David Innes is a

fictional character In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...

created by

Edgar Rice Burroughs Edgar Rice Burroughs (September 1, 1875 – March 19, 1950) was an American author, best known for his prolific output in the adventure, science fiction, and fantasy genres. Best-known for creating the characters Tarzan and John Carter, he ...

as the protagonist of his

Pellucidar Pellucidar is a fictional Hollow Earth invented by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs for a series of action adventure stories. In a crossover event, Tarzan, who was also created by Burroughs, visits Pellucidar. The stories initially involv ...

novels. He first appeared in the novel '' At the Earth's Core'', serialized in four parts in ''

All-Story Weekly ''Argosy'', later titled ''The Argosy'', ''Argosy All-Story Weekly'' and ''The New Golden Argosy'', was an American pulp magazine from 1882 through 1978, published by Frank Munsey until its sale to Popular Publications in 1942. It is the first ...

'' from April 4–25, 1914 and issued in book form in hardcover by A. C. McClurg in July, 1922.

Associated Novels

The early novels

David Innes is introduced in the first Pellucidar novel, '' At the Earth's Core'', as a mining heir who finances the experimental "iron mole," an excavating vehicle designed by his elderly inventor friend Abner Perry. In a test run, they discover the vehicle cannot be turned, and it burrows 500 miles into the Earth's crust, emerging into the unknown interior world of Pellucidar. In Burroughs' concept, the Earth is a hollow shell with Pellucidar as the internal surface of that shell. It is inhabited by prehistoric creatures of all geological eras, and dominated by the Mahars, a species of flying reptile both intelligent and civilized, but which enslaves and preys on the local stone-age humans. Innes and Perry are enslaved by the Mahars' ape-like Sagoth servants and eventually lead a revolt of humankind. To further the struggle Innes travels in the iron mole back to the surface world at the end of the first novel to procure outer world technology. Innes returns to the inner world in the second novel, ''

''. With the aid of the resources he brings the human revolt succeeds. In the course of the two books Innes wins the love of the cave-woman Dian the Beautiful, defeating rival suitors Jubal the Ugly One and Hooja the Sly One. Finally Innes and Perry succeed in building a confederacy of human tribes into an "Empire of Pellucidar" that wipes out the Mahar cities and establishes a new human civilization in their place.

The middle novels

The books after the first two show Innes' new empire as a relatively small entity in a world by and large still primitive and savage, and even his own subjects as little affected or changed by the trappings of civilization. Innes himself appears a somewhat hapless figure, brave and resourceful, yet ultimately dependent on the superior survival skills of his friends. Years after his initial adventures, as the surface world measures time, Innes confronts a new threat, the Korsars, a nation of pirates descended from corsairs of the outer world, who had entered Pellucidar generations before through a natural polar opening connecting the outer and inner worlds. The tale is the subject of the third novel, ''

Tanar of Pellucidar ''Tanar of Pellucidar'' is a novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the third in his series set in the interior world of Pellucidar. It first appeared as a six-part serial in '' The Blue Book Magazine'' from March–August 1929. It was f ...

'', told by his native friend Tanar and relayed to the surface by Perry via radio. The adventure ends with Innes a captive of the Korsars. He is a secondary character in this novel, and a minor one in the two that follow. In response to Perry's plea, an outer world expedition is launched to rescue Innes, in which Burrough's jungle hero

Tarzan Tarzan (John Clayton II, Viscount Greystoke) is a fictional character, an archetypal feral child raised in the African jungle by the Mangani great apes; he later experiences civilization, only to reject it and return to the wild as a heroic adv ...

plays a major role. The rescue effort is the subject of the fourth novel, ''

Tarzan at the Earth's Core ''Tarzan at the Earth's Core'' is a novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, serialized in September 1929 to March 1930, the thirteenth in his series of twenty-four books about the title character Tarzan and the fourth in his series set i ...

'', with Tarzan entering Pellucidar in an airship via the polar opening and eventually succeeding in rescuing Innes. The fifth novel, ''

Back to the Stone Age ''Back to the Stone Age'' is a novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the fifth in his series set in the lost world of Pellucidar. It first appeared as a six-part serial in '' Argosy Weekly'' from January 9 to February 13, 1937 under ...

'', details the adventures of a lost expedition member, ultimately located by the liberated Innes.

The late novels

The Sixth novel, ''

Land of Terror ''Land of Terror'' is a 1944 fantasy novel by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the sixth in his series about the fictional " hollow earth" land of Pellucidar. It is the penultimate novel in the series and the last to be published during Bur ...

'', returns Innes to the central role, relating his adventures during his return from his search mission to Sari, the capital of his empire. ''

Savage Pellucidar ''Savage Pellucidar'' is a 1963 fantasy story collection by American writer Edgar Rice Burroughs, the seventh and final book in his series about the fictional " hollow earth" land of Pellucidar. It was published twelve years after Burroughs's d ...

'', the final book in the series, presents a new sequence of adventures for Innes, Perry, and Dian, in which a hitherto unknown native Bronze Age civilization is discovered.

In other media

*David Innes first appeared on screen in '' At the Earth's Core'' (1976), an adaptation of the first Pellucidar novel. He was portrayed by actor

Doug McClure Douglas Osborne McClure (May 11, 1935February 5, 1995) was an American actor whose career in film and television extended from the 1950s to the 1990s. He is best known for his role as the cowboy Trampas during the entire run from 1962 to 1971 o ...

. *David Innes has also appeared in a

comic strip A comic strip is a sequence of drawings, often cartoons, arranged in interrelated panels to display brief humor or form a narrative, often serialized, with text in balloons and captions. Traditionally, throughout the 20th and into the 21st ...

and

comic book A comic book, also called comicbook, comic magazine or (in the United Kingdom and Ireland) simply comic, is a publication that consists of comics art in the form of sequential juxtaposed panels that represent individual scenes. Panels are of ...

series based on the novels, as well as the Tarzan comic strip.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Innes, David Characters in written science fiction Fictional emperors and empresses Edgar Rice Burroughs characters Literary characters introduced in 1914 Pellucidar