Torneko

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Torneko_-_The_Last_Hope

Torneko, also known as Taloon, was a fictional character in the fourth installment of the popular Dragon Quest video game series. His story took place in the third chapter, and he was also in the final chapter. The popularity of the character later made a spin off series called, Torneko no Daibouken (Torneko's Great Adventure) which spawned several sequels.

Fictional biography

Role

Torneko was a shopkeeper in Lakanaba who dreamed of owning the world's largest store. The store he starts out with is small, but his Iron Safe found near the beginning of the chapter assists him in his dream. He is married to a woman named Neta, with whom he has one son.

Foxville and Bonmalmo

Later, Torneko happens on the small town of Foxville, which is filled with foxes who like to cheat people out of their money. Within this city is a man named da Gardi, who wants to stay there forever. When Torneko rests in this village, it disappears.

When Torneko goes to Bonmalmo, he hears prospects of a war between Bonmalmo and Endor (the King of Bonmalmo being the one who wishes to invade). The war is only being held back by the broken bridge between the two kingdoms. That night, he is contacted by the Prince, who wishes to stop the war because he is in love with Endor's Princess. The Prince gives Torneko a letter for the King of Endor.

Torneko goes back to Lakanaba and borrows a dog which he uses to chase the foxes out of Foxville. After doing so, one of the foxes gives Torneko a Full Plate Mail, and da Gardi agrees to fix the bridge.

With the bridge fixed, war is looming ever closer between the two kingdoms, but Torneko goes to Endor with the Prince's letter, and the King in return gives him a notice for the King of Bonmalo, saying that he wishes for an alliance.

Prospects of a Store

After all that, Torneko finds out that a store is up for sale in Endor, but Torneko does not have enough money. However, the shop's former owner agrees to trade the store for a priceless Silver Statuette, which Torneko is quick to locate.

With a store, Torneko needed supplies and access to other kingdoms to make money. A cave to Branca was being built, but had to be stopped. Torneko is able to gain the money to complete the building of the cave by filling out an order for weapons and armor for the King of Bonmalmo. Once the cave is successfully completed, however, local monsters mark Torneko/Taloon for death as revenge for his role in facilitating a successful route of trade and travel for their enemies, the humans.

In danger, Torkeko decides to join up with the central cast from Dragon Quest IV for protection, and to defeat the impending evil that is the source of the monsters who threaten him. He takes advantage of this new journey and seeks out rare and powerful new weapons, including the elusive Metal Babble Sword.

Torneko's own game

In 1993, Chun Soft created a Super Famicom game for Torneko known as Torneko no Daibouken: Fushigi no Dungeon which loosely translates to Torneko's Great Adventure: Mysterious Dungeon.

The game was a roguelike which continued Torneko's story from Dragon Quest IV, where he wished to make his store grow even further by venturing into mysterious dungeons and getting more items for stock. It was very successful, both on namesake and quality.

The game got a sequel not starring Torneko, but starring a character named Shiren who was a wanderer that finds a town with a mountain to the top of which nobody has even been. The game was similar to Torneko no Daibouken, but only featured one long, difficult "dungeon," which was broken up into parts as one climbed higher and higher up the mountain.

Following the success of Torneko and Shiren, many other "Mysterious Dungeon" games were released by various companies, among the best-known are Chocobo's Mysterious Dungeon and Nightmare of Druaga: Mysterious Dungeon. The most recent additions to the genre are Pokémon Mysterious Dungeon and Dragon Quest Yangus.

Torneko on the PlayStation

A direct sequel to Torneko no Daibouken came out in Japan and the United States in 2000 called Torneko: The Last Hope. This game was very similar to the first, but it is considered much easier by comparison. It was received well enough in Japan to warrant a third direct sequel on the PlayStation 2. Both the second and third Torneko games have been ported to Game Boy Advance.

Torneko also had a cameo in Dragon Quest VIII as a Rank S trainer in the Monster Arena.

Dragon Quest games | Enix characters