Timeline

Original Series

The original series can be essentially broken up into two main timeline variations depending on interpretations either one that is set roughly close to 20 years after KQ1, or closer to 25 years after KQ1. The reason for this is some occasional inconsistencies with the dates of when Graham's marriage took place (or was there more than one 'marriage'?), the date of the twins birth, and the dates when KQ6 takes place in relation to other games in the series.

A third variant exists but only if you assume the two conflicting accounts of 'weddings' are actual events which occurred at separate times during Daventry's history, but in which case tends to fit more to the 25 year versions of the timeline.

Below is a selection of various variant timelines based off these alternate dates given in various sources (or links to articles discussing dates given in a specific source that are used to make the two main timelines), as well as information related to the 'two weddings' theory, and finally a timeline related to the KQ8 material utilizing Earth dating system (based on details in KQ8, and KQ4).

Original Series timeline

• Timeline made from various timelines discussed in the original 1980-1998 games, and spinoff material.

OT timeline (forms a more or less consistent timeline with original KQ trilogy, 20 (to 25) year range from the companions, and the novel timeline)

• Companion timeline (variant 1; 20 year version)
• AG timeline (more specifically similar to Variant 1 of the Companion, but tends to use loose approximations for when events take place, which can be confusing)
• KQ1 timeline (timeline and notes concerning references made in the KQ1 manual and game)
• KQ2 timeline (timeline with variants based on the KQ2 manual)
• KQ3 timeline (timeline and notes concerning references made in KQ3 and manual; no specific date of birth for the twins)
• Twins timeline (timeline concerned primarily with novel references, its roughly consistent with the 20 year timeline, in interprets the novels based around game lore and the Royal children being twins)

The AG timeline is fairly loose and unspecific with many of its dates (using ranges and approximations), that it could spawn a number of timeline interpretations based on its references. What it does include, makes it largely incompatible with some of the manuals, and extra dates from KQ5/6/7 hint books.

Note: All sources of the OT timeline all share similar dates for events (with a few minor differences). The companion places events of many of the games over course of several days. It's less clear in the actual games, as there is nothing to suggest the time of day. Another discrepancy is the date when the Magic Shield was found is implied to be different in the novels. This variant is roughly supported by information in the KQ8 manual (Synopsis and KQ7 Authorized Guide (The Stories So Far (and the About KQ5 in KQ5) which place KQ3 about twenty years after KQ2. A major difference in this timeline from later ones is that it places the events of KQ2 exactly 1 year after KQ1 as per the prologue story (whereas other timelines place the journey two years after KQ1 or later). In these timelines Graham married Valanice only 1 year after KQ1 (which is the major shared date).

This timeline (and the sources that contribute to it) places the events of KQ6 much earlier in the timeline (than it was suggested to be in the KQ6 hintbook)as per the King's Quest Companion's dating.

Assuming Graham was 19 at the time of KQ1 as its stated in sources by Lorelei Shannon, he would be 39 at the time of KQ3/4 in these timelines.

Anniversary timeline (companion timeline variant 2; set over a 25 year range)

• Companion timeline (variant 2; 25 year version)(timeline incorporating 25th anniversary reference in KQ6 hintbook and 25 year references in the Companion, and possibly elements of the KQ4 manual, KQ2 manual reinterpreted)
• KQ6 timeline (timeline based off of material from KQ6 and KQ6/KQ7 Hintbooks; a major timing issues between KQ5 in relation to KQ4 and KQ6; some details in KQ6 hintbook are at least partially based on the companion)
• KQ7 timeline (timeline based on KQ7 and some KQ6 hintbook material; mainly focuses on history of Etheria).
• Weddings timeline (a variant of the KQ4 timeline which adds a 'second wedding' date, and combines the KQ4 and KQ5 timelines into one eliminating the major discrepancy in both)

The weddings variant timeline is roughly compatible with the Anniversary timeline which assumes that Graham and Valanice's wedding after KQ2 as mentioned in The World of King's Quest: A Brief History of Daventry (KQ5 Hintbook), and Once Upon a Time in a Land Faraway/The Magical World of King's Quest was a 'second wedding' one year after returning from Kolyma, and one year before the twins birth. This concept of two weddings does allow for the reference in the King's Quest 4 manual to work if its assumed that the twins birth is calculated from the first wedding in the Kolyma Monastery. This utilizes the KQ4 Timeline and elements of the KQ5 and KQ6 material (it utilizes the 25 anniversary in the KQ6 hintbook). Assuming Graham was 19 at the time of KQ1 as its stated in sources by Lorelei Shannon, he would be 42 at the time of KQ3/4 in these timelines.

Note: All most sources of the Anniversary timeline share similar dates for events (with a few minor or major differences). The companion places events of many of the games over course of several days. It's less clear in the actual games, as there is nothing to suggest the time of day. One potential major discrepancy is when KQ5 takes place in relation to KQ4 and KQ6 (some suggest it takes place in a spring one year after KQ4, and others may suggest it takes place two years after KQ4, either way the reference to spring is largely ignored for the twenty-fifth anniversary reference to work). KQ3/4 are still roughly twenty years from KQ2. Only the companion gives a specific date for when KQ2 took place in relation to KQ1 from these sources; the exact birthdate for the twins is not given but can be worked back from the 25 year date give in the KQ6 hintbook in relation with birthdate reference in KQ7 intro.

Miscellaneous timelines

There are a number of variant timelines that don’t quite fit into the Original Timeline variants or the anniversary variants due to alternate placement of certain events like placement of KQ2, twins birth, etc. These are a listing of these variants.

• KQ4 Timeline (alternate royal marriage and twin birth dates)
  • A timeline that utilizes KQ4 manual dates plus variants; alternate marriage and twin birthdates) . It places marriage at three years after KQ1, and twins birth two years later. It is perhaps obsolete (as of KQ5 materials) but perhaps loosely utilized by the 25 year version of the companion timeline and the KQ6 hintbook (at least for date of the twins birth, the marriage date is however still tied to the pre-KQ1-3 dating in the Companion). It remains largely the same as the Anniversary timeline except for alternate dates given for the marriage and twin births.
• KQ5 timeline
  • AKQ5 timeline (timeline based on About KQ5, KQ5 manual, and KQ4 timeline)
  • WoKQ timeline (variant based on The World of King's Quest: A Brief History of Daventry and The Magical World of King's Quest, contains alternate royal marriage and twin birth dates)
• LS timeline (timeline combining materials by Lorelei Shannon including the KQ6 timeline & KQ7 timeline)
  • A variant of the KQ6 timeline is roughly compatible with the Weddings timeline, and the KQ7 timeline can fit on top of the Wedding Timeline with no issues)
• KQ8 timeline (timeline of events up to KQ8)
  • While there is some hints as to when each game takes place in relationship to each other in Synopsis in KQ8 manual, it doesn’t easily fit over OT, Anniversery, Wedding or KQ4 timeline. It might even be mixing references from various sources including KQ5 timeline.
  • The KQ8 timeline contains references from KQ8-era published materials. This is one of the least specific sources, as there was never any specific date as to when KQ8 takes place in relation to previous games other than unspecific suggestion that KQ8 takes place in a range of up to 25 years in 4th edition of the King's Quest Companion). Williams suggest that KQ8 takes place two years after KQ7 mirroring its release date. And Mark Seibert suggests it’s only a few years after KQ7. Based on Connors age in some concept materials and the fact he’s set up to marry Rosella, and is around her age it’s unlikely that he’s much older or much younger than the princess, and that kq8 takes place between 2-3 years of KQ7, within 20-25 year range of the Companion.

Earth timeline

A timeline that uses real world dates, it is more vague and doesn't exactly explain when KQ games took place in earth's history (with exception of KQ8 being set approximately year 1000 of the Middle Ages, and the series as whole occurring 'centuries' before the twentieth century). The original timeline can be be placed on top of it roughly (based on a reference in the KQ8 manual but it is only an approximation). Time travel may be involved in some aspects of it, causing some things from a later time to be sent back to earlier time when the stories took place. As it is not easy to map onto the games directly it is given its own section below the main timeline section.

Notes

The Official Book of King's Quest VI makes a reference to events in KQ6 taking place before following morning.

Notes on Graham's age in KQ1. Traditionally a young man would be a page from about age seven to about fourteen. From about fourteen or fifteen to about twenty-one they would be a squire (or apprentice knight), and from twenty-one onwards they would be a fullsworn knight. According to the original KQ lore Graham is a knight at age nineteen (as per the KQ6 Hintbook, and KQ7 Hintbook) which would make him a tad younger than most knights. In some of the early releases of King's Quest 1, the box shows him with streaks of white in his hair, and perhaps even lines in his face, which might suggest that he might have been interpreted as being much older perhaps even older than twenty-five at the time of KQ1. Note: However, the covers were often designed by artists outside of game development within the advertising department, and had little input or influence on the intent of the developers, see cartoon.

Spin-off timelines

• Siblings timeline (A timeline based on the BB universe novels, in this version the Royal children are interpreted as having been born about three years apart, just siblings not twins).
• PQ timeline (timeline based on Police Quest references).
• KQAOG timeline
  • KQC1 timeline
  • KQC2 timeline
  • Baroque timeline

The reboot timelines concern the reboot King's Quest universe. These tells a different backstories for King Graham, Valanice, Manannan, Mordack, and Hagatha so far. It has its own version of KQ1, KQ2, and KQ3 events (either shown or discussed). It reinterprets Eldritch as a kingdom on Daventry rather than a parallel world. It gives Graham a different age for his adventures in KQ1 and KQ2. He is 21 at the time of KQ1, and 30-31 at the time of KQ1 (almost a decade apart, see also Tailor Fey). He will be 50-51 around the time of KQ5 or so. More or less this series places Graham's marrage as almost a decade after KQ1, where most other series placed his marriage only within 1-2 years of KQ1. It is completely inconsistent with any previous timeline.

Notes

• Various sources place evens of KQ2 in relation to KQ1 at different points in time. Hence the placement of the wedding shifts around depending on the timeline.
• Various sources place the birth of the twins at different dates. Some place it roughly 9 months to a year after KQ2, others place it two years after KQ2. Some may even place it 3-5 years after KQ2 based on the math and timing references.
• Likewise different sources place the Alexander's kidnapping at different times between 6 months to a year after his birth.
• Various sources give the placement of KQ6 at different dates between 20-25 years after KQ1.
• Various sources give different amounts of time between KQ5 and KQ6, ranging from about half a year to a year later.