# Talk:Prince (Prince of Persia)

At some point in the Sands of Time, the Prince references the place he grew up, and it wasn't Babylon.  I can't remember the exact quote though, does anyone remember the name of the place and exactly what he said?  Treewaller 06:27, 6 September 2007 (UTC)
I remember, he said his hometown was Siraf. I think a background info section should be made to add this. --201.228.197.35 (talk) 22:28, 12 May 2008 (UTC)

Should we consider creating two "Prince" articles, being that the Prince from the Jordan Mechner games and the Prince from the Sands of Time trilogy are obviously two distincty different characters? -- 68.103.195.77 

It's all based off the "Prince of Persia" ideal. But sure, if you want to, we can do that. -- Makaio 04:26, 13 March 2006 (UTC)
Yeah, I think there should be two seperate articles. -- --24.141.33.175 00:12, 7 May 2006 (UTC)
Indeed; The article mentions a clip in which is apparent that the prince from the sands of time trilogy and the one from the original trilogy are the same; Now I ask you, what clip is that? Bigger Boss 02:32, 9 January 2007 (UTC)
2 articles deffinently.
Yes, there should definitely be two articles.MadJaxter 09:05, 28 June 2007 (UTC)
Just like to say that in T2T Farah says that he is Sharamans son. Isn't Sharaman the original Prince.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 84.68.147.21 (talk) 19:31, 13 February 2008 (UTC) 
Neither of the Princes are ever named.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.242.95.122 (talk) 03:49, 14 May 2008 (UTC) 

Currently re-writing the summaries for the whole sands of time trilogy. Revising "Sands of Time", "Warrior WIthin" and planning on getting to "Two Thrones" before the day is over. -- Makaio 23:38, 25 March 2006 (UTC)

I've decided on trimming up a few parts of the newly written stuff, and making sure that anything and everything in the article should be about the Prince, not "oooh the Vizier, or ooh his dad did this".
It's not like we're reaching the limit on article space, but the article needs some more tweeks before I can stop screwing with it. -- Makaio 05:06, 27 March 2006 (UTC)

I dont get it, the prince did not has MPD in the beggining, and he got the "split personality" by being tainted by the sands. Lets say he is possessed by the dark prince.--Triple-Quadruple 23:54, 25 June 2006 (UTC)

The Dark Prince is the Prince's dark side released by the sands. Remember in Warrior Within how much the Prince's personality changed since the first game? You can say that Warrior Within's Prince is the Dark Prince in human form being held back via a conscience. I think that made sense, heh. Anyway, the way The Two Thrones ended, it's definitely MPD. --The Scourge 00:22, 26 June 2006 (UTC)
I think his personality was different in WW because in T2T Kaileena said that 'with the Dahaka gone the prince was slowly regaining pieces of himself'. This makes me think that the prince's personality changed either because of hatred of the Dahaka or fear of the Dahaka.

In the upcoming movie his name is Dastan, and will be portrayed by Jake Gyllenhal, should that be included? If you don't believe check G4tv.com and E! Online.
I propose more to change the image in the page. A picture of Dastan doesn't do any damage, but he's not the Prince in the games, he's the Prince in the films, so it could be changed to a real picture of the game Prince. Dastan should be in below images, I think.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 190.198.37.231 (talk) 19:10, 27 May 2010 (UTC) 

Speaking of Dastan, his name is typoed in the summary at the top. Correcting this now. Hackeru (talk) 18:52, 28 June 2010 (UTC)

I think someone should e-mail ubisoft and ask if there will be and more info on the mask of the wraith. if not, add it in with the dark prince, if so, then wait for the info to come to us
Mask of the Wraith should probably be merged into the article. Reading the section there and the information here on the Prince's page, there's a lot of duplication. It's not like the Mask is an important item outside of the second half of one of the games, anyway. Cheers, Lanky ○ Yell ○ 14:45, 15 May 2007 (UTC)

Image:Prince of Persia The Two Thrones.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.
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BetacommandBot 20:20, 24 October 2007 (UTC)

Image:TheDarkPrince.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.
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BetacommandBot (talk) 02:11, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

Image:The Prince In T2T.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.
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BetacommandBot (talk) 02:39, 12 February 2008 (UTC)

Image:Prince of Persia SOT FarahandPrince.png is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.
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BetacommandBot (talk) 16:10, 8 March 2008 (UTC)

Why is there both
Prince_of_Persia and Prince_(Prince_of_Persia) ? And they both contain very similar content  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Eydaimon (talk • contribs) 06:07, 26 July 2008 (UTC) 

Regarding the name "Dastan", it means "story" in Persian.  Perhaps the source mistranslated it.
Wiktionary's translation.
It was checked, and it happened to be "story" in Persian.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by Triple-Quadruple 2.0 (talk • contribs) 17:24, 8 August 2008 (UTC) 

In the upcoming 2010 film, the protagonist's name is Dastan.  He isn't referred to as "the Prince" primarily, he is referred to as Dastan primarily.  Therefore, considering these Prince characters are all different characters, and considering Dastan is no exception, I propose giving Dastan an entry on this page, rather than folding him in with the Prince character.  He is obviously not going to be referred to as "the Prince", and therefore he's not a "Prince" character; he's Dastan. --The Guy complain edits 09:41, 30 June 2009 (UTC)

I propose following the style set forth by the game manuals: title the character "The Prince", but refer to him in-article as "Prince" or "the Prince".  This is a valid concern, as the game manual titles him "The Prince," but other characters refer to him as "Prince" and the manual itself later does.  So, therefore, I propose following that style, mainly because it looks silly to have the article named "Prince".  We are not referring to an American musician from the 50s, we're referring to a character popularly called "The Prince", not "Prince". The Guy (edits) 23:28, 20 July 2009 (UTC)
Quoting this:
Ben Mattes, the game's producer said: "We never felt that it was the Prince of Persia. It's a Prince of Persia. There are many Princes of Persia within this fantasy universe that we call Prince of Persia".
Then:

He isn't a "The Prince", he is a "Prince".
There aren't many "The Princes", there are many "Princes".
If we use "The" in uppercase means that only exist one Prince, and there are many Princes, like the producer said.
And also, The game is called "Prince of Persia" and not "The Prince of Persia".
There's no need for a consensus really, is only the correct use of articles, the nameless protagonist is the "Prince" and he is a "Prince". As I've said before as an example: "United Kingdom" is a country, but we say: "the United Kingdom", following your opinion... then we would need to change the name of the country as "The United Kingdom" with "The" always in uppercase because popularly we call the country thus and that is nonsense. Depending the situation, the article is different, ex: "he is the prince", "he acts like a prince".
The article needs to be as always: "Prince", also because "The Prince" can confuse many readers and they can think that the article "The" is part of the character's name like talking about "The Beatles".--Danoasis (talk) 01:09, 21 July 2009 (UTC)

Your quote is from the producer of the latest game, and he wasn't referring to the characters themselves. He was referring to the franchise, and the multiple installments, and he was using the only constant in the franchise: the Prince character; to illustrate for him. Therefore, your quote is irrelevant in this context. I present again, the game booklets. They are arguably the most reliable source for this.
The Sands of Time game booklet: "Characters -- The Prince".
Warrior Within game booklet: "Characters -- The Prince".
The Two Thrones game booklet: "Characters - The Prince".
2008 game booklet: "Characters -- The Prince".
2008 official strategy guide: "Characters -- The Prince".
IGN 2008 game entry: "Characters -- The Prince."
Am I getting anything across? Not only are the characters popularly called "The Prince", but all of their official game bios list them as such, and we must follow suit, absolutely. This is because, again, these are the officially published records. For the record, also, you might want to stop using the term "name" in describing the character; it's been articulated that the character's name has not been revealed, and we thus refer to them by title -- "The Prince". Note also, though, that later in these booklets (as well as through character dialogue) they are called "the Prince". So I think we should follow that style, it being the official style that the game uses: refer to the article as "The Prince", and refer to the characters in-context as "the Prince". It makes sense to do it this way, as, again, they are officially called "The Prince" in the game booklets and official strategy guides, as well as in many other places.  This is what we call them. The Guy (edits) 01:40, 21 July 2009 (UTC)
But can't you understand that "The Prince" in the game booklets are only as titles?, like saying "The Princess", "The Vizier", etc?
They're only articles, not names, if the nameless protagonist was "The Prince", then... in the whole booklet he was being referred with "The" and not "the", like as I've said before "The Beatles" and not "the Beatles". The only reason why is "The" with uppercase in those quotes you put, is because it's at the beggining of the clause, but is still an article that doesn't go with the title (as you asked) together.--Danoasis (talk) 02:16, 21 July 2009 (UTC)

Titles? Then why don't we title the article in the same style? I understand the principles of the English language, and the concept of capitalization. However, if the character was not named "The Prince", and simply named "Prince", why doesn't the character bio indicate as much? It indicates "The Prince", not "Prince". It indicates "The Vizier", not "Vizier". It indicates "The Corrupted" not "Corrupted". If they were only indicating the beginning of a clause, then why don't they simply write Prince, instead of The Prince?  Because the character is titled The Prince, not Prince, as you propose.  That's why I propose stylization similar to that of the strategy guide/game booklet/in-game characters; because the characters' titles are clearly The Prince, not Prince. If they were Prince, and not The Prince, the booklet would indicate as much, as would the strategy guide. The Guy (edits) 03:45, 21 July 2009 (UTC)
Alright man, please undo the changes you've made, because we haven't ended this discussion, I've had some problems with my internet that's all.
And again... the game's main character is "Prince" you like it or not, as you can see here:
http://img55.imageshack.us/img55/4079/prince1h.jpg
http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/4373/prince2y.jpg
http://www.ubisoft.co.jp/pop/character/chara_prince.html
Also, this article always was below the title of "Prince (Prince of Persia)", linking to several articles and nobody has complained about this, there's no need to move the article here. Both of us, and all the users that play or have played the games know perfectly that the character is referred as "Prince" with "the" as an article when it is needed.--Danoasis (talk) 09:46, 30 July 2009 (UTC)

Those sources are not officially published, save for one.  The one that's officially published also pales in comparison to the fact that the character is titled "The Prince" in the game booklets for every game the character is in. I won't undo the changes I've made, because they have no relevance to this discussion, unless you're referring to my reverting the links in the articles back to "The Prince".  In that case, again, no. You can't present a more reliable source than the officially published game booklets/strategy guides. All of them call him "The Prince".  They don't say "Prince is an adventurer," they say "the Prince is an adventurer." In reality, there is no "right" way to do this. The officially published sources all call the character "The Prince", so we should definitely follow suit but, again, I don't necessarily believe this means we should say in-article, for example, "the main protagonist of the series, The Prince..." etc. Again, in that regard we're following the style set forth by the game booklets. Look, there's no way of doing this "right". However, the officially published sources hold tons more weight than any other sources you could present, and that has to count for something. You're arguing that the sources are indicating the start of a sentence or clause, but they're not; they refer to the character as "The Prince" in the title header, not "Prince".  In the text they say, "the Prince has turned a dark calloused shell of his former self," not "Prince has [..];" you get the point I'm driving. And I agree with you in part, again, the characters clearly refer to the character as "Prince" when talking to him, but when talking about him, again, they say for example, "save the Prince!" not "save Prince!"  This is why I'm trying to compromise with you; I agree with you in part. But again, we have to take into account the officially published sources, and this is what they say. Now you could accept my compromise or I could carry on without your blessing, but with the blessing of the published sources. They're all that matters here; neither of our personal opinions do, but I'm choosing to follow the sources to a tee, while you're tending to stray from them in favor of proper grammar. So please, be appreciative that I'm offering a compromise and considering that you have an opinion, because I could just move on with these sources and I would be completely in the right. We've got to abide by them in this respect. Please see that. The Guy (edits) 06:08, 31 July 2009 (UTC)

While it's a fairly iconic depiction of the Prince, it isn't the primary one. I propose we replace with either the 2003 Prince or the 2008 Prince. - The New Age Retro Hippie used Ruler! Now, he can figure out the length of things easily. 05:42, 28 July 2010 (UTC)
I agree, though this one isn't so iconic either.  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.164.114.209 (talk) 23:08, 29 July 2010 (UTC) 

http://kotaku.com/5510505/why-is-jake-gyllenhaal-in-prince-of-persia
http://uk.askmen.com/sports/bodybuilding_300/395_celebrity-workout-jake-gyllenhaal-in-iprince-of-persiai.html
http://www.vulture.com/2010/05/the_true_story_of_jake_gyllenh.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUTTMw6y-qI
--Niemti (talk) 09:06, 22 October 2012 (UTC)
I can't really see a way for me to make a section on Jake Gyllenhaal's portrayal of the Prince. Maybe you could do it? I'm better with the character(s) in the games. --ProtoDrake (talk) 11:42, 22 October 2012 (UTC)
Something like in Ayane (Dead or Alive)#Portrayal (GA) but more in-depth. --Niemti (talk) 11:51, 22 October 2012 (UTC)
Right. I've put in something, using a couple of the references you provided. Hope it's alright. --ProtoDrake (talk) 20:03, 22 October 2012 (UTC)

http://www.empireonline.com/features/50-greatest-video-game-characters/default.asp?film=35
http://www.gameinformer.com/b/news/archive/2011/02/16/guinness-names-top-50-video-game-characters-of-all-time.aspx
http://www.gamespot.com/greatest-video-game-hero/standings/index.html
http://www.gamespot.com/features/great-loves-6144012/?page=3
http://www.theage.com.au/digital-life/games/the-top-50-xbox-characters-of-all-time-20090616-cdkl.html
http://www.computerandvideogames.com/183044/features/pc-gamings-best-and-worst-characters/?page=3#top_banner (negative)
http://uk.ign.com/articles/2008/10/15/players-wanted-ultimate-fighting-game-part-2?page=2
Etc. --Niemti (talk) 07:43, 24 October 2012 (UTC)

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This review is transcluded from Talk:Prince (Prince of Persia)/GA1. The edit link for this section can be used to add comments to the review.
Reviewer: Shooterwalker (talk · contribs) 16:43, 27 July 2022 (UTC)

I will try to get to this one in the next week. If it slips my mind, you have permission to give me a ping. Shooterwalker (talk) 16:43, 27 July 2022 (UTC)

@Shooterwalker: this is your requested ping. A little late. --ProtoDrake (talk) 13:49, 8 August 2022 (UTC)
And here's my even more late reply. Finally have time to jump back in, and will have some comments for you within the day. Shooterwalker (talk) 13:47, 19 August 2022 (UTC)
Appearances
I find it's good to state the WP:OBVIOUS. "The Prince is the main protagonist from the Prince of Persia series of games."
"In Prince of Persia 3D (1999), the Prince must again rescue the Princess this time from Rugnor, son of the Sultan's brother and the Princess's former betrothed." -> "In Prince of Persia 3D (1999), the Prince once again rescues the Princess, this time from Rugnor, son of the Sultan's brother and the Princess's former betrothed." or even "In Prince of Persia 3D (1999), the Prince once again rescues the Princess, this time from her former betrothed."
"The Sands of Time sequence covers the Prince, as the son of Persian king Sharaman, from his early years through events which shape him into a leader" -> "The Sands of Time sequence covers the Prince's transformation into a leader, as the heir to Persian king Sharaman."
"artefact" -> "artifact"
"In Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (2003), he accidentally releases the Sands of Time after they are looted from an Indian city with an artefact called the Dagger of Time, and must work with the city's princess Farah to contain the Sands before they spread through the world, while the treacherous Vizier seeks to use them to achieve immortality." -> this will probably read better as two sentences, instead of several phrases joined by and/while/punctuation.
"warn Farah, killing the Vizier and returning the Dagger to Farah" -> "warn Farah, before killing the Vizier and returning the Dagger to Farah"
"... the Prince has become determined to undo the making of the Sands by confronting their creator the Empress of Time. He ends up meeting the Empress, Kaileena, and bonding with her before he knows her identity." -> "... the Prince has become determined to undo the making of the Sands. He confronts the creator of the Sands, Kaileena the Empress of Time, and bonds with her as he learns her identity."
"The Prince is also infected, manifesting an alternate personality dubbed the Dark Prince. The Prince is also infected by the Sands, which turns him into a Sand Monster hybrid and helps manifests an alternate Dark Prince personality." -> these two sentences seem to cover the same ground. You could probably cut one. (Though two can be good for organization.)
"During his adventure, he reunites with Farah, accepts responsibility for his people after finding Sharaman's body, and eventually kills the Vizier and defeats the Dark Prince, with Kaileena's spirit taking the Sands and Dagger from the world." -> This one starts to run on a bit, and might also be good as two separate sentences.
"The Prince becomes embroiled in a quest by the priestess Elika to reseal the dark god Ahriman. They ultimately fail, but make every effort to lock Ahriman back into the tree. They succeed at this, but Elika dies as the price of the ritual. " -> This is confusing -- they ultimately fail, but they also succeed.
"the Prince travels to in search of a means of containing Ahriman's influence, fighting against a powerful corrupted king with help from the king's disembodied light side and a spirit dubbed the Ancestor." -> "the Prince searches for a way to contain Ahriman's influence, fighting a corrupted king with help from the king's disembodied light side and a spirit dubbed the Ancestor."
"A street urchin adopted by the Persian king Sharaman, when 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." -> this is another sentence that would probably read better as two separate sentences
"Nizam then kills Sharaman while framing Dastan for the crime, having sought the Dagger of Time to unlock the Sands and use their power to alter history and make himself king." -> this might work by inverting the phrases -- explain their goal first, and what that leads them to do. This will probably flow into the next sentence too.
Recurring characteristics
I think you can improve the first sentence to frame this section, and with a better source too. The Ben Mattes quote (and the wider article) covers some of this. "There are many versions of the Prince with several commonalities, usually their acrobatic movement and a desire for adventure."
I'm not sure that portrayal fits under the heading of recurring characteristics? I might encourage renaming the section or subsection, but not sure what's best.
I know the 2D Prince doesn't have a voice actor, but wasn't this a rotoscoped character based on a physical actor?
"as he needed to remain true to and improve on his original portrayal." -> "as he needed to improve his performance while staying true to his original portrayal."
This section is really clearly written. Great job!
Concept and Design
"referencing main character Indiana Jones' approach to situations encountered" -> "referencing the approach of the main character, Indiana Jones."
"Indiana Jones' less impervious portrayal compared to other action heroes also influenced Mechner's portrayal of the Prince" -> "Mechner's prince also borrowed from Indiana Jones as a less impervious portrayal of an action hero." (Phrased better -- might even come up with somethign better than "less impervious".)
As an outsider, it's easy to lose track of the timeline and history. So maybe slip it in there that Prince of Persia 3D came out in 1999. Maybe even underscore that Sands of Time was something of a reboot.
"This conversely led to difficulties with other enemy movements." -> this might need elaboration, as it isn't clear how this led to difficulties.
"a decision was taken by the development team from the outset to make the game's atmosphere darker" -> "the development team decided to make the game's atmosphere darker".
"The two people most involved with the Prince's redesigned" -> "redesign"
"During the early stages" -> "Early in development"
"it was soon decided" -> try to avoid passive voice. It's more wordy and less clear. Who decided?
"In The Two Thrones, the Prince was portrayed as a mature warrior able to hold his own, with his appearance roughened using scars and his Sands infection being designed to appear like a "living wound" more than a tattoo" -> maybe break this into two sentences. As phrased, it is a little confusing and hard to read.
"described as the more visually appealing version" -> another passive voice problem. Who described them as more visually appealing?
"Mattes explained that the inspiration for the character design was to express how he would eventually become a prince through an epic journey." -> "Mattes explained that the goal for the character design was to show his transformation into a prince through his epic journey."
"The prince wears red and blue cloth as a turban and scarves, a sign of wealth." -> "As a sign of wealth, the prince wears red and blue cloth as a turban and scarves."
"Mechner he chose" -> "Mechner chose"
"Despite Mechner's film script being written prior to the making of later games in the Sands of Time continuity, Mechner said that the production team for the film incorporated design elements from later games into the Prince's appearance." -> "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."
"The Prince's most worn outfit, a loose-fitting spiral coat, was designed by her based on a picture from a piece of ancient Persian embroidery." -> "For the Prince's most worn outfit, she designed a loose-fitting spiral coat based on a picture of ancient Persian embroidery."
"made nods" -> "paid homage"
"Mechner was approached about adapting his character First Second Books' editorial director Mark Siegel," -> not sure what you're trying to say here
"But after meeting Mechner and the editor for the book's publisher First Second Books, he was won over" -> "But Sina agreed to join the project after meeting Mechner and the editor for the book's publisher, First Second Books."
"He also co-wrote Before the Sandstorm" -> Mechner, or Sina?
Reception
"in his various incarnations" -> you can cut this
The first sentence might read better without the quote. It's wordy and hard to read as is. This is even more true for the second sentence.
The Guinness Book of Records sentence needs a period.
"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 similar later game leads including Lara Croft." -> In a Retro Gamer article about the game series, David Crookes noted the Prince as an early example of the acrobatic lead character, influencing similar later game leads including Lara Croft.
"The Prince as he appears in The Sands of Time is generally seen as the most likeable version of the character, with critics and fans praising his portrayal and development" -> "Critics and fans praise the Prince's portrayal in the Sands of Time, and this is generally seen as the most popular version of the character."
"notoriously" -> this feels like it might be too much editorializing. Dropping it doesn't remove anything factual from the article, and reads as more neutral.
"who enjoyed the character's portrayal and design" -> this is redundant with the rest of the sentence, which already establishes praise.
I am not sure Mechner's quote adds anything to his criticism of the character, and you could easily summarize it for more clarity and simplicity.
You lose the timeline a bit -- when and how did the Prince return to the Sands of Time portrayal?
"GameSpot's Bob Colayco enjoyed how the game seemed to self-reference the criticism in its portrayal of the character and his struggle with his Dark Prince persona, saying "the internal strife in the schizophrenic prince's mind forms a compelling part of the storyline"" -> GameSpot's Bob Colayco saw the 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""
There's a lot of weight on the Gamasutra article about the sexuality of the Prince of Persia, and I might try to focus on the main point. The several points get kind of clouded.
"as part of general criticism on the leads" -> you can probably drop this without losing anything
The sentence about Gyllenhall's hair could probably be split in two, as it runs long and becomes difficult to read.
I'm also not sure the quote from Ghazzal Dabiri really adds much as it is more providing historical context, rather than focused on the reception of the character.
"The film was similarly accused by several critics of whitewashing the cast" -> "The film was also criticized for whitewashing the cast" this seems like a new criticism, and not at all similar.
"Brian Ashcraft of Kotaku admitted the criticism, but felt it failed to take into account complexities surrounding the perception of ethnicity in both the film industry and real-life over time, also noting some of the leads having varied ethnic backgrounds while wishing the film's makers had made the effort to cast Iranian actors in the lead roles" -> "Brian Ashcraft of Kotaku felt this criticism didn't account for the complexities surrounding the perception of ethnicity of film characters, noting the varied ethnic backgrounds of the actors while still wishing that Iranian actors were cast in leading roles." (Just long and needs to be tighter and more readable.)
Overall
This is on track to become a GA. It looks well researched and generally well written. There are a bunch of long and difficult-to-read sentences that can be simplified or split, for flow. I'd also encourage you to look out for passive voice (it was decided by the team VS. the team decided), as fixing that will often make the story clearer and in fewer words. We can circle back once you've tried some of these recommendations. Shooterwalker (talk) 18:03, 19 August 2022 (UTC)
@Shooterwalker: Done my best to address the issues you've raised, and found some other ways to tighten things up and make the whole thing flow more. Some of the things you picked up were stuff left over from this version, which had a lot of influence from SNAAAKE!. Yes, that's the real user name. I also added some extra specific commentary about the 2008 incarnation of the character. --ProtoDrake (talk) 20:10, 19 August 2022 (UTC)
This is excellent work. There are a few things we missed on the first pass (that's on me too), and I'm confident we can get all the way there with one more set of revisions.
Lead
"with his athleticism taking inspiration from the opening of Raiders of the Lost Ark. " -> "with his athleticism inspired by the opening of Raiders of the Lost Ark."
""For The Sands of Time, the Prince was redesigned and rewritten, and over the course of its sequels, was developed in various ways to show his growing maturity" -> "The Prince was redesigned and rewritten for The Sands of Time in 2003, with his design maturing with each sequel."
Additional Grammar
"Kaileena's spirit taking the Sands and Dagger from the world, and in a final mental confrontation the Prince overcomes the Dark Prince's influence." -> something is off here
"An element which appeared in both The Shadow and the Flame and The Two Thrones was a being dubbed either Shadowman or the Dark Prince" -> "A doppleganger appeared in both The Shadow and the Flame and The Two Thrones, commonly described as the Dark Prince or Shadowman."
"skirting round" -> "skirting around" (or maybe something less colloquial)
"According to Lowenthal, his well-received performance put pressure on him in future Prince of Persia games from both fans and staff," -> "According to Lowenthal, his well-received performance put pressure on him in future Prince of Persia games," (shorter and still clear)
"This ultimately gave him little creative freedom with the character after The Sands of Time" -> "He felt that this limited his creative freedom with the character after The Sands of Time" (more accurate that this was his interpretation)
"that due to development pressures he was growing tired of the character" -> "that he was growing tired of the character due to development pressures."
"The two people most involved with the Prince's designed" -> last word needs quick fix
"comparing him to similar later game leads including Lara Croft." -> "comparing him to later game leads including Lara Croft." (cut redundant word)
Reception
There's a few parts here that are lengthy and need work.
Empire also included Prince on their list of the 50 greatest video game characters, ranking him as 35th and giving particular reference to his portrayal in The Sands of Time and its sequels, saying that despite his banter being weaker in The Two Thrones, he was "a genuinely likeable guy in baggy trousers wielding a large cutlass and sporting a natty beardlet" -> this one can also be shorter and clearer, without losing too much information. Try "Empire also ranked the Prince as their 35th greatest video game character, particularly praising his portrayal in The Sands of Time."
Commenting on Gyllenhaal's performance as the Prince as part of general criticism on the leads, Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert felt Gyllenhall "plays Dastan as if harboring Spider-Man's doubts and insecurities", clashing with his physical appearance." -> "Commenting on the Prince's portrayal in the film, Chicago Sun-Times film critic Roger Ebert felt Gyllenhall "plays Dastan as if harboring Spider-Man's doubts and insecurities", clashing with his physical appearance.""
The whole quote and reaction of Ghazzal Dabiri doesn't seem to connect to what came before it, and is excessively long. Is the point maybe -- "but this was defended as historically accurate by Ghazzal Dabiri, a lecturer and coordinator of Iranian studies at Columbia University."
Something occurred to me. Isn't it true that Prince of Persia effectively evolved into Assassin's Creed? If that's the case, are there sources that say the Prince had an influence on the character design in that game? (You already mention the influence on Lara Croft.)
That should get us all the way there, if not very close. Shooterwalker (talk) 04:39, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
@Shooterwalker: Did my best to address everything mentioned above. As to Assassin's Creed, it's more like "they started with a PoP spin-off, then turned it into its own thing". I've mentioned that a version of the prince was planned then dropped when it became its own thing, but that's more dev info than legacy. As far as I know, there are no connections between the Prince and Altair. --ProtoDrake (talk) 11:02, 22 August 2022 (UTC)
Thanks for looking into that connection. This is definitely GA quality and I'm happy to give this a pass. I went ahead and tweaked the lead, and the article is a pass with or without these additional changes. Great job overall and thanks for your efforts. Shooterwalker (talk) 14:07, 22 August 2022 (UTC)

The redirect The Dark Prince has been listed at redirects for discussion to determine whether its use and function meets the redirect guidelines. Readers of this page are welcome to comment on this redirect at Wikipedia:Redirects for discussion/Log/2025 November 10 § The Dark Prince until a consensus is reached.  Kinopiko talk 00:10, 10 November 2025 (UTC)