The Guardian Beasts are the realm's last line of defense from the Waves of Calamity in case the summoned Legendary Heroes fail to protect the Kingdom for one reason or another. These monsters occupy both Raphtalia’s and Glass’ Worlds and are the animals that are often referenced in Chinese and Japanese folktales. They have immense magic power, with abilities strong enough to destroy large expanses of land in minutes.

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However, a great sacrifice is required for the Guardian Beasts to protect the world. They must kill and collect the souls of two-thirds of all life and use the magic energy generated to create a barrier that can prevent rifts from opening. The heroes from both worlds deemed the cost too great and resorted to sealing or killing them. With that in mind, here are the strongest Guardian Beasts in The Rising of The Shield Hero, ranked.

4 Spirit Tortoise

The Spirit Tortoise is the first Guardian Beast and is said to be a bigger disaster than the dreaded Waves of Calamity. It is mountain-sized and carries the remains of what used to be a city run over by long spikes on its back. Those spikes can be used as projectiles to target foes that its extremely potent gravity magic has immobilized. Due to its enormous size, it is also extremely heavy and very slow, but it compensates for that fact by constantly being on the move.

It can also shoot a lightning beam from its mouth or the eyeball on its heart, which is destructive enough to clear out a mountain range. The attack does not just deal physical damage; it also drains the SP of its targets, rendering them vulnerable for the next shot if they manage to survive the first one. The Spirit Tortoise can also summon familiars, ranging from bats to the corpses of the humans that used to live in the city on its back, under its control to act as a biological immune system for those who might venture inside it looking for a way to kill it.

3 Phoenix

The Phoenix, the second Guardian Beast, is a package deal featuring twin birds with enough power to obliterate a country. Spotting vibrant and reflective fish-like scales in place of skin, the birds are the most beautiful of the bunch. One of the birds is resistant to physical attacks and flies much closer to the ground when engaging in combat, while the other is resistant to magic and prefers to do damage from long range.

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Phoenixes are generally well known for their relationship with fire, and by channeling the elemental attributes, they can use it to heal themselves. They can also perform fire-based attacks like fire breath, fire beams, fire spin drills, fire bombardments, and wind-based attacks like creating tornadoes and gusts of wind by flapping their wings. Like the Spirit Tortoise, they can also turn their feathers and the victims of their flames into zombie familiars who protect and fight for them. If one is killed, the other swells and explodes, leaving two new birds in the wake of it all, albeit weakened and needing some time to recover.

2 Kirin

The Kirin, a mirrored version of Glass’ world’s White Tiger, is a pair of two creatures named Ki and Ren, just like the Phoenix, as mentioned earlier, birds. It is the third Guardian Beast of Raphtalia’s World and will only be released after the Phoenix and Spirit Tortoise are vanquished. The Kirin uses wind magic for most of its attacks and can stop people from teleporting away. It is based on a tiger-dragon-like creature in Japanese folklore and has fierce battle prowess, needing the entire Seven Star Whip in Faubrey to defeat it.

In death, it is still a precious asset, with adventurers far and wide seeking materials from its remains in order to increase the durability of their equipment and boost their stats. However, it comes at the significant cost of corrupting the user and eventually trying to take control of their bodies.

1 Dragon King

The fourth, final, and strongest Guardian Beast is the Dragon King. Unlike the other Guardian Beasts, who are released when the previous ones are defeated, the Dragon King can only be released when a hero gathers all the Dragon Emperor Shards and uses the knowledge gained from them to undo the seal, but this process will be done at the cost of the caster’s life.

These shards are powerful magical assets that can bestow the knowledge needed to conduct the level-100 limit break ceremony, which is used to present people with the power that allows them to channel the Way of the Dragon Vein magic and use Dragon Sanctuary. The abilities and appearance of the Dragon King are unknown, except that it is a dragon, but it is the most respected and feared of them all.

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