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WD_371/ 2007
(  Satoshi Kinoshita )
| Series: | Works on paper: Drawings 4 | | Medium: | oilstick on paper | | Size (inches): | 31.1 x 21.4 | | Size (mm): | 790 x 544 | | Catalog #: | WD_0371 | | Description: | Signed, date and copyright in pencil on the reverse.
The Simpsons -
In "Homer the Moe" Homer is telling a story at the bar and summarizes a story he's been telling with "Eventually I become king of the Morlocks".
Carl Carlson replies "But Morlocks are from the future!".
-en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morlocks
Mole People -
Mole People is a term used to refer to the unknown number of homeless people purported to live under New York City in abandoned subway tunnels. Estimates of the number of individuals living in this way are hard to obtain and impossible to verify, but a 1989 survey suggested they numbered around 5,000.[citation needed]
Mole People and Urban Folklore:
While it is generally accepted that some homeless people in large cities do indeed make use of accessible, abandoned underground structures for shelter, urban legends persist that make stronger assertions. These include claims that 'mole people' have formed small, ordered societies similar to tribes, numbering up to hundreds of people living underground year-round. It has also been suggested that these have developed their own cultural traits and even have electricity by illegal hook-up. The subject has attracted some attention from sociologists but is a highly controversial subject due to a lack of concrete evidence. ~
-en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mole_People
Morlock - This article is about the H. G. Wells characters.
Morlocks are a fictional species who dwell underground, created by H. G. Wells for his 1895 novel, The Time Machine. The Morlocks exist in the future world in the year 802,701 A.D. in The Time Machine. They are said to have descended from humans, although they have evolved to become a completely different species (better suited to their subterranean habitat) by the 8028th century.
Morlocks are humanoid creatures. They don't seem to wear clothing, and are instead covered with fur. The Time Traveller describes them as "almost antlike" in their demeanor, in that they silently slink around in the dead of night and snag their prey. Theirs is a troglodyte civilization, where they maintain ancient machines that they may or may not remember how to build; their only entrance to the surface world is through a series of well-like structures which dot the future English countryside. As a result of living underground, the Morlocks are extremely sensitive to light, and apparently have little or no melanin in their skin.
The Morlocks' main source of food is the Eloi, another race descended from humans who lives above ground. They seem to treat the Eloi as cattle, and the Eloi make no resistance.
The above describes the Morlocks from the original novel. Since then, many other sources (such as movie adaptations, sequels to the original novel, etc.) have given variant descriptions of them.
Morlocks, in addition to appearing in The Time Machine and all movie adaptations of the book and sequels by other authors, have also been adapted by other authors to fit their works. They have also appeared in several unrelated television shows.
Morlocks in The Time Machine:
The Morlocks are at first a mysterious presence in the book. The Time Traveller, the main character, initially thinks that the Eloi are the only examples of future humanity, although the existence of Morlocks is hinted at. When he first encounters a Morlock, the Time Traveller begins to piece together a new image of the future world of 802,701 A.D.
The Morlocks and the Eloi have something of a symbiotic relationship: the Eloi are clothed and fed by the Morlocks, and in return, the Morlocks eat the Eloi. The Time Traveller perceives this, and guesses that the Eloi/Morlock relationship developed from a class distinction present in his own time: the Morlocks are the worker class who had to work underground so that the rich upper class would have luxury. The Morlocks live underground, tending machinery, and are seen by many to represent the "soul-deadening" effects of the Industrial Revolution.
After he discovers the Morlocks, the Time Traveller becomes increasingly paranoid of them, as well as upset. He devotes more effort to fighting them, eventually creating a huge forest fire in the night.
In the end of the book, the Time Traveller proceeds further into the future, and sees, on a desolate beach, giant crab-like creatures hunting after beautiful creatures that resemble butterflies. The Time Traveller theorizes that this is an eventual result of the Eloi/Morlock struggle.
Morlocks in sequels and prequels to the Time Machine -
When the Sleeper Wakes:
H. G. Wells also wrote a book called When the Sleeper Wakes. The book centers on a man who somehow falls into a sleep for several centuries, and wakes in the mid-21st century to find that he has inherited the world. In this book, we find out that the Salvation Army 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 workers working underground under horrible conditions. He notes that they seem to be turning more pale, as well as developing their own dialect of English.
The Time Ships:
The Time Ships (1995), by Stephen Baxter is considered to be the sequel to The Time Machine (1895) by H. G. Wells and is officially authorized by the Wells estate to mark the centenary of the original publication. In its wide-ranging narrative, the Time Traveller attempts to return to the world of the Eloi and Morlocks, but instead finds that he has changed history somehow and finds a completely different world in the future: one in which there never were Eloi. Instead, humanity constructed a metallic sphere around the Sun where the Morlocks (along with several other versions of humanity) now live. These humans are physically identical to the Morlocks, although they are a race of scientists, not monsters. They are lacking war, religion, or many of the things which are generally had by humanity.
These Morlocks are a moralistic, civilized race who are certainly not cannibalistic. Their sphere around the Sun consists of two sections: the outer section, where the Morlocks live in utter peace, and the inner section, where there is solar light in addition to entire floating cities composed of various non-Morlock humans of various types (some are Neanderthal-like, etc. They can design their own bodies) who are constantly at war with each other.
The Morlocks here live in a variety of nation-groups, who never have conflict nor need to conflict, and individuals may come and go between them as they choose. It is also worth noting that the Morlocks of the sphere don't reproduce sexually; instead, they physically "build" their offspring out of a clay-like substance.
The Morlock Nebogipfel joins the Time Traveller on his travels through time. 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 Traveler meets while on his journey.)
Morlock Night:
K.W. Jeter wrote a book titled Morlock Night, in which the Morlocks have stolen the Time Machine and used it to invade Victorian London. The Morlocks in this book are much more formidable than they are in The Time Machine, and are a clever, technological race with enough power to take over the entire world. They also get support from certain traitorous 19th century humans, especially a dark wizard named Merdenne. It is also revealed that the Morlocks living in their native time (the 8028th century) have stopped allowing the Eloi to roam free and now keep them in pens.
The Morlocks are also separated into two types, or castes, in the book. One is the short, weak, stupid Grunt Morlock, which is supposedly the kind that the Time Traveller encountered, and the Officer Morlock, who are taller, smarter, speak English, and have high rank within the Morlock invasion force. An example of the latter type is Colonel Nalga, an antagonist later in the book.
For some reason, the Morlocks in this book are always described as wearing blueish spectacles, presumably they are supposed to be some sort of protection from the light on the Morlocks' sensitive eyes.
Other books involving Morlocks, by different authors:
* Die Reise mit der Zeitmaschine (1946), by Egon Friedell - translated by Eddy C Bertin into English and republished as The Return of the Time Machine. The following is the synopsis as seen on the back of the book:
"Undoubtedly the most perfect science fiction gem is H. G. Wells' world-famous novel THE TIME MACHINE. This marvelous story of the inventor of the time-traveling machine and his trip in it to the far future is a classic that has thrilled the world in books and films since the turn of the century. But there had never been a known sequel to it. Now such a sequel has been found and DAW Books is proud to present its first appearance in English. Here then is the rest of the story of Wells' Time Traveller, of his further visits to the future, and of the Time Machine's desperate entanglement with the past. Like the original classic, it is a clever, ironic, and always fascinating novel which contains thought-provoking theories of time and society as well as being a science fiction adventure hard to put down."
* The Man Who Loved Morlocks (1981), by David Lake - the following is the synopsis on the back of the Australian publication of this book:
"On a cold Friday morning in 1892 the Time Traveller vanished, apparently forever, into the fourth dimension. His chronicler, H.G. Wells, glimpsed a ghostly figure, a blur, and the Traveller and his Machine were no more. Had he launched himself once again into the Future, or had he gone to explore the millennia of the Past? In this sequel to H.G. Wells's The Time Machine the Time Traveller resumes his narrative. Having journeyed through Time to put his story into the hands of a publisher, we can now share the adventure of his second encounter with the Morlocks, this time equipped wth a camera - and a Colt revolver. But, prepared as he is for violent confrontation, he is totally unprepared for the subtle and ironic twists Time has in store..."
Morlocks in Other Fiction:
In addition to the books and stories directly based on The Time Machine, some authors have adopted the Morlocks and adapted them to their works, often completely unassociated with The Time Machine.
Allan and the Sundered Veil:
The Morlocks appeared in a story by Alan Moore titled Allan and the Sundered Veil, which appeared as part of the comic book collection The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume I. In the story, the Time Traveller takes some of the regular League characters into his future world, where he has made a base out of the Morlock sphinx. The party is soon attacked by Morlocks, who are fierce, simian creatures in this story. They are physically much more powerful than Wells' creatures, although they're not much unlike the Hunter Morlocks from the 2002 film.
The Time Traveller also calls the Morlocks by a variant name, "Mi-Go" (derived from H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos tales), and states that they are "known to other ages as Abominable Snowmen." They are implied to be fairly intelligent, as the Time Traveller talks of a suspicion that they are working for the malevolent forces which are attacking the time stream.
Known Space:
Larry Niven included a version of the Morlocks in his Known Space books. They appear as a subhuman alien race living in the caves in one region of Wunderland, which is one of humanity's colonies in the Alpha Centauri system.
Morlocks in essays and other nonfiction:
In Neal Stephenson's essay on modern culture vis-à-vis OS development, In the beginning there was the Command Line, he demonstrates similarities between the future in The Time Machine and contemporary American culture. He claims that most Americans have been exposed to a "corporate monoculture" which renders them "unwilling to make judgments and incapable of taking stands." Anyone who remains outside of this "culture" is left with powerful tools to deal with the world, and it is they, rather than the neutered Eloi, that run things.
The assumption seems to be that the Eloi will manage to fill their heads with garbage one way or the other, so American culture exists to ensure that it is harmless garbage rather than the dangerous types that lead to disruptions, violence, wars, and inquisitions.
To quote Stephenson directly:
"But in our world it's the other way round. The Morlocks are in the minority, and they are running the show, because they understand how everything works. The much more numerous Eloi learn everything they know from being steeped from birth in electronic media directed and controlled by book-reading Morlocks. So many ignorant people could be dangerous if they got pointed in the wrong direction, and so we've evolved a popular culture that is (a) almost unbelievably infectious and (b) neuters every person who gets infected by it, by rendering them unwilling to make judgments and incapable of taking stands."
Specific Morlock characters:
Although Morlock life has rarely been fully explored, and The Time Machine didn't depict individual Morlocks, various other sources (sequels by other authors, movie versions, etc.) have introduced characters belonging to the Morlock race. Examples of these include:
* Nebogipfel - An example of an advanced, highly civilized Morlock race living in a different reality than the one in The Time Machine. The Time Traveller encounters Nebogipfel here, and learns about Nebogipfel's Morlocks. Nebogipfel joins the Time Traveller on his journeys through time. This occurred in The Time Ships, Stephen Baxter's sequel to The Time Machine.
* Colonel Nalga - One of the generals of a Morlock invasion force trying to overrun England in 1892 in K.W. Jeter's Morlock Night. Nalga spoke English, unlike his Morlock brethren, and so dealt with the protagonists.
* The Über-Morlock - In Simon Wells' 2002 remake of the 1960 film, the Über-Morlock, played by English actor Jeremy Irons, was the leader of the Morlocks, controlling them through telepathy. He had an incredibly large brain, which extended out of his head and down his back. The Über-Morlock is the main villain of the movie.
* Morticon - In the children's show Power Rangers: Mystic Force, Morticon is the leader of a group of Morlocks, who, in the show, are cybernetic, undead creatures who dwell underground. He is the main villain of the series. Unlike traditional Morlocks, Morticon appears as a blue monstrous creature with bulky mechanical attachments which occasionally emit steam.
-en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morlocks
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