Answered by Jean-Christophe Guyot, Creative Director of Prince of Persia
1- Ahriman, the god of darkness, has summoned various different types of Corruption and Corrupted enemies; can you give us a brief background of each of them?
Indeed there are different types of enemies in Prince of Persia. I can split the enemies in 4 major categories:
· The Corruption: The Corruption is the most basic form of Ahriman’s presence but as well, the most common form that plagues the land. It is a dark, oily and dangerous substance that covers the land and expands as Ahriman’s power grows. It will block many accessible paths and therefore challenge the Prince trying to engulf him and corrupt him. The Prince and Elika will need to be very careful and use all their skills trying to avoid the Corruption.
· The corrupted traps: As the player progresses, Ahriman and his minions will unleash many dangerous corrupted traps. The traps in Prince of Persia will be organic and really integrated into this corrupted environment. They will chase and be more reactive trying to block the Prince’s path.
· The generic enemies: There are other more evolved forms of the Corruption that have far superior intelligence and serve as Ahriman’s main soldiers. There are many types of soldiers and each of them possessing their own abilities and shape. They are made of pure Corruption, thus their dark and gooey look…
· The Corrupted (The Lords): Ahriman also has an elite class of soldiers which stands as his Lords and are named “The Corrupted”.
2- What is the origin of “The Corrupted”, the lords of Ahriman?
The Corrupted are Lords of Ahriman that were once human. They sold their soul to Ahriman in moments of weakness to acquire something that their hearth desired the most… They are now enslaved to Ahriman’s will and their mind has been corrupted and twisted as well. Their personality will both reflect their once human as well as their now corrupted side. Each of them is leading Ahriman’s assault but have as well, their own goal…
3- What is the backstory of “The Corrupted”?
The Hunter:
The Hunter was a prince who grew up surrounded by riches and indulgence, everything he wanted was his and more. His favorite pastime was the hunt and he learned his skills from the best advisers in the realm.
Over time the Prince could not find an animal he felt worthy to challenge him. Hearing the Prince’s discontent, Ahriman offered him a chance to fight a foe better than all others, to best himself against the best.
Unable to resist the Prince offered up his soul for this chance and found himself transformed into an incredible beast. Hearing of this beast hunters from across the world came to hunt him. So the Prince became the very beast he had sought and spent his days hunting and being hunted in the service of his dark master – Ahriman.
The Warrior:
King of a peaceful people who were besieged by violence on all sides, the Warrior made himself and a small number of his people instruments of war so that the rest of his people would not have to suffer the touch of conflict. However, the number of his enemies was great and his force small. As the Warrior faced destruction, he heard Ahriman’s voice offering his people salvation in return for his soul.
The Warrior accepted Ahriman’s offer and became an invincible killing machine. Having defeated the attacking forces, the Warrior realised that he could not return to his people. He had become everything they rejected, corrupted, feeling the need to revel in destruction; he left his people, fearing for their safety.
Owned by Ahriman, he entered the god’s service fighting as his arm of steel.
The Alchemist:
Obsessed by his quest for knowledge, the Alchemist is a soulless scientist, never letting emotion, compassion or ethics stand in the way of his experiments. His health began to fail and, desperate to continue his studies, he turned his attention to decoding life itself. Ahriman began to whisper a solution – a formula for eternal youth. When The Alchemist demanded the formula Ahriman was happy to grant it in exchange for his soul.
This seemed a simple trade to the Alchemist. But Ahriman provided him the most complicated alchemical formula ever seen. The Alchemist’s tireless efforts at cracking the formula sapped his already diminished strength and on the eve of what he believed to be a breakthrough – he finally collapsed. As he died, Ahriman collected his soul…
Once dead the Alchemist saw that in a twisted way he had been given what he wanted. As long as Ahriman lives, the Alchemist has gained not only a chance to live forever, but also the power to continue his experiments.