“ | Everyone, look after Lord Hadlar. | „ |
~ Block's last words. |
Block is a chess-themed villain in the Dragon Quest spin-off manga and anime Dragon Quest: The Adventure of Dai. He is the Knight Warrior of Hadlar's personal guard. Created by animating a chess piece to battle the Disciples of the Great Hero Avan, he confronts them until he sacrifices his life to save his liege and his comrades, after Hadlar rebelled against the Dark King Vearn, out of disgust for his callousness.
In the 2020 anime, he was voiced by Tokuyoshi Kawashima in Japanese and Paul Dobson in English.
Appearance[]
Block is a human-shaped, silvery, metallic construct, looking like a massive, tower-like giant made of bricks. He sports two large, circular shields on his shoulders and his head is shaped like a helmet of sorts.
When he opens himself, he reveals a much smaller, lither, sleeker body, quite similar to that of the Pawn Warrior Hym.
Personality[]
Since Block never normally speaks, his personality is hardly shown. He was extremely stoic, collected and unshakable, fighting and killing without mercy, without relenting, nor even showing outward emotion. However, he shared his comrades' sense of honour, respect for worthy foes, and fierce devotion to Hadlar.
He only spoke before dying, but he was shown to care very much about his teammates and his liege, sacrificing his life to save them without hesitating a second.
Powers and Abilities[]

Block's "Castling" power
Block is made of Orichalcum, a divine, nearly indestructible metal, making him immune to anything but the very best weapons, attacks and spells. Not only that, but even attacks able to shatter Orichalcum do not harm him unless they strike his Core at heart-level.
Moreover, he can concentrate his power in his body to withstand even attacks able to harm him. He can cast basic spells to teleport and fly, and can appear under the shape of the chess piece he was born from, only human-sized.
Fitting his size, he has immense physical strength, able to lift and throw a giant ship like nothing and to overpower the freakishly strong Beast King Crocodine. He is an exceptional warrior, skilled with grappling and wrestling-like moves, however, his size makes him slow.
Block's secret ability enables him to open himself in two to reveal a lithier body, who moves extremely fast and can shatter his outer, giant body, using it as a fuel to protect his comrades with an impenetrable magic barrier. Under that form, he can teleport by swapping his position with Hadlar, like the Rook and King can exchange their position if they were not moved beforehand in Chess, in a move called "Castling".
Biography[]

Block among the Elite Royal Guard.
Block, just like the other Elite Royal Guard members, was created by Hadlar using a forbidden spell on five Orichalcum chest pieces, with him being born from a rook.
He first appears when Hadlar sends the Elite Royal Guard attack the Kingdom of Sababa, when they easily wreck the entire capital city and destroy a ship full of weapons destined to battle the Dark Army. Soon, the Disciples of Avan gathering the main heroes arrived, and each Royal Guard fought one individually. Block fought Crocodine and surpassed him in raw strength. However, the heroes changed their strategy and the mage Popp used an opening to cast his deadliest spell "Medoroa", only for Block to collapse on them all and bury them underground, saving their lives at great cost to himself. Hadlar told them to retreat and healed them.
Block and the Elite Guard later had a rematch against the heroes at the desolate Field of Death, the real headquarters of the Dark Army where the Vearn Palace is buried. But this battle would be stopped with the explosion of the Black Core Vearn secretely implanted in Hadlar's body (a magic-powered bomb as powerful as a modern nuke). After the explosion, the Elite Guards freed themselves from the debris and assisted Hadlar in his rebellion against Vearn.
However, the Elite Guards were demobilized by Mystvearn and Killvearn. As for Hadlar, he was neutralized from behind by Zaboera, Commander of the Mystic Legion whom he imprisoned for disobedience. When Vearn was about to finish Hadlar off, Block sacrificed himself to take the blow himself through his "Castling" ability. He asked his comrades of the Royal Guard to take good care of Hadlar, just before he exploded.
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The Dark Army The Dragon Masters The Royal Elite Guard Others |