King's Quest VI



King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow is the sixth installment of the popular King's Quest series.

The game follows Alexander, son of Graham and prince of Daventry. Desperately in love with Princess Cassima of the Land of the Green Isles, Alexander journeys to her kingdom, but is shipwrecked en route. He wakes up in the Land of the Green Isles, a strange and magical archipelago with islands based off the Arabian Nights, Alice in Wonderland, Ancient Greece, and other settings. Alexander quickly learns the place is not as friendly as he thought, and evil forces conspire against him as he tries to contact Cassima. His quest to find her takes him all over the land-- meeting strange characters, facing terrible perils, and making puns. Lots of puns. And dying, that happens a lot, too.

KQ VI is largely considered the best of the King's Quest series, due to its intriguing story, intelligent puzzles, lavish setting, and high production values (which include a CG introductory "movie" and professional voice actors-- novel concepts for a game back in 1992). This may be be because most of the design was done by Jane Jensen, she of Gabriel Knight fame, rather than series starter Roberta Williams. A companion guide, called "The Guidebook to the Land of the Green Isles," was packaged alongside the game; it acted as a security feature by providing clues to otherwise impossible puzzles and fleshed out story background, adding to the story's sense of depth. Now if only the guidebook didn't get lost so easily...

"Cassima: Oh, Alexander, I'm so happy that you've finally rescued me. Alexander: Yes, my love. Cassima: It's just too bad that you never avenged my murdered parents, or found the stolen treasures of the Green Isles, or uncovered the secrets of the Isle of Mist... Alexander: Ah, yes, well, um... Cassima: ...or ended the feud among the island rulers, or captured Alhazred's genie, or mastered the lost magic of the realm, or defeated the ruler of the Underworld..."
 * Actor Allusion: One of the puzzles is based on Beauty and The Beast. The game stars Robby Benson and Tony Jay, who had recently appeared in the Disney version of that story.
 * Alcohol Hic: For genies (or to be more precise, for Shamir; the Backstory reveals that different genies have different weaknesses), peppermint acts like alcohol does for humans. Give Shamir Shamazel a peppermint and he suffers from hiccups, slurred speech, and disorientation.
 * You can take advantage this every time someone with Eyes of Gold tries to kill you; either with the mints from the store or the leaves from the top of the Cliffs of Logic.
 * Angel Face, Demon Face: The genie.
 * Anthropomorphic Personification: Some rather specific examples are on The Isle of Wonder; as well as having a literal Bookworm, the worm himself is friends to personifications of grammar. Then there's the garden, and the swamp...
 * Arabian Nights Days: Isle of the Crown is very much this trope, with one major modification: there is no desert, the island is actually covered with lush vegetation.
 * Award Bait Song: "Girl in the Tower" (although Sierra actually got in trouble with some radio stations for trying to push them to play the song).
 * Badass Damsel/Princess: Cassima, after she gets a small weapon.
 * Benevolent Genie: The guidebook includes a story about a kind genie, who was only as kind as his master..
 * BFS:
 * Big Damn Heroes:
 * Big Lipped Alligator Moment: Invoked by Alexander in the Realm of the Dead. Playing an upbeat tune on a xylophone causes the grim skeletal guards to dance happily. When the music stops, the undead act as if nothing happened.
 * Big No:
 * Black Cloak: The Black Cloak Society.
 * Black Widow: A literal black widow spider.
 * Bloodless Carnage: In some scenes where there should have been a bit of blood whenever you get shot at or killed by spikes or arrows, or even impaled . Justified in one scene when one room is dark and you get split in half, yet you can't even see the blood because of darkness.
 * Bound and Gagged:
 * Bratty Teenage Daughter: Lady Celeste, daughter of Lord Azure and Lady Ariel of the Winged Ones.
 * Breaking the Fourth Wall: This game has a unique example:
 * It also has a more "traditional" example elsewhere in the game: On the first screen of the Cliffs of Logic, if you misclick on the steps Alexander will simply land on the ground on his backside instead of dying from the fall. Do it enough times and he'll look right at the player and gripe that you should "Quit making me fall!"
 * Bull Seeing Red: The Minotaur is defeated.
 * But This Is Ridiculous: "Alexander's heard of alphabet soup..."
 * By the Lights of Their Eyes: Hilariously used.
 * Celestial Bureaucracy: "Ticket please... NEXT!"
 * In the voiced version: "Tickets only! NEXT!"
 * The Doormaster does say "Ticket please... NEXT!" in the voiced version, but this is only because Alex arrives at the underworld entrance alive, rather than every time he gets killed.
 * Continuity Nod: Alexander remembers the magic training that he received, and can cast spells if he has the right ingredients.
 * Copy Protection: The Cliffs of Logic simply cannot be scaled without the "Guidebook to the Land of the Green Isles" manual or the King's Quest Companion Booklet. The re-release does provide a copy of the former, but it doesn't have the genie story or the Land of the Dead section, probably because while they gave minor hints, they were more entertaining than useful. Also, the re-release combines the manuals for all 7 games into a single PDF file. The games are on one disc, and the manuals on the other, arguably as a subtle form of copy-protection, as first-timers are less likely to realize how ABSOLUTELY VITAL the manual is throughout the series.
 * Damn You, Muscle Memory!: In most other SCI engine based adventure games by Sierra the icons on the interface are presented in this order: Walk, Look, Action, Talk, specific actions unique to some games, quick inventory item, inventory, menu, and help. King's Quest VI swapped the look and action icons, and it takes some time to get used to it.
 * Darkness Equals Death: If you don't use the tinder box to light up the darkened Minotaur's lair, things can get pretty ugly.
 * The Dead Can Dance: Alexander sees some bones set up to look like a xylophone. He starts playing Dem Bones. Things...take off from there.
 * Dem Bones
 * Descending Ceiling: In the Labyrinth.
 * Despair Speech: Alexander uses this while acting like a Drama Prince.
 * The Dev Team Thinks of Everything: The creators actually went to quite a bit of trouble to predict the many different possible ways to solve (or not solve) various puzzles and what order you can solve them in, and put in different conversations, cutscenes, and descriptions to cover them.
 * Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?:
 * Disguised in Drag/Dude Looks Like a Lady: Alexander if you chose the short path.
 * Disney Death:
 * Distant Duet: The full version of "Girl in the Tower".
 * Distressed Damsel: Princess Cassima (although if she can just get a small weapon... see Badass Damsel above.)
 * Also, Celeste, possibly the Dangling Participle, and even Cassima's parents.
 * Does This Remind You of Anything?:
 * Drama Queen: Or shall we say "Drama Prince"? Alexander sure acts like one.
 * Alex's sad eyebrows and frowning mouth in the Windows-enhanced version makes the drama acting more depressing, as if he were about to cry.
 * Easy Mode Mockery: If you take the short path, even winning feels like losing.
 * Drama Queen: Or shall we say "Drama Prince"? Alexander sure acts like one.
 * Alex's sad eyebrows and frowning mouth in the Windows-enhanced version makes the drama acting more depressing, as if he were about to cry.
 * Easy Mode Mockery: If you take the short path, even winning feels like losing.


 * Empty Room Until the Trap: The pitfalls in the maze.
 * Everything's Better with Princesses: Cassima. Celeste might count as one, but she goes by 'Lady Celeste'.
 * Evil Chancellor: Alhazred.
 * Evil Sorcerer: The Society of the Black Cloak is assumed to be mainly composed of these, although Alhazred gives zero indication in the entire game of being a sorcerer -- he's the man behind the bottle...
 * Evil Plan: Alhazred was running a great one.
 * Eye Pop: Alexander's reaction !
 * Eyes of Gold: For some reason, lots of people in the Land of the Green Isles have sparkling gold eyes! And these are the people who always try to get you to do dangerous things! How totally coincidental!
 * Fairy Tale: Although more inspired by other works, it wouldn't be a King's Quest game without a few fairy tale references -- most obviously, Beauty and the Beast.
 * Fake Longevity: It's mild, but it's there: Alexander can have only one of the four pawn shoppe items with him at a time, necessitating some walking back and forth. Generally, though, if you know what you'll need in the future, you can swap items pretty quickly while doing other things.
 * Fantastic Fragility: Alexander discusses this when the Beast tells him about his curse.
 * Fantastic Racism: The residents of The Isle of The Sacred Mountain tend to get snooty towards non-winged beings.
 * Fantasy Kitchen Sink: Probably more than anywhere else in the series (well, maybe KQII). But honestly, a game that combines references to Greek Mythology, Arabian Nights Days, Alice in Wonderland, Beauty and The Beast,, and the standard medieval fantasy of Daventry can't be anything but this trope.
 * Faux Death: In the Isle of Wonder, there is a small bottle that says "Drink Me." If you drink it at the right time, at the right place, something interesting might happen...
 * The Ferry Man: Charon shows up in The Realm of the Dead.
 * Fission Mailed: In the Minotaur's lair, there are many rooms with deadly trap doors, and one with a not-so-deadly trap door. If you, like many, restored every time you started to fall, it took a long time to realize you had to fall into one of them. There was also the bottle that shows up on the Isle of Wonder. Take a swig, and it appears as though Alex drops dead. Seeing as your typical KQ game had Everything Trying to Kill You, this seems to be another trap... until Alex wakes up. Also, some of the places where you observe cutscenes of your demise (or failure) are visitable while you're alive later in the game, such as the underworld.
 * For the Evulz: Implied. Alhazred's stated motivation for . There might be other reasons, but the game never really goes into it.
 * It can be generally assumed, however, that this is.
 * Genie in a Bottle: Shamir. An important puzzle involves getting his bottle, although in this case
 * Interestingly, the only way to get Shamir's bottle involves doing something so that you, the player, can find out what it looks like.
 * Girl in the Tower: Cassima; the Award Bait Song is the Trope Namers.
 * Glowing Eyes of Doom: Every time someone tells you to do something dangerous, they have sparkling gold eyes! Just like that genie! Isn't that weird?
 * Gorgeous Garment Generation: Beauty.
 * The Grim Reaper: The Lord of the Dead is a sinister, imposing figure who Was Once a Man before he was bound eternally to his underworld throne by heavy chains. Any living soul he touches is Deader Than Dead. Pretty grim.
 * Guide Dang It: Well, obviously. It's a Sierra game. Several items in the game are small, easy to miss, and appear in a room you've already visited after an unrelated event some place else.
 * The first instance of this appears on the very first screen. Unless you can figure out that the piece of wood that looks exactly like any other piece of the shipwreck can be moved, you're more or less stuck.
 * Fortunately, the game is somewhat forgiving in this regard: items will only show up in rooms that you have to pass through to complete some kind of delivery or item exchange in order to progress. And all important items either glow or otherwise draw attention to themselves by standing out.
 * Additionally, the game allows you to re-enter either floor of the labyrinth at any time except when you're in the Land of the Dead.
 * Happily Married: Cassima's parents.
 * Have a Nice Death: Every death screen, crossed with Incredibly Lame Pun.
 * Hellish Horse: The Nightmare.
 * Hoist by His Own Petard:
 * Homage: Alexander's outfit in KQ6 is lifted more-or-less straight from Kevin Costner's wardrobe in Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves.
 * Hyperspace Arsenal: You have to wonder how Alex fits all that stuff into his "pockets".
 * I Can't Believe It's Not Heroin!: Shamir is hopelessly addicted to mint; just a small amount puts him in a drunken stupor.
 * Impaled with Extreme Prejudice:

"Alexander: [struggling for breath] Help me!! Boy!Shamir: I think not! [Evil Laugh]"
 * Invisibility: Alexander can use this via invisible ink to pass the final test with one of the Sense Gnomes.
 * It Is Pronounced "Tro-PAY": Many walkthroughs and guide manuals on the game pronounce Alhazred's title as "Vizier" (vi-ZEER), but in the voiced version of the game itself, his title is only pronounced as "Wazir" (wuh-ZEER).
 * Also, the Winged Ones' title is pronounced as "wing-ed" in the voiced version.
 * Jaw Drop: The Pawn Shop Owner's reaction.
 * The Jester: Jollo the Clown, a jester in the court of the Castle of the Crown. He can be very helpful on your quest if you treat him right.
 * Kids Are Cruel: In this case, Shamir, disguised as a swimming boy, if Alexander follows his advice and tries to swim.


 * The Lady's Favour: Cassima's ribbon and note.
 * Lampshaded Double Entendre: Black Widow says that she's a Femme Fatale, "if you know what I mean." And in her charming, sexy voice too. As you know, she is also very dangerous to those who try to touch her web.
 * Large Ham: Shamir Shamazel in the voiced version. Of course, some of his hamminess in a few scenes (and disguises) has been taken to ridiculous new levels.
 * Alexander himself when he.
 * Last-Note Nightmare/Heartbeat Soundtrack: The last few seconds of "Alexander's Suicide", incurred by 's heartbeat slowing down to a stop.
 * Laughably Evil: Shamir Shamazel, the Shapeshifting Genie who squeals like a girl and gets drunk on mints.
 * Leitmotif: Quite a few are sprinkled throughout the game; matter of fact, they quite often serve as clues for the puzzles (see Musical Spoiler below).
 * Let's Play: On YouTube, by hercrabbiness and LateBlt.
 * Later done by Retsupurae.
 * The Lifestream: The Sea of Souls.
 * Live Item: The Dangling Participle, Rotten Tomato, and Hole In the Wall.
 * Lohengrin and Mendelssohn:
 * Lucky Rabbit's Foot: An out-of-work ferryman has a rabbit's foot, which he notes isn't doing him any good. With the right prompting, he will give it to Alexander, who can use it to save his skin later. At no point does it noticeably improve anyone's luck.
 * Magic Mirror: The Mirror of Truth.
 * The Many Deaths of You: There are quite many deaths: some of them hilarious, some of them disturbing, and some of them Non-Standard Game Overs. See all ten videos in all their gory... er... glory.
 * The Maze: The Minotaur's labyrinth, with the added annoyance of death traps and death pits. "Alexander gets a funny feeling about this room..."
 * Morphic Resonance: The shapeshifting genie can always be identified by his Eyes of Gold.
 * Multiple Endings: There are two endings, the "short" path and "long" path. The short path is, well, shorter, won't give you Hundred-Percent Completion, and taunts you when you "win." The long path is more rewarding.
 * Aside from the two branching paths, there can be some minor variations along the way, such as not recovering the insignia ring from the pawn shop, or not recovering the island treasures in the long path.
 * Mundane Made Awesome: Sort of: In the Windows-enhanced version, if you look closely at the portrait of the speaking Arch-Druid, the jaguar he is wearing blinks its eyes at the same time that the Arch-Druid blinks his. It's creepy!
 * Musical Spoiler: Beauty (in the mansion on the Isle of the Crown) and the Beast (in his garden, on the Isle of the Beast) have the same Leitmotif.
 * As do the Bookworm's area and the Dangling Participle (when you meet him on the Isle of the Beast).
 * My Master, Right or Wrong: Everyone who serves Alhazred feels this way, with only fear, loyalty to the Crown or ownership of their lamp binding them to him.
 * Mythology Gag: The back wall of the pawn shop holds many items that would have been very helpful to players of previous King's Quest games.
 * Near Villain Victory: Walking into the wedding hall to see "Cassima" enthusiastically declaring her intent to marry the Grand Wazir.
 * Neutral Female: Subverted by Cassima, who could save herself, if only she had a weapon...
 * No Endor Holocaust: There was no possible way that Alexander's crew could've survived the shipwreck, yet we're assured a few times they did.
 * Non Lethal Bottomless Pits: There's one in the Labyrinth, surrounded by, and indistinguishable from, lethal ones. You must go through it to get through the maze.
 * Nonstandard Game Over: Several -- If you miss Beast's deadline, if you are touched by the Lord of the Dead, and if you get sent to the dungeons near the end.
 * Nothing but Skulls: Death's throne.
 * Oh, No, Not Again: Alexander says "Not again!"
 * Ominous Pipe Organ: This Ominous Pipe Organ music plays a grotesque version of Lohengrin and Mendelssohn's Bridal Chorus near the end of the game ! Give it a listen here!
 * Also, the same ominous pipe organ music plays during the first half of "Stopping the Wedding".
 * Only Smart People May Pass: Alex and the door to the Underworld (there is a hint to it earlier in the game, but it is rather vague).
 * "What was the riddle? More importantly: What was the answer?" ...
 * However, it should be noted that the door's riddle relies entirely on which letter is found in word A but not word B. Not too hard to figure out.
 * Open Sesame: Although the password isn't "Sesame".
 * Our Gnomes Are Weirder: There are five rhyming Sense Gnomes in one of the islands that can kill any human who sets foot on the island. And their naming features are based on the five senses (with their names in parentheses): The Gnome with the Jumbo Nose (Smell; Old Tom Trow), the Gnome with the Monumental Ears (Hearing; Hark Grovernor), the Gnome with the Gigantic Mouth (Taste; Grump-Frump), the Gnome with the Huge Hands (Touch; Trilly-Dilly), and the Gnome with the Enormous Eyes (Sight; Old Billy Batter).
 * Pixel Hunt: Yes, there are a few of those.
 * Point of No Return: You have a choice on whether you want to go the long route or the short route after you help the Beast, but after you've made your choice, you're stuck with it. Also,.
 * As I recall, if you didn't early in the game by, you're locked out of the long route.
 * Not exactly -- you can still mostly do the long route but don't have the option to.
 * Reasonable Authority Figure: Captain Saladin.
 * Red Right Hand: See Eyes of Gold above.
 * Rhymes on a Dime: The Sense Gnomes.
 * Schmuck Bait: All those people with ominous glowing eyes keep giving you all these really easy ways to solve puzzles -- like swimming to the next island (forget the deadly ocean currents!); learning to fly by eating nightshade (not that poisonous, really!); and passing through a gate with a stone archer about to shoot you (he's harmless!).
 * Sequel Hook: References to the "Black Cloak Society" could be taken as this, but they weren't actually used in the sequels.
 * Fanon, however, especially the Fan Remake of King's Quest II Romancing the Throne and the Fan Sequel The Silver Lining have proceeded to pick it up and run.
 * Shallow Love Interest: Cassima. Note how she and Alexander first meet in the final scene of King's Quest V Absence Makes the Heart Go Yonder, just before the helpful wizard teleports everyone home. Then again, this fits the Fairy Tale genre.
 * More of a courtship than Alex's parents had, though. And if you play for full points, they do get to exchange letters and trinkets.
 * It's also implied they were able to speak at least a little bit during King's Quest V.
 * Shaped Like Itself: If you use the hand icon on the tinder box, you are told, "It feels exactly like a tinder box."
 * Shout-Out: The villain is named, of all things, Abdul Alhazred.
 * The bookstore owner is named Ali, and according to the Companion, the pawn shop owner is named Hakim.
 * Single Tear: Alexander makes the Lord of the Dead shed one by.
 * Skeleton Key: It not only opens any lock (which is useful in case Alex gets imprisoned), it's also shaped like a skeleton, and Alex has to steal it from a real skeleton.
 * Smooch of Victory
 * Spanner in the Works: Used literally in the dungeon. Metaphorically, Alexander is one for Alhazred's Evil Plan.
 * Spot the Impostor: In the short run.
 * Standard Hero Reward
 * Strange Syntax Speaker: The Dangling Participle, who even talks in Yoda-speak.
 * Super Drowning Skills: Justified, as the Land of the Green Isles is surrounded by extremely dangerous currents that will pull Alexander out to sea if he steps out far enough to be caught by the undertow (or gets tossed in by the gnomes at the Isle of Wonder.) Plus, the game warns you about the sea's pull.
 * It's not that bad. That one kid (who definitively isn't a Genie in disguise) even says it's fun and suggests that Alexander should jump off the pier.
 * Sword Fight/Good Old Fisticuffs:
 * Tears From a Stone: The Lord of the Dead's challenge:
 * Throwing Down the Gauntlet: Used literally: you can defy The Lord of the Dead by showing him a dead knight's gauntlet.
 * To Hell and Back: The trip to the Underworld.
 * Unfinished Business: The reason Cassima's parents can't move on in the Land of the Dead -- you have to bring them back so they can finish it.
 * Ungrateful Bitch: Lady Celeste. After all the time it took Alexander to save her from the Minotaur, too.
 * Unwinnable: It wouldn't be a Sierra game without them, although this one did cut down on them a bit. Mainly things become Unwinnable when you pass a Point of No Return and forget to get something.
 * Verbal Tic: The Doormaster skeleton saying "NEXT!" whenever he asks you for a ticket and you give it to him. This is especially weirder in the Game Over screen every time you die.
 * Wackyland: The Isle of Wonder.
 * What a Senseless Waste of Human Life: The Pawn Shop Owner says this,.
 * Why Don't You Just Shoot Him?: The Genie is sent all the time to trick you, but never to actually attack or kill you, except in the penultimate scene. Justified in that, even with an evil master, the Genie really abhors violence, and it requires considerable pressure from Abdul to push him that far.
 * Wicked Stepmother: Beauty has one.
 * Wife Husbandry: An inverted example..
 * With Due Respect: Captain Saladin to Alhazred: "With all due respect, my lord, you are not king yet."
 * Winged Humanoid: The Winged Ones on the Isle of the Sacred Mountain.
 * A Worldwide Punomenon: Starting from the title, to all of the death messages.
 * Wounded Gazelle Gambit/Crocodile Tears:
 * Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe:
 * Also the book of love poems and the gauntlet.