About

Dragon Quest 12 Protagonist Design refers to online discourse and memes about the protagonist for the upcoming video game Dragon Quest XII: Beyond Dreams. The protagonist's design was revealed on May 27th, 2026, and quickly inspired discourse, memes and debates on social media.

Reception to the character's design was mixed, with some disliking his overall look, noting his "sleepy" eyes and hairstyle resembling the Zoomer perm. Others defended the design of the character and noted that he will be the last Dragon Quest protagonist to be designed by Akira Toriyama following his death in 2024. The character inspired both memes and fan art in late May 2026.

Origin

On May 27th, 2026, the first trailer for Dragon Quest XII: Beyond Dreams was released as part of the Dragon Quest 40th anniversary update stream. The trailer features the reveal of the game's protagonist, a dark-haired male with narrow eyes, a sleeveless shirt and a haircut buzzed at the sides and back with a mop of spiky hair at the top.^[1]

Discourse about the protagonist's design began spreading that day as the news spread online.

For example, shortly after the trailer premiered, X^[2] user @EmperorBigD posted a piece of concept art for the character, noting how it will be the last Dragon Quest protagonist designed by Akira Toriyama, garnering over 5,500 likes in a day.

Spread

Memes and discourse about the lead character's design in Dragon Quest XII continued over the following days in late May 2026.

On May 27th, 2026, X^[3] user @melstonemusic posted a cropping of the concept art, writing, "square enix doesn't even give you a release date when you ask when you can play dragon quest xii, they just look at you like this," garnering about 140 likes in a day.

Shortly after, Redditor George_R_Martin made a post on the /r/DragonQuest^[4] subreddit comparing the new protagonist to the protagonist of the recently released mobile Dragon Quest game, Dragon Quest Smash n' Grow, writing, "Can we swap?.." gaining over 1,100 upvotes in a day.

Later that day, X^[5] user @soonrightaway quoted and reposted a meme using the concept art with a caption referencing the song "Tell On Me" by rapper Supa King, reading, "If I beat that p---y up is you gon tell on me," writing, "this image has endeared me to him tbh. I’m on board now," garnering over 1,300 likes in a day.

On May 28th, 2026, X^[6] user @trig_ig posted a piece of fan art of the protagonist, garnering over 3,200 likes in under a day. It was reposted to the /r/DragonQuest^[7] subreddit that day, gaining over 300 upvotes in under a day.

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References