Jinn

Spelling: "Jinn" is more Arabic, "Djinn" is more Roman, and "Genie" is more English

The world is full of stories about the supernatural and the paranormal. From the Arabic world, one of the most prominent and enduring of those beings is the Jinn. The Jinn can take on many forms, as discussed in the podcast. They are fully sentient beings capable of having their own beliefs and societies and they reproduce...sometimes with humans.

The Jinn managed to cross from Arabic beliefs and into Islam, which should tell you a lot about the impact their legends. They're a sort of inbetween spirit being, not quite angels, but not quite demons either. With an origin story that takes them all the way back to creation itself.

They generally dislike humans, it is said that Satan was once a Jinn who rose through the ranks and refused to honor Adam leading to him being cast from heaven and becoming the leader of a host of spirits opposed to Allah.

Jinn fill many of the same familiar "monster" roles that can be found across the world. From ghosts that might haunt a place, to poltergeists that play tricks, to terrifying bloodthirsty ghouls that inhabit old graveyards and old battlefields, and Succubus/Siren type ghouls that pose as young weapon luring young men to their doom.

The most familiar Jinn to most of though, will of course be THE Genie.

Genie voiced by Robin Williams in Disney's 1992 movie Aladdin

Robin Williams absolutely owns that role by the way! But certainly there are more than few "genie" or "Jinni" stories around. The classic "A Thousand Nights and One" or "Arabian Nights" has several stories about Jinn trapped in bottles who end up granting wishes to their rescuers. There are also TV shows like "I Dream of Genie", and a Jinn makes an appearance in Netflix's "The Witcher".