Dahaka

The Dahaka is the manifestation of the inevitability of fate and the main antagonist of Prince of Persia: Warrior Within.

History
After the Prince used the Sands of Time to manipulate his fate and cheat his own death, the Dahaka, as the Guardian of the Timeline, set out to make sure the Prince died, which would restore everything to the way it should be. After discovering that the Dahaka was after him, the Prince spent many sleepless nights being hunted relentlessly by the creature, which made him so serious and mature. After finding about the Island of Time, where he could prevent the Sands of Time from being created, the Prince headed there. But as he journeyed across the island, the Dahaka began chasing him and only managed to escape through walls of water, which the creature could not pass through, since like the other sand creatures, it had an aversion to water. After the Prince unlocked the throne room in the past, the Sand Wraith appeared in the Central Hall, but the Dahaka appeared, leading the Prince to think that it had followed him to the past. But as he began to flee, the creature grabbed the Sand Wraith, killed it, and left. After becoming the Sand Wraith himself and traveling back in time, the Prince encountered his past self at the exact same time and place. Knowing that the Dahaka was going to attack, the Prince let his past self perish at the creature's hands and freed himself of the Mask of the Wraith (which transformed him into the Sand Wraith). No explanation was given for the Dahaka's odd behavior, though it is probably because it only needed to kill the Prince one time, which would have ended his existence if it weren't for his wearing the Mask of the Wraith. It may also be because it existed as a guardian in the past and only reacted to the existence of two versions of the same person in the same place and time. Since it was the past, the events of the Sands of Time had not occurred yet and it had no other reason to hunt the Prince.

After the Prince brought Kaileena back to the present, he realized that he had made her the Dahaka's new target. He refused to let it kill her and took up the mystical Water Sword. The Prince succeeded in defeating the creature, driving the sword into its head and sending it plummeting into the seas below.

Personality
The Dahaka shows frustration when its intended target gets away from it and is very adamant on catching its prey, pursuing them no matter what it has to deal with. It is not open to reason due to its intense obligation to restore the Timeline and will not give anybody the chance to stop him. The Dahaka is even willing to eliminate everything and everyone if necessary.

However, the Dahaka performs these actions out of duty rather than malice, and even shows respect for the Prince at certain points, though it continually reminds him his fate is unchangeable.

Powers and Abilities
The Dahaka is able to send out multiple tentacles from its abdomen, which is its main method of attacking its targets. It can also teleport over short distances, but it is unknown if it can teleport father. The Dahaka is also immune to all of the weapons that the Prince uses, except for the Water Sword. It can hunt its target relentlessly and will only stop if it comes into contact with water. The Dahaka also seems to have shape-shifting abilities.

Trivia

 * The Dahaka serves as the most important villain of the Sands of Time timeline because it wants to get rid of things that don't have the right purpose.
 * The Dahaka seems to be a sand creature because of its aversion to water, possessing the same origins as the timeline, Empress of Time, and time artifacts.


 * The Dahaka is very similar to the Marut from Dungeons & Dragons, both are large, dark beings that seek to destroy those that cheat death.


 * The Dahaka's horns resemble the symbol for infinity, a reference to its eternal existence.
 * It is named after the Persian/Iranian mythological creature, the Azi Dahaka, which translates to "Dragon King" or "Serpent King".
 * At times, the Dahaka is huge, but at other times, seems to be slightly taller than the Prince. It is possible that as a sand creature, it has limited shape-shifting powers.
 * Despite being set between Sands of Time and Warrior Within, the Forgotten Sands never mentions or features the Dahaka, but it is possible that it hadn't set out to hunt down the Prince yet.
 * It apparently speaks in reverse, since if its dialogue is played backwards, it says actual words.
 * When the Prince first fought Kaileena, she said that she hoped the Dahaka would finish him off, but when he fights her for the second time and the creature appears, she cries, "What is that thing?" It is possible she didn't know what the Dahaka looked like or didn't see it clearly, but this may simply be a minor plothole.
 * As the Dahaka closed in on the Prince during the chases, the colors faded away eventually becoming black and white or sepia tone.