History YMMV / KingsQuest

* WTHCastingAgency: Being one of the first computer games to feature voice acting, characters in the CD-ROM version of ''King's Quest V'' were voiced by only a handful of Sierra employees, with varying degrees of success. Sierra learned its lesson, and pioneered the concept of Hollywood actors voicing computer games, mentioned below.

* In ''[=KQ8=]'', the land of the dead doesn't even ''look'' like it does in ''VI''. (According to WordOfGod, Connor is located in a completely different land known as the Dimension of Death.) And how many Lords of the Dead, Rivers of Death, and ferrymen are there, anyway? Alexander and Connor don't meet the same Lord of the Dead (Samhain and Azriel, respectively), Alexander takes water from the River of Death and uses it as a spell ingredient (and if it were the same river as in ''[=KQVIII=]'', it should have dissolved his teacup and paintbrush), and Charon's boat can carry Alexander's physical form, whereas the boatman Connor meets has an incorporeal boat that can't take Connor's physical form. These are said to be based on the legends of Green Isles and in Daventry, respectively. Other worlds of the afterlife are alluded to or mentioned in other games in the series and the ''King's Quest Companion''. Including "Hades", and "Hell/s", and the "underworld" of Welsh legends. In material associated with ''[=KQ7=]'', Ooga Booga is also treated as a Land of the Dead, where the dead of Etheria move on to when they die (this is mentioned by several characters in the game), and was expected to get more inhabitants if the volcano erupted. ''[=KQ8=]'' also includes an additional afterlife in reference to Chamber of Enlightenment in the Realm of Gnomes. It is referred to as the spirit-realm of ancient souls that contains the ancient spirits of the Crystal Mystics. It should also be noted that both the Dimension of Death and the Realm of the Dead are both described as a kind of purgatory/limbo where spirits are judged before moving onto other 'stages' of the afterlife (spirits are held in jail cells in ''[=DoD=]'', and in the Sea of Souls in the ''[=RotD=]'' before passing on to the next afterlife respectively).

* EvenBetterSequel / GrowingTheBeard: The series' gameplay, graphics, logic and overall quality tended to improve as the series progressed, with ''KQVI'' generally being regarded as the highest point of the franchise. However, ''KQ VII'' had a [[ContestedSequel mixed reception]], though positive in general, and ''KQVIII'' was a huge letdown that [[FranchiseKiller ruined the series]].

** Completely averted with ''VI''. Sierra put up the cash for an extremely high-end voice cast, including the late Creator/TonyJay and Creator/DonMessick. Robby Benson from ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast'' played Alexander, which made one of the [[NonstandardGameOver Non-Standard Game Overs]] a lot funnier than it should have been.
* In ''[=KQ8=]'', the land of the dead doesn't even ''look'' like it does in ''VI''. (According to WordOfGod, Connor is located in a completely different land known as the Dimension of Death.) And how many Lords of the Dead, Rivers of Death, and ferrymen are there, anyway? Alexander and Connor don't meet the same Lord of the Dead (Samhain and Azriel, respectively), Alexander takes water from the River of Death and uses it as a spell ingredient (and if it were the same river as in ''[=KQVIII=]'', it should have dissolved his teacup and paintbrush), and Charon's boat can carry Alexander's physical form, whereas the boatman Connor meets has an incorporeal boat that can't take Connor's physical form. These are said to be based on the legends of Green Isles and in Daventry, respectively. Other worlds of the afterlife are alluded to or mentioned in other games in the series and the ''King's Quest Companion''. Including "Hades", and "Hell/s", and the "underworld" of Welsh legends. In material associated with ''[=KQ7=]'', Ooga Booga is also treated as a Land of the Dead, where the dead of Etheria move on to when they die (this is mentioned by several characters in the game), and was expected to get more inhabitants if the volcano erupted. ''[=KQ8=]'' also includes an additional afterlife in reference to Chamber of Enlightenment in the Realm of Gnomes. It is referred to as the spirit-realm of ancient souls that contains the ancient spirits of the Crystal Mystics. It should also be noted that both the Dimension of Death and the Realm of the Dead are both described as a kind of purgatory/limbo where spirits are judged before moving onto other 'stages' of the afterlife (spirits are held in jail cells in ''[=DoD=]'', and in the Sea of Souls in the ''[=RotD=]'' before passing on to the next afterlife respectively).

* EvenBetterSequel / GrowingTheBeard: The series' gameplay, graphics, logic and overall quality tended to improve as the series progressed, with KQVI generally being regarded as the highest point of the franchise. However, KQ VII had a [[ContestedSequel mixed reception]], though positive in general, and KQVIII was a huge letdown that [[FranchiseKiller ruined the series]].

* FanonDiscontinuity: Mask of Eternity was ''not'' well-received by a portion of the fanbase, to the point where it's debatably InNameOnly. Even some of the old-school Sierra staffers distance themselves from it.

** The game was actually successful at least as successful as KQ7, and lead to the development of King's Quest 9 by Mark Seibert, but the game (along with many others) was cancelled as Sierra was closed down.
* FridgeBrilliance: To explain the whole FantasyKitchenSink scenario. Think about it -- once the books in our world are finished, the characters have to go somewhere. Perhaps Daventry is a purgatory of sorts for literature characters whose stories have ended, with no writer to continue them, so they end up here? [[note]]I would not count if a new writer eventually takes over, as each character is bound to the writer who created him/her/it. While the "new writers" may have the same characters, that would in turn create a second incarnation who is similar. But not exactly the same, as different writers, no matter how accurate they try to be, can never truly duplicate the original writer.[[/note]]

* In KQ8 the land of the dead doesn't even ''look'' like it does in ''VI''. (According to WordOfGod, Connor is located in a completely different land known as the Dimension of Death.) And how many Lords of the Dead, Rivers of Death, and ferrymen are there, anyway? Alexander and Connor don't meet the same Lord of the Dead (Samhain and Azriel, respectively), Alexander takes water from the River of Death and uses it as a spell ingredient (and if it were the same river as in ''[=KQVIII=]'', it should have dissolved his teacup and paintbrush), and Charon's boat can carry Alexander's physical form, whereas the boatman Connor meets has an incorporeal boat that can't take Connor's physical form. These are said to be based on the legends of Green Isles and in Daventry, respectively. Other worlds of the afterlife are alluded to or mentioned in other games in the series and the King's Quest Companion. Including "Hades", and "Hell/s", and the "underworld" of Welsh legends. In material associated with ''[=KQ7=]'', Ooga Booga is also treated as a Land of the Dead, where the dead of Etheria move on to when they die (this is mentioned by several characters in the game), and was expected to get more inhabitants if the volcano erupted. ''[=KQ8=]'' also includes an additional afterlife in reference to Chamber of Enlightenment in the Realm of Gnomes. It is referred to as the spirit-realm of ancient souls that contains the ancient spirits of the Crystal Mystics. It should also be noted that both the Dimension of Death and the Realm of the Dead are both described as a kind of purgatory/limbo where spirits are judged before moving onto other 'stages' of the afterlife (spirits are held in jail cells in ''[=DoD=]'', and in the Sea of Souls in the ''[=RotD=]'' before passing on to the next afterlife respectively).

* AngstWhatAngst: Alexander comes off as mostly well-adjusted and normal [[spoiler:despite his past of growing up as a mistreated slave]]. Fans (and some of the ExpandedUniverse material) have generally decided this is odd and tend to compensate by running in the opposite direction and making him TroubledButCute instead (particularly in ''VideoGame/TheSilverLining'').
** Though this seems to be a "Harry Potter" type of scenario, that being a naturally born hero, no matter how abused he was as a child, his natural good nature overpowers everything else.

* InternetBackdraft: There is a conspiracy theory that 2015 King's Quest game by the Odd Gentlemen was developed using money stolen from the ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' Kickstarter after they abandoned the project. Homestuck fans were ''not'' happy. TOG and Activision denies this though, and TOG claims they were fully funded by Activision. However, detractors continue to allege that The Odd Gentlemen have a previous record of swindling clients, including Neil Gaiman and that they were never able to account for where the money went after Andrew Hussie confirmed he received less than half a million back of what he gave them.

* InternetBackdraft: There is a conspiracy theory that 2015 King's Quest game by the Odd Gentlemen was developed using money stolen from the ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' Kickstarter after they abandoned the project. Homestuck fans were ''not'' happy. TOG and Activision denies this though, and TOG claims they were fully funded by Activision. Although newer information has shown The Odd Gentlemen have had a previous record of swindling clients, including Neil Gaiman and that they were never able to account for where the money went after Andrew Hussie confirmed he received less than half a million back of what he gave them.

* InternetBackdraft: There is a conspiracy theory that 2015 King's Quest game by the Odd Gentlemen was developed using money stolen from the ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' Kickstarter after they abandoned the project. Homestuck fans were ''not'' happy. TOG and Activision denies this though, and TOG claims they were fully funded by Activision.

** In ''FreddyPharkasFrontierPharmacist'', at one point, you can find a lost Cedric in the desert; later, you find him being picked clean by buzzards.

* InternetBackdraft: There is a conspiracy theorh that 2015 King's Quest game by the Odd Gentlemen was developed using money stolen from the ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' Kickstarter after they abandoned the project. Homestuck fans were ''not'' happy.

*
The land of the dead doesn't even ''look'' like it does in ''VI''. (According to WordOfGod, Connor is located in a completely different land known as the Dimension of Death.) And how many Lords of the Dead, Rivers of Death, and ferrymen are there, anyway? Alexander and Connor don't meet the same Lord of the Dead (Samhain and Azriel, respectively), Alexander takes water from the River of Death and uses it as a spell ingredient (and if it were the same river as in ''[=KQVIII=]'', it should have dissolved his teacup and paintbrush), and Charon's boat can carry Alexander's physical form, whereas the boatman Connor meets has an incorporeal boat that can't take Connor's physical form. These are said to be based on the legends of Green Isles and in Daventry, respectively. Other worlds of the afterlife are alluded to or mentioned in other games in the series and the King's Quest Companion. Including "Hades", and "Hell/s", and the "underworld" of Welsh legends. In material associated with ''[=KQ7=]'', Ooga Booga is also treated as a Land of the Dead, where the dead of Etheria move on to when they die (this is mentioned by several characters in the game), and was expected to get more inhabitants if the volcano erupted. ''[=KQ8=]'' also includes an additional afterlife in reference to Chamber of Enlightenment in the Realm of Gnomes. It is referred to as the spirit-realm of ancient souls that contains the ancient spirits of the Crystal Mystics. It should also be noted that both the Dimension of Death and the Realm of the Dead are both described as a kind of purgatory/limbo where spirits are judged before moving onto other 'stages' of the afterlife (spirits are held in jail cells in ''[=DoD=]'', and in the Sea of Souls in the ''[=RotD=]'' before passing on to the next afterlife respectively).

* InternetBackdraft: It eventually came to light that the 2015 King's Quest game by the Odd Gentlemen was developed using money stolen from the ''Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}'' Kickstarter after they abandoned the project. Homestuck fans were ''not'' happy.

* FanonDiscontinuity: Mask of Eternity was ''not'' well-received by the fanbase, to the point where it's debatably InNameOnly. Even the old-school Sierra staffers distance themselves from it.

** Completely averted with ''VI''. Sierra put up the cash for an extremely high-end voice cast, including the late Creator/TonyJay and Creator/DonMessick. Robby Benson from ''Disney/BeautyAndTheBeast'' played Alexander, which made one of the [[NonstandardGameOver Non-Standard Game Overs]] a lot funnier than it should have been.

* CanonDiscontinuity: Mask of Eternity has not been put on any of the compelation [=CDs=], nor written into the {{Novelization}}-style game guides. Though on GOG it is bundled with Kings Quest 7, in turn forcing you to buy it if you want the latter.

* {{Fanon}}: In the AGD remake, a hidden letter (search Manannan's desk four times) from [[spoiler: Lolotte]] to Manannan states that her "Sister" once had a crush on Manannan before he grew out his beard. Her sister is stated to me Malicia as they're both fairies. Not to mention [[spoiler: Both had a connection to Edgar, and Malicia may have even aided Lolotte in kidnapping him]] the letter also states that Hagatha is Manannan and Mordack's sister. While ALSO confirming [[spoiler: Lolotte]] and Hagatha as part of the Black Cloak Society. Though this game had ApprovalOfGod it's still nowhere near WordOfGod.

** Though bizarrely, despite being reviled by most of the fanbase, especially the hardcore fans, tribute fan games such as the ''King's Quest II'' remake, and "The Silver Lining" still state it as canon.
* FridgeBrilliance: To explain the whole FantasyKitchenSink scenario. Think about it? Once the books in our world are finished, the characters have to go somewhere. Perhaps Daventry is a purgatory of sorts, for literature characters whose stories have ended, with no writer to continue them, they end up here? [[note]] I would not count if a new writer eventually takes over, as each character is bound to the writer who created him/her/it. While the "new writers" may have the same characters, that would in turn create a second incarnation who is similar. But not exactly the same, as different writers, no matter how accurate they try to be, can never truly duplicate the original writer [[/note]]

** In ''FreddyPharkasFrontierPharmacist'' at one point you can find a lost Cedric in the desert, later you find him being picked clean by buzzards.

* InternetBackdraft: It eventually came to light that the 2015 King's Quest game by the Odd Gentlemen was developed using money stolen from the ''[[Webcomic/{{Homestuck}}]]'' Kickstarter after they abandoned the project. Homestuck fans were ''not'' happy.

* EvenBetterSequel / GrowingTheBeard: The series' gameplay, graphics, logic and overall quality tended to improve as the series progressed, with KQ VI generally being regarded as the highest point of the franchise. However, KQ VII had a [[ContestedSequel mixed reception]], though positive in general, and KQ VIII was a huge letdown that [[FranchiseKiller ruined the series]].

* WTHCastingAgency: Being one of the first computer games to feature voice acting, characters in the CD-ROM version of ''King's Quest V'' were voiced by only a handful of Sierra employees, with varying degrees of success. Sierra learned their lesson, and pioneered the concept of Hollywood actors voicing computer games, mentioned below.

** Though bizarrely, despite being reviled by most of the fanbase, especially the hardcore fans. Tribute fan games such as the ''King's Quest II'' remake, and "The Silver Lining" still state it as canon.

* TheScrappy: Cedric in ''King's Quest V''

*** even the official wiki passive-aggressively puts down Cedric. (Wikis have a rule of being unbiased)
----> The owl Cedric accompanies Graham through the entire game to provide commentary and advice. He has to be rescued from danger at several points, but the owl rarely says or does anything useful
** And if you play Ms. Astro Chicken long enough in ''Space Quest IV'', Cedric shows up. You can crash into him, survive, and get 50 bonus points.
** In FreddyPharkasFrontierPharmacist at one point you can see Cedric in the desert, later you find him dead.

* WTHCastingAgency: Being one of the first computer games to feature voice acting, characters in the CD-ROM version of the game were voiced by only a handful of Sierra employees, with varying degrees of success. Sierra learned their lesson, and pioneered the concept of Hollywood actors voicing computer games.

* AngstWhatAngst: Alexander comes off as mostly well-adjusted and normal [[spoiler:despite his past of growing up as a mistreated slave]]. Fans (and some of the ExpandedUniverse material) have generally decided this is odd and tend to compensate by running in the opposite direction and making him TroubledButCute instead (particularly in ''VideoGame/TheSilverLining''). Of course, fandom being what it is, there's also [[http://akril15.deviantart.com/art/Alexander-has-had-enough-41739833 fans who then wrap around and protest the compensation]].

** Though bizarrely, despite being reviled by most of the fanbase, especially the hardcore fans. hardcore tribute fan games such as KQ2 AGD, and "The Silver Lining" still state it as canon.

** In a more obscure sierra game, "Freddy Pharkas Frontier Pharmacist" at one point you can see Cedric in the desert, later you find him dead.

* WTHCastingAgency: {{Lampshaded}} in a LetsPlay of ''King's Quest V'' (the CD-ROM version of the game was voiced by Sierra employees, with varying degrees of success. Sierra learned their lesson, and pioneered the concept of Hollywood actors voicing computer games.)

** Though bizarrely, despite being reviled by most of the fanbase, especially the hardcore fans. Fan games such as KQ2 AGD, and "The Silver Lining" still state it as canon.

* FridgeBrilliance: To explain the whole FantasyKitchenSink scenario. Think about it? Once the books in our world are finished, the characters have to go somewhere. Perhaps Daventry is a purgatory of sorts, for literature characters whose stories have ended, with no writer to continue them, they end up here? [[note]] I would not count if a new writer eventually takes over, as each character is bound to the writer who created him/her/it. While the "sequels" may have the same characters, that would in turn create a second incarnation who is similar. But not exactly the same, as different writers, no matter how accurate they try to be, can never truly duplicate the original writer [[/note]]