Morlock
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Morlock | |
---|---|
The Time Machine race | |
First appearance | The Time Machine |
Created by | H. G. Wells |
In-universe information | |
Home world | Earth |
Type | Humanoid |
Morlocks are a fictional species created by H. G. Wells for his 1895 novel The Time Machine. They are the story's main antagonists. Since their creation by H. G. Wells, the Morlocks have appeared in many other works such as sequels, films, television shows, and works by other authors, many of which have deviated from the original description.
In choosing the name "Morlocks", Wells may have been inspired by
In The Time Machine
The Morlocks are at first a mysterious presence in the book, in so far as the protagonist initially believes the
After thousands of generations of living without sunlight, the Morlocks have come to resemble troglofauna. They are described as apelike, with dull grey-to-white skin, chinless faces, large greyish-red eyes with a capacity for reflecting light, and flaxen hair on the head and back. They are stronger than the Eloi, but smaller and weaker than the average human (the Time Traveller hurt or killed some barehanded with relative ease), but a large swarm of them could be a serious threat to a lone man, especially unarmed and/or without a light source. Unlike the Eloi, the Morlocks retain some of their human curiosity, initiative, and aggression: they are intrigued by the Time Traveller and band together to attack him when he invades their dwelling. Their language is composed of strange, unpleasant sounds, which the Time Traveller never deciphers. Their sensitivity to light usually prevents them from attacking during the day.
The relationship between the Morlocks and the Eloi is
In sequels and prequels to The Time Machine
When the Sleeper Wakes
H. G. Wells also wrote a book called When the Sleeper Wakes (1899). The book centers on a man who somehow falls asleep for several centuries, and wakes in the mid-21st century to find that his investments have done so well that he owns the world. In this book, we find out that an organization called the Labour Company has rounded up most of the world's lower class, forcing them to work underground in horrible conditions for the sole benefit of the rich upper class. It would seem that these people will later degenerate to become the Morlocks.
When the "Sleeper" encounters these (apparently) proto-Morlocks, they appear as labourers working underground under horrible conditions. He notes that they seem to be turning paler, as well as developing their own dialect of English.
The Time Ships
Utterly peaceful, moralistic, and highly intelligent (Nebogipfel learns English in a matter of days and is soon able to speak it fluently – with some limitations due to the Morlocks' peculiar vocal apparatus, quite different from those of humans), the only resemblance these new Morlocks have to the monstrous cannibals of the first future is that of appearance and dwelling "underground". The sphere they inhabit is divided into two concentric shells, with the Morlocks living exclusively inside the nearly featureless exterior. Above them, the inner shell where the sun shines openly is an Earth-like utopia. In its many forms and at many technological levels (from somehow familiar nowadays like industrial worlds, to worlds having anti-gravitational devices), they continue on here in much the same way as that of the Time Traveller's era (with war being the most obvious holdover).
The Morlocks' civilization includes a variety of nation-groups based on thought and ideology, in which individuals move between without conflict. All needs are met by the sphere itself, including reproduction where the newly born are "extruded" directly from the floor. These peaceful intelligent Morlocks seem also to have extraordinary resistance to disease and perhaps to radiations too, even when not in their homeworld, as stated by Nebogipfel when in the Paleocene (the Time Traveller quickly got ill there because of unknown germs, whereas Nebogipfel, though injured and disabled, suffered no apparent ill effects).
The only Morlock given a name is Nebogipfel, who remains with the Time Traveller throughout the book. Nebogipfel's name comes from the main character of H. G. Wells' first attempt at a time travel story, then called "Chronic Argonauts". The character's name was Dr. Moses Nebogipfel. (The name Moses was also used in The Time Ships, though it is given to the younger version of himself that the Time Traveller meets on his journey.)
Morlock Night
In
The Morlocks are separated into two types, or castes, in the novel. One is the short, weak, stupid Grunt Morlocks, who are supposedly the kind that the Time Traveller encountered, and the other is the Officer Morlocks, who are taller, more intelligent, speak English, and have a high rank within the Morlock invasion force. An example of the latter type is Colonel Nalga, an antagonist later in the book.
These Morlocks are always described as wearing blueish spectacles, which are presumably to protect the Morlocks' sensitive, dark-adapted eyes.
In other books
- Die Reise mit der Zeitmaschine (1946, "The Journey with the Time Machine"), by Egon Friedell – translated by Eddy C. Bertin into English and republished as The Return of the Time Machine. At the time of its publication, this was then the only sequel to The Time Machine. It describes the Time Traveller's further visits to the future, and the Time Machine's entanglement with the past.[2]
- The Man Who Loved Morlocks (1981), by David Lake. This novel recounts the Time Traveller's second journey. This time, he meets the Morlocks again, but is equipped with a camera and a Colt revolver.[3] This book is notable for portraying the Morlocks in a sympathetic, and completely different light. The Time Traveller discovers, on his second trip, that the Eloi and Morlocks of the future world are all dying due to a disease introduced by him on his first trip, to which they have no immunity. Traveling further into the future, he discovers a great and noble civilization, the beautiful inhabitants of which it is eventually learned are the descendants of the few surviving Morlocks. Also, an ancient journal is discovered, which tells the story of the Time Traveller's first trip from the Morlocks' point of view, revealing that the Morlocks, rather than being hostile predators/farmers of the Eloi, were in fact the custodians of a kind of natural reserve dedicated to protecting and preserving them. The apparently hostile acts of the Morlocks are explained by showing the story from a different viewpoint.
- Time Machine Troopers (2011), by Hal Colebatch, published by Acashic. In this story, the time traveller returns to the future about 18 years beyond the time in which he first visited it, hoping to regenerate the Eloi, and taking with him Sir Robert Baden-Powell, who will later found the Boy Scout movement in England. They set out to teach the Eloi self-reliance and self-defence, but are captured by Morlocks. It turns out that the Eloi and Morlocks are both more complex than the time traveller had thought, also that Weena is still alive and leading an Eloi resistance movement. The story sets out to be an answer to Wells's pessimism, as the Time Traveller and Baden-Powell seek to teach the future world scouting and cricket. Sir Winston Churchill and H. G. Wells himself also feature as characters.
In other fiction
Some authors have adopted the Morlocks and adapted them to their works, often completely unassociated with The Time Machine, or were named in-universe in homage to H.G. Wells' works.
The Morlocks appeared in a story by
In Joanna Russ' short story "The Second Inquisition", The Time Machine is referenced a number of times, and the unnamed character referred to as "our guest" (who is evidently a visitor from the future) claims to be a Morlock, although she does not physically resemble Wells' Morlocks.
In the fictional universe of
In the Marvel Comics universe, a number of mutants whose mutations are visually obvious dwell underground, calling themselves Morlocks.
The inhabitants of the Moscow metro are sometimes sarcastically referred to as Morlocks in Dmitry Glukhovsky's Metro 2033.
In essays and non-fiction
In
J. R. R. Tolkien mentioned Morlocks three times in his 1939 essay On Fairy-Stories, which discusses the genre now called fantasy. The first reference occurs where Tolkien attempts to define the genre, and he suggests that the Morlocks (and Eloi) place The Time Machine more in the genre than do the Lilliputians in Gulliver's Travels. He reasoned that the Lilliputians are merely diminutive humans, whereas the Morlocks and Eloi are significantly different from us, and "live far away in an abyss of time so deep as to work an enchantment". Another reference to the creatures of The Time Machine occurs in the essay's section "Recovery, Escape, Consolation". Here it's argued that fantasy offers a legitimate means of escape from the mundane world and the "Morlockian horror of factories". Elsewhere in his essay, Tolkien warns against separating fantasy readers into superficial categories, using the Eloi and Morlocks as a dramatic illustration of the repercussions of sundering the human race.[6]
In film and television
The Time Machine (1960 film)
The 1960 film version of
The Morlocks in this film draw the Eloi to their doom through the use of
The Time Machine (1978 film)
In the television film
Weena leads Perry into a preserved technology museum, which also shows his bomb developed in the past for the Mega Corporation, and in a video animation he can see the damage caused by his bomb. Before Perry returns to his time, he and Ariel blow up three entrances to the Morlocks' caves with plastic explosives they found in the museum. When he travels back in time to tell his company about the dramatic effects of the bomb in the future, his superiors show disinterest. Perry travels to the future again to return to Weena and the Eloi and finds that their world is now free of the Morlocks.
The Time Machine (2002 film)
In 2002, another film based on The Time Machine was directed by Simon Wells, the great-grandson of H. G. Wells. The Morlocks in this film, as well as the Eloi, have been changed in several major ways. The Morlocks have become physically stronger and faster, and are very ape-like now, frequently running on all fours.
The movie displays three of these races:
- The Hunter Morlocks are Morlocks that hunt down and capture the Eloi. They are muscular, gorilla-like hunters. They have a powerful sense of smell used to track down the Eloi. Different actors portray the Hunter Morlocks: Richard Cetrone, Edward Conna, Chris Sayour, Jeremy Fitzgerald, Darrell Davis, Grady Holder, Bryan Friday, Clint Lilley, Mark Kubr, Jeff Podgurski, Dan McCann, Bryon Weiss, and Steve Upton.
- The Spy Morlocks are Morlocks that shoot them with blowgun darts (so as to make them detectable to the hunters). They are more slender and agile than the Hunter Morlocks, but much weaker. The Spy Morlocks shoot blowpipes at escaping Eloi, marking them with a pungent substance and making it easier for the Hunters. Different actors portray the Spy Morlocks: Joey Anaya, Jacob Chambers, Doug Jones, Dorian Kingi, and Kevin McTurk.
- The Über-Morlocks are Morlocks that command the first two races castes seen in the movie. Instead of having grey skin and patches of fur, the Über-Morlock (portrayed by Jeremy Irons) that appears in the film has long, flowing white hair and white skin, the general physique of a human, and clothing. His brain is so large that much of it is outside his head, trailing down his back and enveloping spine. He is telepathic and telekinetic, articulate in English speech, and eventually ends up fighting Alexander Hartdegen (the main character of this film).
As explained by the Über-Morlock when Alexander is brought to him while trying to save the Eloi Mara, the Morlocks originated from humans that sought shelter underground, after an operation demolition at
During the climax of the film, Alexander kills the Über-Morlock by pushing him out of the moving time machine. The rest of the Morlocks are destroyed when Alexander causes his time machine to malfunction and explode in their tunnels.
Time Machine: Rise of the Morlocks
A 2011 television movie originally named Morlocks (renamed Time Machine: Rise of the Morlocks)[7] produced for Syfy, starring David Hewlett, and Robert Picardo. The plot sees a time machine open a portal to the future allowing Morlocks to travel back to the present and wreak havoc.[8] These Morlocks are descended from a patient with terminal cancer whose father used the military time travel project to look for technology in the future as a cure. One of the first Morlocks to escape through the portal into the present is captured and has its DNA extracted. Paradoxically, it is treatment with this DNA that causes the patient to mutate into the first Morlock.
Mutant War
Morlocks are briefly referenced by the protagonist in reference to the zombie-like mutant antagonists of the film.
Television shows
In the serial Timelash episodes of the twenty-second season of Doctor Who,[9] the Sixth Doctor takes H. G. Wells into the future where they encounter an underground-dwelling, reptilian species called the Morlox (a homophone of "Morlocks"). The Borad, an evil ruler, accidentally becomes half-Morlox before the episode.
In the 1978 Challenge of the Superfriends episode titled "Conquerors of the Future", the episode featured Barlocks, a variation of the Morlocks in a time period when the Super Friends are long dead who lived outside a domed city that is Earth's capital. The Barlocks have attacked it many times and are driven away by the bright lights. In addition, they aren't very good at mastering the technology they have. When the Legion of Doom arrived and encountered the Barlocks, Lex Luthor formed an alliance with their leader (voiced by Ted Cassidy) and came up with a trick to take over the domed city. Afterwards, the Legion of Doom used them in their plans to conquer the galaxy with Lex Luthor leading the Barlocks to conquer the ruling planet of Sector 13 while Black Manta leads the Barlocks to conquer the ruling planet in the Outer Galaxy Region. When Superman, Green Lantern, and Flash arrive in this time after accidentally appearing in the farther future and finding a history book that details the history of Earth, they defeat the Legion of Doom as Flash uses his super-speed to place the Barlocks back in their cave. The inhabitants of Earth's capital city sees to it that the planets the Legion of Doom and the Barlocks have conquered are liberated.
Homer Simpson mentions Morlocks in The Simpsons episode "Homer the Moe", claiming he became their king while telling a shaggy dog story.
In 2003, Peak Entertainment relaunched Monster in My Pocket with former lead villain Warlock as the hero. The new villain became Warlock's evil twin Morlock. The series was passed on by Cartoon Network and Peak's rights to Monster in My Pocket were revoked on December 22, 2004. With the series' limited distribution, it is difficult to say if the connection was more than a nominal one.
In 2006, a new incarnation of
On the episode of
In the 2010 episode of Futurama titled "The Late Philip J. Fry," Bender, Farnsworth, and Fry travel to the future where they meet a society of small creatures who explain that humanity has diverged into two distinct groups through evolution. Upon returning five years later, the crew discovers that the small, intelligent creatures have been overrun and destroyed by the troglodytic "Dumb-locks."
In the 2014 episode of Regular Show titled "Journey to the Bottom of the Crash Pit," Mordecai, Rigby, Muscle Man and Hi-Five Ghost travel to their cave in search for a video camera, they find it in possession of the "Carlocks" instead of Morlocks, who are the first and last of the mighty underground race and refuse to give it back, forcing them to steal it and escape in a worn-out car. The Carlocks give chase to try and get the camera back, but the four manage to escape the hole. Skips' truck then dumped dirt into the hole, killing them for good.
Comics
In Marvel Comics, the Morlock name was used for a group of mutants that live in the sewers.
Video games
In Bookworm Adventures 2, Morlocks are instead named Troglocks and appear as enemies of the sixth book.
The Carlocks instead of Morlocks also appear in the online game "Fist Punch 2" as enemies.
In Deponia, Morlocks are instead names Fewlocks, but being referred to as Morlocks once and appear as enemies to the protagonists.
See also
- Reaver (Firefly)
- The Cave (2005 film)
- B-movie, share some similarities with the Morlocks
- Morlachs, a rural people of Venetian Dalmatia, frequently demonized by Westerners in the 16th–18th centuries.[10][11]
- Merlock (disambiguation)
- Mole people (fiction)
References
- ISBN 0804739463.
- ^ McDonald, John Q (1998-10-03). "Review of The Return of The Time Machine by Egon Friedell". Archived from the original on September 26, 2007.
- ^ McDonald, John Q. "Review of The Man Who Loved Morlocks by David Lake". Archived from the original on September 26, 2007.
- ^ Morlocks - Lexicanum
- ^ Stephenson, Neal (1999). "In the Beginning was the Command Line".
- ISBN 0 04 820015 8
- ^ Time Machine: Rise of the Morlocks, retrieved 2019-04-25
- Sci Fi Wire. Archived from the originalon 2010-03-22. Retrieved 2010-03-18.
- ^ "Timeslash". Doctor Who Classic Episode Guide. BBC. Retrieved 2008-08-26.
- ISBN 0-8047-3946-3. (With a specific reference to H.G. Wells' Morlocks, p. 348)
- ^ Brookes, Richard (1812). "The General Gazetteer or Compendious Geographical Dictionary". F.C. and J. Rivington: 501.
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External links
- The Time Machine – ebook at Project Gutenberg (index page)