Vizier Rafaj – Jafar and Abbasid vizier Ja’far ibn Yahya
https://wiki.wizard101central.com/wiki/Creature:Vizier_Rafaj
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jafar_(Aladdin)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ja%27far_ibn_Yahya
In the Tomb of the Forgotten, Xerxes has left his chief advisor, Vizier Rafaj. Rafaj is in possession of the Gem of Levitation that Ozzy needs to be mobile once again.
“Aha! I knew Xerses wouldn’t raise me and then leave me here! I was his chief advisor! He’s testing me – he sent you so I can prove myself!” – Vizier Rafaj
Monstrology Tome Description
Though he promised that he would be one of the greatest viziers in history, these days, no one even remembers how to pronounce Rafaj’s name.
Jafar is a fictional character in Walt Disney Pictures’ animated film Aladdin (1992). He is voiced by Jonathan Freeman, who also portrayed the character in the Broadway musical adaptation. Jafar also appears in the 1994 sequel to Aladdin, but he is not in the 1996 third film or the television series, although he does return in the latter’s crossover Hercules and the Arabian Night.
An inspiration to the character is the villain Jaffar, played by Conrad Veidt in the 1940 United Artist film, The Thief of Bagdad, from which Aladdin borrows several character ideas and plot elements. The Jafar of Disney’s Aladdin plays essentially the same part as the character from the 1940 film, and is drawn with notable similarity to Veidt’s looks.
Jafar was also loosely based on the real-life Abbasid vizier Ja’far ibn Yahya.
Jaʽfar ibn Yahya Barmaki or Jafar al-Barmaki (767–803), also called Aba-Fadl, was a Persian vizier of the Abbasid caliph Harun al-Rashid, succeeding his father (Yahya ibn Khalid) in that position. He was a member of the influential Barmakid family, formerly Buddhist leaders of the Nava Vihara monastery. He was executed in 803 at the orders of Harun al-Rashid.
He had a reputation as a patron of the sciences, and did much to introduce Indian science into Baghdad. He was credited with convincing the caliph to open a paper mill in Baghdad, the secret of papermaking having been obtained from Tang Chinese prisoners at the Battle of Talas (in present-day Kyrgyzstan) in 751.
The current list of all the (known) Mirage references can be found here.
Although I am well versed in Pop Culture references but I do not claim to have caught them all. Let me know your favorites in the comments and if I’ve missed one you caught, let me know so I can add it to the list.
Text for this article is excerpted from the linked wiki pages
Vizier Rafaj image is from Wizard101, and is copyright of KingsIsle Entertainment
Jafar image is copyright Walt Disney
Folio from a manuscript of Nigaristan image is borrowed from Wikipedia and is in the public domain.
Image usage qualifies as fair use under US copyright law.
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