Aladdin (character)/Relationships

The realtionships of Aladdin.

Jasmine
Meeting Jasmine was the first event to change Aladdin's life. Aladdin was immediately taken by the princess' beauty, claiming she stood out from the regular crowd bustling through Agrabah. In the evening of their first meeting, Aladdin was also introduced to Jasmine as a person, as she revealed herself to be charitable, comedic, and burdened with pressures from society, and a longing to escape and be free. These traits were relatable to Aladdin, who noted Jasmine's personality—being "smart and fun" as he described—to be the first example as to why he fell in love with her, when he confessed his admiration for the princess to Genie. Jasmine was also the first human character in the film seen showing Aladdin any form of kindness, or having treated him as an equal, instead of someone below her. In turn, Aladdin was the first to treat Jasmine as a person, rather than an object, such as palace life would have, by listening to her problems and showing genuine care for her feelings.

Once Aladdin learns Jasmine's true identity as a princess, however, his insecurities overwhelm him, as he immediately assumes Jasmine sees his character and dreams to live a better life as a pathetic joke, being that he's a street-rat, and they are seen as the lowest form of life in Agrabah, per the norm. This would lead to Aladdin's first wish to disguise himself as "Prince Ali", believing the guise would at least give him a chance to interact with her again. Aladdin's views on royalty ruin his act, as he portrays himself as boastful and arrogant, as most royals are, though this immediately turns Jasmine against him, as she fails to recognize him under his disguise. It isn't until Aladdin allows his act to fade, and his true colors to take effect, that Jasmine shows interest, but his insecurities, once again, prevent him from telling her the truth of his identity. The guilt of lying to Jasmine frustrates him to the point of finally accepting the fact that he must tell Jasmine the truth, though he loses control of the lamp before he can.

Aladdin's true identity is revealed, but through his cunning and heroics, he is able to save Jasmine from Jafar by risking and nearly losing his life, proving his love for Jasmine. Jasmine forgives Aladdin for his actions, understanding the reasoning behind them, but Aladdin refuses to continue living a lie by using his last wish to restore his princely title, instead using it to free Genie, once again proving his pure heart and worth. This is enough for the Sultan to declare Aladdin is worthy enough to marry his daughter, despite not being a prince, much to the young couple's delight. As seen during the finale, the two then embrace the new chapter of their lives, and the fact that they can begin it together.

Throughout the sequels and television series, Aladdin and Jasmine's relationship continue to grow, and the princess is often the center of Aladdin's various adventures, mostly due to his desire to continuously protect, impress, or otherwise prove his love for the former.

Genie
Genie is one of Aladdin's closest friends. Unlike most of Genie's former masters, Aladdin respected Genie as a person rather than an object, due to the thief's compassionate nature; even going as far as to create a promise to free him as part of his last wish. Despite this, Genie was not one who liked to be tricked, but he was willing to admit his naivety though would not allow any more wishes for free. To aid in Aladdin's prince disguise, Genie helped glamorize his image, though he still tried giving advice on how to approach Jasmine but to no avail. However, when Aladdin nearly drowned to death after being thrown into the ocean, Genie willingly saves Aladdin as the second wish, even though Aladdin did not technically say to do this directly, demonstrating how much Genie cared about his friend.

When Aladdin chose to spend the last wish on being a prince forever, Genie felt betrayed over their apparent friendship that he became bitter towards him. To his horror however, Genie would become servant to the mad Jafar and become forced to do his bidding. While Aladdin tried to talk Genie out of this, Genie apologized but could do nothing against Jafar nor save Aladdin from being banished, where he deeply regretted doing these actions. When Aladdin survived, Genie was extremely happy to see him and even cheered for him against Jafar. After Aladdin finally stopped Jafar, Genie was content with letting Aladdin choose his last wish. To his joy, Aladdin keeps his word and releases Genie from his burden. Genie was extremely happy to be released but apologized to Aladdin for sacrificing his chance at love. However, when the Sultan voided the tradition of the princess marrying a prince and allowed her to marry whomever she wanted, Genie was more than excited over the couple's success.

Abu
Aladdin's friend and partner, the two are as close as brothers. They have been together ever since Aladdin started his career as a thief long before he met everyone else. While Abu has proven to be advantageous in getting Aladdin out of messes, he has also been equally troublesome for Aladdin due to the monkey's kleptomaniac ways. However, Abu also serves as Aladdin's conscience from time to time. Like Aladdin, Abu is cunning and elusive, which has helped them escape from Jafar's clutches more than once and obtain the lamp after Jafar attempted to betray them. Whenever Aladdin is in danger, Abu is the first to come in and save him, even though both times he was cursed as a result. Aladdin is also protective of Abu, and apparently values him over most of the characters, aside from Jasmine. This is evidenced by Aladdin's banishment to the ends of the earth on the original film where, despite freezing to death himself, the street-rat's immediate concern was finding Abu and ensuring he was safe.

Magic Carpet
The Carpet is an acquaintance to Aladdin similar to his relationship with Abu. But while Abu wa initially hostile to the Carpet's nature, Aladdin welcomed it and invited it to join the duo in their journey. Loyal to Aladdin, Carpet comes to Aladdin's aid and transport many times. Like Abu, the Carpet was willing to risk itself to protect Aladdin no matter how dangerous the enemy is or what harm comes to it. Aladdin has high faith in the Carpet and gets along well with it since Carpet is often more responsible than Abu, Iago, or Genie. However, it can get just as annoyed as the rest of Aladdin's friends when Aladin tries to keep up with lies or become arrogant.

Jafar
Jafar and Aladdin share a relationship built on deceit, hatred, and revenge. When first introduced to Aladdin as an individual, Jafar saw the latter as nothing more than an eventually-disposable tool in his plot to take over the kingdom. Even during the climax, despite constantly proving himself, Jafar directly viewed Aladdin as "nothing" without his genie. Once given the chance, he had no qualms with leaving Aladdin for dead in the sunken Cave of Wonders. Though Aladdin showed brief anger towards Jafar's manipulation and betrayal, he held no bitter feelings from that moment onward (though he was unaware of Jafar's true identity, as the latter was in disguise when he and Aladdin first met), being that he didn't mention or even allude to the beggar that betrayed him, accepting the fact that he was another hateful individual that he unfortunately encountered. Once Jafar made an attempt to kill Aladdin (under the guise of "Prince Ali"), Aladdin retaliated to prevent the vizier from causing harm to Jasmine or the Sultan, ultimately being the one who reveals Jafar's treacherous nature.

Aladdin's constant heroism and ability to foil his plots would permanently turn Jafar against the street-rat, and an ongoing ambition to kill Aladdin out of a desire for vengeance would ensue. This would most prominently be showcased in Return of Jafar, where Jafar coupled his desire to rule Agrabah with the goal to both torture and finally kill Aladdin, meticulously orchestrating events that would succeed both tasks simultaneously.