Jareth the Goblin King
is a fictional character in the 1986 fantasy movie Labyrinth. Jareth is a powerful, mysterious creature who has an antagonistic yet strangely flirtatious relationship with Sarah (Jennifer Connelly), the film's teenage heroine. He was portrayed by David Bowie.He also appears in the film's adaptations, including the Marvel comic books, story book, graphic novel, novelization, coloring books, and photo album.
Jareth is the Goblin King of The Labyrinth, a vast kingdom within another realm. Fans sometimes refer to the world of the Labyrinth as "the underground", because of the song "Underground" featured in the movie.However, it is not all literally under the ground. Though the ruler of the goblins, Jareth actually is not a goblin, and he appears human. In the first draft of the script, however, he turned into a goblin when Sarah rejected him, thus suggesting that he was a goblin to begin with. His powers include the ability to form crystal orbs in his hands, which can create illusions of all types or to view things from a distance. Jareth uses his magical crystals to show dreams and offers the crystals to Sarah as a symbol of dreams. Another inspiration for the idea of Jareth's magical crystals is Hand with Reflecting Sphere byM.C. Escher, i. e. the inspiration for the mirror properties of the crystals and their power to show reflections of dreams.
Jareth is also a master of disguise. He can transform into a barn owl. In the movie he disguised himself as a blind beggar once, and in the Return to Labyrinth manga as a thespian, Jareth Quinn. In Return to Labyrinth, he also slicks his hair back and wears spectacles while wearing a suit as Toby's guidance counselor.
Jareth resents his position as Goblin King and yearns for a different life, probably somewhere down in Soho according to rock legend David Bowie, who first portrayed Jareth in 1986. He has a great deal of angst that only grows when he develops an affection for Labyrinth protagonist, Sarah, as revealed through David Bowie's songs from the film and the Return to Labyrinth manga.
According to the music video for Underground and Return to Labyrinth and hinted at in the Labyrinth novelization, Jareth has a human alter ego (in Return to Labyrinth he uses the alias Jareth Quinn). In the novelization of Labyrinth Jeremy (who resembles Jareth) is an actor with whom Sarah's biological mother, an actress, happened to run off years before after they starred in a show together. Jeremy is also the man who gave Sarah her music box, which in the book plays "Greensleeves", and in the movie plays "As the World Falls Down", the same song that Jareth uses to try to seduce Sarah while within his Labyrinth.
In the novelization and according to the song "Within You" part of what Jareth wants from Sarah is for her to believe in him so that he may become a real being and not just exist within her fantasy. Though Sarah renounces the power Jareth holds over her it does appear she actually gives him what he wants. The line "I ask for so little. Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave," embodies what Jareth feels for young Sarah Williams.(wikipedia)
