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As Jim grows up, the King begins to worry that the island is too small and there won't be enough space for Jim to live on once he's an adult. He announces to Luke that Emma has to be removed. Luke, upset about this decision, decides to leave the island with Emma, and Jim (who had accidentally overheard Luke relating his woes to Emma) decides to come along. They convert Emma into a makeshift ship and sail off the island in the night, eventually arriving at the coast of Mandala (a fictional country inspired by China).
When they arrive in Ping, the capital, they win the friendship of a tiny great-grandchild named Ping Pong, who tells them the Emperor is in mourning. His daughter, Li Si
After a long and hazardous journey, they arrive in the Dragon City. Along the way, they make two new friends, the giant Mr. Tur Tur (who is actually a "Scheinriese", a "
With parting advice given by the now-reformed Mrs. Grindtooth and generous assistance from the Emperor, Luke and Jim come into possession of a floating island, which is named New-Morrowland, to serve as Jim's future residence. After a cordial welcome back on Morrowland, Jim and Li Si become engaged, and Jim gets a small locomotive for his own, which he names Molly.
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;Jim Button {{nobold|({{lang|de|Jim Knopf}})}}: The titular hero, this character shares the "glory" with and is the sidekick of his best friend Luke, the engine driver. He grows up on Morrowland ({{lang|de|Lummerland}}) under the care of Mrs. Whaat. He wants to be an engine driver too. His name is derived from his habit of tearing a hole in his trousers every time he does something wild. After mending the hole many times, Mrs. Whaat added a button so it could be opened, rather than torn up yet again. While he marries the Chinese Emperor's daughter and turns out to be the rightful King of Jamballa, he never gives up driving a locomotive.
;Luke {{nobold|({{lang|de|Lukas}})}}: The engine driver on Morrowland is Jim's closest friend. Where Jim represents adventurous youth, Luke is the man of experience and practicality who manages to solve almost every technical problem. He is very strong and is an expert spitter capable of spitting a loop. His trademark is his pipe, which he smokes in emotional situations.
;Princess Li Si: The daughter of the Chinese Emperor is rather headstrong and obstinate, especially when it comes to discipline. She admires Jim for his courage and intelligence, even though for most of the story he refuses to learn how to read and write, skills she has already mastered quite well. Her name is a pun on the German variant of ''Lizzy''.
;Emma {{nobold|and}} Molly: Luke and Jim's [[tank locomotives]]. Emma is quite sensitive, expressing her feelings about Luke's mood by whistling and huffing, despite the fact she often does not quite understand the reason for her owner's mood. Molly is smaller and younger.
;Mrs. Whaat {{nobold|({{lang|de|Frau Waas}})}}: The proprietor of a grocery store on Morrowland, and Jim's surrogate mother. She loves Jim dearly and worries about him constantly when he is on an adventure. Her special skill is making sweets, particularly ice cream and ''[[Gugelhupf]]''. One of Mrs. Whaat's ancestors was hearing impaired, saying "whaaaaat?" whenever he didn't understand properly, eventually earning her family its name.
;King Alfred the Quarter-to-Twelfth {{nobold|(''König Alfons der Viertel-vor-Zwölfte'')}}: The king of Morrowland, who is named after the stroke of the clock at the time of his birth and at which he shows himself to his subjects on holidays. He is extremely well-meaning and benevolent, but can get overly nervous under stress and is very inattentive and forgetful.
;Mr. Sleeve {{nobold|({{lang|de|Herr Ärmel}})}}: A citizen of Morrowland and a subject of King Alfred. He is portrayed as a stereotypical Englishman and is most often seen taking a stroll, wearing a [[bowler hat]] and carrying an umbrella. He is very polite, educated, and intellectual, and he is well liked by the island's other inhabitants. Initially he has no job in the book (he "is just there and is being ruled"), though eventually he makes use of his magnificent education in becoming Jim Button's teacher. In the Augsburger Puppenkiste version he works as a photographer.
;Mr. Tur Tur: This illusory giant or mock giant ({{lang|de|Scheinriese}}) is a gentle and modest person and a [[vegetarian]], but a tragic recluse due to his unusual nature
;Nepomuk: A half-dragon by birth, because his mother was a [[hippopotamus]], and still has some resemblance to his mother. Like his fellow [[mixed-race]] dragons, he is not accepted by the pure-blood dragons in Sorrowland. He tries to behave like a "real" dragon by being scary and mean, while he is actually neither. (A certain naughtiness, which he later promises to overcome, does seem to belong to his actual traits, though.) However, he is able to help Ushaurishuum create the Crystal of Eternity, and becomes the keeper of the Magnetic Cliffs.
;Ping Pong: A very young and tiny Chinese boy whose head is the size of a [[ping pong]] ball. Hardly more than a year old and no taller than a man's hand, he is already very capable of behaving and thinking like an adult.<ref group=note>This stereotypical depiction of the Chinese is common in the story. The country called China in the first editions of the book was later changed to "Mandala". The 1990 English translation again uses "China", however (Athenea Bell, Overlook Press, Woodstock, NY).</ref> He is one of the numerous descendants of the Emperor's chief cook; after saving Jim and Luke from a treacherous and manipulative minister, he is made Prime Minister of China by the Emperor - a role which he fulfills surprisingly capably.
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