Kaede Honjou

"If you're looking for the character in-game, see Maple." Kaede Honjou (本条 楓, lit. Honjō Kaede), also known as Maple (メイプル, lit. Meipuru) in the VRMMO NewWorld Online, is the main protagonist of BOFURI: I Don't Want to Get Hurt, so I'll Max Out My Defense.

She was invited by Risa Shiramine, her best friend, to play the game NewWorld Online, in which she accepts to do so. Kaede, having never played such games before and not wanting to get hurt, puts all of her status points into defense, hence the name of the title.

She is a curious albeit air-headed individual who unwittingly gains overpowered skills as a result of bizarre actions, such as when she ate a dungeon boss.

Appearance
Kaede has fair skin and shiny black hair that extends beneath her chin, with a short ahoge. Her eyes are a shade of cool grey.

She wears a white clip as an accessory in the real world, which is something that is carried on to the game world. The clip is made up of four rhombuses, each facing the cardinal directions, connected to a presumed diamond-like piece. The clip's shape is similar to a compass.

Kaede is commonly seen wearing a white and pink-striped hoodie sweater with matching shorts that reach only until her upper thighs.

Her in-game character is completely identical to her real world appearance.

Background
Kaede is a girl who lives in a peaceful neighborhood, living a relatively normal life. Her best friend is Risa Shiramine, who happens to be a gamer. Risa had been suggesting, or rather, forcing games on Kaede with presumably the simple motive of playing with her, but none of these games stood out to her.

That is until Risa recommended her to try out the new VRMMORPG NewWorld Online. NWO would later provide Kaede an experience that she could never forget, gradually becoming addicted. Her habits and knowledge would dictate how she would act inside the virtual game. In her addiction, her tendencies in-game often slipped out in real life.

Her actions would prove to be far off from the common sense of her fellow gamers, eventually leading to increased work and headache for the Administrators.

Personality
Kaede is a simple individual. However, her defining traits are her air-headedness, innocence and love for fun. She isn't that much of a competitive person, and often plays just for her and others' fun. Also, she particularly does not hold grudges against anyone, viewing virtually everyone as a potential friend. Her open mind has lead to becoming friends with most of the other top players, such as Kasumi, Payne, Mii, and much more. Aside from her striking absent-mindedness, she also tends to be clumsy most of the time, once biting her tongue in a live broadcast and instantly getting embarassed. This also applies to the real world, as when she got addicted to NewWorld Online, she would unwittingly show habits she would normally do in-game.

That in mind, she also has a tendency to be reckless, especially as a beginner. Kaede allotting all her status points into VIT is not because she's absent-minded, but because she does not like to feel pain, as evidenced by her titular statement, "I don't like to get hurt, so I'll put all of my status points into defense." Despite these attributes, Kaede is a quick-thinker and does practical decisions in most situations, which at times it makes her seem abnormal or odd, such as when she tried to single-handedly clear the Hydra dungeon all by herself.

While not fit for fighting in general, Maple has a hard time attacking other in-game entities, particularly other players, even if it's for her own benefit. She doesn't like pain, and dislikes hurting other people just as much. When the situation calls for it, however, she is willing to inflict harm, such as when against the boss Silverwing, and in the battle against the Congregation of the Holy Swords.

Etymology
She has the same given name with her Japanese voice actress, Kaede (楓), and also with similar surnames, Honjō (本条) and Hondo (本渡).
 * The name Kaede means "maple/maple tree" (楓).
 * Her in-game nickname came from the meaning of her name, romanized (メイプル, Meipuru). The name of her guild is also derived from her name.
 * Kaede's surname Honjou means "base, root, origin, source" (本) (hon) and "article" (条) (jou).

Trivia

 * Kaede is known for collecting obscure, unimportant and rarely-used items that seem interesting to her.
 * Since Kaede doesn't seem to have any problems academically IRL, she seems to only be a doofus when it comes to playing NewWorld Online. In episode 13, she tells everyone that she's playing the game normally like them, only for them to snap back "Yeah, right!"; since she's utterly ignorant of the fact she made Maple a powerhouse.