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Prince (Prince of Persia)

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The Prince
Prince of Persia character
The Prince as he appears in The Forgotten Sands (2010)
First gamePrince of Persia (1989)
Created byJordan Mechner
Designed by
  • Jordan Mechner
  • Raphael Lacoste (Sands of Time)
  • Mikael Labat, Nicolas Bouvier (Warrior Within)
Character played by
Character played by

The Prince is the name given to a group of fictional characters who act as the main protagonists of the Prince of Persia franchise, originally created by Jordan Mechner and currently owned by Ubisoft. Beginning with the titular original game in 1989, there have been several distinct Prince characters, all sharing general traits. The most prominent version was first featured in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2003), who has featured in a large number of games set within that game's continuity. In the 2008 reboot, the Prince is not from a royal family, but was planned to earn his title during the course of his journey. Other versions of the Prince have appeared in related media, most prominently the character Dastan (Persian: دستان‎) in the 2010 Prince of Persia film portrayed by Jake Gyllenhaal.

Mechner created the Prince for the first Prince of Persia game. His concepts for the character were drawn from Near Eastern mythology such as One Thousand and One Nights and Shahnameh, with his athleticism inspired by the opening of Raiders of the Lost Ark. The character's movements were created by Mechner by capturing footage of his brother and transferring them into the game using rotoscoping. The Prince was redesigned and rewritten for The Sands of Time, with his design maturing with each sequel. The 2008 reboot redesigned him around a concept of a prince in making.

While public and critical opinion of individual Princes has varied, the character in general has been positively received. The original Prince has been seen as a breakthrough in gameplay design, while his appearances in The Sands of Time have varied, with particular criticism being laid against his dark portrayal in Warrior Within (2004). The reboot Prince's portrayal has also divided public opinion due to his redesign and American accented voice, while Gyllenhaal's portrayal of the character in film has drawn mixed opinions from critics.

Characteristics[]

The Prince represents multiple characters across a number of different settings, but all these characters share general traits. Most incarnations of the Prince have been of a royal line, although in the original games the character was initially unaware of this.[3][4] In the 2008 reboot, the Prince is instead a character on an epic journey that will eventually mold him into a Prince.[5] Each Prince has been adept at acrobatics and combat, and according to Jordan Mechner, the series' gameplay and its title character were "inseparable".[5][6] According to Ben Mattes, the concept of the Prince has become synonymous with the number of potential stories within the Prince of Persia series, along with defining the various incarnations' unifying traits.[5]

The version of the Prince that has gone through the most development is the character from The Sands of Time and its sequels. Mechner described the Prince as he is portrayed during the opening of The Sands of Time as "[A] daredevil who races ahead of the attacking army in order to gain “honor and glory” by being the first to steal a valuable trophy of war".[6] Ceri Young, writer of The Forgotten Sands, described this young Prince as "arrogant and [craving] power".[7] For Warrior Within, the Prince was turned into a darker, more callous character who had to face the consequences of his actions.[8][9] This was partly due to Mallet not liking the ending of The Sands of Time, in which the Prince undid everything and consequently went unpunished for his actions.[9] For The Two Thrones, the developers played on previous themes of duality when creating both the Prince and his abilities.[10] For The Forgotten Sands, he was given a personality much like that present in The Sands of Time. According to Young, the Prince does still have aspects of his younger self, but is wiser from his experiences during The Sands of Time and is wary of the weight of magic on its wielders.[7] He was also set to suffer hardships that would begin his change into what he appeared as in Warrior Within.[11] While he has a companion in The Sands of Time, he is portrayed in The Forgotten Sands as trying to distance himself from that after those events.[12]

Appearances[]

In video games[]

Appearances[]

Original trilogy[]

Main article: Prince (1989 video game character)

The original Prince was a noble who fell from grace when his family and kingdom were destroyed by an evil witch, with the Prince as the only survivor.[3][13] Living as a street thief in an unspecified city, he eventually met and won the heart of the daughter of the city's Sultan. During the events of the original Prince of Persia, the Sultan's vizier Jaffar attempts to seize control of the kingdom, and the Prince is imprisoned in the palace dungeons. He frees himself, defeats the Vizier and saves the Princess.[14] In Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame, having married the Princess, the Prince is driven from the kingdom by Jaffar, who magically poses as the Prince to usurp the kingdom in his name and poison the Princess.[15][16] The Prince learns of his former heritage, and returns to defeat Jaffar using powers gained from an ancient temple. Plot elements from the ending of The Shadow and the Flame were going to be continued in an unpronounced sequel.[3] In Prince of Persia 3D, the Prince, Princess and Sultan visit the Sultan's brother Assan. Assan, whose son Rugnor had been promised the Princess' hand in marriage, imprisons the Prince, intent on fulfilling the promised marriage.[17] The Prince escapes, and when he confronts Assan and the Sultan, Assan accidentally kills the Sultan, then frames the Prince.[18] The Prince pursues Rugnor, who has captured the Princess, and eventually kills him. He then flees to places unknown with the Princess.[19]

The Sands of Time[]

Main article: Prince (Sands of Time)

In Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, the Prince and his father Sharaman attack the palace of an Indian Maharaja after the Maharaja's Vizier lets them in with the promise of treasure, among them an hourglass containing the Sands of Time. The Prince finds an artifact called the Dagger of Time, which can manipulate time. While visiting the Sultan of Azad after the battle, the Vizier betrays them and releases the Sands of Time, turning everyone but the Prince, the Vizier, and the Maharaja's daughter Farah into monsters.[6] Despite mistrusting each other, the Prince and Farah ally.[20] That mistrust later leads to Farah's death while saving the Prince, and the Prince uses the Sands and the Dagger to return to before the attack on the Maharaja's palace, preventing those events from taking place.[21][22] In Battles of Prince of Persia, the Prince goes on new campaigns for his father, but due to his interference in The Sands of Time, a mystical being called the Dahaka appears to kill the Prince and correct his changes to the timeline.[23] The Prince's desperate attempt to imprison the Dahaka in the Box of A Thousand Restraints unleashes a group of hostile spirits and provokes a war between Persia and India. This leads to the death of his mother and to him becoming an outcast.[24] He succeeds in undoing his mistake, but is forced to go on the run from the Dahaka.[25]

By the events of Warrior Within, seven years after The Sands of Time, he has become callous and depressed due to being deprived of proper food and sleep by the Dahaka's pursuit.[8][26] He decides to travel to the island where the Sands of Time were found and prevent their creation. Travelling to the time when the Sands were created, he encounters Kaileena, the Empress of Time who was created by the gods and is destined to create the Sands.[27] The Prince kills Kaileena, but he unknowingly creates the Sands in doing so.[28] Using an artifact called the Mask of the Wraith, the Prince travels back in time and forces Kaileena into his time, hoping to kill her there and create the Sands while saving himself.[29] In the game's canon ending, the Prince obtains a magical sword and uses to kill the Dakaha when it attacks Kaileena after he brings her to his time. In The Two Thrones, the Prince returns to Babylon with Kaileena and finds that his actions in Warrior Within undid the death of the Vizier. The Vizier kills Kaileena, absorbing the Sands and turning into a god-like monster. The Prince is also partially infected by the Sands, which turns him into a Sand Monster hybrid and helps manifests an alternate Dark Prince personality.[30] During his adventure, he reunites with Farah and struggles against his Dark Prince persona. Upon finding his father's body, the Prince decides to accept the consequences of his actions, gaining control over his Dark Prince self.[31] He kills the Vizier and frees Kaileena's spirit, who purges the Sands from him and leaves with the Sands for another world. When the Dark Prince makes a final attack, Farah helps the Prince finally overcome his dark self.[32]

The four versions of The Forgotten Sands across its six platforms tell additional stories about the Prince. The main console version shows part of how the Prince's outlook on the world changed during the seven-year gap between The Sands of Time and Warrior Within.[26] The Prince is sent by his father to the reign of his brother Malik to learn the skills of a leader, and finds the city under siege. Malik releases Solomon's Army in the hopes of destroying the enemy army, but instead unleashes a hostile army led by the Ifrti Ratash. The Prince allies with Razia, queen of the Marid, in his quest to re-imprison the army.[7][33] Malik attacks Ratash and is possessed by him, forcing Razia to become a sword the Prince uses to kill his brother and Ratash. In the PSP version, the Prince goes in search of the fire spirit Ahihud, who is killing everyone of royal blood to prevent a prophecy of his death coming true. Allied with Helem, a spirit of time, he frees her sisters from Ahihud's power and kills him, ending his tyranny. In the Wii version, the Prince allies with a Djinn named Zahra, who promises him a kingdom, a princess and freedom from death. She leads him to the hidden city of Izdihar, which the Prince must purge of an evil vine called the Haoma in exchange for his promised prize. In the event, he rejects the prizes, eventually granting his immortality to the kingdom's princess Nasreen in an attempt to save her from the Haoma. While he succeeds in destroying the Haoma, the kingdom is destroyed and Zahra vanishes. In the DS version, the Prince is kidnapped by a cult whose master wants to use his blood and Razia's magic to become all powerful. An amnesiac Prince reunites with Razia to reclaim his memories and her power. With this done, they defeat the Master, but it costs Razia's life.

Reboot[]

Main article: Prince (2008 video game character)

In the 2008 reboot, the Prince gets lost in a sandstorm and falls into a valley where he encounters Elika. The prince soon aids Elika in her quest to contain the dark god Ahriman in the Tree of Life at the center of the valley. They ultimately fail, but make every effort to lock Ahriman back into the tree. They succeed at this, but Elika dies. The prince, mirroring the actions of Elika's father which originally released Ahriman, decides to bring Elika back to life, freeing Ahriman once again. Ahriman chases them to an underground palace, where Elika ultimately abandons the prince in search of her people.

In The Fallen King, the Prince fighting against a new evil created by Ahriman's corruption called the King of New Dawn. He is aided by Zan, a strange magus who turns out to be the King's other half. With the help of a mysterious being known as the Ancestor, the King of New Dawn is killed and the Corruption is purged, though it costs Zan's life. The Ancestor leaves the Prince with a message of hope, saying that a new ally and an inner power would be found.

In other media[]

Multiple Prince characters were featured in Prince of Persia: The Graphic Novel (2008).[34] The story takes place in a kingdom called Marv, alternating between the 9th and 13th centuries. The story follows two men of royal blood: Guiv, survivor of a deposed royal line who goes into self-imposed exile after clashing with his adopted brother; and Ferdos, hidden with the region's water keeper during a purge of newborn children to forestall a prophecy. Each is helped by a mystical bird named Tulen, with Guiv's actions in his time influencing Ferdos' own life.[35]

For the 2010 movie adaptation, the Prince is given the name Dastan.[36] Dastan is a street urchin adopted by the Persian king Sharaman. An adult Dastan is sent with his brothers to attack the city of Alamut on the word of Sharaman's brother Nizam, claiming the Dagger of Time which Alamut's princess Tamina keeps safe. Nizam, who wants to use the Sands' power to make himself king, kills Sharaman and frames Dastan. Now on the run, Dastan allies with Tamina to prevent Nizam's scheme. They all reach the Sands, and Tamina sacrifices herself when Nizam unlocks the Sands so the Prince can use them himself. Dastan turns back time while retaining the Dagger and his memories, allowing him to foil Nizam's plot. To make amends to Alamut, Dastan and Tamina enter a political marriage, with Dastan returning the Dagger to Tamina as an engagement gift.

Recurring characteristics[]

File:Jordan Mechner GDCA 2017.jpg

Jordan Mechner (pictured 2017), creator of the Prince of Persia series and character

Throughout the franchise, the Prince has shared general traits; he has a desire for or is drawn into magical adventures, is skilled in acrobatics and combat, and is either of a royal line or associated with royalty.[3][5] Series creator Jordan Mechner described the series' gameplay and its title character as "inseparable".[6] Mechner further described the character as a version of the Trickster, a common story and folklore archetype.[37] According to Ubisoft producer Ben Mattes, the concept of the Prince has become synonymous with the number of potential stories within the Prince of Persia series, comparing the various interpretations of his character with the One Thousand and One Nights.[5] Within the video games, the character has never been given a name, being known only under his title of Prince.[36][38]

Mechner has been involved in a variety of ways with the franchise; in addition to creating the original game, he acted as a writer and designer for The Sands of Time, worked on a graphic novel based on the concept, and wrote the story and original draft of the movie adaptation.[38][39] When speaking about returning repeatedly to the character through different media, Mechner felt he never got bored or frustrated as he considered each incarnation of the Prince to be his own entity. He never expected to work on the character through multiple media, describing it as an opportunity "[he] could have only dreamed of" when he first created the Prince.[38]

The version of the Prince that has gone through the most development is from The Sands of Time and its sequels. Mechner described the Prince as he is portrayed during the opening of The Sands of Time as "a daredevil who races ahead of the attacking army in order to gain "honor and glory" by being the first to steal a valuable trophy of war".[6] Ceri Young, writer of The Forgotten Sands, described this young Prince as "arrogant and [craving] power".[7] For Warrior Within, the Prince was turned into a darker, more callous character who had to face the consequences of his actions.[8][9] For The Two Thrones, the developers played on previous themes of duality when creating both the Prince and his abilities.[10] For The Forgotten Sands, he was given a personality much like that present in The Sands of Time, though wary of magic and unwilling to hold responsibility.[7] He was also set to suffer hardships that would begin his change into what he appeared as in Warrior Within.[11] Speaking in 2005, Mechner stated his dislike for how the character had changed in Warrior Within, and that he approved of the shift in The Two Thrones to "returning to a game for kids as well as adults."[40]

A doppelgänger appeared in both The Shadow and the Flame and The Two Thrones, commonly described as the Dark Prince or Shadowman.[41][42] Shadowman was created by Mechner to add enemy variety within the first game's hardware limitations, creating a mirror version of the Prince that would impede his progress.[41] In The Shadow and the Flame, Shadowman appears from the Prince to take on the magical power needed to defeat Jaffar.[43] In The Two Thrones, the Dark Prince was a manifestation of the Prince's negative traits given its own will and voice by the Sands.[44] The final scene where the Prince walks away from his dark side rather than fighting or accepting it was intended to show the character's maturity. The Dark Prince of The Two Thrones also acted as a reference to the original Shadowman.[42]

Portrayal[]

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File:Yuri Lowenthal by Gage Skidmore.jpg
While many actors have voiced the Prince, Yuri Lowenthal (left, pictured 2013) has voiced the Prince most frequently, with it being one of his favourite roles. American actor Jake Gyllenhaal (right, pictured 2019) portrayed the character in the 2010 movie adaptation.[45][46]

For the original Prince of Persia, the Prince was animated through rotoscoping based on recorded movements by Mechner's younger brother David.[47] The Prince has been voiced by four actors in his various incarnations, most notably beginning with The Sands of Time. The known voice actors to have portrayed the Prince are David Boat, Yuri Lowenthal, Robin Atkin Downes and Nolan North.[1][2] Boat's one performance as the Prince was in Prince of Persia 3D.[1] Lowenthal portrayed the Prince in The Sands of Time, The Two Thrones and The Forgotten Sands.[45][48] In an interview, he said that "[he felt] that [he] in a way originated that role".[45] The Prince became one of Lowenthal's favourite roles, and he was pleased to return to the role for The Forgotten Sands.[48] He is also re-recording his voice lines for the upcoming Sands of Time remake.[49] According to Lowenthal, his well-received performance put pressure on him in future Prince of Persia games, as he needed to improve his performance while staying true to his original portrayal. He felt that this limited his creative freedom with the character after The Sands of Time.[50]

Lowenthal did not return to voice the Prince in Warrior Within, being replaced by Downes.[45] This change was explained by Ubisoft staff as necessary due to the Prince's more hardened and world-worn portrayal, in addition to the new voice better fitting his redesigned appearance.[51] Lowenthal thought it was the right decision given the tonal shift.[45] For The Two Thrones, Lowenthal returned to play the role, as fans had stated their preference for his portrayal of the character.[45] Downes was originally announced as the voice of the Dark Prince, but the character was voiced in the final game by Rick Miller.[52][53] Miller received the role through the game's voice director Simon Peacock, who was a friend. As his first video game role, Miller found it challenging due to the need to record effort and death sounds.[53]

For the reboot, the staff wanted a different portrayal of the Prince to Lowenthal's, and so recast the role.[45] North voiced the Prince for the 2008 reboot, and in hindsight felt that he did not do the character justice. In a 2012 interview, he said that "[he] just didn't really feel like the American accent worked with the artistry that the game showed", further saying that he thought a Middle Eastern or British accent would have better suited the character.[54]

The movie character Dastan was portrayed by American actor Jake Gyllenhaal. Gyllenhaal said that there were several reasons that he chose to accept the role of the Prince, including the character's appeal to him, the fact that the film was based on the video game, and he "[liked] to do things that people have tried their hand at and haven't succeeded."[55] In a pre-release interview, Mechner called Gyllenhaal right for the role as it fitted in with the Prince's inspiration in classic movie heroes.[56] According to Gyllenhaal, he retrospectively felt he had over-prepared physically for his role as he knew little of what it entailed. He trained for five months prior to the beginning of filming in Morocco, and continued to train during the filming period.[46] In a later interview Gyllenhaal expressed regret at accepting the role, feeling it was wrong for him as an actor.[57]

Concept and design[]

The Prince was created by Mechner as the protagonist of the original Prince of Persia. His inspiration for the character's athleticism was the opening ten minutes of Raiders of the Lost Ark, referencing the approach of main character Indiana Jones to situations encountered.[47] Mechner was also influenced by Jones's portrayal as a vulnerable action hero.[58] The character was based on multiple similar figures in ancient literature, including One Thousand and One Nights.[59] Originally a plain figure in white clothing, the Prince was restyled for the game's Japanese release in a turban and baggy pants. This look pleased Mechner, and became associated with the character during the original trilogy.[60]

Speaking on the Prince's role in The Shadow and the Flame, Mechner admitted to taking a hands-off approach due to his work on The Last Express (1997), and that he was growing tired of the character due to development pressures.[61] Plot elements from the ending of The Shadow and the Flame were going to be continued in an unpronounced sequel relating to the Prince's origins.[3] Speaking in 2010, Mechner said that during his time writing the series bible for the production of future Prince of Persia games, he was attempting to force the Prince into the conventions of western fiction, forgetting the character's literary origins. By the time Prince of Persia 3D released in 1999 to a lukewarm response, Mechner was pleased that the Prince had run his course, as he no longer recognized the character he created.[62]

The Sands of Time[]

Prince of Persia version comparison

The Prince's portrayal and appearance changed radically between The Sands of Time (left) and Warrior Within (right). The change divided critics and fans of the series.[9][12]

For The Sands of Time, the character was completely redesigned, taking reference purely from the original game rather than Prince of Persia 3D.[63] Mechner wrote the new story for the Prince purely for newcomers to the series, wanting the character to be memorable so as to provide a good "hook" for players together with the gameplay. He again drew inspiration from the opening of Raiders of the Lost Ark for the opening of The Sands of Time. Something he was pleased with was his initially unsympathetic portrayal of the Prince.[6] His inspiration for the character's more serious portrayal was the stories of the Shahnameh, although he later admitted that he could not entirely remove the influences of the original Prince. In his view, "It's [the Prince's] inability to solve this conflict that gives him his particular charm."[62] For his gameplay model, the Prince had over 780 movement animations scripted, far more than any other character in the game.[64] The Prince was designed by Raphael Lacoste, the game's art director, who went through multiple versions from a young boy to a bare-chested older man. His final look was partially determined by the aesthetics of the game's environments.[65]

For Warrior Within, the development team decided to make the game's atmosphere darker. They also wanted to flesh the Prince out as a character, as they had felt something was lacking in The Sands of Time. With these concepts in mind, they decided the Prince would "grow up", with the story being more focused on his character than him saving a person or place.[66] The two people most involved with the new design were art director Mikael Labat and illustrator Nicolas Bouvier. During the early stages, some hybrid designs with his appearance in The Sands of Time were created, but the team felt it was not radical enough. His "charisma" needed to be new, yet consistent with the events of The Sands of Time. His new armor reflected this change; it is made up of interlaced leather straps, granting him protection while giving him freedom to perform his acrobatic movements.[67][68]

In The Two Thrones, the Prince was portrayed as a mature warrior able to hold his own. His appearance was roughened using scars, and his Sands infection designed to appear like a "living wound" more than a tattoo.[69] The Prince's struggle with his dark side was the focal point of the narrative, forming part of a simplification of the series narrative following the complex time travel of Warrior Within.[44][70] In The Forgotten Sands, the story was written around the Prince still being a developing character, learning what it takes to be a ruler and to take responsibility for his actions.[7][71] His art design drew inspiration from his appearance in Warrior Within and The Two Thrones, which Jan-Erik Sjovall described as more visually appealing compared to the original Sands of Time.[72]

Other versions[]

A third variation of the prince appears in the 2008 reboot and its companion game The Fallen King.[73] Mattes explained that the goal for the character design was to show his transformation into a prince through his epic journey. Additional inspiration was drawn from characters such as Sinbad from One Thousand and One Nights, Han Solo from Star Wars, and Aragorn from The Lord of the Rings. Mattes explained that when designing the character, Ubisoft wanted to communicate visually the dichotomy of the life of an adventurer. As a sign of wealth, the prince wears red and blue cloth as a turban and scarves, contrasting against his protective plain leather leggings.[5] The Prince also had a companion in the form of Elika. Their relationship was based on the story and gameplay relationship between the Prince in The Sands of Time and Farah, which had worked well.[74] A version of the Prince was initially considered as protagonist for a next-generation title, but director Patrice Désilet decided a royal character was unsuitable, and the project evolved into the standalone Assassin's Creed (2007).[75]

When creating the movie version's draft script, Mechner chose the name "Dastan" as he had learned it was an old Persian name meaning "trickster". He took the name from a translation of the Shahnameh, and later felt it appropriate upon learning its alternate translation of "story".[37] The name changes of characters including the Prince were also meant to indicate the film would not directly adapt The Sands of Time.[56] Although Mechner's film script was written prior to finishing later games in the Sands of Time continuity, the film incorporated design elements from those games into the Prince's appearance.[76] The character's costumes were designed by Penny Rose. For the Prince's most worn outfit, she designed a loose-fitting spiral coat based on a picture of ancient Persian embroidery. Her costumes also paid homage to the costume designs of the video games.[77] Dastan's armor drew from his appearance in Warrior Within, coincidentally matching the art design for The Forgotten Sands.[72]

Mechner co-authored the graphic novel with A. B. Sina, which was illustrated by LeUyen Pham and Alex Puvilland.[34] Mechner, approached by publisher First Second Books about creating a book based on the character, felt the time was right to create a property independent of both the games and the movie adaptation.[39] Sina was initially wary of the project, as he had negative experience of the portrayal of Midden Eastern people in Western media, and did not want to be controlled by marketing requirements. But Sina agreed to join the project after meeting Mechner and the editor for First Second Books. Sina's story played on the series concept of there being multiple Princes, writing his story around several Prince characters in different eras.[59][62] Mechner described this approach as not suited to either a movie or a game due to its overt philosophical elements, feeling instead that it was well suited to a graphic novel.[38] Mechner also co-wrote Before the Sandstorm, a graphic novel prequel to the movie featuring several of the same artists. When creating it, he incorporated several in-jokes relating to both the original Prince of Persia and its inspirations.[39]

Reception[]

In 2012, GamesRadar ranked the character as the 27th in their list of the "Top 100 protagonists in video games", commenting on his multiple incarnations with their varied personalities.[78] Empire also included the Prince as 35th on their list of the 50 greatest video game characters, particularly praising his portrayal in The Sands of Time and its sequels.[79] The Prince was placed as 34th in a list by Guinness World Records of the top video game characters of all time.[80] In an article for Retro Gamer concerning the creation of the series, David Crookes noted the Prince's importance as an early example of the acrobatic lead character, comparing him to later game leads including Lara Croft.[61]

Critics and fans praise the Prince's portrayal in The Sands of Time continuity, and this is generally seen as the most popular version of the character.[9][78] The Prince's change into a darker character for Warrior Within saw mixed reactions, with fans and many critics seeing it as a change for the worse.[12][81] Others praised the change, such as Heather Newman of Detroit Free Press.[12][82] Despite the mixed critic and fan reception, Ubisoft have defended the change as a legitimate evolution of the Prince's character.[9] The Prince's portrayal in The Two Thrones both pleased Mechner and was more favorably received by critics and fans.[40][9][78] GameSpot's Bob Colayco saw this latest portrayal as an interesting self-reference to the criticism, suggesting that "the internal strife in the schizophrenic prince's mind forms a compelling part of the storyline".[83]

The Prince from the 2008 reboot was well received by video game critics, but criticized by fans of the series, whose main complaint was the performance of North in the role.[84][85] In an article concerning Prince of Persia reboot, Gamasutra editor Tom Cross did not understand the negative reactions, seeing comparisons of the new Prince to Nathan Drake as unfair despite the Prince being a less likeable character.[85] In a review for IGN, Hilary Goldstein enjoyed the interactions in gameplay and story between the Prince and Elika, but disliked his personality due to his acerbic manner and frequent "groan-worthy" lines.[86] By contrast, Matt Miller of Game Informer praised the game for communicating a genuine emotional bond between the Prince and Elika, describing it as a rarity in the gaming medium.[87]

Commenting on the Prince's portrayal in the film, Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert felt Gyllenhaal "plays Dastan as if harboring Spider-Man's doubts and insecurities", clashing with his physical appearance.[88] By contrast, Chris Tilly of IGN praised Gyllenhaal's portrayal as the Prince, citing him as a highlight of the movie overall.[89] Gyllenhaal's appearance and especially his haircut for the role of the Prince were ridiculed by several sources, but was defended by Ghazzal Dabiri, a lecturer and coordinator of Iranian studies at Columbia University.[90] The film was also criticized for whitewashing the cast. Brian Ashcraft of Kotaku admitted the criticism and wished Iranian actors had been cast in the leads, though felt the criticism overlooked wider ethnic representation issues in the industry.[91]

References[]

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Red Orb Entertainment. Prince of Persia 3D. (The Learning Company). PC. Scene: Credits. (August 31, 1999)
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Behind the Voice Actors – Prince". Behind the Voice Actors. Archived from the original on May 23, 2015. Retrieved June 27, 2015. {{cite web}}:
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 "Revisiting The Shadow and the Flame". Jordan Mechner blog. April 11, 2013. Archived from the original on September 15, 2014. Retrieved December 26, 2013. {{cite web}}:
  4. ↑ Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; no text was provided for refs named MANUALsands
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 5.5 5.6 Crecente, Brian (May 28, 2008). "Prince of Persia Ditches Roots, Gets a Final Fantasy Make-Over". Kotaku. Archived from the original on February 22, 2014. Retrieved July 27, 2009. {{cite web}}:
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 6.4 6.5 "The Sands of Time: Crafting a Video Game Story". Electronic Book Review. February 22, 2008. Archived from the original on December 16, 2014. Retrieved June 25, 2015. {{cite web}}:
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 7.5 "Ceri Young Story Q&A". Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands website. 2010. Archived from the original on 2010-07-22. Retrieved 2015-06-25. {{cite web}}:
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 Ubisoft, ed. (2004). Prince of Persia: Warrior Within official instructional manual. Ubisoft. p. 4. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3 9.4 9.5 9.6 Mclaughlin, Rus; Collura, Scot; Buchanan, Levi (May 18, 2010). "IGN Presents The History of Prince of Persia". IGN. Archived from the original on December 3, 2014. Retrieved June 25, 2015. {{cite web}}:
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 IGN (June 23, 2011) (Web video). Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones PlayStation 2 Interview (Video). YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIlV7-SBqwk. 
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Ransom-Wiley, Jason (2009-12-14). "Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands fills in gaps before Warrior Within; new details revealed in developer interview". Joystiq. Archived from the original on 2009-12-15. Retrieved 2015-06-25. {{cite web}}:
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 Kietzmann, Ludwig (2010-03-31). "Interview: Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands' Michael McIntyre". Joystiq. Archived from the original on 2010-04-02. Retrieved 2015-06-25. {{cite web}}:
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