- For the monster, see Psaro the Manslayer.
Psaro the Manslayer, originally Saro, is the central villain of Dragon Quest IV and a recurring monster in the Dragon Quest series. He is a powerful demon with a passionate hatred for humanity.
Appearance
Psaro at first appears fairly humanoid, though his red eyes, pointed ears, and vast powers would no sooner reveal him for what he really is. He has long silver hair and wears a dark outfit with a single distinct shoulder pad, spiked and appearing to be made of bone, and a long fur cape. Upon using the Secret of Evolution he turns into a likeness of Estark and steadily morphs into a vicious horned demon with a second face on his torso as the player fights against him. The transformation undergoes seven forms, all in the same battle.
Personality
Psaro loathes humans, his Manslayer title likely derived from his stance on human presence. Despite this intense hatred, Psaro is remarkably kind to all other beings, notably monsters and especially the elf Rose. His romantic attachment to Rose is so strong that it drives him insane when he learns of her murder and can be freed from the Secret of Evolution's twisting power if she is revived and brought before him. In the Japanese remake of the DS and PSX version, he has a personality which is known to be tsundere if you use the party chat while he is in your party.
Biography
Main Games
Dragon Quest IV
Psaro is mentioned in every chapter, and his actions drive the game's plot. In the first chapter, Psaro orders the kidnapping of the children of Strathbaile in search of the child that is prophesied to stand against him one day, and Ragnar fights Psaro's Pawn as a final boss to this chapter.
In the second chapter, Psaro is the top contender in the Tournament of Endor, having defeated five combatants in succession, when Alena and her party arrives. But after Alena defeats five fighters as well, he is nowhere to be found and Alena is declared the champion of the tournament. It is presumed that he went after the Golden Bracelet, which Alena gave up to save Anya, the fake princess, in Vrenor.
In the third chapter, when Torneko arrives in Endor, the tournament and Psaro are mentioned by several townspeople in hushed breath, and in the fourth, after the sisters Meena and Maya defeat Balzack, the Marquis de Leon appears, stating that Psaro will not be happy about it, and then easily defeats the sisters.
The fifth chapter starts with Psaro leading a group of monsters into the Hero's hometown and killing everyone except the hero. After this, he desires to resurrect Estark. When Estark's Crypt is discovered by the miners in Mamon Mine, Psaro leads a group of monsters from the Diabolic Hall to the mine. He is successful in resurrecting the ruler of evil, but the hero and his party are able to defeat Estark. Next, scenes of Psaro are seen in a dream sequence if the player stays in Strathbaile's inn.
After using the secret of evolution upon himself, Psaro takes up residence in Nadiria and becomes the final boss Psaro the Manslayer. Psaro the Manslayer is only the boss of chapter 5, as a sixth chapter was added to the remakes where Aamon is the final boss.
In the remake-exclusive sixth chapter, the players hear word of a legendary bloom of the world tree that can fully revive the dead. Setting out to find the bloom, the Chosen use it to revive Rose. Aware that she was murdered at the orders of Aamon, she insists that she accompany the group to Nadiria to stop her lover. When she confronts the hideous form Psaro has become, the Secret of Evolution is undone by her tears and Psaro is returned to sanity. After being informed of Aamon's conspiracy, he joins the Chosen as a playable character.
Abilities
Psaro's initial state is quite powerful; he starts at level 35 and all his stats are high, not to mention he can learn powerful spells such as Lightning Storm and Magic Burst (most of which originally premiered in later Dragon Quest installments.) If the player chooses to pursue the bonus content and make Psaro an ally they will quickly find that he is more than a jack-of-all-trades, being adept at healing, support, and especially offensive abilities. If the time is taken to level him up he will swiftly become the most powerful ally in the game. He can also equip cursed equipment without penalty and without having his stats zeroed. He can also equip the items given by Chow Mein and Foo Yung, which include:
- Pandemonic sword
- Pandemonic armour
- Pandemonic shield
- Pandemonic helm
Side Games
Monster Battle Road II Legend
Psaro appears as a playable character, as well as the boss for Legend Quest IV in Chapter 7: The Demon Lord.
Monster Battle Road Victory
After the hero of Monster Battle Road Victory wins over their rival Ryuuta, Psaro escapes from the game world to the real world to challenge the hero. After clearing the game, he will be at the harbor waiting for the hero to challenge him again.
Dragon Quest Heroes: The World Tree's Woe and the Blight Below
Psaro is a secret playable character in the game. In the original Japanese version, he is part of the downloadable content, but he is included by default in international versions of the game. In order for Psaro to join your party, he must be beaten in battle in the quest "A Monstrous Apparition", which can be undertaken after defeating the Barbatos at Yggdrasil. Before that, Psaro will appear as a "Mysterious Swordsman" who randomly appears in a few levels before disappearing. His reasons for joining the heroes are personal, as he wants to take revenge on Velasco for taking advantage of his monstrous brethren and end the curse placed on them.
Psaro wields greatswords in combat and uses a combination of Zam magic and martial arts. For his Coup de GrĆ¢ce, Psaro uses the Secret of Evolution to transform into his demonic form and blasts enemies. Due to his status as a secret character, Psaro will not appear in cutscenes and he has no impact on the main storyline.
Manga
Princess Alena
- Main article: Psaro the Manslayer (Princess Alena)
Spells
If the player chooses to pursue the bonus content and make Psaro an ally they will quickly find that he is more than a jack-of-all-trades, being adept at healing, support, and especially offensive abilities. If the time is taken to level him up he will swiftly become the most powerful ally in the game.
| Dragon Quest IV (DS) | |
|---|---|
| Spell | Level Learnt |
| Fullheal | 35 |
| Multiheal | 35 |
| Kaboom | 35 |
| Kacrackle | 35 |
| Kasap | 35 |
| Kasnooze | 35 |
| Dragon Slash | 35 |
| Hatchet Man | 35 |
| Harvest Moon | 35 |
| Zoom | 35 |
| Evac | 35 |
| Safe Passage | 35 |
| Holy Protection | 35 |
| Oomph | 36 |
| Kazing | 38 |
| Metal Slash | 40 |
| Kathwack | 42 |
| Thin Air | 44 |
| Disruptive Wave | 46 |
| Puff! | 49 |
| Lightning Storm | 53 |
| Magic Burst | 60 |
Voice actors
- Daisuke Ono (Japanese) - The World Tree's Woe and the Blight Below
- Gwilym Lee (English) - The World Tree's Woe and the Blight Below
Trivia
- Sephiroth's appearance from another popular Square Enix series, called Final Fantasy , closely resembles Psaro's, (since Psaro was made years before, Sephiroth resembles him and not the other way around) and have many things in common; both have different forms as enemies and both are villains involved in or with tragedies. Because of these similarities, there are some jokes in Japan which involve the two, such as Psaro and Sephiroth actually being secret twins, or sometimes calling either one of them as "Psaroth".
- The character Magus of Chrono Trigger, another RPG by Square Enix and released years after Dragon Quest IV, bears resemblance to Psaro and shares many similar traits with him. Magus, also a main villain, joins Chrono's party later in the game just as Psaro does in the remake. It should also be noted that both characters were designed by Akira Toriyama.
- Psaro's outfit is roughly based off the baroque prince's outfit (Hence the puffed sleeves and pants), and implies that he may be a prince or from royalty. Also, in Dragon Quest IX's Japanese version of the bestiary, it mentions him as a prince.
- In Monster Battle Road Victory, his first-person pronoun in Japanese is changed from "ē§" (watashi, a polite first-person pronoun) to "äæŗ" (ore, a common first-person pronoun that comes across as decidedly-masculine and rather brusque). Many fans disliked this change.
- In Monster Battle Road manga and Victory, there is a genderbent version of Psaro named Queen Psaro (ćÆć¤ć¼ć³ććµć. Unlike Psaro, who is ruthless and cold, she has a personality similar to Debora. If beaten, a puff-puff can be gotten from her.
- Apparently, it is unknown if she has any relation to Psaro in any way.
- Prior to the remakes of Dragon Quest IV making Psaro's appearance uniform, many artists portrayed him in a variety of different ways.
- For various pieces of artwork for the official CD Theater, illustrator Mutsumi Inomata depicted Psaro as a very beautiful with large elven ears and either long light purple hair or blond hair.
- In some of the 4Koma comics, Psaro is drawn very similar to a human, but with pointed ears and sharp canine fangs. He has frizzy black hair and wears a military-styled uniform with a cape.
- In the original NES Version his monster form was Necrosaro.
Gallery
