Iago

Iago (voiced by Gilbert Gottfried) is a character in Disney's Aladdin franchise, starting out as a secondary villain and comic relief in the original film, and later supporting protagonist in the film's sequels and related TV series. He is part of a royal menagerie in fictional Arabian city, Agrabah. He is named after the villain Iago in the play Othello, by William Shakespeare, as evidenced by mention in the TV series revealing that he has a twin brother called Othello. Along with Genie he is the most popular character from Aladdin

Personality Traits
Iago resembles a Scarlet macaw. He can speak fluent English and has the ability to perfectly mimic other characters' voices, due to Jafar's influence. He also possesses a fine knowledge of magickal lore learned from Jafar, which often comes in handy as Genie's magickal knowledge is 10,000 years out of date. He is easily frustrated and openly vocalizes his frustrations. Although he denies it, he actually has a good heart, an his guilt from abadoning his friends or leaving them to deal with a crisis usually makes him intervene, and even sometimes come out as a hero, but almost every time, at the expense of losing something of value, which he without fail berates himself for afterwards.

Iago will do almost anything to keep out of danger or at least try and talk Aladdin or the others out of atempting something he deems crazy or impossible, usually both. He's very clever, makes witty, sarcastic remarks from time to time, very greedy, sometimes gullible, and even a little insane. In other words, he's a wacky bird that can make anyone laugh.

Aladdin
In the first film, Iago has a supporting role as Jafar's sidekick and magical familiar, and also served as his spy. He aided Jafar in all of his ambitions and came up with plenty of excellent schemes, such as giving him the idea of marrying Jasmine to become the Sultan after the plan of gaining the lamp failed. He showed great animosity towards the Sultan for always stuffing his mouth with dry, choking crackers, and got him back for it after Jafar took over. But in the end, he was imprisoned inside Jafar's lamp (which he got from wishing to be a genie) and both were imprisoned below in the desert.

The Return of Jafar
Iago has a starring role in the second film. He digs himself and Jafar out of the sand, and becomes frustrated with Jafar's treating him like a slave. After Iago claims (with a degree of accuracy) that he does most of the work and comes up with the schemes, Jafar retaliates by saying that without him, Iago would still be in a cage in the bazaar, squawking "Polly want a cracker!", which explains how they met. With that remark, Iago dumps Jafar, still trapped in his lamp, into a well. He returns to Agrabah, claiming that he needs nobody's help, and that he'll be running the town within a week. After discovering Aladdin now lives in the palace, he decides to use Aladdin to return to the palace, but Aladdin is not taken in by his act.



In a turn of events, Iago (accidentally) saves Aladdin from Abis Mal and his thugs, and in gratitude Aladdin confines him to a cage in the palace, this being a temporary measure until he had explained things to the Sultan and convince him that Iago has turned over a new feather. Iago manages to escape and is chased by Rajah into the dining room, ruining an important dinner and blowing his cover. Aladdin protects Iago from the Sultan and his guards at the expense of losing the Sultan's favor, and Jasmine's trust.

Genie talks Iago into persuading Jasmine to forgive Aladdin with the song "Forget About Love", in which he uses reverse-psychology to tell Jasmine that she's absolutely right about wanting to be alone, and that love is over-rated, reminding her of how much she still loves Aladdin despite their argument. Soon enough he is enjoying the Royal Treatment, planning his future, believing that Aladdin will become the Grand Vizier, and that when he becomes Sultan, Iago will become the Grand Vizier. He is however horrified to find Jafar free. Jafar forces Iago into luring Aladdin and the Sultan into a trap. Iago talks with Aladdin and Jasmine, and finds it surprisingly easy to persuade Aladdin into taking the Sultan on a carpet ride without Genie. Jasmine apologises to Iago for doubting him, and Iago has a sudden flash of conscience, but Jafar then appears in the form of two omniscient eyes, and forces Iago to remain quiet.

Iago's guilt over how he has treated Aladdin increases visibly to a degree where he appears sickened by his actions, and he frees the captured Genie to save Aladdin from being beheaded when he's framed for murdering the Sultan through Jafar's schemes, in the process also freeing Jasmine, the Sultan, Carpet and Abu. Now that his debts are repaid, Iago leaves them to fight Jafar alone, somewhat surprised that they do not hold him to any further obligations. But in the struggle against Jafar, when all hope seems lost, Iago returns unexpectedly. He grabs the lamp and attempts to hand it to Aladdin, but is hit by an energy bolt by Jafar. As Aladdin and the others believe that all is lost, with his last ounce of strength Iago kicks Jafar's lamp into the boiling lava, thusly destroying Jafar. Aladdin saves the helpless Iago from falling into the lava himself, but his injuries are so severe that for a moment everybody believes him dead. However this is not so, as Genies lack the power to kill. He officially turns over a new feather and is welcomed into the Palace. Having escaped from the lamp, Iago switches sides in the second movie, seemingly to desire aligning himself with the winning side. However, in the end it is revealed that he is actually concerned about Aladdin and Jasmine. He's tired of being oppressed by Jafar and eventually is responsible for his death.

Aladdin and the King of Thieves
In the final movie, Iago is more interested in the extravagent wedding gifts Aladdin and Jasmine are getting from guests. During the raid of the Forty Thieves, he tries to defend the gifts from the King of Thieves (for personal gain, of course) but is stuffed in a perfume bottle. He's freed and they learn the King of Thieves was most interested in a beautiful scepter. Thinking out loud, Iago asks why, out of all the marvellous gifts this was the only thing that the King of Thieves really wanted. But his question is answered by the Oracle from the Scepter who explains the King of Thieves seeks her in order to find the Ultimate Treasure, which piques Iago's interest. He tries to discover where the Ultimate Treasure is from the Oracle, but she is bound by one rule "One question, one answer", and informs him that he already asked his question, regarding the scepter's worth. He accompanies Aladdin, Abu and Carpet to find the Forty Thieves to find Aladdin's father. They sneak into the Forty Thieves' hideout and are discovered, and their law demands they die. but Aladdin's father, Cassim, who is in fact the King of Thieves, gives Aladdin a chance to save their lives by defeating Saluk, one of the strongest members of the Thieves, in single combat, which he does. They learn from Cassim his past and his dreams and goals. That he desperately seeks the ultimate Treasure, the Hand of Midas, which can turn anything it touches into solid gold, and has proof in the form of a ship of gold. This causes Iago to take an instant interest in Cassim. When Cassim agrees to come to Agrabah, Iago helps him to get the scepter, but Razoul, the Captain of the Palace Guard, and the guards catch them in the act and the Sultan has no choice but to imprison them. Aladdin breaks them out and is forced to join them in their escape, but refuses to leave. Iago tries to convince Aladdin to come, not wanting him to get locked up, but Aladdin is prepared to face the consequences. They return to the lair only to be betrayed by the Forty Thieves under the command of Saluk, who survived his fight with Aladdin. With the scepter in their possession, they sail off to find the Hand of Midas, but Iago escapes and returns to Agrabah to warn them. They go to Cassim's rescue, and during the whole thing, Aladdin and Cassim finally settle their differences aside and truly become father and son. Returning to Agrabah, Cassim attends his son's wedding to his new daughter-in-law, but decides to leave to make a fresh start and a new life. Iago decides to accompany him in his adventures, saying, "You're a good guy, Cassim.... but not TOO good. HA HA!"

And with a wave of farewell to Aladdin and his new wife, Jasmine, they ride off into the night as Aladdin and Jasmine share a passionate kiss. He has a supporting role in the third movie and chooses to depart Agrabah with Aladdin's father Cassim at the end instead of staying with Aladdin and Jasmine on the grounds that he couldn't handle the "lovey-dovey" stuff.

Aladdin: The Animated Series
In the series he provides a sarcastic, realistic, or cowardly perspective on events and is only really willing to face danger if great reward is promised. He is sometimes forced to battle his conscience, acting more noble than might be expected. A particular example of this was when Sadira used her sand magic to alter history so that she was the princess and Jasmine the street-rat; the animals of Agrabah were the only ones who remembered how history should be, and while Iago could easily have adjusted to this new world, he instead risked his life and security to lead Abu and Rajah in finding Jasmine and restoring the world to normal. Iago's common schemes involve trying to sell anything with any value (real or not), trying to steal things, and trying to treasure-hunt. He can usually convince Abu to be his partner in crime, but Abu is rather less deceitful than Iago, due to his close friendship with Aladdin, and also more likely to run from danger.

Also during the series, he has a crush on the rain bird and protector of the rainforest, Thundra.

Disney Princess Enchanted Tales: Follow Your Dreams
Iago appears as a supporting character in this straight-to-DVD movie and he performs a musical number called "Peacock Princess" with Princess Jasmine.

Kingdom Hearts


In the video game Kingdom Hearts he is initially Jafar's sidekick, but then later is used by the player to assist in defeating Jafar. His Japanese voice actor in Kingdom Hearts is Akira Kamiya, and his voice actor in Kingdom Hearts II is Tōru Ōkawa. Gilbert Gottfried reprises his role in the English versions of both games. (An in-joke on an episode of the TV animated series has Iago running in panic after his face is turned into that of Gilbert Gottfried).

In Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories he makes a brief cameo appearance during the Boss battle against Jafar's genie form. During the battle, attacking Jafar has no effect. Rather, the lamp must be hit which is held up high by Iago, a la The Return Of Jafar. It can therefore be assumed that Iago is on the side of the good guys again.

In Kingdom Hearts II, like in The Return of Jafar, Iago leaves Jafar and returns to Agrabah in a slump after failing to make amends to Aladdin and Jasmine. When he unintentionally assisted Sora in the task of beating the Heartless and retrieving Jafar's lamp, he manages to gain everyone's trust. But that trust is soon shattered when Iago is forced to help Jafar yet again in keeping Sora and the others occupied at the ruins. Despite losing faith, Iago redeems himself by intentionally getting shot by a spell that Jafar intended to shoot at Aladdin. He survives and was forgiven after Jafar's defeat.

Aladdin (Genesis)
In the Genesis adaptation of Aladdin, Iago makes multiple appearances. In the SEGA loading screen, the Genie fires a starting pistol skyward, which hits Iago and brings him plummeting to the ground with a squawk.

He serves as an obstacle in numerous levels, flying back and forth in high places where Aladdin may be climbing or flying, though he can be dispatched with one thrown apple or a sword slash, and has no attacks.

Most importantly, Iago serves as an end-of-level boss to the level "The Sultan's Palace". Aladdin ends the level in Jafar's secret laboratory, where Iago is frantically working the storm machine from the first film. The storm machine summons ghosts which attack Aladdin, and barrels roll across the floor. Iago must be dispatched with apples. When Aladdin lands a hit with an apple, Iago will be spun around the gears a couple of times (as he was in the movie), though this does him no extra damage. The cut-scene following this battle explains that the fight was intended as a distraction so that Jafar could steal the lamp.

Other appearances
Like most characters from Disney's animated films, Iago made recurring appearances on Disney's House of Mouse, where the movies' continuity did not seem to matter, and Iago was depicted as either Jafar's sidekick or exhibiting his protagonist behavior.

Disney Parks
At Walt Disney World, along with Zazu from the Lion King, he appears as one of the hosts of The Enchanted Tiki Room.

Iago is also often seen on Jafar's shoulder.