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In The Neverending Story by Michael Ende, “The Nothing” is a mysterious, destructive force that consumes the magical land of Fantasia, erasing places, creatures, and stories from existence. It’s depicted as a void—an absence of imagination, meaning, and creativity—spreading like a plague as people in the human world lose their ability to dream and believe in stories. It’s not just a physical destruction but a metaphysical one, representing nihilism, despair, and the erosion of wonder. In the story, it’s tied to the Childlike Empress’s illness and the human world’s neglect of imagination, as fewer children engage with Fantasia’s magic.