Yes, it's doubtful a princess would dress like that. Call it a "self motivator."
"Dragon's Lair: The fantasy adventure where you become a valiant knight, on a quest to rescue the fair princess from the clutches of an evil dragon. You control the actions of a daring adventurer, finding his way through the castle of a dark wizard, who has enchanted it with treacherous monsters and obstacles. In the mysterious caverns below the castle, your odyssey continues against the awesome forces that oppose your efforts to reach the Dragon's Lair. Lead on, adventurer. Your quest awaits!"
— Attract mode from Dragon's Lair
Still known as a classic to this day, Dragon's Lair was the first arcade game that utilized LaserDisc technology to provide an entirely new gaming experience... back in 1983, at least. Rick Dyer and Don Bluth basically created an entire animated world that was placed on a laserdisc, and animated progress screens, death scenes and the like played according to what direction you, as the player, moved via the joystick and "Sword" button.Your role was Dirk the Daring, a brave yet still reluctant knight in medieval England whose goal was to save PrincessDaphne from the clutches of Singe the Dragonnote Although, he was only ever called by that name in the later TV series. Although Bluth played it straight for the most part in order to give it the feel of games of the era, the characters all were somewhat on the cartoony side, as Dirk had the look of a gallant knight, but was somewhat of an average joe Comedic Hero who would get freaked out upon seeing the random Nightmare Fuel-type creatures and enemies he'd encounter within the castle in order to save the Playboy Bunny-esque Daphne (she was modeled from Playboy pin-ups) from Singe.The game itself has garnered a place in the Smithsonian Institution, and has had umpteen versions of home consoles, PC systems, smartphones and even homemade hacks adding further scenes and adventures. It also had an Animated Adaptation on ABC, courtesy of Ruby-Spears.The game (along with its sci-fi counterpart Space Ace, as well as the sequel) was well-known for dozens of death scenes, all of which were unique to a given scenario. The cartoon included a variation by offering Dirk a choice of actions before each commercial, and showing what would have happened to him if he had made the wrong one in the next scene.Even though it is the Trope Maker for Action Commands and Press X to Not Die, its common place among gamers may set them off. This is still probably better than every other FMV game ever made, though - save for those that followed this gameplay formula (like the aforementioned Space Ace, and Taito's Time Gal).A movie was announced (and even storyboarded), but has languished in Development Hell for years. Bluth and Goldman are still trying to raise funds for it to this day. There's also a six-issue comic that's based on the game, but also incorporates elements from the cartoon series (such as Dirk's horse, Bertram).It should be noted that Dragon's Lair was not the first laserdisc game ever made (that honor belongs to a Horse Racing game called Quarter-Horse), but was the one that started it all. It was also the first ever arcade game to (initially) cost 50 cents (i.e., two quarters) to play.Now available on Steam.
Only it didn't even tell you what to press or when (though it did have the occasional flashing hint).
Action Girl: In the comics, Daphne is this. Yes, Singe captures her, but he has to work at it, and she and Dirk were hugely overmatched.
Advancing Wall of Doom: Whether they be crumbling bridges, encroaching acid blobs or electrified floors, Dirk is almost always being chased by something.
Ambidextrous Sprite: Stages are sometimes mirrored, and Dirk is either right or left handed depending on the mirror.
Anti-Frustration Features: The home ports of the game often come with the option of having what button you need to press at what time displayed on default so as not to confuse newcomers—fortunately, the option to turn these off also exist for hardcore Dragon's Lair gamers.
Attack Of The Monster Appendage: One of the first rooms you visit is slowly filled by the green tentacles of an unseen monster from upstairs.
Badass Normal: Dirk the Daring. He has none of the magical, elemental or lethal weapons or abilities of the many, many monsters and villains he encounters in the games, armed only with a sword and his wits, yet goes through all of his adventures with virtually that alone.
The Ditz: Daphne (Of course, Dirk isn't very smart either, so it evens out.) Played straight mostly, except when she tells Dirk what to do: She knows where the key is and how to defeat the dragon. Daphne also knows that the sword has magical powers. This Ditz is definitely smarter than she looks...
Dragon Hoard: Singe owns a hoard in a treasure room.
Dummied Out: Dragon's Lair didn't initially have the "only one way to beat the scene" scheme (the thing which was averted in Space Ace later): it indeed included more exits and versions of the same scene. Not even that, it included completely different revival and game over scenes! Of course, all that was redummied back into the game with the release of 20th Anniversary Edition, yet in a really, really VHSish quality compared to the main game.
Fake Difficulty: Ooooh boy... the NES version is probably the worst. Every single subtrope can be listed. The dedicated episode of Joueurdu Grenier (in French) shows large portions of the pain the player has to endure.
Fate Worse Than Death: If he makes the wrong moves, Dirk can be shut into a sarcophagus by ghosts or locked into a tiny alcove by a gate (in both cases, he probably dies slowly of starvation).
Heroic Mime: Dirk, for the most part. He only ever says three words, two in the first game and one in the second. In Dragon's Lair he says, "Uh oh!" during the flaming ropes scene, and "Wooooooooooooooooooooow!" upon seeing Daphne, and "D-Daphne? Yahoo!" when finally rescuing her in Dragon's Lair II.
Magma Man: In the Lethal Lava Land section some fat, humming... humanoids made of red lava will jump out of the craters and go after Dirk. If they catch him they jump with him in a nearby crater, turning him into one of them.
No Name Given: Singe the Dragon, the villain, is not named in the actual game—that would be given to him later in follow-up material.
One Hit Point Wonder: In all versions of the game, excluding the NES version. Unless Dirk catches fire, which will kill him in just one touch, of course.
About the NES version... you have 11 hit points, but there are very, VERY few enemies in the game that deal less than 11 damage per hit.
Averted in the 3D remake; Dirk actually has a health bar in that game.
It's also played straight by the enemies: Almost all of them, including the big bad Black Knight, the giant Bat King and the skeletal Crypt Keepers will get vanquished in a single sword strike.
Schmuck Bait: One room is nothing but a table with a potion on it labeled "Drink Me". In a castle where every single inanimate object has been magically enchanted to kill you.
Interesting fact: if you lose all your lives on this scene, the board will say "Eat Me". Which still counts as a Schmuck Bait.
Stripped to the Bone: In the NES version, many enemies and obstacles (and DOORS!) do this to Dirk regardless of the HP meter.
The Game Over sequence in the arcade original (but not the sequel).
Lampshaded in the comic: Singe has a legion of maidens he's transformed into vain bubbleheads who all dress like that, and Daphne just happens to be his latest acquisition. She does seem embarrassed about it and as they ride away at the end she's wearing a robe over it.
Trial-and-Error Gameplay: When an action doesn't have a preceding cue. Also applies to the Commodore 64 port.
Updated Rerelease: Oh boy, where to begin... Considerably, EVERY "direct-to-video" port was superior to the arcade original in the sense of having new scenes. Of course, it can't be compared with Dragon's Lair 20th Anniversary Edition which not only does includes loads and loads of bonus material, but also loads and loads of Dummied Out scenes. Escape From Singe's Castle for Amiga also has completely new scenes which are... Oh come ON, may anyone trace these for the new release already?!
Yet Another Stupid Death: The direct-to-arcade versions indeed do qualify, but the NES port takes it to new heights. The castle door that kills Dirk instantly should only he contact with it? Everything's trying to kill you indeed.
In the PAL Super NES version, you can even die in the password screen.
Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp contains examples of the following:
Apocalypse Wow: The fall of Garden of Eden after Eve eats the apple near the end of Level 4.
Artifact of Doom: The Death Ring, the one inside The Casket of Doom.
Artifact Title: Cameo of Singe's bones aside, the eponymous Dragon's Lair only appears briefly in the opening sequence, and the plot otherwise involves sci-fi fantasy and time travel elements, and a wizard for a villain.
The Atoner: Mordroc's brother, aka the voice you hear when you try to activate the time machine. He acts as a sort of ghost advisor in order to make up for his brother's mischiefs.
Band Land: The second half of the Beethoven level.
Big "Shut Up!": At the end of Level 1, after Dirk escapes in a time machine, Daphne's mother Hilda yells "Oh, shut up!" to the snake before hitting it with a rolling pin.
Book of Genesis: The entirety of Level 4 seems to be the first three chapters of this, combined with a bit of Faux Symbolism.
Boss Banter: Mordroc seems to enjoy calling you "Fool" at every chance he gets.
Brawn Hilda: Daphne's mother. She even wears a Viking helmet.
Cats Are Mean: One is Cheshire Cat. Another is Beethoven's cat. Both wanna eat Dirk badly and do a sweet, sweet crunch when they do.
Concealment Equals Cover: Parodied in Level 5, when Dirk uses the giant flying violin as a shield against the music note bullets coming at him and getting deflected off the violin.
Continuity Nod: During the first level you run in the old castle from the first game and in the treasure room you can see Singe's skeleton and even his golden key.
In that same level, not only do you find Singe's skeleton and golden key, but also the Bouncing Skulls with a death scene that is like Dragon's Lair.
The scene where Beethoven plays a piano and a giant cat (likely because you're shrunk in this scene), tries to eat you. Doesn't qualify yet. just watching from there, the piano levitates, Beethoven briefly turns into a blonde version of himself wearing piano style clothing, violins fly out of the piano, the cat gets more purple in tone (as well as bigger), grow horns, breathes fire musical notes attack you, you have to walk on a hovering piano key walkway and Beethoven's coat catches on fire. Definitely qualifies!
Dinner Deformation: The giant snakes and a huge spider near the beginning.
Dirty Kid: In the Eden level, the Cherubs—who look no older than kindergartners—seem a little too interested in climbing around on Dirk, tickling him, holding him down and spanking him.
Disguised in Drag: Though unintentionally, Tweedledee and Tweedledum dress Dirk up as Alice in Level 3.
Does This Remind You of Anything?: During Level 5, some of the time machine's poetic words to Dirk, "Dirk the Daring! Be brave, don't jump,"note which refers to not jumping off the piano or other floating objects sound more like it is used to calm a suicidal person about to jump off a bridge or something.
Everything Trying to Kill You: In the first game, it made sense due to every creature in the castle being a murderous demonic thing, but in the sequel, even the characters that are not overtly malicious can still take you to your grave.
Heroic BSOD/Heartbroken Badass: Near the end of the game, after Dirk brings Daphne down to normal with the deathly side effect of the Death Ring in the original edition, when he sees her lying in the pedestal bed, he thinks he has failed her or caused her death and gives what he thinks is their Last Kiss and buries his head in grief, all the while using Offhand Backhands on the little imps that repeatedly attack him. Little does he realize that the kiss was actually a True Love's Kiss that has broken the spell while he is fighting off the imps and trying to stay alive by climbing onto crumbling platforms; and when she calls his name, he recovers completely upon seeing her alive and well.
High Altitude Battle: Dirk spends about half the game hanging onto or falling off things.
Hoist by His Own Petard: Dirk manages to remove the Death Ring from Daphne and toss it back at Mordroc, turning him into a helpless, fat green thing full of warts. Dirk finishes the sorcerer off by slashing him, exploding as a direct result.
Hostile Weather: The moment objects fly up through the roof during Level 5.
Also, she must be made of rubber. Look at the number of children they had. Look at Daphne's figure. The woman makes babies like popcorn (justified, given her looks and lack of birth control) and never loses it. She (and Dirk, granted) doesn't age a year, despite some of the kids◊ looking like they're 6-8, or possibly even teenaged. It's good to be a toon.
How Do You Like Them Apples?: In Level 4, Dirk has to heed the advice of the Purple Snake and lure Eve into temptation with an apple of the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil (in belief that he would rescue Daphne), all the while fighting off its green snake twin who can't hesitate to devour him. And while in the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, you have to carefully find the two Golden Apples in this level, which are two of the eleven hidden treasures needed to move on to the final two stages.
Huge Rider, Tiny Mount: Daphne's Mother riding an ox while chasing Dirk early in the game. While the Ox itself is full grown, she is even larger than it!
Impact Silhouette: In one failure scene of Level 3, Dirk crashes into one of the teapots, leaving behind a Dirk-shaped hole.
Implausible Boarding Skills: Near the end of Level 3, Dirk the Daring uses one of the playing cards as a surfboard while riding the wave on the ocean of tears and avoiding the Jabberwock and oncoming teapots.
Well, naturally, Kaizoness begins a bit earlier, on the sixth level. After hours of attempting to beat this game, you find out that you actually weren't as close to mummified Daphne as you would think first.
Killed Off for Real: The game confirms the death of Singe the Dragon from the previous game, via a cameo of his skeleton in the castle's treasure room.
Little Black Dress: And a very dark version of Fairytale Wedding Dress, in which a transformed Princess Daphne is wearing along with her black wedding veil (and holding white flowers) in the Narrator's telling of the Bad Future (which is thankfully present only in the intro).
This also occurs at the beginning of the alternate Level 7, as you can see her only for a few seconds before she suddenly vanishes.
Magic Dress: When Daphne gets turned into a monster by the Death Ring, her dress grows with her so as to keep her modest at all times.
Subverted with Mordroc, though, as his transformation has him completely bursting out of his cloak.
There is also a Director's Cut death scene in Level 7, which looks similar to the first death scene in Level 1. In fact, there are a total of 3 Director's Cut death scenes.
Meaningful Background Event: Both played straight and inverted near the end of the game: while you are fighting off the imps, Daphne slowly wakes up in the background. In the next scene, you can see her stretching out her hands and yawning in the foreground while you control and spend the rest of the background fighting off more imps and jumping onto crumbling platforms, oblivious to her awakening.
Mind Screw: Any level starting from the third, but Beethoven levelspecifically. Let's see. First, we have Mordroc, Daphne and Dirk shrunk down to the size of a mouse. Second, starting from the 30th second of the game, the piano flies into the air, breaks the roof of Beethoven's house and flies SO freaking high it's actually gone a bit farther than hemisphere. Next, Band Land sequence, where not only the instruments get maximally freaky, but Beethoven himself starts looking like Elton John, while his kitty becomes a fire-breathing devil. And it's not even the end of the level... yet.
Mission Pack Sequel: The gameplay is identical to the original game, aside from being able to collect treasures and being more linear.
Moment Killer: A LITERAL one: the demonic gargoyles can kill Dirk in interruption before he can perform a True Love's Kiss if you don't watch out.
Mouth Cam: At the end of Level 2, the Tyrannosaurus Rex closes its mouth on Dirk and the time machine, and the scene cuts to the inside of its mouth as it attempts to swallow them both before they get a chance to escape.
Musicalis Interruptus/Letting the Air out of the Band: The former trope occurs if you fail in some parts of Level 5, and if you grab each one of the two treasures in the Re Cut edition (complete with each of the two four-note "short-short-short-long" motif chimes of Symphony No. 5 as a downplayed Item Get); the latter trope occurs if you fail in other parts as well.
The Name Is Bond, James Bond: In the Treasure Room of Level 1, a talking time machine notices Dirk approaching it and says, "You must be Dirk, Dirk the Daring."
Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: In the Eden level you actually have to listen to the snake and give the apple to Eve, who proceeds to devour it and cause the fall of Eden. Complete with thunderbolts and thorns everywhere. Bravo....
Nintendo Hard: Even moreso than the original. The command windows are much shorter, and the visual cues as to what you're supposed to do next can be almost impossible to follow if you haven't memorized the scene. Even at its hardest arcade setting, Dragon's Lair was a walk in the park compared to the easiest settings for Dragon's Lair II.
She can't seem to decide whether she wants to make Dirk find Daphne or murder him.
She warms up considerably when she sees Daphne safe and sound in the ending.
Offhand Backhand: Dirk does this a few times throughout the game. Example: a snake tries to attack from behind, and he gives it a quick bop with his sword in such a way that it looks like it was on accident — but it's a player command, and you die if you don't. Dirk even does this while GRIEVING when he thinks Daphne is dead, his head buried in despair... but when an imp moves in to attack — smack! — and Dirk doesn't even acknowledge it.
Off Model: When Daphne wakes up and is reunited with Dirk she knocks off his helmet and loses both her shoes, they randomly regain and lose both items in the final scenes at the game ends.
One very glaring (but, given the games breakneck pacing, easy to miss) continuity error can be seen in the opening sequence—when Daphne's Mother is chasing Dirk, in the scene right after Dirk mounts his horse and takes off, she is suddenly riding an ox literally out of nowhere!
Press X to Not Die: As with the previous game, the entire gameplay is built around it.
Public DomainSoundtrack Dissonance: The soundtrack that plays entirely in the background of Level 5 while you avoid getting eaten by a fire-breathing cat is the first part of Symphony No. 5 in C minor (Allegro con brio) by Ludwig Van Beethoven. This also counts as a Genius Bonus when you notice that the song number is the same as the level number.
Soundtrack Dissonance: Another example is near the end of the game, when harp music plays in the background while Dirk is struggling to stay alive by fighting off imps and jumping onto crumbling platforms.
Re Cut: The Director's Cut edition appears in most recent ports of the game. In this one, a special brief scene plays the first time you grab each one of the treasures, and once you collect all of the treasures, it triggers a short, alternate Level 7 in which, after Dirk throws the sword at Mordroc as the wizard places the Death Ring on Daphne's finger, instead of being turned into a monster like in the original, she suddenly falls in a deathly faint and vanishes, leaving the ring lying on the floor; and you suddenly find her lying on her bed after defeating him. This kinda counts as either Fridge Brilliance or Fridge Logic.
Red Oni, Blue Oni: A bit inverted with the Twin Snakes of Eden. The Purple Snake (Red Oni) is talkative but smart and cautious and tries keeping Dirk safe as best as he can; the Green Snake (Blue Oni), on the other hand, is quiet but ferocious and tries to devour our hero in spite of the Purple Snake's advice not to harm him.
Rhymes on a Dime: Mordroc and his brother, though this mostly goes to the latter as a time machine.
The Cheshire Cat can count, since he says the first stanza of Jabberwocky. So can Tweedledee and Tweedledum.
Screen Shake: When Eve is prancing after Dirk, every time she lands on the ground there's an earthquake.
Shout Out: The Queen of Hearts, the playing cards, and the Cheshire Cat reciting the first stanza of Jabberwocky are a shout-out to the Disney adaptation of Alice in Wonderland.
The entire fifth level is a shout-out to the segments of Disney's Fantasia and Schroeder's musical segment of A Boy Named Charlie Brown. Also a nod to Elton John's live performances.
Sissy Villain: The Angel who watches over Eden. And don't try to deny it!
The minions of the Angel are the baby angels, in which if Dirk fails to escape them, they will tickle him as he laughs.
If Dirk is, however, caught by the flaming sword, he will be spanked by it.
Split Screen: Happens twice in Level 5, though in this case it's more like a boxed screen that focuses on Dirk in order to let you help him know what to do.
Stripped to the Bone: Dirk, in some death scenes. Despite the Game Over from the first Dragon's Lair game not appearing if the player loses all of his/her lives, this trope appears in Level 6, in which the flesh eating gas literally melts Dirk's skin, leaving behind only his skeleton. Which does not crumble unlike the first Dragon's Lair game. Also, in another death scene of the same level, a spider eats the flesh off his arm as he freaks out. Level 7 had this in another death, where Monster Daphne takes away his flesh, resulting in his skeleton.
Strong Family Resemblance: It seems that all of Dirk's and Daphne's ten children have the same hair colors and clothes as their parents. All six of the boys have the same brown hair color and wear the same clothes, boots and helmets (and one of them has the same sword) as their dad; and all four girls have the same blonde hair color and wear the same blue dresses as their mom. The only thing different, however, is their hairstyles. See Expository Hairstyles above.
Suddenly Voiced: At the very end when Daphne revives from Dirk's kiss, upon seeing her alive and well, the overjoyed Dirk gets his first and only full line of dialogue in the series by happily screaming her name.
Swallow The Key: Parodied in the Re Cut edition: the first time Dirk grabs the key, he places it in a teacup and drinks it.
Trial-and-Error Gameplay: Now, taken to the extreme. On your first time playing, you'll spend at least an hour to complete one 90-second scene. Two, when you play a slow reflex port of this game (DVD players port is just one of the instances).
It's no surprise that this scene is a Shout Out to Beethoven's growing hearing impairment when he wrote the first part of his Symphony No. 5 in Vienna in 1804, which explains the timeline in this scene.
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