Freeing the Genie

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Exactly What It Says on the Tin. Usually done with a wish something along the lines of: "I wish you were free" but it doesn't have be those exact words, or involve wishing. There are two basic forms; if it's a Benevolent Genie, the master may make this his final wish as a reward. If it's a Jackass Genie, such an act of selfless generosity may be the only way to get it on your side - see Wishplosion.

One interesting thing about this trope that should be noted: the reason the Genies are enslaved is almost never given. Originally, they were a race of beings told to obey men by God but they refused, and the wish-granting is their punishment. This is rarely mentioned, one exception is in I Dream of Jeannie, Jeannie was imprisoned by a more powerful, evil genie.

If the genie decides to continue helping you after you free it, it's a case of Sweet and Sour Grapes.

Subtrope of Wishplosion and Genie in a Bottle. See also Tricking the Shapeshifter.

Examples of Freeing the Genie include:

Comic Books

• In the XXXenophile story "Wish Fulfillment", the genie's mistress Zola, who was in love with him, tried to wish him free so they could be equals and lovers instead of mistress and servant. The genie explained that he could only be freed if she made a wish that he wanted to fulfill but could not. He couldn't, for example, create a rock so big he couldn't lift it as "I have no desire to give myself a hernia". After the two enjoy some highly energetic sex, Zola wishes that they could do it again immediately. The genie was so exhausted that he couldn't grant her wish, thus freeing him.

Zola(disappointed): Does that mean you can't do it? Beat Genie: Can you wait five minutes?

Fanfic

• In Discovery, a Fairly Oddparents fanfic, Timmy wishes Norm the Genie free in chapter 12: One Jump Ahead. Also was a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming.

Film

• A variation in The 7th Voyage of Sinbad. Near the end of the movie Sinbad throws the lamp into a river of lava, which frees the genie inside as prophesied.
• In Disney's Aladdin, Aladdin set the genie free at the end, and tricked Jafar into becoming a genie and being trapped in the lamp.
  • In The Return of Jafar, Jafar makes Abis Mal vow to make this. However, when it's most appropriate to do, Mal (very reasonably) gets cold feet.

Literature

• In Castle in the Air by Diana Wynne Jones, the sequel to Howl's Moving Castle, it is revealed that the Jerkass Genie freed at the end was actually Howl who'd been turned into a bottled genie by a more powerful djinn who wanted him and Calcifer out of the way.
• There's this short story where a girl has a wish egg. Its by Charles de Lint in the Waifs And Strays collection of short stories. At the end, she sets it free with her wish.
• One anthology of djinn stories had a tale where the genie had a succession of married couple masters, each of whom wished for "youth, wealth and power"—and each time he made the wishers younger (with correspondingly smaller wealth and power grants), until one of the wishers was young enough to trick into wishing him free.
• Subverted in the Dancing Gods series with the Lamp of Lakash. Anyone greedy enough to make a second wish from the lamp would automatically free the genie and take its place. The "three wishes" story was a clever dodge by the genies to get themselves freed by unwitting masters.

Live Action TV

• An episode of The X-Files had Mulder finding a genie in a carpet who was such a pain in the ass about being a Literal Genie this was the only wish that would work.
• "Addams Family Tree", an episode of The Addams Family, has a woman wish that a wishing well never existed so as to free the ghost trapped inside it.
• Are You Afraid of The Dark: The storekeeper who sold the protagonist the box containing a female genie accidentally becomes a genie himself when he wishes for a million wishes.
• Two episodes of Charmed dealt with genies, the first genie needing to grant three wishes in exchange for freedom. The second episode had Phoebe acquire a genie accidentally and when she wished her free, became the genie herself. And the genie turned out to be a demon who was imprisoned in the bottle as punishment.

Video Games

• In King's Quest V, the genie's first act upon being freed is to put the person who freed it into the lamp.
• In Adventure Quest Worlds, this was Zhoom's reason for destroying Zahart's ring in the Sandsea saga, which he had been using to control Tibicenas. Tibicenas promptly enslaves Zahart and escapes to the Djinn Realm to take revenge upon the Efreet, the ruler of all Djinn, for kicking him out. Nice Job Breaking It, Hero.
• Several examples in Baldur's Gate 2: Shadows of Amn:
  • In the first dungeon, you can free a genie imprisoned in a bottle by the Big Bad, which gets you a rather powerful sword for that portion of the game. (It's the sword used by the Big Bad of the first game.) One of the dialog options is actually a nice Lampshade Hanging: "You would be the proverbial genie in a bottle?"
  • No bottle or wishing involved, but in the final chapter in hell, there is an imprisoned genie you can either set free or kill. The latter gets you an incredibly powerful sword, but if you are of a non-evil alignment you should do the former.
  • Not in the original game, but a fan-made Game Mod expands upon the circus tent Sidequest. You can find out that Kala got his power from a genie, and he got himself killed before using the last of his Three Wishes. You can use the remaining wish, and one of the possible things to wish for is the genie's freedom, which nets you some Experience Points and a positive nudge of the old Karma Meter.

Web Comics

• Averted in The Wotch: http://www.thewotch.com/?epDate=2003-04-07 Such a wish is explicitly forbidden. Angelique does note however, that Jason planned to do it.

Western Animation

• Duck Tales the Movie Treasure of The Lost Lamp, when Scrooge uses his final wish to turn the genie into a real boy.
  • Also counts as a Crowning Moment of Heartwarming.
• Used in an episode of Samurai Jack. He attempted to rescue a captured fairy who can grant one wish, with which he could get home, but kills the only person who knew how to get her free. In trying to get her out, he gets himself trapped, and after a thinking for a few moments, decides what to wish for-- "I wish we were free."
• Chip 'n Dale Rescue Rangers subverted it: whoever frees the genie has to take their place (as the Literal Genie who appeared in the episode failed to mention). The genie tricked the wisher into replacing the genie by saying something about having infinite wishes...
• The Fantastic Voyages Of Sinbad the Sailor cartoon also had a freeing of the Genie at the end on one episode. How? By wishing that there was no lamp.