Editing Hero

|caption        = [[File:DragonQuestSymbol.svg|50px|class=invert]]<br>Official artwork of the Heroes from the first 11 installments of the mainline ''Dragon Quest'' series.

|firstgame      = ''{{s|dragonquestwiki|Dragon Quest}}'' (1986, general concept)<br>''{{s|dragonquestwiki|Dragon Quest III}}'' (1988, Erdrick)<br>''{{s|dragonquestwiki|Dragon Quest IV}}'' (1990, Solo)<br>''{{s|dragonquestwiki|Dragon Quest VIII}}'' (2004, Eight)<br>''{{s|dragonquestwiki|Dragon Quest XI}}'' (2017, Luminary)

|lastappearance = ''{{s|dragonquestwiki|Dragon Quest Treasures}}'' (2022, Erdrick)<br>''{{s|dragonquestwiki|Dragon Quest Keshi Keshi}}'' (2021, all) {{flag|Japan}}

|artist        = {{s|wikipedia|Akira Toriyama}}

|creator        = {{s|wikipedia|Yūji Horii}}

|voiceactor    = {{s|wikipedia|Mitsuki Saiga}} (Luminary)<br> {{s|wikipedia|Nobuyuki Hiyama}} (Erdrick)<br>{{s|wikipedia|Takeshi Kusao}} (Solo)<br>{{s|wikipedia|Yuki Kaji}} (Eight)<br>

|interwiki      = dragonquestwiki

|interwikiname  = Dragon Quest Wiki

|interwikipage  = Hero

===''{{s|dragonquestwiki|Dragon Quest}}''===

===''{{s|dragonquestwiki|Dragon Quest II: Luminaries of the Legendary Line}}''===

===''{{s|dragonquestwiki|Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation}}''===

[[File:ErdrickArmor.png|thumb|right|The Hero from ''Dragon Quest II'' wearing Erdrick's Armour, the basis of the Mii Swordfighter costume.]]

The Hero is given the title "Legendary Hero" ({{ja|伝説の勇者|Densetsu no Yūsha}}) in ''Theatrhythm Dragon Quest'' and ''Dragon Quest: Monster Battle Road''; in other instances, such as promotional material, their name is '''Arus''' ({{ja|アルス|Arusu}}, occasionally romanized as '''Arusu''' and sometimes '''Alus''').<ref name=HeroInfo/> However, at the end of their adventure in ''Dragon Quest III'', the Hero receives the title of [[dragonquestwiki:Hero (Dragon Quest III) |'''Erdrick''']] ({{ja|ロト|Roto}}, ''Loto''), which becomes their most widely known moniker. They are the first Hero to have male and female variations, though neither choice affects the story in a major way.

===''{{s|dragonquestwiki|Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen}}''===

Like the previous installment, the player can choose the gender of the protagonist. The default names for the male and female Heroes in-game are [[dragonquestwiki:Hero (Dragon Quest IV) |'''Solo''']] <ref name=HeroInfo/> ({{ja|ソロ|Soro}}) and '''Sofia''' ({{ja|ソフィア|Sofia}}), respectively; these names are also used for their appearances in later games. In the audio drama, the Hero is named '''Ray''' ({{ja|レイ|Rei}}), and in the official novelizations, his name is '''Yuuril''' ({{ja|ユーリル|Yūriru}}).

===''{{s|dragonquestwiki|Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride}}''===

===''{{s|dragonquestwiki|Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation}}''===

===''{{s|dragonquestwiki|Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past}}''===

===''{{s|dragonquestwiki|Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King}}''===

In the manual for the PlayStation 2 version and in promotional screenshots, the Hero's default name is [[dragonquestwiki:Hero (Dragon Quest VIII) |'''Eight''']] ({{ja|エイト|Eito}}).<ref name=HeroInfo/> One of his companions, Yangus, also calls him "{{iw|wiktionary|guv}}" as an informal nickname which is also sometimes used by fans to distinguish him from the other ''Dragon Quest'' heroes.

===''{{s|dragonquestwiki|Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies}}''===

The Hero is commonly referred to as '''Nine''' ({{ja|ナイン|Nain}}). Like in ''Dragon Quest III'', ''Dragon Quest IV'' and ''Dragon Quest X'', the player can choose the gender of the protagonist.

===''{{s|dragonquestwiki|Dragon Quest X}}''===

Both the Hero and their sibling live in the small village of Etene. During a raid on the village, said sibling is kidnapped by monsters, and the Hero is killed in an explosion. The Hero's soul is then revived as one of five non-human species, launching a nontraditional quest in the world of Astordia.

===''{{s|dragonquestwiki|Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age}}''===

The Hero is commonly referred to as the [[dragonquestwiki:Hero (Dragon Quest XI) |'''Luminary''']]  ({{ja|勇者|Yūsha}}, ''Hero'') or '''Eleven''' ({{ja|イレブン|Irebun}})<ref name=HeroInfo/>.

The Luminary is said to be the reincarnation of a legendary warrior named {{s|dragonquestwiki|Erdwin}}, who defeated the Dark One {{s|dragonquestwiki|Calasmos}}. On his sixteenth birthday, he participates in a coming-of-age ceremony in his hometown of Cobblestone with his friend Gemma, wherein he learns of his destiny and sets out on a journey to fulfill it. However, he conflicts with the Kingdom of Helidor, as its king instead apparently believes he is the Darkspawn, an entity doomed to spread darkness across the world. In spite of many accusing him of being the Darkspawn, the Luminary forms many alliances during his quest, being joined by {{s|dragonquestwiki|Erik}}, [[Veronica]], [[dragonquestwiki:Serena (Dragon Quest XI)|Serena]], {{s|dragonquestwiki|Sylvando}}, {{s|dragonquestwiki|Rab}}, {{s|dragonquestwiki|Jade}}, and {{s|dragonquestwiki|Hendrik}}.

It’s later revealed that the King of Heliodor was being controlled by Mordegon, a dark incarnation of the ancient wizard Morcant, a twist that's revealed when the party reaches [[Yggdrasil]]. Mordegon later steals the Luminary’s power from him and uses it to take the [[Sword of Light]] from Yggdrasil. He also captures the Heart of Yggdrasil, causing a worldwide cataclysm. The Luminary sets off on another quest to find his allies and to defeat the fiends responsible for the chaos post-cataclysm, in the process regaining his power to at last defeat Mordegon and a returning Calasmos.

According to a Famitsu column by [[Super Smash Bros. (series)|''Super Smash Bros.'' series]] creator [[Masahiro Sakurai]], there are restrictions from Square Enix regarding which ''Dragon Quest'' protagonists can encounter each other. However, ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'' was given special exception in order to have the different Heroes as alternate character costumes. Eight's addition as an alternate character, in particular, was due to his popularity with Western fans for the character.<ref>https://twitter.com/PushDustIn/status/1143909847630409729</ref> Additionally, the Luminary was added and made the default Hero due to wanting to promote the then-upcoming ''Dragon Quest XI S'' coming out on the Switch. In a later interview with series creator Yuji Horii, it was revealed that the team did toss around the idea of adding the series mascot [[Slime]], but they realized its limited moveset potential, so they went with Hero. Originally only two Heroes were planned, being Luminary and Erdrick, but it was decided this was too few to represent the series at large, so the number was doubled to four. The Hero from ''Dragon Quest V'' was also considered, but he was ultimately decided against due to his default weapon being a staff instead of a sword, and he was instead reduced to a cameo role in Hero's Final Smash and referenced as an alternate costume for Erdrick.<ref>https://twitter.com/pushdustin/status/1177192298846674945?s=21</ref> The Hero from the first ''Dragon Quest'' was also considered, but was dropped as there isn’t a unified image for ''Dragon Quest I''{{'}}s main character across media.

When Hero originally began development, he was planned to be silent, similar to previous ''Dragon Quest'' protagonists. However, with the addition of voice acting in the Japanese version of ''Dragon Quest XI S'' (as the localized version of the original ''Dragon Quest XI'' had voice acting from the beginning), plans were changed and voices for all four Heroes were added.<ref>https://twitter.com/PushDustIn/status/1143911723356676096</ref> In addition to being the first game with official voice acting for Erdrick, Solo and Eight, Sakurai shared some interesting pieces of trivia about each of the Heroes' voice actors and their recording sessions:

*Luminary's voice actress, {{s|wikipedia|Mitsuki Saiga}}, reprises her role from ''Dragon Quest XI S'', thus technically making ''Ultimate'' her debut voicing the character. However, she was directed to have more energy in her vocals to better fit the style of the ''Super Smash Bros.'' series.

*Erdrick's voice actor, {{s|wikipedia|Nobuyuki Hiyama}}, notably voiced the adult {{s|zeldawiki|Hero of Time}} in ''{{s|zeldawiki|The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time}}'', ''[[Link (SSB)|Smash 64]]'', and ''[[Link (SSBM)|Melee]]''. Of the four Heroes, his recording session was completed the fastest because of his extensive experience. Sakurai also notes that his performance can be recognized as Guy Shishioh from ''{{s|wikipedia|The King of Braves GaoGaiGar}}''.

*Solo's voice actor, {{s|wikipedia|Takeshi Kusao}}, asked for a lot of detail on the backstory of the protagonist to help improve his performance.

*Eight's voice actor, {{s|wikipedia|Yūki Kaji}}, apparently dreamed of doing voice work for the ''Dragon Quest'' and ''Super Smash Bros.'' series, and he was enthusiastic to fulfill both at the same time in ''Ultimate''.

The {{s|dragonquestwiki|Erdrick Equipment}} is a paid [[downloadable]] [[Mii Costume]].<ref name=HeroInfo/> Although Erdrick's Helmet can be worn by any type of {{SSBU|Mii Fighter}}, only {{SSBU|Mii Swordfighter}}s can wear Erdrick's Armour. While worn, the Mii Swordfighter uses the Sword of Kings instead of their standard sword.

*Similar to [[Zelda]] prior to ''Ultimate'', Kirby's [[Copy Ability]] hat for Hero represents a design that doesn't appear in ''Smash''; he gains Erdwin's Coronet, a headpiece that can be worn by the Luminary in ''Dragon Quest XI''.

*Even though the Luminary has a voice actor in English, Rasmus Hardiker, he is played by Mitsuki Saiga in all versions of the game. This makes him the third playable character in ''Ultimate'' to have an established English voice actor, but to be portrayed in Japanese in all regions of the game; the others are [[Mewtwo]], [[Cloud]], and [[Sephiroth]].

**Similar to Mewtwo, Hero has additional dialogue not present in the English version; he will call out the names of his neutral special, side special, and up special only when the language is set to Japanese, Chinese, or Korean.

*Hero and {{SSBU|Pokémon Trainer}} are the only characters to have a generic "descriptor" name while representing nameable characters that have optional canon names. Both Hero and Pokémon Trainer also represent multiple individuals with different canon names via their alternate costumes.

***Though "Eleven" and "Arusu" are more commonly used names for the first two Heroes in Japan due to "Luminary" and "Erdrick" being titles, the latter two are more commonly used for them in English.

***Solo is the only one of these to have a canonical name acknowledged outside of his original game.

**While the [[Ice Climbers]] also use a generic name in-game, their actual names (Popo and Nana) are recognized in the [[tips]] and [[trophies]].

*Hero has the most [[instant KO]] moves out of the entire cast, with a total of 4.

**Additionally, he is currently the only fighter that has an instant KO move that KOs himself.

*During Hero's [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pupll3ON-WA reveal trailer], Hero lifts a [[barrel]] to reveal a [[Franklin Badge]]. In addition to representing the action of discovering Mini Medals, a collectible item across the series, the Franklin Badge itself is a reference to the {{uv|EarthBound}} series, as the original ''Mother'' / ''EarthBound Beginnings'' was inspired by ''Dragon Quest III'', and is mechanically very similar.

*Perhaps coincidentally, each of the four playable Heroes come from a different decade; Erdrick debuted in the 1980s, Solo debuted in the 1990s, Eight debuted in the 2000s, and the Luminary debuted in the 2010s.

*While Solo and Erdrick have their own female counterparts, they have yet to appear as their respective alternate costumes in ''Smash'', presumably due to the game’s costume limits or/and inclusions of both Luminary and Eight in ''Ultimate'', who have no female counterparts in their respective original entries.

**Prior to ''Ultimate'', this was also the case for the [[Pokémon Trainer]].