The Witch of the Dark Forest is an old woman living in the Dark Forest of Serenia. She considered the forests her realm, and she would turn intruders into toads.
Background
The nameless hag followed the dark path, and there can be little doubt. She lusted after Prince Herbert, turned Alicia into a tree, stole her heart, and tried to steal her man. She apparently even stole Rumplestiltskin's magic spinning wheel. Graham wore a magical amulet that protected him from her spells. Graham then gave her a bottle that he found in the Endless Desert of Serenia. Upon opening it she released a vengeful genie who trapped her inside the bottle. The bottle becoming her home, she was waiting for someone to set her free within the next 500 years.
Had Graham not been protected, the nameless hag of the Dark Forest, would have added him to her collection of slime toads.[1]
The witch probably doesn't brush her pointed teeth or gargle after every meal, and it is unknown what comprised her diet. Since she's bottled for the next half millennium, most people will not be around to find out that answer. When Graham searched the inside of the witch's house he found a bag of gems, Rumplestiltskin's spinning wheel, and the key to Alicia's heart. He passed on the witch's recipe book.[2]
Like a lyric from a country song, her home is now in a bottle and she's waiting for someone to set her free.[3]
Titles and nicknames
- The Witch
- Black Forest Witch
- The Bitch[4]
See also
Behind the scenes
Amusingly referred to as "The Bitch" in the script files ('script.200').
The description on GOG.com[5], could suggest that the witch of the dark forest is based on Baba Yaga. Coincidently she does roughly look similar to Baba Yaga from the Quest For Glory series (but with red hair instead of white). Baba Yaga appears as one of the antagonists that Graham and Rosella can play games against in Hoyle's Official Book of Games: Volume 3 (which contained an original close up picture that appears vaguely similar to the witch in KQ5 but with white hair).
In Slavic folklore, Baba Yaga is a supernatural being (or one of a trio of sisters of the same name) who appears as a deformed and/or ferocious-looking woman. Baba Yaga flies around in a mortar, wields a pestle, and dwells deep in the forest in a hut usually described as standing on chicken legs. Baba Yaga may help or hinder those that encounter or seek her out and may play a maternal role and has associations with forest wildlife. Baba Yaga commonly appears as either a donor, villain, or may be altogether ambiguous.
She is also known as the Black Forest Witch according to box of the NES version of the game.[6]The name Black Forest Witch might give her ties to the witch in Hansel and Gretel in some versions of the myth which are set in the Black Forest of Germany. In one variation of Baba Yaga story takes on elements from Hansel and Gretel where the protagonist convinces Baba Yaga to get into her own oven.
Other inspirations for the witch include elements of the witch in the story of Rapunzel (such as trapping the princess, and sending the prince on a long journey).
The locked door in a tree in the woods appears to be taken from the "The Old Woman in the Wood" a German tale retold by Brother's Grimm in which a key unlocks a door in a tree with food inside. In this story it is the prince who was turned into the tree, by the witch. The witch lives inside a strange hut in the woods.
The title Witch of the Dark Forest originates from the King's Quest Companion, Second Edition. She is referred to as the "Old witch" in the KQ5 Hintbook, and she is described simply as the old witch in the game.
The witch's magic actually appears to be tied at least in part to the magic of woods (possibly around the world). Much of her magic may have twisted the Dark Forest (her house grows organically, she was able to turn Alicia into a tree, and the heart tree may be magically influenced as well), and she was also able to send Herbert to the woods of a faraway land (or alternatively simply into the woods nearby). This makes her possibly similar to the sorcererous-witch who banished Prince Cocteau to the Isle of the Forest, and also through her magic turned the woods into a darker enchanted wood..She is also capable of enchantments of transformation much like the hag that cursed Cocteau, turning her victims into toads. While there is no direct indication, there is the possiblity that the witch cursed Cocteau maybe the same witch that cursed Alicia and Herbert.