A procedure, usually involving the spoken word, that has a magical effect. Knightmare was a fantasy realm, and so spells formed an integral part of it, in terms of plots, background and gameplay.

There were several varieties of spell among Knightmare characters. Some involved exclamations of rhyming couplets or Latin-sounding phrases, while others were performed simply by a gesture. However, the prevalent type of spell in the series was a single magical word that would literally be spelt out (usually by a nominated advisor) to activate it. There were four main ways for a questing team to acquire a standard spell for their own later use:

1. From a character. Often this would be as a reward for displaying knowledge, or for participation in an errand for the character. The character would 'give' the spell to the dungeoneer by saying that he/she was doing so, naming the spell, and sometimes giving a clue as to how and when the magic might be made use of. (On one occasion, a team was sold an object that contained a spell, RUN, rather than acquiring the spell directly from a character.) See the entry listing spells by character for more information.

2. By collecting the letters of the spell during the quest (FREE).

3. By collecting fragments of a magical object with an associated spell (MEDAL, TALISMAN, Team 5 of Series 7's unknown Level Completition Spell, ARKEN).

4. Via a spell scroll (e.g. PIXEL, GROWME).

As a rule, a spell could only be cast once. To accomplish this, the user would call out "Spellcasting", followed optionally by the spell's name, followed by the letters of the spell, which would appear on the Watchers' screens one by one (with certain exceptions, such as DISMISS, which was not displayed at all, and Series 8 spells like FLOAT, which were displayed in full in a computer generated spellbook). A satisfying sound effect, that varied over the course of Knightmare, would then indicate successful spellcasting.

Sometimes it would be appropriate or expedient for a spell to be undone, or 'dispelled'. To do this, the character would call out "Dispel" (emphasis on the first syllable), followed by the letters of the spell in an incorrect order (not necessarily in exact reverse), which would appear on the Watchers' screens one by one. Spells that were dispelled include LANTERN, BIG and MOUSE. Apparently, once a team was familiar with a spell, they could dispel repeat occurrences of it (SEE: SWORD). Team 7 of Series 2 used "turn-spell" (inexplicably and unsuccessfully) as a variant on "dispel" while trying to undo SHROUD.

There is an intriguing array of spells that, for one reason or another, were mentioned but never used, giving rise to much speculation among Knightmare fans as to what effects they would have had. TRANSFORMATION and BUT are prime examples (and also happen to be the longest and joint-shortest spells featured in Knightmare). The entry on spells not cast has further details.

A complete list of entries on all the standard spells featured in Knightmare - there were over 80 in total - can be found in the Lexicon's Spells Category listing. The Knightmare adventure gamebooks had spells too, and they are listed in the spells from the books entry.

[Earlier versions: 2007-10-31 17:35:04. 2006-04-22 18:37:44]

login to vote