Razoul is a minor antagonist in Disney's 1992 animated feature film Aladdin, and the captain of the Agrabah Guard. Razoul's position and merciless treatment towards delinquents made him a longtime rival of the notorious street rat, Aladdin.
Background[]
Personality[]
Razoul takes his job as Captain of Agrabah's Guards extremely seriously. He shows no sympathy for lawbreakers, whether young, old, male, or female. He appears to take pleasure from the authority he commands and performing acts of violence and is quite happy to carry out executions. However, he lacks the same crazed lust for power that characters like Jafar show and obeys his orders. Razoul is extremely loyal to the Sultan and Jasmine and cares a great deal about them beyond their royal status, as seen in several episodes of the television series. In the episode "Destiny on Fire", Razoul was notably depressed after the Sultan was captured by the villainous Aziz, and was relentless in his mission to rescue both him and Jasmine. When the Sultan was taken over by the spirit of Kileem's armor in "Armored and Dangerous", he eventually ordered Jasmine's execution, to which the reluctant Razoul was supposed to behead her. Recognizing his Sultan had gone insane, Razoul instead told Jasmine to run, staying behind as a distraction to allow the possessed Sultan to attack him (even though he knew he could easily be killed) so that Jasmine would have more time to escape.
Razoul does not believe that Aladdin truly loves Jasmine, voicing several times his opinion that Aladdin is just a power-hungry street rat, even when he is proven wrong on numerous occasions. Razoul is afraid that Aladdin will hurt Jasmine, and often tries to find an excuse to send Aladdin back to jail. Razoul is, however, capable of working alongside Aladdin whenever the situation demands it, despite Aladdin's history of making him look foolish.
Appearances[]
Aladdin[]
In the movie Aladdin, Razoul is one of Aladdin's enemies, becoming obsessed with capturing the street rat who constantly eludes him. A good example would be at the beginning during the song One Jump Ahead, when the palace guards are chasing Aladdin for stealing a loaf of bread which ends with Aladdin and his pet monkey Abu escaping by jumping out the window of a building and gliding away using a carpet. Razoul and several other guards jump out the window after them, only to uncontrollably fall straight down into a big wagon full of stinky manure at Crazy Hakim's Discount Fertilizer, resulting in him and the other guards getting filthy.
He later captures Aladdin and throws Jasmine to the ground (not recognizing her as the Princess), but when she angrily tells them to unhand Aladdin "by order of the Princess" (while revealing her identity in the process), he is shocked and instantly apologetic. When he asks her what she is doing outside the palace (and with Aladdin), she tells him that that is "none of (his) concern", but to do as she commands and release Aladdin. Razoul replies that he would, but Aladdin's arrest was specifically under Jafar's orders, and that she must speak with him. Jasmine then tells him "Believe me, I will."
Later on in the film, Jafar orders Razoul to have Aladdin (disguised as Prince Ali) thrown into the sea to drown. He is not seen again for the rest of the film.
The Return of Jafar[]
Razoul has a larger role in The Return of Jafar. He is first ordered to execute Iago by the Sultan, an act he was very happy to carry out. When the Sultan showed mercy, he told Aladdin that if Iago made one wrong move, he would come after Aladdin. When the Sultan was "murdered" (actually still alive and captured by Jafar), he arrested Aladdin for the murder under Jasmine's orders (despite the evidence against Aladdin being shaky at best), unaware that the princess was Jafar in disguise, and was very pleased to see him in a cell, and also with the order to execute him, until Genie saved him.
Although Razoul is not seen again after that, it can safely be assumed that, following Jafar's final defeat and death, the Sultan revealed himself to be alive to Razoul and he and everyone else explained Jafar's conspiracy to the captain, which led to him dropping the charges against Aladdin.
Aladdin: The Series[]
Razoul in the Aladdin television series.
During the TV series, although they are no longer enemies and Aladdin is engaged to marry Jasmine, Razoul's opinion of Aladdin remains the same, maintaining the strong animosity between them that often leads to conflict. Razoul's role also becomes slightly larger and he has several important appearances. In Forget me Lots, when Jasmine lost her memory from the Rose of Forgetfulness, Razoul was more than happy to throw Aladdin, Iago, and Abu out of the palace and into the streets thinking that the princess had finally rejected Aladdin. Razoul also admitted his opinion that Aladdin was a power-hungry street rat in Destiny on Fire when he and Aladdin were forced to work together, although he also admitted that he would give the idea of calling Aladdin "Your Highness" some consideration if he got rid of Iago.
Despite their mutual dislike for each other, Razoul does have some respect for Aladdin, demonstrated in Mudder's Day when Aladdin is buried under a rock slide and Razoul is the first (and only) one to rush to his rescue. He admits that Aladdin was the right person to be in charge, thanks to his bravery and ingenuity in rescuing even the guards. During the events of The Return of Malcho, although Razoul initially questioned Aladdin's leadership quality as the acting Sultan of Agrabah and also manipulated Aladdin's hesitant decisions, he and the other guards did come to Aladdin's aid when he worked at protecting Iago from Malcho. Once Aladdin decided to stop listening to both his and Iago's pointless advice, Razoul and the other guards then aided Aladdin with his plan that allowed them to trap Malcho.
Razoul showed a more heroic side in "Armored and Dangerous". Razoul arrested Jasmine under orders of the Sultan, who was possessed by the spirit of his tyrannical ancestor Kileem. When Kileem ordered Jasmine's execution, however, Razoul, as executioner, initially played along, but ultimately helped Jasmine escape (earning Kileem's wrath in the process).
Aladdin and the King of Thieves[]
Razoul in Aladdin and the King of Thieves.
In the final chapter, Razoul and his guards try to stop the Forty Thieves when they ambush Aladdin and Jasmine's wedding, but they are easily outmatched. Later, Sa'Luk, whom Aladdin had defeated for a place among the Forty Thieves, revealed the location of the thieves' hideout to Razoul, in exchange for immunity from prosecution. When Razoul arrested 31 of the thieves, Sa'Luk found out that Cassim and Aladdin were not among them. When Sa'Luk heard that Aladdin was in Agrabah, he assumed Cassim was too and reveals that Cassim, Aladdin's recently-arrived father, was the King of Thieves.
Razoul arrested Cassim and Iago for trying to steal The Oracle, but Aladdin broke Cassim out. Distracted, Razoul attempted to arrest Aladdin again but was knocked unconscious by Cassim. Though he tried to have Aladdin charged for this crime, Razoul's request was denied by the Sultan who chose to overlook the matter, because the Sultan saw that Aladdin broke Cassim out of prison for the sake of love since Aladdin admitted he invited his father to the wedding and that Aladdin had also come back to face punishment for his actions...and since Genie, posing as a western-esque lawyer, provided Razoul with a 20th-century police uniform and suitcase and sent him flying sky-high, calling him a "tertiary character in [his] big courtroom scene". The Sultan forgives Aladdin for his actions, much to Razoul's dismay.
In the end, Razoul catches the bouquet at Aladdin and Jasmine's wedding, indicating that he's finally learning to accept the former Street Rat.
Live-action appearances[]
Aladdin (2019 film)[]
Known as Hakim in this version, he is the head of the palace guards, and loyal to the Sultan with a slightly larger role and backstory as the son of a palace servant. He is portrayed by Numan Acar.
Numan Acar as Hakim in the 2019 live-action remake of Aladdin
He first appears when Prince Anders comes for Princess Jasmine's hand in marriage. Later, when Jafar catches Aladdin break into the palace to return Jasmine's bracelet, he orders Hakim and two palace guards to arrest him.
Later in the film, he watches during Prince Ali's parade and attempts to woo Jasmine. When Jafar becomes suspicious of Aladdin's identity, he orders Iago and Hakim to watch him. The morning after, Jafar now aware informs Hakim to capture Aladdin to which he does so again in the same manner. However, after Aladdin's survival and exposes Jafar for manipulating the Sultan, he arrests him and berates his "treachery" due to the law.
When Jafar escapes and returns to the palace with the lamp, Hakim initially tries to arrest him until Jafar wishes to be sultan. Due to this and Jafar reminding him that his duties are to the Sultan, he is ordered to arrest Jasmine, the real Sultan, and Dalia. However, when Jasmine gives an inspiring speech over Hakim's sense of honor and Jafar's disregard for Agrabah's people, Hakim apologizes before ordering the guards to arrest the vizier once again. Disappointed, Jafar makes his second wish to become the most powerful sorcerer in the world before teleporting Hakim and the guards to the dungeon cells.
Upon Jafar's defeat, all of his magic is undone, and as such Hakim is freed. At Aladdin and Sultan Jasmine's wedding, he is seen happily dancing with the guards.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Razoul was named after Disney layout artist, Rasoul Azadani.
- Though Razoul was unnamed in the original film, his name is officially revealed in the sequel The Return of Jafar.
- Hakim from the live-action film is based on Razoul, as he is the Captain of the Guards. Like Razoul, he hates Aladdin and wants to put him in the Dungeon, and also has a degree of disrespect for his men.
- In all three Aladdin movies, Razoul tried to assassinate Aladdin, only for Aladdin to be saved by the Genie (however, in the first two instances, Razoul was hoodwinked by Jafar into doing so);
- In the first film, Genie saves Aladdin's life after Razoul throws him into the ocean thanks to Jafar.
- In the second film, Genie saves Aladdin from being beheaded by Razoul after he was duped into believing Aladdin had murdered the Sultan and has been sentenced to death by Princess Jasmine—who was actually Jafar in disguise.
- In the third and final film, Razoul was about to punish Aladdin for freeing his father from the palace dungeons, only for the Genie sends him flying away with a rocket-propelled suitcase.
- The character named "Razoul" made an appearance in the live-action film in a minor role, portrayed by Robby Hayne, making a cameo in the Prince Ali sequence.
- Razoul has the exact same build as Sa'Luk, the main antagonist in Aladdin and the King of Thieves.
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