The Dwarf

The Dwarf is an individual encountered by the Royal House of Daventry. An individual known only as 'the Dwarf' stole the magic Shield of Achille from Edward, and later Graham encountered one known as 'the Dwarf' who attempted to rob him during his adventures in Daventry and Kolyma. The dwarf tried rob him while he was attempting to retrieve the three treasures of Daventry. While he was known to wander Daventry, his home was in Kolyma, where he lived in the Dwarf Tree.

While 'The Dwarf' was encountered by Graham in Daventry and later in Kolyma, some suggest that he may have encountered other dwarfs in Daventry and Kolyma.

Background

In the past, Edward encountered a being known simply the Dwarf who offered a so-called curative root to save Queen Maylie from the Plague. In return he wanted the Magic Shield. King Edward reluctantly gave him what he wanted, and received the root. However the Dwarf wasn't being truthful, and Maylie died soon after she used the root. The dwarf took the shield down into a hole. Edward vowed that he would take vengeance on the false dwarf, but he never saw the dwarf again. A court scribe of Daventry wondered if he may have possibly been a member of one of the other diminutive races of the world including the Leprechauns. Still others argue that he was a real dwarf and hid the shield with the leprechauns.

Graham encountered the one known as 'The Dwarf' roaming through Daventry, he was out looking for trouble. The dwarf was a desperado and surly bandit, but is unclear if it was the same individual who stole the shield from Edward. He was a sly little chap that caused much trouble in Daventry. The tricky little dwarf was quite interested in Graham, and wanted to see what items of value he was carrying in his pockets. He was married, and was worried that his wife would be upset if he didn't steal any treasure. That day he had wasted two hours trying to find treasure. He was said to be a shy individual.

Graham later encountered the same dwarf again in Kolyma. After Graham was robbed, he gave the Dwarf, the nickname; Citizen Bandit. He was again interested in robbing Graham. For being so little he was very fast. He was always busy running around, possibly with Graham's treasure. Graham tried to escape, but it overtook him anyway, he was knocked to the ground by the force of the thief running in him. They tumbled for a bit, until the dwarf was able to strike a strong blow to the king's head, knocking him senseless long enough to escape with the Sapphire Brooch.

He made its home in the Dwarf Tree. Where he had a pot of chicken soup in his fireplace, and a chest to keep the treasures it had stolen. Graham explored his home to take the soup and collect any treasures the dwarf may have stolen.

The Dwarf later attended Graham's wedding to Valanice at the Monastery of the Blessed Wilbury.

Titles

• The Dwarf
• Citizen Bandit

Behind the scenes

In the original manual of King's Quest 1 its stated that Graham would be encountering dangerous dwarfs of Daventry (which suggests that actually more than one appears in the game, although they all look the same). The king's quest companion mentions that there are at least two, a little dwarf and his wife. So it is possible that dwarfs inside the mountain and outside represent separate dwarfs. However, the same reference in KQ1 manual might suggest that he encountered multiple witches as well, which does not seem the case.

The dwarf seen in KQ1AGI and KQ2 has the same clothes and same appearance (as they share the same sprite) and in KQ novel treats them as the same dwarf Graham realizes it is "the dwarf" when he first sees him.

In the KQ1 manual, is the story of "the Dwarf". He is referred to as the 'the Dwarf', and is described as the "the dwarf" and later as the "false dwarf" in the story after he tricked the king into giving the shield. This is both a nod towards him possibly being a Leprechaun as suggested in the King's Quest Companion (explaining how the leprechauns obtained the shield), but also likely due to the fact that he was untruthful to the king. The Dwarf in the manual is inspired by the Dwarf that appears in the game itself. In the KQC, An Encyclopedia of Daventry states that it was a dwarf, and that the dwarf chose to leave the shield in the protection of the leprechauns. In this case 'false' could just be a nod to the dwarf's treachery.

"The Dwarf" (KQ2 Hintbook) is a little dwarf that shares the same graphics and many of the same descriptions of the dwarf from King's Quest I, which may imply that it is the same dwarf Graham encountered in KQ1. But its not completely clear in the games. In the KQ Companion and other hintbooks the KQ2 dwarf is often described as the "thieving dwarf". The novelization for KQ2 in the King's Quest Companion calls it 'the dwarf' which shows that it is same one from KQ2. In fact Graham refers to it as "the dwarf" from the moment he spots him and instinctively tries to avoid him. This distinction is more clear if you read the KQ1 and KQ2 novels back to back, in which the second novel assumes you already knew about 'the dwarf' from the first novel. In the hintbook section, of the companion, there is a nod that in the second game unlike the first you can get your treasures back from "the dwarf".

The dwarfs in KQ1 (AGI and SCI) and KQ2 are described as "the dwarf", "a small dwarf", or as a "little dwarf", "thieving dwarf". In KQ1AGI looking at the dwarf just brings up a comment on dwarfs in general. In the KQ2 hintbook, the character is known as the 'The Dwarf'. The KQ2 hintbook written by Al Lowe, makes no attempt to tie it to the dwarf from the previous game.

The dwarf in KQ1 is also described as 'the dwarf', 'crazy dwarf', 'desperado' and a 'surly bandit' in the KQC (this inspires some of his descriptions in the KQ2 novel as well, such as "Citizen Bandit").

This is possibly the same 'Dwarf' who took away the Magic Shield of King Edward. Although some believed that was really a "false dwarf", and probably actually a leprechaun in disguise. Though others disagree.

The Stories So Far in the KQ7 Authorized Guide suggests that the dwarf in KQ2 is another nasty dwarf than the one in KQ1. ...or perhaps he also encountered the Dwarf's mean wife?

See The Dwarf's Wardrobe.

Dwarf (unofficial)

See Dwarf (unofficial).