The Rising Of The Shield Hero: Motoyasu Kitamura's Powers Explained

When Motoyasu Kitamura is first summoned to the fantasy realm in "The Rising of the Shield Hero," you can tell he thinks it will be more of a wish fulfillment than it actually is. Granted, he isn't alone in this idea. Even the series protagonist and fellow summoned hero, Naofumi, initially thinks that playing the hero will be much more fun. But when their companion, Princess Malty S. Melromarc, frames Naofumi for rape, he learns the hard way that a fantasy realm can be just as cruel as his home world. Meanwhile, Motoyasu buys into the princess' false charges, and so he gets to live the good life just a bit longer. Though, he eventually learns that Malty has been manipulating him the whole time, finally revealing the harsh reality of this seemingly happy fantasy.

With all this in mind, Motoyasu doesn't seem like much of a hero. He's easy to trick, especially when women are involved, and he's not very quick to change his mind. It takes more than a hard-fought battle with Naofumi to convince him that Malty is a liar. Despite all of this, however, Motoyasu does have some heroic qualities. After all, he's chosen by the Legendary Spear, and he is quite capable in combat. This actually makes him useful in situations where his gullibility around women doesn't get in the way. But to truly know why Motoyasu is a good hero, we have to look at his powers.

As the Legendary Spear Hero, it should go without saying that Motoyasu is pretty advanced with spears in general. He has to be, as his Legendary Weapon prevents him from wielding anything but spears. However, it takes more than being a talented spearman to be as deadly as Motoyasu is. Granted, much of his power is due to the Legendary Spear itself, which, like all Legendary Weapons, can copy the abilities of other weapons and materials. As such, Motoyasu has a veritable Swiss Army knife of different spear abilities to pick from.

Two of the most common spear abilities you see from the hotheaded Motoyasu are Chaos Spear and Air Strike Javelin (via Shield Hero Wiki). The former of these splits the end of Motoyasu's spear into multiple different points, all of which attack a target at once. Meanwhile, Air Strike Javelin allows Motoyasu to summon a throwing spear for long-ranged combat. Motoyasu also has many other abilities, but some of the more unique ones include Windmill, a defensive technique that can create tornadoes, and Portal Spear, which allows Motoyasu to teleport himself and others to a certain location.

It takes more than some fancy spear handling and tricks to get good hero-ing done in "The Rising of the Shield Hero." Any adventurer worth their salt has some sense of magic and how to use it, and Motoyasu is no exception. In addition to his fire magic, to which he is naturally attuned, he also knows certain healing spells.

Chief among these healing spells is Liberation Fireheal, a high-level spell that heals a fair amount. Similarly, Motoyasu has a spell that allows him to restore his magical power in addition to his health. It is called Liberation Absorb, and it grants him the ability to absorb and store the magic energy of certain spells for his own use. Once Motoyasu takes the energy from his opponents' spells, he can then use it for a variety of fire magics. 

From mirage spells that conceal its caster in fire, to creating powerful tornadoes of flame, Motoyasu can perform a variety of fire-based feats. Though, these useful skills still often take a backseat to his top-tier spear skills. After all, one would expect no less from the legendary Spear Hero.