Dragon Quest is one of the longest running and most successful JRPG series of all time. Since 1986 there have been 11 main series titles as well as a number of spin-off titles. With over 50 million units sold across the series, it’s second only to Final Fantasy when it comes to Square Enix’s most successful franchises.
One of the things that makes Dragon Quest such a compelling series is its fantastic cast of characters. Throughout the years, the series has provided players with some of the most memorable protagonists in gaming history. From the Descendant Of Erdrick right through to the Luminary, each has their own distinct look and fighting style.
With so many great characters to choose from though, it can be difficult to come up with a definitive answer when it comes to which is the best. Through comparing their stats and abilities however, it becomes clear that whilst each has their own advantages, not all Dragon Quest protagonists are created equal.
11 Roland (Dragon Quest II)
Roland is the only hero in the Dragon Quest series who can’t use magic, which kind of makes him the weakest by default. He also has the second lowest stats in the series. Although these are improved a little in the mobile ports of the game, the increase is nowhere near enough to improve his position.
Worse still, Roland’s best sword (the sword of ruin) is far weaker than the best weapons found in other Dragon Quest titles. With only 105 additional attack power provided, it works out to be around 20% weaker than the best performing swords from other games.
10 Arus/Irin (Dragon Quest III)
Dragon Quest III was the first game in the series to give players the choice between a male or a female protagonist. Although not a mainstay in the series, this idea would go on to feature in three of the future mainline entries.
Unfortunately, in spite of this innovation, Dragon Quest III’s hero is one of the weakest in the series. The majority of the spells that they learn come from the Priest and Mage classes although bizarrely they often learn them much later than either class. Whilst they do have some unique spells available to them, their low magic stat and poor stat growth make them a pretty pitiful magic user.
9 Reck (Dragon Quest VI)
Reck’s biggest selling point is that he only needs to master one class in order to unlock the hero job. He also has several unique skills that unlock regardless of which class he is currently using. This perhaps makes him one of the easiest heroes to use, but his relatively low stats make him distinctly average when it comes to overall strength.
In the original Japanese release of the game, Reck had full immunity to all party removal abilities as well as an innate 25% resistance to zap damage – but these were removed from other versions of the game. Whilst these resistances certainly would have improved the character, even with them included, Reck is not particularly impressive.
8 X (Dragon Quest X)
X is the most recent hero whose gender is left in the hands of the player. The character has access to more skills and weapons than any other hero in the series, although this is perhaps due to Dragon Quest X being an online multiplayer game.
Due to the dramatic differences in both combat and gameplay, it is difficult to directly compare them with other heroes from the series. The title was also exclusive to Japan, so many Western fans of the series will likely have never played it.
7 Abel (Dragon Quest V)
Abel has both high strength and high HP, which makes him a proficient damage-dealer. Although his spells are mainly curative and support focused, he does have access to a few useful pieces of magic. In particular, ‘Kaswoosh’ is the strongest wind spell found in the game and ‘Hocus Pocus’ will select a spell at random. The latter doesn’t always pay off, but when it does it can be incredibly satisfying.
Unfortunately, Abel has very low resilience, but this is somewhat mitigated by his high HP. He also begins the game with a poor luck stat. As he reaches higher levels though, this grows dramatically and at max level he has one of the highest luck stats in the entire series.
6 Solo (Dragon Quest IV)
Depending on the player’s choice, Solo can be either male or female, although there are very few differences between them aside from appearance. They have a great selection of spells at their disposal and have higher stats than all of the heroes that came before them.
When equipped with the Liquid Metal Sword, Solo is able to deal some serious damage to any enemy unfortunate enough to be in their way. Their most powerful spell ‘Gigasword’ might only target a single enemy, but it is one of the best spells found in Dragon Quest.
5 Descendant Of Erdrick (Dragon Quest I)
Although his stats may not be the most impressive, the Descendant of Erdrick has access to a fairly wide range of spells. He’s great when it comes to dealing both magical and physical damage and can hold his own against the very toughest of enemies.
Although the heroes found throughout Dragon Quest have achieved some very impressive deeds, none have been able to top the Descendant of Erdrick’s. Having saved the world in his only outing makes him one of the most impressive heroes in the series.
4 Auster (Dragon Quest VII)
Auster is arguably the most versatile Dragon Quest hero. He can equip almost all of the armor and weapons found in the game and his stats are incredibly well rounded. Although they are not the highest in the series, they are not far off at all. He’s able to fulfill any of the game’s roles pretty well, but it is the hero class in which he best excels.
His ability ‘The Greater Leveller’ is also one of the strongest in the franchise and once fully unlocked is able to deal massive damage to all enemies. Whilst it’s a fantastic move to have in one’s arsenal, it does strip the party of any buffs and so can at times be very situational.
3 Nine (Dragon Quest IX)
Thanks to the game’s relocation bonuses, Nine can become incredibly overpowered if the player is willing to put in the work. He has access to some great skills and weapons too. By equipping the Falcon blade and using the ‘Falcon Slash’ ability, Nine is able to swing at enemies four times. This will usually make short work of most of the enemies found in the game.
Nine is also one of the most customizable heroes in the series and like some of the previous heroes, can be either male or female. Thanks to Akira Toriyama’s involvement with the game, many of the hairstyles for Nine are reminiscent of the hairstyles of Dragon Ball characters. Whilst these don’t make the hero any stronger, they do make them look considerably cooler.
2 Eight (Dragon Quest VIII)
As well as having the highest stats of all of the heroes when at max level, Eight has a very impressive move set. He can use a wide array of weapons and can even summon teams of monsters to assist him in battle. He has a natural immunity to curses and a 25% resistance to zap-based spells and abilities too. These things combine to make him as resilient as he is deadly.
Where Eight really comes into his own however is through his state of high tension. Upon reaching 100 tension, the character is able to transform much like a character from Dragon Ball. While in this state, Eight has access to a selection of powerful techniques which noticeably out-damage his regular moves.
1 The Luminary (Dragon Quest XI)
Thanks to the huge success of Dragon Quest XI, The Luminary is arguably the most recognizable of Dragon Quest’s Heroes. He is also the strongest. With great stats and some impressive techniques, he could easily hold his own against any of the other heroes found in the series. When he’s fully powered up however, he would wipe the floor with them.
Much like the tension system found in Dragon Quest VIII, Dragon Quest XI‘s Pep system has the potential to dramatically increase Eleven’s power. While pepped-up, he will receive a 20% boost to both his strength and resilience stats as well as an improved critical hit rate. Once the skill ‘Pep-Up Power-Up’ has been unlocked, these boosts are doubled.
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