The Dark Prince (also known as the Sand Prince) appears as a main character and a main antagonist in The Two Thrones. He was voiced by Rick Miller.
Biography[]
The Prince's Dream[]
The Dark Prince made his first appearance in the true ending of Warrior Within as a hooded figure who picks up Sharaman's crown and proclaims 'All that is yours is rightfully mine, and mine it will be!'
Not far into the story, the Prince becomes tainted by the newly unleashed Sands of Time, awakening in him a different entity, the Dark Prince, who can be assumed to be the tainted "soul" of the Prince in Warrior Within. He embodies every negative aspect of the Prince, stating, "Your rage, your pride, your selfish ways, they give me form and substance!". He also shares all the fighting skills as the normal Prince (e.g. mastery of the sword, axe and more), and even shows newer skills that the Prince has not demonstrated previously (e.g. apparent mastery of the Daggertail).
The Dark Prince is Born[]
Early in the game, the Prince chases Kaileena's kidnappers into the palace, only to be stopped by one of the Vizier's generals, Mahasti with the Daggertail (a chain blade weapon) embedded deep into his left arm. The Prince is then forced to watch the Vizier slay Kaileena, releasing the Sands of Time again. As the Prince lacked any protection this time (he had thrown away the Medallion, and the Vizier was in the possession of the Dagger of Time), he was infected by the Sands as well, albeit at a much slower rate than anyone else. However, he wasn't completly mutated for some reason; instead, his left arm gained a glowing, golden spiral design, along with the Daggertail fused and melted into his arm. As time passes, the Prince hears a voice within his head (the Dark Prince), giving him advice and urging him along. The extent of the Sands' taint eventually starts to grow as the game progresses, covering the Prince's entire left arm and part of his back. The exact reason for his mutation being resisted in the first place is ambiguous; the Dark Prince tells him later that he may have grown a resistance to the Sands: perhaps from extended use of the Sands or the Dagger of Time or perhaps from the nights he spent with Kaileena. Eventually, he begins sporadically transforming into the Dark Prince, whose unique skills (including his apparent mastery of the Daggertail) allow the Prince to continue in his quest. Upon touching water, the Prince reverts to his normal form.
The Inner Struggle[]
At first the Prince accepts the voice's help without question, but with his increasing interaction with Princess Farah, it leads him to question his other side. Eventually, he realizes that the Dark Prince is only looking out for his own selfish avarice, and that vengeance, conquest, and subjugation, rather than constructive goals, are topping his to-do list. The Prince rejects this malevolent presence and finishes his journey without the Dark Prince's help.
The Final Battle[]
- "How many times did I unblock your path? Cut down your enemies? Remind you of your mission?"
- ―The Dark Prince[src]
However, after slaying the Vizier and apparently losing the Sands' taint, the Prince encounters the Dark Prince once more as the hooded figure he has seen in Kaileena's vision, who pulls him into a strange dream-like realm. The Prince chases his dark counterpart down as the shifting landscape changes (shifting to various locations from the past games, such as the magic fountain room from Sands of Time and the ship from Warrior Within). As the Prince chases him, the Dark Prince reveals indirectly that he is all of the Prince's darker elements brought to separate life by the Sands when he resisted direct infection, but that everything that the Dark Prince is was already a part of the Prince before the change - in effect, the Prince had two souls inhabiting his body. The Dark Prince intends on distracting the Prince in this world, but he is thwarted again by Farah, who urges the Prince to let go of his hatred and turn away. The Prince ascends a staircase leading into a bright light and the Dark Prince is left behind once and for all, forever alone, afraid, and shouting into oblivion, as the Prince awakens, finally free.
Details[]
While the Prince was in his dark form, he could still think, act, and reason like his normal self. However, his outer-body would be blackened and coarse with a red-gold design spiraling through his body. The Dark Prince's voice in his physical form is a coarser, rougher version of the actual Prince's (mirroring the effects on his body); the Dark Prince's real voice is inside the Prince's head, a soft, cunning, wily voice.
In this corrupted form, the Prince continually loses health until he dies, unlike the Sandwraith, whence it stops at a quarter of the original health. In order to regain health, one must collect Sands of Time, upon which the Dark Prince's health will become full. Also unlike the Sandwraith is that the sand slots do not get refilled when in the Dark Prince form, but as almost every container you can crack open will have Sands, this is not too much of a problem.
Skills[]
With the introduction of the Daggertail, the Prince - as the Dark Prince - can perform a significantly larger amount of acrobatics and attacking combinations.
Acrobatics[]
The Dark Prince can now wall-run for a dramatically longer time after hooking the Daggertail into a lamp jutting out of the wall. A similar tactic is used in Warrior Within, except with a rope which is already hanging from the wall. Another use is hooking the Daggertail to an out-of-reach pole while jumping to extend the jump's length.
Combat[]
The Dark Prince can now form new combos against his enemies, which are far more lethal with the Daggertail than they ever could be without. Many of the most dangerous attacks include a good mix of the Dagger of Time and the Daggertail, while an especially useful one is the Hurricane, which makes the Dark Prince spin his Daggertail high above his head very fast: this is sort of a 360 degree block, as all incoming enemies from any direction will be hit; the weaker ones might even fall to the ground, upon which a well-placed Dagger attack can kill the enemy. It should be noted that the brutality present in the combat techniques of The Dark Prince are similar in intensity to those of the Prince in Warrior Within. This could be interpreted as the Prince in The Two Thrones is a combination of his incarnations in the first two games, the good-hearted "original" prince of The Sands of Time, and the coarser (and darker) prince of Warrior Within.