Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibōken

Dragon Warrior: Dai's Great Adventure (ドラゴンクエスト - ダイの大冒険), is an original manga based in the fantasy world of the video game series Dragon Quest. It was originally created as a two-chapter short story titled "Derupa! Iruiru!". Its subsequent success led to the three-chapter sequel "Dai Bakuhatsu!!!" (Dai Explodes!!!), and later the serialization of Dai no Daibōken.

The manga later spawned an anime series, which would be the second one based on the Dragon Quest franchise, Dragon Quest: Yuusha Abel Densetsu (known in America simply as Dragon Warrior), being the first.

Plot
The story starts with a young kid named Dai remembering a story told to him by his adoptive grandfather, the monster magician Brass, about the defeat of the Demon King Hadlar by the hands of a hero known as Avan.

After the defeat of the Demon King Hadlar, all of the monsters were unleashed from his evil will and peace reigned supreme around the world once again for 10 years. Some monsters and demons moved to the island of Delmurin to live in peace. Dai, the young protagonist of the series, is the only human living on the island. Having been raised by the kindly monster magician Brass and with his best friend, the monster Gome, Dai grows up to dream of becoming a hero. The true story begins when a very special person arrived at the island to meet with Dai: Avan, an instructor of heroes who came to the island to teach Dai, by request of Leona, a princess who was previously saved by the boy.

Avan offered Dai a full week of difficult training which would create a hero out of him. Having just learned the second of the three secret sword techniques of Avan, Dai's training was interrupted by the Demon King Hadlar, believed to be dead. Hadlar announced to Avan that he worked for an even more powerful evil king who resurrected him, the Great Demon King Vearn. Weakened by the spells he used to help Dai on his training, Avan nevertheless confronted Hadlar. To protect his students and destroy Hadlar at the same time, he cast a spell called "Megante" (Sacrifice) which required the caster's own life force to be used. Sadly, the spell did not destroy the Demon King as Avan had planned and Dai, Pop, Brass and Gome were left to fend for themselves. Only the awakening of a hidden power within Dai, symbolized by the appearance of a strange mark on his forehead, saved the day, causing Hadlar to flee. Dai decides to leave the island with Pop to avenge Avan and defeat the Demon King and his master to bring peace back to the world.

Disciples of Avan

 * Dai (ダイ) – Twelve years old, Dai grew up as the only human on Delmurin island. He gains some fame after defeating a group of fake heroes who had kidnapped his friend Gome. When the Demon King Hadlar is resurrected the previous hero, Avan, comes to help train him to be the next hero. Dai possesses the ability to gain super strength and a better control of magic when the emblem of the dragon appears on his forehead (later in the manga his hand. He is the first Dragon Knight ever to have his crest on somewhere other than his forehead). This strength is because he is the son of the Dragon Knight Baran. Dai managed to learn the Earth and Wave Slashes with Avan, but had to acquire the Sky Slash on his own. Notably, Dai can infuse his weapon with magic (Raidein or Mera) to create more powerful sword techniques, such as Flaming Earth Slash. He can do the same thing with his Dragonic Aura, but ordinary weapons cannot take the strain, such as when Hyunckel's Demon Magic Sword broke after Dai performed a crest-assisted Avan Strash. To suit this ability, Dai acquires an orhicalcum sword from the legendary swordsmith Lon Berk, which can take the pressure.


 * Pop (ポップ) – As the son of the weapons merchant Junk, fifteen-year-old Pop left his home in Lankarks village and decided to become an apprentice of Avan, training to become a magician. He is a specialist on fire spells, mainly those of the Mera (fire spells) type (Mera, Merami and Merazoma) but, as the story progresses, he learns more powerful spells such as Betan (which is a gravity pressure attack) and Medoroa (one of the most powerful spells available, combining the power of Merazoma and Mahyado. It can rip through orhicalcum). He can use Megante and Hyado type spells, too. Later on in the series, Pop becomes a Sage, one of the highest class of magicians who can use both attack and healing spells. Throughout the series, Pop uses various weapons, but later on in the series, he acquires a staff from Lon Berk with the same power that rivals Vearn's staff, the ability to turn magic power into attack power. In addition to this, Pop's staff can transform to any shape, which he utilizes effectively in the final battle against Hadlar's Orhicalcum warriors. Pop begins as a coward who runs away from fights, but he later grows as a powerful character throughout the story and gains true courage. Pop falls in love with Maam as the story develops.


 * Maam (マァム) – Sixteen years old, Maam is the daughter of Leyra and Loca, the priestess and warrior who helped Avan in the original fight against Hadlar. Maam trained under Avan and is proficient with healing spells (Hoimi), but never could successfully learn any offensive ones. After studying under Avan, the latter gave her a magical gun that shoots magic spells, which helped her compensate for her lack of expertise with any of the other schools of magic (which Pop is an expert in.) When the gun gets destroyed she decides to change to another class, fighter, and temporarily leaves the party to train under Brokeena, known as the God of Martial Arts. Under Brokeena, Maam learns one of her ultimate techniques: the refractor fist, an attack that mimics excess use of Mahoimi, which results in the degradation of the opponent's body. Later on in the series, Maam acquires a transforming armor weapon from Lon berk, which allows her to increase the destructive power of her techniques.


 * Hyunckel (ヒュンケル) – Twenty-one years old, Hyunckel's parents were killed in a monster attack, but one of the monsters took him in and raised him like a son. When Avan killed Hadlar and Hyunckel finds his adoptive father dead, he secretly holds a grudge against Avan, whom he believes killed his father. Hyunckel then becomes Avan's first pupil but, after graduating, unsuccessfully tried to kill his teacher with a technique he invented himself, Bloody Scraid. He was then taken in by Myst-Vearn who brought him up to be General of the Immortal Army, one of the six main armies under Hadlar and Vearn's control. Despite being a villain at the early part of the story, Hyunckel wasn't able to bring himself to constantly torture any female characters such as Maam.  After discovering that Hadlar had killed his adopted father instead of Avan, he joins Dai's party. Hyunckel originally used a demon magic sword that could transform into armor (Amudo), but Dai broke it when he was fighting Baran. Ever since then, Hyunckel has been using a spear with the same properties and created by the same person. Hyunckel can use all the basic Avan techniques also in addition to Demon Puppet Grab (He learned it from Myst-Vearn). Due to changing his weapon from a sword to a spear, he had to learn Avan's elemental techniques for spears (Avan developed techniques for all sorts of weapons). The new spear techniques he learned are called Thundering Ground Flash (equivalent to the Earth Slash), Echoing Sea Flash (equivalent to the Sea Slash), Sky Flash (equivalent to the Sky Slash). His strongest attack is the Grand Cross (a huge cross-shaped attack that utilizes the user's entire life energy storage into one massive attack).


 * Leona (レオナ) – Fourteen years old, Leona is the princess of Papnika. She is training to be a sage and is well-versed in the magic arts. Her country comes to near destruction after the return of Hadlar by the hands of Hyunckel, whom she forgives and sentences to become a "true disciple of Avan". Her father is missing and presumed dead, leaving her in control of rebuilding her kingdom and helping in the fight against the Ultimate Demon King. She is friends with Dai, although it is hinted Dai feels something more for her. Leona is proficient in both Mera-type spells and Hyado-type spells; however she is best at healing spells such as Behoma, which she uses effectively in the fight against Baran. She was never taught by Avan; however later on in the series, she becomes an official member of Avan's disciples when she inherits the 5th mark of Avan from the Queen of Carl, Flora.

Other Main Characters

 * Avan (アバン) - Thirty-one years old, Avan De Ziniur III was the previous hero who defeated the Demon King Hadlar. When he was younger, he befriended princess Flora, the ruler of the kingdom of Carl, and Loca, the general of Carl's army, usually goofing around behind his thick glasses to hide his true power from everyone. When Hadlar tried to murder Flora, Avan decided not to hide anymore and protected her and the whole kingdom from the Demon King. After temporarily defeating him, he embarks on a journey with Loca where he would meet with Leyra, Maam's mother, and Matoriv, a powerful magician to finish off Hadlar for good. After their victory, he decided to become a trainer for a future generation of heroes. When Hadlar is resurrected and comes to defeat him, Avan casts the self-sacrifice spell Megante to protect Dai, Brass and Pop. It is later revealed that Avan had worn a protective talisman (given to him by Flora) that saved his life from the effects of Megante by taking the damage on his behalf. Having survived, he then chose to level up to be of more use to Dai and his other students in their fight against Vearn.


 * Gome (ゴメ) - Gome is a one-of-a-kind creature, a Golden Metal Slime (his name is a play on the words). Dai's first friend, Gome produces small miracles throughout the story that help Dai and his friends. In the end it is revealed that Gome is a wish-granting item created by God to grant the wishes of pure-hearted people. Gome took the shape of a slime to grant Dai's wish for a friend when he was younger. Gome is known as the Tear of a God.


 * Crocodine (クロコダイン) - (Whose name is based on the reptile type "Crocodile") Thirty years old, Crocodine is a massive anthropomorphic crocodile who used to be the general of the Hundred Beasts Army. After having been defeated by Dai and Pop's teamwork, he was inspired by Pop's courage and later joins the party. He has many beasts still under his control, even despite Hadlar's influence throughout all the world and has a powerful weapon called the "Void Axe", which allows him to cast Bagi, one of the two wind spells available. He later acquires an even more powerful axe from the legendary swordsmith Lon Berk when the Void Axe is destroyed in the first fight with Vearn.

Minor Characters

 * Brass (ブラス) - Brass is Dai's adoptive father.  He resembles monster druid from Dragon Quest III.


 * Matoriv (マトリフ) - Matoriv is a sadistic and lecherous old mage who fought on the side of Avan in the previous war. Reluctantly he agrees to help the heroes again and trains Pop for a while. Graphically, Matoriv sticks out among the characters; both his design and the style in which he is drawn resemble Moebius rather than anything from the Dragon Quest series.

The Demon Lord's Army
The Demon King Hadlar’s army is split into six different groups so as to maintain control over their vast numbers. Every group is used to conquer others with the Sorcerer Regiment being the exception since it exists more for studies and experiments to help further the Demon King’s plans and to make the already impressive army even more powerful. This army was created by the Demon Lord Vearn to conquer the surface world of humans.


 * Hadlar (ハドラー) - 357 years old. Leader of the Great Demon King's Army. Hadlar was the previous Demon King until he was defeated by Avan. Hadlar was resurrected by the Great Demon Lord Vearn, and thus turned to serving him. Two of Hadlar's strongest spells are Ionazun and Begiragon, the highest level spell of the two respective types. After Hadlar was killed by Avan, Vearn resurrected him into a stronger body that could be revived countless times by Vearn's magic, with each revival increasing his power. However this body ended up being too weak in the face of Dai and his companions, so Hadlar uses Zaboera to transform him into a hyper demon, which allows him to acquire a massive increase in power and gives him regenerative properties. When Hadlar uses this new found power to defeat Dai, Vearn rewards him by giving him 5 Orhicalcum chess pieces, which Hadlar uses forbidden magic on to create his Orhicalcum Royal Guard warriors. Hadlar was killed when his body was too damaged to regenerate anymore after his final fight with Dai and turned into dust.

Hundred Beast Regiment: (Animals type, Plant type, Insect type, etc.) A tribe of complete admonitions, wielding this unfathomable power, conquest would be as easy as taking an uninhabited field.

Leader: Beast King Crocodine (see above)

The Undead Knights Regiment: (Skeletons, Zombies, Undead, etc.) A legion of soldiers who have transcended death, warriors of slaughter who send man to hell!

Leader: Leader of the Undead Knights Hyunckel (see above)

Ice and Fire Demon Regiment: (Flame, Blizzard, Lava Men, Glacier Men, Bomb Rocks, etc.) Sweltering flames and freezing snowstorms, frightening destroyers who burn everything and freeze the soul!

Leader: Fire and Ice Commander Flazzard
 * Flazzard (フレイザード) anime voices{Yamaguchi Ken}- Flazzard was created by Hadlar using forbidden magic. Like his namesake (flame + blizzard), his body is a combination of fire and ice. This makes him a very powerful enemy as he can utilize both elements to devastating effect. Unfortunately Flazzard cares only for glory and winning, doing whatever to achieve it and taking no interest in fair fights. This is because he was created and not born like other beings as he takes to living in the moment since he feels a long life without glory is meaningless. He was killed by Myst-Vearn after failing to defeat Dai.

Sorcerer Regiment: (Mage type, Madou Savoru, Druid, Mad Hand, Devil’s Eyeball, etc.) A regiment of mages proud of their immense magic power, no human mage can stand up to that sorceries power!

Leader: Ghost Bishop Zaboera
 * Zaboera (ザボエラ) - He's about 800 years old. One of the Commanders of the Great Demon King's army, Zaboera is small and highly intelligent as if he relies on trickery to get what he wants. He does not care for anybody and regards everyone as his tools, including his son Zamza, who he used to acquire essential information on the development of hyper demons. He rather have his troops fight for him since he doesn’t like to get his hands dirty. He hides in the shadows and will claim anyone’s accomplishments as his own if it helps further his plans. He can cast (ザラキ) Zaraki, which can cause instant death to a group of opponents, and (モシャス) moshasu, it can assume the form of any characters.  He also has poison related arsenals.  Was killed by Crocodine in one the last battles in the series.

Super Dragon Regiment: (Dragon, Sky Dragon, Snake type, etc.) A regiment of the largest monsters, therefore their battle power is number one of all the six regiments!

Leader: Dragon Tamer Baran
 * Baran (バラン) - The character with the most tragic past in the story. The commander of the Super Dragon Brigade, Baran is a fierce fighter with strong morals. He is the true Dragon Knight of the era and in his youth he defeated Velther. After the fight he was mortally wounded and would've died if not for the help of Soara, the princess of Alkeed who nursed him back to health. The two fell in love, but when her father the king discovered that Baran was not human he was thrown out of the castle (after being accused of being a follower of a demon) only to be followed by Soara, who announced to him that she was pregnant. Some months passed from that event, where both Baran and Soara lived happy and without concerns, taking care of baby Dai (whom they named Dino.) When the king found the two lovers, Baran voluntarily gave himself up to protect his wife and child even though he could have easily wiped out the king's men. He was brought back to Alkeed and sentenced to death. When Baran was to be executed with fire spells (he could have protected himself with his Dragonic Aura but chose not to), Soara jumped in the way to protect him and was fatally wounded. After enduring so many hardships, prejudice and seeing his beloved wife die before him, Baran finally snapped and in his anger, wiped the entire kingdom of Alkeed off the map. He then desperately tried to search for his son but was unable to find Dai, who had ended up on a boat that was destroyed in a ship wreck. He was a husband who lost his wife, a father who lost his child. All in the hands of humans whom he is tasked to protect. With his life in ruins, he decided that all humans should be exterminated for the good of the world because they are nothing but ungrateful and selfish creatures. He will later be reunited with Dai as enemies. Upon seeing Dai's dragon knight symbol, he realized that he is none other than his son Dino and wipes Dai's memories. He tried to persuade Dai to join him but Dai refused to believe he is Baran's son. Pop sacrifices himself (he is resurrected later)to return Dai's memories during the second time they fight, but fails to scratch Baran with Megante. They will fight twice in the manga, with Baran winning the first and Dai, the second. Later, he will join with Dai to fight against Vearn but sadly, didn't live long enough to face him. Was killed when he shields Dai from the explosion of a Black Core Crystal when fighting Hadlar. Baran has a high mastery of his crest and can transform into a Ryuumajin, the ultimate form of a Dragon Knight, which is a combination of a demon, human, and dragon. In this form, he is unable to discern between friend and foe until everything is dead. He also has Giga Brake (a powerful move utilizing the ultimate electricity spell, Gigadein, and his legendary sword, the Demon Dragon Blade), Raidein type magic, and Dragonic Aura. Baran's ultimate spell is Draura (Dragon Touki Cannon). This spell channels Dragonic Aura into a cannon blast that can annihilate a whole country, and can only be used in his Ryuumajin form.

Shadow Regiment: (Shadow Knights, Wraiths, Wandering Armor, Smoke, etc.) Shadow attackers who attack their enemy without revealing their form, animated by a soul they received from the demon lord, they stain the world with darkness!

Leader: Shadow Fighter Myst-Vearn
 * Myst-Vearn (ミストバーン) - One of the Commanders of the Great Demon King Vearn's army, Myst-Vearn was Hyunckel's evil teacher. In one of the biggest twists near the end of the manga it is revealed that Myst-Vearn is really a ghost like being inhabiting one half of Vearn's body while at the same time protecting it. While he has no physical fighting ability of any kind in his true form, he has the ability to possess anyone and turn them into his puppet (Shadow Puppet Grab). He is possibly one of the oldest creatures to exist. Was killed in Hyunckel's body during an attempt to possess him.

Hadlar’s Guardian Knights (Shinei Kidan no Hadlar)

The personal bodyguards of Hadlar Leader of the Demon Lords army. Hadlar created them from chess pieces made of Orihalcon (a substance that is resist to magic and can only be damaged by something made of orihalcon). They serve as replacements for the defeated leaders of the six regiments. Since they were created like Flazzard their core must be destroyed in order to defeat them, the core is located in the left chest just like a humans heart. The knights have a sense of camaraderie amongst themselves willing to help their fellow knights when necessary.


 * Pawn Warrior Hym- Since he was created from a pawn piece he fully understands that there will always be someone better than him. He like the rest of the knights fight fairly and praises worthy fighters. He mostly seems to live by the concept of “eye for an eye” since he said he wouldn’t be satisfied until he punched a hole in Hyunckel’s forehead as Hyunckel had pieced a hole in his. He had his own arm cut off after it became limp since he believed it would become a distraction during a fight, he has shown that he is a bit of a hot head getting lost in the heat of battle and not wanting to stop even if it wasn’t his prime objective. He has also shown great compassion for his fellow knights even openly crying after Block sacrificed himself to save them. He fights barehanded making him excel in close range combat. He is an expert in mera (fire) spells but only uses them to increase the power of his fists. In the final part of the story, Hym discovers he actually is the reincarnation of his master, acquiring Hadlar's silver hair and the ability to generate Touki as an organic being.


 * Knight Warrior Sigma- He has the Mirror of Shahal on his chest this object can repel enemy spells and Sigma can also use as a shield. With his horse legs he has the highest speed and jumping ability of the group, which also allows him to perform a double jump in any eight directions. He attacks using a lance. He is also very perceptive to the point of pointing out the flaw in any action someone may take against Hadlar. Sigma was killed by Pop.


 * Bishop Warrior Fenbren- He calls himself the prefect hunter this is because his body is made of eight bladed sections. He has mastered all bagi (wind) type spells. He is unlike the rest of the knights since he himself stated that he is cruel in battle. He can use his sword like arms as drills to tunnel underground to avoid attacks but he will not use it to attack from behind. He lost his eyes when Baran attacked him but afterwards he gained the ability to sense where his enemies and other objects of orihalcon are. He was cut in half by Dai while guarding the underwater door to the Demon Lord.


 * Rook Warrior Block- The physical strongest of the group, he can’t fully speak so he relies on the others to speak for him the only thing he can say is “buroom”. To protect his fellow knights he threw himself over them to take a powerful magic attack, his strength surpasses Crocodine’s. His one technique comes from the castling move in chess which causes him to split in two reveling a more human like body underneath that can quickly switch places with the king (Hadlar), the one time he used this move was to save Hadler from Vearn then transporting Hadlar and his fellow knights to safety but not before saying his first and last words “Everyone take care of Hadlar-sama".


 * Queen Warrior Albinass- Albinass is who coordinates the groups attacks, she acts as the groups voice of reason and to remind them that they fight for Hadlar. Even if she is considered the only female of the group she has stated that the group members have no gender and that each is powerful in they own way. She treats every battle as a game of chess going as far as calling those fighting “pieces”. She attacks using needles(called Needle Thousand) which makes it hard to dodge since they cover a very large area the only flaw is that Albinass cannot or does not move when using it making her a sitting duck for anyone lucky enough to escape her attack. She normally keeps her arms a legs sealed under her metallic cloak, when she does use them her speed and strength increase dramatically. Also with her arms unsealed she use her magic in a compressed ball(called Thousand Ball) for more precise attacks in place of her normally wide range needle attack. Her loyalty to Hadlar is second to none, even to the point of being mistaken for loving devotion. Albinass was killed by Maam.


 * Kill-Vearn (キルバーン) - Called the shinigami, Kill-Vearn's job is to assassinate members of the Great Demon King's Army that have betrayed Vearn. He is accompanied by his small helper Piroro. In the end it is revealed that Kill-Vearn was actually working for Vearn's rival, Velther. His job was to kill Vearn if there was a good opportunity. It is also found out that Kill-Vearn is just Piroro's mechanical puppet, and that behind Kill-Vearn's mask is a Black Core. Piroro was killed by Maam while the Kill-Vearn puppet was destroyed in the Black Core explosion triggered by Piroro.


 * Vearn (バーン) - see Vearn. The Great Demon Lord Vearn is the supreme leader of the demon army and the main villain. The Great Demon Lord Vearn calls himself the god of the mazoku. Vearn hates that the gods gave humans the surface world to live while the mazoku have to live without the sun. Thus his goal is to blast away the surface using a hexagonal Black Core explosion field to both rid the world of weak humans while also giving the sun to the mazoku. Near the end of the manga, it was revealed that in order to achieve immortality, Vearn separated his body into two parts. The body he directly controls retains the intelligence and magic power, while the body that was given to Myst retained his physical strength. The second body became Myst-Vearn. Vearn used his great magic power to use the spell of Frozen Time on Myst-Vearn. As Myst is a unique case of being able to manipulate a body that is affected by that spell, Myst-Vearn's body effectively acquired immortality, while Vearn's body, while growing in intelligence and magic power, kept aging. After being defeated by Dai, Vearn decided to restore his original body and became more powerful than ever. Was defeated again with great difficulty by Dai and turned into stone. Vearn has the ability to cast almost every type of magic available, including one of his strongest types: Mera type magic (his Mera is stronger than Pop's Merazoma). Because Vearn can also cast healing spells, he is considered a Wiseman class, one of the highest class of magicians. Vearn also had a staff given to him by Lon Berk, which can turn magic power into physical attack power. However, it eats power at an immense rate. Vearn's most powerful attacks are a phoenix-shaped Merazoma, Kaiser Phoenix, and Calamity Wall, a wall of rushing energy created by his legendary staff weapon.

Manga
The manga was first released as the short story “Derupa! Iruiru!” in Weekly Shōnen Jump issues 25 and 26 of 1989. Issues 35-37 included the short story “Dai Bakuhatsu!!” and the serialization of Dai no Daibōken began that same year in issue 45. It continued on for seven years before ending in volume 52 of 1996's Shōnen Jump. The manga was collected into 37 Tankōbon volumes. Later it was re-released as a Jump Remix with interviews and other extras included. It was then released into 22 Bunkobon volumes. Near the end of its serialization a Perfect Book was published which collected some of the art of the series along with trivia, and new information.

Anime
Produced by Toei Animation and Nippon Animation, the anime adaptation of Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibōken premiered in Japan on TBS on October 17, 1991 where it ran for 46 episodes until its conclusion on September 24, 1992.

The series uses two pieces of theme music, both composed by Koichi Sugiyama and performed by Jirou Dan. "Hurry, Heroes!!" (勇者よ急げ!!) is used for the opening theme, while "This Road is My Journey" (この道わが旅), which was the original ending theme for Dragon Quest II, is used for the episodes' ending theme.

Soundtracks

 * Dragon Quest Dai no Daibōken-Movie 1 Soundtrack
 * Dragon Quest Dai no Daibōken Soundtrack-First TV soundtrack
 * Dragon Quest Dai no Daibōken Soundtrack II-Movie 2 soundtrack
 * Dragon Quest Dai no Daibōken Soundtrack III-Movie 3 soundtrack

Films
Three theatrical movies were produced based on the Dai no Daibōken TV series, all which premiered at the Toei Anime Fair film festival.