Dragon Quest (universe)

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Dragon Quest (universe)
Developer(s)	Square Enix (formerly Enix) Level-5
Publisher(s)	Square Enix Nintendo
Genre(s)	Role-playing game
Console/platform of origin	Nintendo Entertainment System
First installment	Dragon Quest (1986)
Latest installment	Dragon Quest Builders 2 (2018)

Dragon Quest (ドラゴンクエスト, Dragon Quest) is a series of role-playing games originally published by Enix, now Square Enix. The original success story of Japanese RPGs, (successful to the point of being a pop culture phenomenon in Japan) the series laid the foundations that would define the genre for generations to come, directly inspiring monumental titles including Final Fantasy, Pokémon, and EarthBound.

Description

Dragon Quest was originally inspired by the American computer RPGs Wizardry and Ultima, which happened to be popular among computer hobbyists in Japan, but were deemed too difficult and convoluted for the average player to enjoy. Copywriter Yuji Horii, famed mangaka Akira Toriyama, and composer Koichi Sugiyama were assembled together to work on the project out of Horii's desire to bring the joy of RPGs to the masses, streamlining the experience to it's most pure form. An overnight sensation thanks to advertising in Toriyama's Weekly Shonen Jump publisher, the game became an outstanding sensation that took the Japanese media by storm and opened the door for non-action games on Nintendo's 8-bit hardware and the industry as a whole.

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

• 72. Hero: As part of Challenger Pack #2, the protagonists from Dragon Quest XI, III, IV, and VIII all join the roster under the generic name “Hero”, with the protagonist from Dragon Quest XI being the default.

Trivia

• This is the second character-based third-party universe from Square Enix, the first being Final Fantasy.
• Dragon Quest, EarthBound, Final Fantasy, and Persona are the only universes without playable characters from the first installment in their series in Super Smash Bros.
• Characters from Dragon Quest previously crossed over with characters from Mario in Itadaki Street DS and Fortune Street for Wii.
  • The Dragon Quest enemy Slime also appeared in Mario Sports Mix as a playable character.
• The series was originally released as Dragon Warrior in the North American market, due to the regional copyright to Dragon Quest being held by board game manufacturer TSR.
• Dragon Quest is the fourth third-party series to debut on a Nintendo console; the others are Mega Man, Final Fantasy, Castlevania, and Banjo-Kazooie.
  • All of these series debuted on NES except for Banjo-Kazooie.