Jafar (Aladdin)

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Jafar
Jafar
First appearance	Aladdin
Created by	Walt Disney Pictures
Voiced by	Jonathan Freeman

Jafar is a fictional character, voiced by Jonathan Freeman in the Disney film Aladdin and its sequel, The Return of Jafar. He is an evil sorcerer and the former Grand Vizier of the Sultan of Agrabah.

Contents 1 History 2 Fantasmic 3 Kingdom Hearts series 3.1 Kingdom Hearts 3.2 Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories 3.3 Kingdom Hearts II 4 Literary origins 5 Trivia 6 References

[edit] History

Jafar is tall and thin, and almost always depicted in flowing robes of black, dark red and other moody colors. Jafar has a pet parrot named Iago, who switched sides in The Return of Jafar. Jafar carries a cobra-head staff, which he uses for his sorcery. He tries to use Genie's powers to take over Agrabah, first wishing to become the sultan, and then the most powerful sorcerer in the world. Jafar had transformed himself into a giant cobra to kill Aladdin, but just as Jafar was squeezing him to death, Aladdin tricked Jafar into using his third and final wish to become an all-powerful genie himself. Jafar was red in hue, possibly to represent his more "evil" nature contrasting with Genie's blue tone. In Western culture, genies are almost always portrayed as being confined to small oil lamps until they are released to do a human's bidding; Jafar was therefore trapped by his own selfish wish for power. Jafar is usually shown to be somewhat comedic, even in his times of evil and cunning (proclaiming "ewww" when contemplating beheading, or constantly mispronouncing Aladdin's alias' name). His unique characteristics compared to most Disney villains are probably the reason that he lived at the end of his movie, at the same time arguing with Iago ("Get your blasted beak out of my face!" "Oh, shut up, you moron!" "Don't tell ME to shut up!").

In The Return of Jafar, the now-genie Jafar was released by Abis Mal, and, after cunningly making Abis-Mal waste his first 2 wishes, threatens Abis into helping him. Jafar had the ability to change from his fearsome genie look to his familiar sorcerer attire which he used to make himself less conspicuous. His comical humor gone, Jafar is now more sinister and ruthless. His plan included kidnapping (and in some instances, replacing) the royal family and framing Aladdin for the Sultan's "death," (It happened when Jafar cuts down the Sultan's hat to think that Aladdin killed him.) which would have caused him to be beheaded, but (with help from a reformed Iago) the heroes managed to escape. When Jafar discovered this, he opened up a fissure into the earth in order to destroy Aladdin and the others. Believing he won, Jafar was surprised to see Iago genuinely helping the heroes and shot down his former ally with a fireball as Iago grabbed the lamp. A barely alive Iago managed to kick the lamp in one of the lava pits, melting the lamp into nothingness. With a scream of anger and fear, Jafar disintegrated in a burst of light and perished.

Jafar later made one more attempt at revenge in an episode ("Hercules and the Arabian Night") of Disney's Hercules TV-show spinoff, where he was temporarily revived by Hercules' arch-enemy, Hades. The two villains teamed up to get rid of Aladdin and Hercules by having them fight against each other, but their plan failed and Jafar ended up dead again when Hercules broke his staff in half, and has not at this point made any reappearances in the official Aladdin continuity.

However, despite his death, Jafar has also had a recurring role on Disney's House of Mouse. He was even the central villain of the direct-to-video film Mickey's House of Villains. Jafar even went on a date with Maleficent in one episode. The two Disney villains have been frequently compared to each other by fans, as both have regal bearing, bird side-kicks, are exceedingy tall, and their robes seem to confine their movements.

As far as Jafar's family goes, he has a fraternal twin sister named Nasira who tried bringing her brother back to life in the game, Nasira's Revenge. Jafar's sister is very similar both in appearance and actions as Maleficent. She respects Jafar and the sibling bond between them is very strong.

[edit] Fantasmic

In the Disney-MGM Studios version of Fantasmic! Nighttime Show Spectacular, Jafar is one of the villains The Queen evokes to fight Mickey Mouse and ruin his imagination.

Like the movie, Jafar turns into a giant Cobra. When Mickey finds a lamp, he rubs it assuming it'll help, but Jafar instead changes into a Genie. Jafar then responds by calling Hades and Chernabog to help the rest of the villains. Mickey eventually defeats him with the rest of the villains after killing the dragon version of Maleficent.

[edit] Kingdom Hearts series

Jafar's Japanese voice actor in all these games is Akira Takarada. He is voiced by Jonathan Freeman in the English version of the games.

[edit] Kingdom Hearts

Jafar debuted as one of the members of Maleficent's inner circle. He planned to use the Heartless and take over Agrabah. Jafar kidnapped Princess Jasmine, one of the seven Princesses of Heart. Aladdin tried to save her by using a wish, but Iago then steals the lamp and gave it to Jafar. Jafar tried to kill Sora by sending the Pot Centipede Heartless after him while made his way to the Cave of Wonders. He used his magic to control the Cave of Wonders Guardian. Inside the Cave of Wonders, Jafar made his first wish to show Agrabah's Keyhole. Then, at Jafar's boss fight, he made his second wish to make Genie crush Sora and the gang. Genie then reluctantly fights alongside Jafar against Sora and friends. During the first boss fight with Jafar, he is able to fly around in mid-air, his attacks are a laser he shoots from his staff, lighting his staff on fire and attempting to strike Sora with it,(in rare cases)creating a shockwave when he is grounded, and a Blizzara spell that covers most of the battlefield, however, he is defeated by Sora. Then, at Jafar's final boss fight, he made his third and final wish to turn into a powerful genie, then he sinks into a underground lava filled chamber in which his boss fight takes place. Unable to be damaged directly, his lamp (carried by Iago) must be attacked, while Jafar throws huge rocks at Sora. In the end of this boss fight, Sora defeated Jafar by sucking him in his lamp. After his defeat, Hades (meeting with Maleficent, Captain Hook, and Riku) comments that Jafar would have succeeded if Riku had assisted. Maleficent, however, explains that Jafar was beyond help and was consumed by his own hatred. She also warns Hades not to follow the same path.

In the Kingdom Hearts manga, Jafar is somewhat afraid or intimidated by Maleficent, but quickly disregards her once he transforms into a genie.

[edit] Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories

In a facsimile of Agrabah created from Sora's memories, Jafar appears to take over Agrabah with the Heartless. In order to get the lamp, he tricks Aladdin to get the lamp so he could make Jasmine marry him. Jafar's first wish is to get Jasmine back. Then, he makes his second wish to make Genie protect him from a sneak attack, which was actually planned by Aladdin to have Jafar waste the wish. Jafar's third and final wish is to become a genie. He teleports the gang to a room filled with lava and attacks by throwing magma rocks, shooting lasers and pounding his fists. He is unique in that he is the only boss that cannot be directly attacked; the player must attack Iago, who carries the lamp, when the platforms rise to an appropriate height. In the end, Jafar is defeated.

[edit] Kingdom Hearts II

Jafar's lamp was found by the Peddler, making him a target for Pete, who intended to make Jafar into a Heartless under his control. But Sora and gang managed to take the lamp and sealed it in hope Jafar would never reappear. But that was not to be when the Peddler found where the lamp was placed and Jafar was released. As he forced Iago and created a magical clone of himself to keep Sora occupied, Jafar kidnapped Jasmine, but Sora, Donald, Goofy, Aladdin and Iago escaped the ruins and appeared at the Palace, where they rescued Jasmine. Jafar then took to the skies in another attempt to take over Agrabah, having Sora pursue him into the sky on the magic carpet, where Jafar used his genie-powers to alter reality against Sora. However Sora destroyed him, his mystical body damaged enough to explode, and Jafar's lamp was no more.

[edit] Literary origins

The name Jafar seems to be derived from a character named Jafar or Giafar (Arabic: جعفر‎) in tales of the Arabian Nights, who is the Vizier to the 9th century Abbasid Caliph Harun al-Rashid; this character in turn was based on a real-life vizier, Ja'far bin Yahya Barmaki. Harun and Giafar were the protagonists of many stories in Arabian Nights, but Giafar was never presented as a villain. Harun did have the real Ja'far bin Yahya Barmaki beheaded after a dispute arising from allegations that Ja'far had engaged in an affair with the Caliph's sister. The original tale of Aladdin, a Syrian story not originally attached to the Arabian Nights, features two characters who correspond to Disney's Jafar. One is an unnamed vizier who is jealous of Aladdin but does not serve as a real villain; the other is the major antagonist, an evil magician from the Maghreb in North Africa who introduces Aladdin to his magical lamp.

Jafar bears some resemblance to Ay, King Tutankhamun's Vizier. Tutankhamun's untimely death at the age of 18 or 19, together with his failure to produce an heir, left a power vacuum that his Grand Vizier was quick to fill: Ay is depicted in the famous treasures of the boy king's tomb conducting the funerary rights for the deceased monarch and assuming the role of heir. The grounds on which Ay based his claim to the throne are not entirely clear. He was certainly a powerful figure under Tutankhamun, as he had been under Akhenaten: in some records he is referred to as "regent", and he had been close to the center of power for some 25 years.

[edit] Trivia

• The villain in the 1989 computer game Prince of Persia is also a vizier, but his name is spelled "Jaffar".
• In the animated series one sorcerer Jafar feared was Destane-turned into a zombie by his even more ruthless pupil Mozenrath.
• In the Fire Emblem video games, there is a minor villain named Jaffar, also called Jaffaru.

[edit] References

Disney's Aladdin
Films, TV & game	Aladdin | The Return of Jafar | Aladdin and the King of Thieves | Aladdin (TV series) | Video game
Soundtrack	Soundtrack | A Whole New World
Main Characters	Aladdin | Princess Jasmine | Genie | Iago
Villains	Jafar | Abis Mal | Mozenrath | Mirage | Mechanicles | Saluk | Amin Damoola
Minor Characters	Arbutus | Chaos