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Hero

One of the best aspects of the story is the amount of interesting characters, and how they all are important in the story, but the hero is clearly Dai, the boy raised by monsters who dreams of becoming a knight. He is only 12 years old, but he is brave, hot-headed and has a mysterious power that gives him an overwhelming strength. In the story we can see him travel to many places, fight in many battles, and become stronger little by little until he is recognized as a great hero.

Plot Summary

Dai is the only human living on an island inhabited by monsters. Years ago, they say, a great hero defeated the Demon King Hadler, and the monsters who once were evil and served him became kind and could live in peace. Dai was found by the monsters when he was a baby and raised by them; he dreams of becoming a knight someday. One day the monsters who were like brothers to him become evil and blood-thirsty again, because Hadler has come back to life. At the same time a mysterious man named Avan appears on the island, a retired knight offering to teach Dai how to become a hero. When Hadler attacks the island, Dai and his friends find out Avan is actually the great hero who once brought peace to the world, but this time, he sacrifices his own life trying to save the others, while Hadler manages to escape. Dai and his friend Pop (another of Avan's pupils who was training to become a magician) start a journey to become stronger and, one day, avenge Avan and defeat the Demon King in order to bring peace back to the world. On their quest they will meet Avan's former pupils and many other friends and enemies.

Main Characters

Dai - A little boy who was raised by monsters who wants to become a knight. When he is angry or in danger, a mysterious dragon-shaped mark appears on his forehead, giving him a supernatural strength and the ability to cast magic spells, although he can't control it. He is energetic and a bit naive.

Avan - The hero who once defeated the Demon King, now an instructor of heroes who teaches his techniques to future knights, magicians and priests. He sacrificed his own life in order to kill a reborn Hadler for the second time, but he could only protect his pupils with his death.

Pop - One of Avan's pupils, a boy training to become a magician. He is lazy and much of a coward at the beginning, but he will find his own strength and bravery through the journey.

Mam - Another of Avan's pupils. Because her father was a warrior and her mother a priestess, she is incredibly strong and can use some healing magic. She can be harsh and a bit of a tomboy, but she's really kind and brave.

Hyunckel - He was Avan's first pupil, but only because he thought Avan had killed his father and wanted to use his own sword techniques to kill his teacher, though he failed. He was raised by members of the Demon King's army and finally became one of his generals. After being defeated by Dai and learning the truth about his father, he leaves the evil army and joins Avan's pupils.

Leona - A princess who once visited Dai's island and was saved by him. She is the one who told Avan about Dai and asked him to train the boy and help him become a knight. Dai seems to have feelings for her. She eventually joins the party after her kingdom is destroyed by the Demon King's army.

Departure

~Call to Adventure: Dai lives in an isolated island full of monsters who became kind and peaceful when the Demon King Hadler was defeated by a legendary hero. The Call to Adventure begins when the legendary hero himself, Avan, appears on the island and asks Dai to become his pupil. The Demon King is back, the monsters are blood-thirsty again (all except Dai's pet monster Gome, a Golden Metal Slime) and the world needs new knights to fight Hadler and protect people. Avan is the herald who tells Dai about this (he heard about Dai from princess Leona, who had visited the island before, and had been saved by Dai from some traitors who tried to murder her). Avan's death becomes a point of no return: Dai does not only want to protect the world and his friends, but also avenge his teacher.

~Refusal of the Call: I don't think there is a refusal of the call, because Dai is eager to become a knight and start his journey to become a hero. Before Avan appears, Dai's adoptive grandfather, the monster mage Blas, tries to convince Dai to leave the island before the monsters become evil again and attack him, but Dai refuses, and can stay a few more days thanks to the protective spell Avan casts on the island. After Avan dies, Dai doesn't hesitate and starts travelling to complete his training on his own and become a true knight, although he is worried about leaving his grandfather and monster friends on the island.

~Supernatural Aid: Dai receives supernatural aid many times and from many different people through his journey, mostly from his friends, but his first magical helper is Avan. He teaches Dai all he can about swordplay and magic, but also gives him and his other pupils a graduation gift: a pendant, a proof that they are his pupils and true hero, and that is later revealed to have protective magic. Dai also receives a powerful knife from princess Leona that will be important in the story. Another magical helper is Gome, the little golden monster. He seems to be just a pet, but his tears can heal Dai's wounds. And of course, Pop, the young mage and one of Avan's pupils, becomes Dai's best friend and stays with him until the end.

~Crossing of the First Threshold: After Avan sacrifices his own life in order to save his pupils Dai and Pop from Hadler, Dai takes a boat and leaves the island, entering the unknown world. Although he wants to go alone, Pop decides to join him, because "he doesn't want to be stuck in that island forever" - he is a coward, but the love he felt for Avan gives him the courage to go on.

~Belly of the Whale: The first stage of Dai's journey is the forest of Lomos, a labyrinth full of monsters. This is Dai's first contact with the outer world, and he and Pop are literally lost, until a strong girl named Mam (who turns out to be another of Avan's pupils) joins the team and helps them. This is the beginning of the journey... and of an endless friendship.

Initiation

~Road of Trials: Dai's road of trials is long and full of battles. His first enemy is Crocodine, one of the commanders in Hadler's Army, and after that, Dai and his friends have to fight the other commanders and defeat them one by one, or other formidable enemies, such as an army made of living chess pieces forged in orichalcum. The good thing is, some of these enemies (like Crocodine and Hyunkel, another commander of the evil army and former pupil of Avan) change their mind after being defeated by Dai. They join his cause and become valuable friends. Dai will also find out that Hadler is not the ultimate enemy, but Vearn, the Great Demon Lord.

~Meeting with the Goddess: This is often represented by the hero meeting his true love, and Dai's true love is princess Leona. They meet early in the series, and Dai saves her life; when they meet again, the war has begun, and Dai has to save her for the second time. After this, Leona decides to use her magic powers to help Dai, and joins him in his journey, saving his life many times with her healing spells.

~Atonement with the Father: (I'm going to change the order here because I need to explain this part before the Temptress). Dai does meet his real father in the middle of his journey. And this is Baran, the true Dragon Knight and commander of the Dragons Army; he had joined the Demon Lord's army because he hated humans (his wife, Dai's mother, was a human princess who had been killed by humans). They start as enemies and Baran tries to convince Dai to join his side, even erasing his memory with a spell, so Dai couldn't remember his human friends. But at the end, and after fighting two battles as rivals, they become allies. Baran teaches Dai how to use and control the power of the dragon he inherited from his father, how to turn into a Dragon Knight without losing his human mind and becoming a monster, or how to use the powerful spell Draura than only a Dragon Knight can master. However, Baran also knows that one of them must die, because there can only be one Dragon Knight at the same time.

~Woman as Temptress: It is Dai's father, Baran, who acts as a tempter. He wants Dai to join him in the Demon Lord's army, to accept him as his father, to hate humans like he does. Baran magically erases Dai's memory, so he can't remember who he is and acts only by instinct. Dai had always known he was different and many people were scared of his supernatural strength, so he is tempted to leave his journey and become a member of the evil army. He wants to have a real family, to love his father. However, seeing his friends fight to protect him, and seeing Pop sacrifice his life for him, help Dai remember his previous life and continue fighting.

~Apotheosis: Dai losing his memory is the closest to a spiritual death I can remember. It also makes him realize what he really is (half human, half dragon, with a supernatural power) and accept it. His friend Pop is the one who dies physically during their battle against Baran. It is Baran himself who, touched by the Pop's sacrifice (he dies trying to protect Dai from him), makes the boy drink his dragon blood, which brings him back to life.

~Ultimate Boon: The ultimate goal of the journey is defeating Vearn, the Great Demon Lord. Dai also needs an extremely powerful weapon that can be used against him, without breaking when he uses the spell Draura. In the last moment, Dai receives the Dragon Knight's Sabre he inherited from his father Baran.

Return

~Refusal of the Return: I do not see a refusal of the return.

~Magic Flight: After defeating Vearn in a life or death battle, Dai literally falls from Vearn's flying castle. This is the closest to a 'flight' I can see, although not very magical... Our hero is weak and wounded after the battle.

~Rescue from Without: When Dai falls from the castle, his best friend Pop comes to his rescue and catches him just in time. All their friends and allies are waiting for Dai to return.

~Master of Two Worlds: Dai has accepted his nature as a Dragon Knight, half human and half dragon; he is now considered a hero by the people, and seen as a leader by the monsters.

~Crossing of the Return Threshold: In this story, the hero never really goes back home. After killing the Demon Lord Vearn and joining his friends, a new and more dangerous menace appears before them: the God of Death in person. Dai must sacrifice himself again to fight this new enemy and protect the world.

~Freedom to Live: The hero disappears after fighting the God of Death. It looks like he sacrificed his own life in the battle, but the gem in his sword, the special sword that only he can wield, is still shining. Because of that, princess Leona is sure that Dai is still alive somewhere, and that he will return when he heals his wounds, and will have freedom to live. We, the readers, never know if this happens... but, with his sacrifice, Dai gave his friends, and the whole world, freedom to live.

Final Thoughts

When I chose "Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibouken" for my project, it was not only because it is my favorite story, but also because it is the most typical heroic fantasy story, with all the classic elements (and I like it that way). It is the first story that comes to my mind when I hear the word "hero," and I thought it would be easy to identify the different stages of the Journey of the Hero.

And it was, at least, at the beginning. The Departure was probably the easiest, maybe because it is also the part I know best and my favorite one. Avan is my favorite character, and I have read the chapters where he was alive many times.

The Initiation was a little harder, because the series is really long, many things happen, and I had to think carefully to decide which were the major plot points that could best match each stage. There are many things I would have liked to talk about, but the project would have been endless... I also think it would have been very interesting to analyze the story from Pop's point of view. All of Dai's friends are heroes, and have their own story and development; even though they share the journey, some stages are different for everyone, and Pop is the one who has the greatest and most interesting character development (he starts as a coward, and becomes a brave man and a great wizard). But, even though I didn't write about them, I enjoyed thinking about the stages of the journey that were different for everyone. Who is Pop's Goddess? Who is Mam's Temptress? Does Hyunckel have an Atonement with the Father? etc.

The Return is probably the hardest part, because, if we think of Vearn's death (and saving the world from him) as the Ultimate Boon, the story ends so suddenly after the battle that they barely have time for anything else. Being my favorite manga series, and having read it for so many years, I would have liked a more detailed ending and Dai's trip back home, but I did my best to analyze this single chapter according to Joseph Campbell's theories.

This project has been a great chance to relive this epic story, and even though I didn't have time to re-read all 37 books, just thinking about it and checking some information made me happy. Identifying the elements of the Monomyth in other stories I like (and being a fantasy fan, I can think of many stories... classic fantasy books like The Lord of the Rings, movies like Star Wars, Disney films, classic fairy tales, or even video games such as the Fire Emblem series) can also be an interesting practice and a great help to find inspiration for my own stories.