The real Dragon Quest is the friends you meet along the way. This week's Dragon Quest blog post is all about the party members who AREN'T the hero and AREN'T a monster. A few of the Dragon Quest IV goofballs above might appear.
Akira Toriyama has a number of haters of his character designs. Among the common criticisms: Toriyama's characters all have similar facial expressions, his eyes are always too narrow or too round, and he may be the originator of the "spiky-haired teenage hero" archetype. Sure. That's all fair. I won't say that Dragon Quest characters are as memorable or diverse as, say, Final Fantasy characters of similar eras, but I've definitely grown attached to many of them. So naturally I'll write about them.
Rule is that there are no rules. I'm picking the nine (actually eleven) characters whom I find the coolest or most entertaining, and they are specific characters with unique dialogue and appearance and not generic job titles (with apologies to Dragon Quest III and Dragon Quest IX). They also must be humanoid (as in, not a Dragon Quest monster) and not the game's official Hero character. So here they are, my favorite companions in Dragon Quest:
Sollosi's Top Nine Favorite Dragon Quest Companions
Honorable Mention
The Hero's children
I love these two scamps. Their hair color is dependent on who The Hero chooses as his bride (blond for Bianca, blue for Nera, black for Deborah), but no matter who their mother is your two kids (who you haven't seen for ten years, since they were infants) are overjoyed to see their father again and are enthusiastic, good-hearted kids thrilled to be on a quest with their mom and dad. Oh, and your Son is one of the best combination attacker-healers in the game and your Daughter is a top-level magic user. Loveable scamps indeed.
Number Nine
Staying with the theme of our Dragon Quest V family, Papas is The Hero's father, who is only a temporary party member but one of the most memorable of all time. Early in the game, Papas is an unstoppable force, around level 35 when you're level 1, and able to dispatch any enemy in the game with ease. When you're held hostage by a demon around the 25% mark of Dragon Quest V, though, Papas stoically takes a beating from two other demons and you watch your indefatigable father die in front of you. For being a great dad to the end, and refusing to watch his son suffer, Papas is one of the best Dragon Quest characters
Number Eight
Ruff's backstory is unique among Dragon Quest characters, and fits the fairy tale vignette style of Dragon Quest storytelling perfectly. Ruff is a wolf puppy who was turned into a human when a demon cursed the town of L'Arca, turning all the humans into animals and the animals into humans. The team manages to reverse the curse with Ruff's help, but instead of turning Ruff back he gains the power of speech! Now a human child with insatiable enthusiasm and curiosity for exploring the human world (and eating human foods), Ruff is a delight to have on your team, because he has good stats with high speed, his circumstances for joining the team are interesting, and is always SO EXCITED.
Number Seven
Torneko is a happily married merchant who just wants the best for his family, and rocks a spruce mustache and a shirt so billowy it looks like a muumuu or a nightdress. Not your typical JRPG character. Torneko is also introduced in one of Dragon Quest IV's character-specific chapters, and the objective is to earn money through working at a weapon shop to buy your own weapon shop, and then buy your way onto an expedition that eventually has Torneko crossing path with The Hero's party. Huh. Torneko also has the distinction of starring in the very first Mysterious Dungeon game, a pioneering roguelike developed by Chunsoft. In battle, Torneko has a lot of unusual skills, equips several different weapons, and often isn't very effective, but for being such a likeable goof and for defying RPG tropes, I love this guy.
Number Six
The first of a few "cool tough girls" on this list (a character type I enjoy very much), Aishe represents the best of Dragon Quest VII's themes of heritage and protecting the future. Early in Dragon Quest VII, the Hero's friend Prince Kieran (a consideration for spot # 9 or 10 on this list) decides to abandon his princely lifestyle and become a nomad, hundreds of years in the past (DQ VII has some time trave going on), after falling in love with a wandering tribe's ceremonial dancer. Fast forward to the present and Aisha has Kieran's sword techniques and Kieran's wife's dancer skills. Whoa. Not only is she a cool, sassy gal and a beast in battle, Aishe might be a new connection for Kieran's former family (and his father, the king, says as much). It's a sweet moment when that all comes together.
Number Five
Far and away the coolest character in Dragon Quest VI, Terry is a dragon-slaying badass dedicated to becoming stronger, so he can find and defeat the demons who kidnapped his long-lost sister. It takes WAY TOO LONG for Terry to realize that Milly, another Dragon Quest VI party member, is his missing sister, but leading up to that Terry has several cool story moments. He's also your strongest non-Hero character from basically the moment he joins, and was popular enough to star as the main character of the first Dragon Quest Monsters game. For being cool as hell, strong as hell, and for bearing no small resemblance to the Dragonball Z character Trunks, Terry rates very high for me.
Number Four
The fireball princess of Zamoksva has unusual headgear and a slightly nonthreatening appearance, but is one of the hardest-hitting party members in Dragon Quest IV, with blistering speed and strength backing up her martial arts. Alena normally attacks with fists and claws, but if you equip the Stiletto Earring weapons to her her attack power tanks, but she can strike twice! And since Alena gets critical hits more often than... maybe anyone else in Dragon Quest history, those earrings make a great character even greater. The spunky tomboy tsarevna is one of the coolest gals in all of Dragon Quest, and also in any NES RPG!
Number Three
Jessica is a powerful mage with a no-nonsense personality, and she's sexy and she knows it. Really, you can put points into Jessica's Sex Appeal stat for use in battle, it's great. I enjoy how Jessica rejects the demure purity of a few frustrating RPG characters, but even more I enjoy her sassy personality and determination to get what she wants. Jessica starts out Dragon Quest VIII seeking revenge for the death of her brother Alistair, but ends up saving the world and even finding love if you own the 3DS version of the game. Jessica is one of the best magic users in Dragon Quest history (basically a better version of Barbara from Dragon Quest VI or Maribel from Dragon Quest VII) and has a great design and likeable personality to boot.
Number Two
Yangus is a thief with a coarse personality and a heart of gold, who declares loyalty to The Hero of Dragon Quest VIII after Yangus's failed mugging attempt ends in The Hero saving Yangus's life following a collapsed bridge. Yangus is as loyal as companions get through the Dragon Quest VIII story, but he's also the funniest goofball in series history and hits pretty hard with axes, hammers, and scythes over the course of the game. Really though, it's about his personality and humor. Yangus has a rough exterior, but is as cuddly as can be deep down, and cares deeply about the well-being of his friends. No other Dragon Quest character communicates big-heartedness like Yangus.
Number One
In Dragon Quest V, the player can choose who The Hero marries in a wedding right around the game's midpoint, but the game pushes you REALLY hard to go with Bianca. I can't blame them, because Bianca's one of the best RPG heroines in history. She joins the hero in childhood on an adventure in a haunted castle, then represents herself with toughness and class when they reconnect as adults, even helping The Hero locate a magic ring while thinking he's going to marry someone else. Plus she has a great character design, communicating positivity and reliability. Bianca represents that Akira Toriyama "cool tough girl" type better than any other character, and her romance with The Hero and subsequent marriage (unless you are really, REALLY into one of the Briscoletti sisters) is cute and satisfying. Whether you're traveling the world with her or rescuing her from the same demons that killed your father, Bianca is the best companion in all of Dragon Quest.
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Next time is all about Dragon Quest Villains. I rate, review, and rank nine major antagonists from Dragon Quest games, in about two weeks. Maybe not always THE main antagonist, but antagonists important enough to be "major" and memorable enough to show up on a list of nine.
And I think I'm going to try and maintain this pace for the remainder of the year. One blog post every two weeks. Posting on Friday or Saturday of that week. If I can keep that up, my year total will be 17 or 18 (surpassing my goal of 15 on the year). I have a few ideas for blog posts after this Dragon Quest mini-project is done, but there is one more to go after the Dragon Quest villains article. Probably not too hard to figure out what it is.
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