Raphtalia is a Tanuki-type Demi-Human and the Shield Hero's first real party member—though she started out as a slave that Naofumi purchased. Her introduction is pretty rough: a neglected kid with matted hair in rags. Naofumi cleaned her up (literally—bath, haircut, new clothes) and she became his traveling companion.
What's wild is how fast she changed. After a few weeks adventuring with him, her body suddenly developed into that of a teenager. Turns out demi-humans grow physically based on their level progression, so Raphtalia's rapid aging was tied to her power scaling. Despite the mental and physical mismatch that creates, she's become essential to the party.
Content compiled by AnimeList.moe from publicly available sources.
