The title character and protagonist of "The Star-Child" is a handsome boy who for the first ten years of his life believes that he is truly the son of a star. As a result, he believes himself to be superior to everyone else and becomes vain, arrogant and cruel. When his real mother, a beggar woman, comes to the village where he lives, he wants nothing to do with the woman and mocks her for her ugliness. As punishment for his cruelty, he becomes monstrously ugly himself. He remains so until he shows kindness to others, even at the risk of his own life.