Jipangese swordsmith
| Jipangese swordsmith | |
| Dragon Quest III Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake | |
| Japanese name | ジパングの刀鍛冶 |
| Romaji | Jipangu no katakankaji |
| Race | Human |
The Jipangese swordsmith is an unnamed craftsman who plays an instrumental role in the slaying of the archfiend Zoma and the establishment of the legacy of Erdrick.
Appearances[edit]
Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation[edit]
The swordsmith and his wife fled from their native Jipang when she was selected by empress Pimiko to be the next sacrifice to the dragon Orochi. The lovers eventually made their way to the Great Pit of Giaga and threw themselves in to the abyss, inadvertently landing in the underworld of Alefgard after surviving the fall. They made a new life for themselves in the village of Kol, with the swordsmith becoming a merchant; he adjusted his speech to the local dialect, abandoning his people's habit of speaking in haiku. The other villagers see the couple as an oddity but welcome them nonetheless.
The swordsmith can put his skills to use in one final masterpiece if the Hero sells him the orichalcum ore found in the stables of Damdara. He will use the mythical metal to forge a new Sword of Kings and sell it to the player for 35,000; subtracting the 22,500 the smith paid for the orichalcum, the real price is 12,500.
When spoken to after Zoma is slain, the swordsmith has come to terms with never seeing his homeland again and acknowledges Kol as his new home.
Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake[edit]
The swordsmith was embellished into a fully-fledged in the transition to HD. In this version of the game he and his wife lived along with his sister in a large home that doubled as his workshop, where he continued the family tradition of forging weapons with ancient hammer passed down through antiquity. Refusing to accept his wife's fate when she was selected to be the next sacrifice, the two fled the golden country and entered the underworld as in past iterations of the game. When spoken to in Kol, the swordsmith tells his story to the Hero through haiku and laments the loss of his idyllic life. He is unable to practice his trade in his adopted home due to losing his hammer in the forests of Jipang when fleeing the country, and has thus been reduced to selling meager items to provide for his wife.
As fortune would have it the hammer is not lost, having been returned to the smith's home by a fellow countryman who stumbled upon it by chance. Presenting the heirloom to the smith will push him beyond elation, so much so that he ceases to speak in haiku, and swears to find a way to repay the player's kindness. He explains that his family's hammer is said to have been used to create an unparalleled sword long, long ago and hopes to do the same for the Hero. When spoken to after this the swordsmith will tell the Hero that he has heard rumor of the legendary blade that was kept in Tantegel castle until it was destroyed by Zoma, and asserts that he would be able to restore it now that he has his hammer. In the mean time he has been busy forging weapons to sell, adding the falcon blade and sandstorm spear to shop among other pieces of equipment.
When the player brings the broken blade and orichalcum to the swordsmith he will be inspired to forge his life's work, undoing the damage that took Zoma three years to inflict in a single night by restoring the Sword of Kings to its former might. The swordsmith refuses all compensation for the masterpiece, stating his gratitude to the Hero not just for reuniting him with his family's legacy but also for saving his people from the scourge of Orochi. He also admits he used to despise the hardships that drove he and his wife in to a miserable world of unending night, but now he sees that it was no less than destiny itself guiding him to where he was meant to be.
Trivia[edit]
- Despite his skill in forging weapons the swordsmith only sells common, disposable items in the pre-HD versions of the game.