Dirk the Daring (character)

Dragon's Lair
Dragon's Lair promotional poster
Genres	Fantasy, animation
Publishers	Cinematronics
Creators	Rick Dyer Don Bluth
Artists	Don Bluth
Writers	Rick Dyer
Platforms	LaserDisc Arcade Playstation Nintendo Entertainment System Mega CD/Sega CD Philips CD-i Xbox GameCube Nintendo DSi Personal computer Commodore Amiga
Platform of origin	Laserdisc video game
Year of inception	June 23, 1983
First release	Dragon's Lair
Spin-offs	Escape from Singe's Castle Dragon's Lair (1990 video game) Dragon's Lair II: Time Warp Dragon's Lair III: The Curse of Mordread Dragon's Lair 3D: Return to the Lair

Dragon's Lair is a video game franchise that began with the laserdisc video game Dragon's Lair originally released for the arcades in 1983.

Dragon's Lair also led to the creation of 1984's Space Ace, another game animated by Don Bluth and his crew. Space Ace was also a ROM and disc upgrade kit for the Dragon's Lair cabinets, complete with new control panel overlay, side art, and header.

Dirk the Daring is the main protagonist of the first game and subsequent franchise. As a knight of the kingdom, Dirk was entrusted with the rescue of Princess Daphne from Mordroc and Singe because all other knights were killed. He becomes heir to the throne upon saving Princess Daphne; following her rescue, Dirk and Daphne are married. In both games, Dirk is voiced by sound editor Dan Molina. Retro Gamer included him on their list of top 50 game characters in the category "Top Ten Forces of Good" and called him "without a doubt, the epitome of the heroic knight."

The game led to the creation of a short-lived television cartoon series, Dragon's Lair by Ruby-Spears Productions, where Dirk the Daring was voiced by Bob Sarlatte and the unseen storyteller that narrates each episode is voiced by Clive Revill. Changes in the TV series included the originally nameless Dragon was given the name Singe (voiced by Arthur Burghardt), Princess Daphne (voiced by Ellen Gerstell) now wore a long pink dress, and included some exclusive characters like Princess Daphne's father King Ethelred (voiced by Fred Travalena), Dirk the Daring's horse Bertram (vocal effects provided by Peter Cullen), Dirk the Daring's squire Timothy (voiced by Michael Mish), and Dirk the Daring's rival Sir Hubert Blunt (voiced by Peter Cullen). Several enemies from the original game also make their appearance as adversaries, such as the Lizard King, the Phantom Knight, the Giddy Goons, and the Mudmen. Thirteen half-hour episodes were produced and aired on the ABC network from September 8, 1984, to April 27, 1985. It was last aired on the USA Cartoon Express between the late '80s and the early '90s. The show was generally run of the mill but boasted an unusual feature: to keep the show in the spirit of the game, before each commercial break the storyteller would ask what the viewer would do to solve the problem facing Dirk. After the commercial break, the outcomes of the various choices were shown before Dirk acts on the correct idea (with the occasional exception) to save the day. Don Bluth had no involvement in the TV series.