The Neverending Story (novel)/WMG

The Childlike Empress is Haruhi Suzumiya.
Look at the facts.
 * The Childlike Empress has the form of a young woman.
 * The Childlike Empress is a goddess in Fantastica.
 * When the Childlike Empress does not have a good name, she falls ill (one might say a state of desperate melancholy) and spaces of nothingness begin to envelop the world
 * The power of AURYN allows humans to make wishes that change reality so that it has always been so.
 * Haruhi has made other universes before according to Itsuki (Koizumi)

All of this sounds like Haruhi. AURYN's power functions a lot like Haruhi's power (a wish is made, but by the time it's fulfilled, it has always been so), the Nothing is a lot like Closed Space in that it's a horrible dead zone that spreads when there is something wrong with the godddess, and she's a young girl. Also, she is quite Genre Savvy. She flat-out tells Atreyu that his journey was specifically planned to be a traditional form of The Hero's Journey in order to draw Bastian in. Once he is drawn in, she has a new name, exciting things start to happen in Fantastica, and the Nothing vanishes. Note that the scene where Bastian begins wishing is in a gray dark place that vanishes when Bastian does something interesting (makes his first wish), similar to how Kyon stopped Haruhi causing the end of the world. Her invisible "powers" could be her version of the S.O.S. brigade.

The Old Man of Wandering Mountain is Kyon.
A part of the above theory: if the Childlike Empress is Haruhi, then her opposite number must be Kyon. Much like Kyon, the Old Man does not approve of the Empress' attitude or behavior. He is quick to point out problems in the Empress' reasoning, and he has the air of a long-suffering observer of the craziness that goes on in Fantastica. But more importantly, he writes the book, making him the narrator, just like Kyon.

The Childlike Empress is Desire.
Think about it: the golden-eyed commander of wishes. And she(or s/he?) is described as "neither human nor Fantastican" and as more beautiful than any other character or person. What's more, it would not be out of character for Desire to set up a realm like the Dreaming and make itself the fickle ruler of it, just to piss Dream off.
 * But the Desire would meddle with things - that's what s/he is and that's what s/he does. The Childlike Empress never meddles directly.
 * Why Desire? The Childlike Empress is a child's vision of Dream, and the Auryn is one of his Dream Gems. We know the Endless look different depending on who sees them (Martian Manhunter sees him as a flaming skull while Shazam simultaneously sees him as we do) and Fantastica is the world of story and archetype just like the Dreaming. The Old Man of Wandering Mountain is either Destiny, or a dream of Destiny: since stories of the Endless are told, then Dreams of the Endless exist.

The Neverending Story is one big metaphor of the Thelemic philosophy/religion
The entire story is built around the desire to realize one's True Will through going through multitudes of inferior wishes that may help or hinder you in this search. The AURYN is inscribed with the words "Do what you wish", a variation of the Code of Thelema: "Do what thou Wilt, shall be whole of the Law". Like many unfamiliar with the philosophy, Bastian assumes it's a hedonistic command to do as you please, when its real purpose is to encourage you to find your deepest Wish, that is, your True Will. And Bastian's true wish at the end is to love and be loved, which mirrors how the Code continues: "Love is the Law, Love under Will". And finally, the name which Bastian gives to the Childlike Empress is Moon Child, which is almost certainly a direct reference to a novel and ritual by the same name from Aleister Crowley, the founder of the Thelemic faith. There are many other lesser parallels, but these are the most noticeable.
 * The ritual described above is from "Liber Astarte" and is a form of invocation through ritual. A version that combines both ritual AND immersion is described in the novel Moonchild.

The Neverending Story is influenced by Ancient Egyptian religion.
The Nothing is strikingly similar to Isfet, the Egyptians' Big Bad, while G'mork takes the role of Apep, its (fairly literal) dragon.

The Childlike Empress is actually evil
She's been around for thousands of years, so the only way she can entertain herself is by torturing whoever picks up the book. Bastian was just lucky enough to get away.
 * When would she risk being trapped in a time loop just for some entertainment?
 * (this is the original poster) I was saying that she was never in any actual danger. She was just kinda faking it. I might have missed something in the book, but since she's supposed to be something like the goddess of the place, it would have been easy enough to fake something like this, right?
 * She certainly wasn't in any danger from The Nothing, but the time loop was caused by the Old Man On Wandering Mountain who's the same kind of being she is. Though it could still work if he is also evil.

Ende named the sorceress Xayide so he would have an "X."
The book's chapters follow an alphabetical order pattern of the first word, thus her name serves well for the difficult "X" word in Chapter 24. After all, it would be hard to start a chapter with "X-ray" or "Xylophone." A similar case can be made for Chapter 26, maybe Chapter 25 (I can't remember).
 * Chapter 25. It had to start with the also difficult "Y", and the character Yor provided a good example for this. Chapter 26 began with, "Zigzagging."
 * Don't forget Q, which was lucky enough to get Queroquobad.

The Sphinxes let people through based on how good their stories are.
Engywook can't find any scientific pattern based on physical traits, causes, or anything else that he can observe. However, he can't tell which of the inhabitants of Fantastica is leading the most interesting life and is the hero of an important story. What could be a more diverse group, in such a manner that only them being let through seems random, than the protagonists of stories? Red Shirts, Mooks, Flat Characters, and others of their ilk are kept out, while people who are the heroes of important stories get through, regardless of why they have come. This ensures that the ones who really need to get to the Oracle will get through, and not just anyone will be able to get Uyulala's advice.

The Old Man of Wandering Mountain is Michael Ende himself.
Think about it. He writes the story as it happens, the way that the author would, and he's not just recording events, no, no, no. "Everything I write down, happens." He's also one of the most powerful beings in Fantastica, the only one who is of a stature similar to the Empress, and Bastian refers to him again later in the story as the one writing the book.

The Childlike Empress is a Hive Mind.
Every person who visits Fantastica but doesn't succeed in leaving it ends up as a lobotomized zombie imprisoned in the City of Old Emperors for all eternity. This happens because, at the moment they crown themselves Emperor or Empress, the Childlike Empress sucks out their mind and soul and melds them into her personality, leaving only a clueless body who is too incompetent to operate a blanket behind. This explains why the Empress is so unfathomably neutral; she's taken on the minds and personalities of so many distinct humans that she can no longer take just one opinion on anything, except preserving and continuing Fantastica.

The Character Derailment in the third film was intended to come after the Nasties stole the book
Perhaps it was just a relic from an earlier script and the Nasties were supposed to alter Fantastica more drastically than they did and Bastian was meant to have to escape their warped Fantastica but they didn't have the funds to make a more realistic Fantastica, so they rewrote it to mostly take place in the real world and already had the 'altered' character's scenes made (once more, no reshoots due to lack of funds). This would also explain why the subtitle is "Escape From Fantastica", despite in the actual movie, that's insanely easy to do. Think about it, wouldn't it make sense?...Or at least be a much better story?
 * The opening scene suggested that things were turning to shit even before the Nasties discovered the book.

Everything is really Fantasia and there is no real world
I have been able to successfully wish things into existence and there's a book with a weird snake symbol in my room.
 * OMG, IT'S THE AURYN!!!

Mirror Mask is the Neverending Story
And Helena has the Auryn somewhere on her. Maybe it's a small sun logo on her pajamas or... OH! The Charm!!
 * The White Queen is the Childlike Empress and the Dark Queen is Xayide
 * Mr. Coreander did say there were other doors into Fantasia.

The deterration in Fantasia, the character derailment, bad pop culture references and a lot of the other "quirks" in the 3rd movie are a result of tv rotting Bastion's imagination
It makes sense. The world becomes less vivid and cohesive, everyone becomes more shallow and changes in nonsensical ways, and Bastion can no longer think with as much imagination as before. The Child Emperess artibarly restricts his wish, because thats what they do in Fairy Odd Parents

Bastian's mother was not named "Moon Child"
She had the Japanese name "Tsukiko" or something similar, and told Bastian what it meant.
 * This would only apply to the movie anyway, since in the book there is no reference to using his mother's name. Bastian's special ability is his imagination, his skill to create new names and stories out of nothing, so it wouldn't have been so impressive to use a name that he already knew.

Obviously Bastian is a Reality Warper
Or maybe, his father had an Imaginary Wife.

Luck Dragons genitalia are behind their right ears
Based on this is all I need to prove as much.

Atreyu actually failed the test of self-worth in the movie.
The point of the first gate in the movie is that you must feel your own self-worth and pass the Sphinxes without getting zapped. If this is so, then Atreyu technically failed. Sure he dodges their attack and runs through safely, but this means he only "passes" in the sense that he has quick feet and good reflexes. He still failed the test of self-worth because the Sphinxes didn't keep their eyes closed and attacked him.
 * Where is the guess in this? That's literally what happened.

The Empress changes to suit whoever's reading the book.
No one knows what she looks like, few have met her, and her appearance is said to change. The fact she is Childlike suggests that appearing as a young girl is a conceit she adopts. Whether this is her choosing A Form You Are Comfortable With or if she too is being shaped by Bastian's expectations isn't clear, but it is surely no accident that she, Bastian, and Atreyu are all children. Coreander would likely have met an old woman version of the Empress (which only leaves one left to complete The Hecate Sisters...). ~User:Ingonyama

Hero Hynreck is the one who set the Ivory Tower on fire
As an hero, it would be his duty to help Atreyu save Bastian from himself, and what better way to prevent Bastian from crowning himself Emperor than burning down the place where the ceremony would have had place?