Jessica Albert

Overview

Jessica was born in the small village of Alexandria. She was born in the famous, wealthy Albert family, with Alistair Albert as her older brother. She has shown to possess great magic abilities since her early childhood, as this trait is present and has been passed down throughout her family lines. Her magic is mostly composed of offensive magic, making her a force to be reckoned with, and a reliable ally in battle. Jessica is also known for her tomboyish attitude and very short temper, which is present throughout the game. Her choice of weapons are mostly whips, staves, and knives.

Story

Before the events of the game, her brother Alistair Albert is slain by the evil jester, Dhoulmagus. This leaves Jessica completely devastated, as she and her brother were very close, and somebody she could depend on when her mother often gives her a hard time. When Hero and Yangus look for her, in the Tower of Alexandria, Jessica mistakenly attacks both of them, thinking they were enemies. A voice stops her; it turns out to be Alistair's voice coming from the statue. He tells her about his murder, leading Jessica to join the party so that she can avenge Alistair by defeating Dhoulmagus. Later on, Angelo also joins the party shortly after the party reaches the Abbey where he lives. The main reason is also to get revenge on Dhoulmagus because he killed Abbot Francisco, head priest of Angelo's abbey and also served as his surrogate parent. Jessica finds him annoying because of his womanizing attitude towards her, but gets jealous at times whenever Angelo hits on other women in their journey. They find out late in the game that the people Dhoulmagus has slain so far were actually direct descendants of the Seven Sages. The party encounters the jester numerous times in their travels. After travelling and searching for him all over the world, they track him down at the Dark Ruins. The party fights Dhoulmagus, and defeats him. Afterwards Jessica picks up his sceptre and is possessed, unbeknownst to the rest of the party. They decide to stay at Argonia after the battle.

The following morning, they find out that Jessica is missing, along with the sceptre. The party quickly leaves and able to locate Jessica in a town called Arcadia, where they arrive just in time to save Dominico, a magician who was believed to be another descendant of the Seven Sages. Jessica then disappears before she could deliver the final blow to Dominico. They find out that Jessica has been possessed by the sceptre. With some reluctant help from Dominico, the party then engage Jessica in battle, and are finally able to break her from her possession.

When she recuperates, she reveals a most shocking news. It is revealed that Lord Rhapthorne was trapped inside the sceptre, imprisoned by the Seven Sages a long time ago to prevent him from destroying the world. It had been kept safe inside Trodain Castle, until Dhoulmagus took it and unleashes a terrible curse in the castle. Realizing that the sceptre is missing again, they later witness another descendant slain by Rhapthorne, who takes control of Sir Leopold, Dominico's dog. The party then sets out again to stop Rhapthorne's plans of slaying the last two descendants. But their efforts are in vain, as eventually, all descendants are slain by Rhapthorne. Even defeating Sir Leopold was not enough, and he is able to break free of the sceptre's hold and takes his physical form. Jessica and the others defeat Rhapthorne inside his castle, but then Rhapthorne reveals his 'true' form to the whole world, intent on bringing chaos. They realize they need the help of the legendary godbird, Empyrea. After crossing over to the Realm of Darkness and helping Empyrea with her own problem, she gives them the Seven Sages' staff, which they would need to break Rhapthorne's seal and defeat him. They are able to defeat Rhapthorne and end his threat with Empyrea's help. Peace is then restored to the land, and the curse broken. Jessica celebrates with the party in Trodain Castle. She is also present in the ending when Hero runs off with Princess Medea to help foil her marriage from Prince Charmles.

Gameplay

Jessica is one of the four main playable characters in Dragon Quest VIII. Her choices of weapons are the whips, knives, and daggers. Jessica is the offensive mage of the party, as her magic attacks do more damage than Hero's and Angelo's offensive magic, making her a reliable ally in that category. Her only downside though, is that she does not actually have defensive or any healing magic, which is a huge disadvantage compared to the other characters. The player can also buy her certain types of armor (bikini, dancer's costume, etc.) and she can be seen wearing those certain types of armor, inside and outside of battle. She can be also mainly controlled in and out of battle if the other party members are dead or unconscious, although this is also possible with the other three characters as well (with Hero being the default party leader).