King's Quest - The Quest

The Quest

The "King's Quest" (for which the series takes its name) often involves the hero saving the king of Daventry or becoming a king during the adventure. To save Daventry often involves adventuring in other lands. Often the quest is given to the protagonist through the realm's magic mirror (the first game involves obtaining the magic mirror, that becomes an important feature in the later games).

In King's Quest I, the young knight Sir Graham is sent on a quest to find three treasures to save King Edward and his kingdom. He became the new king in the process. During the journey Graham finds the magic mirror, one of the treasures, it also shows him he will be the new king. In King's Quest II, the quest is for the new king to find his queen (he learned about through the magic mirror), and save her so that there will be heirs to the kingdom. The fifth game returns to the king, in his attempt to save his kingdom and family from an evil wizard (this is the first game which doesn't include the magic mirror).

The 3rd and 4th games do not star a king, but involve the protagonists who ultimately end up saving King Graham and/or the kingdom from threats such as a dragon and untimely death. Gwydion is portrayed as a poor slave and peasant of Llewdor, who ultimately discovers he is the long lost son of the king Graham (Alexander), and discovers he has a sister. After he saves his sister (Rosella) and father from the ravages of the dragon (and restoring the magic mirror), she travels to another land (after learning about it through the magic mirror) on a quest to save her father, the king.

King's Quest VI follows Alexander's attempt to save his true love, marry her, and ultimately becoming king of the Land of the Green Isles. The magic mirror pointed him in the right direction to finding the kingdom.

King's Quest VIII is similar to King's Quest I, in that it involves a young knight attempting to save the king Graham (who stands in place of Edward), his queen Valanice, and the kingdom of Daventry from harm. Again the magic mirror shares a prominent role telling of the doom that befell the kingdom.

King's Quest VII is the only game in the series that does not involve King Graham (he is missing entirely from the story), Castle Daventry, or saving the kingdom of Daventry (only a small portion of the land is shown briefly in the introduction), nor the magic mirror. Rather, the plot involves the protagonists Valanice and Rosella attempting to save another land. Rosella ultimately finds a romantic interest with the implication that she may be married in the future (perhaps continuing the family line).