Dahlia (King's Quest)

Dahlia

Dahlia is one of the minor villains of the adventure video game King's Quest I: Quest for the Crown, though supplementary material reveals her to be much more important, even though there is nothing indicating this in the game itself. She is an evil witch that turns anyone who comes into her gingerbread house into cookies.

Dahlia devised a plan to steal the Chest of Gold that King Edward of Daventry owned. To do this, she transformed into a beautiful woman and climbed a tree, and had a pack of wolves claw the tree as if trying to get her.

When King Edward and his knights came, the wolves ran away and they saw her in the tree. She descended from the tree and thanked the king. She lied to him that she was Princess Dahlia of Cumberland. She claimed to the king that she was traveling in the land when wolves came upon her and her bodyguard fled, leaving her alone with the wolves.

The King was charmed by her and took her to his castle to visit. He thought she could replace his late wife Queen Maylie, because his queen had died. When King Edward asked Dahlia to marry him, she agreed.

On the night before the wedding, Dahlia bid King Edward good night. He did not know that she sneaked the ring of keys from his belt. The royal treasurer came to the King with alarming news. He discovered the treasury door opened with the King's key in the lock. Dahlia was inside holding the Chest of Gold.

The treasurer froze when he noticed the Princess' laughter turned into a witch's cackle and her form grew old and withered. She held the Chest and mounted her broom, then flew out of the open window. The treasurer saw that she flew to the peaks above the clouds. Dahlia had hid the chest in the Land of the Clouds, giving it to a giant for safekeeping before returning back to the land below.

Dahlia continued to roam the woods and turned anyone who went into her house into gingerbread cookies.

During Graham's journey to save Daventry, he encountered the witch riding her broomstick. He knew that it was not just a witch, but the only cone-crowned cackler reported in the realm for many decades. He hid under a pine tree, sure that the witch did not see him.

Graham later trespassed in her house for clues about the whereabouts of the magic chest. He found a note in her bedroom. While he was in the bedroom, he heard Dahlia come inside the house, causing him to freeze where he was, but the witch did not go into the bedroom. Dahlia was talking to herself about having something good to eat and was stoking her cooking fire in front of her cauldron.

Graham sneaked quickly behind Dahlia. He then gave her a mighty shove and she momentum of the blow sent the witch headfirst into the cauldron where her body immediately burst into flame. King Edward and Daventry were eventually avenged.