ABSTRACT
First indirectly introduced in the On-Line Systems’s early graphical adventure game Wizard and the Princess, the mythical world of Daventry is perhaps best known as the place in which the original King’s Quest and its subsequent series were set. In this chapter, the author explores the world of Daventry through a number of its iterations to better understand its construction. The King’s Quest games take place in the world of Daventry, a mythical world that compiles elements from fairy tales, folklore, mythology, and popular culture. Daventry exists across numerous articulations, including the games designed by Roberta Williams, the paratextual materials released in conjunction with these games, fan works, and the reboot of the game in 2015. Building from its remediation and combination of a variety of fables, myths, and fairy tales, the author argues that while Daventry’s multiple authors help to build and enrich its imaginary world, they also simultaneously reveal the limits of canonicity.
