Dragon Quest: The Mark of Erdrick

Manga
Dragon Quest Saga: Emblem of Roto
Publisher(s)	Square Enix (Japan); Ki-oon (France); Star Comics (Italy); Planeta Cómic (Spain)
Artist(s)	Kamui Fujiwarai (藤原カムイ); Chiaki Kawamata (川又千秋); Junji Koyanagi (小柳順治)
Series	Emblem of Roto
Release date(s)	September 20,1991 (Japan); July 25, 2006 (Japan, PE); May 15, 2014 (France); April 1998 (Italy); November 4, 2015 (Italy, PE); September18, 2018 (Spain); September 23, 2025 (USA)

"Many years have passed since the legendary hero Erdrick and his companions defeated the forces of evil.

But after a century of peace and prosperity, the world is once again under threat. Now Prince Arus, scion of the hero Erdrick, decides to take to the road along with his guardians and friends to counter the rise of darkness!"

Dragon Quest: The Mark of Erdrick (ドラゴンクエスト列伝ロトの紋章, Doragon Kuesuto Retsuden Roto no Monshō), also known as "Emblem of Erdrick" due to it's japanese title, is a manga with art by Kamui Fujiwara and script by Chiaki Kawamata and Junji Koyanagi. It's plot follows a descendant of Erdrick named Arus, 100 years after the events of Dragon Quest III.

The original manga ran from 1991 to 1997 on Enix's Monthly Shonen Gangan magazine. Fujiwara and Kawamata also produced the spinoff Dragon Quest: Emblem of Roto Returns which focuses on three central characters of the original manga, and a full on sequel named Dragon Quest: Emblem of Roto: Those Who Inherited the Emblem. There is also an OVA covering the childhood of Arus and Kira. Kamui Fujiwara also released an artbook of Mark of Erdrick.

The main series is 86 chapters long, collected in 21 tankobon volumes, and later in 15 kanzenban for the Perfect Edition. Some parts of the manga were redrawn for the Perfect Edition due to lost materials between the original edition and this re-edition.

An official English release was announced in 2024, with the first volume set to be released in September 2025 under the name of "Dragon Quest: The Mark of Erdrick".

Story[edit | edit source]

After the defeat of Zoma two descendants of Erdrick left Alefgard and founded two kingdoms, the kingdom of Carmen, and the kingdom of Loran, each taking half of the Mark of Erdrick with them. The rules of both kingdoms would wear neckleces with their half of the mark to protect themselves from evil spirits. 100 years later, the king of Carmen is leading a campaign against a tribe of evil shaman. Upon reaching the hideout of the shaman tribe, the king finds a demonic statue. Soon after, the king's necklace breaks. Without the protection of the mark, the king's mind is easily overtaken by the demonic statue's will.

In the following months, the king worships and talks to the demonic statue in secret. The voice of the statue, which is none other than the Dragonlord's, tells him to give his child the demonic name of Jagan instead of the holy name of Arus. When the queen gives birth, the king tries to take the child and hold a ceremony to name the prince Jagan but is stopped by General Volgoy and his daughter Lunafrea, who suspects that the king is a demon in disguise and try to stop him from holding the ceremony. Volgoy attacks the king, who then transforms into a demon and kills the queen. Lunafrea then uses a ring of light on the demon and defeats him. She then takes baby Arus and escapes the castle. She meets up with Giran and Tarkin, and the group begins to live their life in secret so that monsters may never find the scion of the hero until he becomes a great hero. After the Dragonlord's failure to turn Arus into a demonic lord, he turns to the kingdom of Loran where another descendant of Erdrick is born and succeeds in naming him Jagan, and turning him into a young demonic lord.

10 years later Arus begins his journey along with Lunafrea, Tarkin, and Giran and his son Kira. Soon after, the group meets Sage Kadal, who aided hero Erdrick in his journey to slay the Great Demonlord Zoma in the past.

Characters[edit | edit source]

Arus, the main protagonist. The descendant of Erdrick from the Carmen kingdom, blessed with a sacred, protector name.
Kira, Arus's best friend and son of Giran. He is skilled with the sword.
Tie, a blond fairy that accompanies Arus everywhere he goes.
Yao, a martial artists who aids Arus.
Poron, a young gadabout who holds a special secret. He is often seen with his three monster friends.
Kadal, sage who fought Zoma alongside Arel. Sage Kadal serves as a mentor to the group.
Lunafrea, daughter of the general Volgoy of the Carmen kingdom. She is a sister figure to Arus. (Voiced by Yumi Tōma)
Jagan, another scion of Erdrick, heir to the Loran kingdom. He bears a cursed name and works for Lord Imagine.
Dragonlord, a minion of Lord Imagine and commander of the Dragon army.
Gunon, commander of the Beast army.
Deathlord Gorgona, commander of the Undead army. He is the closest commander to Lord Imagine.
Lord Imagine, the main antagonist. He shows himself as a giant talking head in front of his commanders.

Related Media[edit | edit source]

Printed media[edit | edit source]

The Mark of Erdrick spawned a collection of short side-stories called Emblem of Roto Returns, and a full-fledged sequel titled Dragon Quest: Emblem of Roto: Those Who Inherited the Emblem.

In 1994 and 1997, Kamui Fujiwara published a couple of artbooks containing artworks, reference sheets and more.

In 2025, Fujiwara released two more artbooks called "A journey through the world of Emblem of Roto" Part 1 and Part 2 (ドラゴンクエスト列伝ロトの紋章の世界の旅 PART-1, Doragon Kuesuto Retsuden Roto no Monshō no sekai no tabi PART-1; and ドラゴンクエスト列伝ロトの紋章の世界の旅 PART-2, Doragon Kuesuto Retsuden Roto no Monshō no sekai no tabi PART-2)

Audiovisual[edit | edit source]

In 1994, a Drama CD was published.

In 1996, an OVA was released. It covers Arus's childhood and how he became friends with Kira.

In Videogames[edit | edit source]

The Mark of Erdrick has had a handful collaborations with the Japanese version of Dragon Quest of the Stars. The collaboration include a multitude of cosmetic equipment based on characters like Arus, Kira, Yao, Kadal, Jagan and more; Fiend-difficulty boss fights against multiple villains from the series like Orochi or Imajin, and stamps for multiplayer communication. Kamui Fujiwara designed new armor for the collaboration event.

It also collaborated with Keshi Keshi, with erasers based on Arus, Kira, Yao, Porog (both gadabout and sage forms), Jagan and Gunon. Players would get Poron by just playing the game while the event lasted, with the item to upgrade him to sage being available as a quest reward. Arus, Kira and Yao were gacha erasers. The erasers of Jagan and Gunon were unlockable by progressing in the event.

The members of Arus's party also delved into the world of Final Fantasy Brave Exvius, with Arus, Yao and Poron being added into the game as gacha units, Killa as a free unit, and Gunon and Jagan as bosses. Aside from the units themselves, a couple Vision Cards based on them were also available.