Farid (Inkworld)

Infobox character
colour = lavender
colour text =
name = Farid
series = "Inkworld"


caption = Rafi Gavron as "Farid" with Eliza Bennet as "Meggie Folchart" in Inkheart moviedeletable image-caption|1=Thursday, 2 October 2008
first = "Inkheart"
last = "Inkdeath"
creator = Cornelia Funke
portrayer = Rafi Gavron
age =
family =

Farid is a fictional character in Cornelia Funke's "Inkworld" trilogy. Described as skinny and dark, with curly black hair and black eyes, he was read out of "The Book of One Thousand and One Nights" by Mortimer Folchart.

Character biography

Little is known of his past and life in the story, other than the fact that he worked as a servant boy for a gang of thieves. Because of this, he has many useful skills - sneaking around, tying people up, and working with knives. He's also a bit reckless, barely afraid of anything but the dead, and Dustfinger admires him for that.

Farid soon become the apprentice to Dustfinger, a fire-eater. Dustfinger teaches him how to control fire. Farid admires and looks up to Dustfinger as a father figure, and follows him like a shadow, doing his best to protect him from any harm - especially the inevitable death that awaits him at the end of the book. Like a typical son with a new stepmother, he takes an immediate dislike to Roxane, Dustfinger's wife, who is introduced in the second novel of the trilogy "Inkspell" and who suspects that he is Dustfinger's biological son from another woman.

Farid has few friends beside Dustfinger and the marten, Gwin. In "Inkheart", he develops a crush on Meggie Folchart, which later develops into a full-fledged romance in "Inkspell". Despite being very shy and awkward with girls, and along with Dustfinger's constant teasing about his being in love with her, Farid kisses Meggie on the spur of the moment.

A pivotal moment occurs during a fight between Basta and his men and Mo, Meggie, Farid, Dustfinger, and the rest of the Motley Folk towards the end of "Inkspell". In the ensuing chaos, Basta throws his knife into Farid's back, thus killing him. Mo, in retaliation, stabs Basta and destroys him for good. Farid is laid to rest in the mines. Dustfinger then decides to call the White Women to them and trades his life for the boy's. He dies just as Farid reawakens in Meggie's arms.

After Dustfinger dies to save his life at the end of "Inkspell", Farid is distraught at having lost his close friend and teacher. He becomes Orpheus' servant, in the hope that the crooked storyteller will aid him in reviving the fire-eater. He vows to bring Dustfinger back to life and tells Meggie: "This story will have a happy ending - I swear".

At the start of Inkdeath, Farid and Meggie have a close relationship, but later in the book, Meggie meets Doria, a boy of around 14 who she falls in love with. She becomes torn and but then Fengolio tells her that he wrote a story that he never finished, about a man named Doria who was an inventor and had a wife who came from a distant land and gave him ideas for things. At the end of Inkdeath, Farid tells Meggie that he will travel between towns and asks her to come with him, but Meggie stays with Doria.

Rafi Gavron is set to play Farid in the Inkheart movie.

External links

* [http://www.corneliafunke.de/en/index.html The World of Cornelia Funke]
* [http://www.corneliafunkefans.com/ Official Cornelia Funke website]