Gabriel Knight is a series of point-and-click adventure games created by Jane Jensen and published by Sierra On-Line in the 1990s. The main character, Gabriel Knight, is an author and bookstore owner in New Orleans who investigates a series of mysterious murders. He later discovers he is descended from a group of people called Schattenjäger, or "Shadow Hunters." After completing a spiritual test, Gabriel becomes the new Schattenjäger, tasked with stopping those who use supernatural methods to harm others. To show this role, he wears the Ritter Talisman, a protective medallion. Gabriel does not have supernatural powers himself, so he relies on clever thinking and research to defeat his enemies. In the first game, he is helped by Grace Nakimura. In the two later games, the two work together as partners, and Grace can be controlled by the player.

The original game, Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers (1993), was popular and successful. It featured a voice cast that included actors such as Tim Curry, Leah Remini, Virginia Capers, Mark Hamill, Michael Dorn, and Efrem Zimbalist Jr. Two sequels followed, each with a different style of gameplay: The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery (1995), an interactive movie involving werewolves, and Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned (1999), a 3D graphics game about vampires. The first two games were critically successful, leading Computer Gaming World to call Jane Jensen "the interactive Anne Rice." The third game was less successful and marked the last game published by Sierra On-Line, as the point-and-click adventure game industry declined.

The first two games each had a published novelization written by Jane Jensen. The original game was re-released in 2014 as Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Father (20th Anniversary Edition), which included improved graphics, sound, and new voice recordings. To celebrate this release, Jane Jensen shared a short story about Gabriel Knight online, set six months after the events of the third game.

Series

The Gabriel Knight games and characters were created by writer Jane Jensen, who also worked on King's Quest VI: Heir Today, Gone Tomorrow with veteran game designer Roberta Williams. The music in the series was composed by Robert Holmes, Jensen's husband.

All three games in the series follow the adventures of Gabriel Knight, a financially struggling author and bookstore owner in New Orleans who discovers his true family name is Ritter and learns he is destined to follow the family legacy of being a Schattenjäger (German for "Shadow Hunter"). Grace Nakimura is a major supporting character in Sins of the Fathers, running the bookstore while helping Gabriel with research. The two are friends who often argue. In the sequel games, Grace and Gabriel grow closer and work together as partners when investigating supernatural events. The second game hints at their romantic feelings, while the third game shows them directly facing their emotions. In the two sequel games, Grace becomes a lead character alongside Gabriel, and players alternate between controlling each of them during different parts of the game.

Each game requires players to gather information by exploring the environment and questioning non-player characters (NPCs). Players must also solve puzzles and complete tasks using items they find, information they collect, devices they activate, or actions they provoke in NPCs. The story generally moves in a straight line, with players unable to advance to the next "day," "chapter," or "time block" until they solve required puzzles and collect needed information. Solving puzzles and gathering information earns players points.

Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers and Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned both include short graphic novels that provide background information, similar to Infocom's "feelies." The Sins of the Fathers graphic novel tells the story of Günter Ritter, an ancestor of Gabriel Knight, who left his home in the 17th century to travel to the American continent. The Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned graphic novel acts as a prelude to the game, explaining how Gabriel started his investigation.

The first game in the series is a point-and-click adventure played from a third-person perspective, with comic book-style art used for story scenes. The floppy disk version of the game only included subtitles, but the CD-ROM version featured voice actors. Tim Curry voices Gabriel Knight, Mark Hamill voices his friend Detective Franklin Mosely, Leah Remini voices his assistant Grace Nakimura, and Leilani Jones voices Malia Gedde. Other characters include Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. as Wolfgang Ritter, Gabriel's great-uncle; Michael Dorn as Dr. John, a voodoo museum proprietor; and Mary Kay Bergman as Gerde Hull, the caretaker at Gabriel's ancestral home in Germany. The narrator is Virginia Capers.

This game introduces Gabriel Knight, a financially struggling horror novelist who owns a bookstore in New Orleans called St. George's Rare Books. His friend Detective Mosely is investigating a series of murders called "The Voodoo Murders" by the press. Inspired by strange dreams and thinking the murders might provide material for a book, Gabriel starts his own investigation, helped by his assistant Grace Nakimura. This leads him to meet Malia Gedde, a mysterious New Orleans socialite, and learn about the history of voodoo. During the investigation, Gabriel realizes supernatural practices are involved and discovers he is related to the Ritter family, making him the latest in a line of Schattenjägers ("Shadow Hunters") who fight those who use supernatural methods to harm innocent people.

The 20th anniversary remake edition of the first game featured Jason Victor as Gabriel Knight, Cissy Jones as Grace Nakimura, Ned Clarke as Detective Mosely, and Amy Kelly as the narrator.

The second game, also known as Gabriel Knight 2: The Beast Within, is styled as a live-action interactive movie, starring Dean Erickson as Gabriel Knight and Joanne Takahashi as Grace Nakimura. Grace is now a playable character for parts of the game. The character Gerde Hull returns as an NPC, portrayed by Andrea Martin.

A year after the events of Sins of the Fathers and after completing the spiritual trial to become a Schattenjäger, Gabriel moves to his ancestral home in the small village of Rittersberg, Bavaria, Germany, to write his new novel and connect with his family heritage. His book The Voodoo Murders, a fictional murder mystery based on the first game, becomes a bestseller. The people of Rittersberg, the home of the Schattenjägers, ask Gabriel for help when rumors of a werewolf attack in Munich arise. Gabriel investigates, and Grace travels to Germany to assist him, determined to fight evil alongside the Schattenjäger and experiencing her own visions and dreams. Gabriel forms an unusual friendship with Baron Friedrich Von Glower, who leads a hunting club in Munich and believes Knight is a kindred spirit.

This game uses 3D graphics and features Tim Curry returning as Gabriel Knight. Grace is once again a playable character, now voiced by Charity James. Detective Franklin Mosely returns, now voiced by David Thomas.

Years after the events of the second game, Gabriel publishes another successful book called The Brutal Beast, based on his experiences in the previous game. He now considers himself a full-time Schattenjäger, and Grace is his full partner, having created a computerized Schattenjäger archive called SYDNEY. The two are asked by the exiled Prince James of Albany to protect his newborn son from a centuries-old family threat that may involve vampires. That same night, the boy Charlie is kidnapped, and Gabriel follows the kidnappers to the mysterious French village of Rennes-le-Château. Gabriel's arrival coincides with a tour group hunting for a legendary local treasure linked to the Roman Catholic Church, the Knights Templar, or the Holy Grail. Gabriel and Grace investigate the case alongside Mosely, who joined the tour group. After rescuing the child, Gabriel discovers the origin of the first Schattenjäger. At the end of the game, Grace leaves Gabriel to find her own path.

To celebrate the release of Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers – 20th Anniversary Edition, Jane Jensen released a short prose story online. The story, Temptation: A Gabriel Knight Interlude, is set six months after the events of the third game. The story was later adapted into a comic book.

The short story describes Gabriel chasing a cloaked figure in the woods, believed to be a seeleesser, "an eater of souls." During the case, Gabriel reflects on recent events, Grace's departure, and the fact that he has completed three major "quests" and is now 36 years old, making him wonder if he has reached his peak. During the adventure, he has a vision of Von Glower from The Beast Within and hears the man express doubts and

Characters

Gabriel Knight is the main character in the series. He is the orphaned son of Philip Knight and Margaret Templeton Knight. When the story begins, he is about 30 years old, though his age changes in different games. Gabriel owns a bookstore called St. George's Rare Books in New Orleans and writes horror fiction. He is charming, witty, and has strong instincts, but he avoids responsibilities and is often distracted by books or relationships with women. His two main friends are Grace Nakimura, his assistant, and Franklin Mosely, a police detective and childhood friend. Early in the first game, Gabriel learns there is more to his family history than he knew. His nightmares and interest in researching a new book lead him to investigate recent "voodoo murders." During this investigation, he discovers he is descended from the Ritter family and is part of a group called the Schattenjägers ("Shadow Hunters"). He travels to Schloss Ritter, his family's castle in Germany, where he completes a spiritual test to become a Schattenjäger and inherits the Ritter Talisman. In the second game, Gabriel is living in his family's castle a year later and has financial success after publishing a bestselling novel, The Voodoo Murders, which is based on his experiences. By the third game, he has written another successful book, The Brutal Beast, and is more focused on his duties as a Schattenjäger. Grace is now his full partner in investigations, though Gabriel still avoids romantic relationships with her.

Grace Nakimura first appears in Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers in 1993 as a non-player character. She becomes a player character in later games. Introduced as a 26-year-old assistant, Grace helps Gabriel with research and acts as a guide for his decisions. She becomes a full partner in investigations in the sequel games and takes on a stronger role as a romantic interest. At the end of the third game, she chooses to pursue her own goals instead of staying as Gabriel's helper. Grace has been included in lists of top sidekicks and female characters in video games. GameSpot described her as more likable than Gabriel and more intelligent and resourceful. In 2007, Tom's Games noted that Grace is different from typical female characters in games, as she wears conservative clothing and is not shown in revealing outfits. In 2013, USgamer's Pete Davison called Grace one of the best and most realistic female characters in game history.

Gerde Hull, voiced by Mary Kay Bergman in the first game and played by Andrea Martin in the second, is the caretaker of Gabriel's ancestral home, Schloss Ritter in Germany. When Gabriel first meets Gerde in Sins of the Fathers, she is a young woman who is anxious but optimistic. She deeply respects Gabriel's great-uncle Wolfgang Ritter and is still grieving his death during the events of The Beast Within. Gerde helps with research and is considered a possible rival by Grace for Gabriel's attention, but they become friends after talking. Gerde does not appear in the third game but is mentioned in it.

Novelizations

The stories Sins of the Fathers and The Beast Within were turned into books by Jane Jensen. The first book is a simple version of the game's events. Later, Jensen said this approach did not work as well for introducing Gabriel Knight to readers. For the second book, she started over without using the game's ideas.

Both books were no longer available for sale since 2010. In 2012, Jensen included both Gabriel Knight novels as free ebooks for people who donated $50 or more through her Kickstarter campaign to fund a new game.

Compilation

In 1998, Sierra released the title Gabriel Knight Mysteries: Limited Edition, which includes:

• An 8-disc PC CD box containing the first two Gabriel Knight games and digital manuals.
• A 419-page book version of Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers (written by Jane Jensen and published by Roc in 1997).
• A complete soundtrack for The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery.
• Included with the original 1993 versions, a 33-page full-color graphic novel describing an event that happens nearly 200 years before the start of Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers (written by Jane Jensen, art direction by Nathan Gams, and illustrated by Terese Nielsen).
• A 20-page full-color graphic novel describing an event that occurs days before the start of the upcoming Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned (written by Jane Jensen and illustrated by Ron Spears).