Even if you've never played a Dragon Quest game, you'll have seen plenty of its characters and enemies. Akira Toriyama's art style is unmistakable and is a massive part of why Dragon Quest is as ubiquitous as it is even to the average bystander. And Slimes are some of the most iconic of all.
Slimes are the mascot of the Dragon Quest series, and they are as simple as they sound. They're a little blob of slime with a very welcoming smile, and those little quirks make this simple design so recognisable. Of course, there is more than just the regular blue Slime in the series, so let's discover them all.
Slime is an anagram for smile, which feels fittingly for their own glorious, warm smile.
What Are Slimes?
Slimes have been around in Dragon Quest from the very first entry. And they have been perfect ever since that initial entry as well, their art style remaining remarkably consistent since their introduction back in 1986.
Slimes typically function as cannon fodder across the mainline games, being the soft and squishy entryway for you to learn the combat system and ease you into its world. Over time, the popularity of Slimes grew, and so too did their prominence within the games. They've never stopped being those loveable early enemies, they've just gained some more roles on top.
Are All Slimes Enemies?
Slimes are massively prevalent as a mascot of the series, especially owing to the fact that they appear in just about every single Dragon Quest piece of media there is. Yet do you really have to slay these precious Slimes all the time?
While most games do not feature many (if any) friendly monsters, starting with Dragon Quest 4, some friendly Slimes could be encountered. This is still an oddity, but at least there are some Slimes that you can have a nice chat with.
In re-releases of earlier Dragon Quest games, friendly monsters were added to certain sections , including some Slimes.
Some notable friendly Slimes include Majellan, the explorer Slime from Dragon Quest Tact, and Gomechan, the best friend of Dai. Them being that little bit rare makes the encounters with the non-hostile ones all the more memorable. There is also Rocket, the Slime that is the star of their own spin-off game series, Slime Mori Mori.
How Many Different Kinds Of Slimes Are There?
While we know Slimes are enemies, and typically those battled in the early stages of the game, assuredly there are more than those simple blue Slimes, right? But of course there are! No one could become a mascot of such renown and not get a few more renditions of themselves.
In fact, there are so many of them that we're not going to list all of them, just an insightful amount of . Don't worry, we'll give you an actual number down below.
- King Slimes
- Metal Slimes
- Box Slime
- Seaslime
- Slime Knight
- She-Slime
King Slimes and Slime Stacks are not natural Slimes, but rather a bunch of Slimes, three and eight respectively, joining together to form an even larger Slime.
There's really a whole bunch more than that. Now, for the approximate number of how many Slimes exist in the series. This is a pretty hard number to narrow down due to the sheer number of games plus the very minute variations of Slimes that actually exist.
At a minimum, there are 60 different types of Slimes at a minimum. Some Slimes, such as Ultra Slimes, toe the line of what a Slime actually is considering they, well, don't look like Slmes at all. Some Slimes are also one-off enemies, while there are some that go into sub-categories, such as Metal and Mottle Slimes that other Slimes can also be variations of.
Needless to say, there are many, many Slimes. With such a simple design, the adorable Slime can become anything it wants. The world is their oyster, after all.
