Dai is the only human living among monsters on Dermline Island. He dreams of becoming a hero, but the return of the Dark Lord Hadlar ends the island’s peaceful life. Training, new companions and a world in danger turn that childhood ambition into a journey.
The monsters who raised Dai had been freed from the Dark Lord’s control. His starting home therefore complicates the usual division between heroes and monsters. When the old threat returns, he has people to protect before he has become the hero he imagines.
Dai’s open smile in the first-episode scene contrasts with the tense expression and glowing emblem of the portrait. His first idea of a hero is something to look forward to. That early image gives the wish a child’s face before the journey asks him to act on it.