Veronica is a character who appears in Dragon Quest XI. She is a brash, bossy, prodigal mage who wields offensive spells and comes from the land of Arboria. Both she and her younger twin sister, Serena, are Keepers and have sworn themselves to protect and aid the Luminary on his journey as member of his party.
Appearance[]
Veronica carries the appearance of a young girl with violet eyes and long blonde hair worn in two braids. She dons a red phrygian cap, red surcoat-like dress over a white smock, blue bracelets, and leather shoes with orange socks. She also carries a two-handed wand topped with a red orb that is much taller than her.
Personality[]
She is described as a strong-willed prodigy, but she hates being treated like a child although she often acts like one. She is a bit of a tomboy and doesn't shy away from stating her own opinions; she's quick to criticise and is somewhat browbeating and berating of others around her which she does often.
The truth is that Veronica is actually older, but after an encounter in Hotto with monsters serving the Lord of Shadows, her appearance was transformed into that of a young girl and she temporarily lost her magical powers. With the aid of the Luminary and Erik, she was able to rescue her sister Serena and defeat the monster who stole her powers, Jarvis, but she did not return to her true age.
Biography[]
Dragon Quest XI[]
Road to Yggdrasil[]
Veronica and her twin sister, Serena, both inherited the soul of the sage Serenica, who accompanied Erdwin, the original Luminary on his journey against the Dark One. The two come from the land of Arboria and are Keepers, a group of people dedicated to protecting the Luminary and helping him fight against the evils of Erdrea. They were found by Father Benedictus, the leader of Arboria, abandoned as babies in a basket in a nearby thicket; Benedictus welcomed them among the keepers, having sensed the two girls true magical legacy, and entrusted them to Fidelius and Alma, a lovely couple who desired to have children of their own. The two girls, although unaware of their true origins, have known since birth that they would aid the Luminary on his journey, Veronica in particular quickly proving herself to be a prodigy in terms of offensive magic.
Fiery, brash, arrogant, and with a caustic tongue from the outset, Veronica was abducted from the sauna room in Hotto and taken to the Cryptic Crypt as a sacrifice for the Lord of Shadows. The ceremony was to be performed by a monster named Jarvis, who would first extract her powers, and then kill her. He had only succeeded in completing the first phase before Veronica escaped and returned to town, though Serena was elsewhere when her sister vanished. And so, the younger sister set out to look for her.
Drained of her magical prowess, it is now Veronica who must find Serena. The citizens of the village offer her few leads. She endeavours to inquire at the local bar, but is rebuffed by the bouncer there, as she appears to be young. This, it turns out, was an unexpected side-effect of the spell cast upon her.
Veronica asks the Luminary and his companion Erik to find her sister. A young girl wanders into the saunas whilst they are relaxing. She is also looking for someone close to her. Thinking that the two might be related, the two men introduce the girl to Veronica. They are promptly corrected when Veronica does not recognise the girl at all. Nonetheless, Veronica decides to use the men to gain entry into the bar, with which they comply.
The party of three grills the barkeep, who tells them that Serena went off to the west looking for Veronica when she disappeared. When they reach the Crypt, they find Serena asleep near a holy font. As she comes to, she receives a shock from her sister‘s younger appearance. The two spar briefly, but both agree to accompany the Luminary further into the crypt.
As the four approach the centre of the tomb, Jarvis and his goons spot them. He is more than happy to see Veronica back, if only to finish what he started. He attacks them, but is quickly defeated. Before Jarvis vanishes, he gives a cryptic clue as to whom he serves.
After rescuing another individual, Veronica unseals the jar containing her magical abilities. The group returns to Hotto to rest a night, and the sisters join the Luminary for his quest.
Harsh as she may sound, Veronica is hardly afraid to confront the many evils on the path to Yggdrasil, providing foil for Serena's calmer demeanour and prompting her companions to charge into battle at every turn.
Eventually reaching Yggdrasil, the Luminary and his party are attacked by a possessed general of Heliodor’s army, Jasper. The battle is short, but the result is devastating: the World Tree falls, and the party is nearly wiped out by Mordegon. Unable to overcome the purest of dark energies, Veronica uses her last ounce of strength to evacuate the collapsing Tree, scattering her friends that they might save the world to come.
Rise of the Lord of Shadows[]
After saving Erik and his sister Mia from another curse in Sniflheim, the party sets off for Arboria. Their route out of the Snærfelt is quickly cut off by the Auroral Serpent, frozen in the fjords until the Fall. Though they are able to weaken the dragon, he attempts to finish the Luminary and friends with the last of his power. As the Serpent readies for a mortal strike, Serena stuns him with her lyre and calls forth a violent wind to banish him. She then offers to accompany the party in search of Veronica.
As they enter the devastated holy city, Serena can sense Veronica’s spirit coming from the north, in the Grove of Repose where the two used to play. They find her, but she is no longer among the living, her body disintegrating on sight and leaving her wand behind. The Luminary touches the wand to witness Veronica‘s final moments. News of her death travels quickly, and a great funeral is held by the high priest and the people. All are deeply saddened. That evening, Serena goes out to an overlook adjacent to the grove and plays a tune on her lyre once more, remembering how her sister cared for her. The Luminary is asked to provide her comfort as she spends the rest of the night in tears. Serena then cuts her hair short, offering the discarded locks in the direction of Veronica‘s wand. Once again, the wand glows, this time releasing Veronica's soul unto Serena; and with it, her skills and powers.
The next morning, the Luminary and Serena head for the summit of a mountain, where the rest of the party is waiting. A flute once carried by Veronica is presented, and Serena plays its tune, but nothing happens. The Luminary tries next. Before their eyes, the flute becomes a fishing rod. As he waits for the catch, there is a sharp pull on the line, and Cetacea, the great white whale that once ferried Erdwin across the skies, appears in all her glory. She seemingly shows up in the Fortress of Fear, crying and tells the Luminary to drop dead since she died and he didn't. Serena plays her harp and Veronica disappears revealing that "she" was an illusion created by Jasper, which Hendrik suspected.
In Search of Lost Time[]
Against his friends’ advice, the Luminary ventures into the Tower of Lost Time upon learning of a way to save Veronica from the fate that claimed her. The master of the Altar of Ages, known as the Timekeeper, tells of Time's Sphere and how it has recorded the history of Erdrea. Resetting time itself may accomplish what the party wishes, but at great cost. With this in mind, the Luminary shatters the sphere with the Sword of Light and is pulled back to the prelude of the Fall. In Arboria, he finds Veronica praying to her forebear Serenica for a blessing. That he appears out of thin air stuns her, as does the Sword of Shadows now in his possession. The others join as well, also puzzled by his appearance before them. Nonetheless, they venture toward Yggdrasil as before. However, when Jasper ambushes them, the Luminary does not reach for the Sword of Light. Instead, he smashes Jasper's dark orb in the ensuing duel, leaving the latter on the verge of death. Hendrik arrives as well, shocked and relieved that the traitor to his kingdom has been dealt with. Though Carnelian is still possessed at this point, one of the dark spirits possessing him manages to alter his course so that he invites the Luminary to Heliodor after claiming the sword.
Festivities are underway to welcome the hero, but that night, dark forces are once again in control of the king. As he reaches for the Sword of Light, his tormentors pull him away from it. Carnelian falls ill in the throne room, only to reveal Mordegon having controlled him all this time. Veronica stands among those to challenge Mordegon head-on. With her help, the mage is vanquished. No sooner can the party take in the victory when a scout soldier informs them that Erdwin’s Lantern is descending toward Gallopolis. The star crashes to earth, releasing Calasmos in its wake. Thus begins a new world, with an entirely new set of problems to solve. Chief among these is a dark star that hovers over Erdrea. As our heroes hit a wall observing this phenomenon from the Emerald Coast, the Seer appears and tells the party to go see the Watchers in the skies above. When asked about how to get there, the Seer tells them they already have the means. Veronica cannot play the Calamus flute, but the Luminary can. He summons Cetacea to the amazement of all. With Her aid, they reach Havens Above, where the Watcher elder, Eegoltap, explains that they need to find three new Yggdrasil seedlings to find out how to conquer their new foe.
As they undertake their quest, they must resolve several events brought forth by Calasmos' immense power. Witnessing Irwin's lament, Veronica is quick to rebuke the Gloomnivore who, amplified by the Dark One's energy, charges at the party.
Having found the seedlings, the party again happen upon the Seer, who gives them a clue in the form of a merged Veronica and Serena. The sisters have transformed into a clone of Yggdrasil, and through it experience the memories of the first heroes. To reach Calasmos, Cetacea was given plate armour, that She may penetrate the dark star.
Strategy[]
Veronica is the stereotypical Mage of the party with a wide variety of offensive spells that include the Frizz, Crack, and Bang type spells, being able to equip heavy wands and whips. She also has the supportive Oomph line, but most of her non-offensive spells revolve around debuffing the enemies through Sap, Decelerate, and Blunt. If she ever runs low on MP, she can always sap some from enemies using Drain Magic. She can wield both Heavy Wands and Whips, though the former is likely her better choice given her much higher magic related stats. Investing in Heavy Wands will give her even higher magic output as more Skill Points are invested into it through the flat stat increases and post battle MP recovery. Among the unique skills she can learn includes Ring of Ruin to increase her spell critical rate and can help her sister heal through Staff of Salvation. Once the expansion becomes available, she learns Zing Stick to revive fallen allies.
Her unique skill panel is Vim gives her mainly buffing options for herself such as Wizard Ward to increase her spell resistance, Sage's Breath to regenerate MP during battle, and Channel Anger as a damage buff. When her expansion becomes available, she also gains access to the final Boom and Frizzle spells for high damage against all enemies or a single target respectively. The final skill, Enchanting Echo, also allows her to occassionaly recast a spell she just used immediately without any MP cost.
Due to Veronica being so high-tailored towards spells, her melee weapon option, the whips, are somewhat lacking compared to her magic, but still useful against enemies with high magic resistances.
Other Appearances[]
Dragon Quest of the Stars[]
Appears in as part of the Dragon Quest XI story event.
Dragon Quest Rivals[]
Appears as a card in the game.
Dragon Quest Tact[]
Appears as a recruitable S rank in the game. Her Coup de Grâce is Magic Burst
Etymology[]
Veronica is the Latin alteration of the name Berenice, a name which means "bringing victory". The spelling of Veronica is influenced by the Latin phrase vera icon, which means true image, possibly referring to Veronica's transformation and her true fate. Veronica is the name of a saint who lived in Jerusalem in the 1st century AD who famously wiped Jesus's face with a cloth and then found his image imprinted on it. It became a popular girls' name in medieval times due to this legend. It was not common in modern times until the 19th century when the name was brought from France and Scotland.
The word vim is an antiquated adjective that describes someone as being very lively and full of high energy.
Trivia[]
- Veronica is the first and only playable character to die in series history.
- Her death is the tenth significant death in the Square Enix universe, following the likes of Minwu, Josef, and Ricard (Final Fantasy II), Tellah (Final Fantasy IV), Galuf (Final Fantasy V), Aerith Gainsborough (Final Fantasy VII), Serah Farron (Final Fantasy XIII-2), and Noctis Lucis Caelum (Final Fantasy XV).
- Of these, three died while casting a spell.
- Her death is the tenth significant death in the Square Enix universe, following the likes of Minwu, Josef, and Ricard (Final Fantasy II), Tellah (Final Fantasy IV), Galuf (Final Fantasy V), Aerith Gainsborough (Final Fantasy VII), Serah Farron (Final Fantasy XIII-2), and Noctis Lucis Caelum (Final Fantasy XV).
- Veronica and Serena bear many similarities to the sisters Maya and Meena from IV:
- Veronica and Maya are users of offensive magic, while Serena and Meena use restorative and defensive magic.
- The two pairs share near-identical appearances (although Maya and Meena are not twins). Veronica and Maya have fringes in their hair, while Meena and Serena do not.
- Their personalities and temperaments are very different from each other. Veronica and Maya are the more rebellious and fiery siblings, while Serena and Meena are more level-headed.
- Veronica is the older twin and Maya is a few years older than Meena.
- In Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Veronica has a Swordfighter Mii Costume.
Gallery[]
Videos[]
Other languages[]
Other languages | |
French | Véronica |
German | Veronika |
Spanish | Verónica |
Italian | Veronica |
Dutch | Unknown |
Norwegian | Unknown |
Greek | Unknown |
Portuguese | Unknown |
Russian | Unknown |
Chinese | Unknown |
Korean | Unknown |
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