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Dragon Quest Saga: Emblem of Roto

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Dragon Quest: The Mark of Erdrick (ドラゴンクエスト列伝 ロトの紋章) is a manga with art by Kamui Fujiwara, and script by Chiaki Kawamata and Junji Koyanagi that takes place 100 years after the events of Dragon Quest III, and is about a descendant of Roto named Arus. It ran from 1991 to 1997 on Enix's Monthly Shonen Gangan and had two spinoffs, Dragon Quest: Emblem of Roto Returns, and Dragon Quest: Emblem of Roto: Those Who Inherited the Emblem. There is also an OVA covering the childhood of Arus, and an artbook.

The series is 86 chapters long, collected in 21 tankobon volumes, and later in 15 kanzenban for the Perfect Edition. Some parts of the manga were redrawn for the Perfect Edition due to lost materials between the original edition and this re-edition.

An official English release was announced in 2024, with the first volume set to be released in September 2025.

StoryEdit

After the defeat of Zoma two descendants of Erdrick left Alefgard and founded two kingdoms, the kingdom of Carmen, and the kingdom of Loran, each taking half of the Emblem of Erdrick. 100 years later the king of Carmen is fighting a campaign against a tribe of evil shaman while his wife the queen is pregnant. When they reach their hideout the king and his men find a demonic statue which they assume is the god the shaman worship. As the king gets close enough to destroy the statue, it causes the king's necklace with his half of the Emblem of Erdrick to break off and bewitches the king. The king then decides to take the statue with them to use it as leverage against the shaman.

In the following months the king worships and talks to the demonic statue in secret. The voice of the statue which is the Dragonlord tells him to give his child the demonic name of Jagan instead of the holy name of Arus. When the queen gives birth the king tries to take the child and hold an evil ceremony to name the prince Jagan. General Volgoy and his daughter Lunafrea think that the king is a demon in disguise and try to stop him. Volgoy attacks the king who transforms into the demon Delus along with some of his guards who become skeletons and kills the queen. Lunafrea then uses a ring of light on the demon Delus and defeats him. She then takes Arus and escapes the castle and meets up with Giran and Tarkin who begin to live their life in secret so that monsters may never find the hero Arus and they can train him to become a great hero. After the Dragonlord's failure to turn Arus into a demonic lord he turns to the kingdom of Loran where another descendant of Erdrick is born and succeeds in naming him Jagan and turning him into a demonic lord. 10 years later Arus begins his journey along with Lunafrea, Tarkin, and Giran and his son Kira.

CharactersEdit

  • Arus, the main protagonist. The descendant of Roto from the Carmen kingdom, blessed with a sacred, protector name.
  • Kira, Arus's best friend and son of Giran.
  • Tie, a blond fairy that accompanies Arus.
  • Yao, a martial artists who aids Arus.
  • Kadal, sage who fought Zoma alongside Arel.
  • Lunafrea, daughter of the general Volgoy of the Carmen kingdom. (Voiced by Yumi Tōma)
  • Jagan, the descendant of Roto from the Loran kingdom. He bears a cursed name.
  • Dragonlord, a minion of Imagine, and commander of the Dragon army.
  • Imagine, the main antagonist.

Related MediaEdit

Printed mediaEdit

The Mark of Erdrick spawned a collection of short side-stories called Emblem of Roto Returns, and a full-fledged sequel titled Dragon Quest: Emblem of Roto: Those Who Inherited the Emblem.

A 45-minute OVA, titled "Dragon Quest Saga: Emblem of Roto", was released on April 20, 1996. It covers the childhood of Arus and Kira, and is placed between the first two chapters of the manga, and can be treated as Chapter 1.5 of the main series. A "Cinema Comic" adaptation of this film was published on July 7, 1996.

Kamui Fujiwara published two volumes of the Dragon Quest Emblem of Roto Art Book (ドラゴンクエスト列伝 ロトの紋章 藤原カムイ イラスト集). They contain artworks, reference sheets and more.

  1. Volume 1: Released August 25, 1994. ISBN 978-4870257610
  2. Volume 2: Released August 29, 1997. ISBN 978-4870259836

During serialization, three volumes of Dragon Quest Emblem of Roto – Legacy were released as limited-print supplemental extras with certain Monthly Shonen Gangan issues. These supplemental volumes do not have ISBN numbers.

  1. Dragon Quest Emblem of Roto – Legacy (ドラゴンクエスト列伝 ロトの紋章Legacy). Included as a special supplemental volume in Monthly Shonen Gangan - March 2004 Special Issue Gangan YG No. 1.
  2. Dragon Quest Emblem of Roto – Legacy II (ドラゴンクエスト列伝 ロトの紋章Legacy II). Included as a special supplemental volume in Monthly Shonen Gangan - June 2004 Special Issue Gangan YG No. 2.
  3. Dragon Quest Emblem of Roto – Legacy III (ドラゴンクエスト列伝 ロトの紋章Legacy III). Included as a special supplemental volume in Monthly Shonen Gangan - September 2004 Special Issue Gangan YG No. 3.

On December 2, 2022, two new short side stories were serialized in Young Gangan No. 24, 2022 (cover date: December 16, 2022). Neither one-shot has been re-published in any form since its original serialization.

  1. Dragon Quest Saga: Emblem of Roto — Side Story: Beastlord Gnon's Secret Story (ドラゴンクエスト列伝 ロトの紋章 外伝獣王グノンの秘話).
    • Summary from Cover Page: "This is the story of what happened before the hero Ars was born, and before Gnon joined the Demon Lord's army." (「これは勇者アルス誕生前、グノンが魔王軍に入る前の軌跡である。」)
  2. Dragon Quest Saga: Emblem of Roto — To the Children Who Further Inherit the Emblem (ドラゴンクエスト列伝 ロトの紋章 〜紋章ををちに継ぐ者達へ〜)
    • Summary from Cover Page: "After the death of the Great Demon King Zoma, the Chosen Ones built a peaceful world. This is an epilogue chronicling the lives of those who inherited the crest. What is the Dragon King—entrusted with the hero’s future—thinking now…? What is the hero of today thinking…?" (「大魔王ゾーマの死後、導かれし者達が平和な世を築き上げた。これは紋章をさらに継いだ者達の日々を記した後日譚。勇者の行く末を託された竜王ははたして今何を想うのか…？ 現代の勇者は何を考えるのか…？」)

In 2025, Fujiwara released another two-part artbook titled, "Dragon Quest Legends: A Journey Through the World of the Emblem of Roto" ((ドラゴンクエスト列伝 ロトの紋章の世界の旅, Doragon Kuesuto Retsuden Roto no Monshō no sekai no tabi).

  1. Volume 1 (PART-1): Released June 30, 2025. ISBN 978-4883755486
  2. Volume 2 (PART-2): Released June 30, 2025. ISBN 978-4883755493

AudiovisualEdit

In 1994, a Drama CD was published.

In 1996, an OVA was released. It covers Arus's childhood and how he became friends with Kira.

In VideogamesEdit

The Mark of Erdrick has had a handful collaborations with the Japanese version of Dragon Quest of the Stars. The collaboration include multitude of cosmetic equipment based on characters like Arus, Kira, Yao, Kadal, Jagan and more; Fiend-difficulty boss fights against multiple villains from the series like Orochi or Imajin, and stamps for multiplayer communication. Kamui Fujiwara designed new armor for the collaboration event.

It also collaborated with Keshi Keshi, with erasers based on Arus, Kira, Yao, Porog (both gadabout and sage forms), Jagan and Gunon. Players would get Poron by just playing the game while the event lasted, with the item to upgrade him to sage being available as a quest reward. Arus, Kira and Yao were gacha erasers. The erasers of Jagan and Gunon were unlockable by progressing in the event.

The heroes of Arus's party also delved into the world of Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, with Arus, Yao and Poron as gacha units, Killa as a free unit, and Gunon and Jagan as bosses. Aside from the units themselves, a couple Vision Cards were also available.

GalleryEdit

  • Emblem of Roto on the cover of the 4th Monthly Shonen Gangan of 1991.

  • Original volume 1 cover.

  • Volume 1 cover (France).

  • Perfect Edition 1 cover (Japanese).

  • Perfect Edition volume 15 cover (Italy).

  • Perfect Edition volume 15 cover (Spain).

  • Stars collaboration event.

  • Tie in Stars.

  • Arus in Keshi Keshi.

  • Jagan also in Keshi Keshi.

  • Final Fantasy Brave Exvius collaboration event.

  • Yao in FFBE.

  • Kira in FFBE.

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