Monster recruitment

The cast of Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation along with several monstrous mates and Lizzie.

Introduced in Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride, the recruitment of bested beasts has appeared in some capacity in nearly every title in the series since 1992. Specifically, the system was present in every even-numbered title beginning with Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation until the release of the HD-2D remake of the third game in 2024.

Monster recruitment has been a core aspect of the Dragon Quest Monsters spin-off series since its inception in 1996 , as the player takes the role of a Monster Wrangler who is unable to fight his or her own battles.

Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake

Monster recruitment is featured Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake for the new Monster Arena, which replaces the tradtional gambling dens in previous versions of the game. There players compose a team of monsters they have recruited, and have them challenge opposing contestents to earn prizes.

Throughout the world, players will find friendly monsters living in various parts of town or dungeons, and are tasked by Monty the Monster Monitor to rescue them. While they do not attack humans, these monsters are very timid and will run away due to their strong sense of smell or hearing altering them of the party’s precense. In order to approach them: the use of Musk will allow the party to cover their scent, while the skill Padfoot prevents the monster from hearing the party’s footsteps. Additionally, the presense of a Monster Wrangler will allow the party to approach monsters without the need of either effect.

Some monsters found in towns or Secret Spots will also take on the form of humans to better hide. These monsters cannot be recruited until the player has obtained Ra’s Mirror in order to remove their disguise.

Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride

Monster recruitment was simplistic in its original inception, being a fixed percentage that could not be changed by the player. If multiple recruitable monsters appear in the same encounter, only the final felled foe will have a chance to join the Hero. In the Nintendo DS and cell phone versions, monster allies will only alternate between two lines of dialogue during Party Chat, as opposed to the fuller conversations of human characters.

As of 2019, the Cell phone ports saw the addition of the Monster magnet accessory for the the Hero, which when equipped can increase the odds of a monster joining up by one rank. This is likely due to the release of Dragon Quest: Your Story, which would have attracted a new audience to the title and such players would have desired an easier time collecting monsters.

Sprite	Monster Name	SFC	PS2	DS & Phone	Tame Rate	Level required	Recruitment locations
	Archdemon	No	No	Yes	1⁄64	30	Mantleplace
	Bad apple	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄4	7	Faerie Lea, Dwarf's Den
	Barbatos	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄256	41	Estark's Labyrinth
	Battle pip	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄16	7	Faerie Lea
	Beastmaster	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄4	30	Mantleplace
	Blizzybody	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄64	26	Estuary Sanctuary
	Bomboulder	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄256	30	Neverglade, Talon Tower, Estark's Labyrinth
	Brownie	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄4	7	Whealbrook Adit, Fortuna area, Talon Tower area
	Chimaera	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄16	15	Mount Magmageddon
	Conkerer	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	27	Neverglade area, Stairway to Zenithia area
	Conkjurer	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	27	Neverglade area, Stairway to Zenithia area
	Conkuisitor	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	27	Neverglade area, Stairway to Zenithia area
	Conkuistador	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	27	Neverglade area, Stairway to Zenithia area
	Cross eye	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	9	Abovitall Tower, Scary Lair, Zoomingale Tunnel
	Cureslime	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄64	16	Dominicus' Dominion area, Cataract Caves, Helmunaptra area
	Dracky	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄4	7	Coburg area, Fortuna area,
	Drag-goof	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄16	18	Gotha Path, Gotha area
	Dwight	No	Yes	Yes	N/A	N/A	Dwarf's Den (3rd generation)
	Epipany	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄16	7	Faerie Lea
	Fandangow	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	9	Coburg area
	Fat rat	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄2	7	Talon Tower area
	Flamethrower	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄64	16	Helmunaptra area, Mount Magmageddon
	Funghoul	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄16	7	Coburg area, Zoomingale area, Whealbrook area, Fortuna area
	Ghost	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄2	7	Porgie Estate
	Gigantes	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	34	Nadiria, Estark's Labyrinth
	Golem	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄4	25	Lofty Peak area, summoned by Metal dragons and Muddy hands.
	Goodybag	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄16	16	Mount Magmageddon, Cataract Caves
	Great dragon	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄64	35	Nadiria, Estark's Labyrinth
	Grudgerigar	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	9	Coburg castle dungeon, Fortuna area
	Hades' helm	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄64	29	Diggery Pokery, Mantleplace
	Hawk man	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	23	Knightmare Towers
	Healslime	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	7	Abovitall Tower, Faerie Lea
	Hellion	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	23	Knightmare Towers
	Hoodlum	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄16	25	Stairway to Zenithia, Lofty Peak area, Central Continent
	Hulagan	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄16	9	Abovitall Tower, Hay area
	Hyperanemon	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄64	41	Estark's Labyrinth
	Jailcat	No	No	Yes	1⁄16	7	Fortuna area
	Killing machine	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄256	34	Nadiria, Estark's Labyrinth
	King cureslime	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄64	28	Stairway to Zenithia
	King slime	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄64	10	Helmunaptra area, Dominicus' Dominion area
	Liquid metal slime	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄256	20	Central Continent, Gotha Path, Riteof Passage, Knightmare Towers, Ancient Ruins area (G3), Mantleplace, Nadiria, Estark's Labyrinth,
	Magic marionette	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	12	Mostroferrato area, Scuttlebutt area
	Man o' war	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄2	18	Ocean
	Mandrake marshal	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	32	Talon Tower, Crocodilopolis, Estark's Labyrinth
	Metal slime	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄256	7	Whealbrook Adit (G2), Abovitall Tower, Scary Lair, Cataract Caves, Dominicus' Dominion, Neverglade, Nadiria, Estark's Labyrinth
	Minidemon	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	20	Gotha Path, Knightmare Towers
	Moosifer	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄4	30	Neverglade, Talon Tower
	Mudraker	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄4	11	Scary Lair
	Old man of the sea	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	25	Ocean
	Orc king	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄4	21	Gotha area, Riteof Passage
	Pip fighter	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄16	7	Faerie Lea
	Pocus poppet	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄16	10	Scary Lair, Zoomingale outskirts, Lodestar Harbor outskirts
	Powie yowie	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	7	Coburg area
	Prestidigitator	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄4	10	Scary Lair area, Fairy Lea, Lodestar Harbor area, Zoomingale area
	Rebjørn	No	Yes	Yes	N/A	N/A	The Pothold
	Restless armour	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄64	10	Scary Lair area, Abovitall Tower, Zoomingale area
	Revaulting horse	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄16	27	Central Continent
	Rockbomb	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄64	15	Mount Magmageddon, Knightmare Towers
	Rotten apple	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄2	7	Coburg area
	Saber	Yes	Yes	Yes	N/A	N/A	Roundbeck
	Samigina	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	20	Gotha area, Riteof Passage, Knightmare Towers
	Slime	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄2	7	Whealbrook Adit, Fortuna outskirts, Dominicus Dominion, Desert near Talon Tower
	Slime knight	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄4	7	Fortuna area, Coburg area
	Small fry	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄16	7	Fortuna area, Coburg area
	Snowbird	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	34	Nadiria
	Starkers	No	Yes	Yes	N/A	N/A	Estark's Labyrinth -Stark Raving T'N'T board
	Ticking timeburrm	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	7	Whealbrook area, Fortuna area
	Walking corpse	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	7	Coburg castle dungeon, Whealbrook Adit
	Warhog	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	28	Diggery Pokery, Talon Tower, Mantleplace
	Wax murderer	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄16	7	Porgie Estate
	Wiz pip	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄16	7	Faerie Lea

Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation

In the original SFC version of VI monster recruitment worked identically to V, though someone in the party must be a Monster Master for the chance to activate. When the DS version (and subsequent Cell phone ports) were produced, this mechanic was retired in favor of "Slime Buddies": Slimes players could interact with in towns and dungeons like NPCs who would join the party once certain conditions were met as was the case with Lizzie. These Slimes are not treated as full characters, however, and thus lack the detailed Party Chat of humans and Lizzie.

In both versions of the game, any recruited Slime may enter into the gladiatorial contests at Slimopolis.

Available in the SFC version

Sprite	Monster Name	Tame Rate	Rank required
	Damned ram	1⁄16	4
	Boss troll	1⁄16	5
	Dreamaera	1⁄32	4
	Feralball	1⁄4	1
	Gustbluster	1⁄64	3
	Healslime	1⁄16	2
	High djinks	1⁄256	8
	King slime	1⁄64	5
	Lesser demon	1⁄4	3
	Liquid metal slime	1⁄256	6
	Lips	1⁄64	1
	Mud mannequin	1⁄64	2
	Overkilling machine	1⁄64	7
	Rockbomb	1⁄32	4
	Slime	1⁄2	1
	Slime knight	1⁄4	2
	Sluggernaut	1⁄4	3
	Walking corpse	1⁄32	2

Available in the DS & phone versions

Sprite	Monster Name	Location
	Goowain	Howcastle
	Healie	Clearvale
	Spot	Castle Graceskull
	Kingsley	Château de Sass
	Goober	Slimopolis
	Lizzie	Arkbolt
	Curie	Suite Dreams
	Shelley	Underwater Inn
	Mercury	Suite Dreams

Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past

Monster recruitment is not present in the seventh game; instead, monsters will sojourn off to a sort of wild life reserve called the Monster Meadows that is unlocked during the normal course of the game. Once there, they can be spoken to in their natural habitat as if they were NPCs, though only three lines of dialogue will be spoken. The Animal Magnetism skill makes taming these beasts much easier than in previous games, being the first time a player has direct influence on the probability in a numbered title.

Additionally, defeated monsters will occasionally drop Monster Hearts. These function similarly to the Dragonic Diligence and Liquid Metal Mind scrolls from VI, and allow the character holding them to take on monster-based vocations at Alltrades Abbey. The main difference is that a character's sprite will change into the corresponding monster once the vocation is mastered.

• In the 3DS remake, the character will immediately become a monster after using a heart.

Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King

In the PS2 version of the game, players will notice several monsters wandering the overworld. These infamous beasties prove much more capable than their randomly encountered counterparts, but once the player pays a visit to Morrie's place they can join the party. This allows the monsters to enter the competition in Morrie's Monstrous Pit, and through the use of the Call Team skill they may be summoned into battle for 3 or more turns. All recruited monsters grow more powerful as the Hero's Level rises, and do not need to gain battle Experience themselves.

• In the Nintendo 3DS port, all monsters are visible in the overworld, with the infamous monsters being given distinctive icons.

Available in all versions

• Archer
• Archfiend
• Arges
• Big Al
• Bishop
• Bladewolf
• Blizag Jr
• Bones
• Brickman
• Brontes
• Bush-W
• Capers
• Clio
• Cowboy
• Curer
• Cybot
• Deadnoble
• Dolldrums
• Doug
• Dumbking
• Fat cat
• Faunus
• Flameman
• Fletch
• Foul fowl
• Frillsaur
• Goldman
• Gryphus
• Hackzilla
• Hazel
• Healer
• Hev
• Hoodwink
• Hori
• Hork
• Jack Frost
• Jewelbag
• Jockey
• Klub kong
• Lonely Joe
• McHammer
• Mechabubo
• Metabble
• Metaly
• Moppet
• Mornstar
• Nightwing
• Nohi
• Octurion
• Orcus
• Orrid
• Pa Troll
• Potbelly
• Roborg
• Robster
• Sagittari
• Salsa
• Scorpius
• Seasaw
• Sippy
• Skeledoid
• Slurpy
• Smiles
• Snap Case
• Spike
• Spot
• Squiggles
• Steropes
• Stoneman
• Sugi
• Talos
• Torchman
• Tori
• Trick Bag
• Twiggy

Dragon Quest X

Certain monsters can be recruited by players beginning in version 2.0, which saw the return of the Monster Wrangler vocation to the series after nearly 14 years of absence. Version 2.1 added the Item Master vocation and it's selection of monsters. The former tames organic monsters, while the latter handles living objects and robots, with each having 15 species to choose from.

Taming itself is fairly simple, but players must perform research on the species they want prior to the encounter. This is done in the form of obtaining zoological books on monsters or user manuals for machines, and using one as an item in battle to unlock the scouting attack for that particular breed. This attack creates a base 10% chance to capture the monster once it falls. The skill does not need to be the final blow of the battle; as long as it has been used over the course of the encounter the chance to recruit the beast is established. Once tamed, the monster can join the player immediately or be sent off to the monster bar where most scouting books are obtained, and one character can store up to 24 monsters at the pub.

Monsters that have joined players are controlled through A.I. dependent on their personality and essentially serve as party members for times when the player's friends and comrades are offline. Monsters have a Level cap of 50, but can undergo a process similar to a Revocation to further raise their stats. The equipment pool of a given monster is fixed and cannot be changed, but gear can be shared between the monster and master: for example a Monster Master and Hacksaurus can simultaneously wield the same Kaiser axe in a battle for the sake of player convenience. New to the series is the concept of bonding, a stat that denotes the level of attachment a monster has to its master and is raised by fighting together. Raising this stat will confer benefits such as additional skill points, and once this stat reaches a certain threshold, a monster will follow a character regardless of their Vocation.

Monster Name	Version available	Weapon	Armour	Book
Brownie	2.4	Hammers	Heavy armour	Monster battle road prize
Chimaera	2.0	Wands	Robes	Casino prize
Dracky	2.3	Heavy wands	Robes	Monster battle road prize
Great sabrecat	4.1	Claws	Clothing	Monster drop
Hacksaurus	2.0	Axes	Heavy armour	Casino prize
Healslime	2.0	Wands	Robes	Sold at tavern
Imp	2.2	Spears	Robes	Sold at tavern
Jailcat	2.0	Claws	Robes	Monster drop
Mandrake major	2.0	Swords	Heavy armour	Sold at tavern
Meowgician	2.0	Heavy wands	Robes	Sold at tavern
Mischievous mole	2.0	Staves	Clothing	Monster drop
Slime	2.0	Boomerangs	Clothing	Sold at tavern
Slime knight	2.0	Swords	Heavy armour	Sold at tavern
Small fry	2.2	Claws	Clothing	Sold at tavern
Teeny sanguini	2.0	Wands	Robes	Sold at tavern

Monster Name	Version available	Weapon	Armor	Book
Bambooligan	2.1	Spears	Heavy armour	Sold at tavern
Fromage fray	2.1	Heavy wands	Robes	Sold at tavern
Golem	2.1	Greatswords	Heavy armour	Sold at tavern
Goodybag	2.1	Fans	Robes	Casino prize
Harmour	2.1	Swords	Heavy armour	Casino prize
Hat hamwitch	2.1	Heavy wands	Robes	Monster drop
Hellbound horror	2.3	Axes	Clothing	Sold at tavern
Killing machine	2.2	Greatswords	Heavy armour	Sold at tavern
Magic marionette	2.2	Knives	Clothing	Sold at tavern
Mecha-mynah	2.1	Claws	Clothing	Sold at tavern
Needle man	2.1	Knives	Clothing	Sold at tavern
Pocus poppet	4.2	Boomerangs	Clothing	Monster drop
Prancing pillar	2.1	Fans	Clothing	Sold at tavern
Restless armour	2.1	Swords	Heavy armour	Sold at tavern
Wardrobe mimic	2.4	Bows	Robes	Sold at tavern

Dragon Quest Builders 2

On explorer's shores after Skelkatrez, one can recruit monsters with Monster munchies. When a monster that can be tamed is defeated, there is a chance that it will stand up instead of fading away and a thirty second timer will begin to count down--the munchies must be used in this period or the monster will become annoyed and go away.

Tamed monsters join the residents of the Island of Awakening as NPCs, who go about their daily routines as the other islanders do, and some have special effects: the Chimaeras can be ridden to fly, the Powie yowie can be given an ice lolly to spread snow, the Liquid metal slime will play tag once a day for 100 hearts, etc.

Sprite	Monster Name	Location	Gimmick
	Bloody Hand	Unholy Holm	Plays with islanders Crafts items at workstations
	Brownie	Iridescent Island	Demolishes blocks marked with a smashing sign
	Chimaera	Blossom Bay	Flying mount Cooks food at bonfires
	Corpse Corporal	Laguna Perfuma	Bartender
	Cosmic Chimaera	Rimey Reef	Flying mount Cooks food at bonfires
	Ghoul	Rimey Reef	Bartender
	Gold Golem	Coral Cay	Can use terraforma tiles Melee mount
	Golem	Sunny Sands (one per visit)	Can use terraforma tiles Mount
	Great Sabrecub	Blossom Bay	Double-jump mount
	Great Sabrecat	Soggy Skerry	Double-jump mount
	Hammerhood	Sunny Sands	Demolishes blocks marked with a smashing sign
	Healslime	nearly all Explorer's Shores	Casts Heal in battle Bartender
	Hocus Chimaera	Iridescent Island	Flying mount Cooks food at bonfires
	Hunter Mech	Rimey Reef	Farmer
	Killing Machine	Laguna Perfuma	Farmer
	Living Statue	Rimey Reef (one per visit)	Produces dyes at stain extractors
	Liquid Metal Slime	Laguna Perfuma	Plays tag
	Muddy Hand	Soggy Skerry	Plays with islanders Crafts items at workstations
	Powie Yowie	Rimey Reef	Feed ice lollies to freeze ground
	She-Slime	Sunny Sands	Double-jump mount Produces Orange oil at bonfires
	Slime	Blossom Bay	Double-jump mount Produces Blue goo at bonfires
	Stone Golem	Iridescent Island (one per visit)	Can use terraforma tiles Melee mount
	Stone Guardian	Unholy Holm	Produces dyes at stain extractors
	Walking Corpse	Soggy Skerry	Bartender

Dragon Quest Monsters 1 & 2

While monsters retain a base chance to join the player upon defeat as in previous games, the chance can be greatly enhanced by using monster munchies in battle.

Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker series

Recruitment is implemented via the Scout option in the battle menu. When selected, the player's team of monsters will perform a group assault on the target to impress the monster into joining. The percentile chance is displayed onscreen, and can easily reach 100% if the group's sum attack power is high enough. However, if the enemy is too durable then the assault can easily leave the player with a big fat 0%--it is imperative to apply Oomph and Sap to raise the chances even higher.

• In Joker 2, tossing a bundle of beastie bites at the foe will raise the chance by a flat 10%.

Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince

Monster recruitment builds upon the foundation laid by the Joker sub-series, but now the wisdom stat will be used for scouting calculation if it is higher than a monster's attack stat. Additionally the Big Bully and Little Menace will increase the scouting chance when used against larger or smaller monsters.

Gallery

• 

  Level requirements and percentages in V.

• 

  Tara & Cobi demonstrating the day-to-day obligations of raising monsters; it isn't all just battles