The Eloi are one of the two fictional post-human races, along with the

Morlocks Morlocks are a fictional species created by H. G. Wells for his 1895 novel,''The Time Machine'', and are the main antagonists. Since their creation by H. G. Wells, the Morlocks have appeared in many other works such as sequels, films, televis ...

, in

H. G. Wells Herbert George Wells"Wells, H. G."
Revised 18 May 2015. ''

The Time Machine ''The Time Machine'' is a science fiction novella by H. G. Wells, published in 1895. The work is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel by using a vehicle or device to travel purposely and selectively for ...

''.

In H. G. Wells' ''The Time Machine''

By the year AD 802,701, humanity has evolved into two separate species: the Eloi and the

Morlock Morlocks are a fictional species created by H. G. Wells for his 1895 novel,'' The Time Machine'', and are the main antagonists. Since their creation by H. G. Wells, the Morlocks have appeared in many other works such as sequels, films, televi ...

s. The Eloi live a banal life of ease on the surface of the Earth while the Morlocks live underground, tending machinery and providing food, clothing, and inventory for the Eloi. The narration suggests that the separation of species may have been the result of a widening split between different social classes. With all their needs and desires perfectly fulfilled, the Eloi have slowly become dissolute and naive: they are described as smaller than modern humans, with shoulder-length curly hair, pointed chins, large eyes, small ears, small mouths with bright red thin lips, and sub-human intelligence. They do not perform much work, except to feed, play, and mate, and are characterized by apathy; and when Weena falls into a river, none of the other Eloi help her (she is rescued instead by the Time Traveller). Periodically, the Morlocks capture individual Eloi for food; and because this typically happens on moonless nights, the Eloi are terrified of darkness. A portion of the book written for the ''New Review'' version, later published as a separate short story, reveals that a visit by the Time Traveller to the even more distant future results in his encountering rabbit-like hopping herbivores, apparently the descendants of the Eloi. They are described as being plantigrade, with longer hind legs and tailless, being covered with straight greyish hair that "thickened about the head into a

Skye terrier The Skye Terrier is a Scottish dog breed that is a long, low, hardy terrier and "one of the most endangered native dog breeds in the United Kingdom" according to The Kennel Club. Appearance Coat The Skye is double coated with a short, ...

's mane", having human-like hands (described as fore feet), and having a roundish head with a projecting forehead and forward-looking eyes that were obscured by lank hair. The Eloi are herded, bred and maintained by the Morlocks as a food source, much like cows or pigs are today.

Film adaptions

Poster for the 1960 film The Time Machine

In the 1960 film version of the book, the Eloi are depicted as identical to modern humans but small, blond, and blue-eyed. The Morlocks use an

air raid siren A civil defense siren, also known as an air-raid siren or tornado siren, is a siren used to provide an emergency population warning to the general population of approaching danger. It is sometimes sounded again to indicate the danger has pa ...

to put the Eloi into a trance state and lure them into their caves. One of the Eloi is motivated to beat a Morlock to death when it attacks the Time Traveller. In the 2002 movie adaptation of ''The Time Machine'', the Eloi are depicted as identical to modern humans with a hunter-gatherer lifestyle and sport primitive-style clothing and appear to be an ethnic amalgamation of various indigenous races but maintain the English language as an intellectual exercise.

In Dan Simmons' ''Ilium''

Dan Simmons Dan Simmons (born April 4, 1948) is an American science fiction and horror writer. He is the author of the Hyperion Cantos and the Ilium/Olympos cycles, among other works which span the science fiction, horror, and fantasy genres, sometimes wi ...

' '' Ilium'' novel, "Eloi" is a nickname for the lazy, uneducated, and uncultured descendants of the human race after the post-humans have left Earth. The name is a reference to Wells' Eloi. Old-style humans and post-humans rule in Simmons' novel, with the Eloi being kept in "zoos" in restricted areas on Earth. The Eloi are technically adept but don't understand the technology; they regress and unlearn millennia of culture, thought and reason, until they are satisfied with the pleasure of merely existing.

Later use of the name

* The 1995 novel ''

The Time Ships ''The Time Ships'' is a 1995 hard science fiction novel by Stephen Baxter. A canonical sequel to the 1895 novella ''The Time Machine'' by H. G. Wells, it was officially authorized by the Wells estate to mark the centenary of the original's pub ...

'' by Stephen Baxter is a (Wells' estate) authorised sequel of ''

'' published to mark its centennial. * The German

progressive rock Progressive rock (shortened as prog rock or simply prog; sometimes conflated with art rock) is a broad genre of rock music that developed in the United Kingdom and United States through the mid- to late 1960s, peaking in the early 1970s. Init ...

band Eloy, founded in 1969, are named after the race. * The Elokoi of

Brian Caswell Brian Caswell (born 13 January 1954) is an Australian author of young adult fiction. Biography Brian Caswell was born in a village called Gwernaffield in Wales, on 13 January 1954. His family moved to England, when he was 5 years old. When he ...

's 1995 novel ''

Deucalion In Greek mythology, Deucalion (; grc-gre, Δευκαλίων) was the son of Prometheus; ancient sources name his mother as Clymene, Hesione, or Pronoia.A scholium to ''Odyssey'' 10.2 (='' Catalogue'' fr. 4) reports that Hesiod called Deucalion ...

'' are presumably inspired by the Eloi, but ones without the dark side of the Morlocks. *

Geoff Ryman Geoffrey Charles Ryman (born 1951) is a Canadian writer of science fiction, fantasy, slipstream and historical fiction. Biography Ryman was born in Canada and moved to the United States at age 11. He earned degrees in History and English at UCLA ...

's 2005 novel ''

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'' contains a fictional ethnic minority called the Eloi, whose struggle for autonomy is quashed by a repressive government. *

James Alan Gardner James Alan Gardner (born January 10, 1955) is a Canadian science fiction author. Raised in Simcoe and Bradford, Ontario, he earned bachelor's and master's degrees in applied mathematics from the University of Waterloo. Gardner has published sci ...

uses the terms "Eloi" and "Morlock" in his 1997 novel ''

Expendable ''Expendable'' is a science fiction novel by the Canadian author James Alan Gardner, published in 1997 by HarperCollins Publishers under its various imprints.Avon Books; HarperCollins Canada; SFBC/AvoNova. Paperback edition 1997, Eos Books. It i ...

'' to refer to two warring sects of 'glass people'. * The name is used as a term of derision in '' Feed'' (2002) by M.T. Anderson. * In

Greg Bear Gregory Dale Bear (August 20, 1951 – November 19, 2022) was an American writer and illustrator best known for science fiction. His work covered themes of galactic conflict ('' Forge of God'' books), parallel universes ('' The Way'' series), c ...

's 1993 novel ''

Moving Mars ''Moving Mars'' is a science fiction novel written by Greg Bear. Published in 1993, it won the 1994 Nebula Award for Best Novel, and was also nominated for the 1994 Hugo, Locus, and John W. Campbell Memorial Awards, each in the same category. T ...

'', "Eloi" are humans who seek to extend their lifespans beyond 1,000 years, through the use of advanced medical nanotechnology and other enhancements. * In

John Brosnan John Raymond Brosnan (7 October 1947 – 11 April 2005) was an Australian writer of both fiction and non-fiction works in the fantasy and science fiction genres. He was born in Perth, Western Australia, and died in South Harrow, London, fro ...

's 1989–91 far-future post-disaster trilogy ''

The Sky Lords ''The Sky Lords'' (1988) is a science fiction novel by the Australian author, John Brosnan. It was published by VGSF and is the first book in the Sky Lords trilogy. It was followed in 1989 by ''War of the Sky Lords'' and in 1991 by ''The Fall of t ...

'', the Eloi is a term for a small group of "genetically-enhanced humans of indeterminate sex". * Political commentator

Mark Steyn Mark Steyn (; born December 8, 1959) is a Canadian author and a radio and television presenter. He has written several books, including ''The New York Times'' bestsellers '' America Alone: The End of the World As We Know It'', ''After America: G ...

in his 2011 book '' After America: Get Ready for Armageddon'' uses the Eloi as a metaphor for what he believes is a post-Western society collapsed under the weight of secular-socialist political correctness, self-loathing and entitlement. * In his non-fiction essay '' In the Beginning... Was the Command Line'' (1999), Neal Stephenson uses Morlocks and Eloi as a metaphor for what he sees as a distinction in contemporary culture: "Eloi learn everything they know from being steeped from birth in electronic media directed and controlled by book-reading Morlocks." * Eloi feature in '' Bookworm Adventures 2''. An Eloi, under the modified name of Loyim, is an enemy in the sixth book, together with several Morlocks.

References

{{The Time Machine Fictional civilizations Human-derived fictional species The Time Machine Literary characters introduced in 1895 Characters in written science fiction Characters in British novels of the 19th century Public domain characters in the United States