Elves and Faeries

Honey, a spritely example of the fair folk

Elves and Faeries (エルフ & 妖精人, Elves and Faeries) are recurring races in the Dragon Quest series. Two of the fundamental fixtures of fantasy folktales and literature, the terms are used interchangeably in Dragon Quest to refer to feminine beings of otherworldly nature. Often just outside the ken of men, they are nevertheless as important to the ways of the world as humans are.

Characteristics[edit]

Though Elves and Faeries typically vary in depiction between games, they are almost always shown to be women of supernatural beauty with pointed ears. Hair colors such as violet, emerald, and fuchsia are common, and in official illustrations their clothing is more ornate and distinct from the medieval European rags most humans wear.

Faeries were first drawn with lavender, dragonfly-like wings in the ninth game, and Elves were given similar wings in the tenth game. In the former's case, this coincided with a marked reduction in height that made the appear as children compared to humans.

Both species are extraordinarily long lived, far surpassing the life-spans of humans and monsters alike to the point that some believe them to be blessed with eternal youth.

Appearances[edit]

Dragon Quest[edit]

No actual Faeries appear in the game, but the instrument named after them is a very useful tool for dealing with overly-dutiful Golems.

A Faerie by the name of Nelly does appear in Dragon Quest I CD Theater, voiced by Mika Doi.

Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation[edit]

The Faeries of the overworld live in a hidden village north-west of the town of Norvik. They greatly distrust humans out of fear of being kidnapped, and the faerie queen forbids any interaction between her subjects and humanity. When young love bloomed between a man from Norvik and the queen's only daughter and the two of them eloped, the queen assumed that the villager done away with her as she feared and in retaliation placed a curse upon Norvik that sent the entire village into an eternal slumber.

The only one to escape this morphean malediction was the boy's father, who traveled to the hidden village to explain that his son had grown angry with his folk's trepidation regarding the fair folk, and had disappeared after announcing his love for the queen's daughter. Both the queen and the old man assume the duo to be in hiding in the depths of a nearby cave, prompting the player to spelunk within. Upon reaching the bottom, the party will find the lover's suicide note--they had drowned themselves to be together in death instead of allowing their peoples' laws to keep the apart. Bearing the tragic news to the queen will cause her to undo the curse on Norvik.

Several Faeries of the Underworld serve the Goddess Rubiss, acting as her agents while she is trapped in suspended animation by Zoma. These aids give important items required to bridge the gulf between the devil's citadel and the rest of the landmass. These Faeries appear to be more lax about interacting with humans. One Faerie is sitting at a table next to a bard in Damdara, presumably dating, and she tells the player where to find the flute she dropped in Kol. Regardless of which world they are encountered in, the Faeries of the third game all speak in a very childish manner and are highly emotional, showing great bursts of excitement and lowly sullenness in equal measure.

Rubiss herself utilizes a sprite that strong resembles those of the Faeries, leading to fan speculation that she is indeed one of the fey. This would seemingly be confirmed by her Dragon Quest of the Stars illustration, where she is depicted as being very similar to the faerie queen in appearance.

Warning: Spoilers!
Click expand to view content

As of the SFC version of III, the Hero is tested by the dissembodied voice of an unknown person by one of various Dream Scenarios, after which, the voice might deliver harsh critique of the how the Hero handle the event.

The voice belongs to a Faerie in the Shrine of the Spirit holding the Staff of Rain and apologies for her past rudeness by giving it to the Hero.

Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen[edit]

Elves play a substantial role in the story of Dragon Quest IV, being the original impetus of the world-shaking events.

In Chapter 1, Healie wonders if the Strathbaile Innkeeper's son, Willy Wally flew off to the Realm of the Faeries.^[1]

In Chapter 2, Alena and co. see an elf named Oopsy and her sister Daisy at the top of Birdsong Tower. Though the pair flee as soon as they see the party, they mistakenly leave behind a phial of Birdsong nectar that is necessary to restore the voice of Tsar Stepan of Zamoksva's supernatural silence.

Later, in Chapter 5, the Hero and Party will meet Rose, an Elf who was hunted by humans because her tears transmute into small rubies. Her lover is Psaro the Manslayer, the game's main antagonist, whose resolve to crush humanity is fortified after saving the lass from a trio of bandits. The master of monsters builds a tower to protect his love, around which the town of Rosehill grows. A few other elves also live in Rosehill, as it gradually became a shelter for Dwarves, talking animals, civilized monsters, and other supernatural beings from the machinations of greedy and malicious humans.

Towards the end of the game the party will also travel to the incredibly isolated Yggdrasil, at the roots of which the elves have built their main city, El Forado. Since Yggdrasil grows in a vast desert barricaded on all sides by colossal mountain ranges, the Elves of El Forado are safe from the worst of humanity and do not shun the Chosen Ones. Oopsy, Daisy, and an unnamed third elf are also seen again in Zenithia's garden.

After the Chosen Ones defeat Estark at his tomb in Mamon Mine, one of Psaro's lieutenants will inform him that Rose has been slain, claiming it was done by humans. In reality, it was Psaro's second in command, Aamon, who arranged for the girl's death; he desired for Psaro to give into blind rage and allow himself to become more easily manipulated and thus allowing Aamon to rule monster-kind from behind the figurative throne. With the loss of his love, Psaro gives into despair and utilizes the secret of evolution to become a hideous beast with enough power to crush all of humanity.

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

Faeries are considerably more playful than in the previous two games, acting more akin to the mischievous fey of English folktales than the previous tragic figures. Many of them they dwell in the Faerie Lea, a separate world in which their leader, Treacle, initiates and guides the changes in the human realm's seasons. During the Hero's youth he is enlisted by the wily Honey to help the faeries retrieve the Herald of Spring, a powerful instrument necessary to put an end to winter, from the villainous Winter Queen. Honey makes a special shortcut in the basement of Pankraz's house to enter Faerie Lea, but the main portal between the two planes is hidden in a bewildering forest called the Neverglade.

Years later, the Hero and his own children would be tasked by Dr. Agon to seek the aid of the faeries in raising the sunken Zenithia to the skies. The peculiar man states that the Golden and Silver Orbs that power the heavenly castle were the work of fey artisans and the denizens of the Faerie Palace. Not a place detached from the human world, the palace is ensconced by a ring of mountains far from civilization, and rests atop a placid lake hidden in mist. The ruler of the palace, Queen Caramel, aids the party in restoring Zenithia to its former splendor and grants the Hero a final chance to speak with his departed father. Additionally, the Princess Robe can be found in the castle basement and one of the Faeries within the palace confirms the ancestry of the Heavenly Bride when spoken to.

If the party returns to the palace after the game has been completed, an additional chance to speak with Pankraz will become available: a gift from a friend in a higher place.

The fifth game also introduces the first new fey iconography since the original game's flute, being the elfin charm, elfin elixir, and faerie foil. The former is handy accessory that cuts the accuracy of status ailment spells by 3/4ths, the elixir is a titanic tonic that restores all of the drinker's MP, and the foil is a powerful sword that far exceeds most human weapons.

Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation[edit]

An Elf appears in the monster-oriented version of Reaper's Peak as an innkeeper. A humorous subversion from previous Elves, she is curt, informal and seemingly uninterested in running an inn.

Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past[edit]

Though unconfirmed by official sources, it is commonly speculated that the young girl who watches over the sapling of Yggdrasil in the forest surrounding Gröndal is an Elf. In the Nintendo 3DS version she refers to herself as a "forest Faerie', and her position as guardian of the great tree along with the vine-like accessories stemming from her green hair are reminiscent of classical dryads.

Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King[edit]

In the distant past, during the Lord of Darkness' assault on the world, the great sage Kupas saved the lives of an elf and a Gigantes. The Elf's name was Raya, and she and the Gigantes pledged allegiance to Kupas in gratitude, becoming his inseparable traveling companions. As the lives of humans are brief compared to elves and monsters, the duo honored Kupas's dying wish by founding the village of Tryan Gully, where Elves, humans, and peaceful monsters could co-exist together.

The hidden community was also dedicated to preserving the memory of the dark lord reign of terror, with several inhabitants having first-hand knowledge of those infernal times. Speaking to Raya herself is also important to advance the game's story, as she bequeaths the Darktree leaf to the party in order to track down the fiend before his resurrection can be completed.

Being the sole Elf the player can speak to in the game, Raya is a strong departure from former fey, having neither the fearful suspicions of humans as past Elves nor childlike mischievousness of the Faeries. She has great respect for the legendary Seven Sages, being awed by their courage in standing up to a world-ending threat, and this as given her a positive outlook on humanity in general. Being the leader of her hidden hamlet, she welcomes the party warmly.

Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies[edit]

Twin sisters Wanda and Wandine will ask the player for assistance (Quests 95 and 96) if there is a Mage at Level 15 or higher in the party once they rest at Alltrades Abbey. The plucky pixies have gotten themselves stuck in a peculiar plane all to themselves inside of a certain wand, and need the player to help free them.

Stella is rumored to be a faerie, and stops herself from admitting as much a handful of times during the game. However, the little lass' backstory is intentionally kept vague by the developers, and trying to make sense of it can be just as aggravating as her air-head attitude.

Dragon Quest X[edit]

Elves: Airy and Graceful

This beautiful race is known for the delicate wings on their backs and their profound love for their forest home.

Highly cultivated, they set great store by learning, tradition and good manners. They count many expert sorcerers capable of wielding powerful spells among their number

Elf is a race that can be chosen for the player's character in Dragon Quest X. Prior to version 3.2 of the game, elves boasted the highest magical mending and second highest magical might development of the playable races as well as a 20% resistance to all wind-based skills and spells.

After starting out as a Human, the player may become this race or any of the other four races, including Ogre, Dwarf, Poppet or Wetling.

The tenth game introduces two new alchemical ingredients named after the faeries, being the faerie fluff.

Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince[edit]

Being based on Dragon Quest IV and with Rose as one of the central characters, elves receive considerably more focus in this spinoff than they did in the 1990 original. Here it is revealed that elves once lived in an ancient kingdom known as El Zetta on the surface of Terrestria, of which only the ruins of El Fayum remain. These ancient elves were capable of crossing dimensions through the powerful crystals known as travelite, and chronocite, used to control time and space respectively. At one point, some El Zettians even summoned Wyrmsworth the wyrmhole dragon and traveled with him through different dimensions.

This civilization would crumble, as some time in the distant past the wicked Aamon would lead an army of monsters to raze El Zetta to obtain the crystals. Once in his possession, Aamon would drag the ruins of El Zetta deep underground to Nadiria, where he would then curse the queen of the elves to become the very Circle of Caprice itself as a genius loci. Her subjects would not be spared, being cursed into becoming mindless stone golems that slave away mining the precious penteractic crystals necessary to create the Secret of Evolution. A single elf, Pierre, would retain his sentience and plead for Psaro and Rose to free his people from Aamon's lieutenant Petrarch, who oversees the mining operation. With Petrarch slain, the stone golems crumble to dust and the souls of the elves are freed.

Much later, after Aamon's plot is exposed and he is defeated in his sanctum, the curse he placed on the queen of the elves fades and she returns to her original form. After retrieving the souls of the formerly-cursed elves, she expresses her immense gratitude to the party and presents a piece of white-coloured travelite that will allow them to invade the Upper Echelon of the Circle of Conquest and take the fight to Psaro's father Randolfo. The queen also uses the power of the chronocite to create an exact duplicate of the Circle of Caprice for the benefit of the monsters that had unknowingly inhabited her during her curse. The queen wishes the group farewell, and disappears in a flash of light.

The elven power of time and space manipulation is the focus of the post-game, where it is revealed that Ludo's mother Elshael was the living seal that kept the madwoman Azabel trapped in the depths of the whispwoods. Once the genocidal Zenithian is slain and Elshael freed, Ludo asks her to use her power to begin creating a utopia in a different dimension freem of the tragedy that plagues Terrestria like a blight. Doing so would destroy the entire material realm, leading to the final stand off against Ludo.

As it turns out, even distant descendants of the El Zettian elves are capable of channeling the power of travelite, as demonstrated when Rose performs a ceremonial dance around a piece and enables Rosehill Tower to teleport between Terrestria and Nadiria.

Trivia[edit]

Until the release of X, all elves and faeries were shown to be female.
- Contrary to popular belief, Ishmahri is not an elf--he is a spirit of the dreamlands.
Though never outright stated to be an elf herself, Eliza's heritage is speculated by fans due to her sprite having pointed ears. If this were true, it would make Psaro an unwitting hypocrite for slaying a non-human to further his agenda.
The stock art of the male elf in X greatly resembles the Eastern Kaioshin of Akira Toriyama's Dragon Ball manga, with only the clothing and hair being different.
Though his original form is never shown due to his curse, Pierre confirms that male elves do in fact exist within the Zenithia Trilogy.