Though the HD-2D Remake is of a game from 1986, there are enough differences in the plot that spoilers from that game may not necessarily apply here. Whether you know the events of the original Dragon Quest I or not, tropes below will spoil some of HD-2D Remake's new twists and turns. Read on at your own risk!
The first in the groundbreaking Dragon Quest series, Dragon Quest (titled Dragon Warrior in North America when it was first brought over) is the story of the descendant of the legendary hero Erdrick, who has been summoned by the king of Alefgard to rescue his daughter and defeat the Dragonlord, who is threatening the kingdom and has stolen the legendary Sphere of Light.
Yeah, that's pretty much it. It barely rises above the level of Excuse Plot, but this was intentional. At the time, role-playing games were almost completely unknown outside of the PC enthusiast circles; so the game was intended to teach console players (many of which were kids) how the genre worked, and it was essentially the first to even try to on a console. For all these reasons it was groundbreaking for the time, setting the path for hundreds of games and leading the charge into what would eventually become the JRPG genre (which for a time was simply known as "DraQue" genre).
On top of that, while the "Dragon-slaying knight saves the princess and gets rewarded by The Good King in a medieval-esque land" sounds incredibly cliche nowadays, the creators chose it precisely because back in the '80s Japan wasn't as exposed to this type of setting. So, ironically at the time it was still seen as something exotic and new.
When the game was brought to North America, it didn't make much of a splash, in part because it arrived much later than it did in Japan — North America didn't see it until 1989, at which point the Anglophone RPG scene had already moved past the game that had inspired DQI's creation in turn.note Despite this, Nintendo did try very hard to push the game, giving the game plenty of coverage from Nintendo Power and featuring it in several episodes of Captain N: The Game Master. Nevertheless, it didn't gather much traction, eventually leading Nintendo to decide to give out free cartridges as a perk for new subscribers to the magazine as a way to move unsold inventory. It received decent reviews, but struggled to find a niche: the "hardcore" RPG players of America derided it for its simplicity compared to the Ultima and Gold Box releases of the time, while the console players found the gameplay too dull, the story too basic and cliche, and the dialogue excessively pretentious.
In Japan, however, Dragon Quest simply began everything. It was there at the right time and place — Japan in 1986 — to get millions of people playing it, being a simple enough game for a child to play but long and difficult enough for even an adult to appreciate. While it isn't quite the true Ur-Example of the RPG videogame (that'd be Wizardry), nor the Trope Codifier of JRPGs (that would be its second successor), said successor would never have happened without this game, and it still had, and continues to have, a massive influence on the Japanese video game zeitgeist.
The game's release history is absolutely enormous - in Japan. In the '80s and '90s, it was released on virtually every platform imaginable — the MSX, the PC-98, the Sharp X68000, the Super Famicom (in a double pack with Dragon Quest II), and Satellaview. The SFC remake is notable for introducing some significant graphical and performance updates to the game by using the engine of Dragon Quest V. Unfortunately none of these other releases were ever translated or released outside of Japan; the sole exception being a Game Boy Color port of the SFC I and II bundle released in Japan in 1999; North America received it a year later... and then that was it. Despite a feature-phone version coming out in 2004 and the entire Loto trilogy getting a multi-version port archive release on the Wii in 2011 for the 25th Anniversary of the saga, neither one was released outside of Japan. Finally in 2013, a SFC-based smartphone version was produced (its visuals, however, were further updated and resemble those of the SFC remake of Dragon Quest III), and this was finally released to the wider English-speaking world with an updated translation (and for the first time released in English under the original Dragon Quest name instead of Dragon Warrior). This version of the game was later ported to the Nintendo Switch as part of the Dragon Quest 1+2+3 Collection on September 27, 2019. An extensive HD-2D remake was released on October 30, 2025, using the same Octopath Traveler artstyle used by the remake of Dragon Quest III that released a year earlier, and once again as a two-game package alongside II. The game was released for PS5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, and the Switch and Switch 2.
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Tropes A-M
- Absurdly High Level Cap: The level cap is 30 at 65535 EXPnote . The minimum level necessary to beat the Dragonlord for all practical purposes is level 17note . The Dragonlord can be comfortably defeated around level 20, and will usually be on the losing end of a Curb-Stomp Battle if fought at level 25+. If the player returns to the king at level 30, the king will lampshade this by saying "Thou art strong enough! Why can thou not defeat the Dragonlord?" Unlike most others on this list, however, it actually becomes easier to gain levels. The XP amount between levels is static at that point, but further stat gains mean dealing more damage and taking less in return. However, since 98% of the entire game is grinding, it's all a matter of when the player wants to stop grinding. In the HD-2D Remake, the level cap is increased to 99, but you'll likely beat the game around level 40.
- Acronym and Abbreviation Overload: Used a lot in the Game Boy Color version thanks to space limits and Character Name Limits, as well as the small screen size.
- Adam Smith Hates Your Guts:
- The cost of staying at an inn is directly proportional to its distance from Tantegel Castle.
- The cheapest magic keys are to be found in the distant town of Rimuldar. This gives the player access to other, more convenient shops, with the caveat that not only are the keys from the later shops more expensive, but they are also locked away behind doors requiring the magic key, forcing the player to spend one in advance of shopping for more. To really add insult to injury however, doors don't stay open after being unlocked once. If you leave the area and return you'll require another key to open the door again. note
- Adaptational Consistency: The HD-2D Remake has several adjustments to put the game up with later entries in the series:
- Monsters now fight in groups just like in many Dragon Quest games from Dragon Quest II onwards during the HD-2D Remake, though the Hero is still fighting them solo.
- The Hero also has Zap spells just like Erdrick and other Heroes of the series, save for his descendant Gawain from Dragon Quest II. He also learns non-magical abilities in addition to spells.
- Mini Medals, which first appeared in IV, have been added and can be collected.
- In the original game, MP could only be restored by sleeping at an inn. In the HD-2D Remake, Magic Water and other MP-restoring items appear.
- Enemies can use more status effects against you, such as Poison and Paralysis.
- In a Continuity Nod from III, most of the dungeons and towns that appear in the HD-2D Remake of III are mostly the same layout-wise, with some obvious exceptions.
- While the original had the player purchase Interchangeable Antimatter Keys, the HD-2D Remake has the standard Thief, Magic, and Ultimate Keys. Though as a subtle shout-out to the original concept, the Warlock of Doorlocks mentions that he sells the individual magic keys to his customers while giving the magic key to the Hero.
- Saving is now done at churches instead of in Tantegel Castle.
- You can now equip helmets. In older versions, you could not equip helmets, only shields and armor.
- Adaptational Early Appearance: Monsters from Dragon Quest II such as Bubble Slimes and Treefaces, and monsters from Dragon Quest III such as Lump Mages and Shades, appear in the HD-2D Remake, despite not existing at the time of the original game's release or any of its remakes, while spells such as Zap and skills such as Cattle Prod and Flame Slash also appear despite not debuting until Dragon Quest IX for the former and Dragon Quest VI for the latter. In addition, Robbin' 'Ood makes an appearance from III.
- Dwarves also make an appearance in the HD-2D Remake, despite not appearing until III.
- The status effect Envenomate makes its first appearance in this game during the Mirage boss fight, which originated in Dragon Quest V.
- Adaptational Expansion: Many more dungeons and story content have been added to the HD-2D Remake, including the Hero creating the sigils for him and his descendants to use, along with him helping the Dream-Whisperer summon Rubiss, who had left the world prior to the events of the game. Mini Medals have also been added.
- Adaptational Explanation: In the HD-2D Remake, it's explained why Rubiss didn't appear in the first game. After the defeat of Zoma, she had left the world for unknown reasons, though the faeries have been trying to summon her back. It also explains just why the Dragonlord chose to steal the Sphere of Light. As the son of the Dragon Queen, he views it as his birthright.
- And about the Golem attacking you... the Dragonlord's minions got to it first.
- Advertising-Only Continuity: The NES ad
shows a knight crossing a river on horseback. The player character does not ride on a horse, and cannot cross water unless there is a bridge. - Ambidextrous Sprite: Averted, surprisingly for such an old game; separate sprites were created for when the hero is facing left and right. Doesn't apply in the Japanese Famicom version, in which the player character always faces South no matter what direction he's walking.
- American Kirby Is Hardcore: The North American box art◊ depicts the same scene as the Japanese box (seen at the top of this page) — the blue-and-red hero, the Dragon, and a castle — but with realistically proportioned characters and a broader color palette.
- Anti-Frustration Features: The remakes starting with the Super Famicom remake add several:
- Experience and gold gain from monsters are considerably increased.
- Experience needed to level up is reduced.
- Torches and Holy Water can be used on monsters during battle to damage them. This is particularly helpful early on because your weapons will likely not be strong enough to defeat them in one turn.
- Torches now fully illuminate caves, allowing players to to navigate them without using the Glow spell, saving MP for more dangerous enemies and occasional healing.
- In the HD-2D Remake, the Hero carries around a torch, removing the command of having to manually light up the cave, and therefore he doesn't need to worry about using up torches anymore. As a result, torch items and the Glow spell have been removed.
- In the HD-2D Remake, MP-restoring items have been added, eliminating the need to go back to the inn to specifically restore MP. Once you have the Star Sigil, you only need to defend to restore your MP.
- Artifact of Death: The Cursed/Death Necklace/Choker and the Cursed Belt/Waistband. Oddly enough, if you don't equip them, shopkeepers pay good money for them. Considering how early you can acquire them, it's reasonable to repeatedly enter the (low-leveled) dungeon to acquire more Waistbands to sell for lots of cash.
- Arc Welding: The HD-2D Remake connects both Dragon Quest III and Dragon Quest II, such as the Thief's Key from the former being mentioned by the Swindler it was once used by Erdrick long ago and the 5 Sigils being created for the Scions of Erdrick to use 1 century later. In addition, the Hero can find the grave of Ortega, and meet up with the same faeries who helped his ancestor.
- Artificial Brilliance: In the HD-2D Remake, much like III, the enemy AI is dramatically improved. They'll use more riskier skills and adapt to the player's situation. If their spells are sealed, they won't waste turns casting spells until it recovers on its own.
- Artificial Stupidity: In most versions, if an enemy is hit by Fizzle, they will continue to waste turns trying to cast spells...even though their spells are already sealed. Even in the HD-2D Remake, enemies will try to cast spells that they lack the MP for, and some enemies such as Imps even have spells that they can outright never cast but will try anyway. Certain enemies have the option to "assess the situation" with their turn, which does nothing.
- Awesome, but Impractical: The Fire Blade is the single most expensive weapon in the game, and costs a lot of money in an area where monsters don't drop much of it (compared to other areas). By the time you're actually able to afford the Fire Blade, you'll likely be strong enough to get Erdrick's Sword, which is even better. Another issue with the Fire Blade in the remakes is its special ability when used as an item, the only piece of equipment to have this ability. It fires off a damage spell in between the strengths of the standard attack magic. The problem? Simply wielding the Fire Blade and using the regular attack will overpower this ability. The only net gain is that using it as an item is a guaranteed hit, since magic doesn't do an accuracy check.
- The Big Damn Kiss: Princess Gwaelin shares one with the Hero after he saves her from the Green Dragon. Even a special fanfare plays during the kiss to highlight its importance.
- Bigger on the Inside: Completely averted by the shops and marketplaces in villages. Any time you step through a door, rather than being taken to a separate screen, the surrounding area goes black and its roof essentially turns invisible, allowing you to see the inside. Played straight in the HD-2D Remake.
- Bleak Level: Damdara/Hauksness. Unlike other towns, Damdara was razed to the ground by the Dragonlord. High-level monsters in the form of Tearwolves, Cosmic Chimaeras, Green Dragons, and Vis Magers prowl among the ruins, and toxic acid pools bubble everywhere. This is also where Erdrick's Armor is located, guarded by a Knight Aberrant.
- Boring Return Journey: The game does not conclude with the defeat of the Dragonlord. You complete the game by returning to visit the king. You can just cast Zoom and be done with it. But you can go anywhere you like before doing this, including visiting towns to receive thanks from all the people you've saved. While getting to the Ruler of Darkness involves thousands of random battles, after his defeat, there are none to be found, even in the dungeons, since defeating the Dragonlord gives you the stolen Sphere of Light, which essentially saves the realm.
- But Now I Must Go: After slaying the Dragonlord, the Hero is offered the throne of Tantegel, but he declines and sets off on a journey to explore new, uncharted lands beyond Alefgard. If Princess Gwaelin was saved she decides to join him. In the HD-2D Remake, it is no longer possible to not save Gwaelin, and trying to turn down her offer of joining the Hero will result in a declaration of But Thou Must!.The Hero: My thanks Majesty, but were I ever to rule, it must needs be o'er a realm of mine own founding.
- But Thou Must!: The line itself comes from talking to the princess after you save her. She asks: "Dost thou love me?" The answer to saying no is: "But thou must," and her asking again until you pick yes. The remakes remove the illusion of choice entirely:Gwaelin: Oh! I'm so happy!!
- Call-Forward: During the ending of the HD-2D Remake, Rubiss mentions that the Dragonlord has been freed from the darkness and will reincarnate in the light. Said reincarnation later shows up in the sequel. She also mentions how the darkness will rise again but she'll stop work in her best efforts to stop it, and the hero's descendants later summon her in the sequel.
- Canon Discontinuity: The Nintendo of America-approved Dragon Warrior Explorer's Handbook has an expanded backstory: the Dragonlord was an angry hermit who learned to control dragons in the mountain where he lived. After kidnapping Princess Gwaelin and stealing the Ball of Light that maintained happiness and harmony in Alefgard, he was driven away by the legendary hero Erdrick, who vanished after their battle. This backstory was not present in any Japanese-made media, and has never been referenced again. This would get retconned completely in the HD Remake of the Erdrick Trilogy, where the Dragonlord is revealed to have been born from the Dragon Queen's egg after being tainted by Hargon's darkness, who at the time was the head priest tending to her.
- Cap: The level cap is 30, which you would reach at 65,535 (16 bits) EXP, with 255 (8 bits) for the stats. You stop learning new spells at level 20, but the additional experience for each new level doesn't change. You can gain levels faster and faster as your stats continue to rise until you hit the cap. Given that you can beat the Dragonlord at level 19, with some luck, anything beyond about level 25 is overkill anyway. If you reach the level cap of 30 in the NES version, the king will ask why you haven't yet slain the Dragonlord. In the HD-2D Remake, the level cap is 99, like the rest of the series.
- Chokepoint Geography: Appears twice: The only way to reach Rimuldar and the Southern Shrine is via the Quagmire Cave, and the only way to reach Charlock Castle is via a narrow channel with the bridge created by the Rainbow Drop.
- The Chosen One: You play as the descendant of your Alefgard's legendary hero, whom is fated to defeat the Dragonlord and bring peace to the realm. Unfortunately, not everyone will believe you are the hero's descendant without proof, and in the HD-2D Remake, you'll have to prove your worth as the descendant.
- Clingy Costume: "The Cursed Belt is squeezing thee tightly."
- Comm Links: The Princess Pledge serves this role, allowing Gwaelin to communicate with the Hero from long distances and also listen and respond to conversations.
- Continuing Is Painful: Dying makes you lose half the gold in your possession and sends you back to Tantegel castle. Which means you'll have to fight your way back, no matter how close to victory you already were. In the HD-2D Remake, you can simply reload from the last save you made, although if you respawn at a church, you'll lose half your gold.
- Continuity Nod: In modern versions of the game, as opposed to the Flowery Elizabethan English most NPCs talk in, Erdrick's Tablet is strangely written in Modern English. This is because Erdrick is from another world, one where the people speak a different form of English. The citizens of Alefgard don't however.
- Cursed Item: The original only had Chokers and Wastebands, which prevented you from entering Tantegel Castle to save your game. The remakes add in more like the Sword of Ruin, Ten-Ton Toupee, and Hate Mail.
- Cute Slime Mook: The Slimes are the Trope Maker. The HD-2D Remake lampshades this with the Slime's description saying that its charming appearance makes it beloved as a mascot.
- Cutting Off the Branches: With regards to its prequel, the HD-2D Remake makes it clear that Erdrick did not revive Ortega via visiting Xenlon and instead buried him on the Western Isle.
- The Darkness Before Death: A soldier NPC in Tantegel identifies himself as a survivor of a search party for Princess Gwaelin, but his compatriots were wiped out. He's on death's door as well slowly dying from his injuries, and after rescuing Gwaelin yourself, he'll wonder who is touching him as he can neither see nor hear. When you finally beat the Dragonlord, unlike other NPCs who congratulate you, he'll have passed on.
- Degraded Boss: The Green Dragon guarding Princess Gwaelin becomes a regular enemy in the city of Damdara and in Charlock Castle. The Knight Aberrant guarding Erdrick's Armor also shows up randomly in Charlock. Averted in the HD-2D Remake, where there's only one of each and both are bosses.
- Depending on the Writer: The hero is either from a small village in Torland who washed up on the shores of Alefgard (Alfregard in the GBC version) or an Alefgard native who had been training for the day he might be able to fight. Either way, he was already aware of his lineage, despite not having any way to prove it until he found his ancestor's seal in a perilous poison swamp (why it's there and why didn't the hero have it already is anyone's guess). You'd think they'd keep family trees. At least his descendants actually inherited his gear as family heirlooms.
- Desperation Attack: The Soul Sigil can turn some of the Hero's abilities into more powerful souped-up skills if he's below half of his health.
- Developer's Foresight:
- In the remakes, if you are carrying the princess with you to Charlock Castle and talk to the Dragonlord, he actually thanks you for saving him the trouble of having her transported there.
- The game will take the time to rib you if you decide to not rescue the Princess at all. In the HD-2D Remake, rescuing her is now mandatory.
- If you stay at an inn whilst carrying the Princess, the game's dialogue changes. The English version is mildly Bowdlerised - the innkeeper, instead of saying "Thou seems to have spent a good night", says "Thou has had a good night's sleep I hope". ("I trust thou didst enjoy a restful sleep?" / "I trust thou didst enjoy thy stay?" in the HD-2D Remake.) In the original Japanese, the innkeeper's dialogue is a bit more on-the-nose: "Seems like you had fun last night". In the HD-2D Remake, you'll get an achievement for doing so, aptly called "A Night to Remember". (This will also happen if you sleep with the girl that follows you in Tantegel.)
- In an odd form of The Lady's Favour, the Princess will take a mundane item from your inventory (Usually a Dragon's Scale) if your inventory is full to make room for her Love, and promises to keep it safe while you venture onward.
- Does This Remind You of Anything?: The HD-2D Remake has a scene where Hargon tries to tell the Dragonlord that the Sphere of Light would not accept him even though it's his birthright, but the Ruler of Darkness angrily blows him off, much like a child ignoring their parent's advice on certain ways of life.
- Do You Want to Haggle?: Averted, unlike the later entries. The manual clearly explains that you, the player, can't haggle the price of sold items. In other words, Alefgard merchants will accept your old equipment for half its original price. They won't haggle because they are very stubborn.
- In the HD-2D Remake, the Swindler in Galenholm announces that he will sell a key for the low price of a million gold coins. When the Would-Be Heroes and the townspeople call him out for this high price, the Swindler lowers the price to eight hundred thousand and claims that he's being good by giving them a discount of two hundred thousand gold coins. The townspeople still do not bite, so the Swindler goes elsewhere.
- Dub Name Change: Between the Japanese script and the NES localization, "Loto" became "Erdrick"; "Lars" became "Lorik"; "Lora" became "Gwaelin"; and several other towns were renamed as well (such as "Mercado" becoming "Cantlin", the town of Tantegel becoming "Brecconary", "Galenholm" becoming "Garinham" and "Damdara" becoming "Hauksness"). Later versions of the game and fan translations went a little back and forth between names from the Japanese script, the NES, or further alterations. As of Dragon Quest Builders, which shares a setting with this game, Square Enix has consistently used the names from the NES version.
- Dungeon Town: The desert town of Damdara was destroyed by the Dragonlord and is now inhabited only by high-level endgame enemies that you have to fight through in order to find Erdrick's Armor.
- Early-Installment Weirdness:
- This is the only game in the series with only one player character (and, conversely, you will only fight one enemy per encounter, except in the HD-2D Remake where multiple enemies can be fought at once)
- Dungeons are not naturally lit, necessitating a torch or the never-again-seen Glow spell to navigate. In the HD-2D Remake, the Hero carries around a torch in dungeons, naturally lighting them up.
- There is the peculiar required use of one-time-use magic keys to open any and every door you come across (eventually you'll be able to purchase keys as needed), and these doors reset when you leave. The HD-2D Remake instead has the standard Thief, Magic, and Ultimate keys.
- It's far more open-ended than subsequent games in the series: the only place you cannot go to at the beginning of the game is the Dragonlord's island, though a generous helping of Beef Gate makes toddling down to Rimuldar, Damdara, or Cantlin right out the gate extremely impractical.
- The Japanese versions of both the first and second game feature a Password Save system; Dragon Quest III was the first entry with battery saves. The North American NES version (having been released 3 years later on newer cartridges) has a normal battery save.
- This was the only Famicom/NES version to feature a background when fighting enemies in the overworld. Due to memory limitations, every other Famicom/NES game would have an all-black background and themed backgrounds based on location would only return in Dragon Quest V.
- This is the only Dragon Quest game to have a Level 30 cap for the hero. Subsequent games would increase the level cap.
- There is no legendary shield. The strongest shield you can get is the Silver Shield, which can be purchased for 14,000 gold.
- Besides the Warrior's Ring and Dragon's Scale, you can only equip a weapon, shield, and armor. The Warrior's Ring and Dragon's Scale situation is also unique because you can equip both at the same time. Later games made rings and trinkets unique until Dragon Quest IX.
- The Japanese version lacks the chibi-style superdeformed character sprites that would become standard in the series, instead using realistically-proportioned figures similar to those in the Ultima series. The sprites always face forward/south, and when using the talk function, players have to specify a direction first.
- The dungeon music raises and lowers in pitch depending on which floor the player is on; this feature has never appeared again.
- This is the only game with both the "Door" and the "Stairs" command: "Stairs" later became redundant when simply stepping on stairs activated them, and "Door" was replaced by using a key from your inventory directly. "Door" would later show up in Dragon Quest IV before disappearing forever once morenote .
- Easter Egg:
- In the original NES version, there are many references to people looking for "Nester", until you eventually find him and he asks if anyone has been searching for him. Nester was the name of a comic strip character in Nintendo Power (For a while it was also the name entered by players at the magazine for games that let you name your character, as could be seen in the screencaps used in the articles).
- You also can run into a character named Howard, who is named after Nester's partner in the comic.note Much like his namesake, he gives you a helpful hint for finding the Fairy Flute.
- The name you give your hero can have an effect on your base stats and leveling rate. Perhaps unsurprisingly, "Loto" is one of the best names to pick.
- Returning to Damdara after defeating the Dragonlord will let you meet the ghost of Galen (the bard whose tomb in Galenholm you explored earlier in the game to obtain his Lyre of Ire), who shares with you the tragic story of Damdara's past as a busy, bustling town before it was destroyed.
- Enhanced Interrogation Techniques: In the HD-2D Remake, the Mirage uses these on Princess Gwaelin during her imprisonment at Quagmire Cave to try to get her to reveal information about what Rubiss has been telling her and what she might know.
- Erotic Dream: A man sleeping at the inn in Kol seems to be dreaming about having the puff-puff massage and enjoying it.
- Evil Laugh: The Dragonlord laughs if you accept his offer in the remakes. In the HD-2D Remake, he has plenty more scenes to laugh rather than just the Hero accepting his offer.
- Evil Weapon: The Choker and the Wasteband found in the Charlock Castle. Great stats, but they curse the Hero if equipped, so they're better being sold for some Gold.
- Final Boss: The Dragonlord himself is the final enemy fought in the game on his throne in Charlock Castle. He's the only boss in the game that is a Sequential Boss, and after he's defeated, the Sphere of Light is reobtained and all enemies in the game vanish on your way back to the start.
- Final Dungeon Preview: Charlock Castle, where the Dragonlord dwells, can be seen right below your starting point on the map, but takes a long while to get to.
- First Town: Tantegel Town, a town located close to the castle, which the player will probably visit to buy weapons or armor early on.
- Fisher King: Defeat the Dragonlord and not only do all of the other monsters disappear from the game but the poisonous swamps will be replaced by fields of flowers in the remakes.
- Flaming Sword: The second most powerful weapon you can wield. The best one is Erdrick's Sword.
- Follow the Plotted Line: In the HD-2D Remake, you absolutely need to first go to Erdrick's Hollow and the Rain Shrine before the King of Tantegel gives you your next objective and thus allows you to continue the game. You can also no longer choose to not save the Princess, as she's needed to dispel the illusion in the Weirdwood.
- Forced Level-Grinding: If there wasn't any in this game, you'd likely be able to beat it in half an hour. For example, people have run thousands of simulations on emulators and have determined that the Dragonlord is nearly impossible to defeat at level 17 or below in the NES version since you absolutely must have Midheal to stand a reasonable chance against the Dragonlord's dragon form. However, with a tool-assisted run, manipulating luck beyond reasonable means, the game can be completed at level 7. Even more astonishingly, this has also been accomplished by humans now. note Largely averted in the HD-2D Remake.
- Golem:
- Chilling right outside the walls of Cantlin, and actually visible in later remakes.
- Aside from the enemy of this very name, there are also the Stone Golems and the Gold Golems, the latter of which are perfect Money Spiders for those wanting to get lots of Gold.
- Grimy Water: Poisonous swamps appear throughout the series, but the only game where you can actually die from its damage is the very first game; sequential titles will never let your party's health fall below 1HP.
- Becomes a minor plot point in the HD-2D Remake where the poisonous swamps are due to the evil permeating Alefgard which is causing incurable illnesses in the citizens including the captain of Gwaelin's royal guard and a dwarf who is needed to progress the plot. Said dwarf informs the hero that only the Faeries have the ability to administer a cure.
- Guide Dang It!:
- Your name actually affects your base stats and stat growth.
- Good luck finding any of the invisible items that you can only obtain by using the "Search" command on a specific tile. (The Updated Re-release for the mobile platform does away with the need to remember the precise location of these items by adding a sparkle to their location).
- Hated by All: The spiketail's description states that it's so unbearable that almost all monsters, including its master, the Dragonlord, abhor its every utterance. The only exceptions appear to be its Dragonfry and Dragonfly minions.
- Have You Seen My God?: A major plot point in the HD-2D Remake, Rubiss has gone to visit another world, but the Hero and the Faeries need her to defeat the Dragonlord and the Sage of Rain will only give the Hero the Staff of Rain if he can summon her. He eventually succeeds after acquiring the sigils, the Lyre of Ire, and the Faerie Flute, but Rubiss returns to her slumber in the Earth after the game ends.
- Heroic Mime: Subverted at the very end of the game. The hero speaks just one line before he heads off with Gwaelin. The Hero also speaks when in-battle in the usual Flowery Elizabethan English in the HD-2D Remake.
- Heroic Wannabe: The Would-Be Heroes in the HD-2D Remake are a party consisting of a Martial Artist, a Mage, a Priest, and a Warrior. They consider themselves rivals to the actual Hero, but they end up getting lost in the Noob Cave despite confidently trying to beat the Hero to Erdrick's Tablet. Their names even reflect their mediocrity. Eventually, they, along with Robbin' 'Ood, manage to become protectors of Galenholm.
- Hidden Elf Village: The faeries of Alefgard have their own Faerie Village that's hidden away in the forest, much like the third game; and just like the one there, it's not open to humans, so you'll have to earn their trust.
- Hypocrite: A guy in Rimuldar states that all warriors should wear a ring, but when you wear the ring that one of the people who fought alongside Erdrick wore, he'll complain that it's for preening maidens.
- Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: In the HD-2D Remake, this is how the Dragonlord dies. He is impaled by the Hero, before collapsing on his throne.
- Infinity -1 Sword: The Fire Blade gives a +28 boost to your attack, and it has a special action when used as an item in the remakes.
- Infinity +1 Sword: Erdrick's Sword gives a +40 Attack bonus, highly recommended for dealing with the absurdly powerful monsters before reaching the Dragonlord himself.note
- Interchangeable Antimatter Keys: All doors in the game are locked and must be opened by magic keys, which can open any of these doors (hey, they're magic keys), but disappear afterwards; these keys can only be obtained from special shops. This is Lampshaded by the magic key shopkeeper in Rimuldar if you visit after beating the game—he announces he will devote the rest of his life to making keys that will not break after one use. Averted in the HD-2D Remake, where you gather the Thief's Key, the Magic Key, and the Ultimate Key, and like in later games, each key can only open specific doors.
- Interquel: The HD-2D Remake turns the game into this, with the story serving as the interlude, since the story of the trilogy is not wrapped up until the next game.
- Item Amplifier: The Water Sigil increases the effectiveness of restorative items.
- Item Crafting: In the HD-2D Remake, you can take certain materials you find to Craft-Master and have her make them into items for you depending on what ingredients you have.
- Level Grinding: So much in the NES version, adjusted a bit in the various remakes but still needed (for the most part). It's so bad that if you didn't have to grind at all, the game would be about a half-hour long. Maybe a little longer if you basically go for a 100% completion run, getting all the weapons and items one by one in order (even if you are so high-level that it renders them irrelevant), but there's surprisingly little "story" - or even much of anything to do - when you eliminate grinding. The HD-2D Remake averts much of this, having a lot more story content and things to do.
- Level-Up Fill-Up: In the HD-2D Remake, your HP and MP are fully refilled when you level up. You can turn this off if you so choose.
- Luck-Based Mission:
- Monsters who have the Snooze spell can put you to sleep as a preemptive attack and then wail on you until you die. Worse if it is the Dread Dragon.
- Using the Snooze spell yourself either it makes the battle a cakewalk while you wail on the helpless beast, or it doesn't work at all or wears off almost immediately and you just wasted your precious MP for nothing.
- Monsters who have the Midheal spell (Cosmic Chimeras and Knights Abhorrent) will use it almost every time they get low health. Either keep on attacking and hope they doesn't use that spell or waste 2 MP on Fizzle and proceed. Made worse if it is the Knight Abhorrent due to its massive health.
- Dark Skeletons have an absurdly high evasion rate. It is dodging indeed.
- Luck Manipulation Mechanic: The NES version's randomness is controlled entirely by the player's inputs. As Games Done Quick demonstrates, the right set of inputs allows you to beat the game at Level 7 in half an hour.
- Magic Compass: Gwaelin's Love/Princess' Pledge, which gives numbered coordinates to Tantegel based on the player's location on the outside map. In the HD-2D Remake, it also functions as a walky-talkie, and Gwaelin can channel her power through it.
- Magic Knight: You, obviously. This game established all three traditions of making the player character a Magic Knight, tying when you learn spells to your level and learning Heal at level 3 as your first spell. You get spells such as Heal and Midheal, Sizz and Sizzle, Snooze (which isn't a Useless Useful Spell for once), Fizzle, Evac, Zoom, and Holy Protection. The HD-2D Remake gives the Hero even more skills and spells, including Zap.
- Magic Music: The Faerie Flute and the Lyre of Ire, the former puts the Golem to sleep and the latter summons monsters if one plucks its strings. In the HD-2D Remake, both are needed to summon Rubiss along with the sigils.
- Mascot Mook: Slimes (though several others, including Chimeras and Drackys, give them a run for their money).
- Metal Slime: The Trope Namer. They're only found south of Damdara in the hills. Killing one gives 115 EXP in the NES, the highest experience you can find. The SFC remake and subsequent releases onward give it a whopping 775 EXP per kill. The HD-2D Remake also added Liquid Metal Slimes in the Dragonlord's Castle.
- Money for Nothing: In the remake, you make so much cash it's easy to end with a nest egg of 20000G, even after buying the most expensive equipment and only being at level 20.
- Money Spider: That the Gold Golems give a lot of wealth upon defeat makes sense. That it's all in coinage does not. Everything else also drops coins.
- Multiple Endings: There's one bad ending, achieved when you try to join the Dragonlord, and three good endings: save the princess and return her to the King before defeating the Dragonlord, return the princess after defeating the Dragonlord, or don't save the princess. The (minimalist) end game cut scene varies a bit for each ending. In the last one, the hero travels off to far-off lands alone, while in the other two, he ventures off with Princess Gwaelin. Averted in the HD-2D Remake, where saving Gwaelin is mandatory, and Gwaelin will even say But Thou Must! if the Hero tries to turn down her offer of venturing off with her.
- Music Soothes the Savage Beast: ...Case in point, the Faerie Flute for the Golem, which makes it sleep. It will always work on the Golem, and trying it on any other enemy makes it function like a normal Snooze spell.
Tropes N-Y
- Nerf:
- Remakes removed the Fizzle immunity from Erdrick's Armor.
- In the HD-2D Remake, Snooze and Fizzle are less potent than they were in the original. Fizzle now cures after a few turns, meaning enemies will continue casting spells once it's gone.
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero!: In Dragon Quest III, it is revealed that the Golem that the Hero defeated was created by one of Cantlin's townspeople to protect the town. With all the monsters running rampant across Alefgard it was just doing its job by keeping everyone (including him) out. Oops. The HD-2D Remake subverts this since it was already brainwashed by the Dragonlord's army and the Hero did the town a favor by defeating it.
- No Ontological Inertia: The second the final boss is defeated, random encounters vanish, and the poisonous swamps are replaced with pretty flowers. According to the HD-2D Remake, this is due to Hargon's corrupting darkness losing its effect over the Dragonlord's spirit.
- Non-Standard Game Over: If you accept the Dragonlord's offer to rule together in the NES version, you get a badly translated speech, the text turns your-HP-are-low-red, and the game freezes. This was changed in the remakes, where the Hero awakens in an inn in Rimuldar.
- Non-Standard Skill Learning: In the HD-2D Remake, there are Ability Scrolls, each containing an ability that the Hero cannot normally learn by leveling up.
- Notice This: There are sparkling tiles on the overworld in the HD-2D Remake that gives items if you search them. It also displays where the locations of key/rare items are in dungeons and towns.
- Offered the Crown: After beating the game, the Hero is offered the crown of Alefgard. The protagonist declines and decides to explore the world and found his own kingdom elsewhere. With the help of the Princess (if you saved her). As shown in the second game, he and Gwaelin founded three kingdoms!
- One-Winged Angel: For the second phase of his fight, the Dragonlord changes from a humanoid-sorcerer-like form to a huge, black-winged, violet dragon."The Dragonlord hath revealed his true self!"
- Optional Sexual Encounter: There's a woman in Tantegel town who will follow the Hero around and if he stays at the inn with her, the innkeeper will remark that they were up all night. The Hero can also sleep with Princess Gwaelin at any inn, with the HD-2D Remake giving the achievement "A Night to Remember" for those encounters. In earlier versions, you actualy can sleep with both of them at once! There's also a woman in Kol (Rimuldar in the original version) who will offer to give a hero a Puff-Puff, an actual one (though the NES version would Bowdlerise her into a tomato seller). In the HD-2D Remake, the woman in Kol is instead giving "puff-puff" via blowing on a boiled egg to cool it, another example of the franchise's Bait-and-Switch Running Gag.
- Orcus on His Throne: The Dragonlord pretty much just sits in his castle all game and waits for you to come and kick his arse. In his case, it's justified because he has already won. Townspeople can't venture out of their towns for fear of his legions of monsters, the king is powerless to stop him because he has the princess, and there's no one able to challenge him. The player is literally the last hope, and at the start of the adventure has trouble fighting Slimes. Why worry about his chances? The HD-2D Remake goes into more detail about it, initially subverting the trope by showing he was on the frontlines with his minions in attacking Gwaelin and stealing the Sphere of Light, before playing it straight once again by sitting back in the castle he inherited from Zoma and sending his minions to attack the Faerie Village and brainwash Cantlin's Golem to attack its own town.
- Our Fairies Are Different: In the HD-2D Remake, faeries return from Dragon Quest III, and this time, they're trying to summon Rubiss after she had left. They're wary of humans, much like those in III, so the Hero must prove himself to them.
- Our Werewolves Are Different: The Bewarewolves and their Scarewolf and Tearwolf relatives make their debut alongside the series.
- Out-of-Character Alert: Deep within the HD-2D Remake-exclusive dungeon Weirdwood, the Hero will seemingly encounter a pair of familiar royal soldiers; Gwaelin's Guard and Captain. However, Gwaelin will quickly catch on to them being illusions and call upon Rubiss' power once more to dispel them, although her method of detecting this trickery differs depending on whether she is there in person or simply listened on with the Princess's necklace. In the latter case, she will simply claim that no soldier of Tantegel would abandon their post so readily, but if she is there herself, she will instead catch them on the name Gwaelin's Guard used to refer to her; not her real name, nor "Highness", but "Majesty".
- Palette Swap: Only the Dragonlord and his true form get an exclusive in-battle sprite.
- Peninsula of Power Leveling:
- The Magic Temple island is south of Rimuldar and the bridge is north of Damdara but south of the Craggy Cave. This is the area where you will fight Gold Golems to gain 150-200 Gold Pieces (upped to 650 gold in the remakes), which would be necessary to buy the most expensive pieces of equipment: Magic Armor, Silver Shield, and the Fire Blade.
- On the westernmost continent, at the very southern tip of the western side (due south of Damdara, the ghost town where Erdrick's Armor is found), is a strip of hilly land that has a high rate of Metal Slime encounters, mixed in with other high exp monsters. But since you cross two bridges to get there, it can be dangerous. In the original Dragon Warrior/Quest, Random Encounters became exponentially more difficult with each bridge crossing.
- The Grave of Galen, the area around the town of Cantlin, and the lower levels of the Dragonlord's castle (although the enemies here are the rather tough Elite Mooks).
- There's also a strip at the edge of Rimuldar where you can encounter the enemy set from the Cantlin area.
- The game is full of these. Besides the famous coast of Rimuldar, there is the "Scorpion's Nest", a row of hills southwest of Tantegel with enemies from the Craggy Cave region, and a strip of land northeast of Damdara with enemies from the Dragonlord's island. DQI even has reverse PoPs - areas with much weaker monsters than you should be fighting (the mouth of the Craggy Cave, a strip northwest of Damdara, the entrance to the Dragonlord's island, and a huge area of hills southeast of Cantlin).
- All of this is because the enemy encounters on the overworld are set according to a large 8x8 square grid, rather than by the shape of the various landmasses. Seen here◊ and here.
- Damdara itself once you have the Midheal spell. The tile where you fight the Knight Aberrant is infinite, so you can keep walking a tile away and back to the tile to continuously fight it. This is one of the best ways to level grind, although you must watch out for the Snooze spell. If you can manage to hit it 2 times, then you are golden. If you are exhausted and want to continue fighting stronger enemies, you can always walk back to Cantlin to replenish; you can go back to Tantegel castle, but you would have to use Holy Protection to ward off the weaker enemies.
- Permanently Missable Content: In the Famicom version, if for some reason you decide to buy any other sword or armor while having Erdrick's Armor or Erdrick's Sword equipped, the shop owners will buy your previously equipped item without an option to retain it or buy it back. This is somewhat fixed in the NES version: the items can still be sold, but you can go back and find them in their original locations.
- Piñata Enemy: The Gold Golem isn't exactly a pushover until you get to around level 12 or so, but once you're strong enough to take them on they give out between 150 and 200 gold each, making them a great choice to grind for money (not so much for XP).
- Plot Coupon That Does Something: In the HD-2D Remake, the Hero crafts the sigils that his descendants would later find in II, each sigil grants him a specific ability like upgrading the power of his items or changing his skills into stronger ones.
- The Power of Love: Once the hero has rescued the princess, he can take her love with him wherever he goes and use it as a GPS. This comes in handy for finding one particular quest item.
- Press X to Die: When the Dragonlord tells you We Can Rule Together, you actually can take him up on his offer to rule "Half of the world". This results in him calling you a "pitiful fool," and you instantly lose the game. note
- Recurring Riff: Many of the game's tunes (most prominently, the main theme and the level-up theme) are used in all the subsequent installments, with the main theme gaining a new intro in IV which got extended in IX.
- Regional Bonus: The English-language release of the NES original features a battery-backed save feature (versus the Japanese version's 20-character password system) and greatly improved map graphics for characters, which in turn makes interacting with NPCs and objects much smoother, since all you have to do is face them and use the relevant interact command rather than selecting north, east, south, or west as in the Japanese version, which did not feature directional character sprites. These upgrades were eventually carried back to Japan when the game was remade for the Super Famicom.
- Reptiles Are Abhorrent: The only reptilian creatures who show up in the game are the Dragonlord and his minions like Chimaeras and Green Dragons. The HD-2D Remake adds Spiketail, a massive Dragon Fly that is Hated by All in addition to Dragonflies and Dragonfries.
- Rescue Romance: The princess falls in love with the hero the moment he comes in to save her. Eventually, he has no choice but to reciprocate.
- Revisit Reward: In the HD-2D Remake, there are chests in earlier dungeons and various places that can only be opened with the Thief's Key, Magic Key, or Ultimate Key. Once the player obtains any key, they can return to the places to open up the chests and gain the goodies inside.
- Romance Sidequest: Technically present in most versions of the game, as rescuing the princess is optional.
- Ring of Power: The Warrior's Ring is supposed to make some foes run away, but it doesn't work. Averted in later versions, where it does work and provides a strength bonus.
- Save the Princess: Your objective is to save Princess Gwaelin and defeat the Dragonlord, pretty simple. In the HD-2D Remake, saving Princess Gwaelin is only one part of many objectives, with your main goal also being to summon Rubiss back into the world, since Gwaelin is required for that.
- Sequence Breaking: The player is supposed to rescue Gwaelin from the Quagmire Cave in order to get Gwaelin's Love/Princess's Pledge, which tells your position relative to Tantegel. You're supposed to receive a hint that a Plot Coupon can be found exactly x steps away from Tantegel on the x-axis and x steps away from Tantegel on the y-axis (The Mark of Erdrick can be found 40 steps south, 70 steps east of Tantegel). Thus, you're supposed to use Princess' Pledge to locate your position relative to Tantegel and search. However, that's not actually necessary if you already know where to look (The Plot Coupon will be there regardless of whether or not you rescue Gwaelin), you can get it and skip rescuing Gwaelin to begin with, though the enemies around the Mark are Elite Mooks.
- So Near, Yet So Far:
- Princess Gwaelin is in the Quagmire Cave that you enter early on in the game. The reason you can't rescue her the first time you enter is that one, you do not have a key, which is required to open up the door to her cell, and two, there's a dragon guarding said door that you won't be able to beat at your current level and equipment.
- The Dragonlord's Castle is within viewing distance of Tantegel. But since you can't cross any bodies of water you'll need to go the long way around and build the Rainbow Bridge first before you can reach it.
- In the HD-2D Remake, the Shrine of Rain is one of your first destinations to visit. However, the Sage of Rain will only give you the Staff of Rain when you summon Rubiss, which requires a lot of effort.
- Standard Hero Reward: If you rescue the princess in the first place, that is. And don't worry about how she feels, as she falls in love with you as soon as you rescue her.
- Title One: Subsequent re-releases of the game have titled it "Dragon Quest I" after there were more of them, and after the game was solidified as being a sequel to the third game.
- Trope Codifier: While not exactly the first of its kind (Ultima and Wizardry came first), Dragon Quest is nonetheless the first instance of a Japanese RPG, and cemented a number of traditions that remain in the genre (such as a pre-defined character, relative linearity, and so on).
- Unbuilt Trope: The game lacks many of the conventions of JRPGs to follow:
- Useless Useful Spells are consistently useful: unlike later games in the series, there is absolutely no enemy in the game that is immune to spells, including the final boss. Spells always have a chance of working (though admittedly not a GOOD chance).
- Your progression through the story is determined by your ability to survive Beef Gates in the Wide-Open Sandbox world rather than by triggering events. Accordingly, you can go to any location in the game right off the bat except for Dragonlord's Castle. Whether or not you'll survive the journey is another story.
- Rescuing the Damsel in Distress is optional.
- Dungeons are a minor part of the game; the vast majority of your playtime is spent on the overworld, with Dragonlord's castle, the final level, being the only dungeon of substantial length.
- The Japanese version lacks the chibi-style superdeformed character sprites that would become standard in the genre, instead using realistically-proportioned figures similar to those in the Ultima series.
- You can Take Your Time and explore the world as much as you want, and no one will be rushing you to get on with your quest. The one exception happens when you reach max level, as the King will ask that you get a move on things already.
- Unintentionally Unwinnable: With some unorthodox inventory management, it's possible for Gwaelin to take the Staff of Rain when she gives you Gwaelin's Love/Princess's Pledge. Congratulations, you can't beat the game because you need to get the Staff of Rain to get the Rainbow Drop.
- Unique Enemy: A Golem guards the gate into Cantlin. Unlike the other "mid-boss" enemies that guard something important (Knight Aberrant, Green Dragon, etc.), once it's defeated, you'll never encounter another. Killing it in the SFC remake gives a whopping 2,000 experience, which is good for a guaranteed level-up.
- Unlockable Difficulty Levels: An interesting case that only shows up in the Japanese release. In this version, choosing to join The Dragonlord will have him give you a password. This password will send you to the start of the game but with lower stats than normal.
- Urban Ruins: Besides Damdara, the HD-2D Remake has multiple areas that are the ruins of towns that the Dragonlord destroyed.
- Useless Item: Due to a bug with the Warrior's Ring, it does not increase any stats whatsoever. Just sell it.
- Use Their Own Weapon Against Them: In the HD-2D Remake, the Dragonlord's minions brainwash Cantlin's Golem and subsequently turn it against the city.
- Variable Mix: The cave/dungeon music decreases in pitch and tempo as you travel to lower floors (occurs only in the NES version).
- Version-Exclusive Boss: The HD-2D Remake adds six new bosses called Armageddon, Goregoyle, Mirage, Robbin' Ood (and his minions called Robbin' Huddle), Sorcerer and Spiketail.
- Villainous Breakdown: In the HD-2D Remake, the Dragonlord has a breakdown after he is defeated twice, realising his powers were for naught against the Hero.
- Virtual Paper Doll: In the HD-2D Remake, the hero can equip cat suits and dog suits to change his appearance. And when he equips the full Erdrick set, he'll don it.
- Wandering Minstrel: In the HD-2D Remake, there's Zalen, a descendant of Galen, the bard who founded Galenholm. He wanders the world looking for inspiration and is particularly intrigued by Erdrick and the Hero who descends from them.
- We Can Rule Together: The Dragonlord makes this offer to you when you confront him. Most players just select no and get on with the battle, but if you accept, and you must accept more than once, you get a Non-Standard Game Over (except in the remakes where you wake up in the town next to Tantegel Castle, where the innkeeper says that you had a bad dream). This is quite jarring considering the time it took to get to the castle and then go down to the lowest floor. The Dragonlord then says "I Can Rule Alone," though; the very next thing you see is red text.
- We Have Become Complacent: The stated reason why Alefgard's soldiers were defeated so easily by the Dragonlord is that the long years of peace since the defeat of Zoma had made the people weak.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: A retroactive example. Where's Erdrick's Shield (i.e. the Shield of Heroes)? The absence of his helmet was understandable since it was just an iron mask, but the shield was a special magical talisman like the sword and armor. The HD-2D Remake has Erdrick's Shield make an appearance, it's found in a chest in Weeping Isle that requires the Ultimate Key. The helm also makes an appearance found at the gravesite of its original owner, Ortega.
- With This Herring: Let's put it this way: your first set of armour is called "clothes". Which you start the game without. This had led some amused players to believe you're having audiences with the king and fighting slimes in your bare butt until you get it. Averted in the HD-2D Remake, as you do have a set of armor and a Copper Sword to fight enemies with, so you're not completely defenceless while fighting nearby monsters.
- Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe: The original game had enough Faux English to make any classical English scholar shake in their boots. It was dropped in the Game Boy Color remake, however, the mobile and Switch ports, as well as the HD-2D Remake, come back full circle and return to this but with much better results due to a better translation.
