10 Most Terrifying Villains In Non-Horror Movies

It's hard to find one person who doesn't love The NeverEnding Story - except author Michael Ende, who detested the film adaptation of his 1979 novel - although few children walked away from this '80s classic without suffering an existential crisis.

The movie kicks off with reclusive kid Bastian, whose life changes forever after discovering a novel called The NeverEnding Story. The book centres around a warrior called Atreyu, who must save the magical world of Fantasia from the Nothing - a dark power that erases everyone and everything from reality. 

Since the Nothing isn’t a physical entity, Atreyu is unable to fight it, allowing the malevolent force to swallow up everyone and everything he has ever known, before ultimately destroying the world.

Somehow, that's not the scariest part.

Atreyu discovers the Nothing is the manifestation of humanity's dwindling imagination. Since people in Bastian's reality no longer follow their dreams, it's caused Fantasia to decay. Bastian also learns the characters in this so-called storybook are real, meaning he must bring creativity back to his world to keep them alive.

Although Atreyu and Bastian successfully return Fantasia to normal, the Nothing may leave young viewers questioning their own existence for the first time in their lives.