In the world of The Rising of the Shield Hero, there is the protagonist, the Shield Hero, as well as one each of the Spear, Bow, and Sword Heroes, known as the Four Holy Heroes. However, it seems that not all heroes are revered by everyone. Even in a world where they must resist the waves, there seems to be a great deal of factional fighting between races and religions. In this article, we will introduce the Church of the Three Heroes and its Pope.
But what exactly is the Church of the Three Heroes and the Pope?
The Church of the Three Heroes
Source: The Rising of the Shield Hero © Aneko Yusagi/KADOKAWA/The Shield Hero Production Committee
The Association of the Three Heroes is a religion that worships three of the Four Holy Heroes who removed their shields: the Spear, Bow, and Sword Heroes. Myne and others were also colluding with this association. Originally, when summoning the Four Holy Heroes, according to an agreement with other nations, each was to be summoned individually. However, this church completely ignored this rule and summoned the heroes. Summoning a hero is apparently quite difficult, and the fact that a unique religion was able to accomplish this suggests that they have solid financial and technological resources. Furthermore, believers of the Church of the Three Heroes are common among the soldiers. The reason the queen was absent from the country at the beginning of the story was because diplomacy was being conducted to avoid war over this incident.
Why someone other than the Shield Hero?
The reason why the Shield Hero is the only one shunned by this church and society is because the previous Shield Hero sided with the demi-humans. For this reason, the Shield Church exists in demi-human towns. Because humans and demi-humans hated each other in this world, the Shield Hero sided with the demi-humans, who were supposed to be the enemy of humans, and the religion of the Three Heroes was born out of hatred. In fact, there are depictions of Raphtalia's parents respecting the Shield Hero.
What is the Pope?
Source: The Rising of the Shield Hero © Aneko Yusagi / KADOKAWA / The Rising of the Shield Hero Production Committee
Simply put, he is the head of the association. While the Pope of the Church of the Three Heroes may appear to be a good person from the outside, he is driven by selfish desires and deeply dislikes the Shield Hero. As a result, the Shield Hero is prohibited from class upgrades in this city. However, it is not clear whether this ban on class upgrades is due to his personal preference or the royal family.
The Church of the Three Heroes: First Meeting with the Pope
The Pope's first encounter was when he went to the castle town church to purchase holy water for Raphtalia. He purchased a high-quality potion for one gold coin, but what was brought to him was a low-quality product. The Shield Hero, who possesses the skill of connoisseurship, warned him, and he brought the real high-quality holy water. He silently tried to cover it up, revealing a greedy side. However, he avoided the situation by yelling at his subordinates, as if blaming them for his own mistakes.
The Incident Caused by the Pope of the Church of the Three Heroes
The Reason for Trying to Kill the Hero
Source: The Rising of the Shield Hero © Aneko Yusagi / KADOKAWA / The Rising of the Shield Hero Production Committee
The Pope of the Church of the Three Heroes plots to kill all four heroes. He also plans to kill the royal family, including Myne, who has been a colluding partner until now. The Pope says this is God's will. His reason for killing the Hero is that he is to save the world from the waves, in other words, he is the one who will ward off disasters that befall people. He says that the Bow, Spear, and Sword Heroes who are causing problems in various places are bringing shame to people's faith. It seems he is not entirely wrong. That is why he has decided to eliminate them all once and for all. Incidentally, he calls the Shield Hero the Shield Demon.
Weapon Used by the Pope
Source: The Rising of the Shield Hero © Aneko Yusagi / KADOKAWA / The Rising of the Shield Hero Production Committee
The Pope wields a replica of a legendary weapon. It is extremely powerful, but a single swing consumes the magical power of hundreds of people over a month. The cultists had poured that magical power into it. It was a series of extremely powerful techniques that only the Shield Hero could defend against. This replica appears to be capable of wielding the power of all holy weapons: sword, spear, and bow. However, it takes several minutes to store power in this weapon, so it seems impossible to use it multiple times in succession. As someone else said, I found myself thinking that if that's the case, there's no need to summon a hero.
The Pope's Gradual Changes in His Final Destiny
Source: The Rising of the Shield Hero © Aneko Yusagi / KADOKAWA / The Rising of the Shield Hero Production Committee
The Pope originally said it was God's will. Gradually, his words change, and he eventually begins to speak as if he were God. Originally, it was probably a religion that simply praised the three heroes as heroes, but humans are foolish after all, and a religion that aims for ideological unification in such a situation can't help but feel a little frightening. The conflict between these heroes and the Church of the Three Heroes gradually began to gain ground thanks to the efforts of the Shield Hero. Amidst all this, the Pope used a kind of shaping technique to protect himself, making it impossible to tell who he was. Unfortunately, he was ultimately killed in the Shield Hero's Curse series.
The Church of the Three Heroes and the Pope: Conclusion
Source: The Rising of the Shield Hero © Aneko Yusagi/KADOKAWA/The Shield Hero Production Committee
After being defeated in battle by the heroes, the Church of the Three Heroes was annihilated. To be precise, the Queen is apparently arranging for the timing of their annihilation. The Queen had been using shadows from all over the country to wait for this opportunity. Well, the Pope was a scary character with a mysterious personality, but this queen is scary in her own way. After that, there was no further mention of the Church of the Three Heroes, so it was probably destroyed.
