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"Mature Content Warning!" |
| “ | Please don't do anything as foolish as to look for revenge. Revenge only breeds further revenge. If you, Mr. Naofumi, could bear to show mercy, then I'm sure the queen would be grateful. | „ |
| ~ Malty begging for Naofumi's forgiveness (only to be refused). |
Malty S. Melromarc, also known as Princess Malty, Myne and First Princess of Melromarc, Mein Sophia as her (previous) adventurer name (later altered to "Slut" much later), and later known as "Bitch", is the main antagonist of The Rising of the Shield Hero franchise.
She is the former eldest Princess of Melromarc, and the eldest daughter of King Aultcray Melromarc XXXII and Queen Mirellia Q. Melromarc, and the archenemy of Naofumi Iwatani, the titular Shield Hero. Being the former first Princess of Melromarc, Malty was the first person to join Naofumi in the beginning, but it was revealed to be a ruse to steal his money and equipment except his shield. She also framed Naofumi of attempting to rape her and turned him into a criminal at large, turning him into a hostile and pessimistic person.
She is voiced by Sarah Emi Bridcutt in Japanese, who would reprise the role in the series' 2020 stage play adaptation. In the English dub, she is voiced by Faye Mata.
Her Evil Ranking[]
What Makes Her Close to Being Pure Evil?[]
In General[]
- Even before the story began, Malty was already a manipulative and cunning snake ever since she was a mere child. She hides in the shadows and enjoys bringing anguish towards others.
- She is a malevolent sociopath who doesn't care for anyone but herself, not even her own allies. She just sees people as tools that she can use and discard of.
- Like her father, she is extremely xenophobic towards demi humans. However, unlike Aultcray, who's hatred stems from tragedy, Malty hates them for no good reason at all.
- While both of her parents admit that they failed to raise her properly and didn't punish her enough as Malty grew up being spoiled, it doesn't excuse her actions later on, because despite being a dimwit, Malty is perfectly capable, self-aware, and smart enough to tell right and wrong apart and proudly choosing to do wrong.
- She is responsible for nearly all of the bad events that happened within the series, showing absolutely no remorse for everything she did for her own sadistic amusement and selfish desires to live luxuriously for power and riches. She also has no redeeming qualities and her actions (notably Naofumi's reputation destroyed by her false accusation of him trying to rape her) led to her being a complete hate sink towards many viewers.
Background[]
- Years ago, she had her own brother poisoned and killed in order to prevent an alliance with Siltvelt, and she got away with it due to the lack of evidence presented against her. Then, she would use this incident to break down her father King Aultcray Melromarc XXXII, who was very grief-stricken, so that she could wrap him around her finger. This would slowly destroy the bond between him and her mother known as Queen Mirellia Q. Melromarc, and it would lead to Aultcray's xenophobia towards demi humans, as Siltvelt was a demi human nation. The relationship between Malty and her unnamed brother was never shown, but it was very clear that she did not care for him at all, as she sadistically smiled when he died painfully in front of his family during a meal.
- It is heavily implied that Malty would pull the strings to make certain people "disappear" just for no good reason.
- She rejected her mother's efforts to reform and redeem her whenever she was sent to the best schools in the Kingdom of Faubley (where she only graduated in virginity, which implied that she seduced her way to the top), which results with her little sister known as Melty Q. Melromarc becoming the heir to the throne instead because not only did Malty's personality make her unfit to rule, but because Mirellia gave up hope on her as she refused to change for the better.
The Rising of the Shield Hero[]
- She "befriends" Naofumi Iwatani for a while when he had no companions, only to later steal his stuff (barring his shield) and ruin his reputation as the Shield Hero when she falsely accused him of trying to rape her for no reason. As a result, he lost everything and was left discriminated as a rapist in the eyes of everyone. To make this worse, it is heavily implied that she has done the same to multiple other men and Shield Heroes of the past for no good reason other than petty hate and prejudice.
- She exploits the love and affection her father had for her, as well as the grief that he held for his son's death, to manipulate him into conspiring with her plan to incriminate Naofumi, thus causing his descent into villainy.
- She set up a 1-on-1 match with Naofumi and Motoyasu indirectly thanks to her father believing he forced Raphtalia to be with Naofumi. During the match, she cheated using a spell that knocked out Naofumi and gave Motoyasu the win, then laughs at him defeated as she reveals her status as princess of the kingdom.
- She heavily taxed a village due to circumstances of the last Wave defeated.
- She attempted to cheat once more by ordering her knights to use magic during the race between Naofumi and Motoyasu.
- She carelessly helped Motoyasu implant a demonized seed that grew into a monstrous plant being that attacked the village during the time when Motoyasu tried to help them, but she didn't care about the consequences.
- She ordered her knights to kill her own younger sister, Melty, and recorded everything during the time Naofumi tried to save her from them.
- When the altered footage played in front of the public and across the kingdom, it made it look like Naofumi and his companions' deemed criminals and to thinking he brainwashed Melty. Thus, earning him his undeserved title, "The Devil of the Shield."
- She, alongside the Three Heroes, attempt to capture Naofumi and his companions while trying to get back Melty. However, Malty only did so under a façade and under manipulation to them.
- She tried to kill Melty, her own sister, during the fight.
- Even by using a fire spell to finish off her own younger sister, it resulted to a fire forest which could've led to a village nearby being burned. Malty didn't really care as the Three Heroes were in shock and questioning her actions.
- She manipulated Motoyasu into believing Ren and Itsuki have been killed by Naofumi, which in return as the latter almost tries to kill him.
- Although she teamed up with Naofumi and his party to defeat Pope Balmus and the Church of the Three Heroes, it was only because she had no choice.
- During her trial where she was exposed for her crimes by her mother, Malty would still try to lie about everything that she did, even with the slave crest that would painfully electrocute her whenever she lied. Even Aultcray was genuinely shocked and horrified to learn that his daughter tried to kill her own younger sister.
- After the battle with the Pope and the trial where Malty and her father were exposed and about to be executed before Naofumi declared a better punishment of their names changed while having their status as royalty stripped off. Malty, enraged by this, believed Naofumi was to blame instead of repenting on her own wrongdoings that costed dozens of lives loss by her. And while her father was ready to die, Malty cowardly begged Naofumi to spare her when she didn't deserve it.
- She attempts to poison a pie to kill Naofumi before being caught by her sister.
- She sold her fellow party members in Motoyasu's team to sex slavery when they got in her way. Fortunately, Rino would be saved by Mirellia and would be offered a spot amongst her Shadows.
- She had the filolial that Motoyasu owned poisoned.
- She abandons Motoyasu during the battle with the Spirit Tortoise, which resulted in him unlocking his Curse series just like what she did with Naofumi indirectly.
- After becoming a criminal, she manipulates Ren and Itsuki, before betraying and robbing them, in which resulted in their own Curse series unlocked.
- Due to Ren's mental health being split apart after losing his entire team to the Spirit Tortoise, Malty would manipulate him and drive him into deeper despair so that he would blindly swear loyalty to her for a while.
- She would join the Vanguards of the Waves, a terroristic organization that works directly for the mysterious deity that's behind the Waves of Calamity.
- She would then conspire and manipulate Tact Arusahorn Faubley, aka the Whip Hero, to assist her with her schemes. This results with Tact killing Atla Fayon, her own cousin who was just a child, during the Phoenix battle.
- Later on, her schemes and manipulations would lead to Mirellia being murdered by Tact for thinking that she abused Malty, when that never happened. To make this even worse, Malty arrived to the scene to praise him for this, which shows that she has absolutely no care for the loving woman that gave birth to her.
- She would take some blood from the fatally wounded Mirellia and used it to get rid of her slave crest.
- Because she helped Tact, her planned ambush would lead to Naofumi temporarily losing his Shield as Tact was able to steal it, which would leave him utterly powerless and filled with despair for a while as Tact would attempt to take over the world, whilst killing thousands amongst thousands in his wake, including some of the villagers in Naofumi's settlement.
- She would encourage Tact to brainwash even more innocent women to join his harem.
- She would abandon Tact when he faced well-deserved karma and punishment for all that he's done when he was defeated. While Tact may have genuinely been in love with her at some point, nothing indicates that Malty reciprocated his feelings at all.
- While Aultcray would go on to redeem himself and atone for his crimes by making amends with Naofumi, as well as avenging the deaths of both Atla and Mirellia, Malty has proven time after time that she is incapable of changing.
- She escapes Melromarc when the reformed Aultcray ordered to have her executed for being complicit in the death of Mirellia.
- Her death at the sword of Rino isn't played for sympathy due to being more than well-deserved, especially with all that she's done. But her soul was recovered, meaning that she will most likely return.
- Even if she hated Mirellia for arranging a marriage with the perverted Pig King of Faubley, it was only for political purposes, as there was no other way to maintain an alliance with Faubley without them going to war and losing. And though she tried getting with a Hero to avoid this in the beginning, she manipulated them instead of asking them for help. Plus, most of her actions have pushed her far beyond the point of being a sympathetic scapegoat, especially when she sold Rino and Motoyasu's team members into sex slavery, something that Malty herself was trying to avoid.
What Prevents Her from Being Pure Evil?[]
- She fails the in-story heinous standards compared to other heinous villains, such as Idol Rabier and the King of Faubley. However, given her crimes and all the near-irreversible damage she has caused towards Naofumi and his allies, Motoyasu's team members, and towards most of her own family, this is a minor prevention.
Trivia[]
- In the web novel series (the original draft for the story that was declared non-canon after the release of the light novel series), Malty was later revealed to be one of the fragments of Medea Pideth Machina, a self-proclaimed goddess originating from another world who is the one truly responsible for the creation of the Waves by merging together eight separate worlds, as well as the root of all evil in the Novel. Had this been kept in the light novels and manga/anime, Malty would have had moral agency issues since she was created to be evil.
- To drive the point of her being Near Pure Evil home, Malty's English voice actress Faye Mata commented that she was the hardest role she had played and when asked about how she felt voicing her in Anime Austin 2019, her response was to jokingly hide behind the desk. She would also refer to her as the "King Joffrey of anime."
- So far she is the only Rising of the Shield Hero character to be NPE.