The emperor is the protagonist around whom the events of the story unfold. While he is the primary character of the story, he is not a heroic figure, as is often the case in fairy tales. He is a flat character who remains largely unchanged by the story’s events. His pride, vanity, and fear of losing his social status prevent him from learning from his errors.

Within the world of the fairy tale, the emperor represents power, authority, and order. He sits at the head of the court of the unnamed kingdom and its capital city. Despite holding a powerful office, the emperor is not shown to be a great leader. He is first shown to be vain and inattentive to his duties. His primary concerns are his status and his appearance, rather than actually performing the duties of an emperor: “He cared nothing about reviewing his soldiers, going to the theater […] except to show off his new clothes” (Paragraph 1).

The emperor’s limited discernment and lack of self-awareness also characterize him as a poor leader. He is responsible for welcoming the swindlers into his city and rewards them repeatedly for their fraudulent labor.