King of Cannock

King of Cannock
Dragon Quest II Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake
Japanese name	サマルトリア王
Romaji	Samarutoria-O
Race	Human
Family	Erdrick (ancestor) Hero (ancestor) Princess Gwaelin (ancestor) King of Midenhall (cousin) King of Moonbrooke (cousin) Queen of Cannock Prince of Cannock Princess of Cannock Prince of Midenhall Princess of Moonbrooke

The King of Cannock is the ruling monarch of the eponymous forest kingdom in all versions of Dragon Quest II and the father of the Prince and Princess. In all versions of the game he sends his son to assist the Prince of Midenhall in the battle against the wicked Hargon, and in the HD-2D remake he begrudgingly allows his daughter to join the quest.

Appearance and Personality

The King uses the generic king sprite in older versions of the game with no distinguishing traits, but in the HD remake he was redesigned to be a middle-aged man with a finely-combed mustache. His robe is harlequin green, the national colour, with white trim and is covered by a cinnamon brown cloak; the royal crown is silver and set with a ruby in the center.

As none of the kings were given much dialogue in the 8-bit and 16-bit versions of the game, the only personality traits that could be inferred from his older depictions is that he takes the duty of the bloodline of Erdrick quite seriously by sending his son out to help save the world and that he has a cheeky side, addressing his son in an overly formal manner once the lad joins the party in the Japanese script. Much like the King of Midenhall, fans interpreted the King of Cannock's refusal to participate in the war against Hargon as a sign that he was quite elderly; this was supported in his depiction in Dragon Quest of the Stars.

The King was totally reinvented for the HD-2D version, being depicted as a kind-hearted ruler whose duties as a father occasionally overtake his royal decorum. He is also known to slip away in the evening with the castle noblemen and enjoy an alcoholic beverage, much to his wife's chagrin. He is sharper than his relaxed nature suggests however, being skeptical of the news that Moonbrooke had been wiped out by Hargon's forces when the only evidence is the word of a dying guard but also insisting the Prince of Midenhall er to caution in his investigation by taking his son along with him. The King is also stubborn and butts heads with his daughter's devil-may-care attitude frequently, refusing to speak with her after she tells him off and joins the party. The Queen informs the group that this is a mask for his agonizing worry over his children's safety and shame for how he treated the Princess when they last spoke, as well as not wanting to further burden the party with the fears of a nervous father.

Appearances

Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line

The King must be spoken to in order to trigger the event flag that begins the hunt for his detour-prone son. Much like the King of Midenhall, the King of Cannock has neglected to properly outfit his only son for the mission to save the world, giving him a simple oaken club to defend himself. He informs the Prince of Midenhall that his son has already departed for the Wellspring of the Hero in preparation for the quest.

Dragon Quest II HD-2D Remake

The alterations to the game's story mean that the King no longer sends his boy out to help save the world with just a club to his name, with the mission being one of reconnaissance to determine the fate of Moonbrooke. Even then he is insistent that the two princes travel together for safety and orders the guards at Gwaelin's Gate in the northwest to refuse the Prince of Midenhall passage to the southern continent unless his cousin accompanies him. Upon learning the Prince of Cannock departed to the Wellspring of the Hero on his own volition that morning to under go an ablution, the King sheepishly asks that the Prince of Midenhall retrieve the lad. Spurred on by his daughter's worries for her cousin in Moobrooke, the King orders the kingdom to be fortified and busies himself with the preparations, totally oblivious to his daughter slipping away to help her cousin track down her addle-brained brother.

Should the player return to Cannock before finding the Prince in Leftwyne, the King will enter a brief argument with his daughter over her helping her cousin find the missing Prince.

Once the Prince of Cannock has joined his cousin and the party returns to the forest kingdom, the King makes his son swear to support the Prince of Midenhall unfailingly in their mission. The Queen then gives the two a missive to allow them passage through Gwaelin's Gate. After dealing with the flood caused by the pair of monsters working for Hargon, the guards stationed at the undersea tunnel report the incident back to the King of Cannock and alert him to Hargon's reach extending beyond Moonbrooke. When the Princess of Moonbrooke is restored to human form and travels with her cousins to Cannock to affirm that she is the sole survivor of Hargon's raid, the King is crushed to hear that his cousin has fallen. Realizing the severity of the situation he orders the defences of the kingdom be raised to meet the threat and, witnessing his son's determination to bring peace back to the world, allows him to travel with his cousins to slay Hargon. He gives the boy the Mark of Cannock, showing irrefutable proof of his bloodline to those who may question him on his travels.

Much later, when the Prince of Cannock is brought to near-death by the curse of the brute bat in Beran, the Princess of Moonbrooke insists on informing the King and Queen of the ill news. The King greets them warmly, asking if his absent son is simply waylaid somewhere, but turns bitterly grim as he is informed of his son's condition. He paces back and forth to think of any possible cures, and supports his wife when the Queen suggests using a Yggdrasil leaf to void the malediction. He forlornly tells the two remaining Scions that the location of tree was nothing less than a state secret held by the royal family of Rendarak, which was wiped out when Hargon razed the kingdom decades ago, but nevertheless dispatches his agents to research any clue of the holy tree's whereabouts and also dispatches several guards to Beran to watch over his son. The King fails to notice his daughter has snuck out of the castle and travelled to Beran to begin her own investigation of the world tree.

When the Scions use the leaf to cure the Prince of Cannock and return to the kingdom, the King is besides himself with relief and states he has been so overwrought with fear for his son that he scarcely ate since being given the horrible news. When the Princess of Moonbrooke spills the beans and tells him that they couldn't have saved the Prince without his sister's help, the King becomes furious that his daughter left the castle without permission once more and put her life in danger. The two enter a fierce argument where the King clumsily denies the Princess' standing as a descendant of Erdrick in order to convince her to stay safe in the castle, causing her to storm off and permanently join the party. The two remain at odds for the rest of the game until just before the siege on the Hall of Hargon. Should the player return to Cannock at this time the Prince will ask his mother to bless him before the group sets out to confront the mad priest in his own lair, touching her forehead to his as she did when he was little. Seeing this the King rushes to the Princess and does the same, only putting too much force into the action and accidentally headbutting his daughter. Father and daughter rib one another after this, but depart on much better terms.

In the game's ending the King is bursting with pride over his children helping to save the world, tightly hugging the Prince of Cannock while praising him. When he turns to do the same to the Princess she hides behind the Prince of Midenhall, who cheekily sidesteps her. The King declares his daughter to be an inspiration, admitting his folly in keeping her cooped up in the castle when the blood of heroes roiled inside her. Seeing his wife hug the Princess of Moonbrooke in place of her late father, the King considers doing the same to the Prince of Midenhall but jokes that his father would have words with him if he did.

Dragon Quest of the Stars

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Gallery

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  His depiction in Stars