Alexander

Alexander (aka Alexander-Gwydion, Alex) is the son of Graham and Valanice, Grandson of Prince Cedric and Coignice on his mother's side, and Sir Hereward on his father's, and twin brother of Rosella. He is the sole crown Prince of Daventry as well as the King of the Green Isles. Alexander's full name and title as a member of the Royal Family is Prince Alexander of Daventry, and King Alexander. He is also known as Gwydion of Llewdor.

Background
As an infant he was kidnapped out of his cradle by the wizard Manannan. His parents had taken the babies and some friends on a summer outing on Lake Maylie. That evening, Manannan put some kind of a brief sleep spell on the assemblage; one moment he was there, the next he was gone, although the cradle still rocked. Though some claim he was kidnapped from his nursery. Manannan kept Alexander as a slave, intending to kill him on his eighteenth birthday. He did teach the prince to read and write, but he never revealed Alexander's true identity. The prince only knew himself as Gwydion, until he escaped and returned home to Daventry. Upon his return, he rescued his sister Rosella from a three-headed dragon and rejoined his family.

Some time later he traveled to the Floating Castle to free his father's disembodied soul from the evil sorcerer, Telgrin, which saves his father's life.

He was minimized along with his family and castle in KQ V by Mordack because he was supposed to be able to turn Mordack's brother, Manannan back into his original form. When Graham rescues them, Alexander falls in love with Cassima, Mordack's slavegirl.

Some time later, he receives a message from the Magic Mirror about Cassima. He decided he would travel to the travel to the Land of the Green Isles in KQ VI to rescue Cassima. First he traveled to Llewdor to speak to Derek Karlavaegen while his ship was being readied. He then traveled to the Islands over the course of three months. Once he made it the islands he saved Cassima from Alhazred, the royal Vizier. They were married and Alexander became King of the Green Isles.

After becoming King of Green Isles, he and Cassima would sometimes visit Daventry by ship. They would play a game of King's Questions with the captain of the ship, to pass the time while they journeyed back home.

He lived with Manannan so long using the name Gwydion, that he still thought of himself as Gwydion even after he became king of the land of the Green Isles. He thinks of the name Alexander as being merely an identity that he wears like someone would wear a cloak. Because he chooses to keep his slave name, his full name is Alexander-Gwydion.

Personality and traits
Alexander bore a striking resemblance to his father. Lean of body, he is taller than his father, but his eyes and the firm set of his jaw are the same as King Graham's. His mother's fairness of face is also there for all to see, and Alexander's resembalence to his sister, Princess Rosella is quite pronounced. One only has to look at them together to know they are twins. Even without the evidence of the small birthmark on his right thigh, his ears alone would mark him as the king's son. His voice is soft, mature beyond his years.

Alexander had learned much during his forced servitude to Manannan. Beyond the smattering of magical lore that he had managed to wrest from the wizard, he had been forced to learn something of discipline and self-reliance. He had honed the ability to think on his feet. It was possible, even likely, that he had in some ways benefited from his strange and loveless childhood. Yet these lessons had cost him dearly as well.

Alexander's essential nature is that he is by birth a prince, by upbringing a slave, by inclination a scholar and a magician. It is his nature to approach all problems slowly--he believes if he approaches them slowly enough, ofttimes they vanish before he reaches them. Impetuous action is not his nature--he learned from a grim school to advance slowly, and to be sure of his ground before advancing. This training has saved him many times. He simply does not attempt to force or shout his way into deadly situations. Alexander's nature is no less stubborn for being contemplative; his slow perserverance brings him triumph.

Alexander has a large streak of misdirection in his nature. It is due, no doubt, to his difficult upbringing as a slave-boy in Manannan's house, where forthright honesty, if practiced, would certainly not count for helpful survival. This is not to imply that Alexander is actually dishonest; merely that, though Alexander is the kindest and most tender-hearted of princes, he is not above a bit of tactful chicanery when he thinks it may be the shortest--not to mention best--route to his goal. He does it well. A certain amount of acting ability was another thing Alexander found useful for survival during his boyhood.

Alexander does not have a particulary suspicious nature--though one who grows to manhood as the slave of a mad wizard is more likely to develop one than most--but simply that, as a scholar, he likes to have things perfectly clear. So even still this has lead to his essential nature still being marked by coolness and suspicion. Alexander recognizes that such character traits can swiftly become character flaws, and strives not to succumb to them.

Patience is an art that Alexander was forced to learn in order to survive his master, and it was patience that carried him through various crisises.

A romantic, like his parents and sister, he fell in love with Cassima at first sight and also stepped in to rescue both Beauty and the Lady Celeste.

Alexander is a person of many skills. He is a talented magician. Prince Alexander was able to escape Manannan by learning magic and turning his captor into a cat. He has since studied the theory and practice of that craft, and is considered one of Daventry's leading scholars and practioners of magic.

Both in KQ3, where he used Manannan's spell book and wand to win his freedom, and in the "long" path of KQ6 he casts spells to accomplish his goals and to save his own life. In the King's Quest Companion, he wrote two books/articles, A Magical Primer and Iconomancy: A Magic Without Words, the spell-casting form that Mordack favored and Graham was forced to use. He also transcribed the Fragments from The Sorcery of Old (author unknown) into the A Magical Primer.

However, in in an effort to protect Daventry from the ravages of two evil sorcerers, Alexander "played dumb" when Mordack demanded he magically return Manannan to his human form. Mordack knew better than to believe Alexander whose continuing magical accomplishments had made him quite wellknown by that time.

He is also a decent fighter, and has helped train and arm many of the guards of the castle as best he could. However, swordplay has never been a large part of Alexander's education, either as the slave-boy Gwydion or as the rediscovered Prince Alexander. King Graham believed there were better ways than force to resolve most problems, and Alexander never had the heart to fully the discipline of the blade. Still, what knowledge he knew helped him in combat with some of the black knights of the Floating Castle, and against Abdul Alhazred, though they were better fighters than him.

Alexander is quite open about his time as a slave (and the imaginative punishments that Manannan made him endure). He speaks of the time with intensity as if reliving his experiences for others might exorcise the daemons of his past. He was once interviewed by Derek Karlavaegen (not long after his Sister's return from Tamir) for the Daventry People (a popular newspaper Daventry) about his life under Manannan and his escape, "Prince Alexander's Own Story! Exclusive Interview". He also discussed it a bit in his essay, 'A Magical Primer'. He explained further while telling his adventures in the Green Isles for Derek Karlavaegen to record for the court chronicles in both lands.

Alexander doesn't like to eat tomatoes.

To this day he still thinks of himself as Gwydion, although he does acknowledge and use Alexander. Sometimes he swigns himself "Alexander-Gwydion".

During his time living at Castle Daventry, he has as made several journeys beyond the kingdom, even spending several months away from the kingdom. He visited the wizard Morowyn. He journeyed to the shores of the continent of Daventry to defeat the pirates that had nearly enslaved him, he made a trip to Mordack's Island to study the The Objurgaton of Souls. He even made a journey back to Llewdor before his trip to the Land of the Green Isles.

Triva

 * The Sacred Ones' Oracle predicted that Alexander would never leave the Land of the Green Isles, perhaps ever. This means he would end up becoming the King of the Green Isles, and would live there for the rest of his life (he would only leave to visit his former home land).
 * Alexander's eye color is blue in KQ4 and brown in KQ6.
 * Alexander has worn several different outfits througout the games and artwork, see Alexander's Wardrobe.
 * There was apparently communication between Alexander and Cassima between the time they met in Mordack's Island and seeing each other in the magic mirror, but how, or where or when is unknown. Nothing is at it appears, and little is known.[4] During these brief communications Alexander was given further explanation as to how she lost her Locket, she told him about Dink, and more about the Mordack's Henchman.
 * Just after seeing Cassima in the mirror, but before the three month voyage, Alexander returned to Llewdor while his ship was being prepared, to visit Derek Karlavaegen where he received a copy of the Guidebook to the Land of the Green Isles. He read it during the three month journey (memorizing the Ancient Ones alphabet and riddles), and lost it when the ship crashed on the rocky shoals surrounding the Green Isles.
 * Alexander made a trip to back to the Western Sea several months after KQ3, in order to destroy the Pirates that had enslaved him using a great storm spell on them.
 * Alexander was on a journey for several months just before the events of the Floating Castle (it is unclear if this relates to any of his journies such as the the trip to the pirates, or something else).
 * For a time Alexander taught magic at the Royal University.
 * Alexander made a trip to Mordack's Island shortly after his return to Daventry, in order to study Mordack's The Objurgation of Souls. He named the magic, Iconomancy.
 * Strangely, although Alexander resembles his father in KQV, and according to published lore (KQ4 manual), if Alexander shows copper Daventry coin to the Guard Dogs, they will say that don't see much resembalance between him and his father (they comment that perhaps he resembles his mother more).
 * Alexander has given an exclusive interview and full expose for the Daventry People, of his time living under Manannan, see Prince Alexander's Own Story!: Exclusive Interview.

Behind the scenes
In KQ6, he was voiced by veteran voice actor Robbie Benson.

The name Alexander is a name shared with many great adventurers and leaders (Princes and Kings) of history, the most famous of which is the legendary conqueror Alexander the Great. Another famous Alexander is Paris, the prince of Troy, who killed Achilles during the Trojan War. His elopement with Helen of Sparta, was one of the causes of the war. He later lost his life during the war. In KQ6 Alexander's plight is compared to the lost loves of both Helen of Troy and Cleopatra.

Alexander Pope coined the phrase '...to err is human...' which KQ3 parodied as 'To Heir is Human'. The game tells the story of Alexander's journey and escape.

Alexander (unofficial)
Alexander has appeared in multiple fan games, see Alexander (unofficial).

Quotes

 * "Listen, door! I would have you open! Ali Zebu!"