Tantegel (ラダトーム, radatōmu, Ladutorm) is a castle and accompanying town which serve as the capital of Alefgard. It is featured in the first three Dragon Quest games: Dragon Quest, Dragon Quest II, and Dragon Quest III, as part of the Erdrick Trilogy. Tantegel is the starting and central location in the original Dragon Quest and is the only location in Alefgard which has a castle and a reigning king.
In the original Famicom release of Dragon Quest, the town surrounding the Ladutorm Castle (ラダトーム城, radatōmu shiro) is called the same name as the castle, Ladutorm Town (ラダトームの町, radatōmu no machi). When the game was localized and released overseas it was decided to give the castle and town different names (Tantegel and Brecconary respectively). In all other English version releases both town and castle are referred to as Tantegel, and combined into one icon on the world map.
In Dragon Quest II, Tantegel is much less important. It is not reached until nearly halfway into the game, and the new king is hiding out of fear of Hargon. No major items/information are located there and it can be skipped altogether if desired.
This does not apply to the mobile remakes, which have the king possess one of the five Sigils.
Tantegel is the location of central importance in the 'dark world' of Alefgard in Dragon Quest III. It contains the essential Sunstone item in this game as well. It also serves as the location the heroes return to after completing the game, similar to Dragon Quest.
In this game, Tantegel has two areas that can be reached by using teleportals: Tantegel Moor and Charlock Castle. The boss of the fourth and final chapter is the Dragonlord.
In Animation
In the Captain N: The Game Master episode "Three Men and a Dragon", The N Team arrived in Dragon's Den through a Warp Zone leading to Brecconary. While there, Kevin Keene/Captain N obtained Magical herb from the weapon store's shopkeeper in exchange for his digital watch. Simon Belmont purchased water skis, while Kid Icarus (aka Pit) got a magic helmet. The shopkeeper also offered a golden battle axe, the the N Team declined on it.
Comic/Manga
Nintendo Power Volume 10: The issue contains a Howard & Nester comic where the titular duo arrive at Tantegel. The latter attempts in vain to get the Sunstone.
In Dragon Quest there is a holy water shop located behind a magic key door in the town portion of Tantegel, which sells the phials for 38 in the original and 12 in the remakes. In Dragon Quest II this shop has been replaced by a church. Holy water was added to item shops in later games, rather than having its own shop.
Magic key shop
In Dragon Quest there is a magic key shop located in Tantegel castle behind a magic key door, selling them for 85 and 24 gold in the original and remakes. This is convenient as the hero does not have to travel back to Rimuldar in order to purchase more magic keys.
This location can be reached using the Zoom spell.
This location has a priest who will restore a characters' MP.
Trivia
One reason the town may have been given a different name in the NES version, is because the localizers may have thought that it would be odd to call it the same name as its castle, as it is entirely separate from the castle on the world map. However, in Dragon Quest II and III, Tantegel is composed of both combined locations.
Tantegel is named after the real-life village Tintagel and the nearby Tintagel Castle in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. They are associated with the legend of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table, and have become one of the most visited places in Britain.
