Legendary artist Akira Toriyama has been steadily contributing to the worlds of gaming and manga for more than 40 years, with perhaps his two most iconic creations beingDragon Balland the art and design of theDragon Questfranchise. Among the more recognizable design elements fromDragon Questare its recurring monsters, which are arguably more iconic and important to the franchise than its protagonists. In the world of RPGs, theDragon QuestSlime reigns supreme as the most legendary and defining character from not just the series but the genre itself, making the creature an unmistakable piece of RPG iconography.
Since the release ofthe originalDragon Questin 1986, the Slime has remained one of the few consistent enemies that are carried across all 11 titles in the series. Notably, the Slimes are the first enemies players encounter in the game, meaning that they are the first challenge that players faced in the game that would serve as the archetype of Japanese RPG design. That the franchise has had several spin-off titles based around its monsters, all of which feature the Slimes in their promotional art, is no coincidence.Dragon Questis a hugely important franchise in the gaming zeitgeist, and its most notable icon is the Slime.
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How Dragon Quest’s Slime Enemy Became the Face of the Franchise
In his medium-defining work on the art and mechanics of graphic storytelling,Understanding Comics, author Scott McCloud introduces the idea of icons as they relate to visual information. Most notably, icons are not always visual, but they use symbols, shapes, and other elements of design to communicate that which is otherwise abstract.Dragon Quest’s Slimeis one of the few examples of true iconography in gaming, as millions of players can see the Slime and (with no other information or context) immediately think ofDragon Quest.
Truthfully, many of Akira Toriyama’s works are iconic in a similar way. For instance, people can see Goku or Piccolo and immediately think ofDragon Ball Zwith no further prompting. And in terms of notable protagonists from JRPGs, there are few that are more timelessly iconic and recognizable thanCrono fromChrono Trigger. While theDragon Questtitles can be split into distinct eras based on how each group of titles is related in their narratives, the human characters in theDragon Questgames have never been the focus of the series. Where Toriyama gets to flex his creativity is in the incredibly unique and varied designs of the dozens of monsters across the franchise.
The fact that there is an entire spin-off series of titles intheDragon Questcanonbuilt around the franchise’s monsters is telling, and the Slime is the face of these titles and the de facto representative of the collectiveDragon Questmonsterpedia. While theDragon Questseries has long had plenty of spin-offs, few have had the staying power of theDragon Quest Monstersseries, which recently celebrated its own 25th anniversary.
Whether it can be chalked up to the design of the creature itself or its comfortable familiarity among players, the use of the Slime as the iconic face of theMonstersspin-offs has most certainly contributed to its success. AlongsideFinal Fantasy, theDragon Questgames are the originators and continued blueprint drafters for the design elements that become standard in Japanese-developed RPGs.
Additionally, theFinal Fantasyseries is no stranger to iconic creatures, with the Chocobo and Moogle also being series mainstays across much of the franchise. That said, neither the Chocobo nor Moogle can trace their lineage back to the firstFinal Fantasy, a distinction squarely held by the Slime and its relationship to theDragon Questfranchise. Hopefully fans will see somenews aboutDragon Quest 12soon, and it’s almost guaranteed that the reveal will be precluded by an image of the Slime.
Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Princewill be released on December 1 for Nintendo Switch.
