WMG / Dragon Quest IX

The Hero will turn back into an Angel when s/he dies.

Of old age, accident, whatever. Everyone else reverts when they get killed, afterall.

Jack of Alltrades is a sage.

Think about it.

Jack is a holy man with the ability to change a person's vocation. The ability to change a character's vocation is a sage ability called "Voice of Vocation". The reason he's the only one who can do this is because the vocation itself is so rare (gotta finds that sentient book, remember?)

• Worth noting that the ability itself was localized as Jack's Knack. Make of that what you will.

Coffinwell tells the origin story of Hina Kagiyama.

Catarrhina looks strikingly like Hina, and her hometown suffers under a curse. Her only thought is to help those around her, particularly her beloved Phlegming. After everything in Coffinwell is resolved, Catarrhina eventually finds herself in Gensokyo, reborn as a yakubyougami — but rather than spread misfortune, she uses her powers to absorb it instead.

• The fact that she can come back at will from where souls go to check on Dr. Phlegming from time to time definitely suggests she gained power and authority in death that most souls do not receive. (Even Nodolph said that nobody ever comes back.)

Early in the story, the hero tells his human party members everything.

At the very least, before boarding the Starlight Express the first time. They, being your standard Adventurer Player Mooks, thought this was awesome.

The human party members are Dead to Begin With.

But aren't non-corporeal ghosts like the ones from this world. Before their final destination, their souls dropped by the Inn Between the Worlds are paired up with the Almost Human hero. The Hero can summon them at will like Phantom Brave or Valkyrie Profile but they have no presence and are invisible when the hero talks to other people. In fact, this is why the hero never relies on them to stop superior Celestrians despite Fridge Logic indicating that they, as humans, wouldn't have the same limitations. They're beholden to him/her.

• Eating a Fygg to become human did not end this ability, as their presence is part of his pure wish. He is still able to see dead people. They may have faded too had he not eaten another Fygg to regain his "hybrid" status.
• If the hero dies; their soul remains hovering in the parties area (this is why World Tree Leaves work) and their lack of consciousness transfers this state temporarily to the leading party member.

Conversely, the human party members are Persona-esque figments of the main character's imagination.

• See the above reasoning.

Celestra is the Goddess from other Dragon Quest games.

She took over for Zenus, but the Church itself is a Saintly Church, so she kept it the same besides the new symbol.

• In fact, given how it remained benevolent even when Zenus was in charge, and he apparently hated humans; she was probably the one who created it using Zenus's name.
  • Celestra's effigy being behind the nun at Slurry Quay, and the Goddess statue in supports this. There's also a Goddess Shield in the quest 182: Immaculate Conception. The quest giver recognizes the picture of the Goddess, then seems confused and claims it looks like his ex-wife. This is the Fisher Kingdom effect slowly taking effect as she's taking over.
    • Interestingly, characters from previous games who worshipped the Goddess who show up in the Quester's Rest will refer to the Almighty instead.

There is no Annabella in quests 56 and 57.

So, on an island surrounded by shoals, where no one can get to; there's two houses. Both have a man who loved a woman Annabelle, both bought her the same amulet, and then she died 3 days later. Both accuse the other of stealing it, and both lost it to monsters that you can retrieve it from and give it to the other. Indefinitely. Both have a "large diary", but you can only read 3 days worth, the rest is unreadable. They talk about how tired they are.

• Man, that Annabelle must have been some player or something right?
  • Wait... there's a monster that sometimes appears on the island. A Cannibelle. ....ohhhh dang.

Extending on the above, Cannibelles were responsible for the sadness of Nicholas and that other guy.

Their bestiary entry states that they think tears of sorrow would make then beautiful. This is how I think they did it.

• In that gambit they made the Memento Necklace and chose 2 guys at random. They would then disguise themselves as a woman called Annabella and lure them both to an inaccessible island infested with monsters string them along in the process.
• Then two would date one of the guys each, tossing the necklace back and forth until they both proposed. 3 days later both would then Fake The Dead and give them the actual necklace and a copy that would disappear over time creating the illusion that one of them had took the necklace when in reality no one took anything.
• Lost in their grief, they would mourn their Lost Lenores that they never really have while the Cannibelles would feast on their tears or use them as makeup or something. The end result is a tragic love triangle between 2 sad and bitter men and an army of sadistic succubi pretending to be their fiances...And no one would be the wiser. Except maybe the hero, but the game will only let you repeat the quests causing a sort of negative (or positive depending on interpretation) feedback loop and an endless feast for the Cannibelles until both men die unaware that they have been lied to, cheated on, and fed on by a bunch of demons.

Related to the two above guesses. Cannibelles and Slugy Betsies are Foils

Let's compare and contrast shall we:

• The Cannibelles: as per the the bestiary entry they are sadist who would kill or make miserable hapless travelers to satisfy their vanity. They are also Palette Swaps of Morag, A woman who screwed over a noble knight and turned him into a zombie forever separating him from his crush just so that she could have him. On top of that she initially was in his kingdom just to help Yore destroy it.
• The Slugy Betsies: the "Eye For Trouble" extension to their entry states that in spite of their hideous form they care for other monsters/lifeforms and like the Cannibelles, are a Palette Swap of an earlier female boss: Larstastnaras who only caused trouble when she ate the fygg and seemed genuinely remorseful when the hero knocked her into her senses.
• Both: They are both palette swaps of bosses found ether in high level grottoes or areas only accessible by Starflight Express
• Conclusion: I think that they (and by extension the aforementioned bosses) are an Inversion of Beauty Equals Goodness.

The inhabitants of Porth Llaffan are descended from Celestians.

How else can they see and hear Jona's dad when he appears as a ghost during the cutscene after the boss of Twyll Cave? It had been established that only Celestians can see ghosts...and yet, everyone from Jona to the mayor is having a chat with this particular ghost. Alternate explanation: a fygg did it.

The Player Mooks are, in story, the same thing as multiplayer helpers

That is to say, alternate universe versions of the protagonist. Like the protagonist, they're silent protagonists, which is why none of them ever check notes on how far they are in their own respective journey. This is why the rest of them suffer the same Celestrian problems as the protagonist.

Sterling is really Styrmling, the third brother of Greygnarl and Barbarus.

Mentioned only by the resurrected Greygnarl in his pre-fight spiel, and in his special bestiary description gained via Eye for Trouble. He separated his power (or else Zenus did) into the Celestial Train.

• There is support for Sterling being more than he appears. He can interact with both mortals and Celestrians, and we never do get much backstory on him. On top of this, the name similarity isn't limited to the English version: in Japanese, Sterling's name is "Agiro" and the third dragon's name is "Agirogos"; in spanish, Sterling is called "Astracán" and the dragon's name is "Astraco". The proof is left for people to theorize but, since Styrmling actually appears in Terry's Wonderland 3D and his face strongly resembles Sterling's, it must be more than confirmed..

All of the Multiple-Choice Past options are true for Stella.

• When Celestra became a World Tree to prove humanity's goodness, Zenus created another daughter, Stellestria to prove their villainy. To counter Celestra's choice, this second daughter was given two bodies, one World Tree on Luvi Island, which ironically prevented souls from being able to Ascend to a Higher Plane of Existence by resurrecting them in this world and one of royal Gitt lineage. The plan went Horribly Right when Stellestria denounced the Almighty, lead the Gitt Empire to Take Over the World, and burned her World Tree to the ground. However, she died when a retainer stabbed her.

This was not the end. Stellestria was reborn as a child, and her World Tree became a ghost World Tree. However, she died as a child; and her soul wasn't developed enough to go to heaven or hell; so she became a fairy. The Almighty, deciding it was best to keep her soul under close watch, appointed her to the Celestial Train.

Zenus wanted to destroy humanity because of the Gittish Empire

• Think about it. Zenus argued that humanity was too inherently sinful and needed to be "restarted", so to speak. The Empire is shown to have been 99.9% made up of people who considered crossing the Moral Event Horizon a daily past time. Plus, he was probably very pissed off over what they did to Corvus, and what they ended up turning him into.
• That last bit isn't possible. The Celestrians, Corvus included, didn't exist until after Celestria stopped Zenus from destroying humanity, since he created them in order to free Celestria.
  • And by extension the rest of it isn't feasible either. The atrocities committed by the Gittish Empire included capturing Corvus, which occurred hundreds or thousands of years after the creation of the Celestrians - as is said in-game, the Celestrians have existed for millenia, while Corvus disappeared 300 years ago.

Patty can use the Rapportal, or a roughly equivalent power.

This is how she can instantly call up somebody who fits your hero's exact description of who and what they're looking for. She just does a quick search and pulls them through.

• Then why do they stick around if you die?

The Player Mooks are slaves.

Notice how they all wear the same beige clothes when first created that the hero in DQV wears during his time as a slave.

The main character's canonical name is Leo

• This is what I named him, but I didn't realize the Fridge Brilliance behind it until later. First of all, every Celestrian that has a name is named after a constellation representing a bird who's personality is similar to theirs. Leo is a constellation that represents a lion, which is decidedly un-bird like, foreshadowing his loss of wings. Also, the star sign Leo is probably the one most fitting of a hero, as they tend to be brave and have a strong sense of justice. Since this game is big on Meaningful Names, I reckon this is the most fitting title for the male hero.
  • Thank you. This is now Fanon for me.

The main character's canonical name is Cygnus/Lyra

• Both are birds, Lyra orignally being a vulture, and both are apart of the Summer Triangle...with AQUILA! That was visible during the English release! Coincidence? I think NOT!
  • Naw, I like Leo better. Mainly because there's more symbolism there.
  • Isn't Cygnus one of the two Guardians of Stornway?
    • Cygnus is one of the Guardians of Stornway, with Tucana. Incidentally, Vultur is the guardian of Gleeba.

The main character's canon name is Ursa/Callisto if female.

• Taking a page from the person for the Leo theory, Ursa makes sense as the female name. Why? For one thing, it is also a constellation, or rather, a set of them: Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. Both of those are obviously not birds, like Leo, showing how out of place the hero would be (you don't hide a bear in a flock of birds). Bears are also powerful creatures (especially when their young are threatened) and have been symbols of power and strength, especially for early Germanic tribes where they were totemic animals and for many other cultures that practiced bear worship. They are fierce, yet motherly, and don't back down easily. Bears as a species were believed to all be female by the Greeks, making it perfect for a girl's name.
• And why Callisto? Callisto isn't a constellation, but according to Greek myth, she was a nymph of Artemis turned into a bear by the goddess Hera thanks to Zeus' shenanigans, then placed in the heavens to become...(wait for it) the Ursa Major constellation.
  • Hello, this is the troper who came up with the Leo theory. You sir madam, have just made my day for mentioning me. Please accept this Made of Win.
    • Oh, thank you! I'm a girl though~
    • There, I fixed it :-D

The hero's full name is...

• Leonardo Cygnus (Male)
• Callisto Lyra (Female)
  • Now who was it that said you can't combine the theories of two different WMG's?
  • Callisto Lyra does roll off the tongue rather nicely.

The hero's REAL name is (sic) By-my-name

• On the high plateau on Newid Island, there's a kid who's supposedly lived with the giants up there all his life. When he sees you, he calls you Mr. Tiny. The hero supposedly says something along the lines of "Call me by my name" and the kid says something along the lines of "Okay, Mr. By-my-name! This may seem irrelevant, but this is the ONLY time anybody actually names you anything. Hey, it's not the craziest WMG I'VE ever seen...
  • Hey, kinda like how everybody called the Hero from Dragon Quest VIII "Guv'" and people thought THAT was his name, eh?

More people will try and guess the canonical name of the Hero.

• Go on, take a guess at what his/her name is. You know you want to.

This troper will accept that challenge.

• It's Nein for the girl and Alex for the boy. Because in the player manual for DQ VIII the hero is called Eight, and in the manual for this game it's the default male with the name Alex.

Unknown to the Main Character, Corvus is his/her older brother

• Seeing that there's endless possibilities for the main character's past. It could be possible that he or she was born after Corvus disappeared and his/her parents or guardians never told him/her about him because it was forbidden to so.
  • This is technically true, but it wouldn't be a secret to anyone. Celestrians don't have parents in the same way humans do. They were all created by Zenus, so they're all brothers and sisters. (Aquila and Pavo call each other Brother and Sister specifically because they're "twins," created at exactly the same time.)

PC/Erinn is a foil to Corvus/Serena

• Serena and Erinn both look after their guardians once they take them in. And PC/Corvus help them out, or at least try to. Puts a different spin on PC/Erinn's relationship, and the Les Yay implications if female.

The Hero Spear used to belong to Erdrick

• Sure, it doesn't require Orichalcum to make. Sure, you can get multiples of it. However, the Hero Spear has the exact same design on it as the rest of Erdrick's Gear, so much that if you put them all on the spear doesn't look out of place at all. Hmm...
  • Notable also that it's in the style of the 'Rusty' (i.e Erdrick) equipment, yet when the ghost in Stornway castle gives you a Hero Spear as a quest reward, it's in perfect condition. He's also old enough to be familiar with the alchemist buried in Brigadoom.

Metal Slimes are made of Orichalcum

• First of all, the Metal Slime gear mentions that it's "made out of Metal Slimes". In order to upgrade the stuff, you need Oricalchum. Put two and two together...
  • My my, that's just crazy enough to be true!

Zenus split himself into 10 Pieces of God on purpose

Saddened by the fact that Celestria turned herself into a tree, He'd hit the Despair Event Horizon and decided to split himself into 10 pieces. You know what happens afterwards.

• At the very least, Zenus could have been split into the ten Grotto Bosses ages before the events of the game; many of the speak of ages spent underground. To quibble with the "on purpose" idea, Zenus might've split accidentally after going nuts — Elusid talks about how chaotic his mind is, you remember.

Celestrians are able to share their ability to see other celestrians/etc with mortals, unless in contradiction to the will of a higher ranked one

• Thus explaining how the non-player characters you recruit help you out in times like the realm of the Mighty, but not help when the Hero is outranked, because Corvus or Aquila don't want mortals to see them. Furthermore, since neither Sterling or Stella are Celestrian, they started to vanish once the main character isn't celestrian, because their was nobody left to lend you sight.