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'''''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. [[Hurricane of Puns|Lots of puns]]. [[Have a Nice Death|And dying, that happens a lot too]].

''King's Quest 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...

{{tropelist}}
* [[Alcohol Hic]]: For genies (or to be more precise, for Shamir; the Backstory reveals that different genies have different [[Weaksauce Weakness|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 [[Playing with a Trope|one major modification]]: there is no desert, the island is actually [[Inverted Trope|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).
* {{spoiler|[[Awesome Moment of Crowning]]: Whichever path is taken, Alex and Cassima are crowned king and queen of the Land of the Green Isles at their wedding. Fully completing the long path makes this happen with both sides' parents' loving approval; King Caliphim is even the one to suggest it}}.
* {{spoiler|[[Back from the Dead]]}}: {{spoiler|Justified in that, after Alexander defeats Samhain, Lord of the Dead, the latter resurrects Caliphim and Allaria from their ghostly selves and gives them a few more years of their mortality}}.
* [[Badass Damsel]]/[[Badass Princess|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. {{spoiler|This is a hint on how to solve the game... if you manage to get Shamir's bottle during the last fight. Otherwise, Shamir is trying to kill you on his master's orders}}.
* [[Big Damn Heroes]]: {{spoiler|Caliphim and Allaria arrive to save Alexander from getting killed by Saladin on Cassima!Shamir's orders in the long path}}.
** {{spoiler|Also, Jollo arrives at the last moment to hand Shamir's lamp to Alexander just when Shamir is about to kill him. This only happens if you have befriended Jollo and handed him a replica of the blue lamp in the long path}}.
* [[Big Freaking Sword]]: {{spoiler|The Ceremonial Sword near the end of the game. And this fake sword is just so heavy to carry or even wield in a [[Sword Fight]], except when Alexander ''does'' do something useful: to use the hilt to knock Alhazred out unconscious while he is distracted by Cassima}}.
* [[Big No]]: {{spoiler|Cassima, after Shamir kills Alexander if he doesn't do something to deal with the Genie}}.
* [[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 {{spoiler|by Captain Saladin}}. Justified in one scene [[Darkness Equals Death|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]]: {{spoiler|Make that "Bound, but Not Gagged": Lady Celeste, tied to the altar in the Catacombs, and later Cassima at the top of the tower near the end of the game (she will free herself, assuming that Alex gave her the dagger, of course)}}.
* [[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: {{spoiler|the only way to know which lamp to get from the lamp trader is to watch a cutscene that Alexander doesn't witness. Later, when Alexander is asked by Jollo how he knew which lamp to take, he simply states, "Just intuition, I guess"}}.
** 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 {{spoiler|with the Red Queen's scarf}}.
* [[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 {{spoiler|in the third game}}, 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 seven 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.
* [[Damsel in Distress]]: 
** 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.
* [[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... [[Non Sequitur Scene|take off]] [[Funny Moments (Sugar Wiki)|from there]].
* [[Dem Bones]]
* [[Descending Ceiling]]: In the Labyrinth.
* [[Despair Speech]]: Alexander uses this while acting like a [[Drama Queen|Drama Prince]] {{spoiler|in front of Shamir and the Pawn Shop Owner}}.
* [[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 [http://adventuregamers.com/forums/showpost.php?p=179410&postcount=1 different conversations, cutscenes, and descriptions to cover them].
* [[Did You Just Flip Off Cthulhu?]]: {{spoiler|The Lord of the Dead gets this reaction when Alex [[Throwing Down the Gauntlet|throws down the (literal) gauntlet]]}}.
* [[Disguised in Drag]]: Alexander if you chose the short path.
* [[Disney Death]]: {{spoiler|Alexander, to Shamir and the Pawn Shop Owner. Of course, Alex is [[Faux Death|only faking it]], so that only the Pawn Shop Owner can be surprised that Alex suddenly returns to life after the "Drink Me" potion's effects wear off}}.
* [[Distant Duet]]: The full version of "Girl in the Tower".
* [[Does This Remind You of Anything?]]: {{spoiler|Alhazred's "marriage" to Shamir at the wedding... if one can see through his Cassima disguise. This is even planned beforehand by Alhazred in the long path mode when he tells Shamir to look "beautiful and pretty" at the wedding in the scene that occurs after Alexander has faked his own death}}.
* [[Drama Queen]]: Or shall we say "Drama ''Prince''"? Alexander sure acts like one {{spoiler|while he is feigning suicide in front of Shamir Shamazel and the Pawn Shop Owner}}. Alex's [[Emo|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 [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=trH6uyWtX_w take the short path], even winning feels like losing.
{{quote|'''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...}}
* [[Empty Room Until the Trap]]: The pitfalls in the maze.
* [[Eucatastrophe]]: Walking into the wedding hall to see "Cassima" enthusiastically declaring her intent to marry the [[Evil Chancellor|Grand Wazir]].
* [[Everything's Better with Princesses]]: Cassima. Celeste might count as one, but she goes by 'Lady Celeste'.
* [[Evil Chancellor]]: Alhazred.
* [[Evil Plan]]: Alhazred was running a great one.
* [[Evil Sorcerer]]: The Society of the Black Cloak is ''[[Epileptic Trees|assumed to be]]'' mainly composed of these, although Alhazred gives zero indication in the entire game of being a sorcerer... he's [[Genie in a Bottle|the man behind the bottle]]...
* [[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!
* [[Eye Take]]: 
** Alexander's reaction {{spoiler|to the hunter's lamp bubbling and boiling for the perfection of the Make Rain Spell... while locked in a cage over the druids' bonfire}}!
** A bit less obvious, but this also happens to {{spoiler|Captain Saladin when you show the mirror of truth to Cassima!Shamir}}.
* [[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 ''King's Quest II''). But honestly, a game that combines references to [[Greek Mythology]], [[Arabian Nights Days]], ''[[Alice in Wonderland]]'', ''[[Beauty and The Beast]]'', {{spoiler|Druids}}, 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]]: [[Ur Example|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 {{spoiler|stealing the treasures is to "make the other islands hate each other"}}. There might be other reasons, but the game never really goes into it. It can be generally assumed, however, that this is {{spoiler|simply to draw attention away from his plans, as well as make them harder to stop. It works too: Alexander has a lot of trouble winning the trust of the other islands' inhabitants}}.
* [[Genie in a Bottle]]: Shamir. An important puzzle involves getting his bottle, although in this case, {{spoiler|it isn't about finding ''his'' bottle, per se}}...
** Interestingly, the only way to get Shamir's bottle involves doing something so that you, ''the player'', can find out what it looks like. {{spoiler|When Alex passes the correct bottle to Jollo and is asked how he knew which one to get, he replies that he just had a feeling about it}}.
* [[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 {{spoiler|and Alexander and Cassima herself}}.
* [[Have a Nice Death]]: Every death screen, crossed with [[Incredibly Lame Pun]].
* [[Hellish Horse]]: The Nightmare.
* [[Hoist by His Own Petard]]: {{spoiler|If you give the peppermint to Shamir in the final battle, he will get too drunk on mints to concentrate on killing Alexander and accidentally use his own magic on himself, ending his own life}}.
* [[Homage]]: Alexander's outfit in ''King's Quest VI'' 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.
* [[If You Know What I Mean]]: 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.
* [[Impaled with Extreme Prejudice]]: {{spoiler|Captain Saladin will not hesitate to run Alexander through with his sword if Alex can't prove he's not a threat to Cassima}}:
{{quote|{{spoiler|'''Saladin:''' [[Pre-Mortem One-Liner|Since you cannot prove your point]], [[A Worldwide Punomenon|I shall prove mine]]}}!}}
* [[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 {{spoiler|to Alexander's collapse under the side effects of the "Drink Me" potion in the presence of [[The Men in Black|the Man in Black-disguised]] Shamir}}.
* [[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.
{{quote|'''Alexander:''' ''[struggling for breath]'' Help me!!
'''Boy!Shamir:''' I think not! ''[[[Evil Laugh]]]''}}
* [[The Lady's Favour]]: Cassima's ribbon and note.
* [[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 {{spoiler|fakes his death in the pawn shop}}.
* [[Last-Note Nightmare]]/[[Heartbeat Soundtrack]]: The last few seconds of "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1l26RYMtD6U Alexander's Suicide]", incurred by {{spoiler|Alex}}'s heartbeat slowing down to a stop {{spoiler|via "Drink Me" potion}}.
* [[Laughably Evil]]: Shamir Shamazel, the [[Shapeshifting]] Genie who [[Squee|squeals]] like a girl and [[I Can't Believe It's Not Heroin!|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 [http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=74899A14D5D91FB9 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]]: {{spoiler|A minor-key variation of Lohengrin plays for Abdul's wedding to the fake Cassima ("Oh no, it's wedding music!"). When Alexander weds the real Cassima, Lohengrin and Mendelssohn are played as usual}}.
* [[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 [[Nonstandard Game Over|Non-Standard]] [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|Game Overs]]. [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLSviwsbA_k See] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EReT9479XJI all] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JPLFol0Gh-E ten] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BN8_cUuSaSU videos] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39hePe_idqc in] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oPT_s4ZQbSU all] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_ZkZvRbGc0 their] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWJzkShx0bw gory...] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KO4wfFW4po er...] [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rGMVDfE2L34 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 [[100% 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.
* [[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.
* [[Non Sequitur Scene]]: [[Invoked]] by Alexander in the Realm of the Dead. Playing an upbeat tune on a xylophone causes [[The Dead Can Dance|the grim skeletal guards to dance happily]]. When the music stops, the undead act as if nothing happened.
* [[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!" {{spoiler|when he gets caught by the druids on his second trip to the Isle of the Mists. This "Not again!" quote marks the second time that he's been captured (the first time was by the Winged Ones)}}.
* [[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 {{spoiler|when the [[Evil Chancellor|Grand Wazir]] Alhazred is getting married to Cassima!Shamir... but in pretense}}! [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PhIQcGo8Z14 Give it a listen here]!
** Also, the same ominous pipe organ music plays during the first half of "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZFzWgUNWu8 Stopping the Wedding]".
* [[One-Way Entrance]]: One room of the catacombs that Prince Alexander enters in has the two doors slamming shut and the ceiling starts to descend.
* [[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?" ...{{spoiler|Hey, a scrap of paper with the word "love" written on it! Wonder what that was all about}}?
** 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, {{spoiler|the Underworld is entirely like this}}. As I recall, if you didn't {{spoiler|befriend Jollo}} early in the game by {{spoiler|showing him your signet ring}}, 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 {{spoiler|capture the genie... you have to kill him}}.
* [[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|King's Quest II: Romancing the Throne]]'' and the [[Fan Sequel]] ''[[The Silver Lining (video game)|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|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 {{spoiler|via Cassima's pet bird}}.
*** 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, [[H.P. Lovecraft|Abdul Alhazred]].
** [[Oklahoma!|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 {{spoiler|using the Mirror of Truth to show him his own pathetic life}}.
* [[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 ([[Blatant Lies|who definitively isn't a Genie in disguise]]) [[Schmuck Bait|even says it's fun and suggests that Alexander should jump off the pier]].
* [[Sword Fight]]/[[Good Old Fisticuffs]]: {{spoiler|Alex and Alhazred alternate between these while the former carries a fake, heavy sword during the ultimate battle}}.
* [[Tears From a Stone]]: The Lord of the Dead's challenge: {{smallcaps|"Make me cry."}}
* [[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 Bastard|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, {{spoiler|unaware that Alex has [[Faux Death|faked his own death]] in front of Shamir}}.
* [[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. {{spoiler|Part of the reason Caliphim misplaced his trust in Alhazred was because he might end up as a suitable son-in-law}}.
* [[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]]: {{spoiler|Alexander acts all [[Emo]] in the Pawn Shop and pretends [[Despair Speech|that all hope is lost without Cassima]] while pretending to cry, and fakes suicide by drinking the "Drink Me" potion. This gambit is an effort to trick Shamir and the guard dogs into lowering their guard for entry into the castle}}.
* [[Ye Olde Butcherede Englishe]]: {{spoiler|The encounters with the Gate and Samhain, Lord of the Dead}}.
** Also the book of love poems and the gauntlet.

{{reflist}}
[[Category:The Nineties]]
[[Category:Adventure Game]]
[[Category:Fantasy Video Games]]
[[Category:Video Game]]
[[Category:King's Quest]]
[[Category:King&#39;s Quest VI]]
[[Category:DOS]]
[[Category:Windows 3.x]]
[[Category:Apple Macintosh]]
[[Category:Amiga]]
[[Category:Steam]]
[[Category:GOG.com]]
[[Category:Sierra Entertainment]]
[[Category:Video Games of the 1990s]]