[[quoteright:256:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/kqivcover_2685.jpg]]

''King's Quest IV: The Perils of Rosella'' is the fourth game in the ''VideoGame/KingsQuest'' series. Release in 1988, it was one of the first games to implement beyond-PC sound, improving overall sound quality, and the first Sierra game with high(er) resolution graphics. It also has a largely-unknown version with the graphics and (lack of) music of the previous three games, created because Sierra (wrongly) feared there were too many low-end computers on the market that wouldn't be able to run the high-quality version.

In this game, you play as Rosella, the twin sister of [[VideoGame/KingsQuestIIIToHeirIsHuman Alexander]] and daughter of King Graham. Your father has fallen deathly ill, and his only hope is a magical fruit that grows in the island of Tamir. A good fairy named Genesta sends Rosella to this land, but her powers are weakened by the evil sorceress Lolotte, meaning the trip is one-way. To win the game, you must find the fruit, defeat Lolotte, and return Genesta's powers to her-- all in the span of a single day.

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!!This game provides examples of:

* AlwaysCheckBehindTheChair: There's an [[FarSideIsland island]] where you have to check behind a ship's detached front, which is lying in the sand. Rearward of the wreckage is a golden bridle that: 1) has no business being there; 2) is [[{{Unwinnable}} completely necessary to win the game]]. The island [[LostForever is only accessible at one point during play, and after leaving, you can't go back]]. Oh, and using “look” on the shipwreck [[GuideDangIt only works when you're standing in exactly the right spot]].
** There is ''some'' justification behind this: you're put on the island after a complicated series of events, and the only other object you can find there does nothing but get you back to the mainland from the island. As per [[TheLawOfConservationOfDetail standard adventure game mind-think]], there has to be ''something else'' there.
* BeautifulAllAlong: [[spoiler: Edgar]], if you know about ''VideoGame/KingsQuestVIIThePrincelessBride''.
* ButThouMust: All your dealings with Lolotte, except for the last one.
* CareBearStare / GoodHurtsEvil: [[spoiler:How to slay Lolotte.]]
* CaveBehindTheFalls: That you can only access in the form of a frog.
* {{Cutscene}}: That damn unskippable {{cutscene}} with the dwarves...
* DevelopersRoom: At one point, if you type "Beam Me Up, Scotty!" you get sent to [[EasterEgg a secret room full of Sierra's game developers]]. This only works in the low-resolution (AGI) version.
* TheDevTeamThinksOfEverything: averted, in that this is the first Sierra game to feature the infamous "oops, you tried something we didn't think of" error message, after which the game terminates.
* DreadfulMusician : The stupid minstrel.
* EasterEgg: Aside from the aforementioned DevelopersRoom, there's [[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OCMJKpkEB0 "rap kq"]].
* EverythingsBetterWithPrincesses: Subverted-- Rosella is a princess, but must dress like a commoner to avoid raising suspicion.
* EverythingsEvenWorseWithSharks: There's a shark to dodge off Tamir's coast, and a whale that you'll also have to escape.
* EvilSorcerer: Lolotte.
* FailureIsTheOnlyOption: Rosella's ''many'' meetings with Lolotte.
* FairyTale: Standard for the series. Unless you [[GenreSavvy know your Grimm]], you have no reason to start cleaning the Dwarf house you come across.
* FarSideIsland: A far side island becomes an actual walkable terrain and part of the story.
* GraveHumor: In the graveyard, natch.
* GorgeousGarmentGeneration: Inverted at first when Genesta changes Rosella's gown into peasant clothing. Played straight with Rosella [[spoiler: and Edgar]] at the end.
* TheGuardsMustBeCrazy
* HaveANiceDeath: Standard practice for a King's Quest game, but there are a few unique situations. You can [[TooDumbToLive open Pandora's box]], [[StealthBasedMission fail to sneak through Lolotte's castle]], and many more.
* HauntedHouse: Whatley Manor ([[Creator/HPLovecraft Yes, It's named for what you think]]), complete with zombies running about the grounds and ghosts a-plenty at night.
* HeroicDolphin: Well, a helpful one at least. It gets you off the deserted island.
* ImAHumanitarian: The ogres and their dog.
* InUniverseGameClock: You only have a day to get the fruit and save Genesta, plus some tasks have to be completed at night.
** Fortunately, night normally won't fall until you need it to fall, and dawn won't come until you reach the end of the game. Night ''will'' fall on its own if you wait long enough, at which point you end up getting [[EverythingsDeaderWithZombies killed by zombies]] pretty quick. Fortunately, the time it takes is literally hours of real-time, and if you do the event that causes night to fall earlier then the zombies aren't a problem.
* IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy: Edgar...poor Edgar.
* JacobMarleyApparel: The manor ghosts. The miser is a very literal case.
* KingIncognito: Rosella is a princess in disguise, dressed that way to avoid the suspicion of the evil Lolotte. [[spoiler: It doesn't really work, as Lolotte nonetheless suspects that Rosella is something more than she seems because she's just too beautiful for a simple peasant girl.]]
* LuckBasedMission: Navigating the damn cave and avoiding the troll. The troll can appear from any of the room entrances, at any time, and kills you instantly if it touches you. And it moves faster than you. And it will ''always show up''. You have no defense other than running away, and you ''can't even do that''. And you have to navigate the cave ''twice''.
* TheMaze: The maze of caverns behind the waterfall, which you have to navigate ''in the dark''. Well, you do have a lantern, but it doesn't give off ''any'' light [[note]]the "sprite" for the lanterns light hovers directly behind Rosella, and there's only a few pixels around ''that'' allowing you to glimpse the path, or lack thereof[[/note]]. Oh, and there's a troll in the cave trying to eat you.
** It's not really a maze: it is four rooms arranged in a square.
* MercyRewarded: You should be nice to Edgar. [[ButThouMust Not that you have much of a choice...]]
* MessageInABottle: Rosella finds one containing ads for the previous games.
* ModestRoyalty: Justified - Rosella is intentionally disguised as a peasant girl.
* MultipleEndings: It's quite easy to get through the game and [[DownerEnding forget to look for the Magic Fruit]] - which is the main reason you traveled to Tamir in the first place!
** Fortunately, you can do that particular quest at almost any point of the game (after you get the crown, the lantern, and the flute). Even the ending, [[TakeYourTime when you really should be getting to Genesta as quickly as possible]].
** Even worse, you can go to all the trouble of getting the fruit-- and then ''eat the damn thing yourself.'' WhatTheHellHero!
* NothingIsScarier: You never exactly see what the troll in the cave looks like since there's no light. You can only make out his silhouette and glowing green eyes.
* OneHitPointWonder: Played with a bit-- you can fall from small heights and just feel dazed, but if you're attacked at all you still die.
* PrinceCharmless: The unnamed obnoxious prince you save from being a frog. Also, Edgar [[spoiler:at least until he meets Genesta]].
* ThePowerOfLove: With which [[spoiler: Rosella kills the fairy witch Lolotte]].
* RedHerring: Turns out neither of Graham's kids gets his CoolHat.
* StandardHeroReward: Nastily subverted, in that after [[ButThouMust bringing her three treasures]], the evil witch Lolotte offers to marry you to her ugly son. And promptly locks you up to have this carried out. That's a NonstandardGameOver if you don't escape in time.
** Edgar manages to [[ZigZaggingTrope subvert it, invert it, double subvert it, and later gender flip it!]] Here's the explanation (pardon the spoiler space):
*** [[spoiler: Yes, he has a crush on Rosella, but that leads to [[PleaseSpareHimMyLiege him pleading with Lolotte to spare her and let her go after the treasures]]. Rosella gets the treasures, and Lolotte pulls StandardHeroReward in forcing a marriage between Rosella and Edgar. Edgar, however, [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy smuggles Rosella a key attached to a single red rose]] so that she can free herself. Rosella breaks out, [[LoveHurts fatally shoots Lolotte with a love arrow]], and makes off with the talisman. After Rosella's saved Genesta, Genesta teleports Edgar to her island, and transforms him into a handsome young man (we find out later that she was ''restoring him'' to his true form). Edgar then inverts it by offering ''himself'' as StandardHeroReward, and Rosella turns him down ("Sorry, Eddie. My dad's dying of heart failure, and I've gotta cure him...."). The end of the seventh game has them meeting again, and Edgar wisely asking to court her instead of rushing into anything.]]
* SuddenlySuitableSuitor: Rosella's suddenly a lot more interested in Edgar after [[spoiler: Genesta transforms him]].
* SwansASwimming: There is a swan swimming around in a pond on Genesta's island. It doesn't effect the game in anyway, but it's certainly very pretty.
* TimedMission: Although you'll never notice it in actual gameplay, you really do have exactly twenty-four hours to save Genesta and Graham.
* UnfinishedBusiness: The ghosts at the manor.
* {{Unwinnable}}: See the pages.
* WanderingMinstrel: Rosella meets one who is absolutely terrible at his job. She gives him a copy of "The Compleat Works of William Shakespeare" [sic], so he can go off and become an absolutely terrible actor.
** His official name is [[TakeThat Frankie of Avalon]].[[note]]A reference to Frankie Avalon, TeenIdol singer of the late 50s turned actor of the 60s and 70s[[/note]]
* WhenTreesAttack
* ZombieApocalypse: The cemetery and manor house after dark. One touch ''should'' result in Rosella turning into a zombie, but this is unlikely to happen: zombies don't show up until night falls, and night won't fall for 12 hours of real-life time ''or'' once you get both the fruit for Graham and the item that protects Rosella from zombies. The zombies end up being a little pointless, even. [[spoiler: The final FetchQuest of the game even requires Rosella to venture into a tomb where a mummy tries to attack her, but it's repelled by the protective item!]] What a waste of a puzzle!
** Lampshaded in that the death message for the mummy literally asks how you got there. It's probably not possible to enter that room without the undead-repelling item, except by using the teleport cheat.
*** ... how the heck can you be killed by the mummy? I've teleported into that tomb without the undead-repelling item, and it played out as if I had the item anyway! I assumed they didn't even bother programming a way for it to kill you, since you 'shouldn't' be able to get there...
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