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The NeverEnding Story is a 1984 German-American fantasy film directed by Wolfgang Petersen. It is based on Michael Ende's novel The Neverending Story. Most of the plot of the film covers the first half of the novel's story.

Bastian Balthazar Bux (Barret Oliver), an ostracized young boy who loves to read, steals a magical book from the mysterious librarian Karl Konrad Koreander (Thomas Hill) which is claimed to go on forever. Within the book is the story of an otherworldly Magical Native American boy named Atreyu (Noah Hathaway), who is on a quest to save the Magical Land of Fantasia from vanishing, as a terrible force called The Nothing consumes the world while its ruler the Childlike Empress (Tami Stronach) lays deathly ill. As Bastian reads more and more of the story, he discovers that the book seems to be aware of him. Eventually, he learns that the magical land within the book is another dimension encompassing all of human imagination; only a human with creative ideas can save it. Needless to say, this film does not so much break the Fourth Wall as it never really has one to begin with—which is a large part of the point.

Klaus Doldinger originally composed the soundtrack for the German release version, but most of the US release's soundtrack was eventually composed by Giorgio Moroder. Including the eponymous theme song.

The film would eventually spawn two sequels, which are The NeverEnding Story II: The Next Chapter in 1990 and The NeverEnding Story III: Escape from Fantasia in 1994. The first two films were based on the first and second halves of the original novel (the first more closely than the second), whereas the third movie had only one connection to the novel: the appearance of the Old Man of Wandering Mountain.

Somewhat surprisingly, it was announced that The Nothing had begun to encroach upon other universes, figuring into the plot of the 2024 Warner Bros. Fighting Game MultiVersus.

The Neverending Story contains examples of:

• 2-for-1 Show: The movie is split between Bastian reading the mystical book, and an enactment of the events occurring in the book itself, which converge into one world as Bastian enters Fantasia.
• Actually, I Am Him: Atreyu pulls this epically on Gmork late in the film as part of a Badass Boast, below.
• Adaptation Explanation Extrication: The movie doesn't spell out exactly what Gmork is beyond a fearsome evil wolf monster like the novel does, where he tells Atreyu he's a werewolf and can appear as either a monstrous wolf in Fantasia or a human being in the human world but is native to neither world, with resentment of not having a world of his own being his motivation to serve the power behind the Nothing.
• Adaptational Attractiveness: In the book, Bastian was plain and fat in the real world, then appeared tall and princely once he entered Fantastica (as a result of his first wish, with insecurity about his appearance being one of the things he had to get over by the end of the story).
• Adaptational Context Change: The scream Bastian utters that Atreyu hears comes when Atreyu meets Morla the Ancient One rather than the (much scarier) Ygramul the Many, who has been Adapted Out.
• Adaptational Explanation: In the book, Engywook tells Atreyu that despite all his research, he has been unable to find any discernible pattern in which people the Sphinxes keep their eyes shut for and let pass safely and which they open their eyes for and destroy. In the film, he explains that they open their eyes when someone who doesn't believe in their own worthiness passes by.
• Adaptational Nonsapience: In the book, Atreyu's horse Artax was a Talking Animal, like all animals in Fantastica. In the movie, he's portrayed as an ordinary horse.
• Adaptational Villainy: In the book, Gmork was helping the Nothing because he envied Fantasticans and humans for having the one thing he did not: a place to call home. This motive made him a somewhat sympathetic character, albeit a petty one who wanted to destroy two worlds out of spite. The film version, on the other hand, is a Straw Nihilist who wants the power to control the despairing lives left in the Nothing's wake.
• Adaptation Deviation: The film changes the inscription on AURYN from "Do What You Wish" ("Tu was du willst") to "Do What You Dream". This was one of the changes that Michael Ende disagreed with most strongly.
  "Do what you dream!" This inscription is really the opposite of what the message of my book means.
• Adaptation-Induced Plot Hole: Many elements in the first film are not adequately explained because their meanings from the novel were either simplified or omitted. Some of the elements lost from the novel include:
  • Atreyu does not take his weapons because he must remain neutral as a bearer of AURYN. All Fantasticans will respect him as they respect the Childlike Empress.
  • Likewise, Cairon in the film says that nobody may advise Atreyu without explaining why; in the book, it's because there is nearly nobody who knows anything about how to help Atreyu in his quest. As it turns out, Morla the Aged One, Engywook the Well-Known Gnomic, and Uyulala the Southern Oracle do advise Atreyu because they're the only ones with any useful advice to give.
  • Atreyu learns of Morla through a vision he has in a dream about a purple buffalo.
  • Atreyu reaches the Southern Oracle with help from a monster, Ygramul the Many, whose poisonous bite gives the victim the power of instant teleportation before they die. Falkor was a victim who also used this power after overhearing Ygramul tell Atreyu about it. It was cut from the final script due to VFX limitations of the time, and the audience is told that Falkor flew Atreyu the 10,000 miles (bear in mind that the diameter of the Earth is only 7,926 miles, so this is a heck of a long distance). This also would have explained the medicine being given by the Gnomics to Atreyu and Falcor, which was to counter Ygramul's poison.
• Adaptation Name Change:
  • A very minor example with Fantasia itself. While the English translation of the book uses the name "Fantastica", the film uses "Fantasia". Arguably, this is actually a better translation, as it's closer to the original German name, Phantasien (which follows German geographical naming customs, e.g. Australien for Australia).
  • Other minor examples with Falcor, who in the book's English translation was spelled "Falkor", and with the Rockbiters, who were "Rock Chewers" (although "Rockbiter" is also a closer translation of the original "Felsenbeißer").
• Adaptation Species Change:
  • In the book, Cairon, the doctor who hands Atreyu the AURYN on the Childlike Empress's behalf after being the last to examine her, was a zebra-centaur. Here, he is a humanoid merman who can walk on dry land.
  • The film's Southern Oracle is a second pair of Sphinxes, colored blue in contrast to the dangerous gold Sphinxes who comprise the first challenge gate. In the book, the Southern Oracle was a being made of sound named Uyulala who spoke only in rhymes and could only hear questions posed in rhyme. (The first gate was still a dangerous Sphinx Gate.)
• Adapted Out: Many examples. The first Fantastican we meet in the book, the will-o-the-wisp Blubb, is absent, though the other three messengers (the Rock-chewer, the Tiny and the Night-hob) are present. Atreyu's village isn't shown as Cairon doesn't go there but instead Atreyu goes to the Ivory Tower. The purple buffalo that serves as Atreyu's animal guide and tells him about Morla. The bark trolls who show Atreyu the Nothing for the first time. Ygramul the Many, who is responsible for getting Atreyu to the Southern Oracle. The third gate to the Southern Oracle, the No Key Gate. The Wind Giants who blow Falkor off course so that Atreyu ends up in Spook City. The Old Man of Wandering Mountain. The entire second half of the book.
• Ain't Too Proud to Beg: The Childlike Empress is a unique, immortal being who rules all of vast Fantasia, but in the end, she isn't too proud to beg Bastian to save her.
• All for Nothing:
  • Played with. At the end of his quest, Atreyu has learned that the Childlike Empress can be saved if a human child gives her a new name. He returns to her with this information, only to discover that... she knew this all along. This causes Atreyu to rant that he suffered all the loss and all the horrors of his quest just to learn what the Childlike Empress already knew, but then she quickly informs him that the REAL purpose of his journey was to Break the Fourth Wall and bring Bastian to her by going on a quest that made him care about Fantasia.
  • When Bastian finally gives the Childlike Empress a new name, Fantasia has almost completely disappeared. But one grain of sand remains, allowing Bastian to wish to have Fantasia restored.
• Alliterative Name: Bastian Baltasar Bux, Karl Konrad Koreander. It's never said in the movie, but apparently only people with alliterative names can unlock the "special" nature of the book.
• All There in the Manual: When Bastian names the Childlike Empress, the name he shouts is hard to make out due to Dramatic Thunder. Those who are familiar with the original novel will know what Bastian actually says, but the movie's soundtrack itself also gives the answer; the name of the piece of music accompanying the scene is, in fact, "Moonchild".
• Alternative Foreign Theme Song: "Natsu No Jewelry" by Seiko Matsuda was the theme song of the Japanese version.
• Artifact Title: The reason for the title was cut by the adaptation. It originally referred to every plot thread followed to completion generating multiple new story hooks, but that entire meta level of the story from the novel was cut. Although the narration at the end states Bastian had "many amazing adventures" in Fantasia before returning home, which is Another Story for Another Time.
• Aside Comment: At the end, the Empress talks straight into the camera when trying to communicate with Bastian who's reading the book.
• Award-Bait Song:
  • Limahl's "The Never Ending Story".
  • Christopher Hamill ("Limahl" is a Significant Anagram) was previously the lead singer of Kajagoogoo, best known for "Too Shy".
  • Now that Kajagoogoo reunited for good, they've adopted the song to themselves (of course with Limahl still on lead vocals), with bassist Nick Beggs (who was the band's lead vocalist after they fired Limahl in 1984) now singing the second voice, and Nick and the rest of the band members now handling all the background music.
• Badass Boast: "If we're about to die anyway, I'd rather die fighting! Come for me, Gmork! I am Atreyu!"
• Beyond Redemption: When confronting Gmork, Atreyu tries to reason with him and asks why he's helping the Nothing destroy Fantasia. When Gmork makes it clear he's doing it out of a selfish desire for power and has no remorse for it, Atreyu's demeanor noticeably changes as he realizes Gmork is too evil to reason with and has to be killed.
• Big Damn Heroes: Falkor's rescue of Atreyu from the Swamps of Sadness, his literal Despair Event Horizon, and the wolf, Gmork. Bastian even lampshades this with his huge exclamation of relief and collapse after the scene ends in the movie.
• Big "WHAT?!": Bastian when he realizes that he's the one the Empress is talking about.
• Blind Alley: Bastian escapes his bullies by hiding in a bookstore while his chasers rush by. The following encounter with the bookstore owner sets the plot in motion.
• Bookends: Near the beginning of the film, Bastian is stuffed into a dumpster by three school bullies chasing him. At the end of the film, he rides on Falcor and chases the bullies, forcing them to seek shelter in the same dumpster.
• Break Them by Talking: Gmork tries to do this to Atreyu. It fails, as eventually Atreyu has enough and decides to kill him.
• Bright Castle: Although depicted differently than in the book, the Ivory Tower is gorgeous. And the appropriate leitmotif that accompanies its appearances in the American version is one of the most well-known from the film. It even partakes slightly of the other side of the trope, since while it is not cursed it does end up the only part of Fantasia left floating in the dark void after the Nothing has destroyed the rest of the land. As if that symbolism isn't enough, Atreyu specifically seeks it out in desperation as a sort of beacon, and the fact it has survived acts as a Hope Spot for him. It certainly seems to be the heart of Fantasia (if not its geographical center, since it has no boundaries), and its survival is likely tied to the Empress's, since for the hero to have any chance of succeeding in his quest she has to be there to be given a new name.
• Bring It: Atreyu to Gmork, followed by I Am Your Opponent.
• Bully Hunter: Bastian and Falcor at the end.
• The Call Knows Where You Live: Even if you're reading a book.
• Captain Obvious: Played for drama: "Artax, you're sinking!"
• Catapult Nightmare: Bastian wakes up this way in the opening scene. After the opening credits, Bastian wakes up abruptly after having a dream about his mother.
• The Chessmaster: Unlike the novel — where Bastian steals the book and the store owner doesn't even remember it at the end of the novel — Mr. Koreander tricks Bastian into taking the book in the film.
• Children Are Tender-Hearted: Bastian sheds tears over the death of Atreyu's horse, Artax.
• Cobweb Jungle: Bastian goes into the school storage area (not the basement), which is rife with spider webs, with no spider in sight. He doesn't seem particularly yucked out when he has to brush gobs of it off in order to open the window.
• Compressed Adaptation: The film literally cut out half of the book. Wheras the movie ends after Atreyu's quest ends and Bastian arrives in Fantasia, the novel explores Bastian's adventures in Fantastica, realizing his errors, and setting to go back to his world before it's too late. This resulted in a rather hasty ending to viewers who had previously read the book, to say the least. Due to Adaptation Displacement, most people don't even know anything was removed. Its sequel, fortunately, picks up elements from the second half of the book, although not quite all of them as it was a looser adaptation than the first film. invoked
• Cool Gate: Atreyu passes through a mirror that serves this purpose.
• Cool Horse: Artax. Although his death traumatized many a wee kidlet, he remains a beloved equine, especially his resurrection/reappearance at the end of the film racing across the plains with Atreyu on his back.
• Covers Always Lie: The movie poster (shown above) displays the Rock Biter and his friends, suggesting that they play a prominent role in the story. In the movie itself, they only appear in a couple of scenes.
• Creator's Culture Carryover: The original German versions of the movies—and the books—base the story in Germany. How come Bastian's hometown looks like an American city, then? Especially ridiculous since the Fantasia scenes were filmed at a studio in Munich, meaning the filmmakers could easily have preserved the original setting simply by taking their equipment outside the studio.
• Cryptic Background Reference: As Atreyu and Artex enter the Swamps of Sadness, Bastian's voiceover informs audiences that they'd already searched "the Silver Mountains, the Desert of Shattered Hopes, and the Crystal Towers" — places that are never explored on-screen or elaborated on in any way.
• The Darkness Gazes Back: At the end of the film, Atreyu stares into a dark corner to find his nemesis, Gmork, eyeing him back.
• Deader than Dead: The residents of Fantasia are worried about The Nothing. It's an absence... not just a hole. A Nothing. Those pulled into it aren't just dead, they are gone from existence.
• Death Glare: Atreyu gives Gmork one when he says, "Who are you, really?"
• Decoy Protagonist: Sort of. Within the book, the opening chapter introduces Bastian—and the viewer—to the Rock Biter, the Nighthob, and the Teeny Weeny. The film implies that one of them will be the protagonist, or that the group may at least form a traveling band with the protagonist. But they exist first for exposition—to reveal what The Nothing is doing in various parts of Fantasia and how everyone is concerned enough to send representatives to the Ivory Tower—then to act as viewpoint witnesses to Cairon's council that sets up the plot of the rest of the story. The book's actual protagonist is Atreyu, and he travels alone except for Artax and, later on, Falkor. The introductory characters do come back into the story, though—at least in their absence, for all but the Rock Biter.
• Despair Event Horizon:
  • Coupled with Driven to Suicide for the Rockbiter, as he decides to let The Nothing overtake him.
    Rockbiter: They look like good, strong hands, don't they?
  • The Swamps of Sadness can cause this in people, which causes them to sink. This happens to Atreyu's horse Artax, which (combined with the revelation that his next goal is 10,000 miles away) pushes Atreyu himself across the Despair Event Horizon. He is saved from fully sinking into the swamp by Falkor (In the book, he is protected from sinking by the Auryn being around his neck - he can't put it on his horse, however, as it won't fit.)
  • This is the origin of The Nothing. Humans have begun to lose their hopes and dreams in the real world, and as a consequence, that despair is tearing all Fantasia asunder.
• Determinator: Atreyu is this personified. He never gives up on his quest, no matter how hopeless things seem or how few clues he has about what to do next.
• Deus ex Machina: When Atreyu is about to be caught by Gmork, a hitherto unknown luck dragon comes down from the sky to save him.
• Deus ex 'Scuse Me: The telephone call that distracts the bookstore owner, allowing Bastian to succumb to the temptation to make off with the old book he's been told not to touch.
• Disneyfication:
  • The death of Gmork in the film by Atreyu's hands. In the novel, Gmork was chained up in Spook City some time ago by Gaya the Dark Princess and is already dying; he takes on the role of Mr. Exposition before finally starving to death (although his dead body is still full enough of malice to clamp its jaws down on Atreyu's leg as Falkor rescues him). The film abandons this in favor of a final showdown between the hero and the only tangible villain, likely to make Atreyu look more heroic.
  • Bastian riding Falcor in the human world at the end of the film. This ignores the novel's insistence that Fantasticans cannot exist in the human world as themselves (in fact, what the Nothing does to Fantasticans who fall into it is send them to the human world in distorted form, turned from stories into lies). It also counts as a Clap Your Hands If You Believe resolution of Bastian's problems with the other kids bullying him. In the novel, Bastian's journey of self-discovery helps him find the strength to deal with his problems without expecting fantasy and wishful thinking to make his problems magically disappear.
• Don't Make Me Destroy You: In the extended version of the film, Gmork tells Atreyu to leave him alone when they first meet, and in both versions he cautions Atreyu to come no closer or he'll attack. It doesn't work, as once Atreyu realizes how evil Gmork is he has no intention of letting him live.
• The Dragon: Multiplied by two. Gmork is the Nothing's dragon, and the Nothing is one for the power behind human apathy.
• Dragon Rider: Both protagonists, Atreyu and Bastian, get their share of flying the luckdragon Falkor.
• Dramatic Chase Opening: There's a brief intro before this. Then the chase scene ends up with Bastian seeking refuge in a bookstore and finding the Neverending Story book.
• Dramatic Thunder: At the end, as the Childlike Empress is calling out to Bastian from within the apocalyptic ending of the book, a violent thunderstorm is occuring in the real world.
• The Dreaded: Atreyu is this for Gmork. The look on the wolf's face when he realizes whom he's talking to is something to behold.
• Dream Land: Fantasia is made up of humanity's stories and creativity — and often takes on a surreal, dreamlike nature.
• Dropped a Bridge on Him: This film has an extremely rare example of this happening to the protagonist. Atreyu, put through the wringer on a long and perilous quest, is suddenly killed by falling debris. He gets better.
• Dutch Angle: Used effectively—and creepily—during the scene with Atreyu gazing up at the Sphinx Gate.
• "End of the World" Special:
  Bastian: Fantasia has totally disappeared?
  Childlike Empress: Yes.
  Bastian: Then, everything's been in vain.
  Childlike Empress: No, it hasn't. Fantasia can arise anew, from your dreams and wishes, Bastian.
  Bastian: How many wishes do I get?
  Childlike Empress: As many as you want. And the more wishes you make, the more magnificent Fantasia will become.
  Bastian: Really?
  Childlike Empress: Try it.
  Bastian: My first wish is...
• Ethereal Choir: The angelic Auryn theme.
• Even the Loving Hero Has Hated Ones: Atreyu is friendly and compassionate to everyone, but hates Gmork due to his evil nature, and is willing to kill him to save Fantasia.
• Everybody's Dead, Dave: After the Nothing completely destroys Fantasia, the only survivors are Atreyu, Falkor and the Childlike Empress herself. Eventually, even Atreyu and Falkor perish, and the Empress is all that remains.
• Expecting Someone Taller: Atreyu is called for his quest, the centaur comments that he didn't call for Atreyu the child, he called for Atreyu the warrior. Atreyu explains that they are one and the same.
  Cairon: I'm sorry, but this is not the time or place for children. I must ask you to leave.
  Atreyu: If you do not want me here, then you shouldn't have sent for me.
  Cairon: It is not you we sent for. We wanted Atreyu.
  Atreyu: I am Atreyu.
  [Everyone in the room laughs]
  Cairon: Not Atreyu the child, Atreyu the warrior!
  Atreyu: I'm the only Atreyu of the Plains People.
• Explain, Explain... Oh, Crap!: What the Night Hob's asking if the Rock Biter is a nutcase amounts to. The moment he gets his answer, he realizes just what such a name entails and then the Rock Biter is having a snack of limestone that could crush him, his friend and their mounts.
• Eye of Newt: Urgl's healing potion seems to include earthworms as an ingredient.
• Eyes Always Shut: The Sphynxes are two gigantic statues whose eyes remain closed until "someone who doesn't feel his own worth" tries to pass between them, then they ominously open and shoot lasers at the person. Luckily, Atreyu, our hero, jumps through quickly enough to avoid getting fried.
• Fade to Black: A devastating one caps the scene where Artax dies. It happens again when Bastian calls out the Childlike Empress's name as the Nothing destroys (almost) the last bit of Fantasia.
• Fantasy-Forbidding Father: In the film's opening scene, Bastian's father tells his son to get his head out of the clouds because he is failing in school. In the end, if not for Bastian's vivid imagination, Fantasia would have been destroyed forever.
  Father: I got a call from your math teacher yesterday. She says that you were...drawing horses in your math book.
  Bastian: Unicorns. They were unicorns.
  Father: Stop daydreaming. Start facing your problems.
• Filming for Easy Dub: When Bastian screams "Moon Child" out of the attic window, his mouth is mostly covered in shadow to make it easy for foreign dubs to insert their translated version of it.
• The Film of the Book: See Compressed Adaptation.
• Find the Cure!: Atreyu's quest, in essence, since doing so for the Empress will also save Fantasia from The Nothing.
• Fisher King: At the beginning of the film, numerous Fantasians appear at the Ivory Tower to beseech the Empress for her help to stop the Nothing - only to learn that the Empress herself is deathly ill. When Cairon gives the quest to Atreyu, he states that finding the Empress a cure for her malady will stop the Nothing, and vice versa, which all but outright states that the Empress is a Fisher Queen.
• Five-Second Foreshadowing: Near the end of the film, Atreyu sees a number of murals showing various events that have already happened to him. He then sees a mural showing a growling wolf in some rubble, which he definitely has not encountered...until about five seconds later, when the Gmork makes his presence known.
• Forbidden Fruit: Mr. Coriander's describing of the book to Bastian is either this trope or Schmuck Bait, given his smile when Bastian takes it.
• Foreign Re-Score: For its international release Giorgio Moroder was brought on to rework some of the music in a more contemporary (i.e. The '80s) style. Not the only time something like this happened in 1980s fantasy.
• Framing Device: The film starts off looking like it invokes this trope—until you realize Fantasia is another dimension and not just a story being read by Bastian.
• Friend to All Living Things: In the extended German cut of the film, Atreyu at first offers to help Gmork (likely thinking he's hurt) despite his Obviously Evil appearance. He also calls Artax his friend more than once.
• Gate Guardian: Sphinx Gate is a mountain pass guarded by a pair of sphinx statues that will incinerate any who try to pass through, unless that person " feels his own worth".
• Go Mad from the Revelation: What apparently happens when someone looks into the Magic Mirror Gate.
  Engywook: Atreyu has to face his true self.
  Falcor: So what? That won't be too hard for him.
  Engywook: Oh, that's what everyone thinks! But kind people find out that they are cruel. Brave men discover that they are really cowards! Confronted by their true selves, most men run away screaming!
• Good Is Not Soft: When Atreyu learns that Gmork has been sent to kill him (but doesn't realize he's talking to Atreyu) he has no problem ordering Gmork to fight him to the death, even though it's likely that he could have walked away if he wanted to rather than reveal his identity. The extended version of the scene makes this more clear as Gmork simply asks to be left alone at first, but Atreyu decides Gmork is so evil that he has to die.
• Greater-Scope Villain: Gmork states that human apathy and lack of imagination is his true master:
  Gmork: I am the servant of the force behind The Nothing.
• Grin of Audacity: Atreyu gives one to Gmork before killing him.
• The Heartless: The Nothing is described as an Eldritch Abomination who works in these terms.
  Atreyu: What is The Nothing?
  Gmork: It's the emptiness that's left. It's like a despair, destroying this world. And I have been trying to help it.
  Atreyu: But why?
  Gmork: Because people who have no hopes are easy to control. And whoever has control has the power.
• The Heavy: Gmork fills this role. The Nothing is the main threat, but Atreyu has to fight Gmork instead, as he is actually tangible. Gmork even says something to this effect:
  Atreyu: Who are you, really?
  Gmork: I am the servant of the power behind The Nothing.
• Hellhound: Gmork fits the hunter form of this trope well, being a huge black hound and agent of the Nothing sent to kill Atreyu.
• Heroic BSoD:
  • The Rockbiter is shown to be in one near the end.
  • Atreyu goes into one when Morla tells him he can't possibly reach the Southern Oracle in time over land. Combined with the death of Artax, this information sends Atreyu into enough despair that he begins sinking to his death in the Swamps of Sadness. Fortunately, Falcor shows up just in time to both rescue him and fly him to the Oracle.
  • Atreyu goes into another one near the end; ironically, Gmork unwittingly gives him some information that snaps him out of it.
• Hero of Another Story:
  • Before Atreyu tries to get past the Sphinx Gate, we see a literal Knight in Shining Armor try to pass on his horse, only to be judged as unworthy and killed by the Gate's Eye Beams. Who he was and why he was trying to get through is never explained, and the whole scene is basically just to show the viewer how dangerous the Sphinx Gate is.
  • Mr. Koreander's description of the Neverending Story as a "not safe" book indicates that he is well aware of its otherworldly nature, which in turn suggests he might have experienced Fantasia for himself at some point. If so, however, the truth of this is left to the viewer's imagination (at least in this first film).
• Hope Crusher: G'mork is a wolf monster who serves as a herald to the Nothing, aiding it in its destruction of Fantasia expressly to crush the hopes and dreams of mankind, as people without hope are easier to control and with control comes power, meaning G'mork can take reign over the despairing humans as a demon god.
• I Am Your Opponent: Atreyu does this to Gmork overlapping with Bring It:
  Atreyu: If we're about to die anyway, I'd rather die fighting! Come for me, Gmork! I am Atreyu!
• I Don't Like the Sound of That Place: The Swamps of Sadness, whose "aura" of despair drives everybody to apathy and even suicide.
• I Know You're Watching Me: Used in epic fashion several times over.
  • The Mirror Gate in the trials to get to the Southern Oracle see Atreyu looking into the gate to see Bastian, who quite literally freaks out as he realises Atreyu saw him.
  • Near the end of the film, the Childlike Empress tells Atreyu, while her face is fully in frame, that as he was adventuring through Fantasia, the Earth-child Bastian was sharing his adventures by reading the story, even imploring Bastian by name to do what he must. However, what makes this even more insane is when she mentions that others are sharing Bastian's adventure, referencing the viewers of the film in progress, her look moving to stare at the camera.
• I Know Your True Name: In the original book, the inhabitants of Fantasia hold the Auryn in such high regard and respect that they very rarely refer to it by its real name, preferring to call it something similar like "the Gem" or "the Glory." In the movie, they have no such apprehension.
• Impaled with Extreme Prejudice: Gmork, courtesy of Atreyu.
• Impending Doom P.O.V.: A couple of scenes of Gmork chasing after Atreyu through the woods are shot from his perspective.
• Impossible Pickle Jar: The first scene Bastian has shows him struggling to twist the lid off a jar of jam before his father opens it for him.
• Improvised Weapon: In the final confrontation with Gmork, Atreyu grabs a roughly knife-shaped shard of rubble to defend himself...
• Inertial Impalement: ... and uses it to stab Gmork when the latter jumps him.
• It's Personal with the Dragon: Gmork is the servant of the Nothing, but is the only tangible villain in the film and is after Atreyu personally and gloats to him over his actions, so Atreyu has more of a personal enmity with him.
• It's the Journey That Counts: The entire premise of the Childlike Empress's Batman Gambit. Atreyu is sent on a quest to find the cure for her mysterious illness, when in truth, she already knows what that cure is. The true purpose of Atreyu's journey is to get Bastian emotionally invested enough in his adventure and the fate of Fantasia that he's willing to take a Leap of Faith and call out the Empress's new name when the time is right.
• It Was with You All Along: The hero needs a human child-who turns out to be the boy reading the story, like in the original book.
  Atreyu: I have failed you, Empress.
  Childlike Empress: No, you haven't. You've brought him with you.
  Atreyu: Who?
  Childlike Empress: The Earthling child. The one who can save us all.
  Atreyu: You knew about the Earthling child?
  Childlike Empress: Of course. I knew everything.
  Atreyu: My horse died, I nearly drowned, and I just barely got away from the Nothing. For what? To find out what you already knew?
  Childlike Empress: It was the only way to get in touch with an Earthling.
  Atreyu: But I didn't get in touch with an Earthling!
  Childlike Empress: Yes, you did. He has suffered with you. He went through everything you went through. And now, he has come here with you. He's very close. Listening to every word that we say.
• The Joy of First Flight: Bastian when riding Falcor at the end.
• Just a Kid: Cairon didn't want Atreyu the child, he sent for Atreyu the warrior. Atreyu just shrugs and says he is the only one of his tribe with that name. Cairon just rolls with it and issues Atreyu the quest anyway.
• Karmic Death: Gmork, whose mission is to kill Atreyu and thereby doom Fantasia, is killed by Atreyu.
• Kid Hero: Bastian and Atreyu both.
• Knight of Cerebus: Gmork. While the situation was already grim with the Nothing gradually destroying the world of Fantasia, his introduction causes the film's tone to go from hopeful to dark and intense. The scene where he confronts Atreyu is a nightmarish deconstruction of the nature of stories and imagination, revealing him to be an opportunistic nihilist working with the Nothing to destroy Fantasia in order to rule over the unimaginative masses left in the wake of the oblivion, which makes Gmork's evil feel more personal and vile, while the Nothing behaves more like an uncaring natural disaster.
• Laser-Guided Karma: Bastian and Falcor dish this out to the bullies at the end.
• The Last Dance: Gmork gives an accidental "The Reason You Suck" Speech talking about how the chosen hero Atreyu was doomed to fail to save Fantasia, and now all they can do is wait for the Nothing to come and claim them. He didn't know just to whom he was talking until...
  Atreyu: If we're about to die anyway, I'd rather die fighting! Come for me, Gmork! I am Atreyu!
• Late to the Realization: It takes Atreyu a while to realize that Artax is sinking in the swamp, as he keeps asking him why he's stopped moving.
• Lightning Reveal: Gmork makes his reveal to the audience when lightning strikes and lights up the cave he is hiding in.
• Loony Librarian: Mr. Koreander is a loony... bookstore owner. He's a bit of a Child Hater because children nowadays prefer entertainment other than books (but he warms up to Bastian when the latter reveals he is a bookworm) and, quite ham-fistedly, warns off Bastian from reading The Neverending Story because it's "not safe". However, when Bastian takes the book, Mr. Koreander doesn't mind, hinting that his speech was a Reverse Psychology gambit. The rest of the franchise goes on to imply some of his quirks are the result of having had his own adventures in Fantasia when he was younger.
• Made of Evil: The Nothing is made up of children's losing of imagination and unwillingness to believe in Fairy Tales (at least in the film version).
• The Mirror Shows Your True Self: The Magic Mirror Gate is described in this fashion by Engywook:
  Engywook: Next is the Magic Mirror Gate. Atreyu has to face his true self.
  Falkor: So what? That won't be too hard for him.
  Engywook: Oh, that's what everyone thinks! But kind people find out that they are cruel. Brave men discover that they are really cowards! Confronted by their true selves, most men run away screaming!
• Missing Mom: Bastian's mother died at some point before the film's opening. Based on the conversation Bastian has with his dad, it's likely she's only been dead for a few weeks before.
• Monster Delay: Gmork is introduced relatively early in the film as an agent of the Nothing (or so he seems to be) out to kill Atreyu so that he'll fail in his quest to defeat the Nothing, but his first appearance is in a pitch-black cave where only his glowing green eyes are visible, and brief looks at him thanks to lightning flashes, and later some close-up shots of his head as he chases after our hero which keep us from getting a good look at him; he's otherwise kept hidden with an Impending Doom P.O.V.. After Atreyu is rescued from the Swamps of Sadness by Falkor, Gmork disappears from the movie for long enough that you might have forgotten all about him if not for his final appearance when, as the world is falling to pieces around him, Atreyu finds himself in a ruin full of murals telling his whole story up to that point...including the next chapter in it where both he and the audience finally meet Gmork face to face, no obscuring darkness or camera work to hide what he really looks like now. He does not fail to impress.
• More Despicable Minion: While the Nothing is what's actually destroying Fantasia, Gmork is a more tangible threat and has a sadistic personality, revealing himself to be an opportunistic nihilist working with the power behind the Nothing so he can rule the despairing lives left in its wake, making him seem even more vile than the Nothing itself.
• Mugging the Monster: When Atreyu meets Gmork, the latter doesn't recognize him and thinks he's just a random child who wants to stop the Nothing, until Atreyu grabs a sharp rock to use as a weapon and dramatically reveals his identity.
• My Name Is Inigo Montoya: Atreyu does this to Gmork, overlapping with Bring It. "If we're about to die anyway, I'd rather die fighting! Come for me, G'mork! I am Atreyu!"
• Named by the Adaptation: Inverted. The Rockbiter, Nighthob and Teeny Weeny's names from the novel (Pyornkrachzark, Vooshvazool and Gluckuk, respectively) go unmentioned; they are only referred by their species.
• Narrator: The film suddenly sprouts a narrator only at the very, very end.
• Near-Villain Victory: Unbelievably near. At the end of the film, all that remains of Fantasia is the Childlike Empress and a single grain of sand.
• Negative Space Wedgie: The Nothing is a Negative Space Wedgie that devours Fantasia. This is the basis of the movie and the first half of the novel.
• Nerves of Steel: Atreyu when he confronts Gmork.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain!: By opting to give Atreyu a big lecture rather than just attack him, Gmork unwittingly gives him some pretty valuable information—such as the fact that he is the only one capable of stopping The Nothing. Atreyu had actually hit the Despair Event Horizon before hearing that, so Gmork's attempt to kill Atreyu only causes Bastian to empathize more with Atreyu and his quest.
• No Animals Were Harmed: A widely-noted aversion. Despite Artax being played by a real horse and the infamous Swamp of Sadness scene having Artax sinking to his death, the film doesn't have a "No animals were harmed" disclaimer in the credits at all. Despite internet rumors, Word of God states the horse was fine after they filmed the scene.invoked
• No Fourth Wall: The Childlike Empress explicitly says that others have been following Bastian through his experiences, like he had been following Atreyu.
• No Inner Fourth Wall: The movie is about a boy who reads a novel that he is a character in. There is a point where he is reading about himself reading about himself.
• No Ontological Inertia: At the end, once Bastian has given the Childlike Empress a new name, Fantasia goes right back to its old state.
  Bastian: Falkor, it's like the Nothing never was.
• Nothing Is Scarier:
  • The Nothing. Literally. It's destroying the world of Fantasia, and it has no form.
  • Also the Nothing's servant, Gmork. For much of the movie, his scenes are mostly shown from his perspective, with his menacing theme music playing as he follows Atreyu's trail. You don't actually get a good look at Gmork himself until his final scene, but that doesn't make this monster one bit less frightening.
• Oh, Crap!:
  • Gmork has an epic one when Atreyu reveals his identity and challenges him to fight.
  • Atreyu also has this expression in the Swamps of Sadness when Artax stops moving.
  • The three bullies at the end get their own taste of this trope when Bastian comes after them — on Falkor's back.
• The Only One Allowed to Defeat You: Atreyu feels this way toward Gmork, as he wants to kill Gmork himself even knowing that the latter didn't recognize him and was about to be taken by the Nothing anyway.
• Only the Worthy May Pass: A Double Subversion. Atreyu is not worthy to make it past the Sphinxes (or at least, doesn't feel that he is, which is what triggers them), but he makes it through anyway by leaping out of the way of their deadly eye beams.
• Ouroboros: AURYN◊, the amulet representing the power of the immortal Childlike Empress, consists of two serpents biting each others' tails. However, while the novel describes the symbol as a white snake and a black snake in the shape of a circle, the movie makes them a gold snake and a silver snake forming a knot in the center.
• Our Sphinxes Are Different: The Southern Oracle, as well as the Sphinx Gate. Though it's unknown to what degree they are alive, both consist of two Gynosphinxes, whose very gaze in the latter case destroys all life in front of them.
• Outsourcing Fate: Fantasia is a world inside a book that is borne from the hopes and imaginations of human beings. Unfortunately, in the "real" world, people have begun to lose hope and imagination has begun to run dry, and thus Fantasia is being destroyed by "The Nothing". The only thing that can save Fantasia is an Earthling child...who is revealed to be Bastian, the boy reading the book. As Fantasia is consumed by the Nothing, the Childlike Empress pleads with him to give her a name as the only way to save her world. Unfortunately, Bastian is too late, until only one single grain of sand is all that's left of Fantasia. Since Bastian is still there, the Empress tells him that all he needs to do is start making wishes, and the more wishes he makes, the more beautiful Fantasia will be reborn. This is deconstructed in the sequels, when it turns out that giving a kid infinite wishes and letting him write the destiny of an entire world will spoil him into screwing things up by making wasteful wishes until the whole world is a mess.
• Palette Swap: As opposed to the book, the Southern Oracle is this to the Sphinx Gate. It is actually more likely the latter is modeled after the former, but the order in which Atreyu encounters them would make it appear the reverse, which explains why he is understandably reluctant to approach and the Oracle make a point of reassuring him that they will not hurt him. Bastian also lampshades this by having a bit of confusion when reading their description before the viewer gets to see them.
• Pals with Jesus: Bastian gets to ride Falcor in the real world to chase some bullies.
• "Pan Up to the Sky" Ending: The final shot rises from the streets of Bastian's world to the open sky, a visual echo of the film's promise that Fantasia — and the human imagination — never truly end.
• Plot-Based Voice Cancellation: Averted. Bastian declares the Empress' new name in the middle of a raging storm, making it seem as though he's yelling incoherently — but if one listens closely, you can hear Barret Oliver calling out "MOON-CHI-ULD!" Since he named the Empress after his mother, this has rather interesting implications. Apparently his grandparents were hippies. One wonders if the use of Dramatic Thunder and the soundtrack to cover the name up was a stylistic choice on the part of the director, so that each viewer could imagine the name to be whatever they wanted (example: "Moriah!"), or if it was unintentional. The German dub of the film makes the line much clearer, avoiding this altogether.
• Plot-Triggering Book: The plot is about Bastian who steals a book called "The Neverending Story" from a bookstore one day. As he reads the book, he finds out that it's about Fantasia, a Magical Land threatened by "The Nothing," a malevolent force that devours everything, and a young boy like him who's on a quest to save it. Bastian starts wondering if Fantasia needs him to survive.
• Poorly Lit Pareidolia: Bastian is scared of the stuffed animals, skeletons and other objects in the attic.
• Portal Statue Pairs: The two sphinxes of the Southern Oracle. The Sphinx Gate are weaponized, Gate Guardian versions.
• Postmodernism: The movie revolves around Bastian, a boy in "the real world", reading a fantasy novel about the world of Fantasia, but as the story goes along there are hints that he is having an effect on Fantasia. At the climax, not only does the Childlike Empress reveal that Bastian is the only one who can save the world of Fantasia but she also mentions that at the same time as he has been reading about Fantasia, there have been others watching Bastian in the same way.
• Powerful and Helpless: The Rock-biter is a giant made of stone who eats (of course) rocks. At the end of the movie, we see him sitting alone when deuteragonist Atreyu meets him. The Rock-Biter explains that when The Nothing (a huge vortex) appeared, he tried to protect his small, human-sized friends from it, but the Nothing just ripped them right out from his fingers. So, the Rock-Biter sits and waits for the Nothing to come back and take him too, repeating the Madness Mantra: "They look like big, strong hands...don't they?"
• The Power of Friendship: Atreyu invokes this when he is trying to save Artax from the swamp. It doesn't work.
• Power of the Void: The Nothing is the Void, slowly erasing Fantasia from existence one piece a time.
• Pre-Asskicking One-Liner: "Then my first wish is..." Followed by Bastian bringing back all of Fantasia and getting revenge on the bullies with Falcor's help.
• Quicksand Sucks: The Swamp of Sadness is the manifestation of despair. There's a scene in which Atreyu's horse Artax sinks to his death in that quicksand. It is explained, however, that Artax' sinking was not due to quicksand, but sadness.
• Race Against the Clock: The story is about not only saving Fantasia from The Nothing, but saving the life of the dying Childlike Empress; to underscore the symbolism and up the stakes, Cairon says that her sickness is linked to The Nothing.
• Race Lift: White actor Noah Hathaway is cast as Atreyu, whose appearance and lifestyle are clearly meant to suggest that of a Native American (though thankfully he doesn't wear Brownface). In the sequel, the character is played by Mexican-American actor Kenny Morrison. Also, Atreyu has green skin in the book, but a normal flesh tone in the two movies. According to Hathaway they tried green makeup on him at first but it looked awful.
• Raw Eggs Make You Stronger: Bastian's father pours himself a glass of orange juice, cracks a raw egg into it, blends it, and starts chugging away, a concoction sometimes used as a hangover cure or a general health drink.
• Reaching Through the Fourth Wall: When the Nothing is about to destroy the Childlike Empress (along with the last bits of Fantasia), a violent storm rages against the school where Bastian is reading the story, making it seem like the Nothing is coming for him, too. This is also the scene where the Childlike Empress is talking directly to Bastian.
• "Reading Is Cool" Aesop: Reading literally saves all of Fantasia.
• Reality-Writing Book: The Neverending Story, a magic book that dictates what is happening in the world of Fantasia and the main character, who is initially reading the book on Earth.
• Repeated for Emphasis: This exchange when Atreyu and Falkor float across the Shattered World near the end.
  Atreyu: Do you suppose the Ivory Tower is still standing?
  Falkor: Let's hope so, Atreyu. Let's hope so.
• Reset Button: Of the Set Right What Once Went Wrong variety by Bastian.
• Reverse Psychology: Mr. Koreander asks Bastion some poignant questions about his love of books, then warns him that the one he's reading is "not for you", because it is unlike the "safe," normal books that Bastian is familiar with. (Unlike in the original novel, the film's Koreander seems to have done this for the express purpose of getting Bastian interested enough in the book to swipe it while Koreander's back is turned.)
• Sacrificial Lamb: Atreyu's horse Artax, who is overwhelmed by the Swamps of Sadness and drowns.
• Savage Wolf: Gmork is a hitman sent by "the power behind the Nothing" to kill Atreyu and thereby doom the world.
• Say My Name:
  • "ARTAX!"
  • And at the end, the Empress tells Bastian to call out the new name he has chosen for her.
• Scare Chord: Plays in the tense moment Atreyu encounters Gmork near the end.
• Schmuck Bait: Deliberately invoked by Mr. Koreander, who describes the Neverending Story as a book that isn't "safe" and tells Bastian to stay away from it, which only inspires the boy to steal the book the moment Koreander's back is turned. Of course, Koreander wanted Bastian to take the book... and the book indeed turns out to be far more dangerous than Bastian expected.
• Shaky P.O.V. Cam: There's a wolf-like creature called the Gmork. He hunts Atreyu through most of the movie in Raimi-Vision, only shown fully later on, as Fantasia falls apart.
• Shattered World: This is seen near the end when Atreyu and Falkor float across a field of floating rocks, which is all that is left of Fantasia.
• Shout-Out: To prove to Mr. Koreander that he's into books, Bastian lists Treasure Island, The Last of the Mohicans, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, The Lord of the Rings, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea and Tarzan as literature he has read. Koreander himself brings up Robinson Crusoe.
• Single-Stroke Battle: Atreyu kills Gmork in one hit with his stone knife, albeit with the Curb-Stomp Cushion of Gmork tackling Atreyu first, forcing the young warrior to crawl out from under the beast's corpse afterwards.
• Sommelier Speak: In the first scene in Fantasia, the Rock Biter describes limestone rocks the way wine is described.
  Rock Biter: A delicious-looking limestone rock. Mmm! Mmm! Nice bouquet. Must be a real vintage year.
• Spacetime Eater: The Nothing is consuming the land of Fantasia. If it isn't stopped, Fantasia will be destroyed.
• Spared by the Adaptation: In the movie, everyone taken by the Nothing is restored at the end, and Atreyu's horse Artax comes back to life.
• Spiking the Camera: The Childlike Empress loves this trope, combined with Fourth-Wall Observer.
• Staring Down Cthulhu: Atreyu gives Gmork a long, cold stare before asking him who he really is.
• Stuffed into a Trashcan: Dumpsters are trashcans, too, and Bastian ends up stuffed into one, courtesy of the local Gang of Bullies. In a Bookends ending, the bullies jump into the same dumpster to dodge Falkor who is Buzzing the Deck.
• Swamps Are Evil: Atreyu journeys through the Swamps of Sadness, which consume vulnerable travelers with despair and suck them into a muddy grave. Atreyu's horse Atrax succumbs.
• Symbolism: While there is plenty of it in a story this archetypal, the ultimate example would have to be the combination of what the Empress needs to be cured, why her illness is tied to the Nothing, and why the book is needed to draw in an Earthling child to provide the cure: in a world that is both the source and product of human imagination, of course names have power. At the same time, the fact that such a place is a world of fantasy readily explains why no one within it has the power over creation/existence/true nature that comes with truly naming things. (This is expanded on more in the book, of course.) Of course a person without a true name would become an Empty Shell, thus making something like the Nothing possible. And the fact that the human world is said to be losing imagination and ceasing to believe in magic still ties in; in such a state of affairs, one of the first things to go would be the essence/inner nature of the one who rules the world of imagination, especially when their existence is tied to the land's.
• Talking in Your Sleep: When Atreyu wonders how Falkor knows his name, the latter responds that Atreyu talked in his sleep.
• Taxidermy Terror: A wolf head falls onto Bastian in the attic which makes him scream in terror. Cue a Match Cut to Gmork racing after Atreyu in Fantasia.
• Technicolor Science: Engywook has a telescope using green and red colored carboys.
• Tempting Fate: Gmork sealed his fate as soon as he mentioned that he sought to kill Atreyu - who he didn't realize he was talking to.
• That Liar Lies: When Gmork tells Atreyu Fantasia has no boundaries, Atreyu accuses him of lying.
• These Hands Have Killed: Inverted with the Rockbiter, who ends up at These Hands Have Not Saved. See Despair Event Horizon above.
• This Cannot Be!: Bastian tends to react this way whenever he realizes that the Fantasian characters are aware of him.
• This Is Reality: Averted. The Empress not only knows she exists in a story, but that the person reading that story is himself in a story being followed by us, the viewers.
• This Is Unforgivable!: Atreyu feels this way toward Gmork when he realizes he's trying to destroy Fantasia purely out of a desire for power, and decides to fight him to the death as he's too evil to be left alive.
• Threshold Guardians:
  • Atreyu is required to pass by two golden sphinxes. As he gets closer to the Threshold Guardian sphinxes, he views the fallen bodies of those who went before him who didn't have the faith to pass.
  • The Childlike Empress' chancellor also acts as a Threshold Guardian, warning Atreyu of the danger ahead, to leave on his quest alone, and to abandon everything but the Auryn. Atreyu unwittingly ignores the caution to travel alone, leading to the death of his beloved horse, Artax.
• Too Dumb to Live: It doesn't occur to Gmork that the boy who identifies himself as a warrior, wants to know about the Nothing, and makes it clear he's determined to stop it might be Atreyu.
• Too Strange to Show: The Big Bad, The Nothing, is quite literally nothing, and as such, can't be shown. While the film does symbolise it using rolling clouds, the filmmakers stated that these clouds are not The Nothing itself, just the environmental effects surrounding it, as depicting actual nothingness is not possible.
• Tranquil Fury: When Atreyu hears Gmork's motives for helping the Nothing and realizes he has to be stopped, he gives him a long, cold stare and asks in a deadly quiet voice, "Who are you really?"
• Trapped in Another World: Downplayed in that Bastian isn't physically trapped there, but reading the book and identifying with Atreyu's adventures builds a Psychic Link of sorts.
• Travel Montage: Atreyu's journey to find a cure for the Empress is captured in a montage of key moments of him riding across exotic locations.
• Turtle Island: Morla is originally perceived by Atreyu as a hill of some sort.
• Underestimating Badassery: Atreyu flat-out tells Gmork the dangers of doing this: "I will not die easily. I am a warrior."
• Urban Legends: The "Swamp of Sadness" scene was evidently a troubled production site. Depending on who you ask, the horse that played Artax got caught in the elevator and died—which scarred Atreyu's actor for life—or Atreyu's actor got caught in the elevator and almost drowned. And he was thrown off a horse during training and stepped on, which certainly would not have helped.
• Vagueness Is Coming: The omnipresent thread of the looming Nothing in the first half of the movie. Though in this case, it seems like even the people talking about the Nothing have no idea what it is. Figuring it out is actually a major plot point.
• The Villain Must Be Punished: Even though Gmork doesn't recognize him, Atreyu reveals himself and fights him anyway, deciding that even if his quest fails, he'll at least take Gmork with him.
• Villains Never Lie: Double-subverted. When Gmork says that Fantasia has no borders, Atreyu immediately accuses him of lying, but he's telling the truth.
• Villains Want Mercy: Downplayed in the extended version, where Gmork at first asks Atreyu to leave him alone. Once Atreyu realizes how evil he is, he's in no mood to walk away and makes it clear this is going to end in a fight, and only then does Gmork try to kill him.
• Waking Up Elsewhere: Atreyu is surprised to wake up beside a dragon in an unknown location.
• Who Are You?: An unaware Atreyu asks Gmork who he is.
• Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?:
  • When Bastian reads that the Childlike Empress needs a new name, he remarks to himself that his mother had a beautiful name, which he would like to give to the Empress if it were up to him. When it turns out that it is up to him, the name he shouts is obscured by Dramatic Thunder but seems to be the same as the new name that he gives her in the book: "Moon Child" (in the book there is no suggestion that this was his mother's name).
  • The live-action series Tales from the Neverending Story goes with the "'Moon Child' was inspired by Bastian's mother's name" idea from the movie despite the series being another Alternate Continuity, but clarifies that his mom's actual name was Selene, after the Greek moon goddess.
• Worf Had the Flu: In the extended German version, Gmork explains that he has weakened himself by chasing Atreyu for so long, which explains why he goes down with one hit. (In the novel, he expires because he made the mistake of revealing his mission to Gaya the Dark Princess after she plied him with drink, the ruler of the macabre Spook City who nonetheless was a citizen of Fantasia and thus didn't want the Nothing to succeed; she chained him up so that he gradually starved to death.)
• World-Healing Wave: Bastian restoring all of Fantasia at the end.
  Bastian: It's like the Nothing never was!
• Your Size May Vary: The movie seems in some shots to be attempting to make the gnome couple appear to be unnaturally tiny compared with Atreyu^note When Atreyu is seen at the entrance to their home, Forced Perspective and the size of a cup the wife hands him, relative to their respective hand sizes, give the impression they're barely larger than his head, but in other shots they look like perfectly normal-sized humans. By the third film, they're clearly shown to be smurf-sized.
• You Wake Up on a Beach: Happens to Atreyu in the third act when he falls off Falkor and into the Sea of Possibilities. The next shot has him waking up on a beach.