Goblin King

Jareth the Goblin King is the main antagonist of the 1986 musical fantasy film Labyrinth. He is the powerful, manipulative king of the Goblins and although a villain, Jareth was not necessarily a purely evil character and was more accurately amoral, seeking to please the young girl he fell in love with by granting her wish to have her baby brother "disappear". However, his method of kidnapping and plan to turn the baby into a goblin were extremely cruel and villainous, as they were the tricks and obstacles he set in play to ensure the heroes of the film would not make it to his castle in time to stop the curse that he had placed. A mysterious and enigmatic immortal, Jareth was served loyally by many goblins but was also hated by many of the inhabitants of his world - the relationship between Jareth and the main heroine of the story is also shown to be a mix of mutual attraction and revulsion. When the heroine Sarah Williams becomes frustrated with her baby half-brother Toby, she wishes for the goblins to take him away (having always had a fascination with fairy-tales). To her horror, when his cries stop, she returns to the nursery to see his empty crib. Jareth, in the form of a barn owl, then flies into the bedroom and assumes his human form, to tell Sarah he has granted her wish. When Sarah begs him to return her brother, Jareth tells her to travel his great maze (the Labyrinth) within 13 hours, to recover him. Jareth appears later playing with Toby whilst singing "Magic Dance". When catching his dwarf servant Hoggle helping Sarah, Jareth sets the Labyrinth's mechanical Cleaners on them, but the two escape. Later, Jareth confronts Hoggle and gives him an enchanted peach and orders him to give it to Sarah or he will put him in the Bog of Eternal Stench. After eating the peach, Sarah falls unconscious and finds herself in an imaginary ballroom filled with people wearing masks. Jareth, among them, sings "As The World Falls Down" to tempt Sarah away from her quest, but she breaks free and along with Hoggle, and two other sidekicks called Ludo and Sir Didymus, continues to Jareth's castle at the Goblin City. There, she is faced with a difficult reality-defying maze within the castle itself, while Jareth sings "Within You", and asks her to abandon her brother and stay with him. Sarah refuses and declares he has no power over her; whereupon she and Toby return to her room, while Jareth turns into an owl and flies away back to his castle. At the end of the movie, Sarah and her friends from the Labyrinth are celebrating in her room in the real world while Jareth, still in owl-form, watches from outside before he flies away into the night. In the unofficial manga sequel, Return to Labyrinth, he continues to follow Sarah and her now teenaged brother, to whom he "grants" his wishes and always has his minions watching over him. One day, he decides to reveal himself to Toby and receive praise for everything he had done for him. However, he is met with rejection. Later that day, when Toby is printing a report for his class, Jareth sends one of his minions to lure him into the Labyrinth. Once Toby is there, he is captured by Jareth's soldiers. Jareth meets Toby in the castle courtyard and convinces him to stay, and announces Toby is his new heir to the throne. Over the next few weeks, he teaches Toby to be the perfect Goblin Prince. During one of Toby's sessions, he stops by Sarah's house. She does not recognize him at first, but she does remember a little of him. Ultimately, Jareth is persuaded to reclaim his Kingship and send Toby home to the human world.