Jafar

**Jafar** is the main antagonist of *Aladdin*. As Royal Vizier of Agrabah, he was presented as the Sultan's most trusted and loyal councilman. In truth, the imperious Jafar held passionate disdain for the Sultan and dedicated the latter half of his life to gaining ownership of a magic lamp containing an all-powerful genie—to that end, Jafar would control cosmic power, to which he would use to overtake the throne and the world at large.

Jafar is loosely based off the wicked sorcerer from the *Aladdin* folk tale in the *One Thousand and One Nights* collection of stories. With an elegant, yet cheeky approach to villainy, coupled with a dry sense of humor and menace, Jafar is amongst Disney's most renowned villains, and would later feature as a primary member of the *Disney Villains* franchise.

## Background

As established in the film, Jafar is the second most powerful authority in Agrabah, answering only to the Sultan. He is always accompanied by his sarcastic, devious pet parrot, Iago. He primarily operated from a secret lair hidden behind the walls of his bedroom in the Sultan's palace.

Whilst presenting a charming and respectable exterior to the Sultan and the people of Agrabah, he secretly holds everyone around him in contempt and is a power-hungry individual. Towards Agrabah's royal family, he constantly manipulates the Sultan by means of hypnotizing him with a magical snake-headed staff, which he always carries on his person. He had traveled widely and amassed a wide knowledge of magical artifacts and legends. Until he uses Genie's powers to become a sorcerer, and later a genie, however, his magical abilities were limited to the use of such artifacts as he has collected, and his prowess as an accomplished alchemist. He also had some contacts within the Agrabah underworld, including the thief Gazeem.

Little is known about Jafar's past. At some point, he purchased Iago from a bazaar as his minion, as Jafar noted in *The Return of Jafar*. As far as Jafar's family goes, he has a twin sister named Nasira, who tried bringing her brother back to life in the game, *Nasira's Revenge*. She respects Jafar and the sibling bond between them is quite strong.

### Personality

Jafar is portrayed as an immoral psychopath who will not hesitate to destroy anyone he perceives as a threat to his own sinister designs. Like numerous clinically-diagnosed psychopaths, Jafar wears a metaphorical mask of normalcy throughout the film, establishing himself as a cool-headed schemer and gaining the trust of those around him, despite his rather untrustworthy physical appearance. Even with this mask, Jafar's psychopathic tendencies tend to seep through and become apparent to the viewer, particularly in the opening sequence, where Jafar, outside of immediate initial anger over Gazeem the thief not being the one who is the Diamond in the Rough, displays no remorse in sending Gazeem to his death in the Cave of Wonders, simply proclaiming that, "Gazeem was obviously less than worthy" in a rather dry tone of voice. It is not until Jafar gains control of the Genie's lamp that he fully shows his true colors, becoming arrogant, tyrannical, and ill-tempered with his subjects. He also was depicted as laughing excessively and in a deranged manner shortly after banishing Aladdin to the North Pole, suggesting that Jafar was also insane and suffered from hysteria.

Jafar displays narcissistic tendencies, his most obvious ones being his obsessive desire for power and sense of entitlement. However, his lust for power does not stem from a mere desire for authority (though this *is* a motivating factor), but rather an intolerance for subordination. Jafar detests being "second best" to anyone else—be it the Sultan or a cosmic entity such as the Genie. It is this excessive thirst for power that ultimately leads to Jafar's downfall; upon becoming a sorcerer (and, by extension, the most powerful man in the world), Jafar realizes that his power is still inferior to the Genie's, which drives him to hastily wish to become a genie, himself, without realizing this would render him a slave for all eternity.

Jafar has a somewhat comical edge that helps to add some humanity to his character, for example proclaiming "Ewww..." when contemplating decapitation, a trait unusual in a Disney villain. Furthermore, Jafar has a sadistic sense of humor himself, spurting several puns in a row while keeping Aladdin and his friends from getting the lamp during the film's climax ("Your *time* is up!", "Don't *toy* with me!", "Things are *unraveling* fast now, boy!", "Get the *point*?", "I'm just getting *warmed* up!"). Further humanity can be found in his relationship with Iago; although Jafar is the driving force behind each plot, and in turn reaps most of the credit and reward, he and Iago share a camaraderie uncommon in most Disney villain/sidekick dynamics. As they are both cunning, sadistic, power-hungry, and have a mutual hatred for the Sultan, they get along quite well. Jafar, at one point, exclaims that he, "loves the way your [Iago's] foul little mind works!", and further shows his appreciation for Iago by gifting the parrot with his own turban following Jafar's wish to become Sultan. Because they are both haughty, however, the two are somewhat prone to bickering.

Jafar is quick to abuse his underlings as a means of releasing his own anger. Ultimately, this proves to be his final downfall, as Iago ends up turning against Jafar in large part because of his abuse and not giving him credit when it was due, and to a lesser extent, Abis Mal ends up delaying his wish and buying enough time for Abu to grab the lamp before the final battle to ask Jafar whether or not the latter will remove the treasures he had summoned to bribe Abis Mal for the third wish largely due to Jafar's earlier actions of abusing his wish granting abilities to essentially torture Abis Mal. Jafar's mercilessness more heavily carries over to other characters in the film, especially during the climax; following his hostile rise to power, Jafar immediately used his newfound abilities to ruthlessly torment Jasmine, the Sultan, Aladdin, and the Genie via physical abuse, humiliation, slavery, and other forms of torture, of which he openly showed amusement. The deleted song "Humiliate the Boy" also establishes Jafar as an emotional sadist, getting a laugh out of seeing "another fellow's dreams turn into nightmares one by one" and treating the Genie in an especially harsh manner. Additionally, in *The Return of Jafar*, Jafar was proven to not mind his inability to kill as a genie because, "there are things so much worse than death," implying that he would simply torture people to the point that his victims wished they were dead.

Jafar is also attracted to Princess Jasmine, but primarily for her physical appearance, and *not* for Jasmine herself as a person. His final wish was initially for Jasmine to fall desperately in love with him so he could make her his queen (he and Iago originally planned on killing her as soon as he became Sultan, but at some time later he refused to kill her, instead sparing her life); he first creates a golden crown for her from her shackles to do so with a wave of his hand, saying that a girl as beautiful as her "*should be on the arm of the most powerful man in the world*". (Much earlier, though, he says in what we would consider being a sexist manner that Jasmine's speechlessness is "*a fine quality in a wife*").

### Physical appearance

Jafar is a tall, bony man dressed in extravagant clothing, always seen carrying a gold, ruby-eyed, cobra headed staff to supplement his magical powers. Jafar has a twisted, black goatee and a faint mustache, as well as grey eyeliner. He was supposed to be designed as ugly, and Genie makes this obvious when he refers to him as "a tall, dark, sinister, ugly man." He is apparently completely bald, as evidenced by when he removes his beggar disguise, acting as the only time Jafar did not wear his distinctive headdress, although it was never made clear whether he was naturally bald or if he shaved his head for the disguise. He also carries a cobra-head staff, which he uses for his sorcery.

As Royal Vizier, Jafar wears black robes that reach the ground over top a red garment with bell sleeves, under which he wears a jet-black shirt with very close-fitting sleeves that reach his wrists. The shoulders of his outer robe are pointed and curved upward, connected to a long, billowing black cape with a blood red interior. His shoes are brown and the tips curl inward. A red-violet sash is tied around his waist. He also wears an odd, light-colored garment that covers his neck, the back of his head, and his chest. He sports a distinctive black headdress, seemingly a type of mitre with a thin, yellow pattern linned around the middle and downwards at the front, a ruby0like gemstone set in the front, and a crimson-red feather placed just above it. The headdress itself is apparently (yet strangley) made out of metal, as evidenced by the hollow sound it made when Iago briefly knocked on it while trying to get Jafar to calm down from a laughing fit due to thinking he went insane (not realizing he was actually laughing because he realized that not only did the lamp actually survive, it's actually in close proximity due to Prince Ali, or rather, Aladdin, owning it). More red-violet cloth hangs from the miter, draping over Jafar's shoulders. As Sultan, Jafar wears a white, blue, and gold version of this outfit resembling the actual sultan's.

When he's turned into a sorcerer, Jafar's wardrobe goes to a more exaggerated form of his normal attire, with a head-dress sporting horn-like protrusions. It doesn't have a red feather on it as it is used to, only conserves the ruby on the front. The shoulders of his outer robe are even pointer and maintain a higher position than before, no longer curved. His red-violet sash on his waist is also different, bearing a pattern of magenta and copper stripes and a goldish boarder. Here he regains his iconic snake staff, but notably with an open fanged-mouth that fires beams magic on command.

In his showdown with Aladdin, Jafar turns himself into an enormous cobra, greatly bearing the color palette of his main wardrobe. The cobra is mainly black in color, representing his main robes, with the hood having a crimson underside with a red dot on each side, making the rode resemble his cape. He has a tan underbelly, resembling the garment covering his neck and most of his head, and he has red markings running down his back to his unseen tail-tip. The Cobra also has menacing red eyes and sharp (possibly venomous) teeth.

Once Jafar makes his third lamp wish, he takes on a form resembling Genie himself, with some differences. Jafar's skin becomes blood red, his ears become pointed, his right ear gains a gold piercing, his hair becomes tied in a topknot, and his eyes become completely yellow (although there are instances where Jafar gains pupils, such as in "You're Only Second Rate"), and when he uses legs, instead of his genie smoke, the legs look muscular and somewhat demonic, with claws. He retains his red-violet sash and five-fingered hands (albeit with claws, compared to Genie, who has four-fingers). When he's in his normal human form, Jafar wears a slight recolor of his sorcerer outfit, with red more prominent than before. Interestingly, his sash on his waist is seen black instead of being red. He retains his snake staff. When he guest appeared in an episode of *Hercules*, he regains his sorcerer outfit back.

### Powers and abilities

* **Alchemy:** At the start of *Aladdin*, despite having an extensive knowledge of arcane lore, Jafar did not seem to possess any genuine magical powers and thus could have been no more than an alchemist. The closest he had ever come to using actual magic prior to becoming a sorcerer was with his Snake staff's hypnotic properties. In the demo for "Arabian Nights", however, he was mentioned to be a part-time magician as well as a seer, although he was specified to be an amateur in the latter job.
* **Master of Disguise:** He was also surprisingly effective at disguising himself when he was a regular human, as evidenced by his posing as an old prisoner to recruit Aladdin into retrieving the magic lamp from the Cave of Wonders after arranging for his arrest, and later to trick Hercules into fighting Aladdin.
* **Sorcery:** After wishing to become the most powerful sorcerer in the world, he could levitate objects, breath fire, summon objects, and transform himself and others. In addition, he also was immune to the effects of fire, as evidenced by his passing through the flames generated by him unharmed immediately before transforming himself into a giant cobra.
* **Phenomenal Cosmic Power:** After making his final wish to become an all-powerful genie, Jafar became one of, if not the, most powerful villains in the Disney Universe. Some of his abilities as a genie, demonstrated in both his human and genie forms, were reality manipulation, teleportation of either himself or anyone and anything else, breathing underwater, superhuman strength, terrakinesis, summoning lightning bolts, superhuman endurance, shape-shifting, telekinesis, size-alteration, object conjuring, projecting fire, creating water tornadoes, and various usages of energy beams that were powerful enough to stun various opponents, in addition to the abilities he previously demonstrated in the first movie. However, after he was killed and later revived by Hades as a spirit in an episode of the *Hercules* animated series, Jafar no longer has his genie powers, but remains as a sorcerer, and also demonstrated the ability to generate monsters, and was nigh-immortal so long as he had his staff.

## Appearances

### *Aladdin*

In *Aladdin*, Jafar is introduced as the sinister Royal Vizier to Agrabah's Sultan who desires power over the kingdom. By the start of the film, Jafar has spent years searching for the Cave of Wonders, home of the Genie's lamp. He manages to obtain one half of a Golden Scarab Beetle that—when joined—will lead its holder to the Cave of Wonders' entrance. One night, Jafar rendezvous with an underworld contact named Gazeem, whom he hired to find the second Golden Scarab Beetle half. After encountering some delays, Gazeem finally delivers the scarab, allowing Jafar to unite the two halves together and summon the Cave of Wonders from the sand. Jafar orders Gazeem to enter the cave to retrieve the lamp while promising the cave's other treasures as compensation. Once Gazeem steps into it, however, the guardian of the cave recognizes Gazeem as unworthy and closes itself off, resulting in Gazeem's death. The cave passes only a cryptic warning to Jafar relating to a "Diamond in the Rough." Despite Iago's frustration, Jafar remains undeterred, and simply declares that he must find this "Diamond in the Rough" capable of entering the cave.

Jafar returns to Agrabah, where he learns from the Sultan that Jasmine doesn't wish to marry a prince. Jafar offers to help in exchange for the Sultan's familial sapphire ring. When the Sultan shows reluctance, Jafar uses his hypnotic snake staff to change the former's mind. After departing, Iago voices his frustration with the Sultan, but Jafar assures his accomplice that he will soon be in power. In his secret laboratory, Jafar uses the Sultan's ring to power the Sands of Time, which he uses to uncover the Diamond in the Rough. Eventually, the individual necessary to access the Cave of Wonders is identified as Aladdin. Jafar orders for Aladdin's arrest as a subtle means of recruiting him, although he did not expect Jasmine to have accompanied the street rat (she had escaped from the palace earlier to avoid having to find another prince at her doorstep). When Jasmine tries to defend Aladdin from the guards, Razoulinforms the princess that his orders came from Jafar and must be taken up with him. Jasmine confronts Jafar that night, but he claims that he cannot release Aladdin as he had already been executed for his crimes of "kidnapping the princess".

With Jasmine out of the way of his plans, Jafar disguised himself as an old prisoner and snuck into the dungeon, where he offers to help Aladdin escape in exchange for aiding him in retrieving the lamp from the Cave of Wonders; Jafar assures that the cave is filled with enough treasure to "impress a princess". Aladdin accepts the deal, and together, the two travel to the cave's entrance. Aladdin is declared worthy by its guardian, and Jafar promises to hand Aladdin his reward once the lamp has been retrieved. While inside, Aladdin's pet monkey triggers the cave's downfall. Aladdin rushes to the exit, where he finds himself dangling for life. Jafar madly requests the lamp, to which Aladdin obliges. With the lamp in his possessions, Jafar attempts to give Aladdin his "reward" (death), but he is foiled when Abu bites the evil vizier on the wrist. Aladdin and Abu are nevertheless dropped into the dissolving cave and apparently die alongside it. As Jafar boasts about his victory, he finds that the lamp is missing. Hopeless to ever retrieving it, Jafar screams in anger and frustration. Unbeknownst to him, the lamp was actually stolen by Abu, who hands it over to Aladdin. By teaming up with the Genie, the two escape the cave and return to Agrabah safely.

Afterward Jafar is reprimanded by the Sultan for executing a prisoner without his consultation (Jasmine had informed him earlier of Jafar's supposed execution of Aladdin), with Jafar swearing that it won't happen again. Although the Sultan forgave Jafar instantly, Jasmine was still furious with him and vowed to "get rid of him" once she eventually rises up as queen. The furious Jafar takes her threats to heart, fuming over the loss of the lamp while also fearing the loss of his head. As he contemplates on the matter, Iago suddenly concocts a new plot; he advises Jafar to take advantage of Jasmine's enforced marriage by marrying her, himself. Once he is legally dubbed sultan, he can dispose of his wife and her father, ridding himself of his enemies and maintaining complete power. Jafar is enticed by the idea and carries it through by using a fake provision in the law that would allow a royal vizier to marry a princess, as a means to "solve" the Sultan's problems of finding a suitor for Jasmine. The Sultan, for a number of reasons, is not keen on the idea, forcing Jafar to resort to hypnosis.

Before the power of the snake staff can take full effect, the Sultan is freed from his trance by the sounds of fanfare entering the city, belonging to the flashy parade of a visiting suitor named Prince Ali. Jafar immediately sees Prince Ali as a rival for Jasmime's hand in marriage, and plots to secretly have him killed. That night, he orders Razoul and the guards to kidnap Ali and ensure he's never found. When he returns to the palace, Jafar successfully hypnotizes the Sultan, forcing him to abide by the marriage between the former and Jasmine. Jasmine refuses, declaring that she chooses Prince Ali, but Jafar explains that, "Prince Ali left". Just then, Ali reveals himself to be alive and accuses Jafar of attempted murder. Jafar tries to cover his crimes by hypnotizing the Sultan, but Ali catches on and destroys Jafar's staff—freeing the Sultan. Ali exposes Jafar's treachery, prompting the furious Sultan to call for Jafar's arrest. Jafar manages to escape with a smoke bomb, although not before glancing at the lamp inside Ali's turban. Back in his lair, Jafar deduces that Prince Ali is actually Aladdin in disguise. He orders Iago to steal the lamp, which the latter accomplishes the following day.

Later that day, the Sultan gathers the people of Agrabah to announce the engagement of Ali and Jasmine, while Jafar observes from his hideout. Now more vengeful than ever, Jafar rubs the lamp and unleashes the Genie. He declares himself the new master of the lamp and proclaims that his first wish is to rule on high, as sultan. The Genie makes it so by stripping the Sultan of his royal garb and placing the palace atop a high mountain. Jafar's first order as Sultan is to have Jasmine and her father bow to him, but they refuse. Scorned, Jafar looks to strike fear by wishing to become the most powerful sorcerer in the world. The Genie grants Jafar magical powers and a new snake staff, which he uses to humiliate Jasmine and her father. When Ali tries to intervene, Jafar exposes the prince's true identity as Aladdin to Jasmine as a form of humiliation. He then banishes his enemy — along with Abu and the carpet — to the arctic to freeze to death. With Aladdin gone, Jafar falls into a fit of gleeful hysteria as he assumes control of the world.

Under Jafar's rule, Agrabah is a dystopian city clouded by a blood-red sky. The Sultan has been turned into a jester, forced to endure torture at the hands of Iago. Jasmine, meanwhile, is turned into Jafar's slave. While lounging about in the palace, Jafar offers to make Jasmine his queen, which she hotly refuses. Unfazed, Jafar wishes to have Jasmine fall desperately in love with him, but the Genie tries to explain that his magic can't make people fall in love. Despite this, Jasmine appears to be madly in lust with Jafar as she seductively flirts with him. Jafar is too caught up in his own pleasure to realize that this is a ruse, as Aladdin is mere feet away from the lamp. Iago tries to warn Jafar, but Abu intervenes. As the parrot and monkey scuffle, Jafar's attention is nearly caught, but Jasmine hastily pulls him in for a kiss to buy Aladdin more time. However, Jafar sees Aladdin's reflection in Jasmine's tiara and instantly attacks. Through the power of the snake staff, Jasmine is imprisoned in an hourglass, Abu is turned into a toy, and Carpet is unraveled. When called a "cowardly snake" afraid to fight for himself by Aladdin, Jafar responds by transforming himself into a giant cobra. As Aladdin tries to free Jasmine from the hourglass, Jafar strikes at him numerous times until eventually trapping Aladdin with his coils.

Jafar taunts Aladdin's helplessness while threatening to crush him, but the latter retorts by claiming Jafar isn't as powerful as he wishes to believe. According to Aladdin, the Genie remains the most powerful being in the universe as he gave Jafar his power in the first place and can also take it away. Realizing what Aladdin says is true and that he's still just "second-best", Jafar's uses his final wish to become an all-powerful genie. Genie reluctantly grants the wish, and Jafar is turned into a monstrously sized genie with blood-red skin. With phenomenal, cosmic power at his command, Jafar declares himself ruler of the universe. Unbeknownst to Jafar—and pointed out by Aladdin—the power of a genie comes with a price, which manifests in Jafar receiving his own golden shackles and a black lamp prison, which quickly begins to suck him inside. A panicked Jafar tries to escape by grabbing onto Iago's tail feathers, but this merely drags Iago into the lamp alongside him.

Foiled and trapped by his own greed, Jafar's magic over Agrabah and its inhabitants are undone. Jafar's lamp is left in Aladdin and Genie's possession, the latter of whom sends the lamp flying to the Cave of Wonders, where the bickering Jafar and Iago would be forced to remain, as prisoners, for no less than 10,000 years.

### *The Return of Jafar*

After spending some time in the sunken Cave of Wonders, Jafar's Lamp is flown to the surface by Iago, who managed to free himself from the lamp. Jafar then orders him to free him as well, but Iago becomes frustrated by his owner's cruel treatment and being taken for granted, so after having a bitter argument, he drops the lamp down a well and flies away. His lamp is later found by one of Aladdin's enemies, a bandit named Abis Mal, who rubs it, finally setting Jafar free and also, inadvertently, saving Abis Mal from his own troops turning on him due to his earlier abuse towards them.

Because his genie form can't directly kill Aladdin due to its inherent limitations, and since he can't actually travel outside of close proximity of the lamp, he attempts to arrange for Abis Mal to do it for him. However, Abis Mal is terrified of his genie form and is at a loss for words, so Jafar transforms into his human form to communicate with him better. Abis Mal demands his three wishes straight away, but Jafar, after initially venting his powers in anger at Abis Mal's defiance and nearly striking at him, decides to trick him into wasting his first two wishes in order to force him to assist in his plot for revenge against Aladdin in order to get his third wish or he will wish he had "never been born", but continues to say that if he cooperates he will see that he is amply rewarded. Abis Mal, having earlier encountered Aladdin, tells him he would've assisted him anyway after learning this due to sharing a mutual desire for revenge against him as well.

After Abis Mal infiltrates the palace without being spotted by the guards, Jafar then notices Iago with Aladdin and Jasmine and decides to exploit Iago's new friendship to factor into his plot for revenge against Aladdin. Jafar then arrives to reunite with Iago and, after assuring the terrified bird that he has no intention of exacting revenge on him for his earlier actions, demands him to lure Aladdin and the Sultan into a trap. Iago successfully gets Aladdin and Sultan to go for a flight on Carpet and while they're gone, Jafar invades the palace and begins to torment Genie and Abu. After the torture, he captures the two and begins the next part of his plan.

Aladdin, Sultan, Carpet, and Iago reach the destination and, what seems to be a peaceful and relaxing area, turns out to be a death trap as the Sultan is kidnapped by hooded men on a magic flying horses (actually all Jafar in disguise, save for Abis Mal). Aladdin threatens Iago, saying he'll deal with him later, and rushes off on Carpet to save the Sultan. Aladdin fails and is thrown down a waterfall by Abis Mal, but rescued by Jafar. Abis Mal is in shock, but Jafar explains their act of revenge isn't completed just yet, making it clear that having him dashed against the waterfall rocks wasn't what he had in mind for revenge. Jafar frames Aladdin for the murder of the Sultan, who's really being held in captivity by Jafar. Presumably, he also tricked Jasmine in order to capture her as well. Jafar disguised himself as Jasmine and ordered the guards into executing Aladdin at dawn in order to ensure that the plan worked. Jafar disguises himself as Jasmine again and, right before Aladdin's execution via decapitation, Jafar reveals himself to torture Aladdin even more. However, unknown to him, Iago, consumed with guilt for helping Jafar set up his new friends, frees Genie, who saves Aladdin in the nick of time from getting beheaded by Razoul, who Jafar tricked into believing that he had murdered the Sultan.

At the palace, Jafar rewards Abis Mal with all of the treasure his heart desired, with the only thing he requests in return is for Abis Mal to grant his freedom. Before he can, however, Abis Mal ends up interrupting his own wish to wonder whether Jafar is sincere, thus resulting in Jafar issuing a threat to Abis Mal to torture him if he doesn't. Shortly afterwards the lamp is taken by Aladdin and his friends, who know that the only way to destroy him is to destroy his lamp. Jafar, outraged that Aladdin is still alive, transforms into his genie form and battles the heroes, confident that they'll never destroy him because of his great power. He creates a wasteland in the palace's garden with pits of lava as a trap for Aladdin and knocks Genie unconscious. When it seems like he's succeeding, Iago unexpectedly comes to the rescue. Jafar is furious at this betrayal and tries to attack him as well. He badly weakens his former ally, teasing Aladdin about good help being hard to find, but with his last ounce of strength, Iago kicks the lamp into the lava, which results in Jafar being violently electrocuted and then imploding into a cloud of dust, destroying him for good. Peace is restored once more and Iago is welcomed into Aladdin's home.

### *Aladdin: The Series*

Because of his ultimate demise in *The Return of Jafar*, Jafar made no physical appearances in the television series. However, he was often mentioned by the cast, mostly Iago. His secret lair in the palace remained intact even after his death, and the heroes occasionally explored it to find new, magical ways to defeat a powerful enemy. An antagonist in the series named Mozenrath is a powerful sorcerer who Iago often called "Jafar, Jr." because of the similarities.

### *Aladdin and the King of Thieves*

In the film series' final installment, *Aladdin and the King of Thieves*, Jafar makes no physical appearance but is briefly mentioned by Genie in the film's opening song "There's a Party Here in Agrabah". Genie believes that with Jafar gone, there is no possible way the wedding of Aladdin and Jasmine can be interrupted by trouble. At this point, Genie is also seen wearing and holding a Jafar mask.

### *Hercules: The Animated Series*

In the episode "Hercules and the Arabian Night" of Disney's *Hercules* television spin-off series, Jafar was temporarily revived by Hercules' arch-enemy, Hades.

Due to his previous demise, he no longer had his genie powers and was an ordinary sorcerer again. The two villains teamed up to eliminate their enemies. Using his godly abilities, Hades enchanted Jafar's snake staff with the ability to transform the former vizier into a living man, once again. Should Jafar lose hold of the staff, however, he'll revert back into a lifeless spirit. Jafar visited the island of Hercules' hero trainer Philoctetes, where he summoned several giant beasts to battle Hercules. However, Hercules was able to defeat the creatures, sending Jafar back to the Underworld. Meanwhile, Hades sent his lackeys, Pain and Panic, to do away with Aladdin and friends, but Aladdin proved too clever for Hades' imps, so Jafar and Hades concocted yet another plot which involved kidnapping Abu, and Hercules' friend Icarus, and then telling Aladdin and Hercules that each other was the kidnapper, and having them battle each other.

Jafar himself was responsible for getting Hercules involved, using his old prisoner's disguise to trick Hercules into thinking that Icarus was kidnapped by Aladdin, although Hades inadvertently nearly ruined the disguise shortly afterward by removing the cloak. Eventually, the heroes caught on to the plot after Hercules informed Aladdin of Jafar's revival. In the Underworld, Jafar battled both Aladdin and Hercules, but the heroes defeated him once more, and when Hercules broke his staff, Jafar was sealed in the River Styx forever.

Jafar himself was responsible for getting Hercules involved, using his old prisoner's disguise to trick Hercules into thinking that Icarus was kidnapped by Aladdin, although Hades inadvertently nearly ruined the disguise shortly afterward by removing the cloak. Eventually, the heroes caught on to the plot after Hercules informed Aladdin of Jafar's revival. In the Underworld, Jafar battled both Aladdin and Hercules, but the heroes defeated him once more, and when Hercules broke his staff, Jafar was sealed in the River Styx forever.

### *House of Mouse*

Despite his death, Jafar also had a recurring role on *House of Mouse*, typically seen alongside Iago.

He appears as the main antagonist in *Mickey's House of Villains*, in which he relieved the villains of the Halloween boredom at the House of Mouse by taking it over and transforming it into the House of Villains. Mickey, Donald, and Goofy demand for him to leave. In response, he summons Ursula, Hades, Maleficent, and Chernabog, and they quite literally throw them out. Minnie intervenes and challenges him, but she is dragged away without effort. However, Jafar is later sealed into his magic lamp after Mickey dons his magical hat and challenges him to a duel and Aladdin sneaks in through the side door holding said lamp. The other villains flee with their most powerful member defeated.

Jafar also went on a date with Maleficent in one episode and ended up getting burned by her literally. Many fans noted that the two characters possessed many similarities. The two are often compared as both have a regal bearing, bird side-kicks, are exceeding tall and dress in long, dark robes and peculiar head-wear.

Two additional notable appearances on the show are on "Donald's Lamp Trade" where he tricks Donald into thinking Mickey's not his friend so he can obtain a lamp. Donald steals Genie's lamp from the prop basement when in reality Jafar wanted Mickey's lamp. In "House of Magic", in which he and Iago use the famous magic spell Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo to return the House of Mouse after Daisy Duck magically causes it to vanish, and were tricked by Mickey to receive "Agrabah" as a reward for their good deeds. Another appearance of his was in "Pete's House of Villains", where Pete took over the House of Mouse and placed Jafar as the doorman, replacing Donald Duck. He abuses his power by banning the cast of *Aladdin* (sans Jasmine), which in turn costs Pete business. Pete fires Jafar because of this, and in response, Jafar scorches Pete by blasting a magical fire spell to burn him.

## Trivia

* Jafar also has a twin sister named Nasira.
* Jafar is also similar to Queen Grimhilde from Snow White. Both will do what ever it takes to succeed at their goal. They also disguise as an elderly person to trick the protagonist to gain the upper hand. Both have birds as their side kicks.
* Jafar is one of five male villains to shape shift into a second form. the others being Judge Doom, Oogie Boogie, and Pain and Panic. Jafar is also the only Disney Villain to have nine other forms (Old Man, Sultan, Sorcerer, Snake, Genie, Ghost, an old granny, an army of thieves with winged horses, disguised as Jasmine).
* Part of his design, motive, and his position in *Aladdin* could have been the inspiration of ZigZag from *The Thief and the Cobbler*.
* In *House of Mouse*, episode *House of Magic*, Jafar and Iago use the famous magic spell Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo to return the House of Mouse after Daisy Duck magically causes it to vanish, and were tricked by Mickey to receive "Agrabah" as a reward for their good deeds.
* Jafar also appeared in Mickey's Magical Christmas: Snowed in at the House of Mouse as one of the Disney Villains celebrating Christmas and is even shown in the music song, The Best Christmas of All as one of its notable singers, singing it with his fellow villains alongside with many Disney heroes. Also, Jafar, alongside with Iago (as well as his enemies Genie, Carpet, Abu, and all Disney characters), are all insulted when Donald refuses to change his un-Christmas mood.
* In the films, Jafar is the main and most recurring antagonist, but in the second movie he was ultimately killed off and in the third film is replaced by a new main villain.
* Jafar has a recurring theme in *Aladdin*, which can be found as "On a Dark Night" on the official soundtrack. The character was intended to have a song that would have been placed during the climax; some include "Humiliate the Boy", "Why Me?", "Master of the Lamp", and "My Finest Hour"—the latter of which incorporated the melody of "On a Dark Night". In the end, as the filmmakers believed a full song would disrupt the film's pace, Jafar was given a dark reprise of "Prince Ali".
* Jafar's character was heavily influenced by Maleficent from *Sleeping Beauty*. The two characters bear numerous similarities—collected personalities, regal attire including dark robes and staffs, bird sidekicks, and animal transformations. Jafar's supervising animator, Andreas Deja, studied Marc Davis's animation of Maleficent when figuring out how to portray Jafar onscreen.
* As he spends much of the film hiding his true emotions, Andreas Deja designed Jafar's face to resemble a mask.
* In early version of *Aladdin*, the Jafar character was loud, easily-agitated, and prone to temper tantrums—Iago, meanwhile, was calm and collected. The filmmakers eventually decided that a calmer Jafar would be more sinister and threatening, so his personality was changed while Iago was rewritten to be the loud and overly-aggressive one.
* Jafar was not only inspired by the three villains of the original story (the Vizier, his son, and the African Sorcerer), but also by Jaffar, the first main villain of the *Prince of Persia* saga. Years later, Zervant, the main villain of *The Sands of Time*, assumed a very similar appearance, complete with a magical staff.
* Another inspiration was a real Persian Vizier named Ja'far ibn Yahya Barmaki.
* The lighting on Jafar's genie design in *Aladdin* pays homage to Chernabog from *Fantasia*.
* Jafar's death is one of the slightly more graphic deaths of a Disney villain, where he behaves in a manner similar to electrocution as his lamp melts and his skeleton can even be seen.
* During the scene where Genie is discussing his wish for freedom, he briefly transforms into a red, sinister-looking form similar to what Jafar would assume at the climax, even adopting a similar cosmic background and body language.
* Both Genie's description of what Genies entail and the scene of Jafar's transformation in the climax were homages to the Disney educational short *Our Friend the Atom*.
* Originally, when he made his wish to become sultan, Jafar did more than merely steal the Sultan's attire and have Genie place the palace atop a mountain behind them: He also unleashed a shock wave that resulted in history being altered to make it appear as though Jafar had been the sultan all along instead of usurping the position from the actual Sultan. The only ones immune to this and retaining knowledge of what really happened were the Magic Carpet (due to being immune to the effects of the wave), Aladdin and Abu (the latter two being covered by the Magic Carpet at the last second). This plot point was cut due to it being too confusing, although a similar plot point would eventually be enacted in the *Aladdin* TV series via the character Sadira against Princess Jasmine, and the ones immune to the spell were Iago, Abu and Rajahdue to Sadira neglecting to include animals in the spell.
* Jafar was originally going to transform into a giant snake again in *The Return of Jafar*, but it was scrapped.
* Jafar become Thomas and Twilight Sparkle's enemy in *Thomas and Twilight Sparkle's Adventures of Aladdin.*

* Jafar returned along with Maleficent to get revenge on Thomas, Twilight and their friends in Thomas and Twilight Sparkle's Adventures Series. After Iago betrays him, he also plans to get revenge on him too.
* Jafar is also Maleficent's partner and husband.

## Gallery

Jafar disguised as an old beggarJafar in his snake form.Jafar in his genie form.Jafar's defeatJafar's deathJafar's death (Hercules and the Arabian Night)Jafar in Hercules and the Arabian NightJafar in Mickey's House of Villains.Jafar with HadesJafar with Iago, Captain Hook, Cruella De Vil and UrsulaJafar with Captain Hook, Ursula, Kaa, Mickey and MinnieJafar and the villains advanced on MickeyMaleficent Jafar and IagoDescandants (2015)Jafar's cameo in Aladdin and the King of ThievesJafar freed from the lamp.Prince Ali reveals Jafar's treachery to the Sultan.Jafar becomes the most powerful sorcerer in the world.Jafar's wardrobe: Royal Vizier (left); Sorcerer (center); Modified Sorcerer from Return of Jafar (right)Jafar (Live Action)Jafar with his twin brother, The Wizard of Wonderland