The treeface is a recurring monster in the Dragon Quest series, first appearing in Dragon Quest II. It is a tree that has come to life in order to attack adventurers.
A wicked parody of the traditional treant of Western fantasy, the treeface is a terrible tyrant of the timberlands that mimics surrounding forest biomes in order to ambush plucky adventurers. Brighter than their bark would imply, they use their own leaves to heal themselves when weakened, and are not above fleeing battle when their necks are on the chopping block. The trees are also known for performing peculiar dances in order to drain spellcasters of their magic power. Treefaces were once ordinary trees that came to life after absent-minded adventurers carved words into their wood.
Rightly feared for their habit of hiding in the forest and ambushing travelers. When hurt, they pluck leaves from their own branches to use as healing herbs.
Notable changes in the remake
A treeface in Tryan Gully notes the Hero and party are new faces in town, while teasing that Trode is old.
Treefaces appeared from the beginning of the game. Like before, they are able to perform Weird Dance and heal themselves with Medicinal herbs and will flee when threatened. In Version 1.1 of the game, it gained a rarefied version in the form of antiquitree. Starting with Version 5.0, vicious treefaces can be encountered in the Netherworld. They no longer flee and continue to perform their Weird Dance, while they are now able to heal themselves with Special medicine.
A treeface appears at the beginning of the story as one of the friendly monsters living alongside Dai and Brass on Dermline Island. In the 1991 anime, a trio of treefaces are called forth by Dai with the help of magic cylinders in the kingdom of Romos against the fake hero's party. They perform a Weird Dance on the mage Masopho to sap his magic power.
In the 2020 anime, treefaces from the Dark Forest can be seen among the monsters attacking the kingdom of Romos led by Crocodine. They are part of the Furfang Legion.
Great trees possessed by wicked spirits that have lived for well over a thousand years. Unwary travellers who stray too close risk being stupefied and stuck in the woods forever
Trees that have taken on lives of their own, and turned to ambushing adventurers who wander into the woods. These once-docile woods creatures were driven to distraction by delinquents carving rude words into them.
Treeface appeared as a B-rank monster of the Nature family at the beginning of the game, but could not be recruited until the limited The Adventure of Dai event. It can be unlocked and can be fully awakened by completing the The Dark Forest stage from Furfang Full Assault at any difficulty. It can also take part in Maam's Battle Road as a party member.