Shiren:Shiren the Wanderer

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This Shiren the Wanderer page is about the main character of the Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer games. For the list of available games in the series, see Shiren:Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer (series). For the title of the first game, see Shiren:Mystery Dungeon 2: Shiren the Wanderer. For Shiren 3, localized as "Shiren the Wanderer", see Shiren:Shiren the Wanderer (game).

Shiren the Wanderer (Japanese: 風来人のシレン) is a character in the Template:GameTitle. He made his debut in Template:GameTitle in 1995 and takes the role of the main character for most of the series.

Though still relatively young, he has survived countless adventures. With his trademark bamboo kasa and vertical-striped cape, he's always joined by his ever-reliable partner and travel companion Koppa.

Biography

Physical Appearance

Shiren's physical appearance has varied across the series. While he always has the same general hair cut, his hair has changed color multiple times, as have his eyes. In his earliest appearance, Shiren has light brown hair and dark brown eyes. Later media altered the hair and eye colors several times, including brownish-red hair and black eyes (Shiren 2), purple hair, green eyes (Monster of Moonlight Village Internet Edition artwork), brown hair and eyes (Magic Castle of the Desert), purple hair and eyes (Shiren 3), brown hair, purple eyes (Shiren 4), different shades of brown/red hair and purple eyes (Shiren 5), brown hair and blue eyes (Shiren 6).

Shiren's outfits have also changed significantly throughout the series. However, he does maintain certain iconic aspects that make recognizable. The main iconic features of his design is that are his hat and his cape. He always wears a patterned cape that shares his primary coloration of white and blue. His cape normally has stripes but can also feature slightly more intricate abstract markings akin to a zebra pattern. His hat is a kasa, a type of Japanese straw hat that also varies in appearance from game to game though it usually features a lot of open slits around the brim. While not really being a steadfast rule or as iconic as his other two features, Shiren's footwear may also help distinguish the character, whether he dons boots or waraji (Japanese sandals popular during the edo period), his leg wear usually features large staffs or flaps in their design.

Personality

Shiren is a friendly Wanderer, always ready to lend a hand to those in need, eager to take on challenges, and tends to get caught up in local affairs. Shiren wanders Mystery Dungeons in search of treasure. Wanderers are known to pray to the God of Travel, Kron and pursue one of mankind's rarest undertakings. They brave countless life-threatening circumstances for sheer exhilaration.

It may be inferred that Shiren is a very determined individual. Any time Shiren fails, he gets back on his feet ready to set out and try again until he accomplishes his ultimate goal. Along with his determination, there is a lot of evidence that suggests Shiren has a calm demeanor and a level head. He has been forced into a handful of unfavorable situations where lives were threatened. Shiren will hold himself back from doing anything rash in order to try and keep people safe. Allowing his enemies to have whichever advantage they seek by standing down so long as they promise not to harm his friends or allies. His caring nature can put him in some odd situations, but so far Shiren has always managed to persevere through them.

History

Early Life

Little is known about Shiren's life up to the events of Template:GameTitle. His exact birth origins like birthday and location are unknown. What is known is that he is the son of Gimensha and an unnamed woman. Sensei is the brother of that woman, making him Shiren's uncle and Gimensha's brother-in-law. When Shiren was 8 years old, Gimensha left Shiren and his mom in Sensei's care before apparently failing to return sometime after. Sometime after his birth, before the age of 10, Shiren encountered his lifelong friend and companion Koppa the talking weasel. The amount of time he had known Koppa before their first big adventure together when Shiren was 10 years old is unknown.

Shiren 2

On Shiren's first known adventure with Koppa, the pair had been traveling through mountains and stumbled upon Natane Village. They decided to stop there to eat some food, when the village was attacked by a tribe of Oni. Shiren was convinced by the village to build a castle for to protect them. His castle building efforts are later joined by his friend Riku and the rest of the village. Shiren eventually confronts the Oni Boss, with the support of the Oni Boss' daughter, Kirara, who he had also befriended while staying at the village.

Shiren 1

Eventually, Koppa and Shiren part ways with each other for an unspecified period of time during which Shiren's whereabouts are unknown. They apparently would not meet again until Shiren is about 18 years old, six months prior to Template:GameTitle, the first game in the series. At this point, Shiren had been traveling in memory of his friend, and the duo decided to check out some rumors that they had been hearing regarding the divine bird of legend, The Golden Condor. This beast resided within the lost city of gold, atop the plains of the sun high above Kobami Valley at the top of Table Mountain. The duo begins their adventure and manages to succeed in what no other wanderer has achieved thus far. They climbed to the top of Table Mountain where they found the lost city of gold, Amteca. It turns out that the city and its citizens have been destroyed and devoured by a vicious creature known as the Tainted Insect, that fed on the very Gold the city was composed of. Shortly after discovering the lost city, Shiren and Koppa do encounter a Tainted Insect and proceed to dispatch it. With the creature destroyed, they are able to actually save the divine bird of legend itself, as it was trapped in a cocoon made by the Tainted Insect. After saving the Golden Condor, it grants Shiren a ride back down to the base of the mountain where they return to the Canyon Hamlet for a short period of time.

Save Surala

While there, they also go on other kinds of adventures, such as helping Surala find her way back home.

Monster of Moonlight Village

After leaving Kobami Valley, Shiren and Koppa find themselves in Moonlight Village, where they help the village by preventing the sacrifice of a little girl to a monster.

Shiren 6

Learning about Shiren's latest adventures, Tatsumi decides to appear to Shiren and Koppa in a dream, asking for help. And so Shiren and Koppa visit Serpentcoil Island, where they defeat Jakaku, freeing Tatsumi from the sea, and confronting her brother Kokatsu for her. Eventually the two siblings make up thanks to the efforts of Shiren and Koppa, putting an end to a several years long drought in the areas surrounding the island.

While on Serpentcoil Island, Shiren and Koppa also have many other adventures. They visit the Secret Ninja Village, where they befriend and help Seki, the daugther of a ninja clan leader who had turned into a monster. They also reunite with their friend Asuka, whom Shiren hadn't seen since childhood, while she is there in search of the Peach Club. Shiren and Koppa also help Hibiki and Tugai learn and confess their feelings for one another.

Shiren 4

Later, Shiren and Koppa find themselves stranded on an island.

Magic Castle of the Desert

Shiren and Koppa defeat a demon in the desert.

Shiren 5

Shiren and Koppa help Jirokichi save his dying friend by climbing the Tower of Fortune with him, letting him change her fate.

Family

• Gimensha
  • The protagonist's father. Mentioned in The Sleeping Princess and the Karakuri Mansion
• Sensei
  • The protagonist's uncle. Also playable in The Sleeping Princess and the Karakuri Mansion.
• Unnamed mother
  • The protagonist's mother, and sister of Sensei. Mentioned in The Sleeping Princess and the Karakuri Mansion.
• Pekeji
  • Pekeji claims to be Shiren's brother in Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer. He never offers any proof of this, even in Magic Castle of the Desert.

Family Tree

Pekeji's claims of being related to Shiren are unsubstantiated. Being the same age as Shiren implies that Gimensha is his father, if his claims are true.

Shiren Ancestor

?

Unknown number of generations.

?

?

?

?

Gimensha

Unnamed mother

Sensei

Shiren

Background Information

Shiren's character was created by Seiichiro Nagahata, while Kaoru Hasegawa designed the character. Nagahata was influenced by Kogarashi Monjirō; a Japanese novel that became popular thanks to its televised adaptation in 1972. By mistake, he covered Shiren's head during the production of Template:GameTitle, making his face barely visible with his kasa. Hasegawa had drawn several models of the protagonist before settling on the one released to the public, while most of the other designs were unrecovered.

Appearances

For more about Shiren as a character in a specific game, click through their respective links.

Games

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Shiren 1			Save Surala				Moonlight Village				Shiren 2		Magic Castle		Asuka		Shiren 3		Shiren 4		Shiren 5				Tower of Slumber	Shiren 6
SFC	DS	SP	1	2	3	4	GB	PC	PCI	SP			GBC	DS	DC	PC	Wii	PSP	DS	PSP	DS	Vita	2020	SP
✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓		✓	✓			✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓	✓

Spin-offs

• Shiren the Wanderer in Template:GameTitle.

In Other Media

While the series is less popular overseas than in Japan, Spike Chunsoft have made a few crossover between Shiren and its respectful series with other titles. Frequently, the protagonist makes an appearance with any character from the Danganronpa series; another franchise made by the aforementioned company.

Blade Chronicles: Samurai Online

Shiren appears as a costume in Blade Chronicles: Samurai Online on October 28, 2009. It is the earliest cameo appearance of Shiren in a different video game.

Blade Chronicles: Samurai Online - Gallery

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Terraria

Shiren appears as a costume in the Wii U and PlayStation 3 releases of Terraria, exclusively in Japan. His costume is known as the "Shiren Set" (Japanese: ふうらいにんの衣装).
The set consisis of the:

• Shiren Hat: (Japanese: さんどがさ)
• Shiren Shirt: (Japanese: ふうらいにんのふく)
• Shiren Pants: (Japanese: ふうらいにんのこしあて)

Terraria - Gallery

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  Shiren Hat

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  Shiren Shirt

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  Shiren Pants

Etrian Mystery Dungeon

In Etrian Mystery Dungeon (Japanese: 世界樹と不思議のダンジョン, World Tree and Mysterious Dungeon), a costume based on Shiren is available. It is labeled as the Wanderer class.

Mystery Chronicle: One Way Heroics

Shiren appears as a DLC character in Mystery Chronicle: One Way Heroics (Japanese: 不思議のクロニクル 振リ返リマセン勝ツマデハ) among with other characters from The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate.

Toro and Kuro

On August 26, 2015, a collaboration for Doko Demo Issyo was announced. It features both Shiren the Wanderer and Asuka as costumes for Toro and Kuso respectively.

Toro and Kuro - Gallery

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RPG Maker MV

On December 15, 2015, an expansion pack for RPG Maker MV was announced for the PC version. It features both Shiren the Wanderer and Asuka as custom protagonists as well as elements from the series. The pack was released two days after its announcement.

RPG Maker MV - Gallery

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  Shiren and Asuka's promo image.

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  Promo icon.

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  Shiren's sprite sheet.

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  Shiren's sprites used in-game.

Crypt of the NecroDancer

In an issue of Weekly Famitsu column on November 26, 2015, a free update for Crypt of the NecroDancer (Japanese: クリプト・オブ・ネクロダンサー) was announced then released in Japan on January 18, 2016 and Worldwide on August 22, 2017 on Steam and later released for PS4 and PS Vita on September 5, 2017. It features characters from the Danganronpa, Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble and Shiren the Wanderer series. Both Shiren the Wanderer and Asuka were made available as character skins. The update works even if you do not own any DLC.

Crypt of the NecroDancer - Gallery

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  Shiren's sprite.

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  Shiren's in-game appearance.

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  Change skin menu.

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  Famitsu promo ad featuring Shiren and Monokuma.

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  Promo art featuring Shiren and Monokuma.

Etrian Mystery Dungeon 2

Like in the previous title, in Etrian Mystery Dungeon 2 (Japanese: 世界樹と不思議のダンジョン2, World Tree and Mysterious Dungeon 2) a costume based on Shiren is available. It is also labeled as the Wanderer class.

Seikimatsu Days: Our Era's End

Shiren appears as a pre-registration character in Seikimatsu Days: Our Era's End (Japanese: 世紀末デイズ). On July 5, 2018, he was announced to be a bonus character in the game if it hit fifty thousand pre-registration, as seen on their milestone event rewards behind many other bonuses.

Katana Kami: A Way of the Samurai Story

Announced on November 20, 2019 via 4gamer, a DLC pack for the game Katana Kami: A Way of the Samurai Story (Japanese: 侍道外伝 KATANAKAMI, Samurai Gaiden KATANAKAMI) entitled "Wanderer Set" (Japanese: 風来人セット) was announced for first-print copies. The DLC includes blueprints for both weapons. It was released with the game on February 20, 2020 and available for free from February 20 to 27, 2020.. In a later announcement, the DLC was made available and purchasable on June 4, 2020. Accessories (Wanderer Hat, Wanderer Cape, Wanderer Itachi) can be worn in three different positions.

The DLC consists of:

• Wanderer Set (Japanese: 風来人セット)
  • Wanderer Outfit (Japanese: 風来人の衣装と刀を追加)

The costume of a wanderer that has gone through many nations. He travels with a talking weasel and overcomes many hardships.

• • Wanderer Hat (Japanese: 風来人の三度笠（装飾品）)

A straw hat for a wanderer that travels to many nations. It is said to be a keepsake of an old friend.

Effect: Maximum HP +300. Maximum Vitality +300.

• • Wanderer Cape (Japanese: 風来人の道中合羽（装飾品）)

A raincoat for a wanderer that travels to many nations. It is said that wearing this will help you overcome any obstacle.

Effect: Defense +5.

• • Wanderer Itachi (Japanese: 風来人のイタチ（装飾品）)

A talking weasel that accompanies the wanderer that travels to many nations. It says everything you want to say.

Effect: Skill Exp. gained up +15%. Exp. gained up +15%.

• Kabra's Blade (Japanese: マンジカブラ)

The elusive sword forged by the genius swordsmith Kabura. Extremely lethal; you'd never want to give this up. Famous for being yielded by a wanderer from another nation, but will vanish if the wielder dies.

• Kabra Reborn (Japanese: カブラステギ)

A mysterious sword that can only be owned by a true wanderer. A sword made of legendary material, but once you know how to make it, anyone can craft it.

Katana Kami - Gallery

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  The Japanese DLC promo.

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  The English DLC promo.

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  Unlocking DLC upon launching the game.

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  Wanderer Outfit.

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  Wanderer Hat.

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  Wanderer Cape.

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  Wanderer Itachi.

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  Kabra's Blade.

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  Kabra Reborn.

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AI: The Somnium Files – nirvanA Initiative

The character Tama can wear Shiren's kasa occasionally.

Shiren himself appears in AI: The Somnium Files – nirvanA Initiative (Japanese: AI: ソムニウム ファイル ニルヴァーナ イニシアチブ) as a Kusemon to be used in fights, inspired by the Pokémon series. When the egg is found, it hatches and the "[SC]Wanderer" card is added to the player's team. Shiren has a Kabra Reborn+99 in this game, the last upgrade of the Kaburagi Family weapons.

AI: The Somnium Files - Gallery

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  A Kusemon card featuring Shiren.

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  Shiren appearing in the battle.

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  Shiren using the Kabra Reborn+99.

Merch

• Shiren the Wanderer Mini Acrylic Figures contains Shiren in two sets.
• Shiren is depicted on one of the Shiren the Wanderer 6 Bean Plates.
• Shiren is depicted on the Shiren the Wanderer 6 Tote Bag.

Gallery

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  (1995)
  Official artwork from Mystery Dungeon 2: Shiren the Wanderer on Super Famicom.

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  (2000)
  Official artwork of Shiren and Koppa from Shiren's Castle and the Oni Invasion.

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  (2000)
  Artwork from a Shiren 2 Source Book.

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  (2006)
  Official artwork from Mystery Dungeon: Shiren the Wanderer on Nintendo DS and its Smartphone port.

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  (2008)
  Official artwork from The Sleeping Princess and the Karakuri Mansion.

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  (2008)
  Artwork from the Shiren 3 Wii iMode Official Website.

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  (2010)
  Official artwork from The Eye of God and the Devil's Navel.

• Shiren 5 Character art - Shiren and Koppa.png

  (2010)
  Official artwork of Shiren and Koppa from The Tower of Fortune and the Dice of Fate.

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  (2023)
  Official artwork of Shiren from The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island.

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  (2024)
  Artwork from the Shiren 6 website.

Trivia

• Shiren is one of three characters to be directly mentioned in the name of the Shiren game. The other two are Asuka and Surala.
• A child version of Shiren made a reappearance in the Tower of the Past, and an elderly Shiren made an appearance in the Tower of the Future as part of the plot of Template:GameTitle.

In Other Languages

ShirenFusions

Language Name English Shiren Japanese シレン French Europe Shiren Canada Shiren Spanish Europe Shiren Latin America Shiren German Shiren Italian Shiren Portuguese Shiren Dutch Shiren Russian Ширену Korean 시렌 Chinese Simplified 希炼 Traditional 希煉

Language Name English Shiren Mamel Japanese マムルシレン

Language Name English Dragon God Shiren Japanese 竜神シレン

Language Name English Kokatsu Shiren Japanese 狐渇シレン

Language Name English Tatsumi Shiren

References

• Voice actor info.
• Kokatsu Shiren Japanese name.