Symbolican

The Symbolicans are the native species of the planet Symbolica in the World of Pardoes universe of the Dutch amusement park Efteling, appearing in several books and comics and in a TV series. In the park, the species can be seen in the dark ride Symbolica and as meet-and-greet characters.

The species debuted in 1989 with the design of Pardoes as Efteling's official mascot.

Description
Symbolicans are very similar to humans. Its members have one head, two legs, two arms, a human-looking face and there are two sexes (male and female). The only difference to humans are the pointed ears that some of the species' members (like Polle, O.J. Punctuel and Pantagor) have.

The species might have a long lifespan, as they count age in "quint years". Deriving from the Latin word "quinque", which means "five" in English, the word "quint year" probably means that five years are counted as one year. If this is true, the young sorcerer's apprentice Padoes and the princess Pardijn, who both are 15 quint years old, would already be 75 years old, while the kitchen boy Polle (10 quint years old) would have an age of 50 years. The age of the other Symbolican characters is not known.

At least some Symbolicans are able to perform magic. This magic reaches from transmutation of natural substances over removing letters from books and shapeshifting up to stealing music, blinding masses of people and even changing global temperatures. The grandmaster Almar is even able to look over all of Symbolica and to see into past, present and future.

Culture and society
The society is organised in an absolute monarchy. The current king, Pardulfus, reigns in the palace Hartenhof which exceeds on a mountain over Hartenstad, the capitol of Symbolica. Pardulfus seems to reign over the unified planet as there is no mention of another king on Symbolica.

Magic has a high importance for the Symbolicans. This importance is so high that the grandmaster sorcerer functions as the king's adviser, indirectly reigning Symbolica. At a lower degree, science is also practised by magicians. Grandmaster Almar lives in an observatory, where he studies astronomy, but also looking after the future of Symbolica with a magical telescope that shows the planet's past, present and future.

While "normal" magic is seen as very important and their users are admired, the use of black magic is condemned and frightened by Symbolica's inhabitants at such a degree that magicians who perform black magic are banished from the planet.

The Symbolicans share their planet with another species that seems to live in the Fable Mountains in the West of Symbolica. Some members of this species are servants at Hartenhof and other royal residents.