We revealed some features and differences in isotropic and anisotropic hardening under monotonic and cyclic loads by analyzing the experimental results of the samples made of 12X18H10T stainless steel under a rigid (controlled) deformation process, which includes a sequence of monotonic and cyclic loading modes under uniaxial tension-compression and different temperature levels. To describe these features with the theory of thermoplasticity, which belongs to the class of flow theories for combined hardening, a memory surface is introduced in the space of the plastic strain tensor components that separates the processes of monotonic and cyclic deformations. The main assumptions and equations of the thermoplasticity theory are formulated. To describe the transition from the monotonic to the cyclic and from the cyclic to the monotonic deformations, the evolutionary equations are formulated for the parameters of isotropic and anisotropic hardening. The basic experiment, which determined the material functions, consists of three stages, such as cyclic loading, monotonic loading and the subsequent cyclic up to destruction. The method of identifying the material functions based on the results of the basic experiment is considered. The material functions that close the thermoplasticity theory at different temperature levels are determined for 12X18H10T stainless steel due to the basic experiment and identification method. We considered the results of the computational and experimental studies of the rigid cyclic deformation under isothermal and non-isothermal loadings up to destruction of 12X18H10T stainless steel. The kinetics of the stress range and the average stress during isothermal and non-isothermal cyclic loadings are analyzed. A reliable compliance of the computational and experimental results is obtained.