Hybris

"Without power, how can we hope to protect what is dear to us? Others may shy away from this truth, but not I! With this, the greatest enchantment of them all, I will finally have that power! Time for me to utter the Incantation!"

Hybris
Dragon Quest VII
Art by Akira Toriyama
Japanese name	ゼッペル
Romaji	Zepperu
Old localization	Zeppel
Title	King
Race	Human

Hybris is a character and boss that appears in Dragon Quest VII.

He is the young ruler of the kingdom of Hubble in the past. His name is a play on the term "hubris".

Appearance and Character

In his youth, Hybris was childhood friends with both Martyn and Lucia. However, their friendship was cut short when their kingdom was attacked by the neighboring Rucker Empire, resulting in the death of Lucia. A distraught Hybris vows to become powerful enough to avenge the death of Lucia and destroy the Ruckers. The kingdom of Hubble was forced to become a vassal nation to the Ruckers, but ten years later, Hybris was able to lead a revolution against the Ruckers with the help of magic, leaving them a shell of their former selves. He would ascend the throne even though both of his parents were still alive.

However, the young king still thirsted for more power, vowing to never to be weak against since he couldn't prevent the death of Lucia. He had a falling out with Martyn some time later and the two became estranged. When Martyn and the part are on the verge of preventing Hybris from uttering the Incantation, he reveals the depths of his obsession and his perceived failure at preventing Lucia's death all those years ago. After the Incantation has been cast, Hybris begins to emanate an aura of pure evil—the dark power of the Demon King. In his delusion, he believes that he has become powerful enough to save Lucia, but he becomes consumed by its power and is transformed into a monster with the appearance of a Sculpture vulture. In the Nintendo 3DS version, he has a unique appearance with a darker color scheme and solid green eyes.

Story

By the time the Hero and the party arrive to Hubble, it has grown to become a powerful kingdom of wizards. With the help of a missive from the Wizz at the Grand Conjuratorium, they are able to get an audience with King Hybris, who is in the middle of meeting with the Envoy, who gives the young king a tome detailing the Incantation (マナスティス, Manastis), a powerful and forbidden spell that was sealed away because it led to the fragmenting of the islands. Hybris becomes annoyed at the old wizard's attempts to stop him from reviving the Incantation and sends the party back to the Grand Conjuratorium to tell him to stop meddling.

After heading back to the Grand Conjuratorium, the Wizz tells the party to head back to Hubble to keep an eye on the king while he continues to work on his spell. Just as the group arrives back in town, they are confronted by the Envoy himself, who reveals himself to be a monster and a servant of the Demon King, who states that Hybris will become a god of destruction and the world will be torn apart, but soon the king himself will be consumed by his new power. The mage then challenges the party to a battle, but he is defeated shortly after. With his last words, the Envoy says that defeating him was pointless since it's too late to stop the king from reviving the Incantation before fading away.

King Hybris in the Inquisitory about to receive the Incantation's power.

The party then enters the Inquisitory where Hybris is on the verge of completing the Incantation. Father Martyn is there as well, confronting the wizards who refuse to let him through. Martyn then forces himself in order to prevent the spell's completion. There in the Inquisitory's basement, the king and the chancellor are adding the finishing touches to the spell and Hybris states that soon Martyn will witness the birth of a power beyond both man and god. Hybris then reveals that he has been unable to forget the death of Lucia, but soon he will have enough power to protect anything that is dear to him. The Incantation works, but the king begins to emanate an aura of pure evil and he makes his way back to the castle. The chancellor then tells the party he was wrong to go along with the young king's plans and asks them to stop Hybris before it's too late.

Back on the bridge leading to the castle, a delusional Hybris declares that he finally has the power to save Lucia. On the very same fateful place where Lucia lost her life all those years ago, Hybris becomes consumed and he transforms into a monstrous form. He then challenges the party to a hopeless battle, where they are swiftly defeated with the help of his new power. Luckily, the Wizz arrives just in time to revive the party with his magic and they rush to the throne room. Hybris casts a spell to destroy the throne room and revels in his newfound power. The Wizz then reveals to the party that the spell he was working on before is now complete—the Great Leveller—which manages to weaken Hybris enough for the party to be able to face him in battle.

Now that he has been weakened, the party is on equal footing with the king and is able to defeat him after a tough battle. Hybris loses consciousness afterwards and is able to return to normal, to the relief of Father Martyn. The full power of the Incantation is sealed away once more and the party takes a rest afterwards. When they wake up, the Queen Mother thanks both the party and the Wizz for their deeds and for saving the kingdom. They then speak with Hybris, who is still resting in bed after the ordeal, who tells the party he owes them a debt of gratitude. He then says he hopes it is not too late to atone for his sins and hopes that the people of Hubble can live in peace from now on.

Boss Encounter

Hybris (first battle) (ゼッペル Zepperu)

Sprite	HP	MP	Attack	Defense
	40,000	Unlimited	270	200
Agility	Experience	Gold	Tame Rate
37	1	1	N/a

Bestiary No.	Unnumbered boss
Spell(s)	Kafrizzle Kasizzle Kaboom
Skill(s)	Occasionally acts twice per turn. Desperate attack
Location(s)	Hubble (past)
Item(s) Dropped	N/a

Evasion	Frizz Resistance *	Sizz Resistance *	Fire Breath Resistance *
0/64	60%	60%	50%
Bang Resistance *	Crack Resistance *	Ice Breath Resistance *	Woosh Resistance *
60%	60%	50%	60%
Strike/Rock Resistance *	Zap Resistance *	Drain Magic Resistance *	Whack Resistance *
50%	60%	100%	100%
Poof Resistance *	Poison Resistance *	Burning Breath Resistance	Fuddle Resistance *
100%	100%	100%	100%
Snooze Resistance *	Dazzle Resistance *	Fizzle Resistance *	Ban Dance Resistance
100%	100%	100%	100%
Stun Resistance *	Sap Resistance *	Army Resistance *
100%	100%	50%

3DS version changes

None

Hybris (second battle) (ゼッペル Zepperu)

Sprite	HP	MP	Attack	Defense
	2,200	Unlimited	165	90
Agility	Experience	Gold	Tame Rate
82	2,260	710	N/a

Bestiary No.	Unnumbered boss
Spell(s)	Kafrizzle Kasizzle
Skill(s)	Occasionally acts twice per turn. Chilly Breath
Location(s)	Hubble (past)
Item(s) Dropped	None

Evasion	Frizz Resistance *	Sizz Resistance *	Fire Breath Resistance *
0/64	0%	0%	0%
Bang Resistance *	Crack Resistance *	Ice Breath Resistance *	Woosh Resistance *
0%	0%	0%	0%
Strike/Rock Resistance *	Zap Resistance *	Drain Magic Resistance *	Whack Resistance *
0%	0%	100%	100%
Poof Resistance *	Poison Resistance *	Burning Breath Resistance	Fuddle Resistance *
100%	100%	100%	100%
Snooze Resistance *	Dazzle Resistance *	Fizzle Resistance *	Ban Dance Resistance
100%	100%	100%	100%
Stun Resistance *	Sap Resistance *	Army Resistance *
100%	15%	0%

3DS version changes

None

Strategy

The first battle against Hybris is one of the few in the game that the party will not be able to win in most circumstances. He has an absurdly high amount of HP, can act twice per turn, frequently casts powerful spells against the party, and is capable of landing Desperate attacks. In the 3DS version, it is impossible to win against Hybris in any case, possibly due to him recovering all of HP at the end of each turn, preventing the party from dealing any significant damage to him.

During the second battle against Hybris, he is much more manageable due to the Wizz's casting of The Great Leveller. He loses some of the abilities from the first battle, including the ability to land Desperate attacks and Freezing Blizzard, but he can still be a challenging opponent. Attack magic will work normally against him and he only has a slight resistance against Sap. It is recommended to protect the party by casting both Insulatle and Magic Barrier. As long as the player does not let their healer fall to Hybris's spells, he will eventually be defeated.

Gallery

• 

  Boss encounter in the 3DS version.

Related Enemies

• Aggrosculpture
• Arrghgoyle
• Garth Goyle
• Grrrgoyle
• Sculptrice
• Sculpture vulture
• Sinisculpture