Quest For Glory II: Trial By Fire - Characters and References

Characters and References

Quest for Glory II is the only game in the series without any influence of Erana in it. It does, however, feature a reference to Erana - as she is in one of the portraits of great mages in the Wizards' Institute of Technocery. If the Hero requests her sponsorship in his initiation as a wizard, he is told that Erana had not been answering the WIT's summons for many years now.

There are various Easter eggs throughout the game, such as the starship enterprise from the television series Star Trek appearing during the opening credits. The astrologer appears to have been based on Omar Khayyám.

As in the other games of the series, there are a large number of in-jokes and mythological references, especially, from Arabian Nights. One of them is the name of the Sultan, Harun al-Rashid.

The game contains many references to classic films. The caravan scene is an homage to Lawrence of Arabia. Signor Ferrari and Ugarte, characters portrayed by Sydney Greenstreet and Peter Lorre in the movie Casablanca appear in Raseir, as does the Maltese Falcon from the movie of the same name which also featured Greenstreet and Lorre in other roles. Caricatures of the Marx Brothers also play important roles.

There are several references to other games or movies in magician Keapon Laffin's shop: a doll of princess Rosella (from the King's Quest series), a Cookie Monster doll, and an antwerp doll (a reference to the first game), among other things.

The final city in this game is Raseir, an anagram for Sierra, the company that produced the game, and the antagonist, Ad Avis, is named after Sierra's then new creative director, Bill Davis. Both names were chosen by the designers as parodies, as subtle references to a changing atmosphere within Sierra: Raseir is a Orwellian city, Ad Avis its totalitarian dictator.