Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
Four words that announce a fight, a fight you can usually win, and the kindest opening ever given to a role-playing game. The Slime is a first-level mascot rather than a threat, and the line carries a whole series' charm: friendly menace, a text box, and the command menu waiting underneath. Fans quote it for anything small and blue that wanders into the way, and the Slime has long outgrown the games as the face of Dragon Quest.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for Dragon QuestShow the scene
Every battle in Dragon Quest begins with a line of text, and in the English series the standard form is '[monster] draws near!' In the original game (Enix, Famicom, 27 May 1986; released in North America as Dragon Warrior in August 1989) the Slime is the weak, common enemy a player meets in fights, so it is the name the line most often carries. The Slime was dreamed up by Yuji Horii, inspired by the slime monsters in the computer RPG Wizardry, and designed on the page by Akira Toriyama, who gave it the teardrop shape, wide smile and round eyes. It has appeared in almost every Dragon Quest game since.
Sources (3)
- Slime (Dragon Quest) - WikipediaLead and Concept and designReference checked
- Dragon Quest (video game) - WikipediaInfobox, gameplay and releaseReference checked
- Encounter - Dragon Quest WikiEncounter overviewReference checked
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