Hey Poptropicans, this is a guest post by Emu, who will be offering a different point of view on a Poptropica story: who is the real villain in Arabian Nights Island? ‘Cause that Sultan is looking real suspicious. Enjoy!
Welcome to my first DPOV (or “deepawv” in my Southern accent)! This series takes a look at Poptropica plots and characters from a less heard of, non-traditional, different point of view.
Today we’ll be looking at Arabian Nights, a Poptropica tale where (spoilers) Samhal the genie and Scheherazade the princess-turned-thief are often thought of as the villains. But now, let’s turn the tables!
We’re going to look more closely at the Sultan. Now, I know many Pop fans have confirmed that the Sultan is a bad man, but oh, he’s a BAD bad man. Let’s get started. 🧐 Remember this diary entry from Scheherazade before she ran away from home?
So, after reading that, you can obviously tell that the Sultan has a HUGE greed problem. 😂 He has quite the obsession problem also. Plus I gotta say, it’s pretty shady of him to let his daughter get almost kidnapped while he was caught up with finding out the name of a little green man.
Plus… HIS. POOR. WIFE. She must’ve gone through so much! She looks sooooo done with this in the family portraits! We never find out what happened to her, but I mean it’s reasonable to assume she just left! Sad.
Here’s my take—get ready for it—I don’t think Samhal is bad. Are you glaring at that sentence? I get it, but here’s why I think the opposite.
The Sultan was an insanely greedy, self-centered, inconsiderate man, and I do believe that he bribed Samhal into dealing with him. Of course, by nature of his being, the genie did have no choice. We will never know what Samhal was like before the Sultan obsessed over tracking down this genie, and put his family on the line just to grow wealthy with his help. Besides, I think it’s pretty sad that even after the Sultan’s wife probably left, he still wasn’t scared of losing his daughter.
Thanks for reading my first DPOV! What are your thoughts on this post? Drop your suggestions for another DPOV in the comments.
Keep at it, Poptropicans!
—Emu 🤙
Hope you enjoyed this guest post by Emu. If you did, you might also enjoy her other guest post “All aboard for alternate endings to Poptropica islands.”
The Poptropica Help Blog welcomes interesting Poptropica insights from anyone in the Poptropica community with thoughts to share. Interested in writing for the PHB? We’d love to hear from you! 📰✨
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I wouldn’t agree with this post. Since, yes the Sultan is greedy. But that doesn’t mean he would be considered a villain. Besides, at the end of Arabian Knights *spoiler* he realized what his daughter had said, looked at the picture, and then wished everything back to normal. A villain would have never done those things.
Hmm…I never actually thought of it that way…
Well…I think this post was good but in the end when we gave him the drawing he cried which meant that he has feelings which no villian has….. anyway great post! Can I create some too? I would really love to help you edit this series…. Whaddya Say? (Accent)😎
Well I agree with this post partially. As SmartIcicle said, he did notice what he did wrong and turned everything back to normal. Although, even after his wife left him, he kept wishing for riches. However, when the villagers heard about a genie being on the loose, they all wanted to make self-centered wishes too, but they weren’t considered evil. My best guess is that, like the villagers, his mind was poisoned with greed when he found a genie, making him not a great person nor an entirely bad person either. Everyone who got their wish got a downside, and although the sultan was blind to it the first time (with his wife), he realized what he had done and changed it back.
PS I actually had no idea that lady was his wife. My guess was the princess 😁
Same here white foxy…
White Foxy? I like that. Maybe I’ll make that my nickname… White Foxy. Thx
Cool!!😂
Sorry for all the misunderstandings, I appreciate your thoughts everyone. I’ll be sure to take note next time.
It’s fine! I was just a little confused about what you were trying to point about the topic. No worries. 😉
What? Oh. It’s not like we are mad or anything, we were just thinking. I have pretty mixed up feelings and idk what is up with the sultan, so I am just trying to figure it out.
No it is okay
I think this is a cool post! Never thought of it that way lol
I just wanted to say I think this is a great post! Often times analysis and interpretation comes with controversy, so don’t feel discouraged! 😉 Giving my own two cents, in the case of Arabian Knights, I don’t think anyone is completely bad or good. The genie is just….being a genie, which doesn’t make them a villain. The princess, while a thief, has a sad backstory (although ransacking an entire village is not justifiable). The Sultan crying at the end and changing everything back also does not forgive his past mistakes! I suppose it’d depend on how long he neglected his daughter, but if it was for years, that has a lifelong impact. From the daughter’s perspective, he’s definitely not a good person. On a “villain scale,” I would say he’s worse than the genie, but not as bad as the daughter leading the group that stole from innocent civilians.
I have as mixed feelings about Samhal as the sultan. Yes, after he was turned human and the princess took his powers, he didn’t seem very evil. Maybe he wasn’t evil at all. Then again, he seemed a bit cruel to the other people he granted wishes to. Then AGAIN AGAIN, he did give them what they wanted, just not they way they’d envisioned it. Then AGAIN AGAIN AGAIN, he did know what he was doing to them, and chose to give them a weird ending. Then AGAIN AGAIN AGAIN AGAIN, it is fair to give them exactly what they said. You see how confused I am?
So basically, in summary….
Nothing. I have no summary because that is how confused I am. I literally have no explanation. Oof