Gene the Genie is a centuries old childlike genie whose roots lie in the Middle East. For most of his life, he has been tied to an oil lamp, forced to fulfill three wishes for anyone who'd come to own the artifact. This wasn't the worst until he came in the possession of Merlock, a cruel and powerful magician with a talisman to make an unlimited amount of wishes. Gene's lamp was eventually stolen by Collie Baba and hidden away to be recovered in modern times by Scrooge McDuck. After a rocky start that was as friendly as it was exploitative, Scrooge wished for Gene to become a normal boy. He has since joined the McDuck Manor household.
He was voiced by the late Rip Taylor.
Character[]
Background[]
An estimate of Gene's age does not exist. All that is known is that he has been buried inside a pyramid for approximately 1000 years, but he could easily be a multiple of that considering he was around when the Vesuvius erupted. Similarly, it is unknown how many masters he has had, but the four that stand out in his history are Merlock, Collie Baba, Webby Vanderquack, and Scrooge McDuck. The magician Merlock derives his powers from his talisman and that talisman has the perk of lifting the three wishes limit Gene was beholden to. The talisman additionally is resistant to Gene's power and cannot be wished for by another. Merlock's first wish was for eternal life, after which he used Gene for whatever he fancied, including destroying entire cities for petty reasons. Gene did not escape him until his lamp was stolen by Collie Baba, who made his wishes and then hid the lamp away with his treasures in a pyramid. A millenium later, Scrooge McDuck led an expedition to find the treasure. They found it and Webby asked for the lamp to play with. Scrooge, unaware of the genie within, gave it to her to distract her from an expensive headpiece she also liked. When a trap was activated, the group only just escaped with their lives, but Webby got one piece of the treasure out: the lamp. She took it back to McDuck Manor, where a cleanup session of the lamp revealed the genie to her and Huey, Dewey and Louie. Although adamant about getting their wishes, the children took a liking to him and promised to hide him from Merlock and keep his identity as a genie a secret from the adults. They gave him the name Gene so he could pretend to be a regular boy. Scrooge found out anyway and made his own claim for wishes, getting to two before Merlock got back the lamp. He was defeated with great difficulty and Scrooge, acknowledging the mistakes made, uses his last wish to make Gene a regular boy.
Personality[]
Although Gene never had to personally fear anything from his masters, he has a well-developed conscience and feels the guilt of the whole of destructive wishes he's granted. His time with Merlock was particularly traumatizing. Even after a thousand years, the thing foremost on his mind was that Merlock would find him again. Gene hates the pressure and expectation of granting wishes by default, but to avoid the magician he will latch onto another master, even if he has to sweettalk them into taking the role. Ever since becoming a regular boy, Gene's worries of old have steadily seeped away to make room for his joie de vivre and inquisitive nature. It's all going a little slower than he's used to from his genie days, but he's happy this way.
Appearance[]
Gene is a small duck with white feathers. his notable traits are a relatively large beak and bushy grey eyebrows. He likes to have some form of headwear, but otherwise his fashion sense is what's comfortable and available.
Fiction[]
Boom! Studios comics[]
Upon Donald's instruction for Duckburg to fight back against the ink, Gene does so. "Dangerous Currency, Part 4"
Gallery[]
Notes[]
- Because Gene only appeared in Darkwing Duck as part of the cast of "Dangerous Currency", which is pseudo-canon at best, he's technically not part of Darkwing Duck canon.