Tinker Bell (or
Tink for short) is a
fairy and close friend of
Peter Pan, invented (or discovered, as he would probably say) by
James M. Barrie some time around 1903.
She is quite a nasty character at times, for
as Barrie writes, "Faries have to be one thing or the other (good or bad), because being so small they have unfortunately have room for one feeling only at a time. They are, however, allowed to change, only it must be a
complete change". In Tinker Bell, "bad" manifests mainly as
jealousy towards
Wendy, while "good" manifests as a willingness to give up her own life to save Peter from his own cockiness.
It should be noted that in the novel version of "Peter Pan", Tink is revealed to have probably died within a year after the children leave Neverland, fairies being also very short-lived. Peter has already forgotten her, like he has forgotten Captain Hook and almost (but not quite) Wendy.