Raphumi

Raphumi is the het ship between Naofumi Iwatani and Raphtalia from the The Rising of the Shield Hero fandom.

Canon
Naofumi and Raphtalia are close comrades, friends and lovers. The two first met under difficult circumstances, as Naofumi had purchased Raphtalia as a slave due to not being able to find any party members to help him in the new world he found himself in. However, the two genuinely grew very close and eventually broke the master-slave pact that was formed between them, becoming close comrades and eventual lovers.

Following the false accusation of rape against Naofumi, that destroyed his reputation, he became desperate for a party member who could compensate for his lack of offensive abilities, and decided to purchase a slave from a slave trader. He chose Raphtalia, who was a small child at the time, because she was cheap, but also because he wished to use her to imagine enslaving Malty, the princess who made the false accusation against him. It's also implied he pitied her, due to her young age, and wished to give her a better life.

Initially, Raphtalia was fearful of Naofumi. He often had a dark and unwelcoming presence, a confrontational attitude, and was easily annoyed. However, her perspective changed when Naofumi displayed unusually kind acts towards her that is unexpected of a master to a slave. He made sure she was well-fed, warm when she went to sleep and overall cared for her well-being, especially when she had her night terrors. She was overjoyed when he bought her a ball to play with after he caught her watching some children play with one. It’s because of this that she began to warm up to him and be more comfortable in his presence. Her relationship with him developed to such a point that she had become more of a comrade than a slave. It was this positive and well cared for relationship she had with Naofumi, on top of the level-grinding he made her do, that allowed her to rapidly grow from a child into a young woman in a matter of weeks.

Raphtalia is now much more playful and teasing of Naofumi. At times she displays a great understanding of him and finds ways to get him to agree with her decisions. She holds great admiration and love for him that makes her want to be by his side at all costs. She detests people who speak ill of him and may even get violent in his defence. She has described herself as his “sword” (a play on Naofumi being the legendary Shield Hero) and wishes to defend him from anybody that would do him harm. Her dedication is such that she was completely furious when the Spear Hero, Motoyasu Kitamura, tried to “free” her from her slave pact with Naofumi. She gradually became distressed at the vitriol directed at him, for having a slave, and for the false accusation that he had raped Princess Malty. Despite being close to winning the duel against Kitamura, Malty’s intervention cost Naofumi his victory and thus Kitamura tried to take Raphtalia away from him, having ‘won’ her freedom for her. However, Raphtalia slapped Kitamura and immediately ran back to Naofumi to comfort him.

Naofumi was very much a brooding and disgruntled person when he first met Raphtalia, as a result of the people around him constantly attacking him, verbally or otherwise, and had thus developed a hateful, but strong, demeanour. Despite this, the good in him still remained. He did his upmost to raise Raphtalia as best he could, caring for her as much as possible. He is largely responsible for her growth as a capable fighter and helped her get her revenge on the people that sold her and her friends into slavery. Despite his initial sinister intent for buying a slave, he ultimately welcomed her as his companion in the new world he found himself in and grew close to Raphtalia. Due to being effectively outcasted by everybody, Naofumi experienced a true sense of loneliness. Thus, when Raphtalia came into his life he got to experience what it was like to have somebody by his side again.

When the thought that Raphtalia could be taken away from him by Kitamura, and that she would probably be willing to leave him when she discovers the false accusation against him, he began to have a mental breakdown. The thought of the one person he grew so close to leaving him became unbearable and despaired at his inevitable loneliness. This caused him to be left completely stunned when he saw that Raphtalia had come back to him, despite knowing the accusations levied against him, and chose to believe him over everybody else. Raphtalia even went so far as to reinstate the slave pact she had with him after Kitamura had broken it. Seeing Raphtalia stay by his side, and the overwhelming relief of this, caused him to cry before peacefully falling asleep in her arms. It was from here that Naofumi became a little bit more upbeat. He still retained his cynical personality, but he started to frown a lot less than he did before, and felt confident enough to enjoy things more now that he has Raphtalia by his side.

It becomes apparent that Raphtalia has developed very strong romantic feelings for Naofumi. She can easily blush around him, constantly finds way to be by his side and gets easily jealous of girls in their party, such as Filo and Melty, when they spend time with him. She has even gone so far as to strip completely nude in front of him in the hope she could entice him to see her as an adult woman. Naofumi was oblivious to Raphtalia’s actual feelings for him, and often spoke of her more as a daughter than a potential lover, which tended to leave her upset. Even Kitamura, who has since gotten on more positive terms with Naofumi, expressed his own frustration at Naofumi’s inability to see how Raphtalia feels about him. One of Raphtalia’s biggest concerns is Naofumi returning to his world, leaving her behind. The thought has caused great distressed but Naofumi has promised to allow her to come back with him. Gradually, Naofumi became more aware of Raphtalia’s feelings and finds himself feeling the same way. The two have since formed a romantic relationship and have officially become a couple.

Fanon
The ship is well-received by fans and supported by the majority of the audience. Those who don't support it often bring into question the morality of their relationship since Naofumi bought Raphtalia as a child slave- even if their relationship has grown far past that. Generally, shippers of Raphumi admire Raphtalia's loyalty and hope for her to be happy with the man she loves, in additional to many simply finding their aesthetic cute.

The most "iconic" moment of the ship, where most people started seeing them as more than friends, was when Naofumi was cheated out of a win in a spar with Motoyatsu due to interference made by Malty. Naofumi was humiliated and due to a bet made on the duel, losing it also technically meant he would lose Raphtalia as well. But Raphtalia rebelled against her newfound status as a free woman and chose to follow Naofumi instead. She embraced Naofumi and declared to him that she'll be his sword in battle, and that he wasn't alone. She goes as far as to willingly have another slave crest put on her to prove her loyalty to Naofumi.

There are heavy implications in the anime and light novels that their relationship will be endgame. So many fans have high hopes that they will marry by the end of the series.

Fandom
FAN FICTION

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