#dirk the daring

[kabishkat19]

Della’s Other Siblings💜

I recently re-read some information and turns out the children from “Dragon’s Lair II” we��re actually Dirk’s and Daphne’s.

So Della actually has about 12 older siblings and two younger brothers; explains her need to become a knight and stand out💜

Aged up Dirk and Daphne a little more; Queen and King consort that won’t stop having kids💜

References :

[ryunumber]

dirk the daring from dragon’s lair?

Dirk the Daring has a Ryu Number of 3.

[vintagerpg]

There may be a million ways to die, but you’re probably only going to see the first two or three. This week on the Vintage RPG Podcast, we’re remembering the classic coin-eating arcade game, Dragon’s Lair. That’s the one that features the cell-shaded, professionally animated (by Don frickin’ Bluth!) adventure of Dirk the Daring that was hidden behind an endless series of near-impossible reflex tests. An exercise in beautiful frustration that nevertheless contributed much to the visual language of fantasy in the ‘80s and beyond!

[mrdrhenwardhykle]

Pom Pom Vol 3 now on RedBubble Products!!!

[pulpsandcomics2]

Dirk the Daring

[oldmanwinterstmnt]

Don Bluth is on record as saying Dirk the Daring and Princess Daphne are the perfect pair in large part due to the fact that they are on approximately the same level, mentally speaking. Descriptive idioms employed include "elevator didn't go all the way to the top floor" and "hasn’t got a whole deck of cards going on." These pages from Marvel's 1984 coloring & activity books seem to illustrate that sensibility.

[angrybatart]

You ever just....condemn yourself to a project idea? Because of a stupid thought you had? Well mine was

"Lethal Company, but the Employees have Dirk the Daring's voice."

And this buff, fucking monstrosity was born. Enjoy.

[head-vampire]

Dragon’s Lair II: Time Warp (1984) animation sheets

Source

[themetalmassacrevault]

[a-bluedream-posts]

Princess Daphne, Dragon's Lair by DidiLuneStudio

[spiritspeanut]

Don Bluth Studios

[kabishkat19]

Non/Disney NextGen

(Don Bluth : Dragon’s Lair⚔️)

Della (14) Worrier princess

Doug (11) Kind hearted

Dian (4) Cutest prince

[oooklathemok]

[homebrewandhypotheticals]

The in-universe reason for her behavior is somehow way weirder than that, actually! This takes a bit of explaining, but I'll try my best to keep it concise.

So, originally, Princess Daphne was meant to be an homage/parody of traditional damsels in distress from classic sword and sorcery stories, in the same way the rest of the game is a parody of those elements (the lair is hyperlethal to a cartoonish degree, Dirk is a overconfident bumbling oaf that acts all stoic until he's actually in danger, most of the monster designs are meant to be evocative of classic Conan or Tarzan foes, etc.)

That's all pretty self evident, Daphne is a giggling ditz that doesn't do anything because the cultural idea of a sword and sorcery damsel in distress is that they're vapid arm candy that only exist to be trophies acquired at the end by dashing protagonists for doing something heroic.

However, when the time came to expand Dragon's Lair into a full franchise with its own TV show (done because the arcade industry was on the brink of collapse, and Don Bluth's video game division needed to scrounge up as much money from the IP as possible to keep itself going) they naturally realized that Daphne had to be an important character in it, and having her original characterization of "being the hot lady that Dirk saves at the end" from the games wouldn't really work for any form of extensive storytelling as a member of an action-comedy cartoon cast (even for a low budget tie-in one in the 80s.) So, they went for a different stock character archetype popular around that time: the put-upon clever female lead that has to wrangle in the stupid men in her life. Basically, the Dragon 's Lair cartoon is just the old Legend of Zelda cartoon, but with the serial numbers filed off and Ganon is a dragon instead of a pig.

Anyways, the show didn't do very well, only getting a single season of thirteen 30 minute episodes, but fans of the franchise DID like elements of it, and it's still treated as a canon prequel. Here's the problem, though: Daphne in the cartoon is a smart, no-nonsense adventurer who's often just as competent as Dirk. So... how does she go from that to the classic Princess Daphne characterization?

The answer is given to us by the Dragon's Lair comics that released to commemorate the series's 20th anniversary back in 2003, and it is...

The Author's Barely Disguised Fetish!

In the comic, Daphne starts out with her cartoon characterization as a spunky tomboy, even repelling an attack by Singe's minions by herself in a prologue story, but eventually does get captured. When she does, they finally explain what that weird-ass bubble prison actually is:

it fucking bimbofies you.

Literally, they describe it as it sapping your intelligence and making you more "frivolous", and make a point to state and show that Singe had used it on plenty of other princesses in the past, keeping them as his private slave harem in his treasure room.

Admittedly, it's a decently clever way to explain why a character would have two different characterizations between their major depictions, it does come off a little weird and tasteless? I'll leave that for the jury to decide, though.

I apologize for this not being as brief as I promised, but I think knowing why an initial characterization happened and then what the later justification for that characterization is was important to discussing it. But for anybody not wanting to sit through the whole blather...

Tl;Dr: Daphne is a weird ditz either because she's just another parody of sword and sorcery tropes OR she's basically a Mid-Bimbofication Princess Zelda, depending if you prefer your explanations Doyleist or Watsonian.

Use this knowledge as you wish, and thank you for reading!

so true

[mrdrhenwardhykle]

Anyways here’s some DL Halloween headcanons that are actually canon because I said so

Both Dirk and Daphne are absolutely hyped about the holiday but in their own ways

Daphne has an obsession with ‘sexy’ Halloween costumes, but she’s ran out of good ideas, so whatever she dresses up as is something weird like a block of cheese or a fish

She buys multiple costumes but can’t ever figure out what she wants to be, but usually ends up making her final costume

Daphne is usually in charge of putting together parties and planning them out

Dirk on the other hand goes crazy on the craftsmanship and decorations

Because of this, people usually get really jumpy when they’re around their hut because he puts jumpscare bait everywhere

He probably helps make decorations for haunted mazes, houses, etc.

Together Dirk and Daphne are the best parents and custom whatever costumes each of their kids want

The Time Machine hates Halloween mainly because of them and also because he’s super jumpy and a little cowardly

Also because Daphne tries to fit all of her bags of costumes on him and Dirk tried to take home a 8ft tall Home Depot Skeleton once

(Art by Don Bluth also supporting this)

Thank you

Goodnight everyone

[hamsterdads]

couple costume ready just in time for nightmare night >:3