Grace Nakimura

Grace Nakimura is a fictional character in the horror adventure game series Gabriel Knight, first introduced in Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers in 1993 an non-player character, before becoming a player character in The Beast Within: A Gabriel Knight Mystery and Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned. Through the series, Grace is an assistant, researcher and, eventually, investigative partner of the titular protagonist character, Gabriel Knight. She has been often regarded as one of the best female video game characters from the classic era of PC gaming.

In video games

At the start of the trilogy, in Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers, Grace has taken a hiatus from her Ivy-league doctorate ambitions and moved to New Orleans and took a job at St. George's Rare Books on a whim; partly to seek adventure, and partly to escape the oppressive tradition her Japanese parents try to push on her. Optimistic and intelligent, Grace has strong sense of danger, a willingness to believe in the supernatural, and a talent for research. When not book-keeping and researching for her employer, she practices Tai Chi and oil painting, two talents which prove useful in Gabriel's first case. The second entry in the series sees Grace taking a more proactive role, becoming a playable character who takes up the research and historical context aspect of the game, much to Gabriel's chagrin. She at times displays a hostility toward people who are unwilling to aid her in her research, in particular Gerde, the housekeeper of Schloss Ritter. Her perseverance proves vital to Gabriel's investigation and his life, leading him to re-examine his over-protective attitude toward her and regard her as a full partner by the time of the third game. While she often regards Gabriel with dismay and sarcasm, it is apparent that they do indeed care for each other, perhaps beyond the realm of a platonic relationship.

In Gabriel Knight 3: Blood of the Sacred, Blood of the Damned, Grace falls asleep when Prince James's son is kidnapped and is brought to Rennes-le-Château by his men, Mallory and McDougall. Joining the tour Grace learns of and discovers Le Serpent Rouge, a bizarre poem which contains clues to the location of the treasure. Over the course of the game Grace not only discover that the treasure is not in fact what she thinks but also that Emilio Baza is the Wandering Jew. In the final parts of the game she assists Gabriel through a radio as he faces the many dangers of the underground temple.

Reception

Grace was included on GameSpot's late 1990s lists of the ten best sidekicks^[1] and "definitely" one of the top ten female characters overall, as chosen by the staff and readers alike.^[2][3] According to GameSpot, "what's interesting about Grace is that she's simply a more likeable character than the series' namesake. Grace is intelligent and resourceful, and playing her...was usually more interesting than playing Gabe himself."^[1] GameSpot also wrote that if Gabriel Knight 3 "had been all about Grace, it would probably have been a much better game. Grace is everything you want from a character, female or otherwise."^[2] In 2007, Tom's Games included her on the list of the 50 greatest female characters in video game history, stating that "perhaps more than any other female character, Grace puts brains back into adventure gaming", commenting that she is "a bit of an anomaly in modern video games" as she "looks like a bookworm and doesn't dress in sexy outfits or have out-sized proportions", and adding that she could have been portrayed by Grace Park.^[4] Grace was the first video game crush of Charlie Barratt, GamesRadar's Senior Microsoft Editor, who wrote that "above everything else, she felt real. To a more pure and innocent me, that was more attractive than any skimpy costume or nude cheat could ever be."^[5] According to USgamer's Pete Davison in 2013, "Grace Nakimura remains one of the best, most realistic female characters in game history."^[6]

See also

• List of Gabriel Knight characters

References