Jafar (2019)

"I can make you rich... rich enough to impress a princess."

- Jafar to Aladdin.

Jafar is the main antagonist to the 2019 live-action remake of Aladdin. He is the power-hungry Grand Vizier who intends to take over Agrabah and destroy a nearby kingdom called Sherebad at all costs.

He was portrayed by Marwan Kenzari.

Biography
Jafar first appeared in the desert with his pet Iago as they lured an unwitting man they hired to enter the Cave of Wonders, but the Cave rejects the man by burying him in the sand as it finds him to be unworthy, much to Jafar's anger. The Cave then tells Jafar that only the 'diamond in the rough' is worthy enough to enter.

Back in the palace of Agrabah, Jafar tried to convince the Sultan to wage war on the nearby kingdom of Sherebad by using his snake staff to hypnotize him, but is forced to back down when Princess Jasmine arrived to the scene as it turns out that her mother was born in Sherebad and was murdered there when Jasmine was young. This resulted an annoyed Sultan to tell Jafar to stay in his place as he already entered a peace treaty with Sherebad, much to Jafar's dismay.

Following the arrest of Aladdin by the palace guards for stealing a necklace belonging to Jasmine's mother (despite his actual attempts to return it to Jasmine), Jafar sees that the boy is the 'diamond in the rough' and appeals to the boy's nature by explaining that he was once a street rat living in the streets of Sherebad and that he spent 5 years in prison of Sherebad. Jafar offers to help Aladdin out by offering him a deal: Aladdin must go to the Cave of Wonder to fetch a magical lamp for Jafar and he will received riches to impress Jasmine in return. Finding this to be fair, Aladdin accepts the deal.

Though Aladdin was able to enter the Cave of Wonders and obtain the lamp, things went out of hand when Aladdin's pet monkey Abu touched a ruby, which angered the Cave so much (as it told the occupants not to touch any forbidden treasure). With the help from a magic carpet, Aladdin and Abu managed to escape and deliver the lamp to Jafar. However, rather than helping them out, Jafar instead betrays Aladdin by pushing him, Abu and the carpet back into the Cave before it collapses. Though Jafar is delighted to see that he has finally obtained the lamp, he is shocked to realize that the lamp is gone again as Abu previously took it, leaving Jafar to scream in fury.

Aladdin soon learns that the lamp contains a magical Genie, who is tasked to grant anyone three wishes (with the exception of murder, romance, resurrection, and wishing for more wishes). After tricking the Genie into helping them escape the cave, Aladdin used his first wish to become a prince named Ali in order to impress Jasmine. After taking Jasmine on a magic carpet ride, Aladdin is captured by Jafar, who deduced his true identity thanks to a spying Iago and demanded for lamp. When Aladdin refused to tell, Jafar has him thrown into the sea in hopes that he would drown, but Abu and the carpet arrived to the rescue by throwing the lamp into the sea. Catching the lamp, Aladdin used his second wish to have Genie rescue him before he would drown. Aladdin then conspired with Genie and Jasmine to expose Jafar's plot to the Sultan, and they successfully do so by destroying Jafar's magical staff to prove that he's a sorcerer. With that in mind, the Sultan angrily orders for Jafar to be placed in the dungeon for his treason.

Despite this setback, Iago managed to obtain the dungeon keys to free Jafar from prison, and using his own street smarts, Jafar managed to obtain the lamp, becoming the Genie's new master. Returning back to the palace, Jafar summons a depressed Genie and uses his first wish to become the new Sultan of Agrabah. When the palace guards tried to detain him, Jafar used his second wish to become the world's most powerful sorcerer, locking up all the guards in the dungeon. He then exposed Aladdin of his true identity before exiling him and Abu to a frozen wasteland, and coerces Jasmine into marrying him by threatening to kill her father and her handmaiden Dalia.

However, the Genie has the magic carpet to rescue Aladdin and Abu and bring them back. During the wedding ceremony, Jasmine spotted Aladdin and Abu returning, so she steals the lamp from Jafar and gives it back to Aladdin. An annoyed Jafar uses his new staff to transform Iago into a giant roc to pursue the heroes, but the Sultan pushes the staff out of Jafar's hands, turning Iago back to normal. Running out of patience, Jafar uses his magic to overpower the heroes, even destroying the magic carpet before boasting his power to a defeated Aladdin. However, Aladdin points out that the Genie has more power since he was the one who gave Jafar his power in the first place, and that Jafar will be 'second-best' to him. Realizing that Aladdin has a point, Jafar uses his third and last wish to become the most powerful being in the universe. Due to the grey area in that wish, Jafar becomes an all-powerful genie himself, much to his delight. Jafar then proudly declares that he will use his new power to destroy Sherebad, but Aladdin points out that genies are not free entities and that his third wish just cost him his freedom. Realizing this too late as he is bound to his own lamp, Jafar screams in defeat as he is pulled into his lamp, taking Iago with him.

With Jafar finally defeated, the Genie takes the opportunity to banish him and Iago by flicking their lamp into the Cave of Wonders, much to their distraught.

Trivia

 * It's implied that most of Jafar's negative traits and motives stemmed from having to grow up impoverished and bullied on by the populace of Sherebad, making him almost similar to his rival Aladdin, although their similarities differed in how they handled their suffering.