Jafar (Aladdin)

Jafar Trust me, my pungent friend. You'll get what's coming to you. Gender: Male Type: Royal Grand Vizier Power Hungry Sorcerer Age: Around his 50s Species: Human Portrayed by: Jonathan Freeman (1992-2005) Marwan Kenzari (2019 film) Status: Deceased Media of origin: Aladdin

Jafar is the main antagonist of Disney's Aladdin franchise, serving as the main antagonist of the Disney animated film Aladdin, the titular main antagonist of its 1994 direct-to-video sequel The Return of Jafar, the posthumous overarching antagonist in the Aladdin TV series, Aladdin and The King of Thieves and Aladdin: Nasira's Revenge, and the secondary antagonist of the Hercules crossover "Hercules and the Arabian Night".

He is the power-hungry Grand Vizier of Agrabah who serves as Aladdin's arch-nemesis and Iago's former owner and boss. In all of his appearances, he was voiced and portrayed by Jonathan Freeman.

Why He's the Most Powerful Sorcerer in the World

1. Jafar is among Disney's most popular and evilest villains, right after Maleficent, Scar, Hades and more.
2. Jafar dedicates his plan to gain the magic lamp containing an all-powerful genie, in which he would use to overtake Agrabah and the world at large.
3. Jafar is a tall, slender man dressed in extravagant clothing, always seen carrying a gold, ruby-eyed, cobra headed staff to supplement his magical powers.
   • However, as soon he wishes to be the most powerful sorcerer in the world, he becomes one of the most potent evil sorcerers in any Disney universe.
4. Jafar is portrayed as an immoral psychopath who will not hesitate to destroy anyone he perceives as a threat to his own sinister designs.
5. He has a very cool design, mostly in his sorcerer form.
6. He may act calm and polite toward Jasmine and the Sultan (while still being quite manipulative), but it's only because he has to be in order to cover his true motives. He's clearly shown to drop the demeanor whenever not in their presence. It's half the reason people love him.
7. He has a 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!").
8. He has two songs which are great, a reprise of "Prince Ali" in the first film, and "You're Only Second Rate" in the second one.
9. He uses his old man disguise to interact with Aladdin in the dungeons of the royal palace and uses him to bring him the lamp.
   • Once he gets the lamp, Jafar attempts to kill Aladdin with a dagger when he tries to escape the Cave of Wonders, while saying his famous line "Your eternal reward". It was quite shocking, and thankfully Abu stops him by biting him and stealing the lamp back.
10. Jafar has many forms, including his old man disguise, cobra and Genie form.
11. In the final battle, he puts up a challenge for the heroes, as not only he has Genie's lamp, he traps Jasmine in a hourglass, turns Abu and Carpet into objects and takes on Aladdin himself. Jafar transforms himself into a massive cobra and came close to killing him.
12. The way Aladdin defeats him was very clever, as he tricks Jafar into making his third and final wish for the latter to become a genie. And while Jafar is granted phenomenal cosmic power, he's also bound by the lamp and whoever owns it, trapping him inside his own lamp.
13. In the Hercules/Aladdin crossover, he teams up with Hades to get rid of their adversaries.
14. Jafar also had a recurring role in 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.
15. Jonathan Freeman did an excellent job voicing him.

Bad Qualities

1. The scene where Jasmine kisses him is quite gross and disturbing to a couple of viewers.
2. When he lets his temper get the better of him, he acts like a a very spoiled and egocentric child who just cannot stand anyone else even coming close to his level.
3. He tends not to think things through with his plans, such as when he tries to have Prince Ali (Aladdin in disguise) killed because he doesn't trust him, not knowing he'll be starting a war with another kingdom or anything. When Ali manages to survive thanks to Genie, he exposes Jafar's plot to the Sultan, prompting Jafar to flee, but not before he discovers his true identity as Aladdin.
4. Jafar is surprising one of the easiest Disney bosses in the Kingdom Hearts series. The fight against his Genie form is especially anticlimactic.
5. He was slightly flanderized in the 2019 remake, as he now lacked the character's flair and hamminess which made him entertaining and memorable in the first place. His personality is a lot more serious and reserved which made him stand out less.

Trivia

• Jafar is very similar to Maleficent, probably due to them both being tall, thin sorcerous characters who dress in dark colors, carry magical staffs, have bird sidekicks, and of course they transform themselves into reptilian beasts during the climaxes.
• He is ranked #2 in the Top 30 Disney Villains, second only to Maleficent.
• Jafar is the only Disney villain to die in his second film, rather than his first.

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