Slime (Dragon Quest)

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All the various types of Slime.
All the various types of Slime.

The Slime is the mascot of the Dragon Quest console role-playing game franchise. Designed by Akira Toriyama of Dragon Ball fame, the basic slime resembles a water drop with two large eyes and a big smile. It made its first appearance in Dragon Warrior as the weakest enemy in the game, and the first the player encounters.[1] It continues its history as a weak enemy in the series.

The Slime is also the protagonist of its own spinoff games, Slime MoriMori Dragon Quest, a Japanese Game Boy Advance title. It was followed by Dragon Quest Heroes: Rocket Slime, which was released worldwide, for the Nintendo DS. These games follow a nation of slimes who are intelligent, and civilized, but also cute and somewhat comical.[2]

It can be often seen representing the Enix side of the Square-Enix merger. Its counterpart is the chocobo, which represents Square. The two creatures decorate the front of the official Square-Enix store, as well as its shopping bags.

“ Originally when we thought up the slime it was a pile of goo and we gave it to Toriyama-san to draw a picture of and make it a proper monster. We had imagined it an icky pool of slime, but when he came back with that perfectly shaped tear-drop monster we thought it was perfect. That's part of Toriyama's power to take something like a pool of slime and use his imagination to make it a great character.”

by Yuji Horii[3]

(It must be noted that Dragon Quest was not the first video game to have an enemy monster called a "Slime". Namco's The Tower of Druaga, released two years prior to the first Dragon Quest game also has an enemy monster called a "Slime".)

Contents

[edit] Types of slimes

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You can help by converting this section to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (September 2007)

There are many different types of slime found throughout the series, including slimes in different colors, nautical slimes (wearing conch shells), metal slimes (with extremely high defense), and cureslimes (who have tentacles and use magic). In some Dragon Quest titles, slimes also appear as friendly NPCs and peaceful inhabitants of cities.[4]

Slime from the first Dragon Quest game.
Slime from the first Dragon Quest game.

There are many different types of slime found throughout the series:

  • Slime (スライム, suraimu) — The weakest enemy the protagonists encounter. Nearly defenseless.
  • Red Slime (レッドスライム, reddo suraimu) — Slightly stronger than the blue slime. Also called "She-Slime" in the modern US translations. Supplementary material in Dragon Quest VIII says that they are cannibals.
  • She-Slime (スライムベス, suraimu-besu) — A slightly stronger version of the normal slime. Called a She-slime due to the lips, though their actual gender is unknown.
  • Metal Slime/Metaly (メタルスライム, metaru-suraimu) — Made of metal. The metal slime offers very large experience point rewards, but it is extremely hard to hit, takes very little damage, and usually runs away during the first few rounds of combat.
  • Dark Slime (スライムダーク, suraimu-dāku) — A strong, black version of the normal slime. Can use an attack called "Slime Spank".
  • Babble/Bubble Slime (バブルスライム, baburu-suraimu) — Colored green. More fluid than normal slimes. Poisonous.
  • Metal Babble/Metabble/Liquid Metal Slime (はぐれメタル, hagure-metaru) — Similar to the Metal Slime, the Metal Babble is cowardly, fast, and hard to defeat, but yields a great amount of experience. This slime is sometimes known as Metabble. In the North American version of Dragon Quest VIII, it is known as the "liquid metal slime".
  • Healer/Healslime (ホイミスライム, hoimi-suraimu) — A floating slime resembling a jellyfish, with the power to heal its allies. Advanced versions are known as the behoimi (English name: Cureslime), behoma (or CureAll Slime), and behomazun slimes, after the healing spells they use. The healer slime is often palette-swapped to represent a jellyfish enemy.
  • Marine Slime (マリンスライム, marin-suraimu) — This slime of the seas inhabits a conch shell.
  • Slime Knight/SlimeNite (スライムナイト, suraimu-naito) — A tiny knight with a slime as its mount.
  • Metal Slime Knight (メタルライダー,metaru-raida) —A knight riding a metal slime. Notably, its defenses are not super-high like a normal metal slime and it does not give large experience bonuses.
  • King Slime (キングスライム, kingu-suraimu) — A huge, fat slime with a crown on its head. Sometimes normal slimes will merge to become a King Slime.
  • Metal King Slime (メタルキング, metaru-kingu) — Similar to the King Slime, but made of metal. Like other metal slimes, it is hard to defeat and yields a huge amount of experience.
  • King Cureslime(スライムベホマズン,suraimu-behomazun) — Similar to the King Slime, but green (but in Dragon Quest VI, its color is wine red.) Can cast OmniHeal to heal its allies in one go.
  • Gold Slime (ゴールデンスライム, goruden-suraimu) — A slime shaped like a huge jewel.
  • Granslime (グランスライム, guran-suraimu) — Dragon Quest Monsters 2 and later "Monster series" games only. Amazingly intelligent.
  • Platinum King (プラチナキング, purachina-kingu) — A jeweled slime composed of platinum. The stuff of legends.
  • Wing Slime(はねスライム,hane-suraimu) — A winged slime.
  • Spot Slime (ぶちスライム, buchi-suraimu) — A common yellow slime with brown spots. Slightly larger than a normal slime.
  • Spot King (ぶちキング, buchi-kingu) —Similar to the king slime, but coloured like the spot slime.
  • Dragon Slime/DrakSlime(ドラゴスライム, dorago-suraimu) — A winged reptilian slime with the ability to breathe fire.
  • Snail Slime/Snaily (スライムつむり,suraimu-tsumuri) — A slow-moving slime inhabiting a conch shell.
  • Behemoth Slime A giant version of the normal slime.
  • Ultrus (ウルトラスライム,urutora-suraimu) —Dragon Quest VIII only. Formed by the merger of dozens of slimes. Fast, powerful, and wields magic.
  • Darkonium Slime - A Slime made of the fictional material Darkonium, introduced in Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker.
  • Trode - The oddball of the family, Trode has a humanoid body. He is the titular character of Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King, but is identified as a slime only in Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker.

[edit] Merchandise

Rocket, a slime starring in Dragon Quest Heroes.
Rocket, a slime starring in Dragon Quest Heroes.

As the most recognizable symbol of the best-selling video game series in Japan, the slime has been featured prominently in Dragon Quest-related merchandise. Slime merchandise includes:

  • Plush toys
  • Pencil cases
  • Cell phone charms
  • A Sony PlayStation 2 game controller in the shape of a slime with the controls located on the bottom surface by Hori, a company specializing in video game products. Available in blue (regular slime) and silver (Metal Slime/Metaly).

[edit] References

  1. ^ Cary Woodham (2006). Rocket Slime review at Gamerdad. Retrieved on Sept 6, 2007.
  2. ^ Cody Musser (2006). Rocket Slime review at MoDojo. Retrieved on Sept 6, 2007.
  3. ^ Interview with Yuji Horii (2007). Retrieved on Sept 12, 2007.
  4. ^ Horii, Y. (2004). Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King. Tokyo, Square Enix co., Ltd.

[edit] External links

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