Jareth the Goblin King

David Bowie in Labyrinth as Jareth.

Jareth, The King of Goblins is a fictional character in the 1986 movie Labyrinth. 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

Role In The Film

Jareth has the power to transform into an white barn-owl, and is first seen in the film in his owl form watching Sarah as she recites lines from the play Labyrinth. Jareth first appears in the film in his human form when he is summoned by Sarah to take her infant brother Toby away from her. Jareth attempts to make Sarah give up her brother by offering her a crystal that will reveal her dreams, only for her to refuse. Jareth transports both himself and Sarah to a hill overlooking his Labyrinth and tells her she has thirteen hours to save Toby. He then vanishes, leaving Sarah alone on a hill-top to start her journey.

He is next seen in his castle, surrounded by his drunk, clumsy goblin subjects. He rises from his throne and begins to interact with his subjects through the song Magic Dance, which he uses to express his delight at having Toby in his possession.

When Sarah falls into the Oubliette, Jareth is pertubed by the speed of her progress through the Labyrinth. He declares that he plans to send Hoggle to fetch her and take her back to the start of the Labyrinth, laughing gleefully at the thought of her being delayed.

Disguising himself as a blind, shabby beggar, Jareth waits for Sarah and Hoggle in the passage leading away from the Oubliette, attracting their attention with one of his crystals. He does away with his disguise as soon as they appear, asking Hoggle to explain why he appears to be helping Sarah instead of taking her back to the start of the Labyrinth as he was ordered to. Quickly losing interest in Hoggle, Jareth approaches Sarah and asks for her opinion on his Labyrinth. Her flippant response causes him to lose his patience with her, and he sends the Cleaners after both Sarah and Hoggle as punishment.

Jareth's next significant appearance is an encounter with Hoggle, where he gives a peach to Hoggle that he orders him to give to Sarah. When asked if the peach will harm Sarah, Jareth taunts Hoggle and ridicules the idea that Sarah could consider "a repulsive little scab" such as him a friend. In parting, he tells Hoggle he will make him a prince if Sarah should ever kiss him. He soon fulfills this promise, causing a trap door that leads to The Bog Of Eternal Stench to open beneath both Sarah and Hoggle when Sarah kisses Hoggle in gratitude for him having saved her. Later, when Hoggle is about the drop the peach into The Bog Of Eternal Stench, Jareth's disembodied voice tells him "I wouldn't do that if I were you" and Hoggle returns the peach to his pocket.

David Bowie as Jareth in Labyrinth.

When Sarah eats the drugged peach, Jareth is seen on the window-sill of his throne room, casting crystals out into the sky that travel towards Sarah. Sarah is drawn into the dream-world contained in one of the crystals, a world that also features Jareth. Jareth is elusive at first, deliberately hiding from Sarah as she wanders through the crowd, confused and disorientated. Eventually, he approaches her and draws her into a dance, singing the love ballad As The World Falls Down to her as they move across the ballroom. Sarah is eventually distracted by the sight of a clock that indicates her time is running out, and she pulls herself free from Jareth and flees. Jareth watches her run from him, and is lost from sight in the crowd.

Following Sarah's entrance into the Goblin City, a guard enters Jareth's throne room to inform him that "the girl who ate the peach and forget everything" is making her way through his city. Visibly stunned by this news, Jareth calls out for his army to stop her and passes Toby to a goblin so he can be hidden. Jareth looks out onto his city from his Throne Room, watching as Sarah advances.

Jareth confronts Sarah in the Escher Room of his castle, trying to disorientate her by performing gravity-defying stunts on the stairways that fill the room. He sings the song Within You to her, attempting to convey the lengths he has gone to in order to meet her wishes. Entirely focused on saving Toby Sarah ignores him, ultimately reaching a precipice she leaps from in order to reach her brother.

When Sarah lands, she is faced with Jareth once again as he approaches her from a dark, shadowy alcove. Jareth attempts to make Sarah see what he has done to please her, most significantly taking her brother away when asked to. Sarah ignores him, and recites the words from the play neccessary to defeat him. Jareth pleads with her, telling Sarah she can have everything she wants if she will love, fear and obey him. Sarah remains deaf to his pleas, and defeats him with the words "You have no power over me." Jareth crumbles before Sarah's eyes, the crystal he had held out to her shattering as he transforms into an owl.

Jareth is last seen perched on a branch outside Sarah's window, watching as she celebrates with her friends. Jareth flies off as they celebrate, silhouetted towards the moon.

Personality

Jareth presents as being proud, arrogant and mischiveous, and at the start of the film delights in tormenting Sarah and demonstrating his powers to her. As the film progresses, he displays other traits, including building anxiety as Sarah progresses quickly through his Labyrinth. By the end of the film he is desperate to win, attempting to win Sarah over by insisting he will give her everything she wants in exchange for her love, fear and obidience.

He acts like a gang leader with his goblin subjects, expecting them to laugh at his jokes and quickly losing his patience with them. Despite the fact he treats his subjects poorly, they continue to serve him and obey him without question. He appears weary of their antics, and often seems more interested in following Sarah's progress in one of his crystals than interacting with them.

Appearance

Jareth has long, wild blond hair, and his eyes appear to be diffirent colours as the pupil of one is permanently dilated. His age is never given, however David Bowie was thirty-eight when he filmed his role as Jareth. The novelization of the film implies that Jareth has been the Goblin King for a long time, and overtly states that he is concerned by signs he is aging such as frown-lines and wrinkles.

Costumes

Jareth wears eight distinct costumes over the course of the film, often being seen in black boots, long, ragged cloaks, loose shirts and form-fitting trousers. In most of his scenes, he wears a sickle-shaped pendant around his neck. He carries a riding crop in some scenes.

Abilities

Jareth is shown to have a range of magical powers. He can transform into an owl, apparently at will, and uses this form to travel to the human world to spy on Sarah. He can manipulate crystal balls with his hands easily, and does so to impress Sarah at the start of the film. Additionally he can appear and disappear in his realm as he wishes, and can speak directly to his subjects using his mind. He is also able to defy gravity, running through the Escher Room in his castle upside down.

Appearances In Other Media

Music Videos

Although not explicitly stated, David Bowie appears to be playing versions of Jareth in the music videos for the songs Underground and As The World Falls Down, from the Labyrinth soundtrack. The Labyrinth music videos are available on the VHS tape "The Bowie Video Collection" and the two-disc DVD set, "The Best of Bowie."

Underground

In the Underground music video, David Bowie portrays a singer performing in a quiet, dingily lit club. The scenes of Bowie performing are inter-cut with scenes that show him being lured into the strange world of the labyrinth, which is represented through the use of puppets from the film and animation. The music video ends with Bowie choosing to enter the world of the labyrinth for good, ripping off his human skin to reveal an animated self beneath.

As the World Falls Down

In this music video, Jareth is shown to be pining after a grown-up Sarah. He is shown performing the track in an elegant room, with Hoggle as his servant and sole companion. A portrait of Sarah hangs on the wall. At one point the portrait crashes to the ground, prompting Jareth and Hoggle to look to the door as they falsely believe there is someone on the other side. The doorway is empty, and Jareth is seen staring ahead grimly upon realizing no one was there.

Return To Labyrinth

Little is known about Jareth's personal life or history. As revealed in Volume 2 of the manga, Jareth at one point or another had a romantic relationship with Mizumi, the Queen of Moraine. However, the relationship failed when Mizumi did something Jareth could not forgive her for. To protect himself from all others, Jareth built the Labyrinth to keep everyone else out, including Mizumi.

According to the Return to Labyrinth manga, Jareth has ruled the Labyrinth for 1,300 years. In the manga Mizumi calls him a sorcerer. He does not appear to age between the film and the events of Return to Labyrinth, which happen many years later.

In the manga, Jareth establishes Sarah's then-teenaged brother Toby as his heir, leaving him in charge of the Labyrinth during a rather delicate time. The story also expands on Jareth's obsession with Sarah, embellishing on his twisted desire for both her love, and revenge upon her. In one section of book two of Return to Labyrinth, it could be interpreted as Jareth intending on Sarah to become his queen (an idea that was also included in the original first draft of the screenplay).

As the manga continues, it is also implied by Spittledrum that Jareth was not the first Goblin King, as the coronation for Toby is a "tradition". However, when Toby presses Spittledrum about this, the concept is quickly shoved aside. Jareth has been using Toby, not only as bait (again) to get Sarah into the Labyrinth, but also to thwart Mizumi's designs on the Kingdom. After the events of the movie, he had requested a piece of Sarah for himself -- her dreams. If he were able to force this piece to love him, Mizumi would get the Kingdom and its king. However, to hedge the bet, Jareth abdicated near the end of Volume 1, knowing that Mizumi could not win Jareth if he were not king. This shows a rather complex picture of Jareth's motivations, as originally it just appeared he had a thing for Sarah. However, even Sarah is really a piece in Jareth's game. With the inclusion of Mizumi as part of Jareth's backstory, Sarah is more like the "new girlfriend" who is supposed to be better than the old one. Jareth claims to love Sarah. However, even if he is being sincere, "pathmaking" is clearly a talent of Jareth, who always seems to think several steps ahead of his opponents/pawns.

Action Figures

Neca released two Jareth action figures: a 12 inch one, dressed in black (it can talk, speaking lines from the movie), and a 7 inch one, which comes with a figure of Hoggle the dwarf.

Novelization

A. C. H. Smith's novelisation is based on the movie. Jareth appears much the same as he does in the film, and most of his dialogue remaint the same. The full text of the novel can be found here.

Memorable Quotes

(T'o Sarah) "I ask for so little. Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave."

(To Sarah) "I ask so little. Just let me rule you, and you can have everything that you want."

(To Sarah) "You have thirteen hours in which to solve the labyrinth, before your baby brother becomes one of us...forever."

"Well, laugh."

"In 9 hours and 23 minutes... you'll be mine."