Genie is a character and the tritagonist of Disney's 1992 animated feature film Aladdin, its sequels, and its television series. He is the magical friend of Aladdin and is the most popular character from the franchise.
Info[]
Like most popular depictions of genies, Disney's Genie was originally a slave. Though he possessed "phenomenal cosmic powers", he was bound to an "itty-bitty living space" and could only use his powers when the owner of the lamp (his master) made a wish; he occasionally does things without granting a wish, but never anything that greatly affects the world around him. He is also bound by three laws; he can't kill anyone, he can't make people fall in love with each other and he can't revive the dead. It is possible, however, that he can do the third one, but that, as he puts it; "It's not a pretty picture. I don't like doing it!". Each master has three such wishes, and cannot exceed this amount by wishing for more wishes. The lamp came into the possession of the character Aladdin during the course of the first film, and he remained in servitude until Aladdin used his third and final wish to grant Genie his freedom at the end of the film.
As well as largely driving the plot in the first movie, the Genie serves as a comic relief element in each of his appearances. He is shown to have shapeshifting abilities, which allow for many and varied sight gags. The Genie's supernatural disposition permits him to break the fourth wall, as well as parody real-life people and popular culture completely outside of the boundaries of the universe in which he is contained. Robin Williams is responsible for most of these because he improvised many of the lines in the film. The Genie's true name, if he has one, has never been revealed; he answers to being called "Genie", and never says if he does have a real name. Along with the character of Iago, Genie is one of the most well recognized of characters from Disney's Aladdin franchise.
In Aladdin (film)[]
The Genie made his debut in Aladdin (1992), where he is released from a magical oil lamp by the titular character in the collapsed Cave of Wonders. After he reveals that he can grant three wishes, he is duped into freeing Aladdin and Abu from the cave without using a wish. At a faraway oasis, the Genie is asked by Aladdin what he would wish for. The Genie admits he would wish for freedom, since he is a prisoner to his lamp and must follow the orders of the lamp's master.
After accepting a promise from Aladdin that Aladdin would use the third wish to set the Genie free, the Genie grants Aladdin his first wish: making him a prince so he can marry Jasmine. The Genie goes into hiding after leading a parade to the Agrabah palace. The Genie is released again when Aladdin is shackled, gagged, and thrown off a cliff into the ocean by Jafar's guards. The Genie rescues Aladdin as the second wish after liberally interpreting Aladdin's nodding head. Later, Genie feels hurt when Aladdin considers going back on his promise of setting him free. The Genie's lamp is later stolen and delivered to Jafar by Iago, making Jafar Genie's new master.
The Genie has no choice but to grant Jafar's first and second wish to become Sultan of Agrabah and the world's most powerful sorcerer. He is then made a slave with no purpose in life but to entertain the sadistic Jafar by tormenting the former Sultan. During the final fight between Aladdin and Jafar, the Genie is forced to grant Jafar's final wish to become an all-powerful Genie.
However, the fulfillment of this wish causes Jafar to be imprisoned in a lamp of his own, which the Genie hurls into the desert, freeing Agrabah from his tyranny. While initially more than willing to sacrifice his freedom in order to allow Aladdin to be with Jasmine (saying, "You're not gonna find another girl like her in a million years. Believe me, I know. I've looked."), Aladdin decides to live up to his original promise and uses his final wish to free Genie from his lamp's power. (In this film Genie loses the bangles around his wrists which signifies his freedom from the lamp. In the sequel and all other appearances however, he still has them, possibly now as jewelry.) The now-free Genie leaves Agrabah to explore the world.
In Kingdom Hearts[]
Genie is a recurring character and Summon in Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories, and Kingdom Hearts II. He is also a party member in Kingdom Hearts coded.
Kingdom Hearts[]
Genie's lamp was first discovered by Aladdin in the Cave of Wonders. He planned to use his three wishes to help Jasmine and then win her heart, but all of his wishes ended up being wasted on getting him and his friends out of trouble. The first wish was spent on getting rid of a Heartless attack and the second one to rescue Jasmine from Jafar. Eventually, Iago steals Genie's lamp and gives it to Jafar, who forces Genie to show Jafar the Keyhole of Agrabah and assisting him in fighting Sora, Donald, Goofy and Aladdin. After Jafar is defeated, Aladdin wishes Genie free from his lamp prison. He then becomes a Summon for Sora. Unlike many of the other Summons, he does so of his own free will instead of being summoned from a gem.
Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories[]
Genie serves as a fragment of Sora's memory in the Agrabah floor. After Sora defeats Jafar, who is also a fragment of his memory, Genie gives Sora his summon card.
Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days[]
Genie reappears in Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days in Agrabah where he talks to Roxas and Xion. By this time, Genie and Carpet are on their way to travel the world. Once Genie hears that Agrabah is in trouble he decides not to go on his tour, but sways his decision after Roxas tells him that Aladdin wants to fix the town himself. After Roxas inadvertently helps Aladdin and Jasmine, Genie is thankful to Roxas and leaves once again. This is the only game so far that Genie doesn't serve as a summoning creature.
In the Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days manga Genie helps Roxas and Xion defeat the Antlion by holding it still to stop its rotating.
Kingdom Hearts II[]
Genie has much less screen time in the second game. When the party reaches Agrabah, they discover Genie has gone off to see the world along with Carpet. He misses most of the action, but arrives near the end of Sora's first visit and disturbs Pete, who tries to free Jafar from his lamp. Aside from that the only notable achievements Genie does is clearing out a sandstorm for Sora and fixing Agrabah after the Jafar's destruction. He seems to have somewhat more ego here than in the first game, as he complains that one lousy sandstorm is just too easy and that he didn't get to help in the battle against Jafar. Genie once again becomes a summon partner for Sora once the Lamp Charm is obtained. His newest feature is copying Sora's Drive forms and wielding his own copy of the Keyblade.
Kingdom Hearts coded[]
Data Sora visits Data Agrabah and is seen talking with Data Genie. Genie helps Sora throughout his journey to debug Agrabah after Sora recovers his lamp from Iago. This time, Genie becomes Sora's party member instead of Aladdin.
Joining Sora's Team[]
When Sora, Gigi Grant, and Tsukune Aono were exploring Agrabah to look for new worthy members, Genie spotted them and asked for Sora's help to rescue his girlfriend Eden from the Heartless, Nobodies, Subspacers, and Castlevenoms. When Aladdin, joined in on the rescue, they were all captured in cages by Maleficent. When it was almost their end, Gigi remembered techniques Genie taught her, and after they all escaped, the engaged in combat and defeated Maleficent. After their victory, Genie, Aladdin, Princess Jasmine, Abu, Iago, and Carpet joined.