Prince of Persia's concept 'Elika' is unmistakably Natalie Portman
by Ross Miller 
on May 28th 2008 7:00PM
Take a close look at
this concept art for the new
Prince of Persia. Does it seem familiar? To us, the model is unmistakably reminiscent of actress Natalie Portman. Some, but not all, of that familiarity has transferred over to the
in-game model. Was Portman an artistic inspiration? Is she directly involved? Our attempts to reach Ubisoft's Montreal offices resulted in failure.
The use of real-life personalities in games and game design is not unprecedented. The default Commander Shepherd model in
Mass Effect is based on Dutch model
Mark Vanderloo. Chell, the protagonist in
Portal, is based on voice actress
Alésia Glidewell, and Kristen Bell not only provided her likeness but also voiced a character in
Assassin's Creed. Not to mention, of course, nearly every video game based on a movie or TV show.
Rabbids, Persian Princes and Beyond Good & Evil 2? Check out all our coverage (and a bountiful amount of screenshots) from Ubisoft's Ubidays 2008 event.
