Prince Barin

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Prince Barin is a fictional character who appears in the Flash Gordon stories. He is the king of the region of Mongo called Arboria. Barin becomes one of Flash's best friends. Barin is deeply in love with the Princess Aura.

Prince Barin was first portrayed by Richard Alexander in the 1936 movie serial titled simply Flash Gordon. He reprised the role in Flash Gordon's Trip to Mars.

In the 1940 sequel Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe, Barin is played by Roland Drew.

Alan Oppenheimer provided the voice of Barin in the 1979 Filmation series. In this version, he is depicted as a master archer, armed with arrows that encase whatever they strike in ice. Barin's fortess city in Arboria is highly advanced, and very nearly equal in technology compared to Mingo City. It is protected at all times by a defensive energy shield and by squadrons of formidable airships called Leaf Fighters. Barin also makes use of a gigantic tank like drilling machine called the Mecha-Mole.

The character was played by Timothy Dalton in the 1980 Flash Gordon film produced by Dino De Laurentiis.

Barin is the rightful heir to the throne of Mongo, but the evil Ming the Merciless steals the throne from him and banishes him to the forest planet of Arboria, along with his lover and Ming's own daughter, Princess Aura. He eventually joins forces with Flash Gordon, Dale Arden, Dr. Hans Zarkov, King Thun of the Lion-Men, and King Vultan of the Hawk-Men in order to overthrow Ming. He is also the distant cousin of Queen Fria, ruler of the frozen continent of Frigia.