User:Cukie Gherkin/Princess Daphne (Dragon's Lair)

Princess Daphne is a fictional character from the Dragon's Lair series of video games. She was created and designed by Rick Dyer and Don Bluth and introduced in the original Dragon's Lair in 1983.

In the games, Princess Daphne is the beautiful daughter of King Aethelred and an unnamed queen. She serves as the series' damsel in distress. A beautiful maiden coveted by many princes and knights, her heart belongs to the kingdom's champion, Dirk the Daring.

Appearances
In the original Dragon's Lair game, Princess Daphne is kidnapped by the dragon Singe and imprisoned in a large crystal orb. Singe commanded King Aethelred to surrender his kingdom before sunset or the princess would die. Daphne appears in the final level of the game, giving Dirk directions to use the magic sword and slay the dragon. The story has been described by Crash as "a cross between an Arthurian romance and George and the Dragon".

In Dragon's Lair: Escape from Singe's Castle, the just-rescued Daphne has been cursed and falls asleep, but Dirk brings her back to life with a kiss, only to see her vanish. Then a figure known as the Shape Shifter appears to tell him that Singe was only guarding the gold of the wizard they are serving and Daphne belongs to him. It vanishes among smoke, and Dirk sets off to save the princess.

In Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp, 10 years have passed after her adventure with Singe. Daphne and Dirk are married and have 13 children. However, she is again abducted, this time by the evil wizard Mordroc, who moves her through time and wants to enslave her with the Ring of Death (the same ring as in Der Ring des Nibelungen ). At the end of the game, the Ring transforms her into a monster, but Dirk saves her by removing it from her finger and then revives her with a kiss. The game also features Daphne's mother, who is shown as a fat and furious woman chasing Dirk at the start of the game.

In Dragon's Lair III: The Curse of Mordread, Mordroc's evil witch sister Mordread captures Dirk's homestead into an orb on her staff. Dirk was not in the house, so he begins pursuing Mordread to restore his home, and Daphne inside it.

Dragon's Lair 3D: Return to the Lair follows a similar story as the first two games, as Daphne is captured by Singe commanded by Mordroc and taken through a portal, but leaves behind an amulet that allows her to talk to and guide Dirk as he works his way through the castle holding her prisoner. She is impersonated by Dirk's dark alter-ego, later revealing that the "Daphne" Dirk was speaking to had been Mordroc all along. Dirk eventually defeats Mordroc and saves the princess.

In the cartoon series, her character and role are far more developed. She is an adventurous character, eagerly abandoning her regal persona to join Dirk and Timothy during their adventures.

Design and portrayal
Princess Daphne was originally created by Rick Dyer's Advanced Microcomputer Systems (AMS, later RDI Video Systems) team, then completely redesigned by the ex-Disney artist and animator Don Bluth. Bluth took his inspiration from photographs from the producer Gary Goldman's collection of old issues of Playboy magazine, ultimately putting Daphne "in a very-revealing one piece 'thong' bathing suit with a sheer veil that partially covered her". Due to the limited budget's constraints, Daphne's in-game vocals were supplied by the head of AMS' Clean-up Department, Vera Lanpher.

For Dragon's Lair II, where Daphne has experienced more than a dozen births, Bluth said "he thought it would be interesting if Daphne looked just as beautiful as ever; there's absolutely no sign she's been through anything". Professional voice actress Ellen Gerstell voiced the character in the cartoon, wherein her attire is a less-revealing dress.

Reception
Jon M. Gibson of GameSpy called Daphne "the epitome of a damsel in distress".