The Blue Meanie (aka Mordack's Henchman) is a large blue beast, and was the huge blue creature that guarded Mordack's castle.
Background
Mordack seems to have had but one guard in the living and working areas of his castle. This nameless henchman was incredibly strong, tireless and loyal. It was also incredibly clumsy. It was apparently related to Dink somehow, although whether he was made from parts of Dink or his tissue is not clear. Whatever its true origin, the henchman roamed the halls and rooms of the castle without the need of sleep or food, relying on its strength and speed to capture all intruders.[1]
The henchman captured King Graham and transporting him to the dungeons. It could be waylaid by spilling a bag of dried peas at its feet, causing it to trip. However, this was only a temporary measure. If Graham encountered the Beast a second time, he would be captured immediately.
Personality and traits
The beast was both part ram and part praying mantis, having blue skin and red eyes. Its hooves dashes across stone floors of the castle.[2] It's red eyes appear in EGA version, but appear as sunken dark eye sockets in VGA version.
Titles
- Blue Meanie
- Blue Beast
- Mordack's Henchman
Behind the scenes
The most specific name comes from the The Official Book of King's Quest, which refers to it as the Blue Meanie and is based on Cassima's description for the creature in the King's Quest Companion (but this is also just a nickname). This creature is known as the "Blue beast" in the KQ5 hintbook by Roberta Williams (Similarly Dink is referred to as the Blue Beast in the Nintendo power article, as he appears blue in both the NES and EGA versions of the game). It is referred to as Mordack's Henchman in King's Quest Companion, 2nd Edition. Though not confirmed, due to references to Henchman being related to Dink in some way, this very well may be Dink's brother Sam. Although this would not make much sense, as Cassima does not appear to have much love for the 'blue meanie', thus implying this may be yet another 'brother'.
If the player somehow forgot to bring the crowbar to Mordack's island, the blue beast will open one of his portals near the castle wall, grab Graham, and take him to the dungeon to die. This is death is to prevent a 'dead end', and show that an item is needed to survive.
The Official Book of King's Quest mentions it is one of Mordack's guards. Although the reference to Mordack's guards may also include Dink, Manannan, the Blue Meanie, and possibly Sam.
The 550.scr file also refers to this creature as the Henchman.