Character customization
Character customization is the process in which players can fine-tune the details of characters in certain titles. The system has grown more sophisticated and detail-oriented as the industry has advanced through generations of hardware, with earlier games being limited to merely a character's name and profession to later entries allowing players to decide the colour of a character's eyes.
Being able to customize a character is synonymous with the vocation system and has been managed by the recurring tavern owner Patty in all but one of her mainline appearances.
Appearances
Dragon Quest
The stat growth of the original Hero is determined by the letters used for his name, giving a high maximum yield and low maximum yield at level 30. The result of this system is that some names are more optimal than others, which can lead to frustration for players who want to use their own names and find themselves at a disadvantage.
Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation
Customization takes place when creating party members at Patty's Party Planning Place in the kingdom of Aliahan, where players can decide the name, sex, and vocation of the Hero's companions. A character's vocation can be changed once the player has made the journey to Alltrades Abbey, though this will send them back to level 1 and their stats will be cut in half. The Hero and Heroine cannot change their vocation in any version of the game.
Beginning with the Super Famicom remake released in 1996 players are also able to customize the personalities of their characters, which alters the stat-growth from the predetermined path set by their vocation. This is accomplished by reading books found during the adventure, which are so persuasive that they convince the reader to rethink their approach to life completely. The player is now also able to change the name of a character by visiting Appello in Alltrades Abbey, though vulgar names cannot be used.
Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake
The HD-2D remake builds upon the foundation set by the previous versions and adds the ability to personalize the appearance of each vocation, with there being four designs per sex, as well as assign a chosen personality to a character during the creation process instead of having one being randomly applied. Players can also dye a character's hair to be one of fourteen colours and select one of eighteen tonal inflections for the character to use when shouting in battle. Post-creation customization has also been expanded upon thanks to the character Healizah, who can change a character's hair, voice, and appearance.
Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies
Continuing a long-standing Level-5 tradition, the player has almost total control over every aspect of a character in the portable adventure. There are five body types distinguished by height, eight skin tones ranging from white to brown, ten hair styles per sex with ten dyes shared, and even eight eye colours to pick from. The Hero's details are decided upon at the start of the game, with the party members being created at the Quester's Rest by speaking to the ever-reliable Patty.
Dragon Quest X
The biggest addition to customization is the presence of playable races, being the Dragons, Dwarves, Elves, Ogres, Poppets, and Wetlings in addition to the standard Humans.
Beyond this the online entry builds upon the example set by the ninth game by giving players two body styles to choose from, adult or child, with three height ranges, thirty-two hair styles with eighty-two dye choices, eighty-two eye colours, twelve skin tones per race, eight choices per sex for the shape of the eyes and the eyebrows, three choices for the contours of the face for thin, normal, and plump, and eighty-two colours for lipstick should the character choose to wear any.
Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker 3
The monster scouter's hair and clothing can be customized during the beginning of the game.
Builders 1 & Builders 2
Players can decide the sex, skin tone, hair, and eye colour of the first and the second builders.
Dragon Quest of the Stars
The hair colour, hairstyle, hair colour, eye colour, face, and skin tone of a character can be altered by visiting a beauty salon in the game.