Judar

Judar (ジュダル, Judaru) is a character in the manga series Magi. He is one of the titular Magis and a character that has served both as an antagonist and as one of the heroes. He is a fan favourite, having large amounts of fanart and fanfiction made of him, as well as being in multiple popular ships.
==Canon==
Judar is the Magi of the Kou Empire. He is introduced as an antagonist, belonging to the evil organization Al-Thamen. It is revealed that Judar and Sinbad don't get along, as Judar has caused conflict and war in Sindria. Judar has clashes with the heroes of the story, until Aladdin uses Solomon's Wisdom magic on him, revealing to Judar that Al-Thamen had killed his parents, stolen him as a baby and used him for 18 years. Judar attempts to ignore this, but eventually can't quell his anger. He joins arms with Hakuryuu in order to kill Al-Thamen's leader, Hakuryuu's mother Gyokuen.
Although Judar is a powerful magician, he is lazy and avoids doing any work that doesn't involve magic battles. He is often napping on trees and roofs or eating his favourite food, peaches. He is not very kind and likes to prank people and call them mean nicknames. He is quite lonely and is not good at making friends. Despite the misery he has faced in his life, he ends up developing a positive outlook on his future and becomes a better person, getting past his obsession with causing conflict and wars around the world.
Judar's character was inspired by the One Thousand and One Nights story "Judar and His Brethren". 
==Fandom==
Judar is a character with many nicknames for him in the fandom. The most popular ones include the cute "Juju", as well as "Jugemu", which originates from the first Magi drama CD as a name Aladdin accidentally used of Judar when he didn't remember his name.Magi Volume 5 Drama CD, Listen here, Aladdin-kun! by hikikomori-sama.
===Fanfiction===
Judar is the most popular character tag for Magi characters on AO3. Due to his role as a villain in the beginning of the series, some fics include darker elements such as yandere. Yandere is especially popular in reader and female OC shipping fics. With canon characters, the darker things are more inspired by Judar's trauma and tragic past. Still, the most common additional tag for Judar fics on AO3 is Fluff.
Many common fanfiction tropes come from the canon, such as canon-typical comedy, Judar's loyalty, and feeling of revenge against the world. Modern AUs are also prevalent.
===Fanart===
Common tropes for Judar in fanart include drawing him in different clothes, such as Kou robes or Middle Eastern style clothes with a lot of jewellery. Judar as Sindria's Magi AU, which was hinted as a canon alternate universe in the manga, is a relatively common art trope as well, way more than in fanfiction.
===Sexuality===
Judar has no canon love interests. Headcanons for his sexuality are quite common among Judar fans in the English-speaking fandom. Apart from simply assuming that he's straight by default, there is also a popular headcanon for gay Judar. Arguments in favour of this include Judar's appearance, his obsession with male characters like Hakuryuu and Sinbad, and him stating that he thinks that women are boring and that he should not be put on the same level with Alibaba, who wants to find a girlfriend.HELL YEAH HE’S GAY OHTAKA’S DROPPED HINTS FOR Y E A R S by chebbites.Pray, I must insist by maumauxmau. His favourite food are peaches, which he eats often on panel in the series, and he is from Kou, which is a fictional country based on ancient China. In ancient Chinese literature, "bitten peach" is a metaphor for homosexual relations.“In ancient Chinese culture one of the terms for homosexuality is called the ‘the bitten peach’ or 'the pleasure of the bitten peach’” by chebbites.
Some think of him as bi based on the fact that even though he thinks of women as boring now, he admits to having had sexual relations with women in the past. A less common asexual Judar headcanon exists too, a bit of a counter to the sexualization of Judar which is very common in the fandom, and noting that not wanting to find a girlfriend does not automatically mean wanting to find a boyfriend, or that he could be homoromantic.
===Shipping===
Judar is shipped with a lot of characters, and he is also involved in multiple of the most popular ships in the fandom. The most popular slash ships for him are Juhaku and Sinju, and the most popular het ship is Jukou.
Jukou's popularity was at its peak in the earlier half of the series, as Kougyoku was introduced when she came to rescue him. The ship gained an impressive amount of fanart in the Japanese fandom.
Sinju's popularity also peaked in the earlier half of the series, fueled by Judar's obsession with Sinbad as well as the then-unrevealed past between the two of them. The ship has gained a large amount of fanart and doujinshi, and is the third largest ship tag for Magi on AO3.
Juhaku's popularity peaked at the latter half of the series, as the two characters finally teamed up and became friends. It has become the most popular Magi ship tag on AO3.
Smaller Judar ships include shipping him with Kouen, Aladdin, Alibaba and Ja'far, among others.
==Example Fanworks==
===Fanart===
Sindria judar.png|Judar as Sindria's Magi AU on the cover of the doujinshi Restart, made by nair.
===Video essays===
*The Magi of Kou Empire: Judal "Fallen Black Magi" - Magi Video Essay by KaiyoBreeze (2020)
==Archives and Communities==
*Judar on Archive of Our Own
*Judar on Fanfiction.net
*Judar tag on Pixiv
==References==
Category:Characters
Category:Magi