r/kingsquest • u/GrahamRocks • 2h ago
Want to do a big video essay on the connections between fairytale inspirations and King's Quest as a series someday.
But I don't know where to begin.
Do I start by explaining the setting, or save that for the end? Or do I start with Graham's inspirations first, as a character study, cover the rest of the cast, then pull back and explain the larger world and all it's many versions (canon games, Companion, novels etc)?
Do I cover every referenced fairytale, as many versions as I can find and read, to set things up prior to showing how King's Quest does things differently? Or do I weave in everything as it comes up?
Do I cover every fairytale writer individually- Andrew Lang, Charles Perrault, Grimm Brothers, Madame D'Aulnoy etc - as their own specific segment (because they're all quite different in terms of what they focus on- everyone talks about how "Oooh, Grimm is always darkness and blood!" but that's not really the case most of the time beyond the popular stories daring to have villains get their comeuppance, which a lot of fairytale authors do, or that the characters go through conflict and danger, which is just good writing in general, and nobody talks about their bigger emphasis on religion compared to Perrault or Aulnoy)?
Obviously, I'm going to cover the Classic series because that has more prominent fairytale influence, but I also want to go over the Reboot as well, because while it doesn't reference them nearly as much, and in fact, is a lot more grounded (note I don't call it cynical or dark, just grounded), there's still a bit more subtle influence there in how/why everyone is written the way they are, that once you realize it, makes the changes made more interesting. I had the idea of doing a "Fairytale" based run of the game (at least recording relevant footage), and explaining how they both play certain things straight in terms of archetypes and subvert those expectations (Example 1: Reboot Graham is a great example of a classic underdog fairytale hero, where the youngest and weakest comes out on top in the end. Example 2: Whisper is a subversion of the trickster hero like The Brave Little Tailor who gets away with all he does, wheres it's implied by various dialogue that Whisper didn't but instead of being punished with death, he's humiliated and needs to start over again where nobody knows of his infamy).
But there's a snag when I get to Chapter Three specifically- who's going to be Valanice this time? Because both Vee and Neese are interesting characters in their own right, and focusing on either would prompt a discussion on fairytale heroines and the various things they're valued for.
Do I go for Neese and talk about how she ticks most of the boxes of fairytales in terms of how she's written, but also subverts it as well- she's clumsy, when fairytale princesses are always portrayed as graceful. She's a middle child when those types of characters tend to be left by the wayside of the narrative (with maybe one or two exceptions, because there's always exceptions), and the only times they tend to exist is either to fail where the youngest succeeds (see any fairytale that has multiple siblings going on the same quest, for example The Glass Hill), participate in abusing the youngest but not have it be as bad as whet the oldest does (see Cinderella), or barely be there at all other than to be married off to a random nobleman/made made a member of the protag's court if not just punished by the narrative. She's a bit sheltered and naive, but not to the point of foolishness.
Do I go for Vee and talk about how she, in any other fairytale, would be the "rival/bad" subversion of a proper princess at first glance and most likely punished by the narrative? That her wisdom and humor are good traits gained from her upbringing, but there's very few stories where the fairytale princesses who are said to be intelligent are actually seen and shown to be so (in fact, the only one I've found is Riquet of the Tuft by Charles Perrault, if there's more, I'd love to know!), rather than being told to us that she's intelligent (see Perrault's Sleeping Beauty for example). But she is kindly as we see in the Moral Quarrel game, she's just more practical minded and more of a realist compared to Neese's idealism- she helps the orphan because she knows teaching them to be honest with get them rewarded, she honors her medical oath to help those in worse shape rather trusted high marks, she considers it a sign of justice when a thief is punished for their thievery after they did her wrong, she's willing to put her job on the line to call out a client and inform his wife of his wrongdoing and so on.
There are no wrong choices in who to choose here, but do I stick to just one or the other or show both routes?
A more darker subsequent question, who's going to be Icebella in Chapter Four? The "evil" queen who is ultimately punished by someone who she thought was a friend until she ended up dead by their abuse of that trust? Who's the lamb for the slaughter, the one whom everyone misconstrues as cold and rude but who has hidden warmth in her maturity, honesty, and loyalty? Or the innocent, openly sweethearted maiden who's been slowly worn down over time by a reality check? It's going to hurt either way.
Not to mention, all three routes (Bravery, Compassion, Wisdom) for Graham arguably have fairytale-esque roots as well, as each emphasizes a different kind of fairytale hero.
So yeah, this has been something I've been wanting to do- a deep analysis of fairytales tied to King's Quest -for a while now, because I haven't seen anyone cover that without some gaps in their knowledge (such as apparently The Three Billy Goats Gruff being more obscure than I thought, nobody covers The Fairy Aurora either). I'm getting that itch to research again.
