Tsar Stepan
| Stepan | |
| Dragon Quest IV | |
| Japanese name | サントハイム王 |
| Romaji | Santoheimu Ō |
| Title | Tsar |
| Race | Human |
| Family | Alena (daughter) |
Tsar Stepan is the ruler of Zamoksva and the rest of the continent. He is the protective father of Tsarevna Alena.
Characteristics[edit]
Tsar Stepan is overly protective of his daughter, who is a tomboy and enjoys physical combat, much to his and her mentor's chagrin. Stepan's late wife was considered to be the complete opposite of their daughter, being more lady-like and well behaved. Stepan's protectiveness of Alena makes her feel smothered and drives her to rebel by escaping the confines of the castle (as he would not let her leave) by breaking down and leaving through her bedroom wall. He is not unreasonable, however, as by the time he realizes that detaining his daughter is practically impossible, he allows her to explore the rest of the kingdom with the protection of Borya and Kiryl but not beyond.
Stepan has the unique ability to see visions of the future, a trait that runs in his family (although not including Alena). As a child, Stepan entered a trance-like state in the middle of the night, woke up his mentor and requested him to write a message to be hidden in the next town over. The message was written for his future child, detailing that she is a Chosen One and is destined to save the world. Stepan had no memory of this the next morning. As an adult, Stepan received a vision foretelling the rise of the Lord of the Underworld, which would lead to him being cursed with the inability to speak as well as the mysterious disappearance of the entire palace by those who do not want him to spread any information.
Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen[edit]
Tsar Stepan appears in Chapter 2. Worried about his daughter's capricious behavior and her safety, he forbids her daughter from leaving the castle. This does not deter Alena, as she proceeds to kick down her bedroom wall and escape through the hole. Knowing now that nothing he does will stop his daughter, he allows Alena to explore the rest of the kingdom while being accompanied by Kiryl and Borya.
Later, Stepan has a prophetic vision of Estark, the Lord of the Underworld, awakening from his thousand-year slumber and destroying the world. He is subsequently cursed by Psaro the Manslayer with loss of his voice so that he does not spread word of the events to come. One of his soldiers take off to the Desert Bazaar where he finds Alena and informs her of the situation. The trio return to the castle and, with information obtained from a bard named Josef Starling, find and bring him a cure for the curse, Birdsong nectar. Regaining his voice, Stepan informs Alena the contents of his vision. Now having more faith in his daughter and her ability to fend for herself, he allows her access to the Zamoksva/Endor Teleportal so that she may compete in the Tournament of Endor.
At the end of the chapter, Stepan and the rest of the castle denizens mysteriously disappear (save for a cat roaming on the castle roof). Alena and her companions set out to discover what happened. Stepan and the castle denizens return after the completion of the game.
