King Korol

From Dragon Quest Wiki

King Korol is the founder of the Order of Zugzwang in Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride. He is the highest authority within the Order's earthly operations, though the supreme power lies elsewhere and dictates his actions from afar.

Story[edit]

Although King Korol does not physically appear until very late in the game, he has a strong impact on the story. He founded the Order of Zugzwang under Grandmaster Nimzo's orders and oversaw the construction of Crocodilopolis from Mt. Azimuth. Most of the enemies encountered here are underlings of the King, and many share an anthropomorphic reptile theme with their leader.

After Crocodilopolis was built, most of the slaves used to build it were executed and those who were not were mind-controlled by Queen Ferz into serving the cult further; this was presumably done under King Korol's orders. Shortly after the completion of the temple, Queen Ferz is defeated by the Hero and his team, releasing all the slaves of their hypnosis. Soon after, the heroes manage to reach King Korol's throne room within the depths of the temple. Confident in his own abilities at the height of his power and reign, Korol allows the summoning of the Hero's wagon. Although the battle is long, Korol is eventually defeated. The King's last act is to beseech his master for salvation, but he receives none.

In the original, Korol simply dies after this, but in the remakes, Bishop Ladja mercilessly reveals that Korol was used by Grandmaster Nimzo as a figurehead priest and promptly executes him for having outlived his usefulness. In the wake of his death, Korol leaves behind the Circle of Life, an important item required to access Nadiria.

While Korol is officially the highest-ranking member of the Order of Zugzwang, in reality he is just a figurehead leader who was no longer needed when Crocodilopolis was completed. While this does not change anything about his rank in the original, in the remakes it shows that Bishop Ladja answers directly to Grandmaster Nimzo and thus is the Lord of the Underworld's actual right-hand man.

Appearances[edit]

Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride[edit]

King Korol DQV Logo.png
Sprite HP MP Attack Defense
Korol DQV SNES.gif 4,200 255 21 240
Agility Experience Gold Tame Rate
73 21,000 1,000 N/A
Bestiary No. Unnumbered boss
Spell(s) Bounce
Kaboom
Skill(s) C-c-cold Breath
Defend
Desperate attack (105 fixed damage)
Disruptive Wave
Location(s) Crocodilopolis
Item dropped Mini medal14096
Evasion Frizz resistance * Sizz resistance * Fire Breath resistance *
0/64 20% 20% 20%
Bang resistance * Crack resistance * Ice Breath resistance * Woosh resistance *
20% 20% 20% 20%
Zap resistance * Drain Magic resistance * Whack resistance * Kamikazee resistance *
20% 0% 100% 100%
Poof resistance Poison resistance * Fuddle resistance Snooze resistance *
100% 100% 100% 100%
Dazzle resistance * Sap resistance * Fizzle resistance Stun resistance *
100% 100% 100% 100%
PS2 model DS & Mobile sprite
Koral DQV PS2.png Korol ds.png



Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 2 Professional[edit]

King korol joker 2.png

Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 3[edit]

Dragon Quest Monsters: Super Light[edit]

Etymology[edit]

Korol (коро́ль) is the Russian word for the king chess piece.

Gallery[edit]

Trivia[edit]

  • Korol is unique among the Order of Zugzwang in that he is not a pallet swap of any common monster, with his sprite/polygon model being all his own. This was likely a conscious decision of the development to fool players into thinking they had reached the final boss.
  • Coincidentally, his name and appearance is very similar to those of the Donkey Kong series' main antagonist, King K. Rool.
    • Also out of coincidence, Korol is an anagram of K. Rool.
    • Additionally, the Heroes of the mainline Dragon Quest games appear in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate which include King K. Rool.
    • The pronunciantion of his English name is similar to how "K. Rool" was pronounced in the Donkey Kong Country animated series as "Kuh-rool".
  • When using King Korol's Catechism, the dialogue box states that it makes you feel as if your mind is darkening and one line of dialogue even says that you start to think that Korol wasn't so bad. Taking this into consideration, it's reasonable to assume that this Catechism is what allowed the Queen Ferz to mind-control the slaves that were not executed
  • Korol's role in the Order of Zugzwang is similar to that of the king in chess, hence his namesake. Korol was the figurehead leader whom all the subjects answered to, but he himself did not partake in any conquests, instead giving out orders from the comforts of his throne room. The king in chess is likewise the most important piece in the game, but it hardly has any power itself.
  • Though Korol is referred to with masculine pronouns, a man at Knot Welcome Inne calls Korol a "gal". This is likely either an error on the man's part, an error on the localization team's proof-reading, or the term has a different meaning in his native tongue.