Origin
Prince Barin’s family once ruled all of Mongo, but Ming the Merciless seized control over the planet and exiled the young prince to a region called Arboria. When Flash Gordon’s rocket crashes, Prince Barin aids Flash in his fight against Ming, knowing that in addition to it being his best chance at reclaiming his rightful throne, Flash is also his best chance at getting revenge. Complicating matters, Prince Barin finds himself drawn to Ming the Merciless’ daughter, Princess Aura, and in a short amount of time is deeply in love with her.
Eventually, with Flash’s help, Barin and others are able to overthrow Ming the Merciless. With the villain out of the way, Prince Barin ascends to the throne.
Creation
Prince Barin was created by Alex Raymond and published by King Features Syndicate. It has been speculated that Prince Barin was one of the character inspirations George Lucas used when coming up with Han Solo, one of the characters in his Star Wars universe.
Other Media
The Prince Barin character plays an important role in all three of Universal’s Flash Gordon serials of the 1930’s and 40’s. He serves as a supporting character and source of humor throughout the series.
Richard Alexander
Richard Alexander is Prince Barin in “Flash Gordon Space Soldiers” and also in “Flash Gordon’s Trip to Mars“.
Roland Drew
The third serial, “Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe“, casts Roland Drew as Barin.
Timonthy Dalton
The 1980 Flash Gordon film presents Timothy Dalton as Prince Barin and strangely enough, he actually bears a striking resemblance to Roland Drew from the third serial.