This article lists character information from the 1979 novel ''
The Neverending Story
''The Neverending Story'' (german: Die unendliche Geschichte) is a fantasy novel by German writer Michael Ende, published in 1979. The first English translation, by Ralph Manheim, was published in 1983. The novel was later adapted into several f ...
'' by
Michael Ende
Michael Andreas Helmuth Ende (12 November 1929 – 28 August 1995) was a German writer of fantasy and children's fiction. He is known for his epic fantasy ''The Neverending Story'' (with its 1980s film adaptation and a 1995 animated television ...
and
the film adaptations of the same name.
Bastian Balthazar Bux
Bastian Balthazar Bux is a shy and bookish boy, 10 or 11 years old, who is raised by his father and still mourning the sudden death of his mother (she died of an unspecified illness). He is a dreamer, who is shunned by other children due to his immense imagination. During a visit to an antique bookstore, he steals a curious-looking book titled ''The Neverending Story'', and upon reading it finds himself literally drawn into the story. Halfway through the book, Bastian becomes a character in ''The Neverending Story'', in a world called Fantastica ("Fantasia" in the films, sometimes).
As the story progresses, Bastian slowly loses his memories of the real world as his wishes carry him throughout Fantastica and change him into a completely different person. Deluded by the witch Xayide, Bastian moves to the Ivory Tower and tries to have himself proclaimed Emperor. The ceremony is interrupted by Atreyu, who is nearly killed by Bastian. Eventually, Bastian realizes that he is beginning to lose himself, and starts a desperate last-ditch quest for his one true desire. In the end, he forgets even his name, but with the help of Falkor and Atreyu, he manages to return to the human world with the capability of loving, and brings to his father the Water of Life, curing him of his melancholy. Bastian and Coreander exchange tales of their adventures in Fantastica, and Coreander reveals that a person can return to Fantastica as many times as they can think of new names for the benevolent Childlike Empress.
In the Hallmark mini-series "Tales from the Neverending Story", it is mentioned to Xayide, by the Great Turtle (Morla), that Bastian is not the only chosen one but that there is another. The identity of this child remains unclear throughout the remainder of the series, until Bastian is tricked upon rereading a chapter (after Xayide had caused her own demise by reading from the book) by his classmate Fallon, with whom he had started to bond, and thus finding out that Fallon is the other "Chosen One".
Bastian has been portrayed by five different actors:
* 1984:
Barret Oliver
Barret Spencer Oliver (born August 24, 1973) is an American photographer and a former child actor. He is best known for his role as Bastian Balthazar Bux in the film adaptation of Michael Ende's novel ''The Neverending Story'', followed by roles ...
in ''
The NeverEnding Story
''The Neverending Story'' (german: Die unendliche Geschichte) is a fantasy novel by German writer Michael Ende, published in 1979. The first English translation, by Ralph Manheim, was published in 1983. The novel was later adapted into several f ...
''
* 1990:
Jonathan Brandis
Jonathan Gregory Brandis (April 13, 1976 – November 12, 2003) was an American actor. Beginning his career as a child model, Brandis moved on to acting in commercials and subsequently won television and film roles. Brandis made his acting debut ...
in ''
The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter'' (J. Michael Haney, Jr. as Young Bastian)
* 1994:
Jason James Richter
Jason James Richter (born January 29, 1980) is an American actor and musician. He is best known for his role in the ''Free Willy'' film series as Jesse, the boy who befriends Willy the orca.
Early life
Richter was born on January 29, 1980, in M ...
in ''
The NeverEnding Story III
''The NeverEnding Story III: Escape from Fantasia'' (also known as: ''The NeverEnding Story III: Return to Fantasia'') is a 1994 fantasy-adventure film. It is the third and final film in the franchise. It stars Jason James Richter as Bastian Balth ...
''
* 1996: Christopher Bell provided the voice of the character in ''
The Neverending Story
''The Neverending Story'' (german: Die unendliche Geschichte) is a fantasy novel by German writer Michael Ende, published in 1979. The first English translation, by Ralph Manheim, was published in 1983. The novel was later adapted into several f ...
'' animated series
* 2001:
Mark Rendall
Mark Rendall (born October 21, 1988) is a Canadian film, television and voice actor whose roles include the lead in the 2004 film, ''Childstar'' and Mick in season 1 of the Canadian television drama series ''ReGenesis''. He played Bastian Bux i ...
in ''
Tales from the Neverending Story
''Tales from the Neverending Story'' is a single-season TV series that is loosely based on Michael Ende's 1979 novel ''The Neverending Story'', produced (in Montreal, Quebec, Canada during December 2000-August 2002) and distributed by Muse Enterta ...
''
Atreyu
Atreyu (German spelling: Atréju) is the protagonist of the mysterious book that Bastian reads. He is a young green-skinned warrior from the Grassy Plain. His parents were killed by a Purple
Buffalo soon after he was born, and his entire village raised him; wherefore his name means "son of all" in his native language. He is summoned by the Childlike Empress to save the land of Fantasia by finding a cure for her illness and given
Auryn
Auryn (; stylized as AURYN) was a 5-member Spanish boy band founded in 2009. Signed to Warner Music, they sang in English and Spanish.
Members
The band is made up of five members that appeared previously on various talent show series in Spain. ...
, an amulet that makes whoever wears it the Childlike Empress'
herald
A herald, or a herald of arms, is an officer of arms, ranking between pursuivant and king of arms. The title is commonly applied more broadly to all officers of arms.
Heralds were originally messengers sent by monarchs or noblemen to ...
. During the quest to find a cure, he meets Falkor the luckdragon, who becomes his steed after the death of his horse Artax.
Bastian, reading Atreyu's story in the real world, experiences everything Atreyu does; this proves Fantasia's solution and the Empress' cure, in bringing Bastian to Fantasia to give the Empress a new name. Atreyu plays a prominent role in the second half of the novel, as Bastian travels Fantasia far and wide as its savior. They quickly become friends, but as Bastian continues to use AURYN, he becomes arrogant and gradually loses his memories. When Bastian has lost even his name, Atreyu and Falkor offer favorable testimony to the powers in AURYN, who allow Bastian's return to the human world. With their friendship restored, Atreyu promises to finish the stories Bastian has begun in Fantasia.
In the 1984 film
''The Neverending Story'', the character of Atreyu is played by
Noah Hathaway
Noah Leslie Hathaway (born November 13, 1971) is an American actor and a former teen idol. He is best known for his roles as Atreyu in the 1984 film ''The NeverEnding Story'' and for portraying Boxey on the original television series ''Battlestar ...
. His skin is ultimately not olive green as described in the novel; though it was attempted to do this through makeup, it never made it to the final production. As such, his people were ultimately called the Plains People instead of Greenskins. The character returns in ''
The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter'', played by
Kenny Morrison
Kenny Morrison (born December 31, 1974) is an American actor, born in Los Angeles, California, who began his career as a child actor.
Morrison took over the role of Atreyu in '' The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter''. His first role was as ...
. In the 1995 animated show
''The Neverending Story'', Atreyu (voiced by
Dominic Zamprogna
Dominic Zamprogna (, ; born April 21, 1979) is a Canadian actor and voice artist. He is perhaps best known for his roles on the television series '' Edgemont'', ''Battlestar Galactica'' and ''General Hospital''.
Early life
Zamprogna was born in ...
) has a younger sister named Saiya (voiced by Ashley Taylor Tickell) and his outward appearance has been patterned after Noah Hathaway from the first film, although this version has green skin like his novel version. In the 2001
Hallmark Channel
The Hallmark Channel is an American television channel owned by Crown Media Holdings, Inc., which in turn is owned by Hallmark Cards, Inc. The channel's programming is primarily targeted at families, and features a mix of television movies and ...
mini-series
A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...
, ''
Tales from the Neverending Story
''Tales from the Neverending Story'' is a single-season TV series that is loosely based on Michael Ende's 1979 novel ''The Neverending Story'', produced (in Montreal, Quebec, Canada during December 2000-August 2002) and distributed by Muse Enterta ...
'', he is portrayed by
Tyler Hynes
Tyler Jeffrey Hynes (born May 6, 1986) is a Canadian actor.
Early life
Hynes was born in Toronto, Ontario, but later grew up on a ranch outside Ottawa. He began acting professionally at the age of eight.
Career
Hynes got his professional st ...
and the character's people are called the Woodland People. He is shown to have a romantic relationship with a young aviatrix called "Fly Girl", and to be something of a village innocent.
Carl Conrad Coreander
Carl Conrad Coreander (German spelling: Karl Konrad Koreander) is a cantankerous bookseller; Bastian finds and steals the Neverending Story from his store. The novel states that Mr. Coreander is one of the few humans who has been to Fantastica and returned. He and Bastian come to a better understanding and share telling the stories of their adventures to one another.
Coreander is portrayed by
Thomas Hill in the first film, and was the only actor who reprised his role in the second film; in the third film, he is played by
Freddie Jones
Frederick Charles Jones''Births, Marriages & Deaths Index of England & Wales, 1916-2005.''; at ancestry.com (12 September 1927 – 9 July 2019) was an English actor who had an extensive career in television, theatre and cinema productions for a ...
. In the cartoon series, Coreander is voiced by
Chris Wiggins
Christopher John Wiggins (January 13, 1931 – February 19, 2017) was an English-born Canadian actor.
Career
He started out as a banker in his home country before he began his acting career in Canada, where he moved in 1952.
Wiggins is probably ...
. In the 2001 television series, ''Tales from the Neverending Story'', he functions in a double role as a
wizard in Fantasia wherein he is called "the Curiosity".
The Childlike Empress
The Childlike Empress (German: Die Kindliche Kaiserin) is the monarch of Fantasia, who resides in the capital called the Ivory Tower (German: ''der Elfenbeinturm'') in the heart of the realm. Although she is nominally the ruler of Fantasia, she rarely interacts with the outside world. Should she die, Fantasia and all Fantasians would cease to exist. The amulet known as the
Auryn
Auryn (; stylized as AURYN) was a 5-member Spanish boy band founded in 2009. Signed to Warner Music, they sang in English and Spanish.
Members
The band is made up of five members that appeared previously on various talent show series in Spain. ...
is her emblem, and those who wear it are her representatives. As explained by Morla the Aged One, her lifetime is not measured in years, but by names, which only the imagination of a human child can give her. When she begins to need a new name, she begins to fade away, causing the Nothing to appear in Fantasia. She sends Atreyu on the Great Quest, which brings Bastian to Fantasia, and Bastian gives her the name of Moon Child, which restores Fantasia.
The Empress' description is that of an indescribably beautiful young girl, appearing no older than ten, yet much older than the oldest Fantasians. Her hair is snow-white, as is her gown, and her eyes are the color of gold, earning her the title Golden-Eyed Commander of Wishes.
The role was portrayed by
Tami Stronach
Tami Stronach (born summer 1972) is an actor, dancer, and professor.
Personal life
Tami Stronach was born in summer 1972 in Iran. Her parents were the archaeologists David Stronach from Scotland (1931–2020) and Ruth Stronach from Israel (; 19 ...
in
Wolfgang Petersen
Wolfgang Petersen (14 March 1941 – 12 August 2022) was a German film director, screenwriter, and producer. He was nominated for two Academy Awards for the World War II submarine warfare film ''Das Boot'' (1981). His other films include ''The Ne ...
's
1984 adaptation, by
Alexandra Johnes
Alexandra Johnes (born December 3, 1976) is an American documentary film producer and former actress. As a producer, Johnes is known for films including '' The Square'', '' Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson'', and '' Doubletime ...
in ''
The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter'' (1990) and by
Julie Cox
Julie Cox is an English actress. She played Princess Irulan in the Sci Fi Channel's 2000 miniseries ''Frank Herbert's Dune'' and its 2003 sequel, ''Frank Herbert's Children of Dune''. She also played The Childlike Empress in ''The Neverending S ...
(apparently as an adolescent) in ''
The NeverEnding Story III
''The NeverEnding Story III: Escape from Fantasia'' (also known as: ''The NeverEnding Story III: Return to Fantasia'') is a 1994 fantasy-adventure film. It is the third and final film in the franchise. It stars Jason James Richter as Bastian Balth ...
'' (1994). In the films, her hair is dark, rather than white, and in the first film, she is
dressed like a bride.
In the 1995 cartoon series, the Childlike Empress has golden hair and wears a green gown, and is voiced by
Lisa Yamanaka
Lisa Jai Yamanaka is a Canadian actress. She is known as the voice of Wanda Li in ''The Magic School Bus'' and Yoko in ''Timothy Goes to School''. Yamanaka is also known for her work on ''Babar'' and ''Resident Evil 2''. She is also credited as L ...
.
In the 2001 television series ''
Tales from the Neverending Story
''Tales from the Neverending Story'' is a single-season TV series that is loosely based on Michael Ende's 1979 novel ''The Neverending Story'', produced (in Montreal, Quebec, Canada during December 2000-August 2002) and distributed by Muse Enterta ...
'', the Empress, again depicted with dark hair, was played by Audrey Gardiner.
Engywook and Urgl
Engywook (German: Engywuck) and his wife Urgl are a quarrelsome pair of
gnome
A gnome is a mythological creature and diminutive spirit in Renaissance magic and alchemy, first introduced by Paracelsus in the 16th century and later adopted by more recent authors including those of modern fantasy literature. Its characte ...
s who live close to the Southern Oracle. Engywook is a research
scientist
A scientist is a person who conducts Scientific method, scientific research to advance knowledge in an Branches of science, area of the natural sciences.
In classical antiquity, there was no real ancient analog of a modern scientist. Instead, ...
who has studied the Southern Oracle and her three gates for most of his life but has never entered any. His wife Urgl often gets in his way while brewing potions in a large cauldron for healing wounded people. Engywook can observe the Riddle Gate, also known as the Sphinxes, from his telescope on a hilltop overlooking the first gate. In the book, Urgl removes poison from Atreyu and Engywook instructs him about the three gates that lead to the Southern Oracle. This scene is portrayed in the
1984 film.
In the first film, Engywook is played by
Sydney Bromley
Sidney Charles Bromley (24 July 1909 – 14 August 1987GRO Register of Deaths: AUG 1987 18 2293 WORTHING - Sydney Charles Bromley DoB = 24 Jul 1909 aged 78), credited as Sydney Bromley, was an English character actor. He appeared in more than si ...
and Urgl is played by
Patricia Hayes
Patricia Lawlor Hayes (22 December 1909 – 19 September 1998) was an English character actress.
Early life
Patricia Hayes OBE was born in Streatham,Dennis Barker, "Hayes, Patricia Lawlor (1909–1998)", ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biogra ...
.
In the third film of the series, Engywook (played by
Tony Robinson
Sir Anthony Robinson (born 15 August 1946) is an English actor, author, broadcaster, comedian, presenter, and political activist. He played Baldrick in the BBC television series ''Blackadder'' and has presented several historical documentaries ...
) and Urgl (played by
Moya Brady
Moya Brady (born 8 September 1962) is an English actress. Her roles include Breda McQueen on the Channel 4 soap opera ''Hollyoaks'' from 2018 to 2020.
Brady grew up in the seaside town of Blackpool, Lancashire, England. She has appeared in a ...
) have moved to a forest and still argue continuously. The house is stepped on by Bastian during his return trip to Fantasia, although it is then completely destroyed by the Nasties. The two go with Bastian, Falkor, and Bark Troll to find the Empress for help, but are stranded on Earth and arrive in
Alaska
Alaska ( ; russian: Аляска, Alyaska; ale, Alax̂sxax̂; ; ems, Alas'kaaq; Yup'ik: ''Alaskaq''; tli, Anáaski) is a state located in the Western United States on the northwest extremity of North America. A semi-exclave of the U.S., ...
, where they mail themselves to the others and return home, their house rebuilt.
In the 1995 cartoon series, Engywook and Urgl are voiced by Wayne Robson and Barbara Byrne.
Falkor
Falkor (German: Fuchur) is a companion of Atreyu and Bastian. He is the only
Luck Dragon (German: ''Glücksdrache'') to appear, although five others are mentioned in passing. He helps Atreyu find a cure for the Empress after escaping the web of Ygramul the Many. The original name ''Fuchur'' is derived from the Japanese . It was changed in the English translation because the pronunciation of the original name is similar to an English swear word. Personality-wise, Falkor is optimistic, friendly, dignified, helpful, and wise, trying to help Bastian remember to "never give up and good luck will find you".
Falkor has an elongated body with rudimentary paws and pearly white scales that glitter pink. He has a
lion
The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...
-like head as long with a white mane and bushes of white hair on his limbs and tail. His eyes are given the color of rubies. In the illustrations of the German novel, he appears much like a
Chinese dragon
The Chinese dragon, also known as ''loong'', ''long'' or ''lung'', is a legendary creature in Chinese mythology, Chinese folklore, and Chinese culture at large. Chinese dragons have many Outline of life forms, animal-like forms such as Bixi (my ...
or his appearance is of a
camel
A camel (from: la, camelus and grc-gre, κάμηλος (''kamēlos'') from Hebrew or Phoenician: גָמָל ''gāmāl''.) is an even-toed ungulate in the genus ''Camelus'' that bears distinctive fatty deposits known as "humps" on its back. C ...
; whereas a cover for the book by Dan Craig illustrated Falkor as
lion
The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...
-like; and in the 1984
film adaptation
A film adaptation is the transfer of a work or story, in whole or in part, to a feature film. Although often considered a type of derivative work, film adaptation has been conceptualized recently by academic scholars such as Robert Stam as a dial ...
of the novel, Falkor has
canine features upon a white-furred body, not unlike a
Great Pyrenees
The Pyrenean Mountain Dog
(french: Chien de Montagne des Pyrénées) is a breed of livestock guardian dog from France, where it is commonly called the Patou. The breed comes from the French side of the Pyrenees Mountains that separate France an ...
dog, and is pleased by affectionate scratchings behind his ear. Luckdragons possess neither an immense physical strength nor great magical talents, though they can exhale blue fire. Their only distinctive ability is incredible luck in everything they do, as shown when Falkor locates and rescues his companion after being lost in a violent, blinding storm. Luckdragons never stop drawing air and heat through their scales, which makes eating unnecessary and makes submersion in water deadly to them. Luckdragons are capable of sleeping while flying and prefer to occupy as much open space as possible.
Falkor is very wise, incredibly optimistic, dignified, and a very friendly sophisticated being from Fantasia. He gives advice to people when they have lost hope in many things they set out to do whether in a quest for what they seek or in some cases people and beings have given up altogether and lost faith. Mostly during the Nothings destruction of Fantasia, he helps Atreyu along the way of his quest to stop The Nothing. Falkor's attitude purely comes from his heart, it is proven that his openness to making friends means a lot to everyone he encounters, into which Falkor in return treasures every friendship he has. Falkor however never wants to make enemies, only those who are threats to his friends or threats in general towards Fantasia itself.
There is no knowledge of anyone or anything in Fantasia who has been hostile towards Falkor, only The Nothing and G'mork were his only true foes. The other thing to point out is that Falkor never likes to be alone, he is always wanting to be close or even in the company of other beings or creatures of Fantasia, Falkor loves to have friends and ones who he knows will be loyal to him and not betray his goodwill and open heart. Falkor also likes to look after and shelter those who have been injured or are unconscious or even maybe, in general, he likes to keep people safe within his reach, this is proven as Atreyu ends up sleeping in Falkor's paws within the duration of when Atreyu was in his recovery phase after he was rescued from the Swamps of Sadness by him.
In the first film, Falkor is voiced by
Alan Oppenheimer
Alan Oppenheimer (born April 23, 1930) is an American actor. He has performed numerous roles on live action television since the 1960s, and he has had an active career doing voice work since the 1970s.
Early life
Oppenheimer was born in New Yor ...
.
In the second film, Falkor is voiced by an uncredited Donald Arthur.
In the third film, Falkor is performed by Gord Robertson and voiced by
William Hootkins
William Michael "Hoot"Austin Mutti-MewseObituary: William Hootkins ''The Guardian'', November 14, 2005, accessed December 13, 2012. Hootkins (July 5, 1948 – October 23, 2005) was an American actor, best known for supporting roles in Hollywood b ...
.
In the cartoon series, Falkor is voiced by Howard Jerome.
Bavaria Film Studios retains a "side view Falkor" which tourists can climb and ride. The prop is the last remaining version of Falkor from the original film and was used for blue-screen side angle shots.
Gmork
Gmork is the servant of the power behind the Nothing. He is a
werewolf
In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely or ...
(German: ''Werwolf'') and his appearance in the book is that of a large,
wolf
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...
-like creature with night-black fur and capable of human speech; but the film gives him blue-black fur and luminous green
cat
The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...
-like eyes, as well as more fangs than an ordinary wolf would have. He, and other dual-natured creatures like him, are able to travel between worlds, changing into a Fantastican or a human depending upon the world.
Atreyu finally meets Gmork in Spook City, where he is chained, and Atreyu employs the name Nobody to hide his identity in shame of his failure to complete his quest. Gmork confesses that he has been hunting a boy sent on a quest by the Childlike Empress to find her a new name, but lost him early on. He then met the Princess of Darkness, Gaya, who upon hearing of his mission to help the Nothing, chained Gmork with an unbreakable chain and leapt into the Nothing, leaving him to starve. Gmork explains to Atreyu the nature of the Nothing, and that a Fantastican who enters it, must become a lie in the human world. Eventually, Gmork reveals the name of the boy he is pursuing, and Atreyu reveals his identity, which causes Gmork to laugh until he finally succumbs to starvation. As Atreyu approaches the dead wolf, the carcass grabs Atreyu in its jaws, which, ironically, prevents Atreyu from succumbing to the overpowering urge exerted by the Nothing to throw himself into it. He is freed from Gmork's grip by Falkor, who escapes with him to the Ivory Tower.
In the film, Gmork almost manages to kill Atreyu in the Swamps of Sadness, but Atreyu is saved by Falkor. Their meeting in Spook City occurs in the film as well, where Gmork attacks Atreyu, impaling himself on an improvised stone knife held by the young warrior.
In the cartoon series, Gmork has a
werewolf
In folklore, a werewolf (), or occasionally lycanthrope (; ; uk, Вовкулака, Vovkulaka), is an individual that can shapeshift into a wolf (or, especially in modern film, a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature), either purposely or ...
-like appearance and is voiced by
Don Francks
Don Harvey Francks (February 28, 1932 – April 3, 2016), also known by his stage name Iron Buffalo, was a Canadian actor, musician and singer.
Career
Don Harvey Francks was born on February 28, 1932, and was adopted shortly after his birth. H ...
.
In the Hallmark mini-series "Tales from the Neverending Story"; Gmork is a shapeshifter in the service of Xayide. He also has the ability to travel in between worlds. In fact at the beginning of the series he causes the death of Bastian's mother, under the appearance of red eyed Groenendael (a variety of a
Belgian Shepherd
The Belgian Shepherd (also known as the Belgian Sheepdog, Belgian Malinois, or the Chien de Berger Belge) is a breed of medium-sized herding dog from Belgium. While predominantly considered a single breed, it is bred in four distinct varieti ...
). Later on he assumes the identity of Mr. Blank, a substitute teatcher in Bastian's school. When in Fantasia Gmork mostly takes on the form of a human with canine features. His role also changes from more menacing at the beginning to that of more comical underling, after being punished by Xayide for his inability to steal the book from Bastian. At the end of the series he is assumed to be shot with an arrow by Atreyu; but his fate remains unclear.
Grograman
Grograman (German: Graógramán), also known as The Many Colored Death (German: Der Bunte Tod), is the guardian of Goab, the Desert of Colors, which exists in a
symbiosis
Symbiosis (from Greek , , "living together", from , , "together", and , bíōsis, "living") is any type of a close and long-term biological interaction between two different biological organisms, be it mutualistic, commensalistic, or parasit ...
with Perilin the Night Forest. He appears in the form of a huge
lion
The lion (''Panthera leo'') is a large Felidae, cat of the genus ''Panthera'' native to Africa and India. It has a muscular, broad-chested body; short, rounded head; round ears; and a hairy tuft at the end of its tail. It is sexually dimorphi ...
, who changes colors to suit the color of sand under his feet and changes all life around him into sand. Grograman turns into an
obsidian
Obsidian () is a naturally occurring volcanic glass formed when lava extrusive rock, extruded from a volcano cools rapidly with minimal crystal growth. It is an igneous rock.
Obsidian is produced from felsic lava, rich in the lighter elements s ...
statue at night to allow the growth of Perilin. Grograman is the first creature Bastian meets upon his arrival in Fantastica. Bastian is protected from the effect of Grograman's death aura by
Auryn
Auryn (; stylized as AURYN) was a 5-member Spanish boy band founded in 2009. Signed to Warner Music, they sang in English and Spanish.
Members
The band is made up of five members that appeared previously on various talent show series in Spain. ...
and is thus the first living being ever to make friends with him. Grograman is the first one who teaches Bastian something of the nature of Fantastica and he gives Bastian his magic sword Sikanda. One night, Bastian is called away. He promises to return but is ultimately unable to keep his promise.
In the animated series, Grograman (voiced by Gary Krawford) is a fire lion who burns down Perilin to protect Fantastica from being overrun by its roots and branches. He is later captured by Xayide and freed by Bastian.
Morla
Morla, also known as The Ancient One (German: Die Uralte), is a giant
turtle
Turtles are an order of reptiles known as Testudines, characterized by a special shell developed mainly from their ribs. Modern turtles are divided into two major groups, the Pleurodira (side necked turtles) and Cryptodira (hidden necked tu ...
who lives in the Swamps of Sadness: as the oldest living Fantastican, she has grown indifferent to the fate of Fantastica and her own survival. Reluctantly, she informs Atreyu that the Empress needs a new name and points Atreyu to the Southern Oracle. In the book and film, Morla has an allergy to youth (Atreyu) and sneezes violently in his presence. The film's version also knows nothing about the illness of the Empress but sends Atreyu directly to the Southern Oracle.
In the cartoon series, Morla is voiced by
Pam Hyatt
Pamela "Pam" Hyatt (born April 9, 1936) is a Canadian actress who played Noble Heart Horse in 1986's '' The Care Bears Movie II: A New Generation'' and the voice of Kaede in the English version of ''Inuyasha'', guest-starred in USA Network's '' ...
.
The Old Man of Wandering Mountain
The Old Man of Wandering Mountain (German: Der Alte vom Wandernden Berge) is an elderly chronicler (German: ''Chronist'') whose chronicle contains all events in Fantastica. He lives alone in an egg-shaped home on top of the Wandering Mountain, which can be found only by chance or fate. The Old Man appears in the story when the Childlike Empress is forced to use drastic measures to make Bastian fulfill his part in the story. As she approaches his mountain, the Old Man tries to dissuade her from entering to the point of insulting her. On her request, the Old Man reads from his chronicle (starting with Bastian entering the book store). As he reads, all events happen again and as they happen again, he writes them down again beginning a vicious circle of eternal repetition which drives Bastian into calling out the Empress' new name.
It is told in the book (Atreyu says it) that the Old Man is from the same nature of the Childlike Empress (whatever this nature is, nobody knows and is never explained) because He is the opposite of Her in everything (the Empress herself says). Indeed, he is an unfriendly, grim, ugly, old man who lives lonely, far from everywhere, in an eternal wandering abode that can only be found by chance; while she's a nice, sweet, beautiful, young girl who lives surrounded by a court in a tower located at the very center of Fantastica, that can be found by desire; plus, he writes everything about Fantastica but doesn't care for anything at all, while she cares for all of Fantastica but doesn't write at all.
The Old Man ultimately does not appear in the
first film, and his appearance in the
third film differs drastically from the novel. He possesses the Great Book which can seemingly write the future on its own accord. He dwells in a hidden crystal cave where he can see outside events using a magic mirror. He is visited by the Childlike Empress and her guard Big Head, who remain with him until the end of the Nasty crisis. In this film, he grovels before the Empress and sees it as an honor that the monarch would visit him.
Pyornkrachzark the Rock-Biter
Pyornkrachzark (German: Pjörnrachzarck) is a Rockbiter (German: ''Felsenbeißer'', also spelled ''Felsenbeisser''), a large creature made of stone. The Rockbiter species are named due to their diet of rocks and earth-based materials. The Rockbiter seen in the film particularly has a liking for limestone. In the novel and the first film, the Rockbiter appears early among the messengers sent to see the Childlike Empress at the Ivory Tower during the Nothing crisis. In the first film, he ultimately reappears, encountered by Atreyu. He has lost faith in himself after failing to save his travelling companions from the Nothing, and advises Atreyu to flee. Near the end of the film, he and his two traveling companions wave at Bastian as he flies by on Falkor.
In the second and third films, Rockbiter's wife appears in the third film and his son appears in the second and third. Rockbiter Junior is the same size as a human and is rather gluttonous and playful. He is sent to Earth during a wish overload caused by Bastian, Falkor, Bark Troll, Engywook, and Urgl; whereupon he is saved from falling to his death by Falkor and they are reunited with Bastian. Rockbiter and his wife nearly split due to the absence of their son and the further effects of the Nasties, who are in possession of the book and
Auryn
Auryn (; stylized as AURYN) was a 5-member Spanish boy band founded in 2009. Signed to Warner Music, they sang in English and Spanish.
Members
The band is made up of five members that appeared previously on various talent show series in Spain. ...
; but the family is reunited at the end of the film. Rockbiter also sings a rather corrupt version of ''
Born To Be Wild
"Born to Be Wild" is a song written by Mars Bonfire and first performed by the band Steppenwolf. The song is often invoked in both popular and counter culture to denote a biker appearance or attitude. It is most notably featured in the 1969 fi ...
'' by
Steppenwolf. In the cartoon series, Mr. and Mrs. Rockbiter are voiced by
Harvey Atkin
Elliot Harvey Atkin (18 December 1942 – 18 July 2017) was a Canadian actor best known for his roles as Morty Melnick in '' Meatballs'', Sergeant Ronald Coleman in ''Cagney & Lacey'', and for voicing King Koopa in ''The Super Mario Bros. Super S ...
and
Jayne Eastwood
Jayne Eastwood (born December 17, 1946), also credited as Jane Easton or Jane Eastwood, is a Canadian actress and comedian. She is best known for her film roles as Anna-Marie Biddlecoff in the comedy film ''Finders Keepers'' (1984), Judy the Wai ...
while Rockbiter Junior is voiced by
Lisa Yamanaka
Lisa Jai Yamanaka is a Canadian actress. She is known as the voice of Wanda Li in ''The Magic School Bus'' and Yoko in ''Timothy Goes to School''. Yamanaka is also known for her work on ''Babar'' and ''Resident Evil 2''. She is also credited as L ...
.
Gluckuk
Gluckuk (German: Ückück) is a Tiny Man (''Winzling'') riding a
racing snail (''Rennschnecke''). He was sent by his race to see the Childlike Empress at the Ivory Tower during the Nothing crisis. In the film, he is ultimately called Teeny Weeny and portrayed by
Deep Roy
Gurdeep Roy (born Mohinder Purba; 1 December 1957), known professionally as Deep Roy, is a Kenyan-British actor, puppeteer, and stuntman. At tall, he has often been cast as diminutive characters, such as Teeny Weeny in ''The NeverEnding Story' ...
. In the cartoon series, Gluckuk and his racing snail are voiced by
John Stocker.
Vooshvazool
Vooshvazool (German: Wúschwusul) is a Nighthob (''Nachtalb'') who rides on a
bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most bi ...
. He was sent by his race to see the Childlike Empress at the Ivory Tower during the Nothing crisis. In the 1995 cartoon series, the Nighthob is voiced by Adrian Truss.
Blubb
Blubb is a
will-o'-the-wisp
In folklore, a will-o'-the-wisp, will-o'-wisp or ''ignis fatuus'' (, plural ''ignes fatui''), is an atmospheric ghost light seen by travellers at night, especially over bogs, swamps or marshes. The phenomenon is known in English folk belief, ...
(German: ''Irrlicht'') sent by his race to see the Childlike Empress at the Ivory Tower during the Nothing crisis. In the cartoon series, Blubb is voiced by John McGrath.
The Southern Oracle
The Southern Oracle (German: Das Südliche Orakel), also known as Uyulala (''Uyulála''), is a mysterious all-knowing
oracle
An oracle is a person or agency considered to provide wise and insightful counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. As such, it is a form of divination.
Description
The word '' ...
guarded by three magical gates. She is depicted as a disembodied female voice who speaks in rhymed speech and otherwise sings ceaselessly to maintain her existence. To speak with Uyulala, one must pass through the three gates:
* The ''first gate'' is the Great Riddle Gate, which consists of two
Sphinx
A sphinx ( , grc, σφίγξ , Boeotian: , plural sphinxes or sphinges) is a mythical creature with the head of a human, the body of a lion, and the wings of a falcon.
In Greek tradition, the sphinx has the head of a woman, the haunches of ...
es who face one another. Those caught between their gaze are frozen on the spot and doomed to remain until they solve every riddle in the world or until they die.
* The ''second gate'' is the Magic Mirror Gate, a moon-like mirror that reflects the truest nature of the observer. This often frightens people into retreat or hysteria; but the observer, to pass this gate, must walk through its reflection.
* The ''third gate'' is the No-Key Gate, an indestructible keyless door that responds to a person's will. Only by losing the desire to enter may one get it to open.
Once past, Atreyu learns the reason why the Childlike Empress is ill and what he must find in order to restore her health. Uyulala is then quiet and the Southern Oracle with its three gates is silently destroyed by the Nothing. Passing through the first two gates causes Atreyu to first lose all fear, and then all memory of himself. This allows him to open the No-Key Gate, where Bastian's voice keeps Atreyu from wandering.
The film version of the Southern Oracle shares the generalities, but the first gate judges whether the person attempting to pass through it "feels his own worth"; if the person is doubtful of its ability to pass through safely, the two Sphinxes incinerate the visitor. The second gate is a mirror-like the novel's description, located in a snowy wilderness and there is ultimately no third gate. The Oracle itself is ultimately two blue glowing Sphinxes like the yellow sphinxes at the first gate and speaks in prose. As with the novel, the Oracle crumbles and dies after revealing the cure for the Childlike Empress' condition.
In ''Tales from the Neverending Story'', a hero must pass through the Riddle Gate, which tests his confidence in himself. He must then answer a riddle and pass through a mirror that displays the necessary thing he needs. In the case of Atreyu, he lands in a library owned by the
wizard nicknamed "the Curiosity" who teaches him to read. Thereafter, he passes through a glass door on which the name Uyulala is inscribed, to find the Oracle much as she is described in the novel. In ''
The Neverending Story
''The Neverending Story'' (german: Die unendliche Geschichte) is a fantasy novel by German writer Michael Ende, published in 1979. The first English translation, by Ralph Manheim, was published in 1983. The novel was later adapted into several f ...
'' cartoon series, the Southern Oracle is depicted as two sphinxes facing each other and are voiced by Ellen Ray Hennessy.
Xayide
Xayide (German: Xayíde) is an evil
sorceress who appears later in the book after Bastian enters the world of Fantasia. Xayide lives in a castle-shaped like a hand, called Horok the Seeing Hand, because its multitude of windows appears like human eyes. Xayide's most striking physical features are her heterochromatic red and green eyes. She can control anything empty, and thus she employs as guards empty suits of plate armour. She presents to Bastian a warm and worshipping exterior, in the hope to herself replace the Childlike Empress as ruler of Fantasia. Realizing she cannot defeat Bastian by force, she persuades him to invade the Ivory Tower. After losing Bastian, she is crushed to death by her iron minions who resist her wanting magic.
Xayide is portrayed by actress and model Clarissa Burt in ''
The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter'', which is loosely based upon the second half of the novel. In the adaption, she is the personified avatar of an entity similar to the Nothing, called the Emptiness, which is born of the dying imagination of the collective human species. In both media, she gives Bastian the belt Ghemmal, which turns its wearer invisible and was intended to spy on Atreyu. She meets her end in the film when Bastian uses his last wish to give her a sense of compassion, whereupon she destroys herself to amend the damage done by her.
Xayide is the main villain in the 1995 cartoon series voiced by
Janet Laine-Green
Janet-Laine Green (born December 31, 1951) is a Canadian actress, film director, director, film producer, producer and teacher, active for over 25 years. Best known for her roles in ''She's the Mayor'', ''Seeing Things (TV series), Seeing Things'' ...
.
In the miniseries ''
Tales from the Neverending Story
''Tales from the Neverending Story'' is a single-season TV series that is loosely based on Michael Ende's 1979 novel ''The Neverending Story'', produced (in Montreal, Quebec, Canada during December 2000-August 2002) and distributed by Muse Enterta ...
'', Xayide is portrayed as the Childlike Empress' sister and the ruler of a Dark City.
Xayide's iron minions
Xayide has made use of minions made of armor and resemble empty suits of armor.
In the second film, these creatures were called "Giants" because of their towering size and possess a horned crustacean-like appearance and lobster-like claws. When Bastian wishes for Xayide to have a heart, the giants are destroyed alongside their master. It took 19 men from Munich in Germany to portray these giants.
In the cartoon series, the Giants appear as foot soldiers of Xayide.
Ygramul
Ygramul The Many (German: Ygramul, die Viele) is a creature that lives in the land of Dead Mountains. She is portrayed as a
shapeshifter
In mythology, folklore and speculative fiction, shape-shifting is the ability to physically transform oneself through an inherently superhuman ability, divine intervention, demonic manipulation, sorcery, spells or having inherited the ...
, who often takes the form of a giant
spider
Spiders ( order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species ...
and builds webs to catch its prey. The creature is actually composed of many little
hornet
Hornets (insects in the genus ''Vespa'') are the largest of the eusocial wasps, and are similar in appearance to their close relatives yellowjackets. Some species can reach up to in length. They are distinguished from other vespine wasps by th ...
-like
insect
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...
s who share a single hive mind. Ygramul's poison is deadly and kills within one hour, but grants the victim the ability to teleport to any location within Fantastica before succumbing to its effects. In the novel, this poison is the means by which Atreyu travels to the home of Engywook and Urgl, near the Southern Oracle. At this point in the story Falkor the luckdragon is introduced; he is caught in Ygramul's web, and also uses the power of Ygramul's poison to follow Atreyu. The lingering effects of the poison are nursed out of the two by Urgl, while Engywook, a scholar of the Southern Oracle, instructs Atreyu on the challenges he is to encounter within the Oracle's demesne.
In ''
The Neverending Story
''The Neverending Story'' (german: Die unendliche Geschichte) is a fantasy novel by German writer Michael Ende, published in 1979. The first English translation, by Ralph Manheim, was published in 1983. The novel was later adapted into several f ...
'' cartoon series, Ygramul is shown in her spider form and is voiced by
Marilyn Lightstone
Marilyn Lightstone (born 28 June 1940) is a Canadian stage, film and television actress and writer.
Biography Early life and education
Born in Montreal, Quebec, Marilyn Lightstone graduated from Baron Byng High School in 1957. She went on to ...
. In "To Save Falkor", Bastian encountered Ygramul in the Dead Mountains while looking for a cure for Falkor's illness.
Other characters
Bastian's Dad
Bastian's Dad (portrayed by
Gerald McRaney
Gerald Lee McRaney (born August 19, 1947) is an American television and film actor. McRaney is best known as one of the stars of the television shows ''Simon & Simon'', '' Major Dad'', ''Promised Land'' and ''House of Cards''. He currently stars ...
in the first film,
John Wesley Shipp
John Wesley Shipp (born January 22, 1955) is an American actor known for his various television roles. He played the lead Barry Allen on CBS's superhero series ''The Flash'' from 1990 to 1991, and Mitch Leery, the title character's father, on ...
in the second film,
Kevin McNulty in the third film) is described to have grown distant from his son after the death of his wife, although this changes when he and Bastian are reunited at the end of the book.
In the second film, Bastian's father is given the first name Barney Bux and follows Bastian's journey by reading the book and reunited with his son at the conclusion of the film.
In the third film, he appears to have no memories of reading the book. He marries a woman named Jane and thus gains a new family, along with a daughter named Nicole who plays a main role in the third film.
Bark Troll
Bark Troll is an anthropomorphic
tree
In botany, a tree is a perennial plant with an elongated stem, or trunk, usually supporting branches and leaves. In some usages, the definition of a tree may be narrower, including only woody plants with secondary growth, plants that are ...
-creature supporting character and friend of Bastian who appears in ''
The Neverending Story
''The Neverending Story'' (german: Die unendliche Geschichte) is a fantasy novel by German writer Michael Ende, published in 1979. The first English translation, by Ralph Manheim, was published in 1983. The novel was later adapted into several f ...
'' cartoon and the third film which is based on the characters as they appeared in the animated series. He is loosely based on three characters of a species called bark trolls, which appeared to advise Atreyu about the Nothing.
In the third film, Bark Troll is performed by Kaefan Shaw and voiced by
William Hootkins
William Michael "Hoot"Austin Mutti-MewseObituary: William Hootkins ''The Guardian'', November 14, 2005, accessed December 13, 2012. Hootkins (July 5, 1948 – October 23, 2005) was an American actor, best known for supporting roles in Hollywood b ...
.
In the 1995 cartoon series, Bark Troll is voiced by Richard Binsley and serves as Bastian's occasional companion.
Cairon
Cairon the Black Centaur (German: Caíron, der Schwarz-Zentaur) is a
herald
A herald, or a herald of arms, is an officer of arms, ranking between pursuivant and king of arms. The title is commonly applied more broadly to all officers of arms.
Heralds were originally messengers sent by monarchs or noblemen to ...
of the Childlike Empress and in-between bearer of
Auryn
Auryn (; stylized as AURYN) was a 5-member Spanish boy band founded in 2009. Signed to Warner Music, they sang in English and Spanish.
Members
The band is made up of five members that appeared previously on various talent show series in Spain. ...
who passed it to Atreyu. In the novel, he appears as an elderly black
centaur
A centaur ( ; grc, κένταυρος, kéntauros; ), or occasionally hippocentaur, is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse.
Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as being ...
with his lower half with the striped pattern of a
zebra
Zebras (, ) (subgenus ''Hippotigris'') are African equines with distinctive black-and-white striped coats. There are three living species: the Grévy's zebra (''Equus grevyi''), plains zebra (''E. quagga''), and the mountain zebra (''E. zeb ...
.
In the first film, he ultimately appears as a tall-headed
humanoid
A humanoid (; from English ''human'' and ''-oid'' "resembling") is a non-human entity with human form or characteristics. The earliest recorded use of the term, in 1870, referred to indigenous peoples in areas colonized by Europeans. By the 20t ...
and is portrayed by
Moses Gunn
Moses Gunn (October 2, 1929 – December 16, 1993) was an American actor of stage and screen. An Obie Award-winning stage player, he is an alumnus of the Negro Ensemble Company. His 1962 off-Broadway debut was in Jean Genet's ''The Blacks,'' and ...
.
By his name and status of a
centaur
A centaur ( ; grc, κένταυρος, kéntauros; ), or occasionally hippocentaur, is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse.
Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as being ...
and physician, Cairon is an allusion to the
mythological Greek Chiron
In Greek mythology, Chiron ( ; also Cheiron or Kheiron; ) was held to be the superlative centaur amongst his brethren since he was called the "wisest and justest of all the centaurs".
Biography
Chiron was notable throughout Greek mythology ...
.
Dame Eyola
Dame Eyola (German: Dame Aiuóla) is a
plant
Plants are predominantly photosynthetic eukaryotes of the kingdom Plantae. Historically, the plant kingdom encompassed all living things that were not animals, and included algae and fungi; however, all current definitions of Plantae exclud ...
taking the form of a motherly woman who lives in the House of Change, who cares for Bastian.
The Four Heroes
The Four Heroes are swordsmen who appear in the second half of the novel, said to be the bravest and strongest warriors in all of Fantastica, who participate in a tournament in the Silver City of Amarganth. One is identified as Hero Hynreck (or ''Huunreck''), who is infatuated with Princess Oglamar; the other three, Hykrion, Hysbald and Hydorn, accompany Bastian on his journey and swear allegiance to him. They are often portrayed as cheerful beings, but when Bastian decides to make himself an emperor, they get drunk and become useless. They survive the battle against Atreyu's rebellion but lose track of Bastian, and go their separate ways to look for him.
The Four Heroes ultimately do not appear in the film adaptations of the novel. However, Hykrion, Hysbald and Hero Hynreck appeared separately in episodes of the ''Tales from The Neverending Story'' television series; "The Gift of the Name", "Home Sweet Home", "Badge of Courage", and "Deus Ex Machina".
Ilwan
Ilwan (''Iluan'') is a blue
genie
Jinn ( ar, , ') – also romanized as djinn or anglicized as genies (with the broader meaning of spirit or demon, depending on sources)
– are invisible creatures in early pre-Islamic Arabian religious systems and later in Islamic mytho ...
with a
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...
's
beak
The beak, bill, or rostrum is an external anatomical structure found mostly in birds, but also in turtles, non-avian dinosaurs and a few mammals. A beak is used for eating, preening, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food ...
in place of his nose and mouth. Ilwan appeared in the novel where he became one of Bastian's closest servants but was killed during the battle for the Ivory Tower.
Querquobad
Querquobad, the Silver Sage is the ruler of the silver ship city of Amarganth, which was built by the Acharis and swims on a lake made by their tears.
Large Head
Large Head (voiced by Colin Fox) is a human with a large forehead in the 1995 animated series. He works as an advisor to the Childlike Empress where he and Bastian do not often see eye to eye. The two of them once worked together to solve the attacks on a mountain path by a mountain creature.
Shadow Goblin
Shadow Goblin (voiced by
Benedict Campbell
Benedict Campbell (born June 12, 1957) is a Canadian actor whose work has consisted primarily of providing voices for television cartoons, video games and acting on stage, particularly at Canada's Stratford Festival between 1965 and 2000. Early i ...
) is a character in the animated series who is the master thief of Fantasia. The Shadow Goblin wants nothing more than to become the richest creature in Fantasia.
Vermin
Vermin (voiced by
Len Carlson
Len Carlson (September 2, 1937 – January 26, 2006) was a Canadian voice actor who has voiced various characters on many animated television series from the 1960s onward, an occasional live-action TV actor, and a Kraft Canada TV pitchman dur ...
) is a
bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most bi ...
-winged
rat
Rats are various medium-sized, long-tailed rodents. Species of rats are found throughout the order Rodentia, but stereotypical rats are found in the genus ''Rattus''. Other rat genera include ''Neotoma'' ( pack rats), ''Bandicota'' (bandicoot ...
who is the Shadow Goblin's henchman. Vermin's job is to spy all over Fantasia for something worth stealing and the Shadow Goblin is the one who steals it. While Shadow Goblin wants to become rich, Vermin mostly thinks about food.
Shexper
Shexper/Shakespeare is mentioned as a past traveller to Fantastica in Chapter XVIII when Hykrion, Hysbald, and Hydorn sing a song (
"When that I was a little tiny boy, With Hey, Ho, the wind and the rain..."). They mention that that song was sung by one called "Shexper", which is a mispronunciation of the name "Shakespeare".
Smerg
Smerg (''Smärg'') is a
dragon
A dragon is a reptilian legendary creature that appears in the folklore of many cultures worldwide. Beliefs about dragons vary considerably through regions, but dragons in western cultures since the High Middle Ages have often been depicted as ...
created by Bastian for Hynreck to slay and prove his worthiness to Princess Oglamar. He had the tail of a
scorpion
Scorpions are predatory arachnids of the order Scorpiones. They have eight legs, and are easily recognized by a pair of grasping pincers and a narrow, segmented tail, often carried in a characteristic forward curve over the back and always end ...
, back legs of a
grasshopper
Grasshoppers are a group of insects belonging to the suborder Caelifera. They are among what is possibly the most ancient living group of chewing herbivorous insects, dating back to the early Triassic around 250 million years ago.
Grasshopp ...
, body of a rat, and wings of a
bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most bi ...
, with the heads of an old man and old woman instead of eyes.
He appears in the second film as a normal dragon when Bastian wishes him into existence (as in the novel). He was ultimately meant to be a new steed to carry Bastian to Horok Castle. It didn't go well and attacked him. Bastian and Atreyu followed Smerg to Horok Castle where it was destroyed by its defenses.
Tri-Face
Tri-Face (portrayed by Christopher Burton) is a three-faced scientist who is Xayide's servant in the second film. Each face represents a part of his personality and spins into place depending on his mood. This character is based on a figure from the novel named ''Four-Quarters Troll'' (''Vier-Vierteltroll'') or ''Temperamentling'', who becomes a member of Bastian's entourage.
A similar character named Threehead is a three-headed knight and Xayide's servant in the 1995 animated series voiced by James Rankin. Each of Threehead's personalities is represented by a different head and pop up depending on his mood. The blue-haired head is his happiness and loyalty, the red-haired head is his sadness and fear, and the green-haired head is his anger and pure evil.
Yikka
Yikka (''Jicha'') is a female
hinny
A hinny is a domestic equine hybrid, the offspring of a male horse (a stallion) and a female donkey (a jenny). It is the reciprocal cross to the more common mule, which is the product of a male donkey (a jack) and a female horse (a mare). The hi ...
who acts as Bastian's steed during the second half of the novel. She is quite faithful to him, but under Xayide's influence, Bastian allows her to leave his side to start a family with an attractive male
pegasus
Pegasus ( grc-gre, Πήγασος, Pḗgasos; la, Pegasus, Pegasos) is one of the best known creatures in Greek mythology. He is a winged divine stallion usually depicted as pure white in color. He was sired by Poseidon, in his role as hor ...
.
Yor
Yor is the picture miner of Yor's Minroud, a mine from which he excavates dream pictures (which make up the soil of Fantastica), who helps Bastian find his lost dream.
Fantastican creatures
The following is a list of creatures appearing in different media adaptations of ''The Neverending Story'':
* Acharis —
Worm
Worms are many different distantly related bilateral animals that typically have a long cylindrical tube-like body, no limbs, and no eyes (though not always).
Worms vary in size from microscopic to over in length for marine polychaete wor ...
-like creatures so ashamed by their own ugliness that they hide underground and constantly cry. Their acidic tears eat away the soil around them, allowing them to mine Fantastican silver, which they use to construct beautiful buildings. Bastian pities them and transforms them into the Shlamoofs: anarchistic, clown-faced butterfly-like creatures who destroy all of the work they did as Acharis. They pursue Bastian and demand that he becomes their leader, but they are driven off by Atreyu and Falkor.
* Blondycats – Feline creatures with shaggy blonde fur, no bigger than a five-year-old child.
* Four Winds
Giant
In folklore, giants (from Ancient Greek: '' gigas'', cognate giga-) are beings of human-like appearance, but are at times prodigious in size and strength or bear an otherwise notable appearance. The word ''giant'' is first attested in 1297 fr ...
s — Four giants who guard the winds of Fantastica. They constantly fight with each other, which causes the separation of Atreyu and Falkor in the novel. The four of them by name are: Lirr, the black North Wind, Sheerek, the sulfur-yellow South Wind, Baureo, the leaden-gray East Wind, and Mayestri, the fiery-red West Wind. Uncharacteristically silenced by AURYN, it is through the Wind Giants that Atreyu learns that Fantastica has no boundary. In the film, they are ultimately replaced by the Nothing.
* Greenskins — Also known as the Grass People, these are Atreyu's people, a folk of hunters and gatherers with a culture and lifestyle very similar to the North American
Plains Indians
Plains Indians or Indigenous peoples of the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies are the Native American tribes and First Nation band governments who have historically lived on the Interior Plains (the Great Plains and Canadian Prairies) of N ...
. As their name implies, their skin is of an olive-green hue, and their hair is blueish-black. Their home is the Grassy Sea, a vast prairie in an undisclosed part of Fantastica bordered by the Silver Mountains range.
* Iceheads — A race of creatures which reside in the Mountains of Fate where the Childlike Empress encounters the Old Man of Wandering Mountain. They are described as giant
humanoid
A humanoid (; from English ''human'' and ''-oid'' "resembling") is a non-human entity with human form or characteristics. The earliest recorded use of the term, in 1870, referred to indigenous peoples in areas colonized by Europeans. By the 20t ...
s covered in (or made of) ice who move so slowly that a single footstep takes years to complete. As a result, they are fairly isolated even from their own kind and more so from any other living creature in Fantastica. Their original German name - Eisbolde - is an amalgam of the German words "Eis" (ice) and "
kobold
A kobold (occasionally cobold) is a mythical sprite. Having spread into Europe with various spellings including "goblin" and "hobgoblin", and later taking root and stemming from Germanic mythology, the concept survived into modern times in Ger ...
".
* Nighthobs — The Nighthobs are a race of nocturnal
humanoid
A humanoid (; from English ''human'' and ''-oid'' "resembling") is a non-human entity with human form or characteristics. The earliest recorded use of the term, in 1870, referred to indigenous peoples in areas colonized by Europeans. By the 20t ...
s that live in the southern regions of Fantastica. They have sharp features, wild hair, and wear drab clothing. Nighthobs are known to employ large
bat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera.''cheir'', "hand" and πτερόν''pteron'', "wing". With their forelimbs adapted as wings, they are the only mammals capable of true and sustained flight. Bats are more agile in flight than most bi ...
s that they fly much like a hang glider. The most notable of the Nighthobs was Vooshvazool, who was sent on the mission to the Ivory Tower.
* Rockbiters — Large rock creatures that eat rocks and delight in different geological varieties. Rockbiters are often seen riding stone bicycles. Despite their gargantuan size and intimidating appearance, Rockbiters are generally kind and concerned with the well-being of Fantasticans smaller than themselves.
* Sassafranians — A race of humanoids who are born elderly. Their physical age regresses as they advance in years, and they die when they reach infancy state.
* Tinys — A race of tiny people that ride on racing
snail
A snail is, in loose terms, a shelled gastropod. The name is most often applied to land snails, terrestrial pulmonate gastropod molluscs. However, the common name ''snail'' is also used for most of the members of the molluscan class Gastro ...
s. They are quite sophisticated, but due to their size, they live in trees, erecting entire villages whose dwellings are connected by a huge number of ladders, slides, and stairways.
* Twee – A
hippopotamus
The hippopotamus ( ; : hippopotamuses or hippopotami; ''Hippopotamus amphibius''), also called the hippo, common hippopotamus, or river hippopotamus, is a large semiaquatic mammal native to sub-Saharan Africa. It is one of only two extan ...
-like creature with red and white stripes, whose forequarters and hindquarters tend to run independently of each other.
* Unlucky the Rabbit — Large
rabbit
Rabbits, also known as bunnies or bunny rabbits, are small mammals in the family Leporidae (which also contains the hares) of the order Lagomorpha (which also contains the pikas). ''Oryctolagus cuniculus'' includes the European rabbit speci ...
s that are often victims of Rock Biter's bikes.
* Yskálnari — A race of humanoid people living at the edge of a sea of mist, which can be navigated only by boats fashioned from special reeds and which are propelled by willpower. In the
animated series
An animated series is a set of animated works with a common series title, usually related to one another. These episodes should typically share the same main characters, some different secondary characters and a basic theme. Series can have either ...
, the Yskálnari are depicted as
seal
Seal may refer to any of the following:
Common uses
* Pinniped, a diverse group of semi-aquatic marine mammals, many of which are commonly called seals, particularly:
** Earless seal, or "true seal"
** Fur seal
* Seal (emblem), a device to impr ...
-like
humanoid
A humanoid (; from English ''human'' and ''-oid'' "resembling") is a non-human entity with human form or characteristics. The earliest recorded use of the term, in 1870, referred to indigenous peoples in areas colonized by Europeans. By the 20t ...
s manning conventional wooden ships which can navigate the Mist Sea.
The following creatures appear in the first film in the Childlike Empress' throne room when Cairon mentions her illness, and are unnamed:
* Big-Headed Rock Creatures — A race of creatures made of rock that have big heads.
* Bird Humans — A race of
bird
Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweigh ...
-headed humans.
* Elephant-Headed Creature — A
humanoid
A humanoid (; from English ''human'' and ''-oid'' "resembling") is a non-human entity with human form or characteristics. The earliest recorded use of the term, in 1870, referred to indigenous peoples in areas colonized by Europeans. By the 20t ...
elephant
Elephants are the largest existing land animals. Three living species are currently recognised: the African bush elephant, the African forest elephant, and the Asian elephant. They are the only surviving members of the family Elephantidae an ...
.
* Four-Faced People — A race of humans who have four faces.
* Monkey-Headed Creature — A creature with a
monkey
Monkey is a common name that may refer to most mammals of the infraorder Simiiformes, also known as the simians. Traditionally, all animals in the group now known as simians are counted as monkeys except the apes, which constitutes an incomple ...
head.
* Palm-Topped Creatures — A race of
humanoid
A humanoid (; from English ''human'' and ''-oid'' "resembling") is a non-human entity with human form or characteristics. The earliest recorded use of the term, in 1870, referred to indigenous peoples in areas colonized by Europeans. By the 20t ...
s with
palm tree
The Arecaceae is a family of perennial flowering plants in the monocot order Arecales. Their growth form can be climbers, shrubs, tree-like and stemless plants, all commonly known as palms. Those having a tree-like form are called palm trees ...
-like growths on top of their heads.
* Three-Headed Creature — A creature that has an unspecified head, a
wolf
The wolf (''Canis lupus''; : wolves), also known as the gray wolf or grey wolf, is a large canine native to Eurasia and North America. More than thirty subspecies of ''Canis lupus'' have been recognized, and gray wolves, as popularly u ...
head, and a
goat
The goat or domestic goat (''Capra hircus'') is a domesticated species of goat-antelope typically kept as livestock. It was domesticated from the wild goat (''C. aegagrus'') of Southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the a ...
head.
* Two-Faced People — A race of humans with two faces that have two noses, two mouths, and three eyes.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Neverending Story
Lists of literary characters
Neverending Story
The Neverending Story