‘What We Do in the Shadows’: Who Is The Djinn & How Did Nandor Get Him?

What We Do in the Shadows is one of the best comedy shows on TV right now, with no shortage of epic, hilarious characters. We have the ‘main five,’ being Nandor, Laszlo, Nadja, Colin Robinson, and Guillermo – but the side characters really flesh out the humor – like the Djinn from Season 4. But who exactly is the Djinn, and how did Nandor get him?

The Djinn is an actual unnamed djinn that first appeared in Season 4’s episode called The Lamp. Guillermo and Nandor found the lamp among Nandor’s ancestral treasures, rubbed it counter-clockwise, and the Djinn emerged, promising to grant numerous wishes to his new master, Nandor.

As the show progressed, we learned more about the Djinn and his background. For instance, we know that he had been granting wishes before, and Nandor wasn’t his first master. We also learn that the wishes he grants usually come with a twist, which he uses to teach his ‘master’ a lesson about greed, desire, lust, etc. Let’s learn more about this epic character.

Who is the Djinn in ‘What We Do in the Shadows’?

There are many awesome side characters in What We Do in the Shadows, like the Baron or Simon the Devious. However, Djinn stuck with people the most in Season 4. His snarky remarks and sarcasm directed at his ‘idiot’ masters were pure gold. So, who was the Djinn?

Portrayed by Anoop Desai, the Djinn was an unnamed djinn that lived within a magic lamp – kind of like the Genie in Aladdin. Once you rub his lamp properly, the Djinn emerges, and you become his master – or ‘client,’ if you will – until you spend all the wishes he has to grant.

In Season 4 of What We Do in the Shadows, Nandor becomes Djinn’s master and uses his wishes wildly for absolutely idiotic purposes. For instance, he revives 37 of his dead wives (male and female), only to kill them off one by one to find his true love. 

Throughout interviews with the camera crew, we learn more about Djinn and his ‘job.’ He is an incredibly powerful creature that can do anything you wish for but is bound by that silly master-servant law, which means that Djinn can only do what his master wishes.

He wears a brown suit with an oversized jacket, making him look like an annoyed college professor, irritated at how stupid his students are.

The thing about the Djinn that Nandor and the others didn’t know at first is that the Djinn liked to operate in a certain way. Sure, he grants you wishes, but they often come with a twist. 

The Djinn loved finding loopholes in one’s wishes to teach them a lesson about greed, desire, and lust, among other things, while showing them they should appreciate what they already have. So, for instance, if you wished to have a facelift, he could make your face look like… well, this.

After granting Nandor all of his wishes – most of which were a total waste – the Djinn felt pity on his former vampire master, giving him yet another lamp – but with much fewer wishes this time.

How did Nandor get the Djinn?

When returning to the US from his native ancient country of Al Qolnidar, Nandor brought his ancestral treasure with him, intending to use it as a dowry for a potential new wife. The treasure was so vast that it required an entire room to be kept.

He knew that he had a djinn lamp within his treasure but thought it was rendered useless, as he rubbed it numerous times to no avail. But, when Guillermo de la Cruz, his faithful familiar, suggested Nandor rub the lamp counter-clockwise, our Djinn was summoned and promised to grant Nandor his wishes.

How many wishes did Nandor get from the Djinn?

Nandor believed that the Djinn ought to grant him three wishes, as it’s commonly believed in mythology that djinns, genies (same thing, different cultures), and similar beings grant only three wishes.

Instead, Djinn informed Nandor that he has the power to grant him 52 – yes, 52 wishes. Almost immediately after he was summoned, the Djinn tricked Nandor into wasting one of his wishes. That particular moment perfectly showed us the Djinn might grant the wishes – but he is no stranger to trickery to teach his new ‘master’ a lesson or two.

Two things played a huge part in all those wishes eventually being useless. First, the Djinn knew how to find loopholes and grant the wishes, but with a little twist that made the wish more harmful than beneficial. The second was, of course, the fact that Nandor is a complete idiot.

He longed for true love, so he had the Djinn resurrect all of his 37 former wives because he couldn’t remember which one he loved. And then, one by one, he wished for the Djinn to kill them off again, wasting one wish at a time.

He also wished to have the wrinkles around his eyes disappear. Then he wanted more, and suddenly, he looked like plastic surgery had gone horribly wrong. Eventually, Nandor was left with only one wife – Marwa – who he believed was his true love.

But then, Marwa annoyed him, so he wished for her to be excluded from the main group’s shenanigans. Then, when they planned their perfect wedding, Nandor realized she disagreed too much, so he wished for her to agree with everything he said. It turned into a nightmare very fast.

And then, Nandor saw that Guillermo actually has a true love – a kind guy named Freddie. So, Nandor wished for Marwa to be turned into Freddie – an exact clone of him, so that Guillermo could have his Freddie, and Nandor could have his. Eventually, the two Freddies fell for each other while Guillermo and Nandor were both left alone.

Seeing how Nandor wasted all of his wishes, the Djinn felt sorry for him, so he gave Nandor another djinn lamp – only this one was much smaller and had only three wishes. The Djinn told Nandor to use them wisely – but you know that wouldn’t happen.

That means that the Djinn gave Nandor 55 wishes – 52 originally and three more with a second djinn lamp.

The Djinn likely won’t appear again, but the good news is that Season 5 of our favorite show is just coming out as we speak! What We Do in the Shadows is available on FX and Hulu.