Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter

Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter (known as Breath of Fire V: Dragon Quarter in Japan) is the fifth and currently final main game in the Breath of Fire series. It was released in 2003 for the PlayStation 2. Illustrations were done by Tatsuya Yoshikawa. thumb|300px|right|Intro

Characters

Party Members

• Ryu - The main character of Dragon Quarter, he has been given the ability to transform into a dragon for a limited period of time. He travels along with Lin, Nina and Bosch.

• Nina - She is a victim of an experiment that surgically grafted Air Filters into her back. To keep the the experiment secret, she also had her vocal chords removed which made her mute.

• Lin - An agent of Trinity, a group that is opposed to the current government. Because of this, her D-Ratio number has been erased. She meets Ryu shortly after he rescues Nina, and joins him in protecting her as they climb to the surface.

• Bosch - At first, he is Ryu's partner and "friend" in the Rangers, but later becomes one of the principal antagonists throughout the game. He comes from a rich family (he is the son of Vexacion, one of the Regents) and has been raised to fight in a manner similar to ancient Spartans (a particularly disturbing SOL sequence shows a prepubescent Bosch killing a Genic five times his size, at the demand of his father). This means he possesses a great deal of both political and physical power. He fights Ryu a total of three times in the game, each time growing more and more obsessed with defeating his former partner. He has a D-Ratio of 1/64.

Regents

Regents are high ranking officials who act like a board of directors to govern the underground world. All of them possess high D-Ratios.

• Deamoned - is the former leader and oldest of the Regents. He met his match when he lost an eye and was defeated by Elyon. When he learns of Ryu's powers, he leaves the other Regents to deal with him by himself. He is very skilled in hand to hand combat.

• Cupid - is the youngest of the Regents. He's very skilled with magic and can sense a "good" or "bad" aura amongst people, and beyond this "aura," he can glimpse the future. He can also summon an invincible monster to his aid (Cupid is male in the Japanese version, but female in the US version).

• Hortensia - is a sorceress who is said to be able to manipulate time and space as she pleases. She speaks of a prophecy that "Man will grow wings and reach for the sky". She specializes in mind game-like tactics.

• Jezuit - is a smooth talking Regent who specializes in swift hand to hand combat. Since he has the lowest D-Ratio among the Regents, he is opposed to the idea that D-Ratios should be used to determine everything. He likes to flirt with Hortensia and doesn't seem to take anything seriously. His specialty is transforming into an invisible wolf-like monster.

• Vexacion - is Bosch's father and a master of sword fighting skills called "Beast Skills". He is one of the longest serving Regents, rivaling Deamond and Elyon. He has the twins Ryked and Nalaka as his apprentices. He is known as Kensei (or "sword saint"). His specialty is using powerful attacks such as Kirin Flight and Twin Wake.

• Elyon - is the leader of the Regents. He was the first to be Chosen by Odjn and, as such, has the nickname "Origin". He gave up on opening the gate because he was too worried that he wasn't doing it of his own free will, and that he might be risking the lives of all the people in Shelter. Afterwards, he broke the link with Odjn, and decided to become a Regent and wait for the next Chosen. Since he gave up, his link to the dragon was severed. By the time Ryu appears, he has watched numerous Chosen link to dragons but fail to reach the surface. He's dying, worried what will happen to the world if he dies, yet he gives Ryu one last chance, even though Ryu isn't a Chosen. Elyon was responsible for Odjn linking to Ryu, and it was his command that Nina be surgically altered (probably to help fulfill Hortensia's prophecy).

Plot

An unspecified amount of time before the game begins, humanity has fled the desolate surface world to the underground in order to survive. Now, the world lies in a state of turmoil; polluted and stagnant, only the upper classes are able to escape to higher levels with better air. The game follows Ryu, a low level citizen, who rebels against his government in order to save the life of Nina, who is unable to survive underground, due to experimental surgery performed on her in order to convert her into an air purification machine. According to Breath of Fire tradition, dragons play a large role in Dragon Quarter, and Ryu himself is able to transform into a dragon. Despite this tradition, however, the main influence of Dragons is felt in the storyline of the game and not the gameplay - unlike every other installment, Ryu can only transform into one Dragon form. The focus of the story is on Ryu's escape to the surface with Nina, accompanied by the ever-watchful Lin.

There are two main subplots in the game; the first one concerns the five mysterious rulers of the entire underground world, who seem to be ubiquitous in their ability to gain information and their ability to act on it. These rulers also reveal the storyline via a legend passed down that says a boy with the power to become a dragon will bring the world back to the surface.

The other subplot is introduced almost at the outset of the game: the rivalry between Ryu and Bosch, the latter of which is portrayed as an entitled, monomaniacal elitist. Early on in the story, Bosch inadvertently releases Ryu's ability to become a dragon when he tries to kill him; after he has seen this power, Bosch's will to beat Ryu in battle drives him to undergo experimental dragon fusion, eventually resulting in his ability to become a dragon as well.

• Wallpaper

Gallery

Lin

Lin's UMvC3 Heroes & Heralds Card

Bosch

Deamoned

Cupid

Hortensia

Jezuit

Vexacion

Elyon

Box Art

Japan

U.S.

Europe

Merchandise and Advertisements

OST

Koushiki Settei Shiryoushuu Artbook

Guidebook

Strategy Guide

Japan Ad