# The Eldest Magician — Just So Stories character guide

> The Eldest Magician in Just So Stories by Rudyard Kipling.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** O Eldest Magician

**First appearance:** 0009-the-crab-that-played-with-the-sea

## Snapshot

The Eldest Magician, who taught every beast its play at the Very Beginning and must now reckon with Pau Amma's rebellion in the Sea.

## Who they are

He is the world's first teacher and orderer, assigning each animal its role in the Time of the Very Beginnings, from Elephant to Turtle. When the Sea falls out of rhythm, he traces the mischief to Pau Amma the Crab and confronts him beneath the Wonderful Tree, only to be laughed at and defied. His authority is vast but not absolute, and his patient reckoning with a disobedient creature shapes the tale's central contest between creation and chaos.

## Relationships

### [Pau Amma the Crab](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/just_so_stories_se/characters/pau_amma_the_crab)

_rivalry_

Pau Amma the Crab defies and challenges The Eldest Magician, leading to a tense struggle of will and power.

### [Pau Amma the Crab](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/just_so_stories_se/characters/pau_amma_the_crab)

_rivalry_

Pau Amma the Crab defies and challenges The Eldest Magician, leading to a tense struggle of will and power.

### [Pau Amma the Crab](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/just_so_stories_se/characters/pau_amma_the_crab)

_rivalry_

Pau Amma the Crab defies and challenges The Eldest Magician, leading to a tense struggle of will and power.

## In the story

### [The Crab That Played with the Sea](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/just_so_stories_se/chapters/the-crab-that-played-with-the-sea)

The creator who assigns roles to all animals and later disciplines Pau Amma for disrupting the sea.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/just_so_stories_se/characters/the_eldest_magician
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/just_so_stories_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/just_so_stories_se/characters