Isambard Prince

Prince (played by Nigel Bennett) is the cruel ruler of the Planet Fire in the third season of the science fiction television show "Lexx". In the fourth season of the same show, he reappears as Isambard Prince, head of the United States' Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, and secret master of the president.

Character details

Prince first appears in the third season premiere, when he and some of his cohorts board the Lexx as it passes through the atmosphere of Fire. Soon, the crew of the Lexx is split up and Prince takes a certain fancy to Xev, asking her to be his "Queen." She refuses, but he continues to pursue Xev and to attempt to gain control of the Lexx.

Prince can die physically and come back in any form and location he wishes to. He uses this tactic to reincarnate into a living version of Kai, only to be exposed when he tries to kill Stan. He also successfully replaces Xev and temporarily steals the key to the Lexx by bringing Stan to the extreme height of sexual ecstasy, before being killed by Kai and the key being transferred back to Stan.

Stan drowns near the end of season 3, and Prince appears at the judgement of Stanley's soul. While the ultimate fate of Stan's soul is decided by a copy of Stan in a white uniform, Prince acts as a prosecuting attorney, arguing for why Stanley deserves eternal torment on Fire rather than eternal happiness on Water, while Stan argues as his own defence to his copy, who presides over the trial as the judge. When Stan's doppelganger deems Stanley material for Planet Fire based on the poor decisions he made over the course of his life, Prince is able to control where and when Stanley reincarnates on the surface of Fire, showing more evidence that Prince is a spiritual entity.

Prince takes pride in being "very good with pain." He often cheerfully orders his followers to their deaths, bidding them "cheery-bye" as they go. He has waged an endless war on the planet Water, partly in order to harvest its water for the dry planet Fire, but mostly for the sake of killing and torturing the helpless good souls on Water. He also enjoys tempting good people on Water to commit evil acts, thus condemning them to reincarnation on Fire.

Prince does not himself know of his origins, his age, or why he exists and has the powers he does. At one point he tells Kai that he believes he has probably existed since the dawn of time. Although Prince has been warring for countless ages against Water, and has defeated it innumerable times, he has always lost it due to his subordinates (being evil) then beginning to squabble and fight amongst each other. Every time he is forced off Water, its people reincarnate freely once more, leaving both Fire and Water back where they started – locked in never-ending war. He also constantly fights against lesser rulers on Fire named Duke and Queen. Prince has grown tired of this unchanging state of equilibrium, so he welcomes the coming of the Lexx as a means to destroy Water and end his war.

At the end of season 3, Xev (having the key to the Lexx after Stan's death) orders the Lexx to destroy Fire. This frees all the damned souls from Fire, but also frees Prince's spirit from the planet. Prince's spirit takes control of the Lexx and blows up Water. This frees the souls of Water, and after they swarm off Prince's essence is seen descending on the coast of North America (Fire and Water turn out to have been in the same solar system as Earth, but on the opposite side of the sun).

Prince reappears in season 4, reincarnated as Isambard Prince, the director of the ATF and de facto ruler of the United States. While the other people of Earth don't remember their past lives on Fire and Water, Prince retains his personality and memories from Fire. (He still reincarnates, but no longer can choose the form and place of his reincarnation; for several episodes he reincarnates as a being only capable of appearing on television screens.) Early on in season 4 the president of the United States is voted out of office and replaced under curious circumstances by Reginald J. Priest (the reincarnation of Prince's lackey named Priest on the Planet Fire) thus cementing Prince's control over the United States. From there, he doggedly pursues the crew of the Lexx in order to seize control of the Lexx as a powerful weapon and, later, as a means of escaping the alien infestation of Earth.

In the final episode, "Yo Way Yo", Prince appears to the crew of the Lexx claiming to be Death. He came to this realisation after playing a game of chess with Kai in a pocket universe. He also reveals that one of the crew will die. In the end of the episode it is revealed to be Kai (by the explosion caused by the particle excellarator made by dr longbour), after Prince had fulfilled an earlier promise to bring Kai back to life if he could beat him in the game of chess they played earlier (which he subsequently reneged on until moments before Kai's eventual death!). Later in the episode, Priest and his First Lady Bunny are escaping the doomed Earth in the late Dr. Longbore's spaceship "Noah" (together with several other nubile young women selected by Longbore). At the moment of the Earth's destruction Prince materializes on the "Noah's" bridge with a cry of "Free at last!", much to Priest's delight and Bunny's disgust.

Trivia

*In Prince's first appearance in the episode "Fire and Water", he becomes angry at Stanley and a strange, semi-transparent, lizard-like hood flares up from behind his head. The hood also flared up in "Boomtown" when Prince became angry during Duke's siege.