Duplicated Genie

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"The ever-impressive, the LONG CONTAINED, ever-impressive, but never duplicated (duplicated duplicated duplicated) GENIE OF THE LAMP!" —Genie, Aladdin

Some pieces of work have a character that feels very familiar for people who grew up in the 1990s. He or she is a Large Ham, often making pop culture references that seem anachronistic or too meta even for the time period, and perhaps they even inspire huge crowds to go along with them. Sometimes they make the crowds out of thin air.

It's the Genie of the Lamp! Except... it isn't. He or she may not even be a good guy!

The Duplicated Genie is a character that pays homage to the Genie from the 1992 Disney film Aladdin. They may be a crowd pleaser, and Break the Fourth Wall constantly. Audiences may not always like them, but they are entertaining.

Criteria include the following:

1) Large Ham personality that threatens to steal the show from other characters.

2) Making references that are anachronistic or meta to the setting.

3) Breaking or Leaning on the Fourth Wall.

4) They enjoy duplicating themselves, or in a villainous sense, inspiring/brainwashing people to go along with their show.

Musical numbers are optional but welcome. Wishes may or not be granted, and as Genie himself put it, "Ix-nay on the wishing for more wishes!"

Examples of Duplicated Genie include:

Trope Namer

• The Trope Namer is the Genie of the Lamp from Aladdin, Genie for short. In the original film, sequels and spinoff TV series, Genie is a Large Ham and an anachronistic show-stealer who references being in a movie at one point (reading the script to Aladdin). His only serious moments in the first film are related to his desires to be free. The series and Aladdin and the King of Thieves go into more Character Development, where we learn about the source of his powers and when he chooses to stay in Agrabah after seeing the world, helping "Al" as a friend and not as a master. By the time of King of Thieves, most people, including Aladdin, just respond to Genie's pop culture references with either nonchalance or rubbing their foreheads, as seen in the "Code Red" scene.
• In the 2019 Guy Ritchie Aladdin remake, Will Smith's take on the genie is more cynical and down-to-Earth. He is still is a ham, as shown in "Friend Like Me" and "Prince Ali", and outright breaks the fourth wall by rewinding the movie to see how Aladdin tricked him out of a wish. Genie says that he and Aladdin aren't friends, but still protects him from being brainwashed by Jafar, and saves his life by using a backdated wish contract while Aladdin is tied to a chair and drowning in the ocean. While he apologizes to Aladdin for using one of his wishes as soon as "Prince Ali" is out of danger, Aladdin doesn't care; he thanks the Genie for saving him. And later, when Aladdin is hesitating about using his last wish to free the Genie, Genie tells him that Jasmine loves Aladdin for who he is, not because he's a prince, and no magic can replicate that. The Genie loses all of his powers when he gets his freedom, becoming an ordinary human, and he couldn't be happier.
• Unsurprisingly, Aladdin both in its Broadway and California Adventures theatre incarnations would have Genie in full ham mode. Like the movie version, he breaks the fourth wall, makes anachronistic jokes, and duplicates himself. He can also summon backup dancers on a dime.
• Aladdin: The Series didn't just have Genie continue this trope. His Distaff Counterpart and Love Interest Eden is also as hammy and anachronistic. The difference between Eden and Genie is that she'll bend the rules to make sure that her charge Dhandi doesn't just get a sandwich for her first wish, but food that will last a lifetime. (It helps that Dhandi is a Heartwarming Orphan who saves the day with her second wish.) When Dhandi accidentally wishes they could stay together forever while intending to free Eden, Eden doesn't mind. She says that Dhandi needs someone to care for her, and it's not going to be forever.

Film

• Stan Lee is revealed to be a Cold Ham version of this in Guardians of the Galaxy Volume 2. He's a Watcher Informant in The Stinger, and it's implied that virtually every Stan Lee cameo we saw in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (and maybe the the three Sony Spider-Man franchises if we take that as canon) was the Watcher Informant visiting the timeline to report adventures to the Watchers. His last line in the film is, "I've got so many more stories to tell!" Sadly, these cameos would end with Stan Lee's death, though Marvel paid homage to him with a "Thank You Stan" logo for Captain Marvel.

Theatre

• Showing that this trope predated the Genie and is Older Than Steam, Robin Goodfellow, the fae creature who goes by the nickname "Puck", demonstrates these qualities minus the duplication in A Midsummer Night's Dream. He goes around commenting on the humans' and fairies' situations, sometimes messing with them on orders of King Oberon. While he didn't intend to turn Lysander and Hermia against each other, he can't help but snicker at the fireworks. The play famously ends with him addressing the audience saying that if they did not like the play, to pretend that it was all a dream. Sadly, he doesn't sing.
• Beetlejuice emulates the genie in his titular show. He breaks the fourth wall in his first lines by commenting how Lydia's emotional ballad is "Such a bold departure from the original source material!"

Video Games

• Flowey is a villainous example in Undertale. He doesn't just break the fourth wall, he smashes it right before his boss battle, literally! And yes, he makes references to things outside the game that wouldn't make sense to people trapped in the Underground, especially in the No Mercy Route, but even in Pacifist he talks about how if the player "wins", the game is over and he doesn't want that. During his Boss Battle, he sends many bullets with his face on it to try and kill you, over and over again.

Western Animation

• Paranormal Park reveals that Temeluchus the Demon King of all characters is this in the musical episode. He has a musical spell that Pugsley uses to turn the whole park into a musical as a distraction, and literally steals the show from Pauline Parker when it's his turn to sing. And yes, he loves Leaning on the Fourth Wall during this duet with Pugsley.
• Gravity Falls shows with Bill Cipher that if you make a character like the Genie into the Big Bad, he will be a crowd-pleaser. Bill shows repeatedly that The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You, that he knows Time Baby from a Bad Future for humanity, and that people love his hammy nature. Also, he will possess your body and use it to fall down a flight of stairs, For the Evulz, if you make a deal with him.