Iznogoud (pronounced "he's/is no good" with a French accent) is a French comics series featuring an eponymous character, created by the comics writer René Goscinny and comics artist Jean Tabary. The comic series chronicles the life and times of Iznogoud, the Grand Vizier of the Caliph of Baghdad at an undefined period in the past. His greatest desire is to replace the Caliph, leading him to repeatedly utter the phrase "I want to be Caliph instead of the Caliph" (dethrone him), a phrase that has been adopted in French and some other European languages to characterize overly ambitious people. Iznogoud is supported by his faithful servant, Wa'at Alahf (pronounced "what a laugh").
A l'époque des "mille et une nuits" dans un pays d'Orient, Iznogoud, le méchant et cruel vizir, n'a qu'une obsession : devenir calife à la place du calife. Aidé de son homme de main, Dilat Laraht, il met désespérément tout en œuvre pour parvenir à ses fins. Régulièrement, son homme de main, ou un personnage tiers lui en fournit l'idée. Malheureusement pour lui, la malchance réduit toujours à néant ses tentatives d'attirer le calife, Haroun El Poussah, dans ses pièges. Le ressort de chaque épisode est basé sur cette question : comment Iznogoud va-t-il échouer dans sa prochaine tentative?
In Baghdad the Magnificent reigns Haroun al Plassid, who is the Caliph. There also dwells Iznogoud, who wants to be the Caliph. The irascible Grand Vizier hatches plot after plot to remove his ruler and take his place—melting Djinn, invisibility spell, cursed diamond, voodoo doll… But no amount of cunning or obstinacy can make up for sheer, hilariously bad luck.