Artemis Fowl II
A twelve-year-old criminal genius who evolves into a friend of the People.
Dr. Artemis Fowl II is the central figure of the Artemis Fowl series by Eoin Colfer. Colfer conceived the character after seeing a childhood photograph of his younger brother Donal in a first communion suit, which reminded him of a young James Bond villain. The name Artemis was chosen over Archimedes to avoid confusion with the historical figure, and the surname Fowl is a play on the Irish name Fowler, reflecting the character's initial nastiness.
Quick Facts
- Series
- Artemis Fowl
- Last
- The Fowl Twins
- Creator
- Eoin Colfer
- Portrayed by
- Ferdia Shaw
- Species
- Human (originally)
- Human-elf hybrid (from The Lost Colony onward)
- Human clone (from The Last Guardian onward)
- Gender
- Male
- Children
- NANNI (artificial intelligence)
- Partner
- Holly Short (The Time Paradox); Minerva Paradizo (formerly; The Fowl Twins Get What They Deserve)
Facts from the source article.
Fictional character biography
Two years after his father Artemis Fowl I disappeared when the Russian Mafia sank his ship the Fowl Star, the twelve-year-old Artemis decides to restore the family fortune. He follows internet leads about a hidden fairy world called the People, blackmails a fairy into giving him the Book—their sacred text—and uses it to ransom LEP Captain Holly Short for a portion of fairy gold. Artemis and Holly strike a deal: she keeps half the ransom, he gets the other half plus one wish. In The Arctic Incident, the thirteen-year-old Artemis learns his father survived the attack and is held hostage by the Russian Mafia. He trades the People's help in rescuing his father for his assistance in stopping a goblin rebellion orchestrated by pixie criminal Opal Koboi and ex-LEP officer Briar Cudgeon. The plot fails, Cudgeon dies, Koboi is arrested, and Artemis recovers his father. In The Eternity Code, Artemis builds the C Cube, a super-computer based on fairy technology, as his last criminal act before his father recovers. To prevent future trouble, he agrees to have his own memory, along with Butler's and Juliet's, wiped by the People.
Characterization
Artemis Fowl II is the son of Artemis Fowl I and Angeline Fowl, and the older brother of twins Beckett and Myles. The Fowl family, whose history as legendary criminals goes back to the Norman Conquest, has amassed wealth through both legal and illegal means. They are served by the Butler family, a line of bodyguards bound to the Fowls for centuries. The family motto is Aurum Est Potestas (Gold is Power). After his kidnapping, Artemis Fowl I reformed and joined his wife in humanitarian and environmental work. Artemis has pale skin, deep blue eyes, raven black hair, and premature wrinkling near the eyes, resembling his father. After a botched re-materialization in The Lost Colony, he exchanged one eye with Holly Short, giving him one blue and one hazel eye; a similar incident swapped the index and second fingers on his left hand. Time travel in The Time Paradox aged him to eighteen and then back. In The Last Guardian, he was placed in a new body grown by Foaly, reverting to his original appearance. Colfer described the twelve-year-old Artemis as difficult and isolated, though he considered Butler his best friend. Over the series, Artemis changes for the better through his adventures and friendships, and Foaly later calls him a friend of the People. He helps them out of a sense of debt for past trouble and because he misses the challenge of their problems.
Valuables and possessions
Artemis has used various possessions in his schemes, including his computers and a cache of LEP equipment from the first book. A prized possession is a fairy coin given by Holly Short at the end of The Arctic Incident; she shot a hole through it with the trigger finger he and Julius Root helped her heal, to remind him of his decency. He stole about $15 million in gold from the fairy ransom fund. After Jon Spiro's attempt on his life, Artemis drained Spiro's accounts, donating most to Amnesty International but keeping roughly $300 million. He has appeared on the Forbes Fictional 15 three times, ranking third in 2011 with a net worth of about $13.5 billion.
More in Characters & Profiles
Elsewhere in Artemis Fowl
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