The first game of the King’s Quest series begins as the player is introduced to his or her onscreen avatar: “You are Sir Graham, the bravest and most honorable knight in the troubled realm of Daventry” (Sierra 1984). The avatar of Sir Graham is now iconic—pointy blue hat, black hair, red tunic and knee high black boots. This introduction serves as all the needed back-story for Sir Graham’s life prior to his adventure. This initial figure from the earliest version of King’s Quest I lacked any specific characteristics or capability of displaying expression—Sir Graham was mostly an iconic male figure left somewhat blank for the projection of the own player’s humanity. Sir
Graham develops as a specific character more as the series develops, as each game continues to relate to him and his family as he becomes first the ruler of Daventry and then a husband, father, and aging king. Stepping into Graham’s black boots and experiencing Graham as a character at first requires filling in the blanks with the traditions of the questing knightly hero: Graham is singled out by the king as a knight of honor, and the player’s first impression of him is through the king’s
eyes, as the king explains the reasoning behind his choice of Sir Graham as future leader of the realm. Later, when Graham goes on his quest to rescue his future wife Valanice, Graham is revealed through her circumstances as a valiant love interest (1985). Through interacting with these characters, the player gets a heroic image of the character he or she inhabits.
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