The "Game Over" scene in Dragon's Lair
Death Scenes (often referred to as Death Nodes by franchise creators) are cinematic occurrences in Dragon's Lair, Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp and Space Ace. If the player fails to direct Dirk or Ace in the right direction, the player will lose a life and a scene of the character being defeated or killed is played. Depending on the area and obstacle, death scenes can vary if the player does not react in time or picks the wrong direction. Death scenes are often either comical or gruesome and violent. If the player has another life, Dirk will arise in his skeletal form before magically regenerating.
In Dragon's Lair, If the player loses all their lives, a scene plays where Dirk jumps down with his arms crossed and his skin deteriorating while he is angrily looking at the player before turning into a skeleton and falling apart.
Gallery[]
A gallery of various death nodes can be viewed here.
Trivia[]
- There are scenes in the games where other characters besides Dirk and Dexter are killed or defeated:
- A scene of Dirk with Princess Daphne sinking into mud and another of Daphne free-falling with Dirk in the pre-historic level of Dragon's Lair II.
- The Time Machine is included in a number of death scenes in the same game. In the game's final death scene, the crashing Time Machine slams into large rocks as Dirk and Daphne tumble along with it.
- In Time Warp’s Egyptian stage, Mordroc, on account of impersonating a mummified-wrapped Daphne, suffers along with Dirk, either sinking into the mud or being struck by a falling pillar.
- Kimberly is included in a few death scenes along with Dexter in Space Ace, though some have a light-hearted comedic tone in which both protagonists appear to break-the-fourth-wall by looking at the player with annoyance.
- Dragon's Lair 3D, the Amiga, NES and SNES versions of Dragon's Lair use Dirk's skeleton falling apart (originally a Game Over) as indication that the player has lost a life.
- The sequence was also featured in the television shows Robot Chicken and Family Guy.
- In one of the death nodes involving the Smithee in Dragon's Lair, he strikes Dirk down while breaking the knight's sword in the process, although immediately afterwards, the sword is seen falling to the floor, intact.
- In one death node of Dragon's Lair II, in which a spider devours Dirk's arm, a wishbone leaves his body.
- Cardsmiths' Dragon's Lair trading card series features a "DEATH BY DIRK" subset of 14 cards, each featuring a specific death from the games accompanied by whimsical rhythmic descriptions on the reverse sides: RESPAWN, SPEARED, ELECTROCUTION, SQUEEZED TO DEATH, RUN THROUGH, CHOKE HOLD, CRUMBLE, EATEN, EN FUEGO!, GRIP OF DEATH, THORNS, DINO DEATH, RESPAWN II, and BUG OUT.[1]