The Henchmen are strange warriors and minions of Lucreto created from evil-fluids that ran through the cauldron in Temple of the Sun in the Realm of the Sun. They are creatures of darkness. Lucreto sent out his children of Darkness forth in search of the lost fragments of the Mask of Eternity, and to kill Connor. They were strong and well armored, some of them even immune to ranged attacks (to which they just laughed). They tried to kill Connor, and take the Mask pieces back to Lucreto, their master, but were defeated every time. Connor saw a vision of the henchmen being sent after him in the Swamp Witch's cauldron. He fought four that were sent after him, and several more in the Temple of the Sun, and even witnessed one being created in the cauldron before he purified it.
The Henchmen[]
The First Henchman[]
As Connor was exiting the windmill in Daventry town after picking up the axe, spears came from the sky and surrounded him. Connor tried to pick up one of the spears but it pulled away from him, and each spear combined together becoming the form of the first Henchman. It tried to stop Conner, calling him a usurper and to hand over the piece of Mask of Eternity he had in his possession. Connor slew the despicable varmint and wondered whence it came from.
The Second Henchman[]
When Connor retrieved the second piece of the Mask of Eternity from a chest in the Witch's Tower he encountered Lucreto's second henchmen. The henchman appeared behind Connor and told him to hand over the mask piece as it belonged to his master. Connor told the blackguard to take it from him. He attacked the henchman, cut his spear in half and stabbed him through the chest with the Double-edged Sword. However, when Connor tried to knock him off the tower, the henchman grabbed onto him. Connor cut off the henchman's hand and knocked him over the side of the bridge leading to one of Tower's side spires. After defeating him he obtained the henchman's Severed Hand which allowed him access to the vault holding the Golden Ladle.
The Third Henchman[]
While invading the lair of the fire dwarves whilst in the Barren Region, Conner opened up a chest to find the third piece of the Mask of Eternity. While doing so however, a Henchman seeped through the ceiling behind him, then reformed. After this he said that the mask piece belonged to Lucreto. Connor still defeated the dark being after which the Henchman collapsed into goop.
The Fourth Henchman[]
Within the Frost orc's citadel, Conner opened a chest that was behind a gate with a frozen Henchman beside it. Being cautious still, he hit it hard enough to shatter it into many shards before opening the chest. Even still, the Henchman regenerated back into how it originally was and fought Connor for the pieces of the Mask of Eternity inside. He said that the mask belonged to his master and that it will not aid Connor, Connor said it would not aid him either. When Connor defeated this Henchman, it froze over and shattered in death or went up in flames if he used the Flame Sword against it.
Others[]
Connor encountered many more Henchmen acting as shock troops inside the Realm of the Sun. Most were armed with their regular spears, some using it in close comabt, others throwing the spears at Connor. Several of them wielded the Ice Crossbows of the Ice Orcs. When Connor was teleported to the realm by Uriel, he ambushed one such henchman sentry before killing it with its own ice crossbow.
The last piece of the Mask of Eternity appeared to be guarded by the group of two Henchmen, though their spears were no match for the Sword of Truth.
Behind the scenes[]
In King's Quest lore 'henchman' may also refer to Lolotte's goons or Mordack's Henchman.
When the Henchman is teleported in a message is displayed in the cheat console: "Mighty Ben strikes again". This might give a nickname for the henchman.
Only the first four of the Henchmen (the Mask pieces guradians) are immune to ranged attacks. The duels are planned to be fought in close combat for a reason. The locations are also set in a way to prevent Connor from avoiding the fight, with the only exit blocked by the opponent.
The fourth Henchman frozen form shattered (which then regenerated back) reminds of the "Terminator 2" movie.