Hero (Dragon Quest IV)

Lore & Background

The Hero's village is attacked by Psaro and his minions, who seek to kill the prophesied Hero. To protect them, the Hero's friend Eliza uses magic to impersonate the Hero and dies in their place. The Hero then journeys to defeat Psaro, joining other characters such as Ragnar, Alena, Torneko, Maya, and Meena. After Psaro's love Rose is murdered by humans on the orders of his minion Aamon, Psaro loses his mind and uses the Secret of Evolution to become monstrous, but is ultimately defeated by the Hero and their party. In the PlayStation version, a new sixth chapter allows the Hero to revive Rose, who saves Psaro, and Psaro becomes an ally to help defeat Aamon.

Reader's Guide

The Hero of Dragon Quest IV holds significance as a milestone for gender representation in role-playing games. The female Hero was particularly well-received by critics and players, with multiple writers praising her design and the ability to play as a woman in an era when most protagonists were male. The character's tragic story—losing their village and friend Eliza—has been discussed as one of the unhappiest in the Dragon Quest series, with critics noting the parallel between the Hero's loss and Psaro's loss of Rose. The ambiguity of Eliza's reappearance in the ending has sparked debate about whether it represents a happy ending or an illusion. The Hero also appears as a playable character in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate as one of four skins for the character 'Hero,' alongside heroes from Dragon Quest III, VIII, and XI. Their legacy extends to Dragon Quest V, where their descendants are hunted, and one marries the Hero of that game to birth a new Legendary Hero.

Did You Know?

• The female Hero in Dragon Quest IV was not the first in the series to have a distinct design from the male Hero—Dragon Quest III already had distinct sprites for both genders.
• The anecdote that writer/producer Yuji Horii intended more differences between the male and female Hero but forgot until late in development is unverified and not widely known canon.
• The Hero's friend Eliza dies impersonating them to protect them from Psaro.
• In the PlayStation version, a sixth chapter allows Psaro to become an ally of the Hero.

Development & Creative Vision

Planning for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was underway by December 2015, though full-scale production did not commence until the downloadable content for the 3DS and Wii U entries was finalized. Series creator Masahiro Sakurai stepped back into the director's chair, and the two studios behind the previous entry—Bandai Namco Studios and Sora Ltd.—rejoined the project. Their familiarity with the codebase and design language reportedly accelerated the preparation phase considerably. Sakurai set an ambitious objective: to assemble a roster that included every character who had appeared in any prior Smash title. Achieving this meant navigating a complex web of licensing negotiations across multiple third-party publishers, a challenge that shaped much of the production timeline. On the audio front, a roster of well-known video game composers contributed to the soundtrack, with Hideki Sakamoto penning the main theme, "Lifelight." The game was first teased during a Nintendo Direct broadcast in March 2018, then showcased more extensively at the E3 2018 Direct the following June, before launching on December 7, 2018. Post-launch downloadable content continued to roll out until October 2021, expanding the fighter count from 74 to 89.

Combat Systems & Stage Design

At its core, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is a platform fighter supporting up to eight simultaneous players, each tasked with launching opponents beyond the edges of a shared arena. Damage is tracked through a percentage meter that grows with every hit taken; the higher the percentage, the more violently a character is sent flying when struck. Matches can be structured around three distinct victory conditions—Timed, Stock, and Stamina—each with its own strategic emphasis, and players can save custom rule presets for repeated use. Random item spawns add chaos, summoning Pokémon via Poké Balls or deploying Assist Trophies that can even be attacked in Timed modes for bonus points. Every fighter wields a signature Final Smash, triggered either by collecting a Smash Ball or filling a dedicated meter. The stage library spans 103 arenas plus one added in a free update, most featuring toggleable hazards and dynamic elements, and each offering standardized Battlefield and Omega variants. A novel Stage Morph system lets players pair two arenas that swap at set intervals. New modes like Squad Strike (teams of three or five), Tourney (32-player brackets), and Smashdown (each character used only once) expand on returning staples such as Classic and Home-Run Contest.

Spirits & the World of Light

Ultimate replaces the series' traditional collectible trophies with a system called Spirits, each modeled after a character from one of the represented franchises. Players earn Spirits primarily through Spirit Battles—pre-scripted challenges that embody the depicted character's identity through specific level effects and enemy configurations. A Rayquaza Spirit battle, for instance, pits the player against an oversized Ridley rendered in a matching color palette with wind-based hazards, rewarding those who equip a Spirit granting wind resistance or bonus damage against giant foes. A rotating Spirit Board offers additional encounters, while a growth and evolution system lets players level up Spirits for greater power, convert them into Cores to summon new ones, or unlock an enhanced form at maximum level before resetting to level one. Nintendo also runs limited-time Spirit events tied to cross-promotional partnerships, after which those Spirits enter general rotation. The local multiplayer mode also supports Spirit usage. Tying it all together is World of Light, the return of Adventure Mode after its absence in the 3DS and Wii U entry, now woven into the Spirits framework.

Critical Acclaim & Commercial Legacy

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate launched on December 7, 2018, and was met with widespread critical praise. Reviewers highlighted the refined feel of the combat, the meticulous fine-tuning of the series' signature elements, and the sheer breadth of its content and character roster. The online component, however, drew criticism for persistent technical glitches and matchmaking difficulties. Despite that caveat, the title has cemented its reputation as one of the strongest entries on the Nintendo Switch and is frequently cited among the greatest video games of all time. It has sustained a vibrant competitive esports scene, following in the footsteps of its predecessors. Commercially, the game stands as the best-selling fighting title in history and ranks among the top sellers on the Switch platform, having surpassed 37 million copies sold by December 2025. As the fifth mainline entry in the Super Smash Bros. lineage, succeeding the 2014 3DS and Wii U release, Ultimate represents both a culmination of the series' history and a new benchmark for crossover fighting games.