History ComicBook / Iznogoud

* NegativeContinuity: Many, many stories end with Iznogoud seemingly irrevocably ruined, like being thrown into the dungeons in "Chop and Change", trapped in the far East in "The Magic Carpet", erased from existence in "The Magic Calendar", sent to another planet in "Iznogoud Rockets to Stardom" or outright ''killed'' in "The Jigsaw Turk." It never stops him from trying again. In a notable exception, the album ''Les Retours d'Iznogoud'' (''Iznogoud's Returns'') tries to explain how things returned to normal after some of the vizier's most infamous adventures. It does not always work, as many of those returns end with Iznogoud in an equally uncomfortable situation. That just raises further questions!

* BellyDancer:
** The opening credits of the show feature a brief scene of the Caliph being entertained by an entourage of dancers, even though their shadows are the only indicators shown.
** In "Hat's Off!", the animated version of "My Hat!", two dancers perform for the Caliph before revealing the new "bookshelf" the Caliph uses, with Iznogoud and Adulahf Alot as the bookends.

** The story "Calculated Risk" features a magical computer invented by a character named [[Creator/{{IBM}} I-Bee'Em]].

''Iznogoud'' (1962-) is a [[FrancoBelgianComics Franco-Belgian Comic]] book series created by Creator/ReneGoscinny (of ''ComicBook/{{Asterix}}'' fame) and illustrated by Jean Tabary (who took over writing the stories after Goscinny's death in 1977; following his retirement, his son Nicolas took over the art while the stories were penned by various writers, including Nicolas' brother Stéphane and sister Muriel). The title character is the [[EvilChancellor scheming, ambitious and power-hungry Grand Vizier]] of the fictional Caliph Haroun El-Poussah (Haroun El-Plassid in English). His obsession is to depose the Caliph by hook or by crook, and to set himself up as the new Caliph in his stead.

Interestingly, during the 1997-1998 TV season in Greece, a rather successful series called ''The Bad Vizier'' (due to the character inspired by Iznogoud having it as a surname) loosely based on the comic was created, with the caliph becoming a minister and his general secretary being the one to wish to replace him and take his position.

[[caption-width-right:297:Iznogoud and his CatchPhrase.]]

A live-action film in 2005, entitled ''Iznogoud'', premiered in French cinemas, and starring Michaël Youn as Iznogoud and Creator/JacquesVilleret as the Caliph.

* KickTheSonOfABitch:
** The three Caliph's brothers that Iznogoud made disappear in ''Caliph at Last''. While Troiround wasn't really developed enough to say if he was evil or not, Dheround was truly a bully that kept making deadly pranks to Iznogoud and mocking him for his small size and big nose. Katround was even worse, being a crazy man obsessed with making people disappear and attempting to literally erase Baghdad (including his well-intentioned older brother).
** A more obvious example in ''Who Killed the Caliph?'', where he has the Executioner (a greedy, sadistic man asking his childhood friend Wa'at Alahf a bribe for his mercy) [[LaserGuidedKarma tortured by his own previous victim]].

most interestingly during the 1997-1998 tv season in Greece, a rather successful series called the bad vizier (due to the character inspired by Iznogoud having it as a surname) loosely based on the comic was created. with the caliph becoming a minister and his general secretary being the one to wish to replace him and take his potition.

most interestingly during the 1997-1998 tv season in Greece, a rather successful series called the bad vizier (due to the character inspired by iznogoud having it as a surname) loosely based on the comic was created. with the caliph becoming a minister and his general secretary being the one to wish to replace him and take his petition.

* YankTheDogsChain: Iznogoud occasionally wins... very briefly. [[spoiler: He managed to become caliph four times:[[note]]This calculation does not take into account the times he thought he was already caliph, but only the times he actually became.[[/note]] 1 time temporarily ("The Day of Misrule"), 1 time interim (''A Likable Monster''), 1 time by resignation of the Caliph ("The Inspector Spectre") and 1 time by coup d'etat ("Chop and Change"), and this time he remained caliph for a long time.]]

** The Finnish translation uses [[AddedAlliterativeAppeal Ahmed Ahne]] as the name of the main protagonist (Ahmed being a stereotypically recognisable Oriental name, while his last name/[[TheMagnificent sobriquet]] means "avaricious" or "greedy"). His henchman is named Saunabad (sauna-bath, if you take the "bath" from Swedish) while the caliph is Harun El Pullah ("pulla" means a kind of bun and has connotations of a fat, lazy person).

An AnimatedAdaptation of the series, produced by [[Creator/SIPAnimation Saban International Paris]], premiered in 1995.

The comic was given a 52 episode AnimatedAdaptation in 1995, and a live-action film in 2005, entitled ''Iznogoud'' and starring Michaël Youn as Iznogoud and Creator/JacquesVilleret as the Caliph.

* NegativeContinuity: Many, many stories end with Iznogoud seemingly irrevocably ruined, like being thrown into the dungeons in "Chop and Change", trapped in the far East in "The Magic Carpet", erased from existence in "The Magic Calendar", or sent to another planet in "Iznogoud Rockets to Stardom". It never stops him from trying again. In a notable exception, the album ''Les Retours d'Iznogoud'' (''Iznogoud's Returns'') tries to explain how things returned to normal after some of the vizier's most infamous adventures. It does not always work, as many of those returns end with Iznogoud in an equally uncomfortable situation. That just raises further questions!

* BalefulPolymorph: One of Iznogoud's favourite types of scheme involves using a magic spell or object to transform the Caliph into an animal or object. Invariably, [[KarmicTransformation the spell will backfire and transform him instead]]. Just to give a few examples:
** "Likhwid's Bottle, or the Bottle of Likhwid" has Iznogoud buying an elixir, one drop of which will turn the drinker into a louse. What he doesn't learn until the sale is complete is that it's the ''last'' drop in a gigantic jug, and the disgusting elixir itself must be consumed undiluted. The vizier finds various ways to trick/force the Caliph into drinking endless bowls of the stuff, but when there is one drop left, inevitably it is Iznogoud who drinks it and turns into a woodlouse after he faints and the well-meaning Caliph tries to revive him with it.
** "Kissmet" features one of the classic examples of a BalefulPolymorph: a frog curse that can only be reversed by a kiss which turns the kisser into a frog. Iznogoud is surprised when it takes no subterfuge whatever to get the Caliph to kiss the frog suffering from the curse, whereupon the Caliph turns into a frog and the frog turns into a prince... who decides to claim the throne for himself and have the vizier executed. But the spell has a wrinkle: if a cursed frog kisses a human, both will turn into frogs. By the end of the story, Iznogoud has had to get himself a stay of execution by kissing the frog Caliph, leaving himself and Wa'at Alahf stuck as frogs, while the prince - the son of the Caliph's good friend Fattih al Midrif - exchanges greetings with his father's friend, and says he has a hankering for frog's legs...
** The title character in "The Genie" grants one wish to the person who polishes the slippers in which he resides; although he then returns to the slippers, he can be summoned repeatedly to grant new wishes. Most of the wishes he grants over the course of the story involve turning people into inanimate objects; Iznogoud first instructs him to turn the merchant who sells him the slippers into a hammer, then to turn a crowd of people into footstools, then to turn a palace guard into a wardrobe. Carelessly worded instructions lead him to accidentally transform Iznogoud into a worm; while Wa'at Alahf is able to get the genie to reverse the spell, he loses track of the slippers, which lead to a slave getting himself turned into a pumpkin and, on the final page, to the Caliph accidentally getting Iznogoud turned into a nail.
** "The Doggy Flute" sees the title object used by a Chinese wizard to turn rude people into dogs, so Iznogoud buys it to use on the Caliph. He first transforms the wizard into a dog as practice, then returns to the palace, playing the melody all the while so he doesn't forget it and turning everyone he passes into a dog. But when he tries to perform in front of the Caliph, [[RepeatedRehearsalFailure a competing flautist causes him to forget the melody]], so he rounds up all the dogs he has transformed and plays the melody that undoes the transformation, one dog at a time (in each case, getting beaten up by the irate victims of his spell), until he finds the wizard - who delivers LaserGuidedKarma to Iznogoud by grabbing the flute and turning him into a dog.
** In "Fairy Tale", Iznogoud contracts apprentice fairy Blunderbell to turn him into the Caliph, but she gets it wrong and turns the Caliph into Iznogoud instead, then both Iznogouds into Caliphs, and finally she ends up turning Iznogoud and his (accidentally created) clone into clothes irons.
** ''Caliph at Last'' reveals in a flashback that he did manage to make it work in his favor once in a really weird way: back when he was being bullied by the Caliph's brother Dheround, he once met an attractive fairy who had been turned into a hideous hunchback hag after mocking her own hunchback boss; the curse was so whoever mocked her hunch would inherit the curse, reverting her back to normal, but should she mock that person herself, she would get it back immediately - and since she couldn't stop herself from mocking any hunchback she met, she always ended up getting it back. Iznogoud solved the issue by tricking Dheround into mocking her; due to Dheround being already so much like a Camel that all he was lacking was a hunch, the curse turned him into a camel instead of a hunchback, and the fairy, seeing a camel with a hunch as perfectly normal, didn't feel the usual urge to mock.

* TheChewToy: Iznogoud's scheming makes him a magnet for comic disaster, usually thanks to his schemes backfiring on him. Whatever trap he tries to set for the Caliph - a one-way rocket into space in "Iznogoud Rockets to Stardom", a portal to an alternate dimension as in "The Black Chalk", a potion to turn him into a BalefulPolymorph as in "Likhwid's Bottle or The Bottle of Likhwid" - he'll end up falling into it himself.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Almost every story ends this way. Whatever magical object or scheme Iznogoud concocts to get rid of the Caliph, he'll end up falling victim to the scheme himself (leaving him imprisoned, TakenForGranite, turned into a BalefulPolymorph, trapped in another dimension, etc.). As if to add insult to injury, sometimes the Caliph will also fall into the trap - and quickly find a way out (often by accident) that won't work for Iznogoud.

* AndThenWhat: Something of a recurring problem for [[VillainProtagonist our dear vizier]]. For all he is ''happy'' to pronounce his desire to "BE CALIPH INSTEAD OF THE CALIPH!" to anyone who ''isn't'' the Caliph, he seems to forget at times that his ambitions would require a ''few'' things for a happy aftermath - such as a city to rule over. Take, for instance, one of his favorite tactics of infuriating an outsider - generally the [[TheDreaded Sultan Pullmankar]], but there are a few other {{Unwitting Pawn}}s for flavor, including Genghis Khan - into declaring war on Baghdad. ThePlan is that the invaders would claim a swift victory and place the Caliph in chains as a prisoner of war, leaving Iznogoud in charge! [[SarcasmMode And then those great warlords would merrily leave with their prisoner]], ''without'' taking Iznogoud, the [[EvilVizier second in command]] to the Caliph, and without [[PyrrhicVillainy looting or destroying enough of the city]] to interfere with Iznogoud’s fantasies of hedonism and power. Luckily for him, his schemes [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption never actually reach that point]].

* ExoticExtendedMarriage: The practice of polygyny is carried over from some real life Islamic cultures into the world of ''Iznogoud''; Caliph Haroun el-Plassid has multiple wives and [[MassivelyNumberedSiblings dozens of children]] (so many that he can't reliably remember all of their names), as does Sultan Pullmankar. In "A Calculated Risk", the Caliph and Sultan Pullmankar sign a marriage contract engaging the Caliph's 37th son to the Sultan's 42nd daughter.

** In "Dark Designs", Inzogoud acquires a magic pencil; when he draws a picture of someone or something and then tears the paper in half, the subject of the picture is banished to an alternate dimension. He can't get the spell to work until he takes art classes, and during an idle moment, [[CreatorCameo his teacher]] sketches Iznogoud. When Iznogoud's art skills have finally improved, he sketches the Caliph and tears the page in half... unaware his teacher's sketch of him is on the other side of the page, so that they are both banished, and the Caliph ends up as sovereign of the island to which they were sent.

** "The Golden Handshake" features Ghoudas Gho'ld, descendant of King Midas, who can only turn things into gold-plated versions of their original forms. Close enough, thinks Iznogoud, and he tries to get the unfortunate curse victim to shake the hand of the Caliph. But all manner of other things and people are turned into gold-plated statues instead, and finally Ghoudas and Iznogoud share a farewell handshake. Wa'at Alahf can see how this will end up as soon as Iznogoud announces the plan, and has a commemorative plaque and a wreath of flowers ready for the statue as soon as the transformation happens. [[spoiler: In ''The Returns of Iznogoud'', it was revealed that Ghouda's victims don't actually transform into statues, but are only covered in a metallic coating, and this is what saves Iznogoud.]]

* UnknownRival: Everyone knows that Iznogoud wants to be Caliph instead of the Caliph... everyone, that is, except the Caliph.

* YankTheDogsChain: Iznogoud occasionally wins... very briefly.

* WeDidntStartTheFuhrer: The comic has Hitler be an emissary of the Devil who was sent to our world to create destruction and terror as we discover in ''The Accomplice of Iznogoud''.

** "The Golden Handshake" features Ghoudas Gho'ld, descendant of King Midas, who can only turn things into gold-plated versions of their original forms. Close enough, thinks Iznogoud, and he tries to get the unfortunate curse victim to shake the hand of the Caliph. But all manner of other things and people are turned into gold-plated statues instead, and finally Ghoudas and Iznogoud share a farewell handshake. Wa'at Alahf can see how this will end up as soon as Iznogoud announces the plan, and has a commemorative plaque and a wreath of flowers ready for the statue as soon as the transformation happens.

** Wa'at Alahf was initially a rather humble servant with no agendas of his own. Later stories (like ''The Nighmarish Birthday of Iznogoud'') reveal that he has his own wicked schemes, including taking his own cut from everything that goes in or out of the palace, and making corrupt deals. One episode has Iznogood finding out that Wa'at Alahf is actually equally wealthy (or even wealthier) than Iznogoud himself.
** The Caliph was initially depicted as incompetent, but good-natured and rather harmless. Later episodes reveal him to have a cruel streak of his own. He had three younger brothers who could pose threats to the throne in ''Caliph at Last'', so he eliminated them from the order of succession (and seemingly allowed Iznogoud to exile them). Despite his friendliness to Iznogoud, he has threatened to execute him several times. In ''Who Killed the Caliph?'', he has the bad idea to hire a starving man as a food taster. When the Taster ends up eating all of the Caliph's food, the Caliph has him imprisoned (and, it is implied, tortured).

* AndThenWhat: Something of a recurring problem for [[VillainProtagonist our dear vizier]]. For all he is ''happy'' to pronounce his desire to "BE CALIPH INSTEAD OF THE CALIPH!" to anyone who ''isn't'' the Caliph, he seems to forget at times that his ambitions would require a ''few'' things for a happy aftermath- such as a city to rule over. Take, for instance, one of his favorite tactics of infuriating an outsider- generally the [[TheDreaded Sultan Pullmankar]], but there are a few other UnwittingPawn||s for flavor, including Genghis Khan- into declaring war on Baghdad. ThePlan is that the invaders would claim a swift victory and place the Caliph in chains as a prisoner of war, leaving Iznogoud in charge! [[SarcasmMode And then those great warlords would merrily leave with their prisoner]], ''without'' taking Iznogoud, the [[EvilVizier second in command]] to the Caliph, and without [[PyrrhicVillainy looting or destroying enough of the city]] to interfere with Iznogoud’s fantasies of hedonism and power. Luckily for him, his schemes [[FailureIsTheOnlyOption never actually reach that point]].