Characters • The is, in the early chapters of the game, a six-year-old boy who travels all around the world along with his father, Pankraz. After Pankraz's death, the Hero becomes enslaved and is forced to undergo hard labor in the building of a great temple. Ten years later, he finally escapes, and he starts a journey to find out the secrets of his father's past. Soon he finds out that his mother, , who was said to have died soon after the Hero was born, is still alive and so he sets forth to rescue her from the underworld and locate the fabled Legendary Hero. • is the father of the Hero. Though he was once the king of , he left his homeland to search for his wife and for the Legendary Hero. • is Pankranz's loyal attendant, who later aids the Hero and his children. • is the tomboy daughter of innkeepers of and a childhood friend of the Hero. She helps the Hero save the Great Sabercub from two bullies, and asks the Hero to take it with him.
Setting Like the first Dragon Quest trilogy, where Alefgard appeared in games
I,
II, and
III with roughly similar geography in each game, the worlds of IV, V, and
VI are connected in that the sky castle
Zenithia appears in each game, although the base geography is largely different between the three games. Like all other Dragon Quest games, this one takes place in a medieval world with scarce modern technology. Characters fight with
swords, clubs, and magic instead of guns or other modern weapons. The quest takes the Hero and his party to many exotic locations, such as a fairy village, a mansion made of ice, several caves, and a volcano. The party eventually makes its way to Zenithia, which is a castle in each game of the Zenithian Trilogy. Similar to the previous two entries in the series, the final enemies reside in a dark world, separate from the main map.
Plot Dragon Quest V begins with a brief scene of the Hero's birth in which the player gives the Hero a name. Afterwards, the Hero, as a child, and his father, Pankraz travel to meet Sancho, an old friend. The Hero meets Bianca and the two explore the haunted , where they obtain a mysterious Golden Orb. The next day, the Hero notices a man in the town who looks similar to him, albeit much older. That man asks the Hero to show him the Golden Orb and, after returning it, asks him to take care of his father Pankraz. The first section of the story ends with Pankraz being killed by , a mysterious member of the Order of Zugzwang, when he tries to protect his son and Prince Harry. The two children are then taken into slavery. The story continues ten years later, and the Hero and Harry have grown up working on a giant
temple, but escape as the scene opens. The Hero travels to the west to the town of Mostroferrato, where the wealthy nobleman Rodrigo Briscoletti and his daughter Nera live. Rodrigo sends the Hero on a quest to retrieve two magic rings, called the Circle of Fire and the Circle of Water, as a test of his worthiness as a suitor for Nera. The Hero accomplishes this and Rodrigo offers the Hero the chance to marry Nera, but it is also possible for him to marry Bianca or Debora (DS). After the marriage, the Hero travels to his homeland of Gotha, where they make him king. His wife has two children, but is kidnapped by monsters. When the Hero comes to rescue her, both are turned to stone by the monsters. The Hero is found by his two children eight years later and is revived. Travelling the world to collect the legendary Zenithian armaments for the Legendary Hero, it is discovered that the Hero's son is indeed the Legendary Hero sought by Pankraz almost twenty years ago. During this stage of the journey, the Hero avenges Pankraz by killing Ladja, and restores the Dragon God, as well as
Zenithia castle, to their proper homes in the sky. To accomplish this, the Hero has to enter a time warp to retrieve the Golden Orb from his child self. After returning to the temple the Hero helped build as a slave, the Zenithian armor is found, as well as the statue of his wife. After the king of the Order of Zugzwang, , is defeated, the party is informed by him that the Hero's mother, remains in the dark world of Nadiria, and that the god of darkness, , is lying in wait for the Legendary Hero there. The Hero, his wife, and their children agree not to leave Madalena in the Nadiria, so together they travel there via a portal near Lofty Peak, soon reaching Mt. Zugzwang. Madalena is found within, but is killed by Nimzo shortly after meeting the Hero and his family. The party continues on to confront and destroy Nimzo. They return to Gotha, and have a joyful party. As the family celebrates, Pankraz and Mada watch their son and his family from the heavens, happy and content with their progeny. == Development ==