Abdul Fakkadi (G1)

Abdul Fakkadi is a human from the Generation 1 continuity family.

"There is no rebellion in Carbombya, we are facing Cobra militants!"

Abdul Fakkadi (also spelled Faghadi) is the self-professed Supreme Military Commander, President-for-Life, and King of Kings of the Socialist Democratic Federated Republic of Carbombya. One gets the feeling that if you were to inform him that, by definition, a republic cannot have a king (much less a "King of Kings"), his likely response would be to stare blankly for a long moment, and then order your immediate beheading.

None too bright and none too stable, Fakkadi is concerned primarily with the accumulation of wealth and keeping "fanatics" and "imperialists" away from his homeland's shores. He is not averse to making deals with Decepticons to help further these goals.

Fiction

The Transformers cartoon

Voice actor: Philip L. Clarke (English), Toshiro Ishii (Japanese), Wang Xiaobing (Chinese), Michael Rüth (German, "Thief in the Night"), Éric Etcheverry (European French, "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1"), Ayrton Cardoso (Portuguese, "Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1"), Dario Lourenço (Portuguese, Thief in the Night")

"I swear by this camel I am jockeying, you will find no stereotypes in Carbombya!"

When Outback and Blaster came looking for the Seekers, Fakkadi ordered the Autobots to leave his country, and acted offended that Decepticons would use his country as a hiding place. It turned out that the Seekers Dirge and Ramjet were hiding there. Whether or not Fakkadi knew is unaddressed. But as he was standing right next to Blaster and Outback, who saw the cons transform he probably did. Five Faces of Darkness, Part 1

Later, Fakkadi made a deal with Octane to allow him and hide Trypticon in Carbombya while he recovered after his battle with Metroplex. Trypticon served as a defense for Carbombya's coasts, while Fakkadi allowed Trypticon and Octane access to Carbombya's oil fields, making extremely powerful Energon. However, Trypticon's extreme fuel consumption angered Fakkadi. Worse, all the city did was shoot at passing tourist cruises (though in Trypticon's defense, he did think they were invading ships). Fakkadi threatened to call in the Autobots, but Octane managed to negotiate a deal, where Trypticon stole Fort Knox, and its gold, to appease Fakkadi. However, Fakkadi began forcing Trypticon to steal more monuments, to give Carbombya a thriving tourist trade.

"Your offering of cheese pleases me."

Unfortunately, Galvatron tracked down Octane, but he was able to appease the Decepticon leader by giving him Carbombyan Energon. Fakkadi refused to deal with the Decepticons, but his Autobot trump card did not have the same effect on Galvatron as it did Octane. Running out of options, Fakkadi tried to send a message to the Autobots, authorizing them to invade Carbombya, but Galvatron imprisoned him. However, the Autobots managed to force the Decepticons away from Carbombya. Rodimus Prime asked Fakkadi to return the monuments and never ally with the Decepticons again. Fakkadi promised the Autobot leader that he wouldn't make any more deals with the Decepticons, swearing by his relatives' various livestock. Thief in the Night

Transformers Legends anthology

With his country occupied by NATO forces, and himself ousted from power, Fakkadi became leader of the Carbombian Protection League, a group of freedom fighters working to take back their country. He was able to do a deal with Swindle to purchase advanced weaponry for the cause, however his persistence began to irritate the Decepticon. Swindle finally agreed to deliver the promised weapons, however after the handover took place, Fakkadi was arrested by NATO forces, along with his son-in-law Pak Milaton and financier Anton Surich. Protesting loudly that they couldn't do this to him, Fakkadi was pistol-whipped into submission by Major Bergstrum. Two for the Price of One

Notes

• The portrayal of Abdul Fakkadi as the stereotypical "evil Arab" prompted voice actor Casey Kasem, who himself was of Lebanese descent, to quit the Transformers series.^[1]
• Fakkadi is loosely based on real-world politician Muammar Gaddafi, the leader of Libya at the time of the cartoon's creation, and an on-again/off-again antagonist of the United States. Fakkadi's grandiose collection of titles, meanwhile, appears to be based on Idi Amin, though Gaddafi would eventually be named "king of kings" by a group of African rulers in 2008.^[2] Additionally, the title "King of Kings" could also be considered a reference to Haile Selassie.
• The spelling of Fakkadi as "Faghadi" is another reference to Gaddafi, who had at least thirty-seven acceptable spellings of his name.^[3]

Foreign names

• Japanese: Abdul Fakkadi (アブダル・ファカディ Abudaru Fakadi)

References

1. ↑ "After Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990, hate crimes and threats against Arab-Americans were reported across the United States. '"America’s DJ,"' Casey Kasem, writes about how anti-Arab stereotypes on television and in movies create a climate for such violence."—Kasem, Casey, Americans for Middle East Understanding, "Arab Defamation in the Media", 1990/12/05
2. ↑ "A meeting of more than 200 African kings and traditional rulers has bestowed the title "king of kings" on Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi."—BBC staff, BBC, "Gaddafi: Africa's 'king of kings'", 2008/08/29
3. ↑ The Evening Standard staff, The Evening Standard, "So how do you spell it?", 2004/03/29, updated 2012/04/13