Torneko Taloon

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Torneko
Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen, Torneko series
Torneko Taloon.png
Sprite(s) Dq4taloon-sprite-NES.gif DQ4-NDS-TORNEKO.PNG
Japanese name トルネコ
Romaji Toruneko
Class Arms Merchant
Race Human
Age 40s
Voice actor Tesshō Genda (CD Theater)
Chafurin (Heroes II, Japanese)
Francis McGee (Heroes II, English)

"Fer the love o'---what are y'at, stickin' that in me face!? 'Tis about as useful as a chocolate teapot. Now get up the yard with it!"

—Torneko, when he appraises horse manure.

Torneko Taloon (Torneko in Japanese, Taloon in the NES localization) is a character in Dragon Quest IV, Torneko: The Last Hope and Dragon Quest VIII. In Japan, he was also featured in the games Torneko no Daibōken: Fushigi no Dungeon and Dragon Quest Characters: Torneko no Daibōken 3.

Appearance and Personality

Torneko wears a loose muumuu, chosen for comfort and practicality over fashionability. He hefts a giant backpack of sorts at all times, which he uses to hold his wares, personal belongings and, presumably, some of the party's items. He has a mustache and huge belly, both of which help to bring out his general jolliness. He has blue hair and a blue mustache.

He is initially compelled to leave his quiet home due to an unquenchable wanderlust; his wife is very understanding and promises to look after their home and child while Torneko runs off in search of wealth and adventure.

Even though much of his time and effort goes toward accruing gold coins, he doesn't do this out of greed, but to make his wife happy and for altruistic endeavors. Overall, he is a very kind person.

Although he can equip almost any weapon he likes, Torneko is pictured holding the Astraea's abacus in the official character art for Dragon Quest Heroes II.

Appearances

Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen

Story

Torneko wakes up in Chapter 3 in his house in Lakanaba to work his job at the local weapons shop while supporting his wife Tessie and his son Tipper. However, he feels that this life is not good enough for him, so he sets on a journey to fulfill his dream, which is to own a shop. He then hears about the Steel Strongbox that allows him to travel anywhere without worrying about dying, because it keeps all of the Gold when he dies, instead of taking half of it.

Torneko ends up getting the strongbox in a cave up north and heads south to Ballymoral, where he comes across Old Man Finnegan's son Finn who is in prison and asks him for a chimaera wing to return home to Lakanaba, which Torneko does. While at the castle, he learns of Archie O'Tect, who was supposed to repair the bridge between Ballymoral and Endor, and that he hasn't arrived. He manages to find the architect in the north in what appeared to be a town called Reginhart.

Hearing of some foxes in the area, however, Torneko returns to Lakanaba to request the use of Finn's dog Fido to seek out a fox, which proves to be successful. As a result, Archie resumes his duty to repair the bridge. Thus, Torneko heads to Endor, but not before receiving a letter from Prince Regan to give to Princess Veronica in the other castle.

Torneko made it to the castle and meets an old man who wants to sell his shop to someone with permission from King Norman. The King states that he will consider the merchant's request. While in the throne room, he reads the letter to The Princess detailing that King Shamus of Ballymoral is seeking to conquer Endor, prompting Endor's King to give him the Royal Scroll (which is a request for the children of both castles to marry, and thus avoiding the need to go to war).

Torneko delivers the Scroll to King Shamus, who agrees to dismiss his plans. Soon after, King Norman allows the merchant to open a shop, which he does and calls his family over to their new home.

Afterwards, Torneko's attention is turned toward an old man who wanted to continue developing the Trans-Montane Tunnel which will lead from Endor to the country of Casabranca. He needed 60,000 gold coins to achieve this, which Torneko helped out with (through making money at his shop, as well as providing a set of Steel broadswords and Iron armours to Endor's warriors).

Once the tunnel is completed, Torneko traveled through on behalf of the old man and accepts the task of carrying on his dream by traveling the world by ship and gathering many legendary treasures.

He managed to cross the desert at Last Chance Saloon through the aid of a caravan,[1] and passed through Bath[2].

Torneko made it to Porthtrunnel and paid to have a ship made, while hearing of an old man in Mintos who has a treasure map. He left upon hearing of monsters who corrupted the lighthouse fire at Pharos Beacon to restore peace to the oceans. Upon finding the monsters to be too strong, he made a plea to the Hero and company to find the Holy Embers and to defeat the ones causing the problems at the lighthouse. They agree to do so, and are joined by Torneko shortly after, who provides use of his ship for travels.

Upon defeating Psaro the Manslayer (Aamon in the remakes), the party returns to their lives with Torneko, returning to his family in Endor, and later showing up with the group in Hidden Valley to see the Hero.

Abilities

"Look at it spar-kle!"

In the Dragon Quest III class system, Taloon has elements of both a Merchant and a Gadabout. As a merchant, he can protect the party's gold when they go down, and use his appraise ability to give basic information and loss/return estimates on items in the party's possession. However, he also has the goof-off's tendency to not follow orders in battle, bellowing loudly, staring blankly into space, or telling naff gags when ordered to attack. He can equip most weapons and armour, and has respectable HP and level growth, and is otherwise a decent fighter; however, his defence leaves something to be desired.


Dragon Quest IV (PSX/DS) 
Spell Level Learned
Padfoot 4
Eye for Distance 7
Nose for Treasure 9
Whistle 12

Stats

  • PSX version.
Attribute Starting Stats Maximum Stats
Level 1 99
HP 20 734
MP 0 0
Strength 4 196
Agility 5 94
Resilience 10 196
Wisdom 5 105
Luck 3 88
Initial gear Plain clothes

Random Antics

As mentioned previously, Torneko will not always follow the order of the player, instead opting to try something else.

  • NES version
Action Effect
Trips Critical hit on random foe
Lullaby Puts all foes to sleep
Weird dance Lowers one foe's MP
Throw sand Dazzles all foes
Yell Poof on all foes
Leg sweep Trips enemy for one turn
Twirls fingers Fuddles one foe
Tell a naff gag/Shout Tries to make all foes lose turn
Focuses strength Double damage next turn
Take damage for an ally Target is totally random and not dependent on ally's current HP
Steal Swipes an item from one foe
Summon a Merchant army Attacks three times, base on Torneko's attack stat. If Miracle sword is equipped, each strike heals
Cover an enemy's mouth Prevent foe from casting that turn. This action DOES NOT cost Torneko a turn (works in monster fights at the casino!)
Stare and do nothing Wastes turn


In the PSX, DS, and phone versions Torneko will goof off a little less often and some actions are removed. However, this increases the probability that he will steal from an enemy when slacking around now.

Action Effect
Trips May now trip himself in process. Also, the tripped enemy is more vulnerable to being crticial'd by other characters when down now, raising the base rate from 164 to 116. Alena's critical hit frequency stacks with this change.
Lullaby Puts all enemies to sleep
Weird Dance Lower's one foe's MP
Leg Sweep Stuns a foe for one turn
Focus strength Double damage next attack
Twirls fingers Fuddles one foe
Tells a naff gag/Shout Tries to stun all enemies for one turn
Yell Poof on all enemies
Steal Swipe a treasure chest from an enemy
Stare into space Wastes turn

Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation

Torneko appears at the inn of Reaper's Peak and is surprised by there being a town within the Fungeon. He is impressed by the fact that the Hero explored it.

Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King

In Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King, in the Monster Arena Rank S series of fights, the first fight is fought against a character that is named, and bares a striking resemblance to Torneko Taloon. The announcer reinforces this by saying the character is from Lakanaba. He uses treasure based monsters; two Goodybag monsters and a Mimic king.

Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies

On December 10, 2010, Torneko began appearing as a special guest at the Quester's Rest in Stornway.

Other Appearances

Dragon Quest & Final Fantasy in Itadaki Street Special

Along with Ragnar, Kiryl, and Alena, Torneko appears in Itadaki Street Special. Unlike the other characters, he is not playable, but makes a cameo as an NPC who sticks around a short while.

Mystery Dungeon Series

Torneko has appeared as the main character in three of the Mystery Dungeon games, usually with his wife and son as secondary characters: Torneko no Daibōken: Fushigi no Dungeon, Torneko: The Last Hope, and Dragon Quest Characters: Torneko no Daibōken 3. He also appeared in Dragon Quest: Young Yangus and the Mysterious Dungeon, although in a supporting role.

Names

In the DS remake of Dragon Quest IV, Taloon's given name is Torneko, his Japanese name. In fact, his last name is Taloon, similar to how Ryan became "Ragnar McRyan."

See also

Gallery

Reference

  1. Mentioned by the treasure room guard at Casabranca during the day.
  2. mentioned by a residence at night in a house.