Raphtalia

About

Raphtalia (ラフタリア, sometimes spelled Raftalia) is a character from the Japanese light novel, manga and anime series The Rising of the Shield Hero. A tanuki (raccoon dog) demi-human and a slave, she assists the main protagonist Naofumi Iwatani in his quest.

Origin

On August 23, 2013, the first volume of The Rising of the Shield Hero ^[1] light novel was released in Japan as a web novel. In the ninth chapter, Tanuki-type demi-human Raphtalia was introduced.^[2] A 10-year-old slave, she is purchased by the main character Naofumi Iwatani, whom she assists in his adventure as a swordswoman. In manga and anime, the character is introduced in chapter two and episode one, respectively (shown below).^[2]

Spread

Following the release of the second episode "The Slave Girl" of The Rising of the Shield Hero anime on January 16, 2019^[3], posts featuring the character saw a surge of popularity on /r/animemes subreddit, with some users referring to the character as "a seasonal waifu"^[4]. On January 16, Redditor^[5] UltraMonty posted one of the earliest memes featuring the character, which gained over 2,600 upvotes in four days. Another post made by Redditor^[6] TheGamingRambo on the same day gained over 11,600 upvotes within the same period.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References