The Childlike Empress
| Childlike Empress | |
|---|---|
| First appearance | The Neverending Story |
| Created by | Michael Ende |
| Portrayed by | Tami Stronach Alexandra Johnes Julie Cox |
| Information | |
| Aliases | Moonchild, Golden-Eyed Commander of Wishes |
| Species | Fantastican |
| Gender | Female |
| Occupation | Goddess of Fantasy |
The Childlike Empress (Die Kindliche Kaiserin in German) is the monarch of Fantasia, who resides in the Ivory Tower palace in the heart of the realm. Although she is nominally the ruler of Fantasia, she does not command a political system nor does she enforce her authority, and in fact rarely interacts with the outside world. In actuality, she is the living embodiment of Fantasia's life force; should she die, Fantasia and all Fantasians would cease to exist.
The amulet known as 'AURYN' is her emblem, and those who wear it are her messengers and representatives. As explained by Morla the Aged One, her lifetime is not measured in years or in time ("she's much older than the oldest inhabitants of Fantasia or rather, she's ageless"), but by names. She continuously needs new names, which only the imagination of a human child can give to 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 Balthazar Bux to Fantasia, and Bastian gives her the name of his mother, (according to his dreams) Moonchild, which restores Fantasia and begins the second half of the novel.
Her description is that of an indescribably beautiful young girl, appearing no older than ten, yet known to be 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 official title Golden-Eyed Commander of Wishes (Goldäugige Gebieterin der Wünsche in German).
The role was portrayed by Tami Stronach in Wolfgang Petersen's 1984 adaptation, by Alexandra Johnes in The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter (1990) and by Julie Cox in The NeverEnding Story III (1994). In the movies, her hair is dark, rather than white, and in the first movie, she is dressed like a bride.
Read more about this topic: List Of The Neverending Story Characters
Famous quotes containing the words childlike and/or empress:
“It is the mark of a great man that he puts to flight all ordinary calculations. He is at once sublime and touching, childlike and of the race of giants.”
—Honoré De Balzac (1799–1850)
“We never really are the adults we pretend to be. We wear the mask and perhaps the clothes and posture of grown-ups, but inside our skin we are never as wise or as sure or as strong as we want to convince ourselves and others we are. We may fool all the rest of the people all of the time, but we never fool our parents. They can see behind the mask of adulthood. To her mommy and daddy, the empress never has on any clothes—and knows it.”
—Frank Pittman (20th century)