Zal

Canon
This article contains information from the Prince of Persia (2008) series and universe.

Biography

Gallery

Basic information
Name	Zal
Alias	The Magus
Sex	Male
Species	Human (corrupted)
Status	Deceased
Professional information
Former affiliation	City of New Dawn
Former occupation	City of New Dawn's King City of New Dawn's Magus
Family information
Other relatives	King (evil aspect) Ancestor (distant ancestor)
Real world information
Appearances	Prince of Persia: The Fallen King

Zal, also referred to as the Magus, was the king and acting magus of the City of the New Dawn. After attempting to fight off Ahriman's forces by using his corruption against him, he is instead corrupted and split into two beings: himself and the King. When the Prince seeks him out to summon Ormazd, the both of them ally with one another to purify the land of his kingdom from Ahriman's grip.

Characteristics

Appearance

Zal is fair skinned, garnished in a red cloak, and outfitted with a orange-colored sleeve with decorative patterns on it. Wearing a plated shirt, he is also outfitted with a mask in which conceals his dark, corrupted face with blue eyes. Due to his predicament, the bottom half of his body is corrupted, leaving his bottom half in a black, floating mass.

Personality

Zal is a regal and strict individual, initially prone to sarcastically insulting the Prince's comments, very much focused on his mission to destroy his evil half and Ahriman, and was reluctant to working with Prince himself initially. Much of this negativity flourished after he had discovered that the release of Ahriman was his fault, having no qualms with placing the blame on him for the fall of his Kingdom.

Despite this however, as he bonds with the Prince, a kinder side is shown. A benevolent ruler, he admitted to being arrogant enough to thinking that he could fight Ahriman and his corruption alone in which help costed his kingdom. He comes to terms with his alliance with the Prince. A caring man, he scarified himself in killing his evil half (which would kill him too) in order to cleanse his own land.

Skills, equipment, and abilities

Zal is a powerful user of Powers of Ormazd granted to his people and himself by Ormazd. His prowess allows him to defeat his other half, the King, with apparent ease on his own and despite not wanting to fight the Prince, easily swatted him aside. Zal once mentioned that it was his magic that kept the City of the New Dawn from being completely corrupted, though it waned by the time the Prince arrived. He has shown the ability of achieving levitation, telekinesis, creates shields to protect the Prince, and project both magical white colored energy..

Due to having been corrupted, he is capable of controlling Corruption itself, making him able to turn it solid able to manipulate globules of corruption to kill his enemies, use corruption to grapple him and the Prince, freeze corruption that comes in the form of fire or elastic globules of it for a certain time, and teleport between 2 corruption portals. Like all those corrupted, he has the added ability to freely pass through corruption without any adverse effects.

He also is able to eventually fuse with the Prince to grant him his powers. Additionally, it is expressed that those who inhabit the City of New Dawn like Zal are fabled to be able to summon Ormazd himself. Despite having a strong will, Zal transforms into a darker version of himself on account of Ahriman's influence and his waning powers requiring the Prince to battle him to get him back to his senses or the usage of a special elixir made by the Ancestor.

Zal is shown to have an incredibly strong will, able to fight off the influence and corruption of Ahriman, a feat that was previously thought to be impossible. And not only that, but he is also continue to fight Ahriman. He is also extremely knowledgeable in mysticism, explaining to the Prince on the magical occurrences and events that take place during their journey and knowledgeable in seals.

Biography

Earlier life

Born as royalty, Zal would eventually ascended to becoming the City of New Dawn's king while also having attained the position and title of Magus, simultaneously acting as the state's cheif defender and was the most powerful magic wielder.

Shortly after the release of Ahriman, the City of New Dawn was among the paces the dark god attacked. Desperate, Zal would attempt to empower himself using Ahriman's Corruption against him to better stand against the dark god. However, his attempted failed and resulted in him being split into persona, his normal self and his evil half, only referred to as the "King". Despite being weakened as a result and having to take elixirs conjured by the Ancestor to stave the corruption, he managed to defeat his other half and seal him away. He would also dedicated his magics to defending what was left of his city.

Prince of Persia: The Fallen King

After defeating the King, he had intended to imprison the Beast and fight off Ahriman. However, due to the intervention of the Prince, he was freed once again. This greatly angered the Magus but the Prince aids him in stopping the beast.

Gameplay

The Magus is actually half-corrupted, as shown by the black mass that makes up the lower half of his body. Though he is resisting Ahriman's influence, he will occasionally become fully corrupted, taking on a black-red color scheme. This occurs when he is exposed to certain creatures. There are two varieties of these creatures: the spider-like type, which will only result in him changing color and needing occasional revival, and the flying type, which will carry him to another level and cause him to become hostile. The former can be healed by finding an elixir provided by the Ancestor, whilst the latter must be healed by following the Magus through the level he is taken to and defeating him in combat.

The Magus can also pass through the corrupted fog that is present on some levels, unlike the Prince. Situations such as this result in the player being required to control each character separately, and is the only time the Magus will be controlled directly. Oddly, despite the fact he seems to be able to fly behind the Prince during normal gameplay, the ability is lost during separate control, so the player must cope with only his magic abilities, as he possesses nothing in the way of acrobatic abilities such as jumping.

During the final sequence of the game, the Magus and his powers are 'combined' with the Prince, creating a character who has both the athletic ability of the Prince and the magic abilities of the Magus. This character also appears to be immune to most forms of the corruption, much like the Magus is immune to the corrupted fog.

Cultural references

Zal is based off of the Zāl (Zaal) from the Shahnameh epic poem. He is depicted within the epic poem as a legendary Iranian king who fathered his equally impressive son, Rostam. Descendant of a legendary family that served in the Persian army as famous generals, Sām (Saam) named his son Zal due to being born with white hair (the word Zal itself referring to those with albinism) and is both rejected and abandoned by his father. Zal would be raised by the mythical creature known as the Simurgh and eventually, Zal reunites with his father, having come to regret abandoning his son and would work to repair his relationship with his son. Zal would be gifted his father's kingdom and married Rubedah, a descendant of the evil figure known as Zahhak (also known as Azhi Dahāka) and the son of Ahriman.