History Main / GenieInABottle

!Examples:

* Two in different ''{{Charmed}}'' episodes. The first genie gains his freedom simply through granting three wishes though he can choose to re-enter his bottle if he wants to. The second appears four seasons later and she must be wished free. Sadly there's two catches - one the genie is actually a powerful demon who was [[SealedEvilInACan sealed in the bottle]]. Two, whoever wishes the genie free is forced to take her place.

* [[SCPFoundation SCP]]-[[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-662 662]] (a.k.a. "Mr. Deeds") is a modern reworking of the classical djinni: A magical British butler who is bound to a silver bell. He faithfully serves whoever rings it, but has no powers other than teleportation and immortality. Other than that, he's just competent and polite.

* This (NSFW) Oglaf comic ''[[http://www.oglaf.com/simon.html Simon the Wanderer]]''.

In Arabic tales, most popularized in the west in the book ''[[Literature/ArabianNights 1001 Tales of the Arabian Nights]]'', the ''djinn'' were a variety of spiritual species, somewhere in between Angels and mankind, capable of great acts, both good and evil. Some of the greatest magicians in Arabic lore were able to capture djinn to their service, and tied them to items such as lamps or rings. Usually {{Djinn}} didn't ''have'' to [[MakeAWish give wishes]] to whoever helped them; if they did, it would be out of gratitude. Some Djinn get impatient and settle for just leaving if freed, or killing/tormenting whatever stupid human releases them. Also originally the wish was simply the djinn using their incredible powers. If their master wished for a castle, they built one. It may just take seconds because of the Genie's mystical powers and servants, but he still directly did the task. If they wanted money, the genie pulled it [[BagOfHolding out of their own coffers]]; a human's mind being unable to comprehend how much they had.

Most Genies often have a [[MagicAIsMagicA rule]] that they can ''only'' give their master ThreeWishes (and [[Disney/{{Aladdin}} ixnay on the wishing]] for [[GameBreaker more wishes]]!). If this is the case, expect a none-too-bright master to [[WastefulWishing waste the first one or two]] on [[MundaneWish pointless fripperies]] before learning their lesson and using [[RuleOfThree the third]] to make some meaningful change to their lives.

* ''OldKhottabych'' (or ''Starik Khottabych'') is a Russian book by Lazar Lagin about a Young Pioneer named Volka who finds an amphora at the bottom of a river. Volka opens the vessel, and an old genie named Hassan Abdul-rahman ibn Khattab, whom Volka just calls Khottabych. The genie is friendly and offers to serve his savior in any capacity. This was later adopted into a children's film. The novel also features a friend of Volka's who finds another ancient vessel and releases a second genie, who turns out to be Khottabych's older brother. Unlike the benevolent Khottabych, his brother has grown bitter after spending countless years in the vessel. At first, he was quite willing to grant his savior three wishes but, as years went on and nobody released him, he has grown resentful towards humans and has decided to kill his savior in a manner of the latter's choosing. The boy tries to outwit the genie and tells him he wants to die of old age. The LiteralGenie obliges and turns him into an old man. Khottabych manages to calm his brother down, though.

* ''TheIncredibleGenie''

* Jenji from ''Series/PowerRangersMysticForce'' (and by extension, his ''MahouSentaiMagiranger'' counterpart, Smoky). He's naughty, but not as malevolent as some, using loopholes to get out of granting wishes. The story of his imprisonment is told, unlike most: he went after a booby-trapped treasure, and being connected to the lamp by the SixthRanger is the only thing keeping him alive. If he's out too long, the curse will reactivate again, and he'll turn to dust.

[[folder:Music]]
* The Christina Aguilera song of the same name kind of seems to invoke this trope. It's a metaphor ("You gotta rub (her) the right way").
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
* In ''ComicStrip/{{Dilbert}}'', Dogbert rubs a lamp to see if there's a genie inside. He persists, and a genie eventually pops out:
-->'''Dogbert''': Yes!!! Ha, ha!! Now you must grant me three wishes!\\
'''Genie''': Get real, four-eyes. We don't have a binding contract here. I ''like'' living in a lamp. You disturbed me. I'm going to turn you into a wiener and go home.
* In ''{{Garfield}}'', Garfield comes across a genie in a cookie jar when he was going to get a cookie. When the genie was going to give him three wishes, the titular fat cat just walks away, muttering "Where's a cookie when you need one?"
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' has five main types of genies, each native to one of the different Elemental Planes (worlds made up entirely of a single classical element): the djinn from the Plane of Air, efreet for Fire, marid for Water, and dao for Earth; plus the jann, a weaker race of genies made up of all four elements that often serve the others. Djinn and efreet both have a limited ability to use the ''Wish'' spell for others and can be bound to certain magic items, namely the ''Ring of Djinni Calling'' and ''Efreet Bottle''.
** ''TabletopGame/{{Pathfinder}}'' has the same array of genies, except for the dao (whose name was copyrighted), which are replaced by the shaitan.

The [[MakeAWish wish]] that Genies grant have become a kind of RealityWarp that requires a human master. A genie may have powers they can use themselves, but nowhere near what they can do if a human says "I wish..." first.

!!Examples:

[[folder:Film]]
* The movie ''BernardAndTheGenie'' (starring Creator/AlanCumming, with LennyHenry as the Genie) is about this trope. And very funny.
* ''Film/{{Wishmaster}}''. The genie is in a jewel, and while it is explained that genies must grant wishes, they are then allowed to take your soul, and upon granting three wishes for the person who called them, a genie is free and can take over the world.
* ''TheIncredibleGenie''
* ''Film/TheThiefOfBagdad'', which [[strike:rips off]] borrows from the ''Literature/ArabianNights'' story "The Fisherman and the Genie".

* ''The Brass Bottle'' is a comedy about this with Burl Ives as the genie. Though she isn't a genie in it, Barbara Eden, later of ''Series/IDreamOfJeannie'' fame, is also in the cast.

* ''[[DisneyAnimatedCanon Disney's Aladdin]]:'' Genie was freed, but stuck around to help out with his weakened powers. The evil Jafar was also turned into a genie, and proved that his lamp was both a prison and a SoulJar, as he was killed when it was destroyed in the DirectToVideo sequel ''The Return of Jafar''. There was also a female genie named Eden, who lived in a bottle.

* ''{{Wishmaster}}''. The genie is in a jewel, and while it is explained that genies must grant wishes, they are then allowed to take your soul, and upon granting three wishes for the person who called them, a genie is free and can take over the world.

* In ''{{Fables}}'' the Djinn are a race of nigh-omnipotent super beings. They where forced into enchanted bottles due to their destructive natures. They are forced to grant three wishes to the wielder of their bottle, but with an added twist being that if the person doesn't use the third wish to put them bakc in the bottle the Djinn is free to do what ever it wants.

* There's one in The ''LazyTown'' episode "The Lazy Genie". Robbie orders a genie who at first only gives him one wish but gives him 3 after Robbie gives him some cake. Robbie then wishes for No More Sports Equipment and vegetables. But he didn't specify a a time so they return 5 minutes later. Then he wishes Sportacus away but he's too fast for The Genie and Robbie is wished away instead. Genie gives Sportacus a free wish who then gives to Stingy who wishes Robbie back. Wow. Just Wow.

->''"'''PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWER!!!!!!''' [-[[BlessedWithSuck Itty bitty living space.]]-]"''

* {{Shantae}} is the eponymous heroine of her series. She's a sexy female djinni of Arabesque design, lovable, clumsy, sassy and has limited magic powers. This is because she's only [[HalfHumanHybrid half-genie]], and she doesn't live in a bottle, but in a lighthouse.
** The sequel Risky's Revenge involves the BigBad stealing an oil lamp [[spoiler: Which can be used to enslave genies. Shantae, being half-genie, isn't enslaved, but has her magic power stripped, personified, and turned against her.]]

->''"'''PHENOMENAL COSMIC POWER!!!!!!''' [-Itty bitty living space.-]"''

[-[[caption-width-right:350:"[[RuleOfThree Three things I can't escape from]]: magic lamps--[[Series/IDreamOfJeannie the charms of Barbara Eden]]-[[AppliedPhlebotinum - And smoof stuff!]]"]]-]

* Makun from NagasareteAirantou, in direct competition with [[Manga/AzumangaDaioh Penguin Chiyo]] for title of "cutest damn thing to exist in a manga".

* HakushonDaimao: The Genie will grant wishes when someone sneezes. His clumsiness will often mess things up.