For those who have completed Zork Nemesis, I found an interesting theory on the Internet. Please be aware that while I won't ruin the ending in this post, the pages I link to and possibly the subsequent posts will completely ruin the ending of the game, as well as (maybe) ruin Zork 1.

The theory is that the Nemesis (from Zork Nemesis) is the thief (from Zork 1). I read it awhile ago and dismissed it as some crackpot fan epileptic trees theory, but upon re-playing the game, I discovered this message in the Nemesis' lab (on the right-most voice disc):

"I have discovered a vast subterranean land filled with magic and mysteries. However, I haven't found any creature knowledgeable in the black arts. A wizard may be somewhere underground, but I have yet to find him. Other treasure hunters have discovered the ruins, and I've had to kill them to protect my belongings."

This is clearly a reference to to the labyrinth under the White House, and the Wizard of Frobozz (Zork 2), and largely implies that the Nemesis is the thief who kills adventurers in Zork 1 to "protect" his "belongings."

The website which fleshes out this theory is The Zork Compendium, which is probably the largest collection of Zork history on the net. The site gives a complete history of the Nemesis character here -- this will spoil the game.

Firstly, note that the Zork Grand Inquisitor timeline places these two games at nearly the same time frame: Zork 1-3 took place in 948 GUE, and Zork Nemesis takes place in 949 GUE. The Nemesis' curse began in 945 GUE, three years before the events of Zork 1.

The theory goes something like this: The Nemesis, in his search for the secrets of alchemy, journeyed all over the world, still mostly-human at this point. At some point, he discovered the White House and the labyrinth underneath. In his search for the Wizard of Frobozz, he sort of made this his base of operations, and started (for some reason) collecting random treasures. He then found a bunch of adventurers who had started exploring the underground, and he was forced to kill them. Eventually, the player character from Zork 1 started exploring, and while the Thief/Nemesis stole a bunch of the player's stuff, the player eventually found the Thief/Nemesis's hideout and killed him with the nasty knife.

Killing the Thief transformed him fully into the demon known as the Nemesis, and his spirit was sent back to the Temple of Agrippa (Zork Nemesis temple) where he haunts it, and is unable to leave.

That page even tries to explain the opening shot of the game, where someone has been stabbed. That shot always confused me, and I never even knew who it was supposed to be. According to this theory, it was the Thief being stabbed by the Zork 1 player character.

Interesting theory. Puts a very different light on both the Nemesis and the Thief characters. Some of it is just downright weird (like, apparently the thief had an illegitimate son called Spike the Protector, which doesn't fit with the Nemesis story at all -- I don't even know what game that is from). I don't know why the Nemesis suddenly decided to start collecting treasures and acting like a gentleman -- it makes about as much sense as the plot of Zork 1! But I can honestly see that Activision did intend for this connection to be made.

What do you think? Is the Nemesis actually the Thief from the original game? Are there any plot holes relating to this?

OK now I will directly be spoiling the game here.

That Zork Compendium site also linked to some of its source material. Among this material is the original draft of Bivotar's journal. It contains the following quote, removed from the published version included in the GOG package (emphasis mine):

"I asked him where I could find Kaine's son, whose name turned out to be Lucien, and his reply was intriguing indeed.

"You can't find him. No one can. He spends all his time underground now, living in the old caverns of the Great Underground Empire. From what I hear, he fancies himself quite the bandit."

"This explanation is baffling to me. For sixty-five years now the Dungeon Master has fiercely guarded every entrance to the old underground realms, insisting that no one would enter until the time was right. Not even Syovar, the rightful heir to the empire, had been allowed to enter until just recently. Why the Dungeon Master would let this young Lucien run around down there made little sense indeed."

So apparently, they originally planned to (pretty much) explicitly state in the feelies that Lucien was the thief from Zork 1, but of course not reveal that the Lucien is the Nemesis. But I suppose if you heard the Nemesis recording (quoted above) which links the Nemesis to the thief, this might give away the secret to the game, which is maybe why they cut it.