The Rising of the Shield Herowas an isekai that really took the anime community by storm. It stars Naofumi Iwatani, one of three chosen heroes who must struggle through an unfamiliar world and his duties as a hero after being framed for crimes he didn't commit. It can be a bit of a tough watch, but a rewarding one as viewers get to see Naofumi rise above it all, gaining power, friends, and eventually the respect he deserves.

The anime rightfully got a lot of praise for its first season, to the point where two more seasons were confirmed to be in the works. Not only that, but its popularity ended up creating a lot of memes during the first season's run, and they're all hilarious. Truly, it could be called "the rising of the memes."

10 WHEN NAOFUMI THROWS HIS MIGHTY SHIELD

One of the most famous characters in fiction, if not the most famous, for fighting with only a shield would have to be Captain America. Of course, Naofumi doesn't have it nearly as easy as Cap, since he can't throw his at his enemies since it's always attached to him. Considering its low attacking power compared to the other Cardinal Weapons, it did create a challenge for Naofumi early on.

This meme uses a small snippet of a scene where Naofumi wonders how he's going to fight with just his shield, only for Captain America to be in the bottom panel with an expression that screams "you're kidding, right?". If anyone knew how to help Naofumi with that, it'd be Cap.

9 "BECAUSE I AM HERE!"

After "losing" a duel with Motoyasu, Naofumi has something of an emotional breakdown, as he feels that everything's being taken away from him again and only Raphtalia coming in to comfort him snaps him out of it. It's a truly tender scene between these two characters...and one that's made hilarious with this meme.

Editing Raphtalia's face to look like All Might fromMy Hero Academia, Raphtalia comforts Naofumi with the hero's signature catchphrase. Having her face hidden in the first two panels, also makes the punchline hit that much more. Not exactly the kind of crossover most fans would've imagined, but it is a really funny one.

8 THE BLAME GAME

Pretty early on in the series, it seems that Naofumi just existing gave him the scorn of the King and the devious princess, Myne. The two pretty much try to sabotage him at every turn, framing him for crimes and actively trying to humiliate him in front of the rest of the kingdom. This meme truly gets that.

Taking the template fromTheEric Andre Show,Myne is seen shooting a man (representing "anything ever") and the corrupt King ends up blaming Naofumi for it. Honestly, it's pretty spot on with how they actually are.

7 3AM

Thanks to the internet and online streaming, watching entire anime seasons has never been easier, maybe even too easy. Many like to binge entire shows in one sitting, sometimes in place of things like sleep and parents of young anime fans would be a little annoyed by that. You can definitely feel that vibe coming off this meme.

What really makes this one work are the expressions which out of context look accurate, Naofumi standing before the young Raphtalia with almost a look of disappointment while Raphtalia looks distant and tired. Somebody's getting grounded for sure.

6 RAPHTALIA VS. NETFLIX

Anime and Netflix adaptations have had something of a history of not mixing well together. Usually, they end up not being a good representation of the story they're adapting, further adding to the stigma that live-action anime adaptations aren't very good.

Here we see an example of what some fans believe aShield HeroNetflix adaptation would look like, featuring Raphtalia in her manga and anime form, before getting the Netflix one (which is just a regular raccoon). With the reputation Netflix's live-action anime adaptations have had, this might not be far off.

5 THE REAL SHIELD HERO

The shield is usually not a weapon solely for attacking, but some characters in fiction have made it work. While it was a weakness at first, Naofumi was eventually able to work hard to make his shield's power one of his greatest strengths. Captain America has also made his iconic shield his go-to weapon for years thanks to its high durability.

There's another character who fights with only a shield, and it's probably the most unexpected, Goofy from Disney and (in this case) Kingdom Hearts.Putting all three together in this spin of the Magneto meme, the Marvel antagonist declares that Goofy is the "real Shield Hero". To each their own.

4 DOUBT

Pretty early in the story, Myne (also known as Princess Malty) proves that she's a pathological liar and will deceive and use whoever she pleases in order to get what she wants. It's one of the many reasons fans despise the character so much. While trying to execute her own sister, Melty, she further tried to demonize Naofumi and his allies by claiming he had a "Brainwashing Shield", which most believed her on (for some reason).

Given how many lies she's told before this one and since then, as well as how outlandish that one was, it's incredible that anyone would believe her at all, but Naofumi and company know Myne's a liar. This meme uses the "Doubt" template and puts its own spin on it using some hilarious expressions fromKonosuba.

3 OVERPOWERED?

Unlike the other Cardinal Heroes, Naofumi had to really work for his strength. When he begins to achieve more and prove that he's the real hero among the four, the others believe it's because the shield was secretly overpowered. This is not the case, it's just that the other heroes had everything handed to them and so they can't seem to fathom the idea that someone who put in actual effort could outdo them.

This meme uses that to its advantage, taking the scene where Itsuki claims Naofumi is overpowered and putting a faded version of the scene from the first episode where they tell Naofumi that the shield "is for losers". How hypocritical.

2 NAOFUMI X RAPHTALIA? DENIED!

It's pretty clear Raphtalia has deep romantic feelings for Naofumi after he did so much for her, but Naofumi seems to only see her as a friend and sometimes a daughter. Perhaps it's his bad experience with women in the first episode that makes him less open or receptive to romantic feelings (and who could blame him?).

In this Star Warsmeme, he's dodging just that yet again, with his head pasted onto Darth Maul's body, as he show's how he sees Raphtalia. The real funny part is the bottom manga panel where Raphtalia makes full-blown "sad raccoon noises." Poor Raphtalia.

1 THE BETTER ENDING

If it's one thing that has brought the anime community together, it's a shared hatred for Myne. It's easy to see why, she's a spoiled princess who tries to make Naofumi's life a living hell, lies and deceives others to get her way, and is just all-around a horrible person. So it was more than just a little satisfying to see her lies and crimes exposed and being sentenced to be executed during episode twenty-one.

Sadly, she and the king's lives are spared, although they did get some appropriate name changes. Some fans, however, still thought she should've been executed anyway, and this meme portrays what that could've been like. Given that Myne went back to trying to sabotage Naofumi and friends right after being saved, it'd be no less than she deserves.

NEXT: Sword Art Online: 10 Alicization Memes That Are Too Hilarious For Words