The Slime is a recurring enemy in the Dragon Quest series. Introduced in the very first game, Slimes have since become the series' mascot due to their popularity and iconic qualities.
The basic Slime is known for its onion/droplet shape, round eyes, and goofy, toothless smile, the latter two traits having become the ones shared amongst nearly all other Slimes.
They are typically the weakest enemies in every game, having no abilities and being easily disposed of, and likely the first monster the player ever encounters in a battle. However, starting with Dragon Quest IV, there will occasionally be stronger Slimes that can call on others of their kind; they may form a King Slime when eight gather. In the DS remake of Dragon Quest IV, these Slimes appear under slimification in the 'Big Book of Beasts'.
The basic Slime gives 1 Experience Point and 1 Gold Coin.
Unlike his contemporaries, longtime Nintendo Power staff writer (and current Nintendo of America localization manager) Alan Averill never had a photo of him printed in the magazine; instead, he was represented by a plush Slime doll.
The internet MMORPG Kingdom of Loathing has a monster called Irritating Series of Random Encounters which is a group of 8 slimes. It is a reference to the random encounters of most RPG games.
