Prince Vultan is a fictional character in the ''

Flash Gordon Flash Gordon is the protagonist of a space adventure comic strip created and originally drawn by Alex Raymond. First published January 7, 1934, the strip was inspired by, and created to compete with, the already established '' Buck Rogers'' adv ...

'' comic strip and its adaptations. Vultan is the ruler of the Winged Bird-Men, a race of flying extraterrestrials who dwell in Sky City, a metropolis that floats in the sky. He fits the archetype of the Viking: strong, hearty, and with a great appetite for life, food, drink, and women (particularly Flash's girlfriend,

Dale Arden Dale Arden is a fictional character, the fellow adventurer and love interest of Flash Gordon and a prototypic heroine for later female characters, including Princess Leia and Padme Amidala in '' Star Wars''. Flash, Dale and Dr. Hans Zarkov fi ...

In the comics

Prince Vultan is introduced as a reluctant ally of main villain

Ming the Merciless Ming the Merciless is a fictional character who first appeared in the ''Flash Gordon'' comic strip in 1934. He has since been the main villain of the strip and its related movie serials, television series and film adaptation. Ming is depicted as ...

; he resents Ming's domination but does not oppose it out of fear of reprisal. However, after Flash and Dr. Zarkov save his city, he reforms into one of Flash Gordon's greatest allies. In the original comic, he has several wives, one of whom tries to kill Dale, as she is jealous of her. He claims to have become King of Sky City after winning one of the Tournaments of Mongo. When Ming tries to kidnap Flash, Vultan calls for a Tournament of Mongo. It is revealed that, along with Ming and King Jugrid of the Lion Men, he is one of the three most powerful rulers on Mongo. When Flash takes over the unconquered Kingdom of Caves, Vultan sends a party of Hawkmen under Captain Khan to help Flash conquer his Kingdom. The Hawkmen later come into conflict with Queen Azura and her Blue Magic Men. The image of the Hawkmen descending to attack Azura's army (from the June 16, 1935 storyline) is one of the most reproduced scenes from the ''Flash Gordon'' strip. Vultan and the other Hawkmen provoked some controversy at the time of publication. Some Christian leaders regarded the characters as blasphemous because they resembled

angel In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God. Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles ...

In other media

In the 1936 film serial, he was portrayed by

Jack Lipson Jack "Tiny" Lipson (January 17, 1901 – November 28, 1947) was an American film actor. He appeared in over 85 films between 1927 and 1948. Career Lipson played character parts, and was usually uncredited. Due to his rotund, towering figure, Lip ...

(1901-1947).

Allan Melvin Allan John Melvin (February 18, 1923 – January 17, 2008) was an American actor and impressionist, who was cast in hundreds of television episodes from the 1950s to the early 1990s, often appearing in recurring roles on various series. Some of th ...

provided Vultan's voice in the 1979

Filmation Filmation Associates was an American production company that produced animation and live-action programming for television from 1963 until 1989. Located in Reseda, California, the animation studio was founded in 1962. Filmation's founders and ...

animated series. He is referred to here as King Vultan, not Prince. His Sky City is a marvel of Mongo technology, as the massive construct is suspended miles above ground by beams of polarized anti-gravity light. Unlike

Prince Barin Prince Barin is a character in the Flash Gordon stories. He is king of a region of Mongo called Arboria. Barin becomes one of Flash's best friends, and is deeply in love with Princess Aura. In his appearance, Barin resembles the character of R ...

's kingdom of Arboria, Vultan's Hawkmen do not make use of airships in battle. Instead, they fly under their own power or ride giant warbirds armed with harness-mounted energy cannons. He was portrayed by

Brian Blessed Brian Blessed (; born 9 October 1936) is an English actor, presenter, writer and mountaineer. Blessed is known for portraying PC "Fancy" Smith in ''Z-Cars'', Augustus in the 1976 BBC television production of '' I, Claudius'', King Richard I ...

in the cult

1980 Events January * January 4 – U.S. President Jimmy Carter proclaims a grain embargo against the USSR with the support of the European Commission. * January 6 – Global Positioning System time epoch begins at 00:00 UTC. * January 9 – In ...

film ''

''. For the film's soundtrack by the rock group

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

Freddie Mercury Freddie Mercury (born Farrokh Bulsara; 5 September 1946 – 24 November 1991) was a British singer and songwriter, who achieved worldwide fame as the lead vocalist of the rock band Queen. Regarded as one of the greatest singers in the ...

composed a song called "Vultan's Theme". At the end, he is appointed the General of the Armies when Prince Barin is revealed as the rightful ruler of Mongo. In the 1996 ''

'' animated series, Vultan is a somewhat conservative leader, and reluctant to act against Ming for fear of reprisals against his people. His role as Flash's ally is taken by his teenage son, Prince Talon. In the 2007 television series, Vultan appears as the leaders of a group of nomadic mercenaries called Dactyls (a variation of the Hawkmen). In the episode, ''Ascension'', Vultan travels to Earth, using

Princess Aura Princess Aura is a fictional character in the Flash Gordon comic strips and serials. She has been portrayed by various actresses in the many ''Flash Gordon'' adaptations in film and television. Character overview Aura is the daughter of the ser ...

's rift key. He kidnaps a teenage boy who he claims is his son. He is played by

Ty Olsson Ty Olsson (born January 28, 1974) is a Canadian actor. He is known for playing Benny Lafitte in ''Supernatural'', real-life 9/11 victim Mark Bingham in the A&E television film ''Flight 93'', and Ord in the PBS Kids animated children's series ''D ...

. In a 2008 episode of the animated sitcom ''

Family Guy ''Family Guy'' is an American animated sitcom originally conceived and created by Seth MacFarlane for the Fox Broadcasting Company. The show centers around the Griffins, a dysfunctional family consisting of parents Peter and Lois; their ch ...

'' called " Road to Germany",

Brian Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word me ...

, Stewie and

Mort ''Mort'' is a fantasy novel by British writer Terry Pratchett. Published in 1987, it is the fourth ''Discworld'' novel and the first to focus on the character Death, who only appeared as a side character in the previous novels. The title is the ...

enlist the help of Vultan's Hawkman Army in a dogfight over Europe against the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...

. Blessed returns to voice Vultan briefly during the episode.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vultan, Prince Comics characters introduced in 1934 Comics characters with accelerated healing Comics characters who can move at superhuman speeds Comics characters with superhuman strength Extraterrestrial superheroes Fictional characters with superhuman senses Fictional princes Science fiction film characters Male characters in comics Male characters in film Flash Gordon characters