What are your favorite and least favorite KQ secondary characters?

[Numbers]

It's been too long since I've actually started a topic around here, so I'm going to give it a try. So, you've seen the topic title; what are your favorite and least favorite secondary characters from King's Quest? When I say secondary, I mean no main protagonists (the royal family, Connor, Cassima or Edgar) and no main antagonists (this includes Big Bads from fanmade games, such as TSL's Shadrack and the Father from the AGDI games).

My favorite secondary characters, in order, are:

1. Saladin. Maybe it's because I have a soft spot for collies, having owned one when I was growing up, or maybe it's that deep Tony Jay voice, but I love Saladin. He's in a difficult position in KQ6, having sworn fealty to the Crown, but there is no authority figure for him to serve directly besides an obviously corrupt chancellor who cannot be usurped, since he has a genie at his beck and call. He also has to come to terms with the fact that either Alhazred or Alexander could be enemies to him, and he isn't quite sure what he should do. Either way, he's definitely more interesting than either Alexander or Alhazred are, and he serves as a good middle ground between the two, adding some unusual complexity to the story.

2. Crispin. Every fantasy story needs a good Merlin-esque wizard in there somewhere, and Crispin fits the bill nicely. He's very old and eccentric, and lives in a house that looks rather nice, all things considered. In fact, he wouldn't be out of place in the Quest for Glory series, and given his remarks about the rest of the wizard community in the opening cutscene, it can be inferred that the magic users from KQ are just as detached from the rest of the world as the ones seen in QfG 2. My biggest complaint with Crispin is that he is more or less just a plot device to get things moving at the beginning, and to wrap things up neatly at the end. Also, when he gets up to look in his chest, and he takes about 45 seconds to shuffle to the other side of the room...should've taken your staff with you for that little hike, Crispin.

3. The Boogeyman. Yes, there is actually something about KQ7 that I like, shock of all shocks. It might have something to do with the fact that he's a lot more threatening than Malicia herself is, given that he can come out of the ground at any point in Ooga Booga, meaning that you can't stay on any one screen for too long. His appearance is more sinister than any of the other, much more cartoonish characters in the game, he's got a good theme song, and he's basically a super-powerful zombie. Which is why I stopped reading the Four Winds when I came across that article about the Boogeyman discovering the power of love, which, in my oh-so-humble opinion, was an insult to the only character in KQ7 that I liked.

Now, for the secondary characters I hate...

1. I might be cheating a bit on this one, but: every single Falderal resident in KQ7. God, they are obnoxious. The poodle with the extremely heavy accent is only the beginning of this insanity. When you go onto that first screen with the gate, and the rat guard is yelling at you through the grate, you can already tell how annoying these characters are going to be. The Chicken Little expy and the talking China bird bring back bad memories of the rat from KQ5, the bull in the china shop seriously needs some anti-depressants, the snake oil salesman places way too much emphasis on stretching out his s's, and the mockingbird has about 2 funny insults and 48 painfully bad ones. What. A. Load.

2. Thork from MoE. A useless, ineffectual villain who is only there because there haven't been any important bad guys besides the Swamp Witch from three maps ago. His role is basically to stand there like an idiot while Lucreto yells at him (and by that point, you're probably thinking, "oh yeah, Lucreto's still in this game, isn't he?"), stutter out his lines like a pansy, and get ready to hunt for Connor...by pulling out his sword and waiting around in his throne room. Yeah...he just waits in there. He'd probably be waiting forever if Connor didn't get thrown through the grate in the ceiling later on. Confronting him triggers a wonderful little bit of dialogue that isn't at all cliched: "Prepare to die, mortal!" "Not me...you, Thork!" You then kill him...easily...and go on about your quest, leaving Thork and all memories of him behind.

3. The gnome from KQ1. Screw that puzzle, man. Screw it. Worst puzzle ever. I think that's all that needs to be said on that front.

I didn't include Cedric or any of the talking animals from KQ5 on this list because there's too much unintentional comedy to be had there.

So, there you have it. That's my top three and bottom three secondary characters. What are yours?

[snabbott]

Hmmm...

I really enjoyed Rotten Tomato and Stick-in-the-Mud from KQ6. I thought the sense gnomes were pretty great, too, as were the chess queens.

As you said, Falderal. The poodle mayor is incredibly annoying. The genie in KQ6 (when not in disguise) was pretty annoying, too.

I'm sure there were others, but those are the ones that come to mind right now.

[Boogeyman]

Thanks for mentioning me, but I am NOT a zombie, I am more of a vampire, specifically a Jiang Shi.

[Jack Stryker]

Let's see here...

Well, here are all the ones I can think of.

My favorites:

1.  Edgar.  He could've just went to bed and let Rosella get forced into marrying him, but he instead showed her how much he truly cared by slipping her a key to escape.  If he hadn't done that, Rosella would be trapped in a marriage that she hated.  And what's worse: Genesta would be dead, Tamir would continue to suffer under Lolotte's rule, Rosella's father would be dead, and she'd never see her mother or her brother again.  By keeping all of those things from happening, Edgar ultimately ended up married to her because she loved him too; which is how all marriages should be.

2.  The pawn shop owner.  One of the most polite and helpful individuals that Alexander encounters in the Land of the Green Isles.  Not much else I can say.

3.  Ali, the bookshop owner.  Same as above.

4.  Jollo.  Okay, so for a court clown, he's not very good for a laugh when Alexander meets him.  But that's understandable, given the situation with Cassima.  And besides, the way he helps Alex out more than makes up for it.  He's even able to break him out of the dungeon!  (just once, but still)


My least favorites:

1.  The eagle in KQIII.  He takes forever to show up and when he does show up, he sometimes doesn't even drop the feather that you need in order to get rid of that giant man-eating spider.  The nerve!

2.  The three bears.  They're dickheads.  'Nuff said.  (Well, maybe not the baby bear, but definitely the papa and mama bears.)

3.  The shark in KQIV.  I don't really mind the shark in KQIII, since he's actually pretty easy to avoid if you give the pirates time to drop anchor or use the magic essence to fly to the island.  But the shark in Tamir is such an ass!  As soon as he shows up, you barely have time to even blink your eyes before Rosella immediately becomes his dinner.  Too bad that fisherman didn't also have a spear gun to spare, in return for those diamonds.

4.  The troll in KQIV.  Like Sharky, the troll's very presence is pretty much a death sentence.  Unless of course, you're already near one of the cave exits and VERY quick.  No point in trying to outrun him otherwise, since he seems to have a lot of adrenaline in his veins and will catch you in the snap of a finger.

5.  Genesta.  Well... okay, I don't actually hate HER.  In fact, I actually really like her.  I just don't like the way she acts in the bad ending, when you return her talisman but fail to get the magic fruit.  She's all like, "You did good, saving my life and getting rid of the evil Lolotte, but... oh, you forgot to get that fruit for your dad.  Oh well, I better send you home now."  You'd think, since Genesta is alive and well and has all her power back, she'd be more like, "You did good, saving my life and getting rid of the evil Lolotte, but... oh, you forgot to get that fruit for your dad.  Well, not to worry.  Be right back."  *Poof!*  *Poof*  "Here ya go.  Now let's get you home."

6. 

I might be cheating a bit on this one, but: every single Falderal resident in KQ7. God, they are obnoxious. The poodle with the extremely heavy accent is only the beginning of this insanity. When you go onto that first screen with the gate, and the rat guard is yelling at you through the grate, you can already tell how annoying these characters are going to be. The Chicken Little expy and the talking China bird bring back bad memories of the rat from KQ5, the bull in the china shop seriously needs some anti-depressants, the snake oil salesman places way too much emphasis on stretching out his s's, and the mockingbird has about 2 funny insults and 48 painfully bad ones. What. A. Load.

That pretty much sums up my feelings as well.  It's people like them whom I just want to do this to:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O2hlEwRA-wo

If only guns had been invented in Medieval times...

[Numbers]

Yeah, Genesta annoyed me too. Not so much her, but what the writers make her do to get the plot started.

Genesta: If you love your father, say yes!
Rosella: YES!
Genesta: *teleports Rosella to her country* Oh,  by the way, you're way too far away from home to walk, there are no boats to take over the ocean, my country is in anarchy, I'm at death's door, my fairy underlings won't lift a finger to help you because they're too busy guarding my castle from non-existent threats, and before you can help your father, you have to infiltrate my arch-enemy's castle, placing yourself in mortal peril repeatedly until you gain her trust, then get my Macguffin back from her. And you have 24 hours to do it. Well, good luck! Let me know how it turns out! *flies away*
Rosella: ...what the f...?

A side character that I didn't like in the fangames is Possum from KQ2+. Is that seriously the best child voice you could come up with? And then she's an immortal, sexy vampire that has accelerated her age to be about the same as her immortal, sexy vampire parents. K then.

Conversely, I did find myself liking Caldaur somewhat, though definitely not for the voice acting. I thought he was just an interesting character, and his characterization is proof that you can make something special out of a completely one-dimensional figure like Dracula in the original KQ2. A definite improvement, I think. Although I didn't like the way he acted at the end when he said "give my regards to the Father!" before teleporting Graham and Valanice back to Castle Daventry. He knew that the most powerful figure from the Black Cloaks was at Graham's castle, and just sent him there before he was ready. If Graham wasn't so badass, he could have been killed by the Father pretty easily--meaning that Caldaur would have sent Graham to his death.

Another peripheral character I liked in the AGDI games was the Minstrel in KQ3 Redux. I know he was annoying, but I have kind of a soft spot for him. Being voiced by Edwyn Tiong might have something to do with it; it's always fun to listen to how deliciously hammy he can get with his performances. Plus, giving the lute to him results in the single funniest scene in the game.

As far as TSL goes, I sort of like Hassan, despite the big personality overhaul from KQ6. Come to think of it, the Arch-Druid is totally different as well, but he's fine. The two bickering knights at Chessboard Land provide probably the only thing on the Isle of Wonder that I've ever laughed at, be it KQ6 or TSL. I did not like TSL Jollo, for obvious reasons. Also, not liking the Winged Ones goes without saying.

[Jack Stryker]

Yeah, I hate the winged ones in TSL too.  The queen and the oracle are pretty much the only decent people among them.  I totally agree on Possum too.  I use a TV for a monitor and always mute it whenever I get to the conversations with her living form.  I can't say I liked the 3 bears- or behrs- much better in the AGD remake of KQIII, but their scene in the end was a nice touch.

[Numbers]

The KQ3 Redux end credits is just pure win the whole way through. Best credits for any KQ game, period. Best music, too.

[Neonivek]

To admit though The Winged Ones in TSL are probably meant to be strongly disliked.

Let me see

I love Cedric and Edgar (You can tell why I REALLY dislike his role in TSL), as well I like... Atis the god of the hunt in KQ7.

Atis might have been REALLY minor but he had a good voice actor who was able to display his plight, his animation got that perfect level of sadness, AND in an unfathomable turn of events he actually goes out of his way to help you (Something unheard of in Kings Quest) at an actual risk and cost to himself out of gratitude.

KQ might have had a lot of cursed people who felt fine just to sit there crying... but Atis is the only one I actually felt for as a character. (Actually... KQ7 with all its faults had quite a few strong secondary characters. The Wraith of the desert for example)

Ohh and I loved that Rat in KQ7 who did the gate. Though I might have been the only one who found him funny.

Now for the ones I dislike I am going to remove ones connected with annoying puzzles. Afterall I HATE the faux shop puzzle, but I cannot really say I dislike the character attached to it. Same with Rumplestiltskin.

I will be sticking with characters I just REALLY dislike.

The Farmer and his wife in KQ1: So, they sent their children to die to the witch (which is Canon as far as I am aware) and they get a free pass? YES they are the father and mother of the Hansel and Gretel tale as far as I am aware.

The Chess Pieces in KQ6: I just found them annoying and while that was the point I just found them aggravating... and not in the fun way like with the Winged Ones.

[Bludshot]

Wow no one has mentioned Samhain yet? By far the most tragic being in the series. Has heard every sob sorry there is, turning him into a cold uncaring husk of a man.

Dislike King Antony, his song is terrible and that dog had every right to try and kill him.

[Numbers]

That bear had every right to kill Queen Beetrice too. And the cat eating the rat, as well.

[Bludshot]

Yup, if Graham had animal speech power isn't a better ally than insects and a mouse?

[Numbers]

Well, his animal speech power did give him a deus ex eagle in the nick of time...