Arisen

"And now again, the choice is yours, Arisen."

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Please read with caution or refrain from proceeding further.

"Newly Arisen, walker of the path...take up arms. To me...come to me..."

Overview

See also: Dragon's Dogma World and Lore

The Arisen is the protagonist of Dragon's Dogma, having obtained this title after losing their heart to a mighty Dragon... and surviving.

Description

When The Dragon returns to the world it chooses a person of a certain worth, rips out that person's heart, and devours it. This person miraculously survives, thus becoming known as "Arisen". Those chosen by The Dragon embark on a journey to seek it out. The Arisen is said to be the only one that can slay The Dragon and with that, the Arisen will make choices that will shape the world.

The Dragon and the Arisen are connected through the scar on his or her chest and through it can communicate with each other. An Arisen does not age and has immunity to sickness, but can die in battle. The vitality of the Arisen is linked to their heart being kept by The Dragon; so long as The Dragon lives, the Arisen cannot die, save for in battle. Subsequently, when the Dragon dies, all Arisen who have not reclaimed their heart will age the amount of time that their heart was kept. This means age or death will eventually catch up to them.

Over the course of the game, the Arisen will become an unimaginable powerhouse - gaining superhuman abilities. They gain mastery over weapons and can kill armies of men and monsters. Their magical prowess can be just as high - gaining the ability to summon earthquakes, tornadoes, and meteors and to kill huge creatures with a single spell. Eventually resistant to all but the strongest magics and physical attacks, even the archmage Salomet is vanquished by them. Ultimately defeating a great Dragon, and bringing about the defeat of the world Dragon, once the Arisen's skills are developed few creature poses a threat to them, such as those found on the mysterious Bitterblack Isle.

Pawns

Main article: Pawns.

Every Arisen has at their command a loyal otherworldly being known as their Main Pawn, and can enlist and journey with any other Pawns that they encounter.

Known Arisens

In Dragon's Dogma :

In Dark Arisen :

In Dragon's Dogma Quest :

Asurei
Lota
Carroll

Notes

The citizenry of Gran Soren tell of other Arisens, but many if not all were simply fakes.
In Japanese, The Arisen is called ’kakusha' (覚者). It literally means awakened one and is a Buddhist term to refer to a person who has attained Buddhist enlightenment or Satori.
The Arisen can become a Hybrid class unlike the pawns they command.

Speculated Arisen Timeline

This section contains speculation and spoilers.

This timeline is based on logical assumptions and the information provided in the game.

Arisen	Time
Savan	Unknown ('countless ages' ago)
Dragonforged	~1000 years ago
Sofiah	Unknown
Duke	50 years ago

The Dragonforged and the Duke were Arisen after Savan; the Dragonforged is of a much greater age than the Duke - evidenced by him turning to dust as the aging process was restarted on defeat of the Dragon. Their own testimonies place their Dragon attacks at 1000 and 50 years ago respectively.

Sofiah's position in the timeline is complex. Through the Bestowal of Spirit her pawn Selene has come to resemble her, but Selene is young and Sofiah old - it is not clear if this difference is due to Sofiah aging like a normal person after gain back her heart on defeat of her Dragon; alternatively it may be that Sofiah was an aged Arisen, who chose a young looking pawn who came to resemble her in her as she was in her youth (since pawns do no age). It may be that Sofiah simply died in battle during her quest.

Several histories for Sofiah are possible:

Outcome	Notes	Time
Sofiah defeated a Great Dragon	She fought and defeated The Dragon, regaining her mortality. She then chose to live a peaceful life - the ending "Peace".	This is possible before or after Savan, but must be before the Dragonforged Over 1000 years ago
Sofiah was released from the Dragon's bondage when another Arisen defeated the Great Dragon	Another Arisen in her time fought and defeated The Dragon -as a result Sofiah would get her heart back and age normally as a human.	The successful Arisen could be Savan, or an earlier Arisen. Very ancient - before Savan
Sofiah died	She died in battle before she could complete her quest.	(any timeline)

The idea that Sofiah died in ancient times is seemingly contradicted by Gransys inhabitants who have folk memories of an old "witch" living in the forest. In conversations with The Fool, he says that there were at least two or three Arisens before the Newly Arisen.

Fate of defeated Arisen

It is also thought that Grigori, the Dragon, was once an Arisen. One who fought against the Seneschal, but failed to defeat him. Because of his defeat, he was transformed into a dragon and set forth to find a new Arisen. In the ending "Servitude" the Arisen receives this fate if they fail to defeat the Seneschal in combat; in Dark Arisen the Arisen Grette also has this fate.

Arisen who fail before facing the Seneschal are though to be transformed into lesser Dragonkin. Some Dragonkin appear to have retained memories of their former lives.