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Benevolent Genie: Difference between revisions
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{{trope}}
[[File:JeannieAndTheCaptain.jpg|link=I Dream of Jeannie (TV)|
As it turns out, not all [[Genie in A Bottle|genies]] are by-the-book bureaucrats who are more interested in doing [[Literal Genie|exactly what you say]] than actually getting you what you want. Nor are they all [[Jackass Genie|complete jerks]] who seem determined to make whatever wish you utter cause suffering regardless of how well you word it. Some genies are just really cool. Maybe you helped them do something and [[Disproportionate Reward|they're giving away wishes as a legitimate reward rather than out of obligation.]] Maybe you're a [[Nice Guy|good person]] [[Hidden Heart of Gold|at heart]] and the genie just can't bear to screw you over at risk of helping the bad guys. Or maybe the genie is just so nice they can't even conceive of [[Make a Wish|granting a wish]] in a way that directly hurts good ol' master.
This is the [[Benevolent Genie]], the generally lesser-used character type of the three. This is because the very existence of such a genie is a [[Deus Ex Machina]] for most problems if the genie is so powerful they can just magic them away, becoming a [[Sidekick Ex Machina]]. One common way of adding conflict is to make the genie so ditzy that their usefulness can end up screwing things up in a [[Stop Helping Me!]] kind of way, by limiting the number of wishes that can be made, or at least giving the genie some sort of exploitable weakness.
Note that the attitude of this genie can quickly revert to one of the other two if they're exploited by a character they dislike enough.
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== Western Animation ==
* An animated version of the ''The Fisherman and his Wife'' tale on the ''[[Rocky and Bullwinkle]]'' show has a happier ending (and also replaces the fish with a mermaid but that's not important). The story follows the same plot, but in the end, the mermaid asks the fisherman what ''he'' wanted. When he says that all he wants is for his wife to be happy, the mermaid reverts things back to the way they were before -- except now the fisherman's wife appreciates what she already has instead of complaining about what she lacks. [[Unfortunate Implications]] aside, it was a pretty happy ending.
* The TV series version of ''[[Aladdin (Disney)|Aladdin]]'' has a female genie called [[Shout
** A different episode featured a benevolent "genie" surrounded by jackasses - it's a little fuzzy creature that grants the wish of whoever scares it as a defense mechanism. [[Pet the Dog|Iago befriends it]], and at episode's end, shows it a mirror while screaming. "Squirt scared himself", so its own wish is granted - to return to the homeland of its species.
* The genie in the Hanna Barbera cartoon ''[[Shazzan]]'' does this, promptly doing whatever the protagonists want. Except taking them home, which is ostensibly the whole plot. Mostly, he just answers wishes of "save us from this evil guy who wants your power". In the one cartoon where the bad guy succeeds, he uses a [[Literal Genie]] interpretation of his wish to [[Children Are Innocent|keep from killing his]] "real" masters.
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[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]
[[Category:Benevolent Genie]]
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