Prince (Prince of Persia)

The Prince
Prince of Persia character
The Prince as he appears in The Forgotten Sands
First game	Prince of Persia (1989)
Created by	Jordan Mechner
Designed by	Jordan Mechner Raphael Lacoste (Sands of Time) Mikael Labat, Nicolas Bouvier (Warrior Within)
Voiced by	David Boat (Prince of Persia 3D) Yuri Lowenthal (Sands of Time, The Two Thrones, The Forgotten Sands) Robin Atkin Downes (Warrior Within) Nolan North (Prince of Persia 2008)
Portrayed by	Jake Gyllenhaal

The Prince is the name given to a group of fictional characters who act as the main protagonists of the Prince of Persia franchise, developed and published by Ubisoft. There have been several distinct Prince characters, all sharing general traits. The most prominent version was first featured in the 2003 game Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, who has featured in a large number of games set within the first 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. In the film adaptation of The Sands of Time, the prince is called Dastan.

The Prince was originally created by Jordan Mechner for the original 1989 game. His main concepts for the character were taken from Middle Eastern fiction such as One Thousand and One Nights, while his athleticism taking inspiration from 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. For The Sands of Time, the Prince was redesigned and rewritten, and over the course of its sequels, was developed in various ways. The 2008 series reboot redesigned him around a concept of a prince in making. The character Dastan was played by Jake Gyllenhaal, who willingly accepted the challenge of playing the Prince.

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. The reboot Prince's portrayal has also divided public opinion, while Gyllenhaal's portrayal of the Prince has drawn mixed opinions from critics.

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. In the 2008 reboot, the Prince is instead a character on an epic journey that will eventually mold him into a Prince. Each Prince has been adept at acrobatics and combat, and according to Jordan Mechner, the series' gameplay and its title character were "inseparable". 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.