Time travel

Time travel though not frequent in the Dragon Quest franchise has been used as a means for some of the installments.

Occurrences

Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride

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After returning from his adventure from Uptaten Towers to Whealbrook, The Hero meets a mysterious man at outside the church who wants to look at the Gold Orb. He gives the older man a chance to look at the treasure and (apparently) receives it back, but later loses it when Bishop Ladja destroys the Orb.

Years later, The Hero and his [[Party (Dragon Quest V}}|family]] discover that the Orb was needed to allow for Zenithia Castle to rise to the sky and are pointed by to the Faerie Palace by Queen Treacle of Faerie Lea. The palace's Queen Caramel is unable to help directly, but produces a Gold bauble which The Hero holds onto while looking at a painting in the area that takes him back in time to Whealbrook village so that he can exchange it with his younger self's orb.

In the remakes of the game, after winning the game, the other portrait in Faerie Palace allows The Hero to travel to the past of Lofty Peak. This new mission allows for him to acquire more Knick-knacks and to meet both Pankraz & Madalena in their youth.

Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past

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Time travel is a frequent means of The Hero and his party slowly restoring the world which was destroyed over the course of history aside from the island of Estard. Their means of visiting various regions in the past require them to acquire special Fragments and placing them on the correct pedestals in the Shrine of Mysteries.

Dragon Quest X

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Time travel is a power of the Royal Family of Tenton when it was a kingdom, but was lost to the sands of time. However, the Hero and their sibling unknowingly have the power, which is first seen when the sibling is accidentally sent a 100 years into the past during Nelgel's attack on Tenton as a village. Later, it is used to acquire the Haja Boat to infiltrate Reidametesu and then have it made in the present after Razuban is defeated. The mechanic doesn't show up again for the player to use until Version 4, where the Hero meets their biological parents and discovers that an evil that will destroy Astoila is absorbing various evils to achieve his full power, while at the same time, learning about certain histories previously alluded to, like the Urbea Empire, and altering certain histories to a more positive effect, like saving Alvin from having to go insane after Kamil was branded a traitor, but was actually led astray by one of Nerodus's generals disguised as her lover. However in this case, it is due to a cube their sibling gave them.

Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age

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Time travel is used to access this game's post-story content. After defeating Mordegon and holding a memorial service for Veronica, who sacrificed herself to mitigate the destruction caused by the death of Yggdrasil, the party can visit the Tower of Lost Time in the Lost Land, using the Wheel of Time to open the door to the tower. There they meet the Timekeeper, a Tockle who watches over the flow of time in the tower. She shows them Time's Sphere, the crystallization of all that has taken place in Erdrea, and informs the party that the only way to restore Veronica is to turn back time to before she died; however, only one person can go, one with the power of the Luminary, and he may never return to the present time. Using the Sword of Light, the Luminary strikes Time's Sphere, transporting him to Arboria before Yggdrasil's death. He then uses the Sword of Shadows -- obtained from defeating Mordegon in the future -- to kill Jasper at the Heart of Yggdrasil, as it breaks through his previously impervious barrier. The party later defeats Mordegon again, freeing King Carnelian. The heroes then go on a quest to obtain the strength needed to destroy the ultimate impending evil known as Calasmos, residing in Erdwin's Lantern.

Although this time travel undoes the devastation experienced in the normal timeline, it also undoes many of the Hero's feats, such as how Mia and Ryu are back to their cursed forms. As such, several side-quests open up in all previously visited locations, and the party can return to these characters to peacefully restore them to their normal selves again.

Eventually, the Luminary and his party defeat Calasmos and restore the Timekeeper to her true self, Serenica, and send her back in time to reunite with Erdwin.