Ester Knight

Ester Knight (nee Wright) is Gabriel Knight's grandmother in the Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers (novel).

Background
She was born in 1923 She had been bred in a large Southern family. Her father, was a plantation owner, an alcoholic and abusive to her. Ester met German immigrant Harrison Knight at a revival. They married although her family didn't approve.

They didn't have much money. He worked odd jobs, and they moved a lot. Although they were close, he always kept his past in Germany a secret from her. He died in his mid-thirties of heart failure and widowed Ester was left to raise their son, Philip Knight, by herself.

Later when her son and his wife died at a young age, she took over caring for the one year old Gabriel Knight herself. She took care so that young Gabriel would not see his father's violent and disturbing paintings.

She recently had made the decision to get that attic all cleared out in 1993, and she vowed to keep the promise. She's getting on in years, and while she thinks she has a few more decades to live, nor does she have a new man she's interested in, she wants to get on with things. She planned to give old things to the charity sale and wanted Gabriel to go through his father's things.

Day 1, Ester Knight calls to remind Gabriel that he still needs to go through his father's things before the charity sale the next weekend. It was the fourth time she called him in the previous month. But she had to keep reminding him, since he was so unreliable.

Towards the end of the day, after he finishes the crime scene research, Gabriel decides to follow Gran's request. After greeting her, they have a quick discussion about her reasons for cleaning out the attic. He doesn't ask her about his family (as he already knows much of the history already). He goes up to the attic and finds interest in the trunk, where he discovers his father's sketchbook. He is surprised to find that the artwork mirrors the images in his dreams. He decides take it with him, and leaves Gran behind.

Day 3, Gabriel returns to visit Gran, reminded by the name Heinz Ritter on a book of poems at his shop, and letters she kept in the trunk in the attic. Gran is surprised, and could scarely believe her eyes that he was visiting her a second time, in so few days. He brushed her cheek with a kiss, and ran up to the attic to check out her Grandmother's things and find out more about the identity of Heinz Ritter. He looked at the clock and discovered the mechanism corresponded to the Heinz Ritter's poem and discovered the photograph hidden inside, and figured out that Heinz was his grandfather.

Gran noticed the pale look on his face when he returned o the living room, and put her knitting aside and rose from the settee, and was concerned if he was ok. She approached Gabriel and checked his temperature and offered to make him some lemonade to cool him off. She was frightened when he started asking about Harrison's background and family. She had very little she could say. He said his goodbyes, and she saw him to the door and watched him until he drove out of sight. Fear was etched on her face, from the loss of her husband and later her son, and afraid Gabriel was going down the same path. She prayed that the Lord would Spare him. Spare this one, at least.

Personality and traits
Gabriel's grandmother was as sweet and pretty a belle as the South had ever produced. Her hair was silvery white and was perfectly teased and mounted on top of her head like Audrey Hepburn's in the sixties. She wore powder and rouge, and lipstick as well—subtly done—and she dressed in gauzy, floral chintz dresses. Gabriel always pictured her with a magnolia in one hand and a mint julep in the other. In his mind and heart, his grandmother and the South were the same thing.

Her voice was only slightly edged by time and had a delightful lilt. Gran had the voice of a Southern kitten, but she'd trained Gabriel well nonetheless. One didn't leave messes for Gran. She didn't like it.

Ester seemingly knows that there is a dark and tragic secret in the Knight family, and its not just some 'coincidence', and she worries that it will affect her own grandson as well.

She is healthy and strong and hopes to live another thirty years, God willing.

Behind the scenes
Ester Wright, or Ester Knight is the name of Gabriel's grandmother in GK1 novel. In the game the character is known as Rebecca Knight.

There are a few minor differences in the backstory, and possibly timing of events, which suggest Rebecca is at least a decade older than her novel counterpart.

Though the age of the 20th Anniversary version might be closer to the novels version based on visual evidence.