History VideoGame / DragonQuestMonstersJoker

* OriginalGeneration: Several original monsters, most notably the final boss and the BonusBoss, and other monsters like Darknoium Slimes, Dessert Demons, and Drakularges, were created by Creator/AkiraToriyama exclusively for this game. They eventually would go on to appear in other games, while Darknoium Slimes and Drakularges would reappear in ''VideoGame/DragonQuestIX'' and ''VideoGame/DragonQuestX'', with the Dessert Demon appearing as a rarefied monster in the latter.

''Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker'' is the fourth installment of the ''VideoGame/DragonQuestMonsters'' spinoff of the ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' series, released on the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS in 2006 in Japan, 2007 in North America, and 2008 in Europe and Australia.

** Players with knowledge of how Slimes turn into King Slimes[[note]]8 Slimes jump together and fuse[[/note]] allows for an early game, powerful monster -- using "Quadrilinear Synthesis" to fuse four Slimes together results in a King Slime with vastly improved stats and spells, jumping from Rank F to Rank C and skipping the first third of the game. In addition, King Slime is one of only two monsters (the other being a postgame exclusive dragon ''deity'') that receives "Courage" (mistranslated as "Cleric" in the US version) as a skillset. Courage is based off the skillset of the Heroes from the main ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' games, which includes their iconic attack [[SignatureMove Gigaslash]] and several high end spells they commonly learn such as Kazap and Multiheal. This means that not only is making the King Slime a huge stat increase for the point in the game; it gains access to some of the franchise's ''strongest abilities''. Say goodbye to most of the challenge until endgame and postgame content!

** Breeding any monster above a rank A. Most are references to ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' mythos (breeding 2 [[TheDragon "Dragons"]] to make a BigBad is common) but others are from left field.

* LevelGrinding: It's a ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' ''and'' a {{Mons}} game, 'nuff said. Part of the level grinding will come naturally, as you attempt, for the Four Hundred Billionth Time, to get a certain monster you need for a combination to join you.

* PaletteSwap: A few examples, mostly from ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' history (Green Dragon -> Red/Dread Dragon, Slime -> She-Slime, etc).

* StarterMon: When Warden Trump sends you out, he gives you a choice of a Dracky, a Platypunk, and a Mischevious Mole. You'd think the Incarnus would fill this role -- he's a special, powerful, ???-type partner who can change his form who is central to the story -- but he doesn't actually join you until midway through the second island.

''Dragon Quest Monsters: Joker'' is the fourth installment of the ''VideoGame/DragonQuestMonsters'' spinoff of the ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' series, released on the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS.

The game is set in the Green Bays, a chain of islands teeming with monsters and dark matter crystals called Darkonium. As such, enthusiasts come from all over to recruit and train teams of monsters, and the Monster Scout Organization hosts the Monster Scout Challenge tournament .

''Joker'' is followed by a sequel, ''VideoGame/DragonQuestMonstersJoker2'', that's set in the same world but with a new story unrelated to this game's, while said sequel would get another sequel, this one released on the Nintendo 3DS named ''VideoGame/DragonQuestMonstersJoker3'', which expands on Darkonium itself and the other effects it has on monsters, other than their corruption.

** Players with knowledge of how Slimes turn into King Slimes[[note]]8 Slimes jump together and fuse[[/note]] allows for an early game, powerful monster -- using "Quadrilinear Synthesis" to fuse four Slimes together results in a King Slime with vastly improved stats and spells, jumping from Rank F to Rank C and skipping the first 3rd of the game. In addition, King Slime is one of only two monsters (the other being a postgame exclusive dragon ''deity'') that receives "Courage" (mistranslated as "Cleric" in the US version) as a skillset. Courage is based off the skillset of the Heroes from the main ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' games, which includes their iconic attack [[SignatureMove Gigaslash]] and several high end spells they commonly learn such as Kazap and Multiheal. This means that not only is making the King Slime a huge stat increase for the point in the game; it gains access to some of the franchise's ''strongest abilities''. Say goodbye to most of the challenge until endgame and postgame content!
** Quad Synthesis can also be used for two other combinations -- Great Sabercat (breed 4 Great Sabercubs) and Great Dracky (4 Drackies), both monsters available in the first map. These two monsters have downsides (traits that make them sub-par) but can be bred away to make other rank C monsters that are equally powerful, and still allow you to skip ranks F, E, and D.
** You can simply breed monsters to get a similar monster of the same rank. In ''Joker 2'', doing this enough times in the same rank will move you up a rank, no matter what -- for example, breeding a Beast monster and continually choosing the Beast monster child will have you go through 1-3 "generic" beast monsters for that rank. Upon reaching the final generic monster of said rank, breeding again with almost anything will cause the resultant child to be a generic monster of the next highest rank, all the way up to Rank A (there are no generic rank S monsters). With enough time and effort, it's entirely possible to have an entire team of Rank A monsters the second you can breed monsters, trivializing the rest of the game.

''Joker'' is followed by a sequel, ''VideoGame/DragonQuestMonstersJoker2'', that's set in the same world but with a new story unrelated to this game's, while said sequel would get another sequel, this one released on the Nintendo 3DS named ''VideoGame/DragonQuestsMonstersJoker3'', which expands on Darkonium itself and the other effects it has on monsters, other than their corruption.

''Joker'' is followed by a sequel, ''VideoGame/DragonQuestMonstersJoker2'', that's set in the same world but with a new story unrelated to this game's, while said sequel would get another sequel, this one released on the Nintendo 3DS named ''VideoGame/DragonQuestsMonsterJoker3'', which expands on Darkonium itself and the other effects it has on monsters, other than their corruption.

* DickDastardlyStopsToCheat: A rather interesting case of this being ''meta'': The early online tournaments for ''Joker'' were, of course, teaming with cheaters. Naturally, this means that the tournament scene would be littered with nothing but Gold/Darkonium/Metal King Slimes, (thus making the whole ordeal incredibly painful) right? Nope, you run into teams with three different forms of Incarnus, which absolutely ''sucks'' compared to the metal slimes. In the original Japanese release, Incarnus was marked as "guest", meaning he wasn't usable in the online tournament ''at all'' -- and the Japanese tournament servers had better sanity checking code to prevent things like using 3 versions of him at once.

''Joker'' is followed by a sequel, ''VideoGame/DragonQuestMonstersJoker2'', that's set in the same world but with a new story unrelated to this game's,.

''Joker'' is followed by a sequel, ''VideoGame/DragonQuestMonstersJoker2'', that's set in the same world but with a new story unrelated to this game's.

* BattleAura: "Psyching up" makes a return appearance from ''VideoGame/DragonQuestVIII''. As before, it drastically increases the numbers you put out, be it damage, healing, or ''scouting.''

* CanisMajor: The hero partners with a ShapeShifter whose primary and original form is the "wulfspade". [[spoiler:This monster is actually the legendary Incarnus, and his OneWingedAngel and SuperMode forms are variants on the adult wulfspade form]].

* DickDastardlyStopsToCheat: A rather interesting case of this being ''meta'': The early online tournaments for ''Joker'' were, of course, teaming with cheaters. Naturally, this means that the tournament scene would be littered with nothing but Gold/Darkonium/King Metal Slimes, (thus making the whole ordeal incredibly painful) right? Nope, you run into teams with three different forms of Incarnus, which absolutely ''sucks'' compared to the metal slimes. In the original Japanese release, Incarnus was marked as "guest", meaning he wasn't usable in the online tournament ''at all'' -- and the Japanese tournament servers had better sanity checking code to prevent things like using 3 versions of him at once.

** Quad Synthesis can also be used for two other combinations -- Great Sabercat (breed 4 Great Sabercat Cubs) and Great Dracky (4 Drackys), both monsters available in the first map. These two monsters have downsides (traits that make them sub-par) but can be bred away to make other rank C monsters that are equally powerful, and still allow you to skip ranks F, E, and D.

* InfinityPlusOneSword: Any of the S+ rank monsters. ''Especially'' the X rank monsters. These are all {{Big Bad}}s and [[TheDragon "Dragons"]] of previous games, and require an extreme amount of postgame work to aquire.

* LuckBasedMission: To gain brief access to the Metal Menagerie (a place consisting entirely of metal slimes), without buying a pricey and one holdable at a time Metal Ticket, the player has to complete Madame Rummy's "Slime Challenge" (where you have to defeat a certain number of Slimes in her garden before time runs out). Clearing the challenge, though, is a tedious process that requires luck to win; the spawning locations aren't consistent, the amount of Slimes in each encounter is random (usually it's the max amount of 3, but it can randomly be less), and the Slimes will randomly use the skill "Clang", a first strike move which makes them impervious to anything thrown at them that turn (essentially it wastes time, when you're on a time limit). So to win the challenge, you have to hope the Slimes spawn favorably, you don't get individuals or groups of two when you encounter them, and that they don't use Clang too much.

* MetalSlime: An entire sub-family of them, starting with the humble Metal Slime and going all the way up to ''Metal Kaizer,'' a metal slime berserker with a face right out of ''Franchise/DragonBall'', or Gold Slime / Gem Slime, which is more or less a ''[[Anime/DragonBallZ Super Saiyan]] Slime.''

* OriginalGeneration: Several original monsters, most notably the final boss and the BonusBoss, were created by Creator/AkiraToriyama exclusively for this game.
* PaletteSwap: A few examples, mostly from ''VideoGame/DragonQuest'' history (Dragon -> Red Dragon, Slime -> She Slime, etc).

* VisionaryVillain: [[spoiler:Dr. Snap]] wants to make a world for monsters by eliminating humans.