Oliver
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| Character Information | |
| Aliases | Meso-kun |
| Japanese Name | オリバー |
| Romaji | oribā |
| Gender | Male |
| Age | 13 |
| Species | Human |
| Weapon | Wand |
| Occupation | Great Sage |
| World of Origin | Ichi No Kuni |
| Japanese voice actor | Tabe Mikako |
| English voice actor | Adam Wilson |
| Relatives | |
| Mother1 | Allie |
| Mother2 | Alicia |
| Soulmate | Shadar |
| Spoiler warning! |
|---|
| This section contains plot details, which may spoil your gameplay. |
Oliver (オリバー) is a young boy who is the main protagonist of Ni No Kuni. He lives a joyful life at first until his mother dies unexpectedly after she saves him from drowning. He cries onto a stuffed toy she made for him and his tears bring the doll to life. The doll says its name is Drippy and there is a chance he can save his mother in his world, through his mothers' soulmate, who are two people who share souls and usually share certain attributes.
He is nicknamed Cry Baby Bunting (Meso-kun in Japan) by Drippy.This stems from Olivers continued crying after the revival of Drippy.
Battle Role
Oliver is a spell-casting strategist. If he ever gets up close to fight enemies, it will be out of desperation. If you are using Oliver as a melee tank by the time you wander into the southern Summerlands, you should expect to measure his lifespan in seconds.
Oliver and Marcassin share wands - while Oliver should get preferential treatment (Mornstar and Astra), the Sky Tree Wand (from Errand 136) will go to great lengths in increasing his physical attack, although that weapon may be more suited for Marcassin.
Oliver has an affinity with Milites, Vermes, and Dracones familiars.
Abilities
Oliver's Miracle Move
Oliver has in his possession the historical magic encyclopedia known as The Wizard's Companion, granting Oliver access to a multitude of magic spells. Initially, the book lacks a large number of its pages due to Shadar tearing out most of them, containing only Fireball and Healing Touch, but throughout the course of the game Oliver manages to retrieve all of the remaining pages.
Oliver is able to summon familiars to help him on adventures. He is able use wands both as magical conduits and melee weapons, although the latter option deals very low damage except with the Sky Tree Wand.
Oliver's Miracle Move is Burning Heart, a powerful skill where he builds up a massive ball of fire before launching it at his target. It deals massive single-target Fire damage.
Oliver's most valuable asset, however, stressed throughout the game by many, is his courage, determination and good-willed nature.
Appearance
During his initial appearance in the game, Oliver wore a yellow shirt, blue trousers, and light red socks and blue and white shoes. Upon reaching the first town in the second/parallel world, he obtains a new set of clothing which is a blue vest over a white shirt, white pants, and red cape. In Castaway Cove, he obtains a bathing suit which shows him with red bathing shorts.
When traveling in The Winter Isles, Oliver wears a thick, blue long coat with white linings, dark gloves, and brown boots.
He also wears the locket that is able to hold parts of people's hearts around his neck along with almost every outfit excluding his Motorville clothes.
Clothes
| Garments | Unlocked | Image |
|---|---|---|
| Motorville Clothes | Oliver's default outfit. Worn until Oliver obtains the Wizard Clothes, at which point they are not worn again. | 
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| Wizard Clothes | Acquired after going to the Hootique once the clothes are complete in Ding Dong Dell. Worn for the rest of the game except while in the Winter Isles and Castaway Cove. | 
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| Bathing Suit | Acquired in Castaway Cove during the party's first visit. Only worn in Castaway Cove. |   |
| Winter Coat | Acquired in Yule on the Winter Isles. Only worn while in Yule or the Winter Isles due to the low temperatures there. |   |
Personality
| “ | Oliver is an energetic and honest 13-year-old boy. He loves tinkering with machines, and he and his best friend Phil [Mark] are always dreaming about cars and contraptions. | ” |
—Official website description |
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Oliver is a kind-hearted, nice, and polite. In the English version he addresses royalty by their respective titles (an example is calling King Tom XIV/Nyandal his "Meowjesty"), in the NDS version he addresses royalty just as any other character does (meaning if everyone in town calls him "King", so does Oliver).
In the Japanese version, Oliver speaks less dialectically than Shizune (Drippy).
Oliver has a strong sense of justice. He believes that while the world may be flawed, it's still a place where people strive for the greater good. As seen in various points of the game, he is trusting and nice to strangers, even if they have wronged him once before as seen in various points of the game. His good nature is what causes many characters in the game to trust and help him.
Wands
For the complete list of wands, see Wands.
In the PS3 game, Oliver gets his first wand (an old stick) in Motorville from Pea, as a means to cast the spell Gateway in order to travel to the second world. In the DS game, Shizune (Drippy) tells him to pick up the "wand" from where it lays in the street outside his house.
He is given the Magic Wand in Ding Dong Dell after mending King Tom's heart and defeating the Rat King in Ding Dong Well.
Oliver gains a legendary wand called Mornstar after being sent back in time by Gallus, which supposedly has the power to break through Shadar's Black Briar. Said wand achieves its full power after Oliver manages to gain the 3 stones that contained its full strength and defeats Khulan's Nightmare, which not only grants the wand a massive Magic Attack boost but allows Oliver to cast Mornstar.
After the party bests Gallus near the peak of the Ivory Tower, he gifts Astra to Oliver. Astra, being Mornstar's twin, is one of the strongest wands in the game and also allows Oliver to cast Astra.
Through alchemy, players can also gain the Sky Tree Wand, which is done by combining Old Stick from the start of the game with the Mirror Of Truth, the latter of which is obtained by finishing the errand that unlocks upon completing all of Horace's riddles. Said wand has the highest physical attack of any wand in the game, with its sole downside being that it has slightly lower Magic Attack than Astra.
Spells
Oliver learns an array of spells as he progresses through the game, all which are written down in the game's handbook (which is necessary to play the DS game but is built-in for the PS3 game). Said spells can either be used in battle or are required to progress the game while in the field.
Not every spell can be used by Oliver, including the Fairy Spells granted by the Fairy Godmother and the forbidden Ashes of Resurrection. However, Oliver can cast the majority of the spells in the game unlike Marcassin, with the downside of being a slightly slower caster than him.
Trivia
- Oliver is the only character who has two victory poses in the PS3 game. In his Motorville clothes, he will end the battle by wiping his hand across his forehead and commenting, “Phew…”. In his wizard clothes, he will raise one of his arms into the air and say something like “We did it!” or “We won!” (やったな is said in the Japanese NDS version).
Soulmates
Warning: Contains major spoilers
Oliver has two different soulmates that we meet, in the NDS game both are during the normal game content but in the PS3 one of them is only in the after-game content.
- The Conductor/Guide: See his Wiki page for more info.
- Shadar/Jabo: See his Wiki page for more info.