King of Aliahan
| King of Aliahan | |
| Dragon Quest III | |
| |
| Japanese name | アリアハン王 |
| Romaji | Ōshō no Ariahan |
The King of Aliahan is the ruling monarch of Aliahan, the first kingdom the player explores in Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation.
He rules over the island continent that contains the eponymous town and the village of Reeve, and is gravely concerned with the actions of the archfiend Baramos. He is also a very protective father, refusing to allow his daughter to play outside the castle-town's walls out of fear of the rising monster activity.
Appearances[edit]
Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation[edit]
The King has had a long relationship with the Hero's family, having sent the great Ortega off to assassinate the archfiend Baramos sixteen years before the beginning of the game. When his soldiers bring word that Ortega was last seen at the summit of the Great Pit of Giaga and that no trace of him could be found at the volcano's crater, he assumes the worst and attempts to console the newly-widowed mother of the Hero. The King fears that all hope is lost with Ortega gone, but the young woman assures him that her child will succeed where her husband has failed.
The years pass, and when the Hero comes of age and is escorted to the castle by their mother, the King receives them in high spirits. The King is implied to feel responsible for the death of Ortega, and as such he strongly recommends that the Hero take allies with them to avoid the same fate, explaining the importance of Patty's Party Planning Place. The King then gives the Hero 50 pieces of gold to buy armaments, and wishes them well on their mission.
After the Hero has succeeded in killing Baramos and restoring peace to the world, the King will call for a celebration--he will also give the player a Bastard sword if they defeated the archfiend with the Hero alone. Before the celebration can begin, however, a booming, disembodied voice fills his throne room with mocking laughter. The devil Zoma announces that Baramos was merely an underling of his, and that the true lord of darkness will bring the world under his heel very soon. The King is distraught at this, having his strength robbed of him after finally seeing world peace during his reign only for it to be crushed by a greater evil. He becomes depressed and very short with the Hero, and his minister manages the saving of the player's file for the rest of the game. In the versions of the game based on the 16-bit remake released in 1996, the King will briefly snap out of his slump upon receiving word that Ortega has returned to Aliahan before returning to his normal dialogue lines.
Though the King does not have much dialogue, many of his actions can be inferred by the player even on a casual playthrough. He discreetly sends word of the Hero's mission to the five other monarchs, which is why the player is welcomed in each kingdom and does not have to prove their identity.
Bastard sword reward[edit]
If the Hero is able to defeat Baramos all on their own in the SNES, GBC, or smart phone versions of the game then the King of Aliahan will declare his amazement at the world savior's power, and bequeath a powerful bastard sword to the player as a reward.
"Well met indeed, brave Hero, vanquisher of the Archfiend Baramos! That one such as you should topple such a fearsome tyrant as the Archfiend is miraculous indeed! Truly, you are your father's son, and every bit his equal in prowess! Such excellence demands a recognition. Here! A gift, from your humbled King to you! "
Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age[edit]
The King appears at Baramos' Lair at an unknown point in time, presumably after the death of Zoma. He, the King of Romaria, Portogus Rex of [[Portoga] ], King of Edina, and King of Manoza traveled to the ruined castle to pay respect to the people of the Necrogond and their King who fell when Baramos invaded the isolated land. The group stumbles upon a plot by the fiend's remaining minions to revive him.
The King is the most perceptive of the group, deducing that there is a leader behind the necromancy and that if he is killed then the imprisoned souls can return to their eternal rest and Baramos' posthumous ambitions will be crushed.
After the first quest in Baramos' lair, the fiend is revived through the sacrifice of the Necrogondolier moments after the Luminary departs. The kings scramble to amass their forces and kill Baramos, but his own forces heeded his call and are locked in a stalemate with the humans. The King of Aliahan and his forces penetrate the defenses and confront Baramos in the heart of his lair, with the monarch stating that he is the king of the nation that born the Hero and his father before them, and that he will not leave the throne room until Baramos is vanquished once and for all. After Baramos is killed, the King is overjoyed and states that the Luminary reminds him of the legendary Hero who set out from his kingdom.
The King's marked vigor in both scenarios is likely a direct response to his own Hero's disappearance after the death of Zoma--with no savior to rely upon, he has shaken himself out of the melancholy that plagued him in the final hours of the third game to be the King his people need.
Trivia[edit]
- If the player picks the female Hero in III, the King will mistakenly address her as Ortega's son before correcting himself.
- The King rewarding the Hero with the bastard sword for killing Baramos alone has become a joke among fans, who question why he didn't give the player such an excellent weapon from the beginning and how it was supposed to be used when it was assumed that the world was at peace.
Gallery[edit]
King of Aliahan in Stars
