Cassim

Cassim is the overarching protagonist of Disney's Aladdin franchise, serving as the deuteragonist of the 1996 direct-to-video animated film Aladdin and the King of Thieves. He was the leader of the Forty Thieves and Aladdin's long-lost father.
He was voiced by John Rhys-Davies, while his singing voice was provided by the late Merwin Foard.
== Biography ==
===Background===
Cassim is the father of Aladdin. Long before the events of the the first film, he abandoned his wife and young son in order to search for a better life for the poverty-stricken family. While he was vanished, Aladdin's mother passed away, leaving Aladdin as a presumed orphan. At some point, he became involved with the Forty Thieves, eventually becoming their leader, and began a search for the Hand of Midas, which might turn things into gold.
===Aladdin and the King of Thieves===
In the film, Cassim leads a raid on Agrabah in an attempt to find the Oracle, which would answer a single question about any subject, in hopes he would ask her about the Hand of Midas. The raid is ultimately unsuccessful, but obstructively disrupts and ruins Aladdin and Jasmine's wedding, leaving the wedding pavilion in complete shambles.
After the thieves retreat, Aladdin unexpectedly searches for the Oracle, and learns of the survival of his father, who he was presuming was no longer alive, and his location with the Forty Thieves. Aladdin tracks the Forty Thieves to their hideout, but to his shock, learns that his father is actually Cassim, their leader, rather than a prisoner.
Aladdin gains entrance into the Forty Thieves by fighting and defeating Sa'Luk in a fight. After learning from Cassim the real reasons for his departure from their family, Aladdin decides to assist Cassim get into the palace. However, Cassim is convinced by Iago to rob the royal treasury and gets apprehended. Aladdin assists Cassim with an escape plan, but he refuses Cassim's pleas to depart the city and walk out on Jasmine like his father abandoned him. Aladdin heads back to Agrabah to take responsibility for his actions, while a hesitant Iago joins Cassim on his own.
Cassim returns to the Forty Thieves with Iago, only to discover that Sa'Luk has ursuped control and turned the Thieves against him. Cassim is imprisoned by the Thieves afterwards. In order to prove his faithfulness to the gang and that he hadn't sold them out to the Agrabah authorities actually, Cassim uses the stolen Oracle to locate the Hand of Midas and leads the Thieves to its location, a marble fortress on the back of a giant sea turtle.
Aladdin returns at last, having been warned by Iago of his father's capture, and releases him. The both of them reconcile and recover the Hand of Midas. Cassim and Aladdin, in an attempt to get away from the submerging fortress now, throw the Hand to Midas. Unwisely grabbing the Hand by its golden hand rather than the bronze handle, Sa'Luk is transformed into a permanent golden statue that falls into the sea below at once. The more athletic Aladdin jumps to recover the Hand (using cloth to protect his skin to avoid the same fate that befell Sa'Luk), returns it to Cassim afterwards, remarking to his father that it pays to have a junior partner.
After getting away, Cassim decides to throw the Hand away, having realized the pain his obsession brought and that Aladdin was more precious to him the whole time. Although Cassim didn't seek vengeance against the Forty Thieves for their treachery, he causes their demises as the Hand accidentally hits their ship, turning it to gold. The solid gold ship proves unseaworthy, and it sinks to the bottom of the sea.
Cassim heads back to Agrabah with Aladdin, and due to him technically being an outlaw, witnesses Aladdin and Jasmine's wedding from the shadows. Then Cassim accepts Iago as a traveling partner, and the pair travel to see the world and wave to Aladdin and Jasmine as they fly off on their honeymoon. Then Cassim and Iago ride far off into the desert.
==Trivia==
*He was voiced by John Rhys-Davies, who also played Man Ray in SpongeBob SquarePants.
*Cassim is named after the infamous brother of Ali Baba from the original tale of Ali Baba and the Forty Thieves, which the film is based on. In an ironic twist, Cassim in this story played the role of a villain who found the Forty Thieves' treasure by forcing Ali Baba to tell him. But when caught trying to steal their treasure, he was killed by the thieves, unlike this version who became their leader.
*Plans actually called for Cassim to be voiced by Sean Connery, but Disney decided that Connery would be too distracting for the audience, so John Rhys-Davies was given the role instead.
*Cassim has a similar physical resemblance to his son, Aladdin. In fairness, though, this is natural, as it ties in to the field of genetics.
== External links ==
* Cassim on the Disney Wiki
==Navigation==
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