stared at his daughter for a moment more, as well as at Ren and Itsuki, who'd voiced their opinions. "... I'm sorry, due to the evidence supplied, I'm afraid I cannot pass judgment at this time."
"B-but Papa-!" Myne tried to complain.
"In the meantime, you will stay in the Spear Hero's party, where he'll protect you from future harm in case I am wrong." Aultcray turned to face Naofumi again, giving him a harsh look. "I'm afraid you'll have to find other party members to help you in your quest, Shield Hero. Though that may be hard at the present time, as news of what I 'thought' you did is being spread right now. I shall send messengers out shortly to try and fix what harm may have been caused to your… reputation."
"It's, um, yeah, I'll be fine with that," Naofumi said, nervously rubbing his arm. Had Myne really tried to accuse him of rape? What would make her want to do that?
Maybe he should stay away from her down the road, just in case, there were hard feelings or whatever.
Aultcray rubbed his temples again. "This trial is over. Now, everyone, begone."
There. It doesn't require 15,000 words or whatever to accomplish. It doesn't require trying to shoot holes in everything Myne does (as I stated before, doing that and showing meta knowledge to that extent is GUARANTEED to get you uber deleted by the Church, if not Aultcray or the knights depending on how much of a dick and how many threats you make towards them all while you're at it).
It is as simple as using Naofumi's ability to not get drunk to prove a point. It still makes him look like a demon to the people, but it's not something that'll make the Church think he'll be a threat and kill him. It also won't turn him into an edgelord.
Then again, if he doesn't turn into an edgelord and isn't left with no other option, he'll never buy a slave. And then he won't have a reliable party member to level him up and help him survive the Waves and heal him of his mental trauma and the million other things she manages to accomplish down the storyline.
But regardless, this is one way, without changing anything relating to the characters or adding more characters, that you could get through this trial without making it unrealistically edgy or breaking the setting.
Seriously, those stories suck on the Shield Hero setting, and they accomplish absolutely nothing. Use edge only where it's appropriate, not all the fricking time. If your mindset is to just kill everything on sight, then this setting isn't for you. Take that to a setting that is actually dark like Berserker. The dark setting and characters make it more than appropriate, and it reads well because of it.
If you managed to read here to the end, congrats. I hope this provides you with some help or insight to how the trial. I hope it also provided you with a good laugh. And more importantly, I hope you understand better how the world of Shield Hero works. I didn't write this to snuff out ideas. But rather to show what didn't work so people could focus more on the ideas that DO work.
I also made this guide because I'm tired of people being needlessly stupid and complex with just starting out in the world. I made this so people would realize: "Why am I putting so much thought into trying to streamline the trial?" I'd hope that, like me, they'd go: "Screw this, I want to do my own thing!" and then proceed to do their own thing. For those who know me on , the two major stories I've written for Shield Hero thus far introduce changes that avoid Naofumi's trial ENTIRELY.
I want to write my own thing. You guys should want to do that too. That is FANFICTION. If you just copy and paste the plotline and put in a bunch of stupid things for explaining why nothing has changed, I'm calling you out for PLAGIARISM.
Even with all the things I pointed out up above, it is entirely possible for you to go and make your own path in this world. The world of Shield Hero would be considered an RPG game for a reason. Your choices matter. Whether you're good or bad matters. There isn't just the zombie dragon in Mirso or the Miracle Seed near Leruno. There is literally room for an ENTIRE world of possibilities in the setting of Shield Hero.
You shouldn't be putting in so much effort to make Naofumi's job a little easier when there's literally an entire world out there waiting to be explored. In fact, there are countless worlds. You could be interacting with all sorts of different people and facing all sorts of cool monsters. You could be writing about a hero on another world and testing your worldbuilding skills in that regard. Hell, YOU COULD WRITE A COFFEE SHOP AU OF THESE CHARACTERS AND MAKE ME HAPPY! Why get bogged down in the Naofumi storyline? He's going to come out of it just fine. And depending on your level of interference, you could end up making things much worse for him and everyone else.
Overall, if there's anything I want you to take from this doc: Realize that there are consequences for your actions. Don't be needlessly dark or stupid to try and make a point. Forge your own path in the world. Make your own world or an alternate universe for the characters. And please, don't go breaking any major rules of SH worlds, like, for example, coming up with some loophole that allows you to enter at level 100 or whatever without being Reprised so you can wank Naofumi right through the trial.
"Ha!" Shirou Wank stood over the corpses of everyone in the Throne Room. "At last, my edge will conquer this world! I'll be all-powerful! I'll be unstoppable, I'll be-"
Boom!
The entire castle was enveloped in a fiery explosion, caused by one person standing nearby on a rooftop. "Well, that was boring. At least the Staff King is dead. Now, no one will be able to stand in our way on this world." The around level 1000 antagonist shrugged before disappearing into a portal back to his world.
Wait, I just realized something's wrong with the above scenario:
BOOM!
The entire world was destroyed.
"Well, that's one less world we have to deal with. On to the next one." The around level 5000 or so antagonist shrugged before he and his compatriots moved on to destroy the next world that was destined to stand in their way.
I forgot to calculate the thousands of years or so that the antagonists would have spent traveling from world to world to get stronger by accumulating levels and the like.
Last bit of wisdom that I'll impart: if you can break the setting and keep your levels via a loophole, so can the antagonists. I don't care what bull crap excuse you pull out of your butt or what you say to make it so that only YOU can do this. If you can use it, THEY can use it. That is the be-all, end-all of that discussion. And if you do it and prevent these antagonists who are THOUSANDS, if not MILLIONS of years older than you, than anyone reading this, call those idiots out for the dirty wankster they are.
If you want to complain about it, the rules of this world are strict SO the antagonists can't just waltz in and annihilate everyone early game. They're subject to the game rules just like you. Lose the chains on yourself, and you lose the chains on them.
And then, everyone dies.
It'd be like Jerkface Xianxia under the 'best' and likely/worst-case scenario. Why boom all Heroes when you can snap a world like a happy meal?
Seriously, don't break rules or settings to satisfy a hate boner. This is part of how you set up a good story. If you don't give a reasonable explanation for why the overpowered antagonists don't just waltz in and annihilate everyone early game like what I presented above (which is, they lose their overpoweredness whenever they enter a new world not connected to their own during and ONLY during a Wave, or Tact who is held to his area thanks to politics), then your story will suck. Take that criticism with a grain of salt.
Don't be a culturally biased swine, don't try to railroad the trial or make it go to your satisfaction when there is literally a world of possibilities out there to explore.
Above all, DON'T RELY ON EDGE!
Thank you for coming to my TED talk. I'll be taking complaints on your way out to address next time.