Falkor and Atreyu are flying around the emptiness of space, as the rest of Fantasia is gone, leaving only an asteroid field. With the guide of the Auryn, they fly back to the Ivory Tower, which is the only intact structure left in the remains of Fantasia. Atreyu goes inside the tower and comes face to face with The Childlike Empress (Tami Stronach). The Empress tells him that he has not failed, and has indeed brought a human child with him. The Empress begins to tell of the human child, who escaped bullies in a bookstore, then accompanied Atreyu on his journey all along.
Atreyu (Atréju in German) is a secondary protagonist to the story, being the protagonist of the mysterious book that Bastian reads. To the audience, he is a metafictional character, existing fictionally and within the reality of the book itself.
He is a young Greenskin warrior from the Grassy Plains. His parents were killed by a purple buffalo soon after he was born, so his entire village raised him, thus his name means "son of all" in his native language. He is summoned by the Childlike Empress to embark on a "Great Quest" to save the land of Fantastica by finding a cure for her illness. He is given the Auryn, an amulet that makes whoever wears it the Childlike Empress' herald, and he sets out on his mission with his horse, Artax. During the long events of the quest to find a cure, his travels lead him across all corners of Fantastica. He meets many creatures, including Falkor the luckdragon, who helps him on his quest by carrying him on his back. Bastian, all the while reading Atreyu's story in the real world, experiences everything Atreyu does and begins to sympathize with him. In the end this proves to have been Fantastica's solution and the Empress' cure, bringing Bastian to Fantastica to give the Empress a new name. Atreyu features largely in the second half of the novel, as Bastian travels Fantastica far and wide as its savior.
In the 1984 film version, the character of Atreyu is played by Noah Hathaway. His skin is not olive green as described in the book, though it was attempted to do this through makeup, it never made it to the final production. As such, his people were called the 'Plains People' instead of Greenskins. The character also makes a return appearance in The Neverending Story II: The Next Chapter, played by Kenny Morrison. In the 2001 Hallmark mini-series, Tales from the Neverending Story, he is portrayed by Tyler Hynes and the character's people are referred to as 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.
Falkor (Fuchur in German) is a luckdragon, and a friend of Atreyu. He is the only luckdragon to appear, although five others are mentioned in passing. He helps Atreyu in his quest to find a cure for the Empress after escaping the web of Ygramul the Many.
Falkor has an elongated, wingless body with many white scales, and only rudimentary paws. The form of his head is described less precisely, though his eyes are mentioned as being the color of rubies. A cover for the book by Dan Craig illutrated Falkor as lion-like, while in the 1984 film adaptation of the novel, as well as its sequels, Falkor has distinctive canine features. Additionally, in both the first and second movies, Falkor asks to be scratched behind his ear, accenting his dog-like appearance, which led to confusion among those who have not read the book.
Unlike most of their dragon kin, luckdragons possess neither an immense physical strength, nor great magical talents, though they can still breath fire, as shown when Falkor fights Ygramul. Their only distinctive ability that sets them apart is their incredible luck in everything they do, as shown at one point in the novel when Falkor manages to locate and rescue his companion despite being lost in a violent, blinding storm and having absolutely no idea where to look for him. A luckdragon's typical answer to how it is going to accomplish a nearly impossible feat is always "With luck!" Despite such carelessness, it seems their luck truly never fails and is a valuable asset for their companions.
Another special trait of luckdragons is the ability to fly despite the fact that they have no wings. It is explained in the book that luckdragons are beings made from fire and air, and never stop breathing air and heat through their scales, which makes water deadly to them, although in the both film and the book Falkor retrieves the AURYN from under water on the arm of a coral reef. Luckdragons are capable of sleeping while flying, and prefer to have as much open space as possible rather than be cooped up in a building, regardless of how spacious it may be.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_NeverEnding_Story_(film)
