King's Quest Omnipedia
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There are many ways to die in KQ5.

Serenia[]

  • Graham will be fatally bitten by the Rattlesnake that blocks the passage east to the Great Mountains if he walks too close. (That wasn't wise, Graham. He who speaks with forked tongue should never be trusted)
  • Graham will fall into the wild river that runs along the south side of Serenia near the village if he gets too close (clicking hand or walking into it). Cedric warns a bit too late; "Wait, Graham! Be Careful...!" (in the CD version he says, No, Graham, don't...!) Graham is pulled west and then south off the screen. (This ain't no swimmin' hole, Graham!)(floppy) (Too bad, Graham's swimming skills were no match for the mighty river.)(CD)
  • Graham will fall into the brisk/swift river that runs along the south side of Serenia near the bakehouse or inn if he gets too close (clicking hand or walking into it). Cedric warns a bit too late; "No, don't ...!" in floppy, (or in cd-rom same message as every other screen) and same narrator message (dependent on the version of the game) is given as every other river screen. Graham is pulled to the west off the screen.
  • Graham will fall into the swift river that runs along the south side of Serenia near the Bee Tree if he gets too close (clicking hand or walking into it). Cedric offers the same warnings as in bakehouse/inn, and same death messages depending on version of game. Graham is pulled to the south off the screen as the river flows south.
  • If Graham approaches the beehive before the bear appears, he will be stung to death by the swarm. (That wasn't a smart move, Graham. 'Bee' seeing you!)
  • If Graham walks too close to the bear, then the bear will deliver a fatal right hook. (Tsk, tsk. Graham should know better to feed the bears.)
  • If Graham is captured by the innkeepers before he saves the rat, he will not be able to escape being tied up in the cellar. (Don't worry Graham. The innkeeper will soon put you out of your misery.)
  • If Graham has saved the rat but does not have the cobbler's hammer by the time he is captured by the innkeepers, then he still rots in the cellar despite being untied. (Cheer up, Graham. The innkeeper will soon put you out of your misery.)
  • If Graham returns to the inn's main lobby after escaping the cellar and approaches the innkeepers again, they will immediately kill him. (That wasn't a very smart move.)

Endless Desert[]

  • Graham will be bitten by a scorpion if he arrives at any brushland screen more than two screens south of the cliffs. This is to protect the fact there would be no valid screen locations east of these brushlands. (Too bad. Even the sting of such a small creature can be deadly.)
  • Graham dies of thirst and then surrounded by buzzards. Typically, Graham can walk six screens in the desert without water, then he dies of thirst on the seventh (the narrator gives a warning on the fifth screen). However, Graham will survive the seventh screen if he walked south to his current location (in which case he won't die until he walks on the closer hill of the screen) or if the current screen is an oasis. The temple, the gap in the cliffs, and the bandit camp do not contribute to the screen count, and therefore he cannot die of thirst at these locations. The count resets when Graham returns to the brushlands. (Dying for a drink, Graham?)
  • At the gap in the cliffs, bandits will suddenly come out of nowhere to kill Graham quickly (unless he hides behind a nearby rock). The narrator warns ahead of time that they are on their way. (Never trust a bad guy, Graham.)
  • In the bandit camp, if Graham attempts to walk into the larger tent, he is killed by a previously unseen bandit. The same event occurs whether you do this before or after the bandits plunder the temple. Do not go in there, there is nothing important. (That wasn't a very smart move, Graham.)
  • Also at the bandit camp, a bandit will be sleeping in the smaller tent after they plunder the temple. Graham will be killed by this bandit if he spends too much time in the tent, bumps into the bandit, or talks out loud. (That wasn't a very smart move for Graham to make)
  • In the Floppy version Graham may have to cast a sleep spell, if he fails the bandit will wake up and kill the player right away.
  • If Graham takes too long in the temple or tries to steal from the main treasure hoard, the door will permanently close and he'll be trapped inside. (Cheer up, Graham. At least you practice your game of tiddlywinks.)
  • Upon opening the brass bottle, Graham unwittingly frees a menacing genie, who subsequently sentences Graham to spending the next 500 years in the bottle. (This event is not constrained to the desert, though the bottle itself was obtained in the desert temple.) (Graham should know better than to keep things bottled up inside.)

Dark Forest[]

  • Graham can be killed by a giant spider in the Dark Forest, if he forgets to bring the magic lamp, fails to unlock the witch's door with a spell (floppy version), or fails to catch the elf with the emeralds. (Well, it looks like Graham will he 'hanging around' here for awhile.)
  • Graham can be killed by a man-eating plant in the dark forest  if he forgets to bring the magic lamp, fails to unlock the witch's door with a spell, or fails to catch the elf with the emeralds. (Well, it looks like Graham will he 'hanging around' here for awhile.)
  • Graham can be turned into a toad by the witch if he is not wearing the amulet. (That old witch caught Graham 'toad'-ily off guard.)
  • Graham can fall down the crevasse surrounding the witch's house. (Uh-oh! Watch out for those drop-off's Graham!)
  • Graham can fall down the crevasse in the Elves Cavern if he returns to the cavern after leaving it. (That wasn't a very smart move.)

Great Mountains[]

  • Graham can freeze to death if he forgets to wear the cloak in the area where the rope is needed to climb a cliff. (Well, Graham? How does it feel to be a 'pop'-cicle?)
  • In the cliffs, there is a gap Graham must cross using protruding steps. One of them will always send him falling to his death, and another about 50% of the time. The stable steps seem to be positioned closer to the waterfall itself while the unstable ones appear further away. However, once Cedric is abducted by the wolf, the first (rightmost) step becomes permanently unstable, preventing Graham from returning to Serenia without Cedric. (Uh-oh! That last step was a doozy.)
  • Graham can starve to death right after Cedric is captured, if he forgets to eat food (half a lamb is the correct option, but pie will get the player past this dead end, and lead to another). (Well, Graham? Remember when you turned down that last meal at home?)
  • Graham can use the rope on the branch, and fall down halfway up. (Thanks for playing King's Quest V.)
  • In the Floppy version, if the aim spell fails Graham will automatically throw the rope onto the root.
  • Graham can fall off the cliffs anywhere in the mountains with many places and variations to die. (Whoops! That was a fatal step.)
  • Graham can fall through the ice bridge trying to climb down without the sled or trying to return back up the hill after using the sled.
  • After Graham breaks the sled, he can touch the cloak to it. This is an Easter Egg. When a sea monster appears, it will say "For Lisa, from O." The boat will fall off the cliff afterwards.
  • Graham can be killed by the wolves by failing to soothe Icebella with the harp. (Poor Graham! It's a dog-eat-dog world out there.)
  • Graham will be eaten by a baby roc at the Roc's Nest if he fails to save the eagle. (Graham ought to know better than to feed the animals.)
  • The yeti will kill Graham if the player does not use the pie on him. Therefore, any scenario in which the player does not have the pie at this time results in a dead end (i.e. not buying the pie, eating the pie, or feeding it to the eagle). Running from the yeti, or waiting too long to use it, results in a similar demise. (What an abominable situation Graham has found himself in)
  • Graham can fall into the river below the area where the Roc captures him.

Beach and Ocean[]

  • Graham will drown in a sinking sailboat if he tries using it out at sea without first patching the hole. Cedric will inform him about the hole, but as usual, he does so only when it is far too late to do anything about it. The only way to learn of the hole without drowning is to walk very close to the boat before clicking the Look command on it (usually this command only gives a generic description for the boat). (Thanks for playing King's Quest V.)
  • Graham will freeze, and drown if he tries to swim in the ocean. Walking into the waterfall at the north end of the beach forces this death sequence as well. (Down, down goes Graham, to the bottom of the sea.) or (Oh no! The water is too cold for swimming!)
  • Graham can be killed by harpies, either by waiting too long (or trying to escape) while they discuss him, or by coming back to the island. (Hate to harp on the subject, but Graham was no match for the vicious harpies.)
  • Graham can be killed by a sea monster if he sails too far in any direction. You will see islands to the north. Going towards them is not a good idea. The sea monster will eat you. (That was a nasty sea creature!)

Mordack's Island[]

  • Graham can be killed by a giant squid if he tries to swim back from the island. (Say hello to Davy Jones, Graham.)
  • Graham can be killed by the twin cobra dragon statues. (Too bad! It looks like the 'eyes' had it.)
  • Graham dies from falling even a small distance on the beach. It appears the art for this screen was designed for a much smaller Graham sprite than what was used in the game. (Uh-oh! That last step was a doozy!)
  • Graham can fall off the cliffs and pits in any other screen many different variations and places to die.

Mordack's Castle[]

  • Graham can be killed by Dink if he walks too close. (Shouldn't play around with Dink.)
  • Mordack will kill Graham with his spell if Cedric was not saved, and therefore does not fly in and get hit by the spell instead. (That wasn't a very smart move.)
  • The henchman will appear outside the castle and take Graham to die in the dungeon cell if he does not have the crowbar. (Too bad! So close and yet so far away.)
  • The henchman can capture Graham inside the castle and he will die in the dungeon (unless Cassima rescues him, which only happens once, afterwards, the loose brick will be moartered).
  • Playing the organ will draw Mordack to Graham instantly, and Mordack will kill Graham using magic. (Poor Graham! Mordack shows no mercy.)
  • Mordack can discover Graham in the castle and kill him with magic.
  • Mordack can wake up while Graham is in his room and kill him with magic.
  • Manannan will alert Mordack to Graham's existence in the castle, if he does not capture him first. Mordack will then show up and use magic to kill Graham.
  • Mordack has a 10% chance of being in his bedroom and a 30% chance of being in the laboratory when Graham enters either of those rooms, so if the player is especially unlucky, Mordack will kill Graham with magic as soon as he enters those rooms. This risk cannot be avoided by capturing Manannan beforehand.
  • Mordack will kill Graham as an animal if he does not read the tome or uses the wrong animal.
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