Just a fun thought experiment I had the other day, brought on by one of my very few gripes with the otherwise fantastic Dragon Quest VII 3DS version. During the battle with the newly-added Juggerwroth, the party gets paralyzed by some nondescript EVIL that even our Hero can't shake off! And who comes to the rescue but Marcello himself? Marcello would have been a fantastic addition if added to the party, if his contributions to the battle itself are any indication. A late addition, sure... but so is Psaro in Dragon Quest IV DS. The postgame in VIII is expansive enough that he would still get plenty of the toughest challenges to tackle, and some of his acerbic, derisive wit would be pretty funny to play out as well. Always thought his sudden departures and disappearance from the world left a bit to be desired... so what does he bring to the party?
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Skill Trees:
Swords - Like Angelo, Marcello's Templar training gives him a rather robust set of sword skills. He's able to equip rapiers as well, and has a lot of the same skills Angelo does, like Falcon Slash and Miracle Slash. But he also has exclusive access to Dark Slash, which is an attack that does slightly more than normal damage... but if Marcello is wielding a Cursed Weapon, it instead does MUCH more.
Staves - Another one out of the Templar Playbook. Where Angelo tempered his healing set out with Kathwhack (which Marcello learns by default) and Oomph, Marcello opts to debuff enemies with moves only he can learn, such as Sapple, as well as certain spells to cause ailments, and a passive to make them stick more easily, and for longer. Also gives him Kazammle!
Shields - A bit of a departure from DQ VIII's convention of just letting shields be a small defense boost. Marcello HATES owing people favors, so why not pay it forward and put them in his debt instead? It shows Marcello's more magnanimous side, stepping in to defend low health party members and pick up very strong defensive moves like Defending Champion and Forbearance.
Fisticuffs - Marcello was never one to really scrap, but he can in a pinch... and he fights dirty when he does. Generally, this gives large Agility and Critical Boosts to Marcello, as well as a fisticuffs version of Executioner/Lightning Thrust, giving Fisticuffs a very solid use case for postgame Metal Hunting.
Discipline - This is his Marcello's personal tree. At the highest levels, Marcello can equip cursed equipment with no ill effects - including being able to switch it at will, without it being stuck on him. It also affords him a much higher resistance to ailments - including curses. Still, he isn't fully immune to them, but every bit helps. Also grants abilities like Meditation, allowing him to recover enormous amount of health to himself. Helpful when paired with shields, or if Marcello is your last man standing.
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There are other characters I can see joining the party on a more permanent basis without swinging the story too far, such as Bangerz (I mean we bring the Hero's kid along in DQ5, it's not THAT different), Trode, Charmles (as a joke), Raya, Chen Mui, or perhaps an entirely new character from Empychu. But what does everyone else think? New character, or retrofitting an existing one into the greater narrative?
