Over the course ofThe Rising of the Shield Heroseries, Raphtalia has become one of the most recognizable characters in the story. Fans of Shield Hero have watched Raphtalia grow from a formerly enslaved and brittle Tanuki girl to a strong and reliable warrior and one of the best girls in the Isekai subgenre. Just like the rapid growth in her physical features, Raphtalia’s skills and abilities advanced exponentially.
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Not only has she become an expert swordsman, but Raphtalia has also improved her magical abilities, which she now uses to enhance her swordsmanship. These improvements have caused her to graduate from being Naofumi’s metaphorical sword to becoming a hero herself.
9Excellent Swordsmanship
Although initially portrayed as a helpless and timid Tanuki-girl, Raphtalia is a proficientand formidable swordsman. Viewers ofThe Rising of the Shield Herowill readily agree that her swordsmanship is among the best in the series. Raphtalia’s ability to use a sword with a great degree of expertise and finesse has made her one of the strongest and most competent fighters in the series.
In the beginning, Raphtalia’s main weapon is a small knife given to her by Naofumi, but she graduated to using a full-on sword once she got older. As a testament to her excellent swordsmanship, Raphtalia is also the Katana Hero, granting her new abilities, including shooting blades of light at her opponents with her sword.
8Illusion Sword
Raphtalia can usemultiple kinds of magic, including illusion magic. Her illusion magic can manifest in many forms, with its main aim to mystify opponents. For instance, her illusion sword is an example of a manifestation of her illusion magic.
Using her illusion magic, Raphtalia can create the illusion of a sword she will strike her opponents with. However, this ability does not cause any physical damage as the main goal is to confuse her opponents or put them in a frantic state by dealing mental damage. She can then take advantage of this confusion and land a physical attack.
7Powder Snow
After learning the Hengen Muso style and becoming the Katana Hero, Raphtalia gains many power-ups. For instance, she became the wielder of the legendary Vassal Katana, which came with its abilities. One such example of these abilities is the Powder Snow.
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Powder Snow allows Raphtalia to drain the magical energy of her opponents by releasing it as fine snow from wounds created by slashes. In the anime’s second season, Raphtalia was able to use Powder Snow in a battle against Kazuki to drain his magical energy, effectively incapacitating him.
6Moon Ripple
Moon Ripple is anotherability adapted fromthe Hengen Muso style Raphtalia learned from Elsa Ragnarok, also known as Granny, and the only inheritor of the Hengen Musou style of Martial arts.
Through the application of this Hengen Muso style, Raphtalia could release crescent-shaped flashes of light from her blade by making a horizontal slash. She can use this ability to incapacitate or wound her opponents. For instance, in Volume 14, Chapter 13 of the Light Novel, she used this ability in her battle against the Heavenly Emperor.
5Yin-Yang Blade
In the earlier part of the series, a village witch tells Raphtalia that she is adept at using light and dark magic by virtue of being a Tanuki. As a result of this affinity for light and dark magic, Raphtalia can manipulate the magical energy of living beings.
With this ability, Raphtalia can take afallen opponent’s energyand convert it into an attack of two balls of light, black and white, which will then be fired at her opponents. To do this, she uses her light magic to cover her sword in light, switching between black and white, which she then uses to slash the defeated enemy.
4Demon Emperor: Illusory Layers
Demon Emperor: Illusory Layers is another application ofRaphtalia’s illusion magic, which allows her to subject her enemies to multiple illusions with the shapes of black beings clad in mist. This ability is so powerful that her enemies, who are aware they are within an illusion, can still be severely affected.
Also, exiting the illusion is very unpleasant, inducing severe seizures and searing headaches. However, Raphatalia can only use this ability sparingly due to the amount of magical energy needed.
3Five Practices Destiny Field Expansion
Besides being an expert at illusion, light, and dark magic, Raphtalia can also use Demon Dragon Magic. She gained this ability to use Demon Dragon Magic after the Demon Dragon Emperor bestowed upon her a protective blessing.
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Through the use of Demon Dragon Magic, Raphtalia can appropriate the magical powers of her allies to create a magic formation, expanding from her feet. While most of the functions of this technique are unknown, it allows Raphtalia to use abilities such as her Eight Trigrams Blade of Destiny with little to no charging time.
2Eight Trigrams Blade of Destiny
By manipulating themagical ability obtained by being the Heavenly Emperess, Raphtalia can use the technique—Eight Trigrams Blade of Destiny. It is an attack in which she gathers eight yin-yang symbolized balls before charging at the opponent and turning into a light trail in the process.
Behind obtaining the Vassal Katana, the technique morphs into a broad swipe from a sword drawing position, conjuring a yin-yang pattern that splits into two to knock the adversary back. Raphtalia, with the help of Filo, was able to use this ability to decapitate the Spirit Turtle in the second season of the anime.
1Divine Clash of the Five Practices
As a result of her mastery of the Five Elements Techniques, Raphtalia can summon five magic balls and control them to do whatever she wants. They can be used to defend against or attack opponents during battle.
However, in this variation of the Five Elements Techniques, Raphatalia can also use these balls to imbue her sword with tremendous power. It releases an attack that constructs a pentagram-shaped magic formation that drastically suppresses her opponents' abilities. This ability is a leveler when Raphtalia goes up against much stronger opponents, such as the False Hero, Tulina.
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