Unlike the original Dragon's Lair, its sequel Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp provides a cast of supporting and background characters that intentionally or unintentionally create hazards for Dirk and the Time Machine on their quest to save Daphne from Mordroc.
Characters are listed below based on the order they appear in the game.
Dirk's Home[]
The Children[]
Dirk with his children
After Dirk saved Daphne from the Dragon's Lair, the couple now raises at least 12 children, presumably their own offspring. All of the boys resemble Dirk in physical appearance and attire, while all of the girls resemble Daphne with their blonde hair. The children do vary in height and body shapes.
The children are first seen in the game's attract mode, lamenting their mother's kidnapping with Dirk before their grandmother barges in to prod Dirk into action to rescue Daphne. In the game's first scene, the children are having a meal with their father until their grandmother once again scolds Dirk before attacking him. They are seen again in the ending reuniting with their parents, before flying off together with them on the Time Machine. Despite the uncertain fate of their parents, the children are seen playing and wrestling outside their cottage.
The children are mentioned in the manual to Dragon's Lair III: The Curse of Mordread but are not otherwise seen in the game. In storyboards for the cancelled Dragon's Lair IV, the children would have appeared again, helping Dirk to chase an apparently resurrected Mordroc out of their home after putting another spell on Daphne.
The Mother-in-Law[]
Daphne's mother
She is a bellicose, stocky, middle-aged woman with a viking helmet and armed with a rolling pin. Identified only as "the MOTHER-in-LAW" in the official character model sheets, Don Bluth's early story pitch for the game named her as "Hilda."[1] Presumably, she is a queen and/or the wife of King Ethelred, although she does not dress or act like one.
At first, she is angry with Dirk because Daphne was kidnapped again and chases Dirk back to the Castle on a bull. Dirk has to escape her by traveling through time after Mordroc. She is left angry and clobbers the Scottish Serpent, telling him to shut up after being called a thief.
She appears again at the end of the game, overjoyed to see Daphne having been saved.
The Horse and the Bull[]
The brown horse Dirk rides (perhaps named Bertram) and the red bull the Mother-in-Law rides briefly appear during the scuffle between Dirk and Daphne's Mother. Dirk first mounts the horse fleeing from his home while Daphne's mother chases after him on the bull to catch up to him.
The Castle[]
Cyclops Worms[]
They attack Dirk in his attempt to cross the drawbridge to re-enter the Castle.
Striped Serpent[]
The first enemy creature Dirk encounters inside the Castle, this red, black, and white-striped serpent looks similar to the species from the original game.
Spider[]
A massive brown-gray spider with a black head and red eyes that attempts to swallow Dirk whole. It bears a distinct design from the large purple spider seen in the original game.
McCob the Cobra[]
A Scottish-themed serpent residing in the gold-filled cavern that once served as the dragon's lair; for some reason, he is dressed as a Highlander, with a tartan bonnet and plaid. After Dirk escapes on the Time Machine, he calls Daphne's mother a thief, and she clobbers the snake with her rolling pin.
Chattering Skulls[]
Having moved out of the Mausoleum of the Crypt Creeps, the remaining skulls also reside in the Treasure Room, near the skeletal remains of Singe the Dragon.
Land Before Time/“Ancient Times”[]
Dirk chases after Daphne while impeded by several creatures inspired by dinosaurs or mythological creatures.
Centabatacorns[]
The Centabatacorns aggressively seize Daphne away from Dirk’s grasp while Pterodactyls of various sizes attack him directly. The creatures resemble mythological centaurs but are capable of flight with their bat-like wings and are further distinguished by a singular horn on their foreheads reminiscent of unicorns.
Dinosaurs[]
As Dirk chases after Daphne, his progress is impeded by several types of dinosaurs in addition to the Centabatacorns. Pterodactyls of various sizes attack him directly. At the climax of the stage, the gigantic head of a Tyrannosaurus-like dinosaur emerges from the mud and attempts to devour Dirk before the knight can activate the Time Machine to warp to the next stage.
DACARYII[]
The smaller Pterodactyl-like creatures are identified on character model sheets as "DACARYII". The DACARYII creatures reappear to pester Dirk in the game’s final stage as Daphne slowly reawakens.
Wonderland/“Through the Mirror”[]
Tweedledee and Tweedledum[]
Tweedledee and Tweedledum are a pair of chubby twins clothed in matching green outfits and armed with leaf-shaped clubs.
They are the first two characters Dirk meets after entering Wonderland through a mirror. The two quickly dress Dirk up as Alice tying an apron around his waist and slamming down a large hat with a wig of long blonde hair on his head.
The White Rabbit[]
The White Rabbit is a small white bunny that wears a jester's attire.
It is first seen fleeing from the queen of hearts holding a watch before being able to escape while she began to deal with Dirk. As Dirk journeyed through Wonderland, The white rabbit is seen running away from the queen's playing cards and the Jabberwocky.
The Queen of Hearts[]
The Queen of Hearts is a short round woman who wears a long red and black dress with circular and triangular patterns as well as a crown covered in red and gold. She is also armed with a small blade that is in the form of a red heart.
The Queen appears chasing the white rabbit before noticing Dirk and ordering him to stop prancing around. She is then struck by Tweedledee and Tweedledum mistaking Dirk as the attacker sentencing him to execution. She chases Dirk around wonderland who flees after being swung away by her.
The Playing Cards[]
The Knights known as playing cards a large men whose bodies are playing cards. They are armed with swords similar to the queen's with the only difference being their blades are purple instead of red.
"the CARDS", as officially designated by the character model sheets, quickly appear after the queen swings Dirk into him being ordered to execute Dirk. As Dirk chases after Mordroc and Daphne, Dirk is chased by the CARDS.
The Mad Hatter & March Hare[]
The Mad Hatter & March Hare are two characters that appear from teapots during Dirk's time in Wonderland. The Hatter wears a purple suit and a large top hat that have the numbers "1/8" on the front and armed with a mallet. Likewise, the March Hare is a brown hare with large eyes and is also dressed in a purple suit.
While Dirk rides on a knight chess piece, he encounters the two who are chasing after the white rabbit. The hatter takes two swipes at Dirk before accidentally swinging at the hare's tea pot breaking it.
The Jabberwocky[]
The Jabberwocky is a green, scaly dragon-like creature with short limbs, a round body, a long neck, large wings, four teeth and a long tail. It wears a purple vest and has the abilities to shoot orange like clouds of smoke as well as fire and can also grow in size.
It first appears behind the shrinking door Mordroc escapes in with Daphne on his shoulder. It surprises Dirk before growing into a giant attacking Dirk and causing him to flee.
The elaborate Jabberwocky chase sequence was animated in part by John Celestri.[2]
The Cheshire Cat[]
The Cheshire Cat is a red disembodied cat head with a purple nose stripes, long whiskers, blue eyes and a sinister grin. He has the ability to duplicate his head and change colors while floating about.
The cat appears before Dirk as he boards onto him in attempts to flee from the Jabberwocky. As they float away his head rotates causing Dirk to move around his head to prevent getting eaten as he recites a poem.
The Garden of Eden/“No Visitors”[]
The Gatekeeper[]
When Dirk approaches the garden, a fat, elderly angel in a blue toga waves his wand at Dirk, prompting him to go back. This guardian angel along with the Cherubs continue to chase Dirk as he journeys through.
He is voiced by animator Will Finn.
Cherubs[]
A small squadron of nude Cherubs help the guardian angel in capturing Dirk. In their death scenes, their magic wands are unable to harm Dirk in any way, albeit they are strong enough to subdue him and spank him with the flaming sword.
Moe and Bro[]
During the chase involving Dirk, Eve and the Cherubs, a conjoined pair of blue and green snakes stop Dirk in his tracks. Moe is the blue snake with dots and Bro is the green snake with stripes. Whereas Bro simply wanted to eat Dirk, Moe successfully tricks Dirk into getting Eve to eat the forbidden fruit. Much like everyone else in the ensuing chaos, the two were also blown away by the storm.
Adam[]
Adam is first seen sleeping in a tree with a long mustache and wearing vines around his waist. He was unaware of Dirk passing him by being chased by the cherubs. He is later seen fully awake and blown away by all the chaos happening in the garden after Eve had eating the forbidden fruit.
Eve[]
Eve, a large and voluptuous woman in a flower bikini, first encounters Dirk and immediately mistakes him for Adam. If she lays hands on Dirk, she smothers him against her bosom. Eve is later given the forbidden fruit by Dirk which causes the garden to collapse, causing all characters to be blown away by the wind gusts of a cataclysmic storm. She is last seen watching Dirk board the Time Machine as he leaves the garden.
Beethoven's Creative Gust/“Piano Solo”[]
Ludwig Van Beethoven[]
Dirk teleported onto Beethoven's piano just as the famed composer had begun playing his Fifth Symphony. As he was playing the musical number, he began creating a "creative gust" causing everything around Dirk, himself and his own cat to ascend into a musical haven. When the number ends, he lowers back down into his home along with his cat.
Karl (Beethoven's Cat)[]
While his owner is playing, he spots Dirk and chases him down in attempts to eat him. During the gust, he grows larger, purple with a polka dot pattern, and grows devilish horns and a smile similar to the Cheshire Cat's. When the musical number ends, the cat returns to normal, and Dirk is able to escape with the Time Machine before Karl can eat him.
Ancient Egypt/“Mummies All Around”[]
The Mummy[]
While trying to battle the dangers of the pyramid to save an apparently wrapped-up Daphne, Dirk opens the burial casket of a fully wrapped mummy, who is attracted to the princess' shapely form. During an aerial bat chase, Dirk successfully loosens the mummy's wrappings, revealing nothing under the bandages.
Giant Scarabs[]
Several large scarabs inside the pyramid try to eat Dirk while also distracting him.
Giant Bats[]
Two large bats inside the pyramid try to eat Dirk, but also fight against each other. One bat carries the bandaged figure Dirk assumes to be Daphne, forcing the knight to dangle along as he attempts to break the bat's grasp.
The Pirate Ship[]
Characters created and partially animated for unfinished sequence that was cut from the arcade game which later appear in modified form in Dragon's Lair III: The Curse of Mordread.
The Pirate King[]
Diminutive but energetic peg-legged man who doesn't even measure up to Dirk's kneecaps but commands several similarly-sized pirates. He and his shipmates would have stolen Dirk's sword after boarding the pirate ship, forcing Dirk to defend himself with a small, crooked dagger.
The Pirate Crew[]
A trio of pirates distinguished by their sizes and body types but all being tiny relative to Dirk.
Squid[]
A six-tentacled, spotted squid with snapping beak, likely inspired by the legendary Kraken, which would have attempted to trap and eat Dirk.
Trivia[]
- The disruption caused by the appearance of the Time Machine at the start of the Wonderland stage appears to crush a person residing on the other side of the mirror, possibly Lewis Carroll himself.
- Eve is the only enemy whose death scene does not involve directly harming Dirk since she only wants him to be with her.
- Dirk has a high risk of death by consumption throughout the game. Snakes, Dinosaurs, the Cheshire Cat, the Jabberwocky, Beethoven's Cat, the Mummy, the pyramid's giant bats/spiders/insects, and the transformed Banshee Daphne each try to eat Dirk.
- Unlike in the Bible itself, there are two serpent figures in the game's Garden of Eden instead of one.
Gallery[]
