- Capitán Vidal: Tell my son the time that his father died. Tell him...
- Mercedes: No. He won't even know your name.
- Capitán Vidal: You could have obeyed me!
- Doctor: But Captain, to obey - just like that - for obedience's sake... without questioning... That's something only people like you do.
- [last lines]
- Pan: And it is said that the Princess returned to her father's kingdom. That she reigned there with justice and a kind heart for many centuries. That she was loved by her people. And that she left behind small traces of her time on Earth, visible only to those who know where to look.
- [first lines]
- Pan: A long time ago, in the underground realm, where there are no lies or pain, there lived a Princess who dreamed of the human world. She dreamed of blue skies, soft breeze, and sunshine. One day, eluding her keepers, the Princess escaped. Once outside, the brightness blinded her and erased every trace of the past from her memory. She forgot who she was and where she came from. Her body suffered cold, sickness, and pain. Eventually, she died. However, her father, the King, always knew that the Princess' soul would return, perhaps in another body, in another place, at another time. And he would wait for her, until he drew his last breath, until the world stopped turning...
- Pan: Quickly, Your Majesty, give him to me. The full moon is high in the sky. We can open the portal.
- Ofelia: What is that in your hand?
- Pan: The portal will only open if we offer the blood of an innocent. Just a drop of blood: a pinprick, that's all. It's the final task. Hurry.
- [Ofelia shakes her head]
- Pan: You promised to obey me. Give me the boy!
- Ofelia: No! My brother stays with me.
- Pan: You would give up your sacred rights for a brat you barely know?
- Ofelia: Yes, I would.
- Pan: You would give up your throne for him? He who has caused you such misery, such humiliation?
- Ofelia: Yes, I would.
- Pan: As you wish, Your Highness.
- Mercedes: [to Vidal] I'm not some old man! Or a wounded prisoner! Motherfucker... Don't you dare touch the girl. You won't be the first pig I've gutted!
- Ofelia: Many, many years ago in a sad, faraway land, there was an enormous mountain made of rough, black stone. At sunset, on top of that mountain, a magic rose blossomed every night that made whoever plucked it immortal. But no one dared go near it because its thorns were full of poison. Men talked amongst themselves about their fear of death, and pain, but never about the promise of eternal life. And every day, the rose wilted, unable to bequeath its gift to anyone... forgotten and lost at the top of that cold, dark mountain, forever alone, until the end of time.
- Ofelia: You'll meet her, she's very pretty, even though sometimes she's sad for many days at a time. You'll see, when she smiles, you'll love her.
- Doctor: Just one more thing, Captain. What makes you so sure the baby is a male?
- Capitán Vidal: [smirks] Don't fuck with me.
- Pan: The moon will be full in three days. Your spirit shall forever remain among the humans. You shall age like them, you shall die like them, and all memory of you shall fade in time. And we'll vanish along with it. You will never see us again.
- Capitán Vidal: I'll make you a deal. If you can count to three without st-t-uttering you can go. Don't look at him, look at me. Above me there is no one. Garces!
- Garcés: Yes Captain?
- Capitán Vidal: If I say this asshole can leave, would anybody here contradict me?
- Garcés: No one, Captain. He can leave.
- Capitán Vidal: There you have it. Count to three.
- El Tarta: One...
- Capitán Vidal: Good.
- El Tarta: Two...
- Garcés: Good - one more and you're free.
- El Tarta: T-t-t-t-t...
- Capitán Vidal: Shame.
- Mayor: Have I told you that I was acquainted with your father, Captain?
- Capitán Vidal: No. I had no idea.
- Mayor: In Morocco. I knew him only briefly, but he left a great impression.
- Capitán Vidal: An excellent soldier.
- Mayor: The men in his battalion said that when General Vidal died on the battlefield, he smashed his watch on a rock so that his son would know the exact hour and minute of his death. So he would know how a brave man dies.
- Capitán Vidal: Nonsense. He didn't own a watch.
- Carmen: The captain has been so good to us... Please, Ofelia, call him father. It's just a word, Ofelia, just a word.
- Capitán Vidal: Damn this cigarette is good! Real tobacco - hard to find.
- El Tarta: G-g-g-go to hell.
- Capitán Vidal: Damn, Garces. We catch one and he turns out to be a stutterer. We'll be here all night.
- Garcés: As long as he talks.
- Capitán Vidal: Garces is right. You'd do better to tell us everything. But to make sure it happens, I brought along a few tools. Just things you pick up along the way. At first I won't be able to trust you, but after I use this, you'll own up to a few things. When we get to these we'll have developed a... how can I put this? A closer bond, much like brothers. You'll see. And when we get to this one, I'll believe anything you tell me.
- Garcés: [surrounded by men, Mercedes holds the paring knife against her throat...] If anyone is going to kill you, I'd rather it be me.
- Sacerdote: Because the paths to the Lord are inscrutable... Because the essence of His forgiveness lies in His word and in His mystery... Because although God sends us the message, it is our task to decipher it. Because when we open our arms, the earth takes in only a hollow and senseless shell. Far away now is the soul in its eternal glory. Because it is in pain that we find the meaning of life and the state of grace that we lose when we are born. Because God, in His infinite wisdom, puts the solution in our hands, and because only in His physical absence is the place He occupies in our souls reaffirmed.
- Capitán Vidal: [to the Doctor] Listen to me. If you have to choose, save the baby. That boy will bear my name and my father's name. Save him.
- Ofelia: Once upon a time, when the woods were young, they were home to creatures who were full of magic and wonder.
- Sacerdote: [about the guerillas] God has already saved their souls. What happens to their bodies hardly matters to Him.