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Oh, you've had fun with no rules, all the toys you could ask for, fame, and stardom. Your every dream has come true. NOW, you must pay the price!
~ The Emperor of the Night revealing his true form.
You are in my domain now.
~ The Emperor of the Night

The Emperor of the Night is the titular main antagonist of the 1987 animated fantasy film Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night, which serves as "thinly-veiled" sequel to the 1940 Disney classic animated film Pinocchio.

He is a powerful dark lord who rules an opposite dimension called the Empire of the Night, a secret, evil kingdom filled with all manner of nightmares and illusions. The Emperor comes across Pinocchio after his henchman Puppetino tricks him into joining a traveling carnival full of children for his evil plans.

He was voiced by James Earl Jones, who also played Darth Vader in Star WarsOmmadon in The Flight of Dragons, Kibosh in Casper: A Spirited Beginning, Lavan in My Little Pony'n Friends, the Levram Wizard in the 2003 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles TV series, and Thulsa Doom in Conan the Barbarian.

Biography

Backstory

The Emperor rules the Empire of the Night, whose gateway is within a seemingly abandoned ship he uses to traverse the human world and seek out victims. He lures people in his domain to trick them into willingly giving away their freedom, so as to feed on their souls and empower himself. The more powerful he becomes, the more his Empire grows, and the weaker the Good Fairy (Pinocchio's Fairy Godmother) becomes. His goal is to weaken the Blue Fairy enough to remove her as an obstacle, and take over the world.

The Emperor of the Night enlisted the aid of an amateur puppeteer named Puppetino with the promise of wealth and fame to lure more people, especially children, into a traveling carnival that came from the Emperor's ghost ship.

Return and Fall of the Emperor of the Night

At the beginning of the story, a bee named Lieutenant Grumblebee finds a large ship on a school bus. He witnesses Puppetino establishing his demonic circus and flies away.

One year after the events described in the 1940 animated Disney film Pinocchio, Pinocchio is tricked into trading Geppetto's precious jeweled box for a fake ruby gem given to him by two con-artists, Scalawag and Igor. He looks for work at the carnival and is entranced by a blonde marionette named Twinkle.

Puppetino uses Twinkle to lure Pinocchio into joining the carnival, before spinning an organ grinder to make Pinocchio dance against his will, transforming back into a puppet. Puppetino attaches strings to Pinocchio's hands and feet and hangs him up with Twinkle. The Good Fairy then appears and tells Pinocchio that he lost his freedom because he took it for granted. She reminds him of the importance of choices before restoring him to human form, but warns him that she will not always be there to help him.

Pinocchio later sets out to retrieve the jeweled box, but he ends up arguing with his new conscience Willikers and traveling alone. He finds Scalawag and Igor, who inform him that the box is at the carnival, which has returned to the ship. The three pursue the ship by boat, but their embarkation is suddenly swallowed by the ship, which Scalawag eventually but fearfully recognizes as the "Empire of the Night". Willikers then arrives, carried to the river by Grumblebee, and enters Pinocchio's pocket.

Moments later, a boatman offers Pinocchio a ride to find the jewel box, which he accepts, leaving Scalawag and Igor behind. The boatman tells Pinocchio that he will find the box is in the darker end of the cavern that they are in, but uses promises of fame and games to tempt Pinocchio into going to the "Neon Cabaret", in the brighter end.

Pinocchio then encounters a doorman, who tells him that he can go and play inside if he signs a contract. Pinocchio impulsively agrees, running inside and drinking from a fountain of green liquid that causes him to hallucinate and black out. Pinocchio awakens on a stage, where a ringmaster says that his fans are waiting and Pinocchio begins dancing. Scalawag and Igor, who followed after Pinocchio, try to get Pinocchio's attention but are drawn offstage while he is distracted by Twinkle.

Puppetino appears and Pinocchio turns to find the boatman, who transforms into the doorman and then the ringmaster. The shape-shifting man tells Pinocchio that he has reached the "Land Where Dreams Come True" and reveals his true identity: the Emperor of the Night.

Pinocchio asks where he is, and the Emperor of the Night reveals that the entire audience who had watched Pinocchio's and Twinkle's performance is made up of puppets who were once real boys and girls. Pinnochio is told to sign a contract that will make him a puppet again, but he refuses and gets imprisoned with Scalawag and Igor, who lament that they have succumbed to their desires without considering the consequences.

Pinocchio is later brought back before the Emperor of the Night, who gives him the jeweled box but reveals that he has shrunk Geppetto to a few inches and trapped him inside the box. Pinocchio accepts to sign away his freedom in exchange for the others, and transforms back into a living puppet. However, the Emperor has no intention of fulfilling his side of the bargain now that he has got what he wanted. As Pinocchio is calling him on his treachery, the Emperor states that he needs his victims to sign by choice.

Incensed, Pinocchio defies the Emperor and his bravery grants him access to the Blue Fairy's power, which manifests into a blue aura. The Emperor attacks Pinocchio with blasts of magic but the blue light protects him and the ship catches fire. Puppetino attempts to escape, but the Emperor turns him into a puppet as punishment for his cowardice, causing him to burn to death. Pinocchio, Scalawag, Igor and Geppetto flee, taking Twinkle with them, and manage to reach the blazing ship's deck but the Emperor attacks them. Pinocchio eventually chooses to sacrifice himself for his friends' sake and plunges into the Emperor's cloak. The power of Pinocchio's selfless choice coupled with the Blue Fairy's magic overwhelm and destroy the Emperor of the Night, sinking his Empire.

On the shore, Geppetto (who has returned to his original size), Scalawag and Igor find Pinocchio, once again a real boy. The Blue Fairy appears and proudly tells Pinocchio that he no longer needs her. She gives Geppetto his jeweled box and turns Twinkle into a real little girl, before leaving the group to celebrate.

Appearance

The Emperor of the Night is a large humanoid figure clad in a robe-like cloak filled with what seem to be fire and darkness, with a headless, vampiric face, glowing red eyes, and sharp claws on his four arms.

Powers and Abilities

The Emperor of the Night is extremely powerful. He has full control of his Empire, which he can make appear as he wants while he alone possesses various, tremendous magical powers; he is able to instill and manipulate fear; to create illusions and solid mirages; to conjure ghostly shades and to transform them into human-like people; to turn people into animated (or lifeless) puppets; to curse his victims; and so on and so forth. The Emperor can also transform into any aspect he wants (all sharing ominously glowing red eyes), shows off with streams of dreamy rainbows through the sleight of his claw-like hands, turn his fingers into hydra-like monsters with different scary faces, and strike down fiery lightning bolt-like blasts of magical energy at his prey.

Weaknesses

It is unclear how much power (aside from coercive or persuasive, as seen with Pinnocchio) the Emperor would have over an individual whom had not entered his Empire and partaken of their wishes. It appears, to an extent, that he needs either this to have happened, or for a person to come across the carnival (arguably a smaller extension of the Empire) and be accosted by his henchman, Puppetino, in order for them to be fully entrapped. In the case of Pinnocchio, even having spent time indulging in "The Land Where Dreams True", a contract still needed to be signed before he could be turned into a puppet. However, the matter becomes unclear, as countless other children are shown to have been turned, and no mention is made as to whether they have signed similar contracts. At the same time, The Emperor resorted to blackmailing Pinnocchio using Geppetto; this was seemingly prepared in advance, so even trying to make a person pay for the fun and dreams indulged in did not always work in itself, and the Emperor may been aware of this.

On the other hand, the Emperor is made all the more enigmatic by the fact that he turns Puppetino into a puppet instantaneously out of pure rage.

He is also severely weakened (and ultimately destroyed, it appears) by exposure to a blue aura emitted by Pinnocchio, which is widely taken to be the power of The Good Fairy manifested through Pinnocchio's freedom of choice. The Emperor is even seen to shrink as the light develops. Again, whether this is exclusive to Pinnocchio, or whether other victims standing up to the Emperor in this way, would have any such effect, is not knowable.

Gallery

External Links

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           Pinocchio Logo Villains

Books
The Adventures of Pinocchio: The Fox & the Cat | Coachman | Terrible Dogfish | Mangiafuoco | Green Fisherman
When You Wish Upon A Star: Heartless Fairies (Scarlet Fairy | Green Fairy) | Honest John | Gideon | Stromboli | Coachman

Movies
Pinocchio (1940): Honest John | Gideon | Stromboli | Coachman | Coachman's Minions | Monstro
Pinocchio and the Emperor of the Night: Emperor of the Night | Puppetino
The Adventures of Pinocchio: Lorenzini | Felinet and Volpe
Pinocchio's Revenge: Pinocchio
Pinocchio (2002): Mangiafuoco | The Fox & the Cat | Coachman | Terrible Dogfish | Green Fisherman
Pinocchio 3000: Mayor Scamboli | Cab and Rodo
Pinocchio (2019): Mangiafuoco | The Fox & the Cat | Coachman | Terrible Dogfish
Pinocchio: A True Story: Modjafocco | The Fox and the Cat
Pinocchio (2022): Honest John | Gideon | Stromboli | Coachman | Coachman's Minions | Monstro
Guillermo del Toro's Pinocchio: Count Volpe | Podestà | Terrible Dogfish | Benito Mussolini

Other
Pinocchio Unstrung: Pinocchio | Monstro

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