In installments of the Dragon Quest

Dragon Quest

, published as Dragon Warrior in North America until 2005,Due to the inconsistent usage by sources since Square Enix obtained the naming rights to Dragon Quest in North America. Dragon Quest has been used by sources to refer to games released solely under the Dragon Warrior titles...

series of console role-playing games, published by Square Enix

Square Enix

is a Japanese video game and publishing company best known for its console role-playing game franchises, which include the Final Fantasy series, the Dragon Quest series, and the action-RPG Kingdom Hearts series...

, character classes are specific roles for playable characters that determine a character's proficiencies and weaknesses. There are several different classes, with each game's set of classes changing slightly.

Dragon Warrior III

Dragon Warrior III

Dragon Warrior III, known in Japan as , is a console role-playing game developed by Chunsoft and published by Enix . It is the third installment in the Dragon Quest series , first released for the Famicom in Japan, and then the NES in North America...

, Dragon Quest VI

Dragon Quest VI

, Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Reverie in Europe, is a console role-playing game developed by Heartbeat and published by Enix for the Super Famicom as a part of the Dragon Quest series. It is the last Dragon Quest game in the Zenithia trilogy. It was released on December 9, 1995 in Japan...

, and Dragon Quest VII all feature distinct classes that players can choose for their characters. Dragon Quest IX

Dragon Quest IX

is a role-playing video game for the Nintendo DS released on July 11, 2009 in Japan. It is the ninth and most recent installment in the acclaimed Dragon Quest series created by Yūji Horii. The game was developed by Level-5 and published by Square Enix in Japan and by Nintendo in North America and...

furthers the concept of character customization by allowing players the ability to alter their parties' appearance. Other installments in the series depict characters as having similar traits to these classes.

History

Although Dragon Warrior II's

Dragon Warrior II

Dragon Warrior II, known as in Japan, is a console role-playing game developed by Chunsoft and published by Enix in 1987 for the MSX and Nintendo Entertainment System as a part of the Dragon Quest series .The game's story centers on the prince on Midenhall who is ordered to stop an evil...

characters had distinct strengths and weaknesses, Dragon Warrior III

Dragon Warrior III

Dragon Warrior III, known in Japan as , is a console role-playing game developed by Chunsoft and published by Enix . It is the third installment in the Dragon Quest series , first released for the Famicom in Japan, and then the NES in North America...

was the first game in the series to specifically allow players to customize their party with classes

Character class

In role-playing games, a common method of arbitrating the capabilities of different game characters is to assign each one to a character class. A character class aggregates several abilities and aptitudes, and may also sometimes detail aspects of background and social standing or impose behaviour...

. This game featured eight classes (nine in the remakes) and gave the player the ability to mix the different classes for a wide variety of customization. Characters, other than the hero, can change classes. They retain all spells learned, but will have their stats

Statistic (role-playing games)

A statistic in role-playing games is a piece of data which represents a particular aspect of a fictional character. That piece of data is usually a integer or, in some cases, a set of dice....

 halved and revert to level

Level Up

Level Up was a UK children's TV programme that was broadcast on CBBC. It was launched on the 3rd April 2006, replacing Xchange. The show was an hour long and during the school year broadcasting from 7:30am until 8:30am...

 one.

In Dragon Quest IV, each party member has a unique, fixed title, with some, such as magician, priest and soldier, corresponding to class names elsewhere in the series, while others, such as tsareva

Tsarevna

Tsarevna or czarevna is the daughter of a Tsar or Tsaritsa, similar to a princess being the daughter of a King or Queen. A Tsarevna could also be the wife to a Tsar's son....

(princess) and fortune-teller, do not. Dragon Quest V

Dragon Quest V

, known as Dragon Quest: The Hand of the Heavenly Bride in Europe, is a console role-playing game and the fifth installment in the Dragon Quest video game series...

has a similar system, however, the titles of some characters change during the storyline.

Changeable classes returned in Dragon Quest VI

Dragon Quest VI

, Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Reverie in Europe, is a console role-playing game developed by Heartbeat and published by Enix for the Super Famicom as a part of the Dragon Quest series. It is the last Dragon Quest game in the Zenithia trilogy. It was released on December 9, 1995 in Japan...

, which nearly doubling the number of classes. Dragon Quest VI introduced multiple class tiers, and is the first game in the series to separate class level from experience level. Characters start classless, and gain the ability to acquire and switch classes during the storyline. Classes provide bonuses and, in many cases, penalties to a character's base stats. Classes have eight levels which players advance in by winning a predefined number of battles and after reaching the eighth level, a class is mastered. Some levels provide new abilities. Dragon Quest VI introduced hybrid classes and monster classes. Hybrid classes become available when a character masters two or more pre-requisite classes. Monster classes are based on the monster of that type. Players must find souls in order to access a non-hybrid monster class. Dragon Quest VII uses a similar but more extensive system.

Formal classes were omitted from Dragon Quest VIII

Dragon Quest VIII

Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King, known in Japan as and in PAL regions as Dragon Quest: The Journey of the Cursed King, is a role-playing video game developed by Level-5 and published by Square Enix for the PlayStation 2...

, but returned in Dragon Quest IX

Dragon Quest IX

is a role-playing video game for the Nintendo DS released on July 11, 2009 in Japan. It is the ninth and most recent installment in the acclaimed Dragon Quest series created by Yūji Horii. The game was developed by Level-5 and published by Square Enix in Japan and by Nintendo in North America and...

as vocations. In Dragon Quest IX, class level is linked to experience level with each class having a separate experience level, stats and spells. In addition to skills gained by leveling, Dragon Quest IX also uses a skill system based on Dragon Quest VIII, with each class having five skill types. As characters level, they obtain skill points, which may be spent acquiring skills. Combat spells may only be accessed when a character is the class that learned them; however, skills may be used regardless of class once learned.

Dragon Warrior III

: The Hero is the most well-rounded of the classes, with moderate to high growth in all stats, the ability to use magic and the ability to equip a wide variety of weapons and armor. Unlike other classes, this class is restricted to the main character, who cannot change classes. Some of the most powerful healing, defensive, and offensive spells in the game are exclusive to the Hero class, including Ironize, which makes the party completely invulnerable for a short time, HealUsAll, which completely restores the group's HP, and the lightning spells Zap and Thordain (originally localized as Lightning). The Hero can use a variety of non-combat spells as well, such as Return, which allows the player to travel to cities already visited.

Classes without magic powers:

: This class can use a wide variety of heavy weapons and armor pieces. They have high Strength, HP and Vitality, average Agility, low Intelligence and no MP growth.

: Fighters have high Agility, Strength and HP, above average Luck, moderate Vitality, low Intelligence and no MP growth. Fighters are restricted to light weapons and armor, however they have a high critical hit rate, and, unlike other classes, they get bonus attack power while unarmed or wielding claw weapons.

Classes with healing spells:

: Clerics are on the other side of the magical spectrum from Mages, as they instead specialize in healing spells such as Heal and HealUs and buff spells such as SpeedUp, which raises the party's Agility, and Barrier, which makes the party resistant to fire and ice. They also have a few damaging wind spells, instant death spells and debuff spells such as Sap, which lowers an enemy's Defence stat, and Surround, which lowers the accuracy of enemies' attacks. Clerics can use a wide variety of weapons and armor, although they cannot use as many of the heavier weapons and armor pieces as the Hero or Warrior. Clerics have a moderate growth rate in all stats.

Classes with direct attack spells:

: Mages specialize in destructive magical spells such as Blaze and Boom, as well as offensive buffs such as Bikill. Mages also have the abilities to use non-combat spells such as Outside, which takes the party out of a dungeon, and X-Ray, which reveals monsters hidden in treasure chests, as well as defensive buffs such as Upper, which raises a party member's Defence stat. At high levels, the mage learns powerful spells such as BeDragon and Explodet. The Mage also has the Chance spell introduced in Dragon Warrior II

Dragon Warrior II

Dragon Warrior II, known as in Japan, is a console role-playing game developed by Chunsoft and published by Enix in 1987 for the MSX and Nintendo Entertainment System as a part of the Dragon Quest series .The game's story centers on the prince on Midenhall who is ordered to stop an evil...

, which has a large menu of possible random effects: some very good and some very bad. Although Wizards have high Intelligence, they are physically frail and cannot equip heavy weapons or heavy armor. Mages have a high rate of Intelligence and MP

Magic point

Magic points are units of magical power that are used in many role-playing, computer role-playing and similar games as an expendable resource that is needed to pay for magic spells and other abilities, such as special attacks...

 growth and low to moderate growth in other stats.

Further classes:

: The Dealer has the ability to pick up money after a battle and can appraise items. In the remakes, they have two unique non-combat spells: Excavate (which allows the player to dig underfoot for treasure) and YellHelp, which summons a shopkeeper in the field. Dealers have average growth in most stats, with high Intelligence, above average Luck and low Agility.

: Jesters have low to average growth rate in most stats and sometimes perform random actions during their turns, some of which can harm the party. Justers also have two advantages: have a high rate of growth for their Luck stat, which allows their attacks to inflict critical hits more often than other characters, and they are the only class that can turn into a Sage at Dhama Temple without a Zen Book / Book of Satori.

: Sages can learn all the spells available to Clerics and Mages. This class is not initially available, but a player can transform a leveled up Jester into one at the Dharma Temple. If the player has a rare item called the Zen Book (originally localized as the Book of Satori), any character holding it (except the Hero) can also become a Sage, which consumes the book. Sages have high HP, MP, Intelligence and Vitality, above average Luck and moderate Agility and Strength. They can use a wide variety of equipment, including most weapons and armor pieces available to Clerics or Mages.

: The Thief was a new class added to the Super Famicon version of Dragon Quest III and retained in the Game Boy Color version. Thieves have high Agility growth, above average Luck growth and average growth rates in other stats. They have the ability to steal items at the end of a fight. They are restricted to lighter weapons and armor, however they can use whips and chains to attack multiple enemies at once. They can learn some non-combat spells, such as Eagle Eye, which allow the player to locate villages and nearby towns, and MapMagic, which reveals hidden items on the screen.

Dragon Warrior IV

The Hero (Solo/Sofia)

Classes without magic powers:

Soldier (Ragnar)

Princess (Alena)

Merchant (Taloon)

Guardsman (Strom)

Alchemist (Orin)

Young Man (Hector)

Baby Dragon (Doran)

Classes with healing spells:

Chancellor (Cristo)

Fortune Teller (Nara)

Kind Monster (Healie)

Zenithian (Lucia)

Classes with direct attack spells:

Dancer (Mara): Attack wizard with fire spells.

Wizard (Brey): Attack wizard with ice and support spells.

Further classes:

Troubadour (Laurent): He can use three spells, one for healing, one for direct attack, and a support one.

Jester (Panon): He fights primarily with a magic sword, and he can also cast two support spells.

Dragon Quest VI

In Dragon Quest VI every character can learn any class (called vocation in the DS English translation). When the party reaches Alltrades Abbey, only nine classes are available. Six more classes can be learned after mastering two or more of the starting classes. Also, two classes can only be learned by using a special item.

Classes without magic powers:

Warrior (starting class): Strength and HP go up and several basic fighting skills are learned.

Martial Artist (starting class): Speed goes up and kick/punch skills are learned.

Gladiator (Warrior + Martial Artist): Strength, HP, speed, and defense go up, making this a strong class. Most skills are super effective against one type of enemy, such as Dragoncut.

Dragon (hidden class): Strength, HP and defense go up, while speed, wisdom and MP go down. All skills are fire or ice based breath attacks.

Classes with healing spells:

Priest (starting class): Most stats go down, but not as much as the wizard's, and wind-based attack, healing and status spells are learned.

Classes with direct attack spells:

Mage (starting class): Most stats go down, except wisdom and MP, and basic fire- and ice-based attack and status spells are learned.

Hybrid classes:

Armamentalist (Warrior + Mage): Stats mostly go down and strong magic skills/spells are learned.

Paladin (Martial Artist + Priest): Strength, speed, and wisdom go up and a mixture of Priest and Fighter skills are learned.

Sage (Mage + Priest): Wisdom and HP go up and high level attack and healing spells are learned.

Further classes:

Thief (starting class): Speed goes up, but most stats go down, and skills that help outside battle, such as Hawkeye, are learned. The thief may also steal an item from an enemy at the end of a battle.

Monster Master (starting class): Most stats go down and skills associated with monsters are learned. Monsters may join the party when there is a Monster Master present, but only in the Super Famicom version.

Merchant (starting class): Wisdom goes up, but most stats go down, and an odd assortment of skills are learned. At the end of battle, a small portion of extra money is added to the party's income.

Ranger (Merchant + Thief + Monster Master): Speed and wisdom go up and an assortment of battle skills are learned.

Dancer (starting class): Style and speed increase, but other stats decrease. Learns dance techniques which benefit the status of allies or hurt the status of enemies in battle.

Gadabout (starting class): Most stats go down, but luck goes up. Skills learned are quite odd and the Gadabout has a tendency to not listen to the party's commands. Sometimes, instead of doing nothing, the Gadabout will use a technique, such as paralyzing all the enemies or putting them to sleep.

Luminary (Dancer + Gadabout): Style is the only stat that goes up and an assortment of skills are learned.

Metal Babble (hidden class): Speed and defense dramatically increase while HP dramatically decreases and other stats decrease to a lesser degree. Skills and spells include Madante, Gigaspark and Big Bang.

Hero (Gladiator + Sage + Luminary + Ranger): This is the ultimate class and all stats go up. Several attack spells/skills are learned. The Hero (character) only has to master one of the four pre-requisite hybrid classes for Hero class to become available, while others must master all four.

Dragon Warrior VII

Dragon Warrior VII allowed players to customize their characters with over fifty classes, each specializing in certain attacks and spells. Characters can master a class and then change to a new one, retaining learned spells and skills. By mastering certain classes, a new class becomes available.

Some available classes include Warrior

Warrior (character class)

Warrior is a character class found in many role-playing games. This class may also be referred to as Fighter, as in Dungeons & Dragons. The class is sometimes also referred to as a Knight, although in some games this is a separate class with a more chivalric aspect...

, Fighter, Cleric

Cleric (character class)

The Cleric, Priest, or Bishop is a character class in Dungeons & Dragons and other fantasy role-playing games. The cleric is a healer, usually a priest and a holy warrior, originally modeled on or inspired by the Military Orders...

, Mage

Wizard (character class)

The Wizard is a type of magical character class in certain role-playing games and computer role-playing games. Wizards are considered to be spellcasters who wield powerful spells, but are often physically weak as a trade-off. Wizards are commonly confused with similar offensive spellcasting...

, Bard, Dancer, Jester, Thief

Thief (character class)

The Thief or Rogue is a character class in many role-playing games, including Dungeons & Dragons, Final Fantasy, World of Warcraft and many MMORPGs. Thieves are usually stealthy and dextrous characters able to disarm traps, pick locks, and perform backstabs from hiding...

, Teen Idol, Pirate, Ranger

Ranger (character class)

A Ranger is a type of warrior appearing in fantasy fiction and role-playing games....

, Dragoon, Paladin

Paladin (character class)

The Paladin is a character class in Dungeons & Dragons and many later computer and pen and paper role-playing games - many of which were influenced by D&D...

, Summoner, God Hand, and Hero, some of which are unlocked by mastering other classes. The game also includes monster classes, which can be unlocked by using the appropriate monster heart or mastering pre-requisite monster classes.

Characters generally stop learning character specific spells and skills around experience level 15; however, around this time in the game, players will reach Dharma Island, where they can give their characters certain classes. Each class is split into three categories (Basic, Intermediate, and Advanced) and has eight levels in it. Class levels are gained through fighting a certain number of battles, as opposed to gaining experience points. Characters learn different spells and skills when they reach another class level and their stats are affected by what class they are. In addition, if a character masters certain classes, higher level classes will become available to them. For example, if a character masters the Mage and Cleric classes, which are both Basic, then the Intermediate class Sage will be available to them. If that character was to then master the TeenIdol class, the Advanced Summoner class would open up.

Dragon Warrior Monsters

• Bishop - Will heal the player
• Bard - Will give the player medicine that will raise one random stat of the player's monsters' weakest stats.
• Merchant - Will fill up the player's inventory with assorted meats.
• Warrior- Will give the player a Warpwing and one other random item. Can be male or female.
• Wizard - Will transport the player to the last portal in the gate, or 20 levels down if the gate is more than 20 levels

Reception

IGN described Dragon Warrior VII's class system as "one of the best class systems seen outside a strategy RPG." In a preview for Dragon Quest IX on 1UP, Jeremey Parish noted that the character customization was a welcome departure from the series of games with only predetermined characters and wrote that "You can define your angel warrior's basic appearance to a degree, but he or she will look like an escapee from a Dragon Ball

Dragon Ball

is a Japanese manga series written and illustrated by Akira Toriyama. It was originally serialized in Weekly Shōnen Jump from 1984 to 1995; later the 519 individual chapters were published into 42 tankōbon volumes by Shueisha. Dragon Ball was inspired by the classical Chinese novel Journey to the...

cartoon no matter what."