Wanderer

The wanderer is the title given to the heroes that defeated Harlin the Malevolent on two separate occasions to save the lovely Princess Priscilla. The first hero was a nameless barbarian who saved the princess, turned down the marriage proposal and then died in the Endless Desert of Serenia not long after. The second wanderer was a traveler through time, who traveled a similar path as the first wanderer. She would later marry Kenneth the Huge.

The barbarian wanderer
Originally had been the happy wanderer, a barbarian, who had been passing through a village in the land of Serenia when he noticed a large crowd. He sauntered over to see what was going on, when he heard a bell ringing, followed by the town crier with a proclamation from the King of Serenia, King George IV. He learned that the king had suffered a terrible loss, his fair daughter had been kidnapped by the great and dreadful wizard, Harlan. Harlan had taken her to his castle beyond the Great Mountains. With crowd now hushed, the crier announced that the king offered half his kingdom to anyone who rescued the princess. The wanderer decided, or rather convinced by the king, that not only was he a happy wanderer, he also had an adventure to go on, and half the kingdom was a great reward.

It was enough for him to decide to find her. He didn't know where the great mountains were located, and could only see the vast desert of Serenia surrounding him, so he asked a villager for help. The villager pointed north and told him he would have a long journey before him before he would see the mountains, and that Harlan would be a dangerous adversary. After thanking the villager, he headed north into the desert, he did not have any money, and didn't own much but a flask of water, a small knife, a loaf of bread, and a blanket.

He traveled across the endless desert, freed the King of the Snakes. After passing a chasm he made it into the woods north of the desert. After an encounter with a thieving gnome, many of his items were stolen and he had to use magic to find them. While in the woods he helped a parrot, who gave him a magic vial of liquid in return. Later he got past a lion to reach the Northern Sea. On the beach he was able to patch a boat, and make it to a Jungle Island in the Northern Sea. While on the island he found a pirate's treasure. Through the use of magic he was able to fly across the sea north of the island to the continent where Harlin's Castle was located. On the continent he encountered, a peasant woman, an angry giant, and a peddler before finally reaching Harlin's Castle. The evil wizard teleported him around the castle trying to capture and kill him. First he was teleported into a courtyard where he had to defeat a dangerous boar. Then he was teleported into a locked room. After he picked his way out of the room with his pocket knife he was able to find the wizard in the top of a tower. The wizard had been in the form of a bird, so the Wanderer used magic to turn himself into a cat, so he could kill the wizard. He then found that the princess had been turned into a frog. He then kissed her, she turned back into Princess Priscilla. He kissed her again, she found it delicious. He then used some magic shoes to return her to the Village of Serenia.

He then was offered half her father's kingdom. Though the man accomplished the quest he embarked on, he had more brawn than brain, he walked away from the offered marriage and kingdom. He walked off into the endless desert with a bloody broadsword in one hand, and a few gold coins in the other. He neglected to carry any water. Caravan drivers who travel that deadly desert say that the warrior is there still, his bones bleached white, with only a lone boot and a few scorpions for company. King Graham later came across his bones, and deciding it could be of use, took the boot.

The Wanderer Through Time
However, even in defeat, the evil wizard Harlin was not eliminated, he turned back the sands of time recapturing the princess, challenged an adventurer from the future to defeat him again. This time Priscilla magically sent the new adventurer a Computer and a few words of encouragement to help him out. He began his adventure in the Village of Serenia like the previous abduction, and was forced to repeat the same actions as his counterpart. However, this time the adventurer was able to defeat Harlin once and for all. When the adventurer had safely returned the princess to Serenia, the hero was declared a junior-master adventurer for his outstanding feat.

Behind the scenes
The Wanderer was the title of the main characters of The Wizard and the Princess and the Adventure in Serenia

It is implied that there are two separate individuals that go by the title of the wanderer. In the Adventure in Serenia, Harlin refers to previous wanderer in the past tense (mentioning that he existed in "a time beyond history"), and uses terms that treat him as a separate individual from character he is speaking too ("you"). It is implied that he is challenging a new adventurer ("you") from the present who is sent back in time to repeat the actions of the previous adventurer. He always refers to the previous wanderer who challenged and defeated him as "he", or the "one", and the new hero he is challenging as "you" rather than saying that "you" have challenged him before. Priscilla supports the idea that "you" is a seperate individual by saying that "you" have been chosen to become the "wanderer". An additional distinction that should be noted is that the previous wanderer was "a happy wanderer" even before he chose to go on the adventure, he didn't have to "become the wanderer", unlike the second adventurer. Nor was the first wanderer sent back in time.

The King's Quest Companion, 2nd Edition, details the journey and death of the first wanderer. According to his backstory, he was a barbarian with great brawn but little brains, who would later die after turning down the Princess reward. He became the skeleton that Graham found in the desert. It confirms that Priscilla's would later marry Kenneth the Huge. It is possible that Kenneth is the second wanderer, although marriage was not one of the rewards directly offered for rescuing the princess in Adventure in Serenia.

In early drafts of Guidebook to the Land of the Green Isles the author of the guidebook was to be named, "John the Wanderer", instead of Derek Karlavaegen. If there originally was an intended connection to the hero that saved Priscilla, it is unknown. If so, it might mean that the first Wanderer's name was John. It would seem Kenneth the Huge was the second. In the published Guidebook, Derek describes himself as "...not a hero, I am a wanderer...".

Another fan theory is that the Wanderer may be King Edward and Priscilla was his first wife that later died when the famine struck Daventry, and after he gave away the Magic Shield in order to try save her. However King's Quest companion says that King Edward's wife was Queen Maylie. It gives Priscilla's husband's name as Kenneth the Huge.