Mechanicles
| “ | Greetings meddlesome strangers! I am Mechanicles, the greatest of the great Greek geniuses! Archimedes? An amateur! Socrates? Stop, stop, stop. To make a long story short, I plan on taking over the world. | „ |
| ~ Mechanicles about himself. |
Mechanicles is one of the main antagonists in Disney's TV series Aladdin. He is Aladdin's second arch-nemesis. He has described himself as the "Greatest of the great Greek geniuses", developing various complex mechanical devices, commonly based on insects, with the long-term goal of taking over the world (Even keeping a list to that effect).
Mechanicles's greatest features are his ego and an over-obsessive fixation with cleanliness, the group often managing to keep him distracted by making things dirty long enough to put him off-balance and trick him. This fixation inspired many of his schemes; he tried to turn the entire desert into glass because glass is a smooth surface compared to 'dirty' sand, he stole cargo off a ship to boil the ocean because using steam is a better cleaning technique to clean clothes rather than normal scrubbing, and even attempted to destroy the whole of Thundra's rain forest with mechanical termites.
Mechanicles was the third most recurring villain on the show after Mozenrath and Abis Mal. He appeared in seven episodes.
He was voiced by Charlie Adler, who also played Gazeem.
History
Getting the Bugs Out
His first appearance began with Jasmine and Iago buying a toy dragonfly in the marketplace. When they brought it back to the palace, the Sultan fixed it and wound it up, causing the dragonfly to turn into a weapon and Genie and Carpet to destroy it (though the Sultan thanked Aladdin). Fearful about how many more there could be, the Sultan sent Aladdin and co. to investigate. Their search brought them to a town that was being terrorized by something called the 'golden plague'.
The townspeople made Aladdin their leader and made him confront the golden plague, which turned out to be three large mechanical beetles. Aladdin had Genie and Carpet destroy them. The townspeople thanked him, leaving Genie and Carpet out in the cold. One beetle, named Scooter, limped back to the hideout of Mechanicles and drew him a picture of what had happened. Angry that his plans were being meddled in, Mechanicles drew up a new plan: sending more beetles armed with mechanical spiders.
The bugs captured Genie and Carpet and left. Aladdin, Jasmine, Abu, and Iago followed their oil trail back to Mechanicles' hideout. Once there, Mechanicles introduced himself and his plans for world domination. The gang quickly noticed his fixation with cleanliness and began messing up his hideout however they could. Aladdin found Genie and Carpet and the gang retreat. However, the enraged Mechanicles unleashed his secret weapon: a giant mechanical beetle that his base was built on top of. Mechanicles used his beetle to destroy the village, but Aladdin and company were able to defeat it by jamming the beetle's inner workings. Mechanicles escaped via a pod shaped like a butterfly, making a note to get revenge on Aladdin.
My Fair Aladdin
| “ | Now nothing will stand in the way of DOING THE DISHES! No, that can't be right. (looks at his to do list) Let's see… polish centipede, wax trash can… that's right! Nothing will stand in the way of burning Agrabah to the ground. (laughs) | „ |
| ~ Mechanicles going through his list |
A pair of nomads were attacked by a giant fire-breathing centipede. They reported it to the palace guards, who went to check it out. Razoul was disbelieving, but soon discovered a patch of sand turned into glass and ran into the centipede. The guards reported it back to the others, but Iago refused to let Aladdin go, due to his training Aladdin to be more cultured. Aladdin sent Genie to see if what the guards saw was real.
Genie discovered that the centipede was being controlled by Mechanicles and attempted to confront him, but Mechanicles tricked him into entering a ship-in-a-bottle. Back at the palace, Jasmine was worried about Genie being gone so long and dragged the sophisticated Aladdin and Iago with her to look for him. When they got to the desert, they found a patch of glass and were captured by Mechanicles. Mechanicles explained to them that his plan was to turn the desert sand into glass, due to how smooth and even glass was.
He also revealed that Daru, the merchant Aladdin had been trying to impress, was the one who sold him the metal for his centipede. Aladdin tricked Mechanicles into opening the ship-in-the-bottle, freeing Genie. They prepared to attack Mechanicles, but he ejected them out of the centipede and moved on to Agrabah to destroy it. Aladdin angrily decided to stop listening to Iago's advice and did things his way: dropping boulders onto the centipede, breaking it into segments.
However, it turned out the segments could move on their own and began attacking the group. Aladdin and co. were able to destroy them by using rocks to block the segments' exhaust pipes, causing them to blow up. Mechanicles was not through yet; he attempted to destroy Aladdin and the others with a cannon built in the centipede's now-flying head. Iago, however, dropped a rock on the cannon, causing the head to drop nose-first to the ground. While attempting to right himself, Mechanicles accidentally pulled the lever that activated the cannon, sending it shooting backward over the horizon. It landed in the Frozen North, where Mechanicles berated himself for not bringing a coat. Daru was then forced to clean up the pieces of Mechanicles' centipede.
Plunder the Sea
| “ | This vessel is actually a giant steam cleaner! Pumps suck water in, zoom, then, woosh! Out comes lovely steam! Isn't it just lovely? Couldn't you just spit? At last I'll exterminate all the Earth's filthy germs and all the filthy people that carry them! But, to get the materials to build this thing — my my my, what a chore — I had to wreck thirty or forty ships all by myself. | „ |
| ~ Mechanicles revealing his plan. |
The episode begins with a sea captain telling Aladdin and co. how his ship was sunk by a Kraken. When Aladdin believes that Jasmine is implying that the legendary sea captain Al Bahtross could take on this monster better than he could, he sets off to prove her wrong. After joining Al Bahtross (and barely surviving a storm) Aladdin, Genie, Iago, and Abu arrive at Neptune's Triangle, where the Kraken attacked the ship.
Aladdin and Bahtross search the ocean floor and find the treasure of the sunken ship. They send it up but are then attacked by the Kraken. After being swallowed by it, they discover it is an invention of Mechanicles. Mechanicles traps them both and explains his plan; the Kraken is actually a giant steam cleaner which he will use to suck all of the water in the oceans to turn into steam to clean the planet and that he had to wreck several ships to build his device. Al Bahtross breaks free of the cage Mechanicles has him and Aladdin in, but Mechanicles dumps them in the salt filter where they will suffocate when it fills up with salt filtered out of the water.
Genie, Abu, and Iago, who had been searching for Aladdin and Bahtross, get sucked into the Kraken's filter. Genie pulls a plug, freeing them. When they get back to their ship, Bahtross tries to ram the mechanical Kraken with it, but Aladdin tries to stop him. Mechanicles sees the ship coming and destroys it. Aladdin gets an idea to use the chest of gold to block up the hole. Mechanicles attempts to kill the heroes with his Kraken.
Bahtross tells Aladdin to do it and Aladdin gets sucked back into the Kraken, but the chest blocks up the hole, causing the machine to shut down. Aladdin confronts Mechanicles in the control room. Mechanicles attempts to use his secret weapon, but it is broken. The two end up chasing each other around the control room until Aladdin comes across a lever that Mechanicles says will destroy the Kraken. Aladdin pulls it and the Kraken blows up. It is unknown how Mechanicles survived/escaped.
I Never Mechanism I Didn't Like
| “ | But the one variable I can never predict is Aladdin! Every time I attack anything that poofy-haired fool gets in the way. That's what I hate about fighting: someone always fights back! It would be so much easier if they would just cooperate | „ |
| ~ Mechanicles about Aladdin |
The episode began with Mechanicles attacking Agrabah with an army of giant mechanical scorpions that could breathe fire. Aladdin, Iago, Abu, Genie, and Carpet intervened by attacking him on his own personal scorpion and having Carpet bind him. After several mishaps caused by Genie attempting to pilot the scorpion, Aladdin had him turn into a rain cloud to rust them. Mechanicles was able to escape, however, via a mechanical bee.
After spending some time raging about how Aladdin and co. always fought back against his inventions, Mechanicles got an idea to create something that would make them 'cooperate'. This invention turned out to be an automaton named Gregarious with the ability to hypnotize anyone who looked into his eyes. Gregarious was sent to the palace as a gift, where he swiftly hypnotized Jasmine, Aladdin, the Sultan, and Iago. Genie and Carpet remained unaffected due to their magical natures (and Carpet having no eyes). The group immediately sided with Gregarious, listening to him unquestionably and angrily turning on Genie when he tried to voice his suspicions.
When Mechanicles arrived, Gregarious further hypnotized Aladdin and co. to treat him as ruler. Mechanicles enforced his rule by making the citizens of Agrabah clean the streets under the eyes of his scorpions. Genie finally snapped and hypnotized Al out of his trance. The two went to confront Mechanicles, who had Aladdin and Genie's friends attack them. Gregarious made repeated attempts to re-hypnotize Aladdin, but Genie would intervene at every turn.
As the fight wore on and the hypnotized Jasmine, Abu, Iago, and Sultan were defeated, Gregarious nearly succeeded in hypnotizing Aladdin again, but Genie was able to finish Gregarious once and for all by destroying his inner workings, causing him to shut down. With Gregarious out of commission, Jasmine and the others came out of their trances and confronted Mechanicles. Mechanicles ran outside to his (now rust-proofed) scorpions, but Genie messed with their inner workings, causing them to turn on Mechanicles and chase him out of Agrabah.
The Flawed Couple
| “ | Stop staring, Cro Magnon, it'll make your forehead slope more. | „ |
| ~ Mechanicles to Abis Mal. |
Mechanicles entered the Skull and Dagger, sore over his last defeat at the hands of Aladdin. He and Abis Mal began fighting over who would destroy Aladdin. The other thieves became annoyed by their bickering and moved in to crush them. In attempts to defend themselves, Mechanicles pulled out a small beetle automaton and Abis Mal pulled out the yellow of his mood stones, both proving ineffective. However, Mechanicles' beetle grabbed the mood stone and caused the thieves to flee with its power. Upon realizing that Mechanicles' bugs were unaffected by Mal's stones, they decided to team up to take revenge on Aladdin. Mechanicles put each of the mood stones in a bug and drew up a plan to lure Aladdin company, as Abis Mal didn't have one.
This plan consisted of Abis Mal telling a woman that his brother was caught in a cave in and only Aladdin could save him. Aladdin and the gang flew to the cave where Mal's 'brother' was, only to be attacked by one of the scorpions from 'I Never Mechanism I Didn't Like'. Genie saved them, but they realized they were trapped and began to look for another way out. Mechanicles then had Abis Mal release the stone-carrying beetles on the group: the pink one made Iago fall in love with Jasmine, the green one made Jasmine envious, the blue one made Carpet mopey, and the white one made Abu laugh uncontrollably.
While Aladdin and Genie wondered what was going on, Abis Mal misheard Mechanicles and unleashed their secret weapon: a giant mechanical mantis. The attack caused Aladdin to fall off a cliff, but Genie saved him. Mechanicles and Abis Mal briefly wondered if Aladdin was dead, but knew it was more likely that he survived. The mantis brought in Aladdin's captured friends. Aladdin and Genie both arrived in the room where Mechanicles and Abis Mal were and learned of how the two were controlling the gang as they argued.
The two villains eventually came to blows, but when they saw Aladdin coming, had the mantis attack him. They then put Genie under the influence of the purple stone, making him snooty. Finally, they put Aladdin under the influence of the yellow stone, making him afraid, and chased him down in the mantis. Aladdin, however, was able to beat the stone by saying it was just the stone that was making him afraid and when the two villains threatened to hurt Jasmine. When the two tried to attack Aladdin, they accidentally set in motion the destruction of the base while Aladdin freed his friends from the influence of the stones. Genie was able to get the gang out, commenting that no one could've survived the base's destruction, but Aladdin was certain they had. He was right; Mechanicles moaned about how Aladdin had destroyed his base and ruined their plan, but then became affected by the white stone and began to laugh at how dirty he was.
A Clockwork Hero
| “ | Behold, Scooter. The most perfect form of life ever conceived by deity or mortal. These once lifeless cogs and gears now contain the intellect of I, Mechanicles, the greatest of the great Greek geniuses! | „ |
| ~ Mechanicles about Junior. |
Wahid, after having been scolded by Aladdin for trying to take on a den of thieves, saw Scooter fly by and followed him to Mechanicles' hideout. There, Mechanicles boasted about his newest, greatest creation: a robot that looked just like him. However, Wahid had climbed inside the bot, whom Mechanicles had named Junior. Mechanicles ordered Junior to destroy Aladdin, but Wahid had other ideas.
He used Junior to save Agrabah and Aladdin from the Minotaur Dominus Tusk, much to the dismay of Mechanicles who believed Junior was acting of his own free will. While Agrabah praised Junior as their hero, Aladdin wondered why one of Mechanicles' inventions would do good. Wahid tried to convince Aladdin that Junior was good, but Aladdin believed that it was a menace. Later, Wahid captured a thief and revealed to Aladdin that he was controlling Junior, only to discover that the boy he captured hadn't stolen anything. Aladdin convinced Wahid to come out, only for Mechanicles' beetles to abduct Junior with Wahid still inside.
Mechanicles had the beetles make Junior attack Aladdin and friends. When the beetles controlling junior temporarily wound down, Aladdin seized the opportunity to save Wahid. Mechanicles went after him and discovered that Wahid had been inside Junior. He shoved Aladdin inside and took control of Junior from Wahid. As Mechanicles tried to kill Aladdin with Junior, Wahid grabbed the controls and made Junior walk over a cliff. Aladdin and the gang gathered around Junior's wreckage, fearing the worst, but Wahid had survived. Mechanicles had survived as well and began mourning Junior. A spring came loose under the panel Mechanicles was kneeling on, sending him flying over the horizon.
The Love Bug
| “ | Of course, with the rain forest gone, all life on the planet will follow! Eh, who cares. People are pigs. | „ |
| ~ Mechanicles destroying Thundra's rain forest. |
Mechanicles' last appearance saw him decimating Thundra's rain forest with mechanical termites, believing rain forests to be the source of everything dirty. Iago followed Mechanicles' personal automaton Scooter, in order to impress Thundra by capturing the inventor. However, once they got to Mechanicles' hideout, he immediately captured Iago and recognized him, despite Iago's denial.
Knowing that where Iago was, Aladdin was sure to follow, Mechanicles set a trap that captured Aladdin, Genie, Abu, and Thundra. Mechanicles then attempted to kill them by having his termites devour them, only to discover that the gang had coated themselves and all the trees in the rain forest with grease that caused the termites to harmlessly slip off. His plan ruined, Mechanicles summoned his entire termite army to cover him and form insect armor that gave him the ability of every bug. When he tried to cut off Thundra's head with his claw, Iago used a magic bean that caused a tree to magically grow under Mechanicles, lifting him into the air and over a waterfall. The water caused his armor to rust, and Mechanicles was forced to flee on the back of Scooter, swearing they'd all pay 'with interest'.
Trivia
- It is unknown why Mechanicles chooses to make his automatons insects, as he finds real insects to be disgusting.
- In "While the City Snoozes", when Jasmine wondered who could be putting Agrabah to sleep, Mirage appeared commenting that it wasn't the type of thing Mechanicles would do.
- While easily explained by being separate series, the crossover between Hercules and Aladdin raises the question of where Mechanicles fits into Hercules's mainly Greek world, especially with Hercules' teacher Daedalus, supposedly also the greatest Greek genius.
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