Hero (Dragon Quest IX)
Hero | |
Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies | |
Title | Sentinel of the Starry Skies |
Class | Chosen by the player |
Race | Celestrian (Later Human) |
The Hero of Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies is a Celestrian who falls to earth after a calamity strikes their home, the Celestrian Observatory. Prior to this accident, the player's mission was to collect benevolessences in the world known as the Protectorate, specifically being assigned to the village of Angel Falls. Benevolessences are used to power the Yggdrasil tree that grows at the zenith of the Observatory. The Celestrians are trying to get into the Realms of the Almighty, and powering the World Tree is the only way. After giving the tree five benevolessences, which causes the tree to bear fyggs of incredible magical power, a disaster occurs which sends the fyggs and the hero scatters away. When the hero awakens in Angel Falls, they find that they've lost their wings and halo...
Appearance[edit]
A unique feature of Dragon Quest IX is that the player's character is completely customizable. The player chooses not only the hero's name and gender, but also their height, hairstyle, and face type, as well as the colors of their skin, hair, and irises. The player can also design additional party members using the same customization system, so it is possible to make all members of the party as similar—even to the point of being completely identical with one another—or as different as the player desires.
The Hero, along with the other Heroes of the series, is playable in Dragon Quest: Monster Battle Road II Legend. In that game, the Hero is depicted as the brown-haired boy seen in official illustrations.
Vocation and Skills[edit]
The Hero and Heroine always starts out as a Minstrel, being awarded the title after the inhabitants of Angel Falls confuse their Celestrian clothing for that of a wandering entertainer. Players do posses a few unique skills, however: they receive the Egg On skill is obtained from Patty after a scene at the Quester's Rest early in the game, and will learn the Zoom spell after returning to the Celestrian Observatory aboard the Starflight Express. Very soon after the returning from the Observatory back to the Protectorate, the hero shall be able to change their vocation after obtaining a fygg from the Tower of Trades.
Trivia[edit]
- The hero of Dragon Quest IX is the first mainline hero to be of a fully different race rather than human. Despite this fact, they appear human throughout the game due to losing their halo and wings.
- Many hairstyles available for character customization pay homage to prior character designs created by Akira Toriyama:
- The default hairstyle for a male hero is the same as that of the male Thief from Dragon Quest III.
- One of the available hairstyles for the male hero is identical that of the Hero of Dragon Quest VI, and to Super Saiyan 2 Gohan's from Dragon Ball Z, paying homage to series illustrator Akira Toriyama's famous manga.
- Another hairstyle for a male is a mohawk similar to that of Carver from Dragon Quest VI, as well as Android 16 and Uub from Dragon Ball Z.
- Another hairstyle for males is similar to that of Shu, the protagonist of Blue Dragon, another RPG series illustrated by Toriyama, without the ponytail.
- Many hairstyles available for female characters are drawn from Dragon Quest III. The hairstyles of the female Hero, Mage, Martial Artist, and Thief are all available.
Gallery[edit]
The Male Hero as a Celestrian.
The male Hero in Dragon Quest Rivals.
IX's Hero in the Hero's Final Smash. Note that he's in his Celestrian form.