History Manga / DaiNoDaibouken

* CloudCuckoolander: Aban is a schoolcase.
** Actually, Aban just pretends to be an idiot to hide his own abilities from foes and friends. A side story explains how he has been doing that since his mid teens, and how the goofy glasses he wears all the time were given to him by princess Fiora herself to complete the disguise.

* ConservationOfNinjutsu: The chess pieces that are brought to life. The 5 Shinei Kidan warriors are formidable opponents that give Dai's team quite a bit of trouble. Hymn the pawn is almost even match with Hyunkel. [[spoiler: The remaining 13 pieces, however, would be easily torn apart by Hyunkel with his bare hand, if the King piece didn't play dirty.]]

** Avan. [[spoiler: After almost killing himself to stop Hadlar, realizing that he is hopelessly outmatched in the upcoming battle against the Demon army, he descends the Anti-Magic cave to find new spells and hone his skills. He comes back near the end, packed with powerful new abilities and items, some of which he invented himself.]]
** Played hilariously with Chu the mouse, and the random items he carries with him all the time.
* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass: Say what you will about Aban, but if he decides to get serious, even [[BigBad Vearn]] will not take him lightly.)

** Subverted, as he did in fact participate in the final battle against the BigBoss. His battle abilities fitted his role at the time, which is spectator. Also, Dai and Co. needed to at least grow out of his shadow, having been rescued by him for so many times.

* TheDeterminator: Everybody on the hero side, main character or not. In fact, taking on almost BloodKnight levels of determination seems to be a prerequisite for {{Heel Face Turn}}s.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Myst-Vearn may be a card carrying villain adherent to the will of Vearn, but he has ''nothing but disgust'' for Zaboera's deceptive and backstabbing ways, even leaving him to die against the ground forces, and boy was he pissed when he heard Zaboera bad mouthing Hadlar.

** Hyunkel before his HeelFaceTurn.

* {{Expy}}: at first, Dai looks like a young Son Goku (Akira Toriyama did the character designs for Dragon Quest after all). He gets better. Other characters are clearly influenced by Akira Toriyama's characters too.
* {{Fanservice}}: if you still don't know after a few volumes that Maam and Leona are "bouncy", you must be blind.
* FantasticNuke: The dreaded Black Cores. On the back-story, one of them was powerful enough to destroy an entire continent.
* FeedItABomb: Pop pulls a variation of this by unleashing a fire ray spell into a dragon's mouth. Its rider was not pleased, [[UnstoppableRage at all]].
** Also a serious TearJerker for some who felt that Garudandi was the most likable of the Ryuukishuu, but then again, WhatMeasureIsANonhuman?

** Also [[spoiler:Larhalt in the last arc, as well as Pop more than once, and Merle...]] In fact, very few characters stay dead in Dai no Daibouken.
* {{Badass}}: It's easier to point out who in the cast is ''not'' a badass.
* BattleAura:
** Most physical fighters use "spirit energy" to power their best attacks, like the Grand Cross.
** Dragon Knights can surround themselves with "draconic aura".
* BelligerentSexualTension: Played straight with Pop and Maamu.
* BerserkButton Hurting Dai's friends is a very bad idea.

** Maamu is the Archie to Hyunkel's Veronica and Pop's Betty.
** Pop is the Archie to Maamu's Veronica and Merle's Betty.
* {{BFS}}: All the melee weapons are realistically proportioned. Crocodine's Great Axe is probably the only one that fits the trope.

* {{Bishounen}} Aban; Hyunkel; [[spoiler: Vearn's true appearance]].

* BreakTheCutie: Baran; Hadler and Vearn's numerous attempts at making Dai snap and/or join their ranks.

* ActionGirl Maamu, Leona, Emi and Princess Flora.
* TheAce: Dai; Aban; Baran.

** Humans are usually viewed in a positive light, but it's clear that Dai has been and will be rejected by most humans for being half dragon knight and 'unnaturally' strong.

* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove: Two in a row. During the battle to gain entrance to Vearn's fortress, ShrinkingViolet Merle [[spoiler: sacrifices her life to save Pop. Pop understandably freaks out wondering why someone like her would risk her life to protect him, which makes Leona finally lose it and reveal that Merle has been in love with him since ever and he means a lot to her. Of course, Pop gets shocked by this revelation]]. Merle blames herself for not having enough courage to [[spoiler: confess her love when she had the chance, and begs Pop to say the name of the woman he loves, so she could learn what real courage looks like. After a moment of hesitation, Pops ask her to forgive him, because the woman he loves is Maamu, who is standing literally a few feet away and completely unaware of his feelings up to that moment.]]

* DeusExMachina: Dai's hidden abilities at first, though a nice plot arc is eventually made of it.

* HalfHumanHybrid: Dai, and another character, Laharlt, in the Baran Arc.
* HardWorkHardlyWorks: Subverted. While Dai's friends cannot catch up to Dai's level of power, they all go through harsh trainings to increase their powers and are able to assist Dai tremendously. There are always multiple threats that need to be dealt with Dai's being only able to tackle the strongest one.

* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen: Demon Lord Vearn is ''always'' hidden by a veil when he speaks to his subordinates until the final arc.

* HeroicSacrifice Many characters including Aban;[[spoiler: Pop]];[[spoiler: Baran]];[[spoiler: Merle]];[[spoiler: Hadler]]; at the very end, [[spoiler: Dai himself, though it's strongly hinted at that he somehow survived since his sword still shines]].
** Some of them actually survived the experience, like [[spoiler: Aban]];[[spoiler: Pop]] and [[spoiler: Merle]]
* HoistByHisOwnPetard [[spoiler: Myst-Vearn's end by Hyunkel, whom Myst-Vearn raised to be the ideal host]]

* InferioritySuperiorityComplex: Pop's early MilesGloriosus personality is revealed to be due to his own frustration at his cowardice and lack of power. He quickly drops his JerkassFacade, though his lack of self-esteem remains until he [[spoiler: meets Avan again]].

* KamehameHadoken There is a fair share of techniques that work this way, including Crocodine and Baran's {{Finishing Move}}s
* KidHero: the main characters
* KilledOffForReal [[spoiler: Baran]] and his team [[spoiler: except Laharlt, who returns for the final battle arc]]; [[spoiler: Hadler]] and his team [[spoiler: except Hym, who's believed to inherit Hadler's soul]].
* LargeHam Crocodine; Hadler and Baran, in a more edgy and cynical style.
** Crocodine is a level above even the others; if Dai no Daibouken was ever made into an anime, he would have to be voiced by [[BrianBlessed BRIAN BLESSED]] in the English dub to do him justice.
*** It was made into anime. Unfortunately, it was canceled before the story finished. No Brian, although. Link to opening http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJtH7pOuqRk
* LaserGuidedAmnesia Happens briefly to Dai during the Baran's arc

* LiteralSplitPersonality: A variation. The ritual magic that Hadler used to create the Shinei Kidan also imprinted them with fragments of own personality. Though, he thinks of it more like a case of LikeFatherLikeSon
* LukeIAmYourFather [[spoiler: Baran, one of the six generals, is Dai's father.]]
* MadeOfExplodium The Shinei Kidan explode when they die, and there's a good reason to it [[FridgeBrilliance that's not explicitly stated in the Manga]]: Since their bodies are made of the extremely rare and powerful Orihalcon, it would be disadvantageous for them if the heroes could scavenge their remnants to forge some new weapons and/or armor with them.
** For the same reason, their severed body parts also tend to explode.
* MagicKnight: Dai learns to be one over the course of the series, mixing magic to his sword attacks; Baran's a natural born one as the Dragon Knight

* ManlyTears: Aban; Hyunkel.

* MentorOccupationalHazard: Avan sacrifices himself to defect Hadler after teaching Dai the Avan Slash [[spoiler: subverted when Avan is revealed to be alive]].

* MoralMyopia: Galdandy of [[QuirkyMiniBossSquad Baran's Dragon Riders]] is as ruthless of a monster as you can expect from the villains. He probably wouldn't care about killing someone close to you, [[BerserkerTears but]] [[UnstoppableRage kill]] [[MoralityPet his dragon]] [[WhatMeasureIsAMook Ruudo]], you're dead... and [[DiscussedTrope pointing out how many people the dragon has killed]] will not help your case, Pop.

* MosesInTheBullrushes - both Dai and Hyunkel
* NotSoDifferent: During the Final Battle, Dai [[spoiler:unleashes his full power, something he had been actively surpressing until then for fear of losing his memory or his mind or permanently morphing into something was not human.]] Shortly after Vearn makes the same thing, [[spoiler:transforming into a gigantic monster.]] He remarks Dais is right like himself, willing to lose his self in order to achieve victory. Dai reluctantly and silently agrees.

* TrueCompanions the disciples of Aban -- Dai, Pop, Maamu and Hyunkel -- plus Crocodine and Leona.
* ObfuscatingStupidity Aban is a strange mixture of this and {{CloudCuckoolander}}ism. The proportion of both is [[AlternateCharacterInterpretation up for debate]].
* ObliviousToLove: Maamu is completely oblivious to Pop's feelings for her, while Pop doesn't realize that Merle has been in love with him since they first met. Meanwhile, their friends sigh and facepalm.
* TheObiWan Aban

* OneWingedAngel Vearn's final form. Heck, he even ''looks'' like [[VideoGame/FinalFantasyVII Bizarro Sephiroth]].
* OnlySaneMan: Maamu.

* PantyShot Maamu's second set of clothes and her last armor makes her a walking panty shot, much to Merle's dismay.
* ThePowerOfFriendship

* ThePsychoRangers The Shinei Kidan develop this kind of dynamic when confronted with Dai's group
* PsychoSupporter Albinasu towards Hadler. She seems somewhere between UnrequitedLove & StalkerWithACrush.
* RaisedByWolves subverted: even though he's been raised by monsters, Dai isn't uncivilized at all. On the other hand, he starts off very naive and [[NoSocialSkills largely unaware of human social conventions]].
* RedemptionEqualsDeath [[spoiler: Baran and Hadler, oh so much]].
** Subverted by Crocodile, as he came back to life later and pulled a HeelFaceTurn
* RedOniBlueOni Maamu vs. Pop; Aban vs. Hadler.

* SenselessSacrifice: Defied as Dai releases his hidden power to fight off Hadler after Aban gave his life trying to defeat him

* ShipTease especially Maamu-Pop, Dai-Leona and Flora-Aban.

* ShrinkingViolet Merle fits this trope like a glove. The fact that she is Maamu's polar opposite and how she is painfully aware of how Pop only has eyes for Maamu makes it hurt even more.
* ShoutOut this troper has trouble in ''not'' thinking Hyunkel is something from ''SaintSeiya''. Seriously, look at his armours and how he equips them. He even looks a bit like Hyoga.
** He was dubbed by Phoenix Ikki's former seiyuu Creator/HideyukiHori. Think about what army he is in charge of, and how many times he comes BackFromTheDead. The connection is more than obvious.

* SlidingScaleOfIdealismVersusCynicism (with its emphasis on ThePowerOfFriendship and its easy [[HeelFaceTurn conversion of villains]], the series is close to the far end of the idealism side. At the root of the conflict with Vearn and his demon army, who've been living in less than ideal conditions while humans were having it good, from their point of view.

* SortingAlgorithmOfEvil: subverted: after normal troops prove to be no match for Dai's team, the BigBad sends his best warriors — the six generals — after him.
** But also played straight in the order in which the generals fight Dai, at least at first: Crocodine is a lot weaker than Hyunckel, who gets his ass handed to him by Flazzard, who in turn is a joke compared to Baran.
*** Granted, from the moment Crocodine failed, Hadler had wanted to send all 6 of his generals at once, but the order was belayed by the BigBad
* SpellMyNameWithAnS particularly extreme if you take into account the BlindIdiotTranslation in the French manga. Dai was renamed "Fly" in French and Spanish to avoid the phonetic equivalent of "die" ("fly" is an impressive name, thank you very much); Hyunckel/Hyunkel/Henki (in the French translation of the anime); Marm/Maamu/even Fuam in the French manga; Pop/Poppu (ditto); Aban/Avan/Ivan; Hadler/Hadlar/Hadora; Dermlin/Delmulin/Dremlin/Demurin/Whatever island; Crocodin/Crocodine/Krokodine; Vearn/Ban; Freezair/Flazzard/Freeze; Gome/Gomen.
* StarCrossedLovers Baran and Soara's story is very close to a classic ''Romeo and Juliet'' plot. Where Romeo goes ''horribly wrong'' and they have a kid with InfantImmortality.

* SuperpoweredEvilSide Dai's "Dragon Knight personality" isn't evil, but it sure is terrifying and shows a darker, more violent side of his personality than we are used to.
* SwordAndSorcerer: Dai and Pop. Dai despite being a MagicKnight, favors swordsmanship and most of his spells are either short range offensive attacks or boosts to his fighting ability. Pop when teamed up with Dai, provides the long range explosive firepower, defense and [[spoiler: after he becomes a Sage, healing]] that Dai lacks. Demonstrated beautifully in the fight against Vearn when they display both the Tank and Healer (or Defense) and Meat Shield and Glass Cannon sides of the trope.
* TakingTheBullet Plenty of examples. Crocodile actually used this as his main fighting tactic against [[spoiler: Baran]] to buy time for Dai.

* TeamMom - The aptly named Marm, who even represents Compassion.
* TeamPet Gome, which [[spoiler:also happens to be a literal miracle bringer created by the Gods.]]
** Also, Chu the karateka mouse.
* TenMinuteRetirement when [[spoiler: Dai]] freaks out and runs away in his pyjamas after [[spoiler: being defeated by Vearn]].
* TomboyandGirlyGirl: Played all over with Leona and Maamu. Maamu's a fighter and a Tsundere while Leona's a WhiteMagicianGirl whose open about who she loves. However, their personalities don't fit the type. Maamu when she's in love, is a bit of a ShrinkingViolet who CantSpitItOut (see her crush on Hyunkel). Leona in contrast is much more FilieFatale aggressive about pursuing Dai. Maamu serves as the TeamMom while Leona is TheFace
* TookALevelInBadass Many characters, but especially Pop, who according to Hyunkel, Kill-Vearn and Vearn themselves, is even scarier than Dai.
** You know you're a badass when you [[spoiler: use a spell even after dying.]]
** This gets even more evident when, during the final battle against Vearn [[spoiler: Pop quickly discovers the weak point on Vearn's absolutely invincible battle stance, then cleverly turns Vearn's power against him (allowing Dai to cut one of Vearn's arms off) and even neutralizing Vearn's ultimate magic attack with ease, all while staring at him with a "take that" expression on his face.]]
* TriangRelations Merle loves Pop, Pop loves Maamu, Maamu loves Hyunkel but so does Eimi, Hyunkel loves Maamu but [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy thinks she's too good for him]]...really, this gets more to LoveDodecahedron levels.

* UnstoppableRage - Dai and Baran when their crests are present.
* WarpWhistle Hadler uses an artifact named Chimera's Wings to retreat after his humiliating defeat during his first fight with Dai

* WeakButSkilled: Hyunkel. He starts as one of the strongest characters, mainly for his exceptional swordsmanship skill, but quickly becomes relatively average when compared to other characters. Dai is the hero, Pop can use magic, and Maamu is infinitely stronger physically than he is. [[spoiler: Then he starts using his own life as a weapon and [[TookALevelInBadass takes a few levels in badass]]]].
** Avan himself fits this trope, as he wasn't abnormally strong. His skills and superhuman intelligence, however...
* WhatMeasureIsANonCute Lots of minor characters, especially non-humans, are subject to this trope.
* WhipSword Hyunkel's weapon.

* WorthyOpponent Baran, after he and Dai both collapse exhausted after battling. [[spoiler: Hadler]] eventually becomes this too, along with his [[spoiler: Shinei Kidan]].
* YouGottaHaveBlueHair (and ridiculous oversize curls, Aban. Also notice Maamu's pink hair and Leona's orange/beige hair.)
* ZettaiRyouiki Leona.

* ActionGirl Maamu, Leona, Emi and Princess Fiora.
* TheAce: Dai; Aban; Baran
* AllOfTheOtherReindeer humans are usually viewed in a positive light, but it's clear more than once that Dai has been and will be rejected by most humans for being half dragon knight and 'unnaturally' strong. This is also the reason Baran snapped and vow to wipe out all humans.

* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove Two in a row. During the battle to gain entrance to Vearn's fortress, ShrinkingViolet Merle [[spoiler: sacrifices her life to save Pop. Pop understandably freaks out wondering why someone like her would risk her life to protect him, which makes Leona finally lose it and reveal that Merle has been in love with him since ever and he means a lot to her. Of course, Pop gets shocked by this revelation]]. Merle blames herself for not having enough courage to [[spoiler: confess her love when she had the chance, and begs Pop to say the name of the woman he loves, so she could learn what real courage looks like. After a moment of hesitation, Pops ask her to forgive him, because the woman he loves is Maamu, who is standing literally a few feet away and completely unaware of his feelings up to that moment.]]
* ArtEvolution - Starts off looking like a Manga/DragonBall doujinshi and eventually evolves into its own distinctive style.
* TheAtoner: Hyunkel.
* BackFromTheDead: Crocodine; [[spoiler: Aban, who sure could have fooled us]]. Actually due to a DeusExMachina amulet.
** Also, Hyunkel somehow fitted this trope, as he definitely looked dead in every other arcs, only to be found alive a few chapters later.
** And [[spoiler:Larhalt in the last arc, as well as Pop more than once, and Merle...]] In fact, very few characters stay dead in Dai no Daibouken.

* BattleAura

* BettyAndVeronica: Maamu is the Archie to Hyunkel's Veronica and Pop's Betty

* {{BFS}} - All the melee weapons are realistically proportioned. Crocodine's Great Axe is probably the only one that fits the trope.
* BigBad Demon Lord Vearn. After he is defeated, [[spoiler:Kill-Vearn]] [[DragonAscendant takes his place]].
* BigDamnHeroes Happens regularly, several times per arc to be precise. Listing every instance of it would take a LONG time. However, it's worth noting that both Crocodine and Hyunkel like doing this a lot.
* {{Bishounen}} Aban; Hyunkel; [[spoiler: Vearn]]'s true appearance.

* BreakTheCutie Baran; Hadler and Vearn's numerous attempts at making Dai snap and/or join their ranks.
* CantCatchUp Downplayed: While it's true that Dai's friends can't catch up with him, if it weren't for them he would have died ''every single time'' he battled one of the six generals.
* CastFromHitPoints Several techniques work this way, the most notable being Megante, [[TakingYouWithMe which consumes all the user's life to turn it into a massive explosion]]. Hyunkel's Grand Cross is a less dangerous form of it; it doesn't kill him, but it renders him extremely exhausted
* TheChessmaster Hadler and Vearn; so very {{Lampshade}}d.
* ChangedMyMindKid Pop leaves Dai and Maamu when they go fight the big bad Crocodine, then shows up in the nick of time to help when they're in trouble.

* ChromeChampion the Shinei Kidan are made out of the legendary metal Orihalcon. It turns out it makes them not only MadeOfShiny but also MadeOfExplodium.
* ChekhovsGun: Avan's pendants, the Mirror of Shahal, [[spoiler: Gome]]

* ComedicSociopathy: (in real life, Pop would be acutely brain damaged and Maamu in jail from beating him up all the time. But HilarityEnsues, and Pop acts like a jerk after all.)
* ComingOfAgeStory: To Pop

* CrazyPrepared: Avan. [[spoiler: After almost killing himself to stop Hadlar, realizing that he is hopelessly outmatched in the upcoming battle against the Demon army, he descends the Anti-Magic cave to find new spells and hone his skills. He comes back near the end, packed with powerful new abilities and items, some of which he invented himself.]]

* CrouchingMoronHiddenBadass Say what you will about Aban, but if he decides to get serious, even [[BigBad Vearn]] will not take him lightly.)

* CutShort The anime ends after Dai's first encounter with Baran, which is less than a third through the Manga's full length, and which also ends on a rather different way. In the Anime [[spoiler:Baran is overwhelmed by the strength of Dai's bond with his friends, and he concedes the battle because of it]]. But in the Manga [[spoiler:Baran decides to cut this bond by erasing Dai's memories before retreating to gather his comrades]]. Needless to say, [[LeftHanging it would have been more infuriating]] if they took the Manga route in this case.
* DefeatMeansFriendship Crocodine and Hyunkel; quite a few of the minor antagonist characters are much better inclined towards the heroes once they've crossed swords.

* DefrostingIceQueen: Baran
* DemotedToExtra: Crocodine sadly loses his status as a main character after [[spoiler:Flora asks Leona to join the team as Aban's hypothetical fifth disciple.]]
** Subverted, as he did in fact participate in the final battle against the BigBoss. His battle abilities fitted his role at the time, which is spectator. Also, Dai and Co. needed to at least grow out of his shadow, having been rescued by him for so many times
* DespairEventHorizon: Soara's death causes Baran's FaceHeelTurn
* TheDeterminator - Everybody on the hero side, main character or not. In fact, taking on almost BloodKnight levels of determination seems to be a prerequisite for {{Heel Face Turn}}s.
* DeusExMachina - Dai's hidden abilities, though a nice plot arc is eventually made of it.
** [[spoiler: Gome is a literal version of this, being an item of the gods that grants miracles to its owner.]]
* TheDragon Hadler is a textbook example. Turns out, so is [[spoiler: Myst-Vearn]].
* MrFanservice: Baran. Also Hyunkel, & [[spoiler: Vearn.]]

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Myst-Vearn may be a card carrying villain adherent to the will of Vearn, but he has ''nothing but disgust'' for Zaboera's deceptive and backstabbing ways, even leaving him, basically, to die against the ground forces, and boy was he pissed when he heard Zaboera bad mouthing Hadlar.
* EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses: Leona, & Flora.

* EvilCounterpart: Hyunkel, before his HeelFaceTurn

* {{Expy}} at first, Dai looks like a young Son Goku (Akira Toriyama did the character designs for Dragon Quest after all). He gets better. Other characters are clearly influenced by Akira Toriyama's characters too.
* {{Fanservice}} if you still don't know after a few volumes that Maamu and Leona are "bouncy," you must be blind.
* FantasticNuke The dreaded Black Cores. On the back-story, one of them was powerful enough to destroy an entire continent
* FeedItABomb Pop pulls a variation of this by unleashing a fire ray spell into a dragon's mouth. Its rider was not pleased, [[UnstoppableRage at all]].

* FilleFatale Leona is very aware of her charms. Averted with Maamu, who doesn't realize she's very attractive.
* FirstGirlWins: Played straight with Dai and Leona. Awesomely subverted with Pop, as after the final battle [[spoiler:he gets BOTH Maamu and Merle!]]
* FinalFirstHug Baran.
* FrankensteinsMonster Flazzard, one of the six generals; Hadler's Shinei Kidan are created through the same forbidden spell.

* {{Flight}} Not quite common, but some characters can use it via the spell Toberuura.

* GenerationXerox: Emphasized by the fact that Maamu's father was on Aban's team and that princess Flora is practically just an older Leona.

* GetAHoldOfYourselfMan: Everybody gets their share of pep talks; in fact, Pop is brought back from the brink of despair by the ''lack'' of the usual Bright Slap reaction from Hyunkel.
* GrandTheftMe: [[spoiler: Myst-Vearn's modus operandi]]

* HardWorkHardlyWorks Subverted. While Dai's friends cannot catch up to Dai's level of power, they all go through harsh trainings to increase their powers and are able to assist Dai tremendously. There are always multiple threats that need to be dealt with Dai's being only able to tackle the strongest one.
* HeelFaceTurn Way too many instances. Crocodine, Hyunkel; even [[spoiler: Baran and Hadler, among others]].
* HeWhoMustNotBeSeen Demon Lord Vearn is ''always'' hidden by a veil when he speaks to his subordinates until the final arc.

Just then, a "hero trainer" named Aban [[spoiler: who is later revealed as the hero who had slain the Demon King]] lands on the island with his wizard trainee, Pop, and sets up a magical barrier, which frees the monsters from Evil's influence. He then proceeds to train Dai to be the next Great Hero, but before they can complete the training the Demon King himself shows up, Aban [[HeroicSacrifice sacrifices himself and fails]]... but Dai flies into an UnstoppableRage, and chases the Demon King away.

* TheAce Dai; Aban; Baran

* ComedicSociopathy (in real life, Pop would be acutely brain damaged and Maamu in jail from beating him up all the time. But HilarityEnsues, and Pop acts like a jerk after all.)

* HopelessBossFight The first encounter of Dai's group with Demon Lord Vearn turned this way.
* HumansAreBastards Played with. Most people and even demons and beasts turn out to be great folks deep inside (sometimes after their {{HeelFaceTurn}}s). On the other hand, Baran had such a horrible experience with human beings (save for Soara) that he ended up going on a rampage.

* LiteralSplitPersonality A variation. The ritual magic that Hadler used to create the Shinei Kidan also imprinted them with fragments of own personality. Though, he thinks of it more like a case of LikeFatherLikeSon

* Theatre/OedipusRex Dai's conflictual relationship with Baran. Played for laughs with Pop's [[JerkassFacade brutal blacksmith dad]].

* SenselessSacrifice Defied as Dai releases his hidden power to fight off Hadler after Aban gave his life trying to defeat him

* AllOfTheOtherReindeer humans are usually viewed in a positive light, but it's clear more than once that Dai has been and will be rejected by most humans for being half dragon knight and 'unnaturally' strong. The reason Baran snapped.

* AnguishedDeclarationOfLove Played straight when ShrinkingViolet Merle, during a decisive battle against Vearn's army [[spoiler: protects Pop from death using her body as a shield. Pop freaks out wondering why someone like her would risk her life to protect a worthless loser like him, which makes Leona finally lose it and brutally reveal (on his face, no less) that Merle has been in love with him since ever and he is worth a lot for her. Of course, Pop gets shocked by this revelation but that's only the beginning, because...]]
** Merle blames herself for not having enough courage to [[spoiler: confess her love when she had the chance, and begs Pop to say the name of the woman he loves, so she could learn what real courage looks like. After a moment of hesitation, Pops ask her to forgive him, because the woman he loves is Maamu. Keep in mind that Pop's confession is made in the middle of a battlefield, when Dai and company are about to assault Vearn's fortress for the definitive battle and Merle is literally dying on Pop's arms: Maamu gets crushed by Pop's confession and to make things even worse, seconds later Merle dies in Pop's arms. (She gets better, thanks to Pop having a HeroicBSOD that launched his magical ability off the scale.)]]
*** Think it's already dramatic enough? [[spoiler: Wrong! Maamu didn't take this confession very well and rejected Pop right off the bat, only to feel crushed by guilt later. (The way she treated him, the way Pop's odd behavior suddenly made sense, and the way she kept asking him for advice about her crush on Hyunkel... So yeah.]]
**** Later, having regained their composure and finished their respective battles against the Shinei Kidan, Pop [[spoiler: asks Maamu to not worry about him, since he already knew she loved Hyunkel and so he wishes them luck and he will do his best to be worthy of Merle's love.]] Maamu interrupts him, asking Pop for some time to sort her own feelings about him so she could give him an honest answer about accepting his love or not. [[spoiler:In the end, their relationship is left with NoRomanticResolution]]
*** [[spoiler: This troper says averted. As of the final chapter, Merle and Maamu are traveling with Pop. Hyunkel on the other hand is being stalked by that priestess who fell for him pretty hard.]]

** And [[spoiler:Larhalt in the last arc, as well as Pop more than once, and Merle...rule to remember, nobody stays dead in Dai no Daibouken.]]
* {{Badass}}

* {{BFS}} - Quite a few of the ultimate weapons, though for the longest time Dai was running around with a kickass dagger.

* CrazyPrepared: Avan. Just... Avan.

* EvenEvilHasStandards: Myst-Vearn may be a card carrying adherent to the will of Vearn, but he has ''nothing but disgust'' for Zaboera's deceptive and backstabbing ways, even leaving him, basically, to die against the ground forces, and boy was he pissed when he heard Zaboera bad mouthing Hadlar..

* ImpossiblyCoolClothes: Everybody, but especially the magic armors that Hyunkel has.

** Hyunkel - TheLancer
** Maamu - TeamMom

[[spoiler: This troper says averted. As of the final chapter, Merle and Maamu are traveling with Pop. Hyunkel on the other hand is being stalked by that priestess who fell for him pretty hard.]]

** [[Gome is a literal version of this, being an item of the gods that grants miracles to its owner.]]

* ImpossiblyCoolClothes - Everybody, but especially the magic armors that Hyunkel has.
* InfantImmortality Dai was found as a baby in a classic baby Moses cradle on the sea.
* JerkassFacade Hyunkel and Baran want you to know they're ''macho''. In Baran's case, paired with a DefrostingIceQueen process.

* SortingAlgorithmOfEvil subverted: after normal troops prove to be no match for Dai's team, the BigBad sends his best warriors — the six generals — after him.

* TheAtoner Hyunkel.
* BackFromTheDead Crocodine; [[spoiler: Aban, who sure could have fooled us]]. Actually due to a DeusExMachina amulet.

* BlindIdiotTranslation the French manga translation by publisher J'ai Lu is notoriously awful. Most of the characters and places have names transliterated directly from the Japanese kana (Poppu, Hadora, Demurin, exception: Fuam for Maamu), the translators couldn't decide in the first volumes if Aban was male or female and thus wrote "he (she)" and the masculine and feminine alternatives of adjectives whenever he spoke or was mentioned, and in at least one instance "Yuusha" (grand hero) was considered the name of the hero ("the grand hero Yusha!"). The "Aban strash" also became the "Aban slah." Very obnoxious and literal sound effects ("freeze," "hug") were added in small font next to the Japanese sound effects. To add insult to injury, it was printed on low-quality paper (think newspaper quality) that made the ink stick to your fingers. Thankfully, another publisher is remaking the whole translation from scratch, almost ten years later.
* BlushSticker especially Dai and Pop.

* ChekhovsGun Avan's pendants, the Mirror of Shahal, [[spoiler: Gome]]
* CloudCuckoolander Aban is a schoolcase.

* CrazyPrepared Avan. Just... Avan.

* DefrostingIceQueen Baran.

* EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses Leona, & Flora.
* EvilCounterpart Hyunkel, before his HeelFaceTurn

* GameBreakingInjury After receiving constant injuries and still pushing his body beyond its limits, Hyunkel ends up permanently crippled just BEFORE the final battle. And no, he doesn't get better.
* GenerationXerox (emphasized by the fact that Maamu's father was on Aban's team and that princess Flora is practically just an older Leona.)
* GeniusDitz Dai and Pop start out as this.

* GrandTheftMe [[spoiler: Myst-Vearn's modus operandi]]
* HalfHumanHybrid Dai, and another character, Laharlt, in the Baran Arc.

* RidiculouslyHumanRobot the Shinei Kidan amount to this.
* RuleOfCool - All the time. The writer even confesses to writing in abilities and spells that are not in the Dragon Quest franchise for the sake of coolness.
* ScaryShinyGlasses - Aban when he gets serious.

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[[[[quoteright:489:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Jumperfect.png]]

[[[[quoteright:489:[[http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Jumperfect.png]]]]

[[[[quoteright:489:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Jumperfect.png]]

[[[[quoteright:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/Jumperfect.png]]

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[[caption-width:304:Aban and his disciples]]

** He was dubbed by Phoenix Ikki's former seiyuu HideyukiHORI. Think about what army he is in charge of, and how many times he comes BackFromTheDead. The connection is more than obvious.

* MagicKnight Dai learns to be one over the course of the series, mixing magic to his sword attacks; Baran's a natural born one as the Dragon Knight

* ManlyTears Aban; Hyunkel.
* MeaningfulName "Dai" means "grand", but there is also a variation of his name that means "hero". His original name, [[spoiler: Dino]], was said to mean "strong dragon" in his mother's language. "Leona" means "relating to lions," which may explain her [[{{Tsundere}} 'feline']] [[FilleFatale personality]]. Marm and Pop are probably named so because [[GenerationXerox they're taking their parents' positions at the Hero's side]].
* TheMessiah Dai, evident by the answer Crocodine gives Baran when he asks why he gives it all to protect Dai: "Before I met him I thought humans were worthless, but he showed me I was wrong. And not only me, Hyunkel was like that too... to us, Dai is our Sun."
* MonsterClown Kill-Vearn reaches [[HunterXHunter Hisoka]] levels.

* WhiteHairedPrettyBoy Hyunkel, sort of; [[spoiler: Vearn's {{Bishounen}} form]].

* ComingOfAgeStory

* MrFanservice: Baran. Also Hyunkel, & [[spoiler: Killvearn.]]

** Dai and Baran's KamehameHadoken. There's even one instance where Dai shoots one, and the recipient of the blast sees the ghostly image of Baran standing behind him in the same pose, a ShoutOut to how Gohan defeated Cell in Manga/DragonBall Z.

* CantCatchUp mild subversion: While it's true that Dai's friends can't catch up with him, if it weren't for them he would have died ''every single time'' he battled one of the six generals.

** Maamu - TeaMom

* FiveManBand:
** Dai - TheHero
** Hyunkel - TheLancer
** Maamu - TheMedic
** Pop - TheSmartGuy
** Crocodine - TheBigGuy
** Leona - TheChick
** [[spoiler:Avan - TheSixthRanger]]
** Later, Flora asks Leona to join the team as Aban's hypothetical fifth disciple and Crocodine is more or less [[DemotedToExtra relegated to the background]]. [[spoiler:When Aban conveniently reappears, he recognizes her as part of the team and as the disciple he'd have chosen]].

* HannibalLecture Vearn. Just...Vearn.