Artemis Fowl, a genius boy of 12 years old who is the descendant of a long line of criminal masterminds, is on a mission to find his father, who has mysteriously vanished, and in the process of doing so, he discovers an ancient, underground civilization that is the astonishingly advanced world of fairies. He does this with the assistance of his loyal protector Butler. After coming to the conclusion that his father's disappearance is related in some way to the hidden fairy world, the crafty Artemis concocts a risky strategy. This plan is so risky that it finally leads to him engaging in a dangerous game of wits with the all-knowing fairies.