Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibōken

Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibōken
Cover from the first volume of the manga series Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibōken, published by Shueisha
ドラゴンクエスト ダイの大冒険 (Doragon Kuesuto: Dai no Daibōken)
Genre	Fantasy
Manga
Written by	Riku Sanjo
Illustrated by	Koji Inada
Published by	Shueisha
Demographic	Shōnen
Magazine	Weekly Shōnen Jump
Original run	1989 – 1996
Volumes	37 (List of volumes)
Anime television series
Directed by	Nobutaka Nishizawa
Produced by	Hiroshi Inoue Yoshio Takami
Written by	Junki Takegami
Music by	Koichi Sugiyama
Studio	Toei Animation
Original network	TBS
Original run	October 17, 1991 – September 24, 1992
Episodes	46 (List of episodes)
Anime film series
Directed by	Nobutaka Nishizawa (film 1, 3) Hiroki Shibata (film 2)
Produced by	Rikizou Kayano Tomonori Imada
Written by	Junki Takegami
Music by	Koichi Sugiyama
Studio	Toei Animation
Released	1991 – 1992
Runtime	40 minutes (each)
Films	3 (List of films)

Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibōken (ドラゴンクエスト ダイの大冒険, Doragon Kuesuto: Dai no Daibōken^?, lit. "Dragon Quest: Dai's Great Adventure", officially translated as "Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai"), is a Japanese manga based in the video game series Dragon Quest. It was originally created as a two-chapter short story titled "Derupa! Iruiru!". Its subsequent success led to the three-chapter sequel "Dai Bakuhatsu!!!" (Dai Explodes!!!), and later the serialization of Dai no Daibōken in Shueisha's Weekly Shōnen Jump.

The manga later spawned an anime series, the second one based on the Dragon Quest franchise after Dragon Quest. Dragon Quest: Dai no Daibōken is one of the Weekly Shōnen Jump's best-selling manga series of all time, with roughly 40 million copies sold.

The story begins with a young boy named Dai remembering a story told to him by his adoptive grandfather, the monster magician Brass, about the defeat of the Demon King Hadlar by the hands of a hero known as Avan. After the defeat of the Demon King Hadlar, all of the monsters were released from his evil will and peace reigned supreme around the world once again for ten years. Some monsters and demons moved to the island of Delmurin to live in peace. Dai, the young protagonist of the series, is the only human living on the island. Having been raised by Brass and with his best friend, the monster Gome, Dai grows up dreaming of becoming a hero.

The true story begins when Avan, an instructor of heroes, comes to the island to teach Dai, by request of Leona, a princess who was previously saved by the boy. Avan offers Dai a full week of training which would create a hero out of him. Just after learning the second of Avan's three secret sword techniques, Dai's training is interrupted by the return of Hadlar. Hadlar announces to Avan that he had worked for an even more powerful evil king, the Great Demon King Vearn, who has resurrected him. Weakened by the spells he used to help Dai on his training, Avan nevertheless confronts Hadlar. To protect his students and destroy Hadlar at the same time, he casts a spell called "Megante" (Sacrifice) which requires the caster's own life force to be used. The spell does not destroy the Demon King as Avan had planned, and Dai, Pop, Brass and Gome are left to fend for themselves. Only the awakening of a hidden power within Dai, symbolized by the appearance of a strange mark on his forehead, leads them to defeat Hadlar and cause him to flee. Dai decides to leave the island with Pop to avenge Avan and defeat the Demon King and his master to bring peace back to the world.