Monsters

Slime, the mascot monsters of the Dragon Quest series.

For the first game of spinoff series, see Dragon Warrior Monsters.

Monsters (モンスター Monsutā or 魔物 Mamono, lit. "Mysterious Creature") are creatures that exist on the Dragon Quest universe, and more often than not the primary antagonists across each story.

However, sometimes. the Japanese word used to describe monsters is " 魔族", "Mazoku", which can mean both a sort of "Demon" or "Magical creature", and it often used interchangeably to refer to proper Demons or just Monsters. In Dragon Quest IV, the term is conflated with "monster", and ever since then the word has been frequently used as a default "catch-all" term to describe creatures that fall in-between being proper monsters and Demonic beings, like witches, such as Valencia and Krystalinda, other transformed beings, or even true Demons, leading to some confusion on which one is which.

General description

Usually, "monster" is a general term used to describe any type of creature that bears ill-will on humanity and its allies; as such any wildlife, plantlife, demon, dragon and even some individual humans and dwarfs can sometimes be categorized as monsters, making it an extremely vast and variegated group of life forms, with some species barely possessing animal-like minds, while others are fully sentient beings.

This is further complicated by the fact that several circumstances, which may include magic rituals, outside input from someone else, tragic demises or even strong grudges, can potentially transform any individual into a monster, not to mention that even artificially created monsters are possible to exist. It's also possible, although much rarer, for the inverse to also occur, and a monster being able to transform into a human permanently.

Nevertheless, regardless of the species they belong to, monsters consider other monsters as their brethren, although it is not uncommon for a stronger species to bully or even prey upon the weaker ones. Another characteristic common among most monster species is an extremely extended lifespan, being able to naturally live on for several centuries and even millennia compared to humankind.

According to individuals with particularly strong senses of smell, such as Ruff or Meena, Monsters also possess a characteristic scent, and areas theeming with them are usually completely overwhelmed by the stench, often indicating great danger.

Relationship with humanity

Across the multiverse of realities, the confict between humans and monsters is a deep-rooted one, with only a handful of remarkable exeptions existing. Most human settlements, even the more peaceful ones, live in constant fear that a monster attack could potentially wipe them out and burn their homes to the ground. This fear has led humankind as a whole to have heavy prejudices towards monsterkind, not helped by the underhanded and devious tactics often deployed by the most abhorrent members of the latter, creating a vicious cycle of hate between the two. The few individuals that show curiosity or even appreciation towards monsters are more often than not ostracized and viewed with suspicion by their fellow citizens, with the reverse also happening on the monster's side.

As such, numerous demons or monsters with incredibly cruel and malicious psyches, are usually found in command of vast armies of monsters with the intent to take over the world for themselves. The reasons for the monsters to serve such evil masters often vary, with some having decided to do so willingly, either out of loyalty for their brethren, not knowing any better, or due to their own rotten and malevolent personalities, while in other cases, individual monsters are being actually forced into servitude.

That being said, while still recognizing themselves as monsterkind, not all monsters are hostile to humans. In fact, several peaceful monsters, some even belonging to otherwise ferocious species, can seldomly be found befriending and living in peace alongside humans or other races, sometimes even actively fighting at their side in the struggle against the rest of their kind.

This however is often done while lamenting the fact that their brethren cannot unanimously get along with humanity, and also with most of these valiant monsters first having to overcome several hardships in order to be accepted.

In general monsterkind is intrinsically susceptible to the forces of darkness, with a strong surge of darkness being able to empower even the weakest of monsters to dangerous levels. It is due to this that on several occasions, evil beings commanding tremendous power over darkness have successfully been able to bend the minds of monsters against their will, brainwashing en-masse even the most peaceful ones into servitude, with only individuals with strong personal volitions being able to resist the outside control.

Behavior within the series

In the Dragon Quest main series titles and in most of the spin-offs, the vast majority of the wild monsters met are enemies that attack the protagonists and their parties on sight. Beginning with Dragon Quest V however, a monster recruitment feature was introduced, allowing the heroes, under different situations and conditions across the series, to add monsters to the party so that they may aid it throughout the story, although it should be noted that the first instance of this phenomenon actually started in the previous title Dragon Quest IV, thanks to the temporary party members Healie and Sparkie.

As a notable example of the contrary, in the Dragon Quest Monsters spin-off series wild monsters play instead a much larger and central role, as the heroes are natively required to recruit or scout enemy monsters in order to assemble a party. Once successfully recruited/scouted, and upon reaching certain levels, these monsters can then be further bred or synthesised by combining or evolving (depending on the mechanics) into stronger species with improved stats.

Families

Monsters in the Dragon Quest series are separated into several families depending on their key features and details, although the criteria under which species is classified under which family are somewhat flexible and sometimes not immediately apparent.

As such, the classification of some monsters may vary greatly depending on the title; for example, while the common Slime has always been classified as part of the Slime family, that is not the case for other monster species, such as the Merman, who has sometimes been labelled as part of the Aquatic family, Nature family, Beast family or even Demon family.

Slime Family

Main article: Slime family

The slime family is a family of monsters closely related to the common Slime. Generally characterized by a soft, gelatinous body, members of the slime family are often among the weakest of monsterkind as whole, but also one of the families more prone to develop friendly relationships with humans.

The slime family is also well known to house a peculiar and infamous sub-family, the metal slime family, a group of monsters with a silvery metallic sheen characterized by nigh indestructible bodies, due to having both a high physical defense and immunity to most spells, a incredible speed and agility often used to flee from battle and, above all else, being able to reward incredible amounts of exp if defeated in battle.

Note: while sharing all of the above characteristics with the metal slimes, not all metallic, exp-rich monsters are also slime monsters, such as the Metal mannequin who is instead a Material monster. However, such examples are so rare that the slime family still holds the vast majority of the highest exp-givers of the series.

Beast Family

Main article: Beast family

The beast family is a family of monsters closely related to wildlife, with many bearing a passing resemblance to big cats, lizards, wolves, primates and the like. As such many monsters of the beast family lack a higher awareness of the world or speech, often being just a little smarter than normal beasts.

Bird Family

Main article: Bird family

Similarly to the beast family, the bird family is a family of monsters that closely resemble avian creatures or have the ability to fly.

Bug Family

Main article: Bug family

The Bug Family refers to monsters that take on forms of insects, arachnids, gastropods or even amphibians.

Aquatic Family

Main article: Aquatic family

A variegated group, the aquatic family is a family of monsters that strictly live near or in bodies of water, bearing resemblance to several types of fishes, crustaceans, octopi, sea-dragons and other sea-dwelling creatures.

Dragon Family

Main article: Dragon family

As a general rule, the dragon family encompasses any type of monster that resembles dragons, lizards, snakes, or turtles; however, this is not a universal rule, as some dragon-shaped monsters could actually be classified as members of other families, with the inverse also being true; As examples, both the DrakMachine and the Metal Dragon despite being dragon-shaped are actually part of the Machine family, while the Snapdragon is a dragon family member despite being entirely composed if thorny vines, characteristic that would normally place them as Plant family.

One of the strongest families, many dragons are gifted with not only higher thought, but also superior strength, wisdom and magic, and as such many dragons have become some of the most powerful individuals of certain worlds, some even ascending into godhood. Some of these powerful dragons have chosen to live peacefully and become pillars of the world, like the Zenith Dragon, the Yggdragon, Greygnarl or Gragwort, while others, like the Dragonlord, Barbarus, Nadraga or Shadroth have let their worst traits rule them and have become forces of destruction.

It should be noted that a common trait exibited by some dragons have the ability to turn into humanlike bodies, either as an inherent racial trait, such as the Dragovians or the Dragon race from Astoltia, or due to their own immense powers, such as the aforementioned Zenith Dragon, or the wicked Orochi.

Plant Family

Main article: Plant family

The plant family is a bizarre group of monsters that blur the line between animal and plantlife, taking the form of plants, trees, flowers, fruits, fungi or diminutive sprites.

Material Family

Main article: Material family

The material family refers to monsters that are formed from materials such as stone, raw iron or cloth. As such, it is not uncommon for artificially created monsters to be found among the material family.

In a similar situation to the one of the metal slime sub-family, the Material monster family has two major sub-groups within it: the first, is one where its members are known to reward high quantities of Gold once defeated, with two of the most famous examples being the jewel-loving Goodybag and the gold-composed Gold Golem.

The other one is a sub-group of trap-like monsters that pose as normal item-hiding objects, such as wells, bookshelves, pots and wardrobes, attacking the party as soon as they fall for their deception, the most famous among them being the Mimic monster, who copies a common treasure chest.

Machine Family

Main article: Machine family

The machine family is a group of monsters entirely composed of artificial beings, having a robotic or mechanical body made out of metals, having been created thanks to the use of superior science of mysterious and unknown origins. Due to their robotic nature many machine monsters lack Free-will, being instead constricted by a strict computer programming into following a predetermined set of orders.

Elemental Family

Main article: Elemental family

The elemental family is a group for monsters that have physical bodies outside the traditional common sense, either being formed mainly by the elements of Fire, Ice, Water, Wind, Earth or Shadow or being supercharged by them.

Undead Family

Main article: Undead family

The undead family is a family of monsters composed of beings that have been brought back from the dead in seemingly unnatural and often mangled states, such as rotting corpses, spirits, skeletons or anything similar, and as such it has strong ties to the power of darkness.

Demon Family

Main article: Demon family

Another family deeply connected with the dark, the demon family is for any monsters that bear more than a passing resemblance to actual demons, with many of them being former humans that have abandoned since long ago their old human forms.

Humanoid Family

Main article: Humanoid family

The humanoid family is a general term that not only describe any monster that has no other strong defining characteristic other than a humanoid shape, but also any foe that is themselves actual members of a human-like race. As such any wicked humans, dwarfs or the like met in combat would be classified under this group.

??? Family

Main article: ??? family

The ??? Family refers to a group of monsters whose type cannot be determined, being hard to classify either because they are a cross between two families or because they are so uniquely designed to have no similar comparison in other families. For example, an enemy might be the demon-like form taken by a former human, thus having characteristics of both Humanoid and Demon family, yet not really be either. Most monsters of this family often take the role of bosses.

Ovalutionary Family

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From Dragon Quest Monsters: Super Light.

Friendly Monsters

In some titles, especially the spin-off such as Dragon Quest Monsters series, monsters who join the Hero party, are also known as Companion Monsters (仲間モンスター Nakama Monsuta, lit. Companion Monsters).

Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai

In this universe, there are broadly four races: Human, Dragon, Evil and Monster, the most diversified one.

The Archfiend Army ordered them as such, with slgiht differences compared to the usual families:

• Hadlar's unit: Archdemon, Gargoyle etc
• Undead army: Skeleton family, Zombie, Undead family etc
• Ice and fire army: Dancing flame, Frostburn, Magmalice, Firn fiend, Rockbomb etc
• Ghost army: Mage family, Lump wizard, Madusa, Muddy hand, Heyedra etc
• Beast army: Beast family, Plant family, Bug family etc
• Shadow army: Dark skeleton, Shade, Restless armour, Smog etc
• Dragon army: Green dragon, Ethereal serpent, Orochi family etc

When giving details about the monster races, the following was given:

• Beastmen: Galdandy, Borahorn, Crocodine
• Evil: Vearn, Larhart, Hadlar, Zaboera
• Spell created lifeform: Flazzard, Hym, Fenbren, Block, Sigma, Albinass
• Hyper Demonic Lifeform: Hadlar, Zamza
• ?: Mystvearn, Piroro, Killvearn
• Monsterkind: Gome, Chiu, Dermline monsters, Chiu's army

Furthermore filler pages give a race to some characters:

• Maximum is a "Living Piece"
• Galdandy is a Birdman