Prince of Persia

Prince of Persia
The official logo for the Prince of Persia game franchise since 2008.
Developers	Brøderbund, Red Orb, Ubisoft, Pipeworks, Gameloft
Publishers	Brøderbund, TLC, Mattel, Ubisoft, SCEJ
First release	Prince of Persia October 3, 1989
Latest release	Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands May 18, 2010
Official website	Prince of Persia Official site

Prince of Persia is a video game franchise created by Jordan Mechner. Through the various titles, the series has been developed and published by many different companies: the first two games in the series, Prince of Persia and Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame, were developed by Brøderbund; in recent years Ubisoft has developed the games, starting with Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time. Originally it was primarily a side-scrolling platform video game; the franchise has evolved to three-dimensional action-platform games, and has spawned the movie Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time released on May 2010, by Disney.^[1][2]

Games

Cell phone games

There has been a number of Java ME cell phone games developed by Gameloft, often loosely based in contemporarily released PC/console titles of the same name, but with 2D graphics and different gameplay, due to cell phone technical constraints. Gameloft has also recently developed several ports for both the iPhone and the iPad^[3].

Stories

Because of the several reboots the franchise has witnessed, many different stories are told through the games. They all share similar story elements; for example, they are all set in ancient Persia, and they all feature a man who is adept at acrobatic feats attempting to save a plot element in that particular story.

Original trilogy

• Prince of Persia (1989 video game)
• Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame
• Prince of Persia 3D

The Sands of Time Trilogy

The Sands of Time trilogy, played out in three games between 2003 and 2005, keeps the common elements of an unnamed Prince, Vizier and Princess (Farah), and focuses rather on two critical elements - The Sands of Time and The Dagger of Time, both with connections to the concept of time travel. The Sands have the power to infect and turn all forms of life into dangerous monsters, while the Dagger of Time has the power to slow down, stop and even reverse time. Time travel and its consequences feature both as gameplay and plot elements throughout the series, which is far more plot-focused than earlier games. As well as the three games mentioned below, a tactics game was also released for the Nintendo DS, complementing The Two Thrones, while another mainline game in the series, called The Forgotten Sands, was released in 2010.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Passing through India en route to Azad, King Shahraman and his son, the Prince, conquer the Maharajah of India for honor and glory. After looting the city, they continue to Azad. In Azad, the Vizier of the Maharajah tricks the Prince into releasing the Sands of Time, using the Dagger of Time. The Sands infect everyone in the kingdom, turning them into monsters. The Prince, Princess Farah (the Maharajah's daughter), and the Vizier remain unchanged due to the mystical qualities of their possessions: a dagger, a medallion, and a staff, respectively. On a journey to repair the damage he has caused, the Prince teams up with Farah to return the Sands of Time to the hourglass, using the Dagger of Time. As time goes on, the Prince and Farah start to grow closer, to the point where she admits her feelings to the Prince while he was unconscious. After they make their way to the Hourglass of Time, the Prince hesitates, and the Vizier uses magic to throw him and Farah into a tomb devoid of lights. Farah tells the Prince of the word "kakolookiyam" [From Hindu Sanskrit Fable Panchatantra: Kaka + Ulluka + Iyam: Meaning "Of Kak (Crow) and Ulluka (Owl)"], a word her mother taught her when she was little. The Prince awakens, and the Dagger and his weapon have been stolen by Farah, who left him with her medallion so that he would not be affected by the Sands of Time. The Prince pursues and catches her, but she falls to her death. Driven by grief, the Prince stabs the top of the hourglass with the Dagger of Time, locking the Sands of Time back into the hourglass, reversing the events of the game. The Prince awakens prior to the invasion of the Maharajah's kingdom, and makes his way to Farah's bedroom. He tells her a story about the events of the game, as she does not remember, but the Vizier shows up, and fights the Prince. The Prince emerges victorious and gives the Dagger of Time back to Farah. As he leaves, Farah asks what his name is. He responds by saying, "Kakolookiyam", to prove that his story was true.

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within

Seven years after the events of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, the Prince finds himself constantly hunted by a terrible beast known as the Dahaka. The Prince seeks counsel from an old wise man who explains that whoever releases the Sands of Time must die. The Prince sets sail for the Island of Time, which the old man told him of, in an attempt to prevent the Sands of Time from ever being created, an act he believes will appease the Dahaka. The Prince arrives at the Island and chases a mysterious woman in black (whom he fought with on the sea) through the Empress of Time's fortress into a portal that transports the two into the past. The Prince saves a woman named Kaileena from being killed by the woman in black, Shahdee. Unable to grant the Prince an audience with the Empress of Time, Kaileena instead tells him how to unlock the door to the throne room in which the Empress resides. The Prince makes his way through the fortress, utilizing the sand portals to travel back and forth between the past and present, and narrowly escapes several encounters with the Dahaka. After unlocking the door, the Prince enters the throne room only to discover that Kaileena is actually the Empress of Time herself, who has foreseen in the Timeline that the Prince will kill her and who has decided to attempt to defy her fate, just as the Prince is doing. A battle ensues and the Prince proves victorious; he kills Kaileena and returns to the present. He believes that he has changed his fate, but another encounter with the Dahaka forces him to realize that in killing Kaileena, he was, in essence, the one to create the Sands of Time (as the Sands were created from her remains). The Prince then learns of a magical artifact called the Mask of the Wraith, which is said to transport the wearer into the past, allowing the wearer to alter his own Timeline. The Prince wastes no time in seeking out and donning the mask, which transforms him into the Sand Wraith and sends him back to the time when he first arrived on the Island of Time. He formulates a plan to force Kaileena into the present with him, believing that if he kills her then, the Sands of Time will be created seven years after the events of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, meaning it will be impossible for the Prince to release them in Azad. While still in the past, the Prince (as the Sand Wraith) ensures that the Dahaka takes and destroys his other self, who has just finished unlocking the door to the throne room, leaving the Sand Wraith the only Prince in that Timeline. This act loosens the Mask of the Wraith from the Prince's face and allows him to remove it and return to his normal form. The Prince goes to the throne room and, despite his pleas to Kaileena, his battle with her begins as before. He forces her into the present with him, and it is at this point that the game has two alternate endings, wherein the player fights either Kaileena or the Dahaka as the final battle. In both endings, the Prince sails home to Babylon (either alone or with Kaileena) only to discover that the city is being ravaged by war and the old wise man's voice is heard, once again stating: "Your journey will not end well. You cannot change your fate. No man can."

Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones

Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones follows Prince of Persia: Warrior Within by a few weeks, picking up from the second ending of Warrior Within in which the Prince defeated the Dahaka and left the Island of Time with Kaileena. The vessel that the Prince and Kaileena are sailing on nears the shores of Babylon and, upon arriving, the Prince is horrified to find the city being ravaged by war. His and Kaileena's ship is destroyed and the two are tossed into the sea. Kaileena drifts ashore unconsciously and is taken prisoner. The Prince fights his way through the city to try and rescue her, in the process discovering that as a result of his efforts on the Island of Time, the events of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time never occurred, meaning the Vizier was never killed. Rather, he has grown powerful and now possesses the Dagger of Time as well as his magical staff. The Prince manages to find Kaileena, whom the Vizier has captured, but is thrown to the ground and can only watch in anguish as the Vizier stabs her with the Dagger of Time, killing her. The power-hungry Vizier then stabs himself with the Dagger, transforming himself into an immortal being. The Sands of Time are released as a result of Kaileena's death, and they spread through the city, infecting all its residents. Through an open wound on his arm, the Prince is also contaminated by the Sands and a piece of a daggertail sword is fused with his body. The Prince escapes, managing to grab the Dagger of Time in the process. Traveling through the city on a mission to kill the Vizier, the Prince once again encounters Farah, who does not remember him, and the two decide to travel together. As he continues his journey, the Prince finds that his exposure to the Sands of Time has affected his mind. The infection has split his consciousness into two personalities: the good, yet jaded, Prince, and the cruel, enraged Dark Prince. When consumed by dark emotions, the Prince transforms into this Dark Prince, who possesses different powers and who utilizes the daggertail sword as a weapon and tool. After many trials and setbacks, including a falling out with Farah caused by the Dark Prince's negative influence, the Prince stumbles upon the body of his father, whom he had hoped to reconcile with. The tragedy of the discovery causes the Prince to finally accept his mistakes, and the internal voice of the Dark Prince (which had been growing stronger up until that point) is seemingly silenced forever. The Prince confronts the now monstrous Vizier and finally kills him by stabbing him with the Dagger of Time. Kaileena's spirit appears before the Prince and she cures him of his infection while also cleansing the city, ridding it of the blight of the Sands of Time. Suddenly, the Prince is drawn into his own subconscious by the Dark Prince, and the two personalities struggle for control of the Prince's being. After trying in vain to defeat the Dark Prince, the Prince ignores his taunts, and the evil personality is starved and dies. The Prince then awakens in Farah's arms, his consciousness intact and devoid of evil. Looking out from the top of the Tower of Babel, Farah asks the Prince how he knew her name upon their meeting earlier. The Prince responds by beginning the tale he told seven years ago in Azad, in Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.

Prince of Persia (2008)

In Prince of Persia (2008), the adventure begins as the Prince is caught in a fierce sandstorm while traveling, causing him to lose his donkey and to stumble into a canyon. He then unexpectedly meets Elika, who immediately runs from some armed men, urging the Prince not to follow. The Prince does, though, and defeats them when he catches up with Elika. She then requests that he follow her to a temple at the center of the kingdom. When they arrive inside the temple, Elika's father, who commanded Elika's pursuers, destroys the tree of life, which begins to free the dark god Ahriman. With the tree of life destroyed, Ahriman begins plaguing the land with his darkness, or Corruption. Elika explains that there are multiple fertile grounds found throughout the land that she has to reach and heal in order to let the tree of life regain power to stop Ahriman from escaping.

As the Prince and Elika travel to and heal each fertile ground, Elika reveals her past; first her mother died, and then Elika did as well. Her father, the Mourning King, could not handle his grief, and made a deal with Ahriman, Elika's life in return for his freedom. Ahriman first resurrected Elika, and did so as long as Elika's father could keep his part of the deal. After the lands have been cleansed of Corruption, the duo returns to the temple to cleanse it as well; a necessary and final step in stopping Ahriman. Inside the temple, the Prince and Elika are confronted by the Mourning King. After being defeated by the duo, he jumps into the Corruption below. Ahriman then rises to oppose the duo, but is unable to defeat them before Elika heals the tree of life. To seal Ahriman again, Elika transfers her own life into the tree, causing her to die again. The Prince, driven by grief, destroys the tree of life, and gives its life force to Elika to resurrect her, but in doing so also fully releases Ahriman. The Prince then carries Elika into the desert while the temple is destroyed and Ahriman escapes.

Then, in the downloadable Epilogue content, the Prince brings Elika to an Underground Palace, seeking refuge from Ahriman. The duo makes their way through the dungeon, confronting Ahriman's minions many times. Elika expresses disdain for the Prince's decision to free Ahriman many times along the way. In a final confrontation with the Mourning King, the Prince pushes him into some spikes, impaling him. The Prince and Elika then flee, as Ahriman then tries to kill them himself. They get away, but Elika leaves the Prince in search of the Ahura.

Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands

Released by the time of the live action film, its story is set into The Sands of Time chronology between the first and second games. The HD version (PC/PS3/Xbox 360) and Wii version contain two different plots.

In the HD version, the Prince is sent by his father to the ancient ruins of King Solomon's palace to visit his elder brother Malik, who is the rightful heir to the throne and commander of the army. Their reunion is cut short when an invading army storms the palace and easily overcomes its defenses.

Facing imminent defeat, Malik decides to release Solomon's mythical army which is sealed inside the palace's secret chambers despite the Prince's warnings. The army composed of monstrous sand creatures start attacking indiscriminately and the only ones able to fight it are the brothers as each one carries one half of the medallion that serves as the key to the seal and protects them from the monsters' powers.

Soon after the Prince meets Razia, an ancient Djinn who reveals that the army did not belong to King Solomon, but was actually created to destroy him. She asks the Prince to have him and Malik rejoin their halves of the key in order to seal the army once more. But as the Prince meets Malik he finds that just like him, his brother grows strong as he destroys the soldiers of the army and is unwilling to part with his half. As the game progresses, the prince tries to convince his brother to help him seal the army without success until the duo is forced to confront Ratash, another Djinn who is the real creator of the army. Malik manages to defeat Ratash, but its essence gets absorbed by his body and eventually Ratash's power overcomes his will.

With Malik's half of the seal destroyed, the only way to destroy the army according to Razia is by killing Ratash, using a special sword forged by the Djinn. The Prince manages to retrieve the sword from the ancient city of the Djinn and Razia fuses her essence with the sword in order to empower it. Despite being unwilling to attack his own brother, the Prince confronts and destroys Ratash at the highest spot of the palace. Ratash finally disappears, leaving a dying Malik in his brother's arms. With no response from Razia after Ratash's defeat, the Prince puts the sword back where he obtained it and departs sorrowfully to give the news of Malik's death to his father.

In the Wii version, which occurs chronogically at roughly the same time, the Prince has left his father's side in search of a Kingdom to conquer. In the Persian desert wilderness he has discovered the forgotten kingdom of Izdihar. As the ruins crumble around him, his life is saved by the djinn Zahra, who tells the prince she will lead him into the heart of Izdihar to help him conquer it. But as the Prince proceeds he discovers the country is occupied by strange beasts and dangerous forces that force him to question Zahra's motives. He discovers Zahra's existence is as a guardian of Izdahar and she has led him on a perilous journey to rid the kingdom of its powerful and evil possessors. They are a dark sorceress and a monster that was once a man. No longer possessing the dagger of time, the Prince is forced to learn new powers that will help him in his quest. He learns from the djinn how to manipulate sand to give him powers that will help him scale heights beyond all belief, and to evade death.

Prince of Persia graphic novel

Jordan Mechner finished writing the story for a graphic novel in 2007. The novel was written by A.B. Sina, and illustrated by Alex Puvilland and LeUyen Pham. It was released by First Second Books in autumn 2008.^[5][6] The story follows two Princes, jumping to and from the 9th and 13th centuries. It is not related to any of the game continuities or that of the 2010 film.^[7]

Film project

Before the series reboot of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, screenwriter Robin Morningstar entered into correspondence with Jordan Mechner about approaching a studio with a film project of the series. His script was based on the story of the original 1989 game. Robin Morningstar was cut out of the process by Jordan Mechner's attorney shortly before the reboot and Disney acquiring the film rights. The film in production shares no similarity with Robin Morningstar's script.

Set in the mystical lands of Persia, a rogue prince reluctantly joins forces with a mysterious princess and together, they race against dark forces to safeguard an ancient dagger capable of releasing the Sands of Time - a gift from the gods that can reverse time and allow its possessor to rule the world.

The film project, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time came out on May 28, 2010 on the same day the iTunes store began selling Prince of Persia Retro By Ubisoft, a tie-in to the film that made the original Jordan Mechner game widely available once more.

Recurring elements

The Prince's alter egos

In both original 2D games and The Sands of Time trilogy the Prince encounters alternate forms of himself.

The Shadow is created in Prince of Persia when the Prince leaps through a magic mirror. The Shadow mimics the appearance of the Prince, but is clad in darker coloured clothes. It hinders the player's progress several times throughout the game, but in the end the Shadow and the Prince merge, becoming a single person once again. The Shadow returns in Prince of Persia 2: The Shadow and the Flame, but this time, rather than being a separate being which hinders the Prince's progress, the Prince can become the Shadow, abandoning his body to become an invisible ghost. The Shadow allows the Prince to retrieve a sacred blue flame from a temple, as the Prince is killed by a guard. When the Shadow retrieves the blue flames, the Prince rises again, this time possessing the flames himself. During the end events of the game, the Prince takes the appearance of the Shadow again, using it to launch the sacred flame at Jaffar, killing him. The Shadow then merges again with the Prince, making no further appearances.

In Warrior Within the Prince encounters the "Sand Wraith", who is later revealed to be the Prince from the future, wearing the "Mask of the Wraith" - a powerful ancient artifact, which can be used to travel back in time to fix one's previous mistakes. The Sand Wraith has much improved time controlling abilities, but his health degrades over time. With the help of the Mask, the Prince manages to sacrifice himself from the past and change his fate.

In The Two Thrones the Prince is infected with the essence of the Sands of Time, which causes him to develop an evil alternate personality - The Dark Prince, which in turn is the evil side of him for the past seven years, which led to the events and the reason why Warrior Within is so brutal and bloody. The Dark Prince has some improved fighting and acrobatic skills, but his health also degrades over time, so he must regularly consume Sands of Time to remain alive. The Prince reverts back to his normal form by touching water. Sensing that his alternate personality is slowly taking him over, the Prince finally manages to overcome it and defeats his enemies on his own.

The Dagger of Time

The Dagger of Time is a powerful weapon, capable of allowing its wielder to harness the power of the Sands of Time, and manipulate time itself. If the wielder steps into a large concentration of the Sands of Time, the Dagger of Time will allow them a brief look into the future. The Dagger of Time also is capable of making its wielder immortal. If the wielder uses the weapon to harness the power of the Sands of Time, then impales themselves with the blade, it will embed the Sands of Time into that wielder, making them immortal. The Dagger of Time is also the "key" which opens the lock on the Hourglass of Time.

The Dagger of Time was created on the Island of Time for the ability of controlling the sands, as indicated by the Vizier in Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, who expressed his feelings over finding it there. It was stolen from the Island of Time before the events of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time by the Maharajah of India, along with the Hourglass of Time, which contain the Sands of Time. The Prince uses the Dagger of Time to release the Sands of Time during the events of the game. This brings about a plague of sorts; only carriers of the artifacts of time avoid mutation, and the resulting monsters can also only be killed by the artifacts of time. At the end of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, the Prince uses the Dagger of Time to lock the Sands of Time back into the Hourglass of Time, reversing the events of the game. He then gives the Dagger of Time to the Maharajah's daughter, telling her to lock it in the Maharajah's treasure vaults.

It is revealed in the Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones that the Vizier is alive again, due to the Prince's manipulation of the time line. Upon searching the Island of Time, the Vizier once again finds the Dagger of Time . He kills the Maharajah of India, and uses his army to invade Babylon, the place where the Empress of Time will soon arrive. He uses it to kill Kaileena, releasing the Sands of Time, but then impales himself, which makes him immortal. During this transformation, the Prince retrieves the Dagger of Time once again. At the end of the game, the Prince uses the Dagger of Time to kill the Vizier. The freed Sands of Time form a physical manifestation of the spirit of Kaileena, who takes the Dagger of Time from the Prince, and destroys it, along with the Sands of Time.

Awards

The success of the Prince of Persia series resulted in Guinness World Records awarding the series 6 world records in the Guinness World Records: Gamer's Edition 2008. These records include, "First Motion-Capture Animation in a Video Game" and "Highest Rated Platformer on PS2 and Xbox".

Cultural reference

Under his associated act, "The Classic" (더 클래식) in 1994, South Korean singer-songwriter Kim Gwang-Jin (김광진) released the song, the Magical Castle (마법의 성) with lyrics inspired from the storyline of the original Prince of Persia.^[8][9]

One of the first season episodes of the TV series Life featured one of the Prince of Persia games as an important story element.

See also

• Quest of Persia: The End of Innocence
• Quest of Persia: Lotfali Khan Zand
• Orient: A Hero's Heritage
• Lego Prince of Persia

References

External links

• Prince of Persia Official Website
• Prince of Persia Official Website.(in Spanish)
• Prince of Persia Russian Fan-site.(Russian)
• Prince of Persia at MobyGames
• Prince of Persia at the Macintosh Garden
• Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time at Disney.com