Erdrick (Loto/Roto in Japanese) is the main protagonist of DQ3 and is the most recognizable and iconic protagonist from the Dragon Quest series. They have two notable designs: the Famicom design (left) and the more commonly used, older Super Famicom design (right) which illustrates the female variant. While many characters are rewarded with the title of “Erdrick”, including both the DQ3 and DQ11 protagonists, the DQ3 hero is often accepted as the “true” Erdrick. He’s basically the one people are referring to when they say Erdrick.
Dragon Quest and Its Importance
Dragon Quest laid the groundwork for all future JRPGs. While it isn’t technically the first JRPG, preceded by games such as Bokusuka Wars, it popularized the genre and introduced many mechanics that made the genre what it is today. It is a cultural phenomenon in Japan unlike any other.
In addition, it has inspired many franchises and series you may know. It inspired Pokemon, as Ken Sugimori states he wanted to make a game like it. The trading feature came from the fact you couldn’t trade rare items in Dragon Quest.
The first Final Fantasy could even be considered a Dragon Quest clone. There used to be somewhat of a rivalry between the two series before Square (creators of FF) and Enix (creators of DQ) merged. FF1 on NES even pays reference to Dragon Quest as there is a gravestone in Elfheim that read “here lies Erdrick.”
It inspired Shin Megami Tensei, the franchise that spawned the Persona games. A monster in SMT, Jelly Man (left), shares the JP name with a DQ monster and you can clearly see Jelly Man’s design was inspired by said DQ monster (right).
It’s also possible Dragon Quest influenced The Legend of Zelda as there is an easter egg in the Japanese version of Zelda 2 that makes reference to DQ. There is a grave that reads “Here lies Loto, the hero.” As previously stated, Loto is Erdrick’s JP name.
This isn’t the first instance of DQ inspiring Nintendo software either. Dragon Quest actually inspired the 3DS’s Streetpass feature.
Dragon Quest III
DQ3 is still one of Japan’s most beloved and favorite games despite it releasing decades ago. It’s launch became notorious as many children and adults across the country of Japan skipped school and work just to get a chance of buying it. It’s because of this that Dragon Quest games no longer launch on weekdays. This was such a big deal in fact that it was rumored that the Japanese government outlawed the release of DQ games on weekdays.
Many Japanese “best game ever” or “favorite game” surveys have DQ3 very high up in the ranking. Very often in the top 3 or sometimes even the top of the list.
DQ3 is also notable for expanding on the previous DQ games greatly. While DQ3 keeps the same core combat mechanics, its world and its new additions were revolutionary. DQ3 featured a more open-world experience than the previous entries that while technically non-linear, were not to the same degree of DQ3’s vast landscape. It also introduced a class system which was quite impressive for NES standards. Overall, DQ3 was highly popular and successful while also pushing the series forward.
In Smash Brothers??
The Datamine
On November 28th 2018, a few weeks after Ultimate’s dump had been going around online, fighter param data was found. Two new hashes were found, fighter_kind_packu and fighter_kind_jack. The first was immediately deciphered to be Piranha Plant, the second was a bit harder to figure out. Those who knew about this decided to stay quiet and not tell the public.
December 5th, 2018. Smash Ultimate has gotten a patch to prepare for release. The stats for fighter_kind_jack were changed among other things. The most notable thing to come from this was a new DLC hash for “fighter_kind_brave.” Like before, it was decided to keep this private.
December 7th, 2018. Ultimate launched on that day and to go along with its release, Joker was revealed at The Game Awards. The mystery of who fighter_kind_jack was had been solved, it was Joker. As for how Joker ties into the codename, it’s often speculated that it’s either meant to represent “Jack of all trades” which makes sense as Joker as the ability to use a variety of Personas. Another theory, however, is that it’s a reference to playing cards as there is the “Joker” card and the “Jack” card.
On January 3rd 2019, “fighter_kind_brave” became known to the public. I won’t go into how or why as it’s irrelevant, all you need to know is that the secret got out. Speculation became wild and crazy almost immediately. Just who could this “brave” be?
The Stats
The stats for “fighter_kind_brave” are as follows:
Hash: 0x12a733f9e8
Weight — 101
• Pure middleweight
• Closest to Mega Man (102) and Cloud (100)
Max Walk Speed — 1.28
• Very fast walk speed, top 15 in the roster
• Closest to Toon Link (1.288) and Squirtle (1.281)
Max Run Speed — 1.74
• Middling run speed, 35th place across roster
• Closest to Young Link (1.749) and Kirby (1.727)
Air Speed — 1.2
• High air speed, 17th place across roster
• Between Mario/Sonic/Inkling (1.208) and Mr. Game & Watch (1.176)
Fall Speed — 1.9
• Fast faller, top 5 in the roster
• Same Fall Speed as Pichu
Fast Fall Speed — 2.88
• Fast faller, top 15 in the roster
• Same as Mega Man/Young Link/Wolf
Gravity — .09
Height — 13
• Same height as Lucas & Ness
• Toon Link is 12 and Mario is 14
Shield Size — 11.8
• Same size as Snake’s shield
Jumps — 2
Wall Jump — False
Wall Cling — False
Crawl — False
Tether — False
As a side note, while many originally thought the height stat had meaning, it actually doesn’t. Its purpose is unknown as of now. One look at this chart and you’ll see just how inconsistent the height stat is. Ridley having a lower height stat than K Rool is certainly interesting. Brave has a height stat close to Ness but it also has a shield size stat close to Snake. This means Erdrick could use either of his designs in Smash.
Then there’s the slide. When Mizumi put Brave’s stats over Ike’s, there was a noticeable slide when turning during gameplay. While this could just be a result of Ike already having a slide, it’s also possible that this slide movement is entirely a result of Brave’s data. Would Erdrick even have a slide though? There’s two explanations for Erdrick having slide.
- It’s a reference to the victory animations of Dragon Quest Battle Road where DQ protagonists have a clear slide.
- Why not? Not everything has to be a reference to a game. Ike has no real reason to slide, why would Erdrick need a reason to? It could just be for balancing purposes or just to make him stand out more from other swordfighters.
Erdrick, the Brave
Erdrick is the most likely candidate to be “fighter_kind_brave.” Why? Yuusha, a Japanese word often translated as “the brave” or “hero”, is the title of many of the earlier DQ protagonists. Yuusha is also the only noun form of “brave” in Japanese, meaning that “brave” is the proper translation of Yuusha in certain scenarios.
Why Would Erdrick Get In?
As previously stated, Dragon Quest has been wildly impactful and successful. DQ3, the game where Erdrick is playable, is one of the most iconic games from the series. In addition, Dragon Quest is a series that Sakurai loves; Dragon Quest 3 especially is a game he has nostalgia for. He spent his most recent holiday break playing nothing but Dragon Quest Builders 2. He celebrated with Yuji Horii and others during Dragon Quest’s 30th anniversary.
Now you may say to yourself, “Sakurai wouldn’t add a character just because they’re from a game he likes.” To that, I say Joker.
Bahamut: Persona 5’s Joker have been announced to join the roster in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, so what’s the opportunity to contribute Joker’s addition to the roster? And what do you looking forward to Joker’s addition (to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate)?
Hiraoka: Joker joining the roster in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is mainly due to invitation from Masahiro Sakurai (Sora Ltd.), and thus contributed the collaboration. Because Mr. Sakurai likes Persona 5 very much, and I happened to like Super Smash Bros. very much. So, when (we) received the invitation, the first thing we thought is “Great!”, and we are very happy to build mutual corporation.
Joker’s main reason for being included was Sakurai’s love for Persona 5. Who says he won’t have similar reason for Erdrick’s inclusion?
A Genius Business Move
Dragon Quest has always performed poorly in the west with few exceptions. Erdrick in Smash would be great promotion for the series in the west while also pleasing millions in other parts of the world. Why would Nintendo want to promote Dragon Quest though?Simple, Nintendo actually often publishes DQ games in the west including the upcoming DQ11S. In fact, there are actually 5 DQ games releasing on Switch this year. Those being DQ Heroes 1&2, DQX, DQXIS, and DQ Builders 2. Overall, Dragon Quest’s success would only benefit Nintendo.
Other Contenders for Brave
While Erdrick does have the strongest connection to the codename, there are two other notable contenders for “fighter_kind_brave” that people speculate to be more likely, the first being Sora from Kingdom Hearts.
Arguments for Sora often include how he fits the stats. The issue with this is that you could make an argument for many other characters fitting those stats. In addition, his connection to the codename is not all that strong either. People often point to his Valor Form from Kingdom Hearts 2, which could be translated as the Brave Form from Japanese. The issue is that this is just one form from one game which likely wouldn’t even be involved in his moveset.
There’s also currently nothing related to Kingdom Hearts coming to Nintendo Switch. The closest you get with that is rumors that ports of the older games are coming rather than the new KH3. KH3 simply cannot run on Switch. Now, this isn’t necessarily a deal breaker but it certainly does not help. Joker may not currently have any games on Switch but Persona Q2 was recently released on 3DS and a Persona 5 port has been heavily rumored and possibly even confirmed thanks to a Best Buy leak.
Sora also has the issue of Disney. Disney owns the rights to Sora. Disney and Nintendo have not had a good relationship lately due to Nintendo favoring Disney’s competitors. Nintendo chose Universal Studios as the location for their Nintendo theme park. Nintendo also chose Illumination to create the Mario movie as opposed to picking Disney. But what about those Disney games on Switch? Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 and Disney Tsum Tsum Festival do not change Nintendo’s relationship with Disney. Disney technically owns Marvel but they usually let Marvel do their own thing. Disney Tsum Tsum Festival is a small title from Namco that would make Disney a quick buck. Just because their games are on Switch doesn’t mean they do not have a bad relationship with Nintendo. EDIT: While it is true that Nintendo and Disney have no problem working with each other, there are other issues that could come up.
If Nintendo were to ask Disney for Sora, it’s likely Disney would try to milk them for everything they could. Sure, Sora in Smash would benefit them but wouldn’t Disney want their iconic mouse in more? Or would they only hand Sora over if Nintendo starts distancing themselves from Disney’s competitors? If Nintendo says no to these offers, Disney could just not give them Sora. Disney is a multi-billion dollar corporation, they could easily turn down the request for Sora and not miss out on much profit relative to how much money they’re making right now. There’s a chance negotiations for Sora with Disney could fall through considering these factors.
Even assuming Disney would allow Nintendo to use Sora, that still doesn’t mean they would pick him. You can argue that Sakurai is a fan of KH and while that is true, judging by how much love he seems to have for Dragon Quest and how much he writes about the series, he would likely choose DQ over KH.
Furthermore, there could potentially be issues with KH’s close association with a non video game brand. Perhaps Sakurai would rather keep things relating to other media outside of Smash. Sora wouldn’t have to bring Disney stuff with him into Smash but Sora himself is still a Disney-owned character with strong ties to non video game material. There’s also the possible problem of Sora with no Disney being an incomplete representation of the character and his series. Sakurai always puts as much as he can into making third parties accurate to their source material. In the case of Sora, he can’t really take full advantage of his series and what it’s known for without including more things relating to Disney properties. I’d think Sakurai would rather have no Kingdom Hearts in Smash than an incomplete representation of Kingdom Hearts in Smash.
The only thing Sora has over Erdrick is hardcore western fan demand but would that be enough to sway Sakurai? Sora has only recently become highly requested, it’s possible DLC was decided before demand for him became clear.
Next up, everyone’s favorite bear and bird.
While I do believe Banjo is likely to be in, he most likely isn’t Brave. The only real arguments for him being Brave are the stats and the save data corruption glitch. I already explained why stats are not a strong argument so let’s go over the save data corruption glitch. When the 2.0.0 update first released, there was a glitch that would corrupt your save data if you used certain characters in certain modes. The characters were Piranha Plant, Mii Swordfighter, and Duck Hunt. This was not the first instance of Duck Hunt and Mii Swordfighter causing a glitch either.
The theory from some is that Mii Swordfighter was used as a base for Joker and Duck Hunt was used as a base for Banjo. Characters sometimes use other characters as a base in order to save development time. This theory would imply that Banjo is Brave. However, it’s entirely possible Joker had no base used for him. When characters are extremely unique, they often don’t use a base. This was seen with Ryu in Smash 4 who, unlike Cloud (based on Ike) and Bayonetta (based on Zero Suit Samus), had no clear base. Joker’s short dagger and many Personas would make him too different from every character currently in the game for him to be based off of one of those characters. So what character was based off of Mii Swordfighter then? Erdrick. Mii Swordfighter makes much more sense as a base for Erdrick than Joker. This still leaves Banjo who while not Brave, is still likely to be in.
Other DQ Reps
What about the other potential DQ reps? Do they have a chance to get in over Erdrick? Let’s find out.
First off, we have the Luminary who is the main protagonist of the newest DQ game. The arguments for him are that he is newer, would be better promotion for DQ11S, and is slightly more well-known in the west. The problem here is that Sakurai doesn’t pick characters based on how new they are. He picked Cloud over Noctis for a reason. It’s all about who is more iconic. As for the west being more familiar with the Luminary, that is somewhat true but that doesn’t mean Sakurai would pick him over Erdrick.
Despite more people knowing Alucard, he went with what the actual fanbase would prefer. While the Luminary is slightly more well-known than Erdrick in the west, the west is not where the core Dragon Quest fanbase resides. Sakurai is going to favor the more iconic and beloved protagonist over the one that’s only notable for being newer. As for him being a better promotion for DQ11S, literally any DQ rep would do a good job of promoting it. All that matters is that people are introduced to the series.
Luminary could, however, be an alt or echo for Erdrick. They are the two DQ protags to receive the “Erdrick” title officially in game, and much of the Luminary’s story is connected to his implied blood relation to DQ3’s Erdrick.
And now, Slime.
The argument for Slime is that more westerners are familiar with it and that it’s the mascot of the series. Slime being somewhat known in the west does not really matter as while they recognize them, most have no connection to him. As for him being the mascot, that does not make him an optimal representation of the series. Slime is just one enemy type who became popular through merchandise due to his simple and cute design. Dragon Quest is not about Slime, Slime is not a character and does not represent the series well. The difference between Slime as a mascot and, say, Pikachu, is that Pikachu can be both an enemy and a teammate, and is often shown as a hero character, particularly in the anime; Slime, however, is always an enemy, except in certain spinoff titles. Pokemon is about the Pokemon, Dragon Quest is not about the monsters. Slime is perfect assist trophy material but for him to get in as a playable character before a DQ protagonist would be odd. Erdrick or any other DQ protagonist would represent the combat, the many weapons, and the multitude of spells that Dragon Quest is known for. Slime only represents an enemy that you beat up a lot. He’s more of an easy way to sell merchandise than a character.
Leaks and Rumors
I’d like to start this section off by saying we’ve gone this far without once mentioning leaks. Nearly 11 whole pages and not a single sentence about a rumor or insider. Now, the beginning of the Erdrick rumors go months back… back to when Vergeben began making his claims of a new Square Enix rep being added. For months, he remained vague, only willing to say a Square Enix rep was coming and not elaborating, most likely due to him being hesitant of having incorrect info as Square Enix is known to push leakbait. This does not mean it is impossible for Square Enix things to leak out but rather it takes more time and thought in order to find out what exactly is the truth. As the months went by, Vergeben began to say that it’s possible that the Square Enix rep could actually be DLC. This was around when box theory began to become popular. Near the end of November, a list of 7 Square Enix reps that were being heard among insiders leaked out publicly. This list consisted of Sora, Geno, Sephiroth, Crono, Slime, Luminary, and Erdrick. Sora was a name that went around only because sources specifically said he wasn’t the character. A similar situation happened with Geno, insiders heard about Geno but were told not to take him too seriously. Erdrick was one of the names Vergeben and other insiders heard about the most meaning multiple Square Enix sources were backing Erdrick. In addition, there are supposedly multiple Nintendo sources backing Erdrick as being the Square Enix rep.
Recently, Vergeben has been confident in Erdrick being the Square Enix rep. Some of you may be hesitant to trust Vergeben due to his recent missteps, but Vergeben being wrong outside of Smash is not news; his non-smash sources have been known to be inconsistent for quite a long time. When it comes to Ultimate, he’s been right on everything outside of the minor details of Isabelle being an echo and when the Square Enix rep would be revealed. But what about the Minecraft boss he claimed? Turns out that Rathalos is referred to as EndDragon in the files. Vergeben made that Minecraft boss claim when Smash Ultimate’s dump was floating around online. What most likely happened is that dataminers told him a Minecraft boss was in because they genuinely thought there was one. As a reminder, Vergeben got many things right about Smash: everyone from Sm4sh returning, Ice Climbers and Snake being brought back, Ridley, Simon, Incineroar, Grinch leak being fake due to Isaac being an assist, and Isabelle are the most notable examples. Only real thing he seems to have gotten completely wrong is Minecraft content in general but for all we know, we could see a Minecraft stage as DLC.
Vergeben does have credible sources, that’s undeniable. His confidence in Erdrick is definitely something in Erdrick’s favor.
As for the other insiders backing Erdrick? Most of them are piggybacking off of Vergeben but some are still worthy of note. One of these insiders is Tansut. Tansut is most well-known for their leaking of Cloud in Sm4sh and the date of the final Sm4sh presentation.
Tansut has been particularly adamant about Erdrick being in. Considering he’s someone who successfully managed to leak the previous Square Enix rep, we should at least consider his claims on Erdrick.
Arguments Against Erdrick
“He is owned by multiple parties making him difficult to obtain the rights for.”
This is simply not true. Many people assume Armor Project, Bird Studios, and other studios own some of the rights to Dragon Quest due to them being credited in many DQ games when in reality, Square Enix often just outsources Dragon Quest’s development to these studios. They don’t actually own anything.
Polygon: Was that when you split off onto your own company, Armor Project?
Yuji Horii: Actually, I had Armor Project from the very beginning. Back in the day, Enix didn’t have an internal development team so I started Armor Project. It’s like the relationship between an editor and an artist; that’s how it was back then. For a while after the merger, that didn’t really change much since Dragon Quest had this pre-established system of “outsourcing its development.” And Final Fantasy was developed internally [with its own staff], so there wasn’t much of a change for quite some time.
“Square Enix is greedy! Final Fantasy only has two music tracks and only a few spirits! They wouldn’t give us another character!”
Square Enix doesn’t even own the rights to Final Fantasy music. In fact, Final Fantasy music rights are a complete and utter mess. So many people have a slice of the FF music rights pie. We only got two FF tracks because of how many people need to be paid to license a FF music track worldwide. Dragon Quest does not have this issue as all of DQ music is owned by one person worldwide. It would be significantly cheaper and easier to license.
As for Square giving us only four spirits, it’s not like this is unique to them. Namco gave us only 6 spirits, all of which were characters and objects already in Smash in some form. One was Pac-Man, one was the Mother Fairy who was already featured in the Pac-Land stage, one was the bonus fruit present in Pac-Man’s moveset, one was the Ghosts who are also an assist trophy, one was TURN-TO-BLUE which is just a variation of the ghosts, and the final one was Galaga which was already an item. Square Enix actually gave us more than Namco if we’re just looking at spirits new to Smash and not represented in other forms. Also, don’t forget that we got a good amount of FF summons on the Midgar stage. I’d also like to bring up the possibility that Square Enix spirits were saved for when Erdrick would be released.
As for the lack of FF spirits, that’s actually do to Nomura. Nomura is the one who owns the rights to the original artwork of the FF7 characters, not Square Enix.
“The Dragon Quest composer is a racist, Nintendo wouldn’t associate with him!”
Hideki Kamiya, creator of Bayonetta, is also somewhat controversial. He often refers to westerners as “insects” on his Twitter (right). He has a habit of being excessively rude to fans online as well. He blocks any westerner who replies to him and makes a point of doing so as well (left).
“The Dragon Quest composer is greedy! We would only get MIDI tracks!”
The DQ composer knows how valuable and profitable it would be for him to have his music in Smash, he wouldn’t pass on the opportunity to show his best work. In addition, the Switch-exclusive DQ11S has the fully orchestrated soundtrack worldwide. He appears to have a bias in favor of Nintendo.
The reason why DQ games often don’t have their orchestral soundtrack in the games themselves appears to be that the orchestral covers are owned by a separate party known as NHK. NHK is Japan’s national public broadcasting organization, they also happen to be the ones behind the orchestral renditions of the DQ soundtracks. DQ games often don’t get the orchestral soundtracks since the royalties for these covers are too pricey for Square Enix to pay. DQ11S likely has the orchestral soundtrack because Nintendo helped pay some of it, in exchange for exclusivity maybe. We’d likely get multiple orchestral tracks in Smash.
“A higher-up at Disney of Japan said he’d be fine with Sora in Smash!”
That’s just one higher-up at Disney of Japan. His words do not reflect all of DoJ. It’s also important to note that Disney of America would also be more crucial in negotiations as Disney is predominantly western.
“Kumazaki tweeted about Erdrick recently and referred to him as ‘the brave’. This would break NDA!”
Kumazaki is actually no longer involved with Smash Brothers. He’s only credited in Ultimate as the “original game director” meaning he was the director for 64 and that’s it. While the post itself doesn’t hint anything or break NDA, it does show “Brave” being a legitimate translation of Yuusha.
“Slime is more requested than Erdrick!”
When people say this, they often point to this poll. This poll placed Slime at #15. The assumption people make is that this is a Japanese poll of who people want in Smash Ultimate when it’s actually a poll of who people expect to get in. Big difference. Before Cloud was announced, many people had expected Black Mage to be the first FF rep. People can expect characters without wanting them. In addition, even if Slime was wanted then that wouldn’t stop Sakurai from adding in Erdrick anyway based on the previously stated reasons of Erdrick being the better representation of the series.
“If Erdrick was in, why didn’t they announce him last Direct when they were talking about DQ11S?”
They literally said at the end of that segment that “There will be more new information to share in the future. Please look forward to learning more.” This means we’re likely to get more DQ news in future directs. It’s also possible they’re saving his announcement for a Smash direct since that would be the best time to announce any Smash character.
“Wouldn’t Disney Channel’s Nintendo Switch contest mean that their relationship is good?”
This is a totally fair counterpoint to be honest. But considering that Disney has many different divisions and it’s just the television programming one who would be involved with this, it doesn’t hold up to the mountain of evidence for Erdrick. In addition, Nintendo and Disney’s relationship doesn’t really exceed the boundaries of necessity. Nintendo wants to promote their product towards kids so they have no choice but to use Disney. YouTube and Netflix are already competing with Disney for children’s watch time. Disney is also the only one of the three that does kids game shows. Nintendo had no choice.
“Brave’s stats are floaty! Erdrick wouldn’t be floaty!”
These jumps look floaty to me. Besides, Brave’s stats aren’t even that floaty. Brave, despite having a gravity stat of 0.9, is still a fast faller. Don’t forget that these stats are subject to change as well.
“Erdrick is just another swordfighter! There’s nothing unique about him!”
Erdrick actually has a large variety of weapons which he could pull from for his Smash moveset. Axes, whips, lances, shields, sickles, clubs, daggers, and boomerangs are all weapons he has in his arsenal. While his main weapon in Smash would be his sword, I can easily see Sakurai choosing to have moves like his smash attacks or aerials use some of his other weapons.
That’s not all either, Erdrick actually uses magic as well. He can use fire magic, lightning magic, buff and debuff magic, sleep magic, and more. These would obviously be used for his specials. It’s also possible he could use Slime for some of his attacks. Overall, he has great potential to be one of the most unique swordfighters in Smash.
Credits
Written by MintPepsi, @MintPepsi1
Edited and revised by Grapevine, @Grapevin_e
Height and shield size chart by snmario128, @snmario128
Credit to gale from the Mimique Valley Discord server for the list of brave’s stats
Reviewed by starb, @TheStarbDude
Reviewed by Supirorguy, @supirorguy
Certain links and sources provided by @let_smash
Smash Labs 