King's Quest

 Overview

The King's Quest series chronicles the saga of the royal family of the Kingdom of Daventry through their various trials and adventures. The story takes place over two generations and across many lands, including Daventry, Kolyma, Llewdor, Tamir, Serenia, Eldritch, Etheria and the Land of the Green Isles.  The series spans a total of 8 games across 14 years, starting in 1984 with King’s Quest: Quest for the crown to the release of King's Quest: Mask of Eternity in 1998. There have also been numerous re-releases and collections, most notably the original game, which had a total of 10 re-releases.  

The main characters in the series are Sir (later King) Graham and members of his family: his wife, Valanice, and his twin son and daughter, Alexander and Rosella. The exception is KQ VIII, where the protagonist is Connor, a tanner in the Kingdom of Daventry who is unrelated to the royal family. Because of this and the emphasis on RPG and action elements in KQ VIII, many fans refuse to consider it a true sequel and call it KQ:MOE (for Mask of Eternity, the game's subtitle). 

Many famous fictional characters make appearances in the series, including Beauty and the Beast, Rumplestiltskin, Red Riding Hood and Count Dracula. They are featured most prominently in the earlier games, which focus on solving item-based puzzles in a fantasy setting. The later sequels have more elaborate story lines, more complicated puzzles, and more original and realistic characters. 

Overall Gameplay

Beginning with the original game and used until the fifth game in the series, the player's interaction with the game consisted entirely of typing commands into the game's parser, then reading the parser's response.  As the first adventure game to integrate graphical animation into the player's view of game world, King's Quest shifted the focus away from the static scenery, to the player's character, which was now animated on-screen. As the player used the keyboard to explore the game world, the on-screen character, King Graham, was animated walking to the chosen destination. There were animation sequences for most player-world interactions reachable through the normal course of exploration. For example, there were different animation sequences showing King Graham picking up objects from the ground, opening doors, and wading through water. Depth perspective was simulated as well; Graham could walk behind objects, causing his character to be 'hidden' from view, or walk in front of them, obscuring the object. This attention to graphical animation, while commonplace in arcade-action games, earned King's Quest the distinction as the first "3D-animated" adventure game. 

King’s Quest V: Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder was the first King's Quest game to replace the typing user interface with a point-and-click user interface. Instead of typing commands, players used a series of icons to navigate the game.  Most often throughout the series, as with other adventure games, these icons included “walk” as a character icon, “talk” as a mouth, “look” as an eye,  and “use” as a hand. 

All games in the series, with the exception of King's Quest: Mask of Eternity, used the standard adventure game paradigm by presenting the player with puzzles they must solve with items from their inventory.  The last game in the series departed from traditional methods and instead went to full 3D and used more of the current, at the time, RPG methods of play – including combat. 

Notable Development History

King’s Quest I

Released in 1983 by IBM as a demonstration product for their IBM PCjr, King's Quest I is not only the first "animated" adventure game, it was also the first Sierra game to use the AGI engine. (However, the AGI engine wasn't known as such until King's Quest II.) Since the IBM PCjr didn't sell particularly well, the game was later released directly by Sierra for IBM PCs in addition to other platforms such as the Amiga, Atari ST and Sega Master System.  

King's Quest I was innovative in its use of 16-color graphics on the PCjr and Tandy 1000; even CGA owners could enjoy 16-color graphics if they used a composite monitor or TV. The level of interaction with the graphics was an enormous leap over the mostly un-animated "rooms" of previous graphical interactive fiction. 

King’s Quest: Mask of Eternity 

Although not described as KQ8 in the released game (other than being described as the eighth title in the series on a sticker placed on shrink wrap), a folder in the King's Quest Collection 2 contained a preview video for the game that was entitled, KQ8AVI. 

Roberta Williams had said in interviews at the time that she no longer liked the idea of roman numerals or numbers designating sequels and wanted to distance the later sequels in the series from the use of them. She gave several reasons for her choice to remove the numbers, one being that numbers might give a bad impression to the fans that might think that the sequel wasn't nearly as good as the games coming before it, as is often the case with sequels to movies. 
 

Notable Locations 

Daventry

Daventry can refer to several things: Properly, it's the name of the Kingdom of Daventry, but the name can be also used to refer to the world in which the King's Quest games take place, the World of Daventry. The name can also refer to Castle Daventry, the great keep and seat of power for the Kingdom of Daventry, and Daventry town ( which is not far from from the castle), and in some cases it is an alternate title for the continent of Serenia. 

According to the King's Quest Companion; "World of Daventry" or simply "Daventry" is a name humans may use for the entire world where King's Quest's lands are located, although this is not the proper name of the planet. The world appears to actually be earth from a long time ago in the distant past, and like the present earth shares the solar system with at least Jupiter. At several points in history magical beings withdrew into Daventry to avoid persecution by the increasingly scientific societies. The world is continued to be called "Earth" by the gnomes from the Underground Realm of the Gnomes, and the occasional human (according to the games and manuals).

The Kingdom of Daventry, aka the realm of Daventry, is main Daventry on the continent of Daventry/Serenia. It is the home of Royal Family of Daventry, King Graham, Queen Valanice and their two children. Daventry is a very old kingdom and had its share of good and bad kings over the thousands of years of its existence.  Daventry is the greatest kingdom on the continent, and there is a great deal of evidence to support his belief. The Town of Daventry and Connor's Village are located not far from the castle. 

Kolyma

The map of World of Daventry in King's Quest Companion shows its location as being southeast of the kingdom of Daventry and directly south of Land of the Green Isles in the Southern Sea The western side of Kolyma folds back upon itself to both the north and south, forever bringing travelers back to where they started. Geographers say that the "magical law of "containment" operates in the western part of the continent. For reasons forgotten, or perhaps it was whimsy on the part of the multiverse--movement to both the north and south in this part of Kolyma eventually turned back upon itself, contained as if inside some transparent cosmic donut. East and west, one could travel at will until confronted by more physical barriers--the sea or mountains for instance--but those that journeyed far enough north of south, would always get back to where they started.  

There are mentions that vampires hunt this land at night, with ghouls and ghosts as their grim companions. They rule the dark from the castle on the island in the middle of a poisonous lake. The Monks will shelter the occasional traveler to protect them from the undead. Because of the danger of the undead most folk live on the eastern shores of Kolyma beyond the chasm and the mountain. With the only passage between the mountains being the Magical Doorway which will send people elsewhere if they don't have the proper key. The western shore is guarded by the King of the Sea. These various barriers have, with only occasional exceptions kept the Children of the Night Isolated. 

Llewdor

It is one of the two main kingdoms on the continent of Tanalore, along with Tamir. It was the land where Gwydion was forced to be a slave to the wizard Manannan. The main city in Llewdor is known as Port Bruce, and it includes a bar/pub/restaurant, a general store, and a dock. Bandits reside in Llewdor, as does Medusa in the desert to the west, and the Three Bears. It is here that Gwydion partially discovers who he is and is captured by pirates on his way home to Daventry. Sir David of Bruce came from this land.  

The Magical Law of "Containment" occurs in the land, causing the north and south to bend back upon itself, so that anyone traveling north, will end up coming up from the south, or vice versa.

Tamir

Tamir was a land visited during King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella. It is one of the two main kingdoms on the continent of Tanalore along with Llewdor. Tamir was the land that was cared for by the fairy Genesta. Unfortunately the evil fairy, Lolotte, wanted to be ruler of the land. That land also housed a magic fruit that would heal the sick.
The land is comprised of beach, meadowlands, forest, Scary Woods, Impossible Mountains, and the Death Bogs of Tamir. The seven Dwarfs, Cupid, Pan, and Edgar also resided there. 

The Magical Law of "Containment" occurs in the land, causing the north and south to bend back upon itself, so that anyone traveling north, will end up coming up from the south, or vice versa.

Serenia

Serenia is the is name of the continent where the Sovereignty of Serenia, Kingdom of Daventry and several other smaller nations are located. The continent is also known as Daventry, as for a time that kingdom was only land on the continent as the northern Serenia had mysteriously vanished (but later reappeared around 24 GC). Other Continents in the world include Kolyma and Tanalore, and an unnamed continent north of Serenia, where Harlin's castle was located. Serenia can also refer to Serenia towne and the Village of Serenia. 

This land first appeared in The Wizard and the Princess and Adventure in Serenia, and was later revisited in King's Quest V.

The continent was originally called Daventry in King's Quest Companion, First Edition, and King's Quest 3. As shown in the book and game during the era's of King's Quest 1-4, the Sovereignty of Serenia was missing. The KQ3 Charts, 1st Edition Maps and Alexander's account of his escape from Manannan show that Serenia was missing at the time (and the continent was referred to as Daventry). In the Second Edition, Serenia reappeared, and the book uses the name Daventry and Serenia interchangeably for the name of the continent. The continent is referred to as Daventry in the An Encyclopedia of Daventry in the 2nd Edition. The 2nd Edition Maps and 3rd Edition Maps show the continent being referred to as Daventry as well.

Eldritch

The Realm of Eldritch is a magical realm, filled with many mythical and powerful people and beings. As said above, Eldritch is a land of magic and almost everyone who lives there knows magic or is of magic. Many of the residents of Eldritch, particularly those in Etheria, the capital of Eldritch, are Fairies who are primordial beings and gods and goddesses. Other citizens of Etheria include spirits of the land and air. Eldritch is ruled by the king and queen, Oberon and Titania, who also are the king and queen of Fairies. Eldritch consists of the Vulcanix Underground, Ooga Booga, Bountiful Woods, Were-Woods, Etheria, Nonsense Land and Falderal.

Etheria  

Etheria also known as the Faerieland or the Land in the Clouds[1] is a heavenly realm above Eldritch, the capital of that land, and is the home of fairies, ruled by Titania and Oberon. Etheria is a land set upon the clouds, and some of the deities and powers of the world of Daventry continent reside in Etheria, along with other mystical and magical people and beings.
Etheria is a land of clouds, rainbows, beauty and sweet song, and one of its greatest places is its amazing city of the same name. Time moves faster in Etheria than it does in Daventry.

Land of the Green Isles.  

The Land of the Green Isles is the name for a land and kingdom comprised of a chain of islands (though not all islands of the chain are part of the kingdom). 

An ancient and peaceful kingdom, the Land of the Green Isles has long been the subject of much debate as to whether the land is a reality or if it is just a work of a great imagination. Until recently, the land was largely dismissed as being myth. The Land consists of four main islands; the Isle of the Crown (the island from which the king and queen rule), the Isle of Wonder, the Isle of the Sacred Mountain, and the Isle of the Beast (formerly the Isle of the Forest). 

A fifth island sometimes stays around long enough to be counted as a semi-permanent member of the insular community, the Isle of the Mists. It is visible and visitable only when the Druids can cast and maintain an earth spell to blow away the island's eternal fog. 

Mythology

Much of King's Quest was inspired by fairy tales, which designer Roberta Williams loved reading. Many creatures, characters and situations from mythology, fairy tales, and folklore are encountered within the world of King's Quest. A Minotaur, Pan, Pandora, Charon, Cupid, Ceres, Druids, Harpies, Oracles, Neptune, Medusa, The Fates and the Graeae appear in various games in the series. In general, the mythology of the King's Quest world is derived from that of the Ancient Greeks, Romans, and Celts. 

Magic plays a large role in the King's Quest series. Wizards, witches, enchanters, sorcerers, and genies appear throughout. In some of the games (most prominently in KQIII), the main character must use magic spells or items to achieve a goal. 

Official King’s Quest Timeline

KQ1 is designated as the year 0 GC date. GC (Graham's Coronation) is an unofficial designation for what is the equivalent to KQ1. These are derived only from official sources, with KQ1 designated as the starting date. Later timelines are inconsistent with the official timeline, and dates are off by a couple years. 

Official sources may not always be consistent. For example; The introductory story in KQ2 manual originally implied that events of KQ2 took place one year after KQ1, according to the KQ4 manual he saw Valanice in the magic mirror and left on the adventure three years after KQ1, the KQV Hintbook placed the events of KQ2 several years after KQ1 (implying it was more than three years). 

The KQV Hintbook has other discrepencies. According to KQ4 the royal twins were born two years after KQ2, which is supported by age of twins given in later sources in relation to dates given in those sources (KQ6 Hintbook, King's Quest Companion, KQ7, etc). The KQV hintbook states that the birth of the twins was one year after the events of KQ2 (which doesn't fit with other references). King's Quest Companion states that Alexander was kidnapped by shores of Lake Maylie during a summer picnic. The KQV Hintbook places the kidnapping in the castle nursery. KQV Hintbook also contains a possible discrepency for when Alexander was kidnapped by Manannan. It states that he was kidnapped exactly six months after his birth. However creates problems with other known details in relation to other sources; Alexander's was a few weeks from his eighteenth birthday, the story took place during late summer, and that See No Weevil places the twins birthdays in early autumn. If Alexander was born during early Autumnn, as per See No Weevil and supported by KQ3, and kidnapped during the summer (according to King's Quest Companion), then it would imply that Alexander could have been kidnapped up to nine months after his birth. King's Quest Hintbook's six month date (from autumn birthdate) would place his kidnapping in during late winter, early spring. The KQV Hintbook also places the events of KQ1 during the spring, but it is unclear what affects, if any, that would have on the timeline.