Quest for Glory Omnipedia
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The witch Baba Yaga is the main antagonist in Quest for Glory 1 (a.k.a. Hero's Quest: So, You Want to Be A Hero) and a major character in Quest for Glory 4. Known for her chicken-legged hut, she is a dangerous Ogress of great magical power. When not using her evil powers, she enjoys culinary experimentation, such as eating adventurers, mandrake mousse, or Elderbury Pies.

Background[]

Curse on Spielburg[]

Baba Yaga is originally from Surria, a "big land to the east" of Mordavia. The Famous Adventurer once met her, and was asked over for dinner. He refused to eat the food offered him as he didn't trust it. Baba Yaga referred to him as 'sweet Prince Ivan', but before she could eat him he fled.[1]

She later traveled to Spielburg, where the Baron tried to force her to leave. In response, she first cursed the Graveyard, preventing the dead from resting at night and filling it with ghosts (skeletons and zombies are mentioned in the handbook, but do not appear in the original game). The Baron responded by sending the Baronial Guards to her hut, but only the Captain of the Baronial Guards came back alive. Before dissolving into a pool of sticky black goo before the castle's gatehouse, the Captain said these words, relaying Baba Yaga's curse upon the Baron:

"Hear me, oh mighty Baron.  Thou hast angered me, and thus you are cursed. All that you value you shall lose; all that you treasure shall be taken from you."

In the following years, the Baron suffered the kidnapping of his daughter, Elsa, by a "large, winged creature" and the apparent death of his son, Barnard, by an unknown large animal. Believing that Baba Yaga used her hut to abduct Elsa, the Baron sent a troupe of guards to storm it, but none returned; their skulls with glittering sockets set atop of the defensive wall outside the Baba Yaga's home. Having already lost his wife shortly after his daughter's birth, the loss of both his children led the Baron to shut himself inside his castle and refuse to see anyone, leaving his realm to fall into ruin and despair.

Baba Yaga maintains a somewhat odd association with Erasmus and the other magic users of Spielburg. Erasmus reportedly taught her the frog transformation spell she later uses against the Hero. Though they seem to otherwise hate each-other as they bicker and cheat each-other in their games whenever they get together.

The Ogress has a fondness for turning wandering adventurers into frogs, and using them to run errands for her (such as retrieving Mandrake Root from the graveyard at midnight). The Hero drives her away by reversing her own spell on her, transforming her into a frog.

Flight to Mordavia[]

After abandoning Spielburg, she eventually regains her true form. The tale spreads far and wide, however. One day she is in the audience when a Gnome named Punny Bones makes a series of jokes about it (causing her to promptly curse him into losing his sense of humor). She decides to go to Mordavia, a small valley filled with a lot of dark magic emanating from the Dark One's Cave. Not long after her arrival, the Hero turns up in the valley. Baba Yaga first plans on eating the Hero, but quickly forgets about revenge when she realizes she can use him to fetch her an Elderberry Pie.

Personality and traits[]

Baba Yaga is described as selfish, miserly, and out for herself. The gypsies of Mordavia tell the Hero that she will aid him only if he aids her first. Baba Yaga possesses one of the rituals to free the Dark One, and instructs the hero that a powerful wizard could use the rituals to banish the Dark One instead, although she remarks the hero's power is not enough to do so. She lives with her pet bat and spider (Bats and Scarlet); and her chicken legged hut is always guarded by Bonehead, an enchanted skull. In order to access Baba Yaga's hut in both games, the Hero must give her something she wants.

While others might view her as evil, she is actually rather quite neutral. She can be friends the likes of Erasmus and Fenrus, but at the same time use 'evil curses' against her enemies. She is usually helpful to those who help her first.

She has never been one to hold a grudge long, at least if the person is apologetic. She is quite fair in her dealings with the Hero.

Titles and nicknames[]

  • Curser
  • Spellcaster
  • Big B
  • Baba
  • The Babe
  • Baba YoYo
  • Baba Wawa
  • Slavic Ogress
  • Ogress/The Ogress
  • Ogress Baba Yaga
  • Magic User
  • The Baba Yaga

See also[]

Behind the scenes[]

  • It’s canonically possible to beat QFG1 without kicking Baba Yaga out of the valley. This, unlike if you killed Barnard (as a bear) or saved him, was recorded in the character export data, but later games never utilized that data. Lori Cole has said for those that left Spielberg without defeating her that Elsa kicked her out.—She still held a grudge to you because you had had helped rescue Elsa.
  • According to Zara in QFG1 Zara and Erasmus were the only two Wizards in Spielburg. Baba Yaga is not considered a Wizard.
  • In Shadows of Darkness she was voiced by Joan Gerber.
  • Baba Yaga (Russian: "Баба Яга", literally "Angsty Crone"[citation needed]) is a mythological character in the Eastern Slavic folklore. She 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. In Russian folkloric myths her house is described as standing on chicken legs (or sometimes a single chicken leg). Baba Yaga may help or hinder those that encounter or seek her out. She sometimes plays a maternal role, and also has associations with forest wildlife. According to Vladimir Propp's folktale morphology, Baba Yaga commonly appears as either a donor or villain, or may be altogether ambiguous.
  • Baba Yaga is described as a witch in the games a few times. But in Authorized Guide she is described as a witch in most references.
  • Baba Yaga's appearance in Hoyle is clearly based on her appearance in QFG1EGA. Though it does share some similarities to witch in King's Quest V though hair is a different color. She has purple lips, and a full mouth of teeth (as seen in her smiling/talking animations).
  • Baba Yaga's appearance in QFG4 is based on her QFG1VGA appearance. The clothes are same but a different color, her face has many features of her face from QFG1VGA.
  • Baba Yaga appearance differs between various angles of animation sprites in QFG1VGA. In some sprites she appears to be bald, with fuzzy/feathered cloak. Other sprites she appears to have hair slicked back on top of her head, some sprite animations seem to show stringy black hair down the side of her head. It's possible the 'feathers' seeming to stick out her mantle in some sprites may just be some of her wiry hair from the back of her head.

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. "Went to brunch with Baba Yaga, though I did not dare to eat, Had a queasy sort of feeling when I looked upon the meat. She called me 'sweet Prince Ivan' as she licked her lips at tea, So quickly I deserted ere she made dessert of me."

External links[]

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