Dunban

Dunban
Official artwork of Dunban from Xenoblade Chronicles: Definitive Edition.
Universe	Xenoblade Chronicles
Debut	Xenoblade Chronicles (2010)
Smash Bros. appearances	SSB4 Ultimate
Most recent non-Smash appearance	Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed (2023, cameo)
Console/platform of origin	Wii
Species	Homs
Gender	Male
Place of origin	Bionis
English voice actor	Rufus Jones
Japanese voice actor	Ryō Horikawa
Article on Xeno Series Wiki	Dunban

Dunban (ダンバン, Danban) is a character from Xenoblade Chronicles. He is the older brother of Fiora and the previous wielder of the Monado before Shulk.

Origin

Dunban first appears in the Battle of Sword Valley, the game's prologue and first tutorial. Wielding the Monado, a legendary sword that it appears only he can use, he almost single-handedly turns the losing battle from a loss into a victory for the Bionis forces. The effort costs him the use of his right arm, but he is taken home to Colony 9 and hailed as "Hero of the Homs". When the colony is unexpectedly attacked a year later, he tries to fight again but is unable to keep control of the Monado, which passes to Shulk instead. From then on, he fights with his left arm, and is no less formidable in combat. After a short rest, he joins Shulk's quest of revenge towards the Mechon (and Metal Face in particular) for their attack.

Dunban is a wise party member. He was somewhat brash and overconfident in the past, owing to being the one with the Monado, but has since learned to be more cautious. He often acts as the voice of reason, as he is the eldest and most-traveled Homs party member. He still defers to Shulk, but will often provide advice as to how Shulk should act. He is also the older brother of Fiora, Shulk's childhood friend who was thought to be killed in the attack.

In combat, Dunban is the group's agility tank: his role is to attract the enemy's attention by dealing large amounts of damage and keep their aggro by dodging their attacks. Concurrently, while his health is lower than the other tanks, his physical power and agility (which translates to both accuracy and evasion) are very high. His arts are designed to inflict high damage and be used one after the other in particular combinations to stack status effects on a single target that most other party members are unable to inflict alone. His high agility also allows him to fight enemies at higher levels than him somewhat easier than other physical party members. However, he needs to successfully deal damage to draw his aggro, he can generally only attack one foe at a time, his best arts are auras that can only take effect one at a time, and his evasive skills are meaningless against ether attacks. As a result, he fares poorly against large groups or ether-based enemies.

Dunban's fate is unknown after the events of Xenoblade Chronicles: Future Connected, as he does not appear in Xenoblade Chronicles 3, besides as a cameo in a flashback from Melia, which happens in her last Hero Quest.

In Super Smash Bros. 4

Assist role

Dunban alongside Riki and Shulk in Shulk's Final Smash.

Dunban appears in Shulk's Final Smash. He appears alongside Riki to use a Chain Attack on the trapped opponent, before Shulk sends the foe flying. All of Dunban's voice clips are directly ripped from Xenoblade Chronicles.

As a costume

Mii Swordfighters dressed as Dunban.

Shulk's black costume is based on Dunban's color scheme. Additionally, Dunban is also the basis for a paid downloadable content costume for Mii Swordfighters. Nintendo also released a QR code for those who wish to have the exact Mii used in the costume's advertising.

Trophy

Dunban appears as a trophy in both versions.

Dunban's trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

Dunban's trophy in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

Dunban

Dunban was hailed as a hero when he stopped the Mechon invasion of Bionis with the Monado. However, it cost him the use of his right arm. He's always looking out for others, and Shulk sees him as an older brother. In Shulk's Final Smash, Dunban, Riki, and Shulk team up to overwhelm the enemy!

: Xenoblade Chronicles (04/2012)

Dunban was hailed as a hero when he stopped the Mechon invasion of Bionis with the Monado. However, he lost the use of his right arm in doing so. He's always looking out for others, and Shulk sees him as an older brother. Dunban and Riki join the fight in Shulk's Final Smash, where the three team up to overwhelm the enemy!

: Xenoblade Chronicles (08/2011)

In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

Assist role

Dunban alongside Riki, Fiora and Shulk in Shulk's Final Smash.

Dunban returns as part of Shulk’s Final Smash, Chain Attack, alongside Riki and the newly added Mecha-Fiora.

As a costume

Dunban's outfit returns for the Mii Swordfighter.

Spirit

Dunban also appears as an Ace-class primary spirit. He can also be summoned using the cores of Reyn and Fiora.

In Adventure Mode: World of Light, Dunban is presumably one of the countless spirits captured by Galeem during his takeover of the universe. After Galeem's defeat, Dharkon takes control of Galeem's spirits, including Dunban. Dunban's spirit is located in the Sacred Land sub-dungeon of The Dark Realm.

Dunban's Spirit Battle uses a Mii Swordfighter puppet fighter wearing the Dunban Wig and Outfit and is fought on the Gaur Plain stage. He is fought along a Shulk puppet fighter. During the battle, Shulk receives a sudden Final Smash, referencing how Dunban appears as part of Shulk's Chain Attack Final Smash. Also, the Mii Swordfighter's melee weapons have increased power, referencing Dunban's proficiency with his sword.

No.	Image	Name	Type	Class	Slots	Base	Max	Base	Max	Base	Max	Ability	Series
956		Dunban		★★★	2	2939	8844	1470	4422	1202	3618	Sword Attack ↑	Xenoblade Chronicles Series

Gallery

• 

  Dunban's cameo in Shulk's poster.

Names in other languages

Language	Name
Japanese	ダンバン, Danban
English	Dunban
French	Dunban
German	Dunban
Spanish	Dunban
Italian	Dunban
Chinese	Dunban
Korean	단반, Danban
Dutch	Dunban
Russian	Данбен

Trivia

• While Dunban is showcased as left-handed for most of Xenoblade Chronicles (due to his right arm being crippled from overuse of the Monado in the prologue), Mii Swordfighters in the Dunban costume still hold Dunban's sword right-handed due to their animations. As a result, the swordfighters use their cape-covered arm to hold their sword, contrary to Dunban's original design (which uses the non-caped arm).