Part 29: Character Profile: The Hero

Since we've got everybody together for comparison's sake, let's address our final permanent party member: the Legendary Hero.



The hero is pretty unique in this game in that he/she is the only character in this version that you get to name and whose gender you're allowed to select. For the most part this difference is purely cosmetic, although the female hero gets a few additional equipment options. Like all main characters in the Dragon Warrior series, the Hero has a wide selection of attack, healing and support magic as well as the best armor and weapon options in the game.



The Hero is also essentially half-angel, which this terrible art from the NA manual references in the exaggerated wings on the armor. I find it interesting that the Ruler of Evil can't be defeated by ordinary humans and that some kind of celestial intervention is required.



A slightly better set of drawings of the main character. There's a certain continuity of design in all versions, but I like these a little bit better. If they look a little bit like Bulma and Trunks from Dragon Ball Z... well, blame Akira Toriyama

Why is the Hero Good?

That's not even a question. The Hero has the best equipment selection in the game, learns the best healing spells in the game (Including revival and full party max healing), gets lightning attack magic, and has a ton of unique utility magic. The Hero also has great stat gains in strength and vitality, with a commensurate amount of HP. Put simply, the Hero is a tank.

Why is the Hero Bad?

Uh..hmm. Well, the only real drawbacks are that the Hero is the second slowest character to level (right behind Nara) and tends to have fairly low MP despite having a number of expensive spells. This requires careful management of the Hero's power, especially when you've got a boss fight coming up.

Best Possible Equipment

Sword of Miracles, Zenithian Armor, Zenithian Shield, Zenithian Helm. The hero can also use all the Metal Babble equipment, minus the shield.