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Dahaka

Dahaka, also transliterated as Dahak or Dāhāk, is a name that appears in Persian mythology and later popular culture. In classical Persian sources the name is often treated as a variant of Zahhak, the dragon-shouldered tyrant of the Shahnameh. Zahhak is depicted as a demon-king who consorts with the evil spirit Angra Mainyu (Ahriman) and is punished for his tyranny; in the legend, two serpents grow from his shoulders and feed on human brains. He is eventually overthrown by the hero Fereydun and imprisoned beneath the mountains, a symbol of oppression and folly in the world. The form Dahaka is thus found in some translations and retellings of the myth, used to refer to the same demon or as a generalized monstrous figure.

In modern popular culture, Dahaka is best known as a major antagonist in the Prince of Persia

The name remains associative rather than a single canonical figure, and Dahaka may be encountered in various

video
game
series,
particularly
Prince
of
Persia:
Warrior
Within
(2004).
In
that
game,
the
Dahaka
is
a
time-guardian
demon
charged
with
preventing
paradoxes
in
the
Prince's
timeline.
It
pursues
the
Prince
across
different
eras,
serving
as
a
living
reminder
of
fate
and
the
consequences
of
altering
time.
The
portrayal
emphasizes
a
fearsome,
reptilian,
otherworldly
hunter
and
draws
on
mythic
associations
with
tyranny
and
doom.
works
of
fantasy
beyond
those
cited.