Manannan

Manannan is a powerful and evil wizard of great age. The evil wizard had kidnapped Prince Alexander and kept him as a slave for seventeen years. Manannan is the brother of both Mordack, and the evil witch Hagatha (sometimes known as Dame Hagatha). Manannan is said to have kidnapped the infant Alexander in revenge for King Graham's rescue of Valanice from his sister. .

Background
One day, when his first slave was 18 years old, he was caught in Manannan's secret magic lab, reading his spells. Fearing that the boy would use his own spells against him, he immediately killed him and picked another infant. To prevent this danger from happen again, by choice killed all of his servants as they reached age eighteen and picked another. Sometimes he was forced to shorten the cycle for some of the more precocious slaves. He even promised some of the slaves freedom if they followed orders, but his near perpetual anger and punishment of minor mistakes was enough that he never kept his promises.

He despised ignorance in his slaves so he taught them how to read and write, but he would only bring them the books which felt there was no danger to him in the slave reading. He did not allow them to choose their own books out of his library.

It was after one of these cycles that Manannan, decided to take revenge on King Graham of Daventry, for the king having rescued Valanice from his sister, Hagatha. Manannan cast a sleep spell on the family, one night, while they were on a picnic on shores of Lake Maylie. While they slept he kidnapped the baby prince Alexander from his cradle and returned to Llewdor (though some claim he kidnapped him his crib in the castle nursery). He named the child Gwydion, and made him his slave for seventeen long years, intending to kill him on his eighteenth birthday (or earlier if Gwydion got into trouble).

During this time, Manannan was not personally in control of the three-headed Dragon, he enjoyed watching its path of destruction across the lands on its way to the Kingdom of Daventry from afar, because of his hate of humanity.

However by kidnapping Alexander, Manannan made a terrible error. Manannan taught Gwydion to read and write, and by doing so led to his own downfall. Before Manannan could kill him, The prince was able to find the wizard's book of magic, The Sorcerery of Old, he learned several spells from the book, and cast a spell that turned Manannan into a cat. Gwydion was able to escape his clutches. It is the nature of the curse, that the victim is stuck in the form of the cat for the rest of their days. It is believes that the only one possibly capable of breaking the curse is the one who cast the spell in the first place.

Following that point, Manannan apparently fled the house in his feline form, wandering the world until finally making the connection with his brother Mordack.

Mordack then, captured the royal family in order to try to get Alexander to reverse the spell, but the poor Prince had no idea how he could do it. Graham encountered Manannan the cat in Mordack's castle and tied him inside a cloth sack. When Manannan tried to get in his way; Graham distracted him with a fish so that he could capture him in the bag.

Manannan was left behind in the castle after his brother's defeat, when Graham, his family, and Castle Daventry were joyously returned home. He was never seen or heard from again and his fate remains unknown. It is quite possible that the sack is still there containing the remains of a cat. It is also possible that the cat, Manannan, was able to escape by clawing his way out. It is even possible that he has been able to affect a cure for his feline condition. And, if this is true, then Manannan may well be hiding someplace plotting his revenge. The fact that nothing had been heard of either Hagatha or Mananann since Graham destroyed their brother Mordack is likely a bad sign.

History in the Other World
On Earth, there are many stories about a most powerful weather wizard by the name of Manannan Mac Lir, after whom the Island of Man in the Irish Sea is named. It is said that Manannan had a magic horse that could travel easily accross both the land the waves, had a magic ship that could take him anywhere without the use of a sail or oar, raised storms at will, wore armor, which shone as bright as the sun and which could not be pierced, and possessed a cloak of invisibility-and these are just some of the wonders that surrounded him. It is also said that Manannan had a special fondness for the Irish. There are even stories that link Mananannan with a Welsh hero by the name of Gwydion. Curiously, he is said to be the most happy and generous of wizards who brought happiness to all around him. This is quite unlike Daventry's Manannan. Assuming they are the same being, something must have happened when he withdrew to Daventry that changed his personality.

Behind the scenes
Manannan was a Celtic god son of Lir and god of sea and weather.

In KQ5 he is said to be the brother of Mordack.

In the official King's Quest Collection trivia game, King's Questions, and King's Quest Companion, Hagatha is said to be his sister. Though this fact is not brought up in any of the manuals or the adventure games themselves. Other scattered clues in the 1st and 2nd Edition, may imply that he is the same sorcerer and enchanter seen in KQ1 and KQ2, which would further explain his reasons for kidnapping Alexander.

Manannan can be described as a "magician", "wizard", "sorcerer", and an "enchanter" in KQ3 parser. Perhaps nodding back to parser choices in KQ1 and KQ2.

Manannan is known for his imaginative non-traditional punishments for those slaves who disobey his orders. These include the slave being forced to exercise, being turned into a snail, and being hung from the kitchen ceiling so that blood flows to the slave's head, among others. If a major transgression is made he kills the disobedient slave with a bolt of lightning, which turns the victim into a pile of ash.

Manannan will kill Gwydion if he takes long to escape or makes too many mistakes (i.e. doesn't change him into a cat or carries contraband magic ingredients). This is part of his habit of killing boys who are old enough to pose a threat to him.

While Manannan (nor his brother) may not have directly controlled the dragon as stated in the Companion (in KQ3, it was implied that the dragon made its own decisions demanding Rosella specifically), the KQ4 manual prologue appears suggest he was behind its rampage on some level (perhaps having summoned it in the first place), and maintaining a watch over it. It's also implied that Manannan may have been behind the clouding of the magic mirror, it states that a bearer of black magic cast a spell on the mirror, but talks about Manannan throughout the entire prologue.

Manannan (unofficial)
Manannan has appeared in several fan fiction including games, see Manannan (unofficial) for more details.