Monster recruitment

The system of recruiting monsters started in Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride and has since been present in various other titles. Although, prior to that, Dragon Quest IV also had a few ally monsters.

The cast of Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation along with several monstrous mates and Lizzie.

Monster recruitment has also been a core aspect of the Dragon Quest Monsters spin-off series since its inception in 1996 , as the player takes the role of a Monster Wrangler who is unable to fight his or her own battles.

Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake

Monster recruitement was added in Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake in a system very similar to Dragon Quest VIII. However, in this case, there is no need to defeat said monsters in battle.

At different areas on the game, there will be friendly monsters the player can interact with. Some will be instantly recruited by just talking to them, while some might require the player to have a Monster Wrangler with them (or the Padfoot ability, the item Musk, the item Fading Jenny or the Fade ability, depending on what they're sensitive to), or Ra's Mirror if they turned to the shape of a human.

Once the player gathered three monsters, he can participate on the Monster Arena which can be found on several towns. Each town's arena has their own rewards.

Also, for every monster variety that can be recruited, there are different locations to find them. Each new recruit of an already recruited variety will strengthen that monster. For example, recruiting 2 Slimes will not actually let you have 2 Slimes in the party, but the Slime will be at its second rank of strengthening.

Dragon Quest IV: Chapters of the Chosen

While the game did not technically feature a system of recruiting monsters, there were a few ally monsters that would join the party.

• Healie: A Healslime that would temporarily join the party as an NPC for the Chapter 1, to fight alongside Ragnar.

• Sparkie: A dragon raised by Orifiela who can join the party as an NPC later in the game.

Dragon Quest V: Hand of the Heavenly Bride

Dragon Quest V incorporated monster recruitment as part of its main system, and the majority of playable party members are recruitable monsters. The system is unlocked as soon as the player reaches the second part of the game and obtains the wagon.

Then, after the end of a battle, a monster might be recruited. These are the basic rules:

• A recruitable monster was defeated during this battle (it is a specific list)
• If multiple monsters that can potentially be recruited were defeated during the battle, only the last one will be taken into consideration
• A recruitable monster will ask to join the party at the end of the battle on a specific probability depending on the monster

There's a total of 41 recruitable monsters in the original SFC release. With the PS2 version onwards, 28 monsters were added to the list for a total of 69. On the DS version onwards, 2 new monsters were made recruitable for a total of 71.

Also, for the mobile versions of the game, there is the Monster magnet accessory that helps at recruiting monsters by increasing their chances to ask to join the party.

Sprite	Monster Name	SFC	PS2	DS & Phone	Tame Rate	Level required	Recruitment locations
	Saber	Yes	Yes	Yes	N/A	N/A	Roundbeck
	Slime	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄2	7	Whealbrook Adit, Fortuna outskirts, Dominicus Dominion, Desert near Talon Tower
	Dracky	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄4	7	Coburg area, Fortuna area
	Bad apple	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄4	7	Faerie Lea, Dwarf's Den
	Fat rat	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄2	7	Talon Tower area
	Jailcat	No	No	Yes	1⁄16	7	Fortuna area
	Prestidigitator	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄4	10	Scary Lair area, Fairy Lea, Lodestar Harbor area, Zoomingale area
	Ghost	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄2	7	Porgie Estate
	Wax murderer	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄16	7	Porgie Estate
	Healslime	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	7	Abovitall Tower, Faerie Lea
	Fandangow	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	9	Coburg area
	Slime knight	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄4	7	Fortuna area, Coburg area
	Brownie	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄4	7	Whealbrook Adit, Fortuna area, Talon Tower area
	Rotten apple	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄2	7	Coburg area
	Ticking timeburrm	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	7	Whealbrook area, Fortuna area
	Metal slime	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄256	7	Whealbrook Adit (G2), Abovitall Tower, Scary Lair, Cataract Caves, Dominicus' Dominion, Neverglade, Nadiria, Estark's Labyrinth
	Funghoul	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄16	7	Coburg area, Zoomingale area, Whealbrook area, Fortuna area
	Walking corpse	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	7	Coburg castle dungeon, Whealbrook Adit
	Powie yowie	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	7	Coburg area
	Small fry	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄16	7	Fortuna area, Coburg area
	Grudgerigar	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	9	Coburg castle dungeon, Fortuna area
	Hulagan	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄16	9	Abovitall Tower, Hay area
	Cross eye	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	9	Abovitall Tower, Scary Lair, Zoomingale Tunnel
	Restless armour	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄64	10	Scary Lair area, Abovitall Tower, Zoomingale area
	Mudraker	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄4	11	Scary Lair
	Liquid metal slime	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄256	20	Central Continent, Gotha Path, Riteof Passage, Knightmare Towers, Ancient Ruins area (G3), Mantleplace, Nadiria, Estark's Labyrinth,
	Pocus poppet	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄16	10	Scary Lair, Zoomingale outskirts, Lodestar Harbor outskirts
	Magic marionette	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	12	Mostroferrato area, Scuttlebutt area
	Chimaera	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄16	15	Mount Magmageddon
	Rockbomb	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄64	15	Mount Magmageddon, Knightmare Towers
	Goodybag	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄16	16	Mount Magmageddon, Cataract Caves
	Cureslime	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄64	16	Dominicus' Dominion area, Cataract Caves, Helmunaptra area
	King slime	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄64	10	Helmunaptra area, Dominicus' Dominion area
	Flamethrower	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄64	16	Helmunaptra area, Mount Magmageddon
	Drag-goof	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄16	18	Gotha Path, Gotha area
	Minidemon	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	20	Gotha Path, Knightmare Towers
	Samigina	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	20	Gotha area, Riteof Passage, Knightmare Towers
	Orc king	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄4	21	Gotha area, Riteof Passage
	Hawk man	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	23	Knightmare Towers
	Hellion	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	23	Knightmare Towers
	Hoodlum	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄16	25	Stairway to Zenithia, Lofty Peak area, Central Continent
	Golem	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄4	25	Lofty Peak area, summoned by Metal dragons and Muddy hands.
	Revaulting horse	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄16	27	Central Continent
	Blizzybody	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄64	26	Estuary Sanctuary
	King cureslime	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄64	28	Stairway to Zenithia
	Warhog	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	28	Diggery Pokery, Talon Tower, Mantleplace
	Hades' helm	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄64	29	Diggery Pokery, Mantleplace
	Bomboulder	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄256	30	Neverglade, Talon Tower, Estark's Labyrinth
	Moosifer	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄4	30	Neverglade, Talon Tower
	Snowbird	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	34	Nadiria
	Mandrake marshal	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	32	Talon Tower, Crocodilopolis, Estark's Labyrinth
	Beastmaster	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄4	30	Mantleplace
	Archdemon	No	No	Yes	1⁄64	30	Mantleplace
	Great dragon	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄64	35	Nadiria, Estark's Labyrinth
	Killing machine	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄256	34	Nadiria, Estark's Labyrinth
	Hyperanemon	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄64	41	Estark's Labyrinth
	Gigantes	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	34	Nadiria, Estark's Labyrinth
	Barbatos	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄256	41	Estark's Labyrinth
	Man o' war	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄2	18	Ocean
	Old man of the sea	Yes	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	25	Ocean
	Pip fighter	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄16	7	Faerie Lea
	Battle pip	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄16	7	Faerie Lea
	Epipany	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄16	7	Faerie Lea
	Wiz pip	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄16	7	Faerie Lea
	Conkuistador	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	27	Neverglade area, Stairway to Zenithia area
	Conkerer	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	27	Neverglade area, Stairway to Zenithia area
	Conkuisitor	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	27	Neverglade area, Stairway to Zenithia area
	Conkjurer	No	Yes	Yes	1⁄32	27	Neverglade area, Stairway to Zenithia area
	Dwight	No	Yes	Yes	N/A	N/A	Dwarf's Den (3rd generation)
	Rebjørn	No	Yes	Yes	N/A	N/A	The Pothold
	Starkers	No	Yes	Yes	N/A	N/A	Estark's Labyrinth -Stark Raving T'N'T board

Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation

For Dragon Quest VI, the monster recruitment system vastly differs depending on the SFC version or DS version.

Lizzie is a specific case of a monster recruit that's available in both versions due to it being from a story event.

SFC version

In this version, the system was almost identical to Dragon Quest V. Some monsters are recruitable, and they need to be defeated at the end of the battle to have them joining the party under a probaility. An addition to the system is that one character in the party needs to have the Monster Wrangler vocation, and the vocation's rank would also matter for the monsters that can be recruited.

Also, as the monster recruits are a less major part of the global system, the number of recruitable monsters is significantly smaller, having 18 monsters.

Sprite	Monster Name	Tame Rate	Rank required
	Slime	1⁄2	1
	Feralball	1⁄4	1
	Lips	1⁄64	1
	Slime knight	1⁄4	2
	Healslime	1⁄16	2
	Mud mannequin	1⁄64	2
	Walking corpse	1⁄32	2
	Sluggernaut	1⁄4	3
	Lesser demon	1⁄4	3
	Gustbluster	1⁄64	3
	King slime	1⁄64	5
	Liquid metal slime	1⁄256	6
	Rockbomb	1⁄32	4
	Damned ram	1⁄16	4
	Dreamaera	1⁄32	4
	Boss troll	1⁄16	5
	Overkilling machine	1⁄64	7
	High djinks	1⁄256	8

DS version

The system was largely revamped in the DS release. Instead of recruiting monsters after the end of a battle, monsters are recruited through specific in-game events, most of them being optional. As such, the Monster Wrangler vocation was also repurposed into the Monster Master vocation.

Also, all the recruitable monsters in this version of the game are of the Slime family.

Sprite	Monster Name	Location
	Goowain	Howcastle
	Healie	Clearvale
	Curie	Suite Dreams
	Shelley	Underwater Inn
	Spot	Castle Graceskull
	Kingsley	Château de Sass
	Goober	Slimopolis
	Mercury	Suite Dreams

Dragon Quest VII: Fragments of the Forgotten Past

In Dragon Quest VII (PSX/3DS/mobile), instead of recruiting monsters, it is possible to send them to a wild life reserve named Monster Meadows, which is its own extended side content to complete.

Also, defeating some monsters while the player has Monster munchies might award the player with their hearts. A few other Monster Hearts can be found on specific chests. Using those hearts allow the characters to change their vocation to a monster vocation.

For more details, see: List of vocations in Dragon Quest VII.

Dragon Quest VII Reimagined

In the Reimagined remake, the systems around monsters have been greatly revamped.

The Monster Meadows is not present in this version of the game, so there is no system to have the monsters travel there either.

Monster Hearts are present, but function vastly differently. There is no monster vocation in this version. Instead, hearts function as accessories with varying effects.

Dragon Quest VIII: Journey of the Cursed King

Monster recruiting is present in Dragon Quest VIII, but for the new system of Morrie's Monstruous Pit that functions as a Monster Arena.

As soon as the player encountered Morrie for the first time, they can fight and recruit specific monsters. These monsters are shown wandering in the overworld. (On the 3DS version, all monsters are wandering in the overworld. Instead, recruitable monsters are shown with a sword symbol over them)

Defeating these specific monsters will have them recruited to the Monster Arena, the player can them form a team of three different monsters to participate in 3v3 monster battles, to earn several rewards.

List of monsters:

• Archer
• Archfiend
• Arges
• Big Al
• Bishop
• Bladewolf
• Blizag Jr
• Bones
• Brickman
• Brontes
• Bush-W
• Capers
• Clio
• Cowboy
• Curer
• Cybot
• Deadnoble
• Dolldrums
• Doug
• Dumbking
• Fat cat
• Faunus
• Flameman
• Fletch
• Foul fowl
• Frillsaur
• Goldman
• Gryphus
• Hackzilla
• Hazel
• Healer
• Hev
• Hoodwink
• Hori
• Hork
• Jack Frost
• Jewelbag
• Jockey
• Klub kong
• Lonely Joe
• McHammer
• Mechabubo
• Metabble
• Metaly
• Moppet
• Mornstar
• Nightwing
• Nohi
• Octurion
• Orcus
• Orrid
• Pa Troll
• Potbelly
• Roborg
• Robster
• Sagittari
• Salsa
• Scorpius
• Seasaw
• Sippy
• Skeledoid
• Slurpy
• Smiles
• Snap Case
• Spike
• Spot
• Squiggles
• Steropes
• Stoneman
• Sugi
• Talos
• Torchman
• Tori
• Trick Bag
• Twiggy

Dragon Quest X

In Dragon Quest X , it is also possible to recruit monsters, in a manner more similar to Dragon Quest V or SFC Dragon Quest VI. Like in past games, a few specific monsters are potential targets for recruiting.

The player is required to be either a Monster Wrangler or an Item Master and to have used the book item related to the monster they want to recruit. After that, once during battle, use the ability Scout Attack towards that monster, and they'll have a chance to ask to join you after battle.

There are 16 monsters recruitable with Monster Wrangler, and 15 with Item Master, for a total of 31.

Any of the recruited monsters can be added to the party, however only one can be added by player. By default, a monster can only be added on the party when the player is on the specific vocation that recruited it. But this restriction can be lifted if the monster reaches 100 happiness.

List of Monster Wrangler monsters:

Image	Monster Name	Version available	Weapon	Armour	Book
	Mischievous mole	2.0	Staves	Clothing	Monster drop
	Chimaera	2.0	Wands	Robes	Casino prize
	Great sabrecat	4.1	Claws	Clothing	Monster drop
	Slime	2.0	Boomerangs	Clothing	Sold at tavern
	Slime knight	2.0	Swords	Heavy armour	Sold at tavern
	Dracky	2.3	Heavy wands	Robes	Monster battle road prize
	Small fry	2.2	Claws	Clothing	Sold at tavern
	Meowgician	2.0	Heavy wands	Robes	Sold at tavern
	Hacksaurus	2.0	Axes	Heavy armour	Casino prize
	Brownie	2.4	Hammers	Heavy armour	Monster battle road prize
	Jailcat	2.0	Claws	Robes	Monster drop
	Imp	2.2	Spears	Robes	Sold at tavern
	Healslime	2.0	Wands	Robes	Sold at tavern
	Teeny sanguini	2.0	Wands	Robes	Sold at tavern
	Mandrake major	2.0	Swords	Heavy armour	Sold at tavern

List of Item Master monsters:

Image	Monster Name	Version available	Weapon	Armor	Book
	Prancing pillar	2.1	Fans	Clothing	Sold at tavern
	Goodybag	2.1	Fans	Robes	Casino prize
	Killing machine	2.2	Greatswords	Heavy armour	Sold at tavern
	Golem	2.1	Greatswords	Heavy armour	Sold at tavern
	Restless armour	2.1	Swords	Heavy armour	Sold at tavern
	Bambooligan	2.1	Spears	Heavy armour	Sold at tavern
	Wardrobe mimic	2.4	Bows	Robes	Sold at tavern
	Harmour	2.1	Swords	Heavy armour	Casino prize
	Needleman	2.1	Knives	Clothing	Sold at tavern
	Magic marionette	2.2	Knives	Clothing	Sold at tavern
	Fromage fray	2.1	Heavy wands	Robes	Sold at tavern
	Hat hamwitch	2.1	Heavy wands	Robes	Monster drop
	Pocus poppet	4.2	Boomerangs	Clothing	Monster drop
	Mecha-mynah	2.1	Claws	Clothing	Sold at tavern
	Hellbound horror	2.3	Axes	Clothing	Sold at tavern

Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age

While the game does not feature recruitable monsters, there is another system of interaction with monsters, as it is possible to ride on some of them, after having defeated them in battle.

Some monster rides allow the player to reach otherwise unreachable areas, while some just help for navigation.

Dragon Quest Builders 2

For further details, see List of recruitable monsters in Dragon Quest Builders 2.

On explorer's shores after Skelkatrez, one can recruit monsters with Monster munchies. When a monster that can be tamed is defeated, there is a chance that it will stand up instead of fading away and a thirty second timer will begin to count down--the munchies must be used in this period or the monster will become annoyed and go away.

Tamed monsters join the residents of the Island of Awakening as NPCs, who go about their daily routines as the other islanders do, and some have special effects: the Chimaeras can be ridden to fly, the Powie yowie can be given an ice lolly to spread snow, the Liquid metal slime will play tag once a day for 100 hearts, etc.

Monster Name	Location	Gimmick
Bloody Hand	Unholy Holm	Plays with islanders crafts items at workstations
Brownie	Iridescent Island	Demolishes blocks marked with a smashing sign
Chimaera	Blossom Bay	Flying mount
Corpse Corporal	Laguna Perfuma	Bartender
Cosmic Chimaera	Rimey Reef	Flying mount
Ghoul	Rimey Reef	Bartender
Gold Golem	Coral Cay	Can use terraforma tiles Melee mount
Golem	Sunny Sands (one per visit)	Can use terraforma tiles Mount
Great Sabrecub	Blossom Bay	Double-jump mount
Great Sabrecat	Soggy Skerry	Double-jump mount
Hammerhood	Sunny Sands	Demolishes blocks marked with a smashing sign
Healslime	nearly all Explorer's Shores	Casts Heal in battle Bartender
Hocus Chimaera	Iridescent Island	Flying mount
Hunter Mech	Rimey Reef	Farmer
Killing Machine	Laguna Perfuma	Farmer
Living Statue	Rimey Reef (one per visit)	Produces dyes at stain extractors
Liquid Metal Slime	Laguna Perfuma	Plays tag
Muddy Hand	Soggy Skerry	Plays with islanders crafts items at workstations
Powie Yowie	Rimey Reef	Feed ice lollies to freeze ground
She-Slime	Sunny Sands	Double-jump mount
Slime	Blossom Bay	Double-jump mount
Stone Golem	Iridescent Island (one per visit)	Can use terraforma tiles Melee mount
Stone Guardian	Unholy Holm	Produces dyes at stain extractors
Walking Corpse	Soggy Skerry	Bartender

Dragon Quest Monsters 1 & 2

While monsters retain a base chance to join the player upon defeat as in previous games, the chance can be greatly enhanced by using monster munchies in battle.

Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker series

Recruitment is implemented via the Scout option in the battle menu. When selected, the player's team of monsters will perform a group assault on the target to impress the monster into joining. The percentile chance is displayed onscreen, and can easily reach 100% if the group's sum attack power is high enough. However, if the enemy is too durable then the assault can easily leave the player with a big fat 0%--it is imperative to apply Oomph and Sap to raise the chances even higher.

• In Joker 2, tossing a bundle of beastie bites at the foe will raise the chance by a flat 10%.

Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince

Monster recruitment builds upon the foundation laid by the Joker sub-series, but now the wisdom stat will be used for scouting calculation if it is higher than a monster's attack stat. Additionally the Big Bully and Little Menace will increase the scouting chance when used against larger or smaller monsters.

Gallery

• 
  Level requirements and percentages in V.
• 
  Tara & Cobi demonstrating the day-to-day obligations of raising monsters; it isn't all just battles