| Sylvando Norberto | |
|---|---|
| Dragon Quest character | |
 Sylvando as he appears in Dragon Quest XI (2017) | |
| First game | Dragon Quest XI (2017) |
| Created by | Yuji Horii |
| Designed by | Akira Toriyama[1] |
| Voiced by | EN: Shai Matheson[2] JP: Masaya Onosaka[2] |
| In-universe information | |
| Origin | Puerto Valor |
Sylvando, known in Japan as Silvia (Japanese: シルビア, Hepburn: Shirubia), is a fictional character from Square Enix's role-playing video game Dragon Quest XI. Sylvando first appears in the 2017 video game Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age as a companion of its protagonist, the Luminary. A flamboyant and optimistic itinerant entertainer, Sylvando meets the Luminary in the kingdom of Gallopolis[note 1] and joins his party on their journey to reach the World Tree Yggdrasil after discovering that the Luminary's destiny to fight evil aligns with his dreams of bringing happiness all over the world with his performances. An additional story scenario featured in Dragon Quest XI S: Echoes of an Elusive Age - Definitive Edition follows the character's exploits after the party suffers a major setback when they reached Yggdrasil. A later plot development reveals that Sylvando's true identity is Norberto (Goliath in Japan), the estranged son of Don Rodrigo, the chivalrous leader of the coastal city of Puerto Valor.[note 2]
Sylvando is voiced by Shai Matheson in English, and Masaya Onosaka in Japanese. Matheson was given creative freedom to interpret the character's speech during recording sessions, as the original Japanese version lacked voice acting. Sylvando's personality is intended to be a mixture of masculine and feminine traits, which remained unchanged during the development period of Dragon Quest XI. As the developers intended for Sylvando to be portrayed as a fully realized character, Matheson worked with the localization team to ensure his effeminate mannerisms are handled appropriately without an undue emphasis on common LGBT stereotypes.
Sylvando has received a mostly positive reception. Critics and players alike have praised Sylvando for his gameplay utility as well as his personality, with some commentators citing Sylvando as their favorite character from the game, and as a good example of a heroic LGBT character in fictional media despite not being explicitly confirmed as LGBT in any of his appearances.
- ^ Casey (August 6, 2017). "How Square Enix Requested Akira Toriyama To Design Dragon Quest XI's Main Characters". Siliconera. Archived from the original on August 12, 2021. Retrieved August 12, 2021.
- ^ a b "Sylvando". Behind The Voice Actors. Archived from the original on January 14, 2021. Retrieved April 11, 2021.
Cite error: There are <ref group=note> tags on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=note}} template (see the help page).