Sorcerer · Animation

Jafar

The advisor who was always going to try it

Threat index 82 Aladdin 1992 #11 Animation & Anime

Attribute scores

Power84

Intellect86

Menace78

Fear factor68

Cultural impact88

Charisma88

Editorial estimates on a 0–100 scale, calibrated against every other character in the index. Not official canon.

Who they are

Jafar spends the film manipulating a foolish sultan from three feet away, and the moment he gets real power he asks for more, then more again, until his final wish becomes the trap that holds him. He is smooth rather than loud, and his descent into shrieking desperation in the final act is one of animation's better collapses.

Defining traits

Hypnotic staffCourt influenceSorcery and transformationSilky menaceEscalating greed

What makes them dangerous

He controls the throne through the man sitting on it, and he has magic besides.

And what undoes them

Greed. Every gain he makes triggers a demand for more, and the last one imprisons him.

Things you might not know

Freeman has said children at test screenings were genuinely frightened of him, which he found delightful.
The animators used a fluid, snake-like movement style built around his cloak rather than his body.
His final wish is one of the few Disney defeats caused entirely by the villain's own request.