''
Land of the Lost Land of the Lost may refer to:
* Land of the Lost (1974 TV series), ''Land of the Lost'' (1974 TV series), the original 1974 children's television series
* Land of the Lost (1991 TV series), ''Land of the Lost'' (1991 TV series), the 1991 remake of ...
'' is a 1974–1976 TV series relating the adventures of the Marshall family (including Will and Holly and their father, later replaced by their uncle). The Marshalls become trapped in a
pocket universe
A pocket universe or bubble universe, also colloquially called pocket dimension is a concept in inflationary theory, proposed by Alan Guth.
Description
It defines a realm like the one that contains the observable universe as only one of many infl ...
populated by dinosaurs, ape-like creatures called Pakuni, and anthropomorphic reptilian creatures named Sleestak. This article concerns these characters, along with other human and alien visitors to the Land of the Lost.
Travel to the Land of the Lost is almost always accidental, via "time doorways" that appear to glow and/or billow mist. These doorways sometimes appear to open and close spontaneously, but they can also be opened and controlled by Pylon crystal matrix tables and by a matrix table in the Lost City. Time doorways obey a form of temporal energy conservation law: whenever something enters the Land of the Lost via a time doorway, something else must then leave it, though not necessarily at exactly the same time.
This aspect was abandoned in the show's third and final season, after new producers took over and the show's mythology was substantially changed.
At least one Pylon periodically travels to other universes, acting as a sort of "interdimensional elevator", triggered by a conjunction of the Land's moons that occurs every three to four years. One of the universes it stops at along the way appears to be the Marshalls' home Earth.
Humans
The Marshalls
Rick, Will, and Holly Marshall are the initial human
protagonist
A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...
s on ''Land of the Lost''. Rick is later replaced by Uncle Jack.
Rick Marshall, his son Will, and his young daughter Holly were rafting on the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon when they were caught in "the greatest earthquake ever known". The river was diverted over a cliff, and as the Marshalls' raft plunged over the resulting waterfall they struck a time doorway partway down. Trapped in the Land of the Lost with only the minimal camping equipment they'd had on the raft, they make their camp in a natural cave partway up the face of a cliff they call the High Bluff.
The three of them are from
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
,
though Rick grew up on Ford Street in
Indianapolis
Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...
and attended Fillmore High there.
The Marshalls formerly lived in
Harrisville, Indiana
Harrisville is an unincorporated community in Wayne Township, Randolph County, in the U.S. state of Indiana.
History
Harrisville was plat
In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions ...
.
Mrs. Marshall died of unspecified causes when Will and Holly were very young, and neither of them remembers her very clearly. Rick describes her as being headstrong and beautiful, just like Holly, and apparently loved her deeply.
Will and Holly frequently suffer bouts of sibling rivalry, though they overcome such issues when the situation becomes difficult enough. Will is the most adventurous of the Marshalls, frequently taking "shortcuts" as an excuse to explore new territory and tampering with Pylons to determine their function. Holly suffers from a fear of heights.
At the beginning of the third season, Rick Marshall is lost unexpectedly via a time doorway in a newly discovered pylon; Will and Holly's uncle Jack Marshall (Ron Harper), who had been searching for them for six months by following the same river route along which they'd originally disappeared, experiences another earthquake and falls through a doorway into the Land. At the same time, another earthquake occurs in the Land itself that buries High Bluff along with the Marshalls' equipment and provisions. Therefore, the Marshalls move into a temple near the Lost City instead (not the same as the Builder's Temple).
The series ends without showing the Marshalls' ultimate fate, though there are some ambiguous suggestions of it. In "Elsewhen", an adult version of Holly visits via a time doorway from the future, and in another episode a mysterious "repairman" confidently predicts that the Marshalls will someday escape the Land of the Lost.
An alternate universe version of the Marshalls (who wear clothing that "our" Marshalls lost upon entry into the Land of the Lost, and who did not suffer the loss of their mother) appear in "Split Personality". It is discovered in the last first-season episode
that the Marshalls were their own counterbalance; their stepping through a doorway in a waterfall is what causes the time doorway that drew them there in the first place to open. "Circle" was intended to serve as a "final episode" in the event that the show was not renewed.
Jefferson Davis Collie III
Jefferson Davis Collie III is an old and somewhat deranged
Confederate
Confederacy or confederate may refer to:
States or communities
* Confederate state or confederation, a union of sovereign groups or communities
* Confederate States of America, a confederation of secessionist American states that existed between 1 ...
artillery
Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...
man who has been in the Land of the Lost for many decades. He lives in the caves near where the river goes underground, obsessively mining the rich veins of light crystals there. His only companion is a
cannon
A cannon is a large- caliber gun classified as a type of artillery, which usually launches a projectile using explosive chemical propellant. Gunpowder ("black powder") was the primary propellant before the invention of smokeless powder ...
named "Sarah" with which he drives away the occasional group of Sleestak attackers using home-made gunpowder; he reports that Sleestak "taste a whole lot like
lobster
Lobsters are a family (biology), family (Nephropidae, Synonym (taxonomy), synonym Homaridae) of marine crustaceans. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on the sea floor. Three of their five pairs of legs ...
. But then again, not like lobster, if you know what I mean." Otherwise, his diet seems to consist solely of fish and wild mushrooms. The Marshalls encounter him when they attempt to ride the river out of the Land in the episode "
Downstream
Downstream may refer to:
* Downstream (bioprocess)
* Downstream (manufacturing)
* Downstream (networking)
* Downstream (software development)
* Downstream (petroleum industry)
* Upstream and downstream (DNA), determining relative positions on DNA ...
", but he ultimately returns to his cave rather than face the dinosaurs in the jungle outside. Apparently, Collie is turned to stone by Medusa (see Native Inhabitants section below), appearing in her garden during the third-season episode "Medusa".
Collie was played by
Walker Edmiston
Walker Edmiston (February 6, 1926 – February 15, 2007) was an American radio, television and voice actor.
Early years
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Edmiston participated in local theater productions during his high school years. He later stu ...
, the same actor who later played Enik the Altrusian. The original script for "Downstream" called for him to have a rifle, but concerns over young viewers being inspired to play with firearms resulted in its substitution with a cannon.
Rani
"Rani" (Erica Hagen), though she never actually stated, is likely an adult version of Holly from an unspecified point in the future. In "Elsewhen" she arrives through an open time doorway in Enik's cave to give aid to Holly after she runs off and leaves her family in one of the lower caverns. Rani appears to be in her early to mid-20s, with shoulder-length blonde hair and wears a simple yet elegant gown made from a pale blue fabric. Around her neck, she wears a pendant with a large blue crystal set into it with smaller yellow crystals framing it. She offers three identical pendants to Holly which "work like walkie-talkies" and will allow her to communicate with other wearers over long distance. She has a scar on the inside of her right arm which she received "while helping her brother out of a difficult situation". She convinces Holly that her family sees her as "the baby of the family" and are therefore overprotective of her and that she needs to help them any way she can. She also confesses with great sadness that "they won't always be there". Rani also tells her that in order to help them she must overcome her fear of heights by looking at the earth. Holly finally realizes who she is after she receives a fresh scar identical to Rani's while fighting the Sleestak "god" in order to buy time for her father to haul an injured Will up and out of the pit. She also claims that "Rani" was her secret name for herself that no one else knew about. Rani says that she is proof that her family can escape the Land one day and disappears through the open doorway.
Peter Koenig and Harry Potts
Peter Koenig was a private in General
George Washington
George Washington (February 22, 1732, 1799) was an American military officer, statesman, and Founding Father who served as the first president of the United States from 1789 to 1797. Appointed by the Continental Congress as commander of th ...
's
Revolutionary Army
In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
who arrived in the Land of the Lost some time prior to the Marshalls.
Koenig and his companion Harry Potts explored the Land extensively in search of a way back to Earth.
When the Marshalls first arrive, they discover a stone pillar in the jungle where Koenig had written "Beware of Sleestak" with
chalk
Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Chalk ...
. The Marshalls only learn much later who had been responsible for this warning, when they discovered Koenig's journal. Koenig claims to have dubbed the Sleestak thus in honor of Major Joshua Sleestak. Koenig claims in his journal to have taught the Pakuni a few English words.
Koenig met his death when he followed Potts' path into the Lost City. Koenig went into the third entrance, "where the pillars end", which eventually led through a narrow passageway into the "Devil's Cauldron". This was a lava chamber, with a narrow ledge, where he became trapped when the lava level rose, reviving the Sleestak. He preferred to await death in the lava chamber, rather than facing the Sleestak who had gathered outside the chamber to catch him. The Marshalls find Koenig's skeleton in the chamber and narrowly escape a similar fate.
Beauregard Jackson
Beauregard Jackson (
Ron Masak
Ronald Alan Masak (July 1, 1936 – October 20, 2022) was an American actor. He began working as a stage performer, and mostly was involved in theater until transitioning to film and television becoming a familiar character actor. From 1988 to 19 ...
) of
Fort Worth
Fort Worth is the fifth-largest city in the U.S. state of Texas and the 13th-largest city in the United States. It is the county seat of Tarrant County, covering nearly into four other counties: Denton, Johnson, Parker, and Wise. According ...
,
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
is a
hypersonic
In aerodynamics, a hypersonic speed is one that exceeds 5 times the speed of sound, often stated as starting at speeds of Mach 5 and above.
The precise Mach number at which a craft can be said to be flying at hypersonic speed varies, since in ...
glider
Glider may refer to:
Aircraft and transport Aircraft
* Glider (aircraft), heavier-than-air aircraft primarily intended for unpowered flight
** Glider (sailplane), a rigid-winged glider aircraft with an undercarriage, used in the sport of glidin ...
pilot from 20 years in Earth's future relative to when the Marshalls became trapped in the Land of the Lost. As shown in the episode "Hurricane", he becomes briefly trapped in the Land of the Lost when Will, tinkering with the crystal matrix table in a Pylon located high on a mountain, causes a time doorway to open high above the ground. Jackson's glider was re-entering Earth's atmosphere over
Ecuador
Ecuador ( ; ; Quechua: ''Ikwayur''; Shuar: ''Ecuador'' or ''Ekuatur''), officially the Republic of Ecuador ( es, República del Ecuador, which literally translates as "Republic of the Equator"; Quechua: ''Ikwadur Ripuwlika''; Shuar: ''Eku ...
, returning from a routine transit between Phoenix Port and Space Station 5. His glider's tail is suddenly severed, and the next thing he knows he is hanging from a tree by his parachute. With the help of the Marshalls, Jackson soon manages to return via the same time doorway, but the Marshalls cannot follow since Earth's end of the time doorway is 15 miles above the ground and there is only one parachute.
However, in the original script Jackson makes an offhand remark about Texas being its own country prompting a suspicious Rick to compare the currency in his wallet with Jackson's. He discovers that not only is Jackson from the future but from an alternate timeline, where Texas was not part of the United States and oil (not gold) is the standard.
William Blandings
Blandings (
Laurie Main
Laurence George "Laurie" Main (29 November 1922 – 8 February 2012) was an Australian actor best known for hosting and narrating the children's series ''Welcome to Pooh Corner'', which aired on The Disney Channel during the 1980s.
Born in ...
) is a mysterious figure who appears to the Marshalls as a pudgy, balding man in his late 40s with a British accent. He claims to be a "repairman" for the sun (although probably just the Sun pylon) and carries an umbrella and a valise with him. Although apparently human, Blandings displays considerable—nearly clairvoyant—knowledge about both the Marshalls and the Land of the Lost and the implements he carries with him are anything but ordinary. His umbrella acts something like an air conditioner keeping himself and Uncle Jack cool during the sweltering heat of increasing solar flare activity. Much like the pylons, his valise appears extradimensional in nature and from it Blandings can produce anything he wants. He also carries an amulet which produces a forcefield which he uses to repel the Sleestak. Although a formidable being, Blandings offers hints that he was sent by and actually serves a higher power.
Malak
Malak (
Richard Kiel
Richard Dawson Kiel (September 13, 1939 – September 10, 2014) was an American actor. Standing tall, he was known for portraying Jaws in '' The Spy Who Loved Me'' (1977) and '' Moonraker'' (1979). Kiel's next-most-recognized role is the t ...
) calls himself the "God of the Cro-Magnon" and "King of the Teutons". He is an opportunistic barbarian who lies, steals, threatens, and bullies to get what he wants. How and when he came to the Land of the Lost, or where exactly in time and space he comes from, is never revealed. He diverts an underground river into the Sleestak egg caves as a means of exacting tribute from them.
Nonhumans
Pakuni
Pakuni (singular: Paku, though this usage is not consistently obeyed) are a species of small ape-like humanoids, ground-dwelling and bipedal, but not fully upright in posture. They are primarily herbivores, though they do occasionally eat small animals (an
iguana
''Iguana'' (, ) is a genus of herbivorous lizards that are native to tropical areas of Mexico, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. The genus was first described in 1768 by Austrian naturalist Josephus Nicolaus Laurenti in his bo ...
-like
lizard
Lizards are a widespread group of squamate reptiles, with over 7,000 species, ranging across all continents except Antarctica, as well as most oceanic island chains. The group is paraphyletic since it excludes the snakes and Amphisbaenia alt ...
in the episode "Stone Soup", for example). They know how to create
fire
Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products.
At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...
using
flint
Flint, occasionally flintstone, is a sedimentary cryptocrystalline form of the mineral quartz, categorized as the variety of chert that occurs in chalk or marly limestone. Flint was widely used historically to make stone tools and start fir ...
s,
and manufacture simple tools such as the sharpened sticks they use as defensive weapons. Pakuni display significant skill with representational art and have superstitious rituals that usually include chanting but they do not appear to understand music. They live in small family groups that construct strong
bamboo
Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, bu ...
enclosures as shelters. The family groups are territorial but they are quite capable of forming alliances and friendships with neighbors when resources are plentiful and they understand the concept of trade. Young Pakuni undergo a rite of adulthood in which they must steal the egg of a large predatory dinosaur to prove their worth.
Cha-Ka
One of the Pakuni appearing in the series, Cha-Ka (
Phillip Paley) is the most favorably disposed toward the Marshalls. In the first episode the Marshalls rescue him from "Grumpy" the ''
Tyrannosaurus
''Tyrannosaurus'' is a genus of large theropoda, theropod dinosaur. The species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' (''rex'' meaning "king" in Latin), often called ''T. rex'' or colloquially ''T-Rex'', is one of the best represented theropods. ''Tyrannosa ...
'' and
splinted Cha-Ka's broken leg. Subsequently, Cha-Ka forms a close friendship with the family and with Holly in particular, helping them whenever possible and occasionally visits the Marshalls in their cave in High Bluff. Cha-Ka's moments range from his attempt to undergo the rite of adulthood to facing a mysterious being who saw him worthy of advancing on an intellectual level, resulting with his gaining the ability to speak near perfect English, play an alto recorder-like wind-instrument, walk and run upright, and learn to make fire by Season 3. After being separated from Ta and Sa after the earthquake that marks the beginning of season three, Cha-Ka moves in with the Marshalls at the temple.
Ta and Sa
The two older Pakuni who look after Cha-Ka and boss him around. The exact familial relationship between these Pakuni is never explicitly stated (Gerrold deliberately left the relationship vague but describes Ta and Sa as being more akin to Cha-Ka's elder siblings rather than parents). Ta (
Joe Giamalva in Season 1 and
Scutter McKay in Season 2) is a domineering, egotistical and a treacherous Paku (Gerrold referred to Ta as a "small, furry Hitler" in his script) who never comes to trust the Marshalls. He can be bargained with, however, and although he usually attempts to cheat the Marshalls it is not particularly difficult to see through the trick. Sa (
Sharon Baird
Sharon Baird is an American actress, voice actress, singer, dancer and puppeteer who is best known for having been a Mouseketeer.
Early life
Baird was born August 16, 1943 Seattle, Washington to Eldon Baird, an aerospace worker, and Nikki Mar ...
) occasionally seems to be a moderating influence on Ta, but for the most part serves as a follower. Ta is sometimes considered to be the "alpha" Paku
or a "witch doctor".
He has knowledge of some of the workings of the Land of the Lost, which he disguises with a clever use of herbs and phony chanting and dancing to make it appear that he controls them. For example, he understands that the "Pylon Express" only opens when the three moons are aligned and so times his own "opening ritual" to coincide with that, and he knows that the effects of the poison from the carnivorous plant
are only temporary and so hurries to sell the Marshalls a "cure" before it wears off on its own. Both Ta and Sa get separated from Cha-Ka during the earthquake that marks the beginning of season three and were not seen there after, though it was mentioned their tracks were seen "ending at a dead-end cliff-face and disappearing" by Will in Season 3, Episode 8.
* Although never referenced within the series itself, the pilot script refers to the Pakuni's full names as "Cha-Ka-Ta" and "Cha-Ka-Sa" but shortens them to "Ta" and "Sa" for the sake of brevity. The youngest Paku was just called "Cha-Ka" because he lacked identity with his tribe until such time as he earned his name. Originally, there was also a fourth Paku named "Cha-Ka-Ra" but "Ra" was dropped from the story during pre-production.
Sleestak
Sleestak are devolved green humanoids with both
reptilian and
insect
Insects (from Latin ') are pancrustacean hexapod invertebrates of the class Insecta. They are the largest group within the arthropod phylum. Insects have a chitinous exoskeleton, a three-part body ( head, thorax and abdomen), three pairs ...
oid features; they have scaly skin with frills around the neck, bulbous unblinking eyes, pincer-like hands, stubby tails, and a single blunt horn on top of the head, and bear a resemblance to the hypothetical "
Dinosauroid
''Stenonychosaurus'' (meaning "narrow claw lizard") is a genus of troodontid dinosaur from the Late Cretaceous Dinosaur Park Formation of Alberta, Canada, as well as possibly the Two Medicine Formation. The type and only species, ''S. inequalis ...
". Sleestak often communicate with a hissing sound that rarely changes in characteristics. However, like their Altrusian ancestors, they possess some rudimentary form of telepathy as well. Sleestak are more sophisticated than Pakuni and are able to make
crossbow
A crossbow is a ranged weapon using an elastic launching device consisting of a bow-like assembly called a ''prod'', mounted horizontally on a main frame called a ''tiller'', which is hand-held in a similar fashion to the stock of a long fi ...
s,
rope
A rope is a group of yarns, plies, fibres, or strands that are twisted or braided together into a larger and stronger form. Ropes have tensile strength and so can be used for dragging and lifting. Rope is thicker and stronger than similarly ...
, nets, periscopes
and other relatively advanced technologies. Sleestak are typically equipped with a crossbow and a quiver full of metal bolts which hang from their waist. The Sleestak have a current population of about 7,000 according to the Library of Skulls,
but there were only three Sleestak costumes available for the show's production, which sometimes required creative editing to create the illusion that they were that numerous.
The Sleestak live in the Lost City, a tunnel complex originally constructed by the Altrusians. They hate bright light and rarely venture out during the day. They also have a "
hibernation
Hibernation is a state of minimal activity and metabolic depression undergone by some animal species. Hibernation is a seasonal heterothermy characterized by low body-temperature, slow breathing and heart-rate, and low metabolic rate. It most ...
season" during which they stand motionless; cool air keeps them in hibernation, and the heat from
lava
Lava is molten or partially molten rock (magma) that has been expelled from the interior of a terrestrial planet (such as Earth) or a moon onto its surface. Lava may be erupted at a volcano or through a fracture in the crust, on land or un ...
in a pool that the character Peter Koenig (see below) dubbed "Devil's Cauldron" inside the caverns of the Lost City revives them again on a regular schedule.
The Sleestak are very defensive of the Lost City. They know that their ancestors built it, but do not know how or why. They have occasionally tried exploring beyond the chasm that separates the Lost City from the rest of the Land, but their expeditions generally do not return; they consider the City to be their only refuge.
The Sleestak have encountered many other humans who have become trapped in the Land of the Lost before the Marshalls arrive, and regard humans as a terrible threat; they attempt to capture and sacrifice humans to their god (an unseen beast who dwells in a smoky pit) at every opportunity.
* According to Dave Gerrold's DVD commentary for "The Sleestak God", the "god" was originally intended as a running gag with it being this loud, mysterious, hungry beast that no one ever sees ultimately to have been revealed as something much smaller (but no less voracious) than it sounded. Had Gerrold remained on-staff as part of Season 2, viewers would have discovered that the god was actually the Sleestak Queen.
Altrusian moths are considered sacred by the Sleestak and required for fertilization of their eggs. The Sleestak hunt them when they emerge during the night.
In "Blackout", the Sleestak scheme to cause perpetual night by disabling a second clock pylon, allowing them to capture the Altrusian moths. The Sleestak plan to devour large quantities of the moths so that in one thousand hours, a thousand new Sleestak will be born allowing them to resume control over the Land of the Lost. Unfortunately for the Sleestak (but fortunately for the Marshalls), the cold of the long night also begins killing the moths.
(According to Wina Sturgeon's original story for "The Hole", the Sleestak ate bugs as a regular part of their diet and used a special drill attachment for their crossbow bolts to dig them out of trees.)
Sleestak eggs are gestated in a communal hatchery. The Sleestak capture live animals and tie them up there, leaving them for the young to feed on when they hatch.
Occasionally, a Sleestak will be hatched that is a "throwback" to their Altrusian ancestors, being born with greater intelligence and with an innate knowledge of Altrusian history and technology—though not, for some reason, knowledge of the pylons or matrix operation. The other Sleestak regard these throwbacks as a threat, and so they are also sacrificed to the Sleestak god when detected. One such throwback, named S'latch, is encountered by the Marshalls in the episode "The Hole", but S'latch is never seen again thereafter.
* S'latch was to have returned in an unproduced script called "The Littlest Sleestak" in which he comes to claim a juvenile Sleestak that the Marshalls had adopted after unknowingly taking home several of their eggs. However, the little one (now referred to as "Speaks-To-Meat" by the other Sleestak) is considered "tainted" by human contact and thus deemed unfit.
The Sleestak are governed by both a Council and a Leader. The Sleestak Leader wears a distinctive pendant and Enik occasionally negotiates with him as in the episode "
Fair Trade
Fair trade is an arrangement designed to help producers in developing countries achieve sustainable and equitable trade relationships. The fair trade movement combines the payment of higher prices to exporters with improved social and enviro ...
". The Council often consults the "Library of Skulls" where several skulls belonging to their ancient ancestors are somehow able to communicate with them and dispense advice.
The Pakuni word for Sleestak is "Sarisataka".
Ex-Detroit Piston and current WNBA coach
Bill Laimbeer
William J. Laimbeer Jr. (born May 19, 1957) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who spent the majority of his career with the Detroit Pistons. Known for his rough and violent style of play, he played a big part in the P ...
played a Sleestak before attending
Notre Dame. He was a
Palos Verdes High School
Palos Verdes High School (PVHS) is one of three public high schools on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in Los Angeles County, Southern California, USA (the others being Palos Verdes Peninsula High School (formerly Rolling Hills High School) and Rancho ...
student, and the show solicited their basketball team for tall people to play Sleestak.
Altrusians
The ancestors of Modern Sleestak were the Altrusians. Their civilization fell approximately 1,000 years earlier. The Sleestak sometimes use the term "Altrusian" to refer to themselves
and sometimes to refer only to the true Altrusians.
Physically, the Altrusians were similar to Sleestak, with the former marked by a shorter stature, an extra finger on each hand, and a golden yellow skin tone. Intellectually they were very different, however. The Altrusians possessed advanced
psionic
In American science fiction of the 1950s and 1960s, psionics was a proposed discipline that applied principles of engineering (especially electronics) to the study (and employment) of paranormal or psychic phenomena, such as telepathy and psychok ...
technologies based on light crystals and understood a great deal about the operation of the Land of the Lost. They strove for calm emotionlessness and as a result could be both cooperative and quite callous. Also, unlike the Sleestak, the Altrusians did not have an aversion to bright light and could venture even into daylight with no ill effects.
One Altrusian, named Enik, is a recurring character in the series, introduced in the episode "
The Stranger". He travels to the current time accidentally via a time doorway. He initially believes himself to be in the distant past, but upon discovering the ruins of the Lost City, he theorizes that his people degenerated into modern Sleestak when they failed to control their hate and anger. Rick Marshall speculates that it was not the presence of hate that doomed the Altrusians, but rather the absence of compassion; Enik considers this to be a cogent argument and plans to return to his people to warn them of this flaw in their
philosophy
Philosophy (from , ) is the systematized study of general and fundamental questions, such as those about existence, reason, knowledge, values, mind, and language. Such questions are often posed as problems to be studied or resolved. Some ...
.
Altrusians have a very strict code of honor: they cannot allow others to show more self-control or make greater personal sacrifices than themselves. One can thus shame them into making sacrifices. In "The Search", Will (unintentionally) convinces Enik to pass up a chance to return to his own time by first passing up an opportunity of his own to return to Earth. Enik also claims that Altrusians are incapable of lying although clearly they can "bend" the truth (or not give full disclosure of all facts) if it is in their best interest to do so. While Enik told Jack Marshall that he grasped the concept of morality, he concluded that it was "not logical". Also handed down from the Altrusians was the concept of "Altrusian grace". This meant that someone (including a human) who helped a Sleestak would be allowed safe passage to and from the Library of Skulls to ask the Index Skull a single question.
Enik
Enik (
Walker Edmiston
Walker Edmiston (February 6, 1926 – February 15, 2007) was an American radio, television and voice actor.
Early years
Born in St. Louis, Missouri, Edmiston participated in local theater productions during his high school years. He later stu ...
) introduced in the episode "
The Stranger", is one of the original Altrusian inhabitants from before their civilization fell, though he initially believes himself to be trapped in the Altrusians' pre-civilized period. However, he too fell through a time doorway to become trapped in the current era of the Land of the Lost and discovered that the current Sleestak are actually his descendants and not his ancestors. He introduced himself as being one of the "keepers of the time portals" although it is unclear if he is referring to a select number of Altrusians tasked with that responsibility or his entire race. As such, he is equipped with a piece of Altrusian technology called a Magetti, a large crystal suspended in a tetrahedral frame that Enik describes as a "divining rod" that can be used to locate and fix dimensional doorways, determining where and when they would open. The Magetti has a self-destruct mechanism that is triggered when its user experiences sufficiently-strong hostile emotions; this is a built-in safeguard to prevent it from falling into violent hands. Will Marshall inadvertently destroys it and forces Enik to rely on a different and less-suitable device (a "companion piece" to the Magetti that is worn around his neck as a pendant) to continue his efforts to return to his own time and warn his people of their fate.
Enik is quite contemptuous of the current state of the Sleestak since the fall of the Altrusian civilization, though he feels compelled to aid them because they are his future, albeit contemptible. They return the contempt, referring to him as "the dwarf", and fear that he intends to seize power over them.
He is equipped with a bracelet of red crystals he can use to cause beings to be overcome by hallucinations of their greatest fear, so the Sleestak generally give Enik a wide berth. He spends much of his time during the series in the Lost City, working with a matrix table there attempting to open a time doorway home.
In addition to his shorter stature and different skin coloration, Enik is distinguished from the Sleestak in that he wears a distinctive red garment (Sleestak do not wear clothing). This garment was added to his costume when the wetsuit Enik's skin was crafted from shrank after rubber scales were glued to it, requiring slits to be cut across the front in order for Walker Edmiston to fit inside.
A being resembling Enik, suggesting that his appearance is typical of Altrusians—or possibly Enik himself—was seen in what is presumably the Lost City from the time of the Altrusians.
Walter Koenig
Walter Marvin Koenig (; born September 14, 1936) is an American actor and screenwriter. He began acting professionally in the mid 1960s and quickly rose to prominence for his supporting role as Ensign Pavel Chekov in ''Star Trek: The Original S ...
, the scriptwriter of "The Stranger", originally named this character "Eneg", in honor of
Gene Roddenberry
Eugene Wesley Roddenberry Sr. (August 19, 1921 – October 24, 1991) was an American television screenwriter, producer, and creator of ''Star Trek: The Original Series'', its sequel spin-off series ''Star Trek: The Animated Series,'' and ''Sta ...
. As noted in an audio commentary on the DVD, the spelling was changed to Enik (reverse of the Greek root word for "cinema") by David Gerrold, before the episode "The Stranger" was taped.
Many episodes refer to or take place in Enik's cave, which contains a time doorway and lies near the Sleestak god's pit, and is accessible through the central of the three entrances into the Lost City. Enik also appears in other episodes, including "The Search", "Circle", "Fair Trade", and "Blackout".
The Zarn
The Zarn, (portrayed by
Van Snowden
Van Charles Snowden (February 19, 1939 – September 22, 2010) was an American puppeteer active in the film and television industries for decades. Snowden performed as the H.R. Pufnstuf character on nearly every episode of the television series of ...
and voiced by
Marvin Miller
Marvin Julian Miller (April 14, 1917 – November 27, 2012) was an American baseball executive who served as the executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLBPA) from 1966 to 1982. Under Miller's direction, the players ...
), is introduced in the eponymous second-season episode. The Zarn is a humanoid alien who is invisible except for white spots of light scattered over his surface; he doesn't even leave footprints when he walks on soft soil. His starship became trapped in the Land of the Lost while traveling through
hyperspace
In science fiction, hyperspace (also known as nulspace, subspace, overspace, jumpspace and similar terms) is a concept relating to higher dimensions as well as parallel universes and a faster-than-light (FTL) method of interstellar travel. ...
. The Zarn has powerful psionic abilities, able to read minds at a great distance and
telekinetically levitate objects. However, this powerful
telepathy
Telepathy () is the purported vicarious transmission of information from one person's mind to another's without using any known human sensory channels or physical interaction. The term was first coined in 1882 by the classical scholar Frederic W ...
is also the Zarn's greatest weakness; intense, angry emotions in people nearby cause the Zarn great pain, and the spots of light on his invisible body turn red in reaction.
The Zarn is apparently a researcher of some kind whose mission involved the study of other intelligent species before he became trapped in the Land. Since the Zarn is very sensitive to others' emotions, he creates
android "research assistants" to interact with them, programming them from the memories of people he has scanned. The androids are totally convincing although their hands are cold to the touch. They have histories that incorporate great amounts of detail based on the knowledge of the scanned subject, to an eerie and suspicious degree. When the Marshalls first encounter the Zarn he creates an android named Sharon who is based on Rick Marshall's memories, such that she claims to have grown up in the same town as him, gone to the same school, and have the same interests. The excessive coincidences eventually give Sharon away, however, at which point the Zarn causes her to self-destruct.
The Zarn also has a "combat" robot that he named Fred, a 10-foot-tall dinosaur-like armless biped robot with a tail, a long neck and beaked head with glowing eyes.
Fred is very strong, but fairly slow. Rick and Will destroy Fred by luring it to a mountain top during a lightning storm. The model for Fred was a metal armature used by special effects artist
Wah Chang
Wah Ming Chang (August 2, 1917 – December 22, 2003) was an American designer, sculptor, and artist. With the encouragement of his adoptive father, James Blanding Sloan, he began exhibiting his prints and watercolors at the age of seven ...
to animate Junior the dinosaur, sans "flesh".
The Zarn is extremely overconfident, arrogant, and certain of his superior knowledge, even when it actually has holes. The Zarn is also quite petty, using telekinesis to play tricks on people he dislikes and to sow discord. He claims this behavior is "research". He frequently mocks people by "speaking" telepathically in the voices of people they know, saying hurtful things dredged from their memories. At one point the Zarn claimed that the emotion of
pity
Pity is a sympathetic sorrow evoked by the suffering of others, and is used in a comparable sense to '' compassion'', ''condolence'' or ''empathy'' – the word deriving from the Latin ''pietas'' (etymon also of '' piety''). Self-pity is pi ...
was the most painful one for him to be exposed to,.
The Zarn also appears in "The Babysitter", wherein he disparages various emotions he claims to have given up a thousand years before.
Animals
The
Land of the Lost Land of the Lost may refer to:
* Land of the Lost (1974 TV series), ''Land of the Lost'' (1974 TV series), the original 1974 children's television series
* Land of the Lost (1991 TV series), ''Land of the Lost'' (1991 TV series), the 1991 remake of ...
's
megafauna
In terrestrial zoology, the megafauna (from Greek μέγας ''megas'' "large" and New Latin ''fauna'' "animal life") comprises the large or giant animals of an area, habitat, or geological period, extinct and/or extant. The most common threshold ...
consists primarily of dinosaurs; species noted included ''
Coelophysis
''Coelophysis'' ( traditionally; or , as heard more commonly in recent decades) is an extinct genus of coelophysid theropod dinosaur that lived approximately 228 to 201.3 million years ago during the latter part of the Triassic Period from t ...
'', ''
Tyrannosaurus
''Tyrannosaurus'' is a genus of large theropoda, theropod dinosaur. The species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' (''rex'' meaning "king" in Latin), often called ''T. rex'' or colloquially ''T-Rex'', is one of the best represented theropods. ''Tyrannosa ...
'', ''
Allosaurus
''Allosaurus'' () is a genus of large carnosaurian theropod dinosaur that lived 155 to 145 million years ago during the Late Jurassic epoch (Kimmeridgian to late Tithonian). The name "''Allosaurus''" means "different lizard" alluding to ...
'', ''
Triceratops
''Triceratops'' ( ; ) is a genus of herbivore, herbivorous Chasmosaurinae, chasmosaurine Ceratopsidae, ceratopsid dinosaur that first appeared during the late Maastrichtian stage of the Late Cretaceous Period (geology), period, about 68 m ...
'', ''
Brontosaurus
''Brontosaurus'' (; meaning "thunder lizard" from Greek , "thunder" and , "lizard") is a genus of gigantic quadruped sauropod dinosaurs. Although the type species, ''B. excelsus'', had long been considered a species of the closely related ''A ...
'', ''
Styracosaurus
''Styracosaurus'' ( ; meaning "spiked lizard" from the Ancient Greek / "spike at the butt-end of a spear-shaft" and / "lizard") is a genus of herbivorous ceratopsian dinosaur from the Cretaceous Period (Campanian stage), about 75.5 to 74.5&nbs ...
'', ''
Ankylosaurus
''Ankylosaurus'' is a genus of armored dinosaur. Its fossils have been found in geological formations dating to the very end of the Cretaceous Period, about 68–66 million years ago, in western North America, making it among the last of the n ...
'', and ''
Pteranodon
''Pteranodon'' (); from Ancient Greek (''pteron'', "wing") and (''anodon'', "toothless") is a genus of pterosaur that included some of the largest known flying reptiles, with ''P. longiceps'' having a wingspan of . They lived during the late Cr ...
''. There are also iguanas,
wild blue and red
pig
The pig (''Sus domesticus''), often called swine, hog, or domestic pig when distinguishing from other members of the genus '' Sus'', is an omnivorous, domesticated, even-toed, hoofed mammal. It is variously considered a subspecies of ''Sus s ...
s,
pink and blue
chicken
The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...
-like birds,
Ancient fish,
guinea pigs, rhinoceroses, large beetles (called "Tula" by Enik),
bamboo, and giant varieties of modern berries and vegetables. It is unknown whether they were placed here by the Altrusians or if they came to the Land of the Lost accidentally. Rick suggests that the plants grow unusually large due to the nature of the soil.
Several dinosaurs that the Marshalls encountered frequently were given names, for example, Spike, for at least two ''Triceratops''; Spot, for many ''Coelophysis''; and Dopey, the baby ''Brontosaurus'' that they sometimes used as a
pack animal
A pack animal, also known as a sumpter animal or beast of burden, is an individual or type of working animal used by humans as means of transporting materials by attaching them so their weight bears on the animal's back, in contrast to draft anim ...
, along with his adopted mother, Emily (who, according to Gerrold, was named after
Emily Brontë
Emily Jane Brontë (, commonly ; 30 July 1818 – 19 December 1848) was an English novelist and poet who is best known for her only novel, ''Wuthering Heights'', now considered a classic of English literature. She also published a book of poet ...
). A ''
Tyrannosaurus
''Tyrannosaurus'' is a genus of large theropoda, theropod dinosaur. The species ''Tyrannosaurus rex'' (''rex'' meaning "king" in Latin), often called ''T. rex'' or colloquially ''T-Rex'', is one of the best represented theropods. ''Tyrannosa ...
'', Grumpy was first of the dinosaurs the Marshall family encountered, occasionally chasing them to High Bluff, being tall enough to look inside as the Marshalls ram a sharpened log they called the "flyswatter" into Grumpy's open mouth and drive him away. Holly speculates that Grumpy continued to return due to the large quantities of a ground-hugging fern-like plant she dubs "dinosaur nip" that grows in the area.
An ''
Allosaurus
''Allosaurus'' () is a genus of large carnosaurian theropod dinosaur that lived 155 to 145 million years ago during the Late Jurassic epoch (Kimmeridgian to late Tithonian). The name "''Allosaurus''" means "different lizard" alluding to ...
'', Big Alice dwells around the Lost City and is referred to by the Sleestaks as "Selima", meaning "Protector" in their language due to her role in keeping predators away from their eggs. She even tangled with Grumpy on occasion whenever he trespasses on her territory. She also had her own egg that hatched into her son Junior.
There were also a number of species that did not appear closely related to known Earth life, mostly in the third season. These included a large
venus-flytrap-like plant capable of consuming prey the size of a large rodent using a paralytic poison,
a
two-headed
Polycephaly is the condition of having more than one head. The term is derived from the Greek stems ''poly'' (Greek: "πολύ") meaning "many" and ''kephalē'' (Greek: "κεφαλή") meaning "head". A polycephalic organism may be thought o ...
''
Elasmosaurus
''Elasmosaurus'' (;) is a genus of plesiosaur that lived in North America during the Campanian stage of the Late Cretaceous period, about 80.5million years ago. The first specimen was discovered in 1867 near Fort Wallace, Kansas, US, and was se ...
''-like creature (LuLu), and a fire-breathing ''
Dimetrodon
''Dimetrodon'' ( or ,) meaning "two measures of teeth,” is an extinct genus of non-mammalian synapsid that lived during the Cisuralian (Early Permian), around 295–272 million years ago (Mya). It is a member of the family Sphenacodontid ...
''-like creature (Torchy). Another species that made an appearance in the third season was a
Yeti
The Yeti ()["Yeti"](_blank)
''Random House Webster's Unabridged Dictionary''. is an ape-like creature purported t ...
-like creature called Tappa and a similar creature named Kona, as well as a unicorn-pony called a Toe-Ki that lives high in the mountains, prevented from descending into the jungle by a guardian statue left behind by the Altrusians.
See also
*
''Land of the Lost'' (1974 TV series), the original children's television series created by
Sid and Marty Krofft
Sid Krofft (born July 30, 1929) and Marty Krofft (born April 9, 1937) are a Canadian sibling team of television creators and puppeteers. Through their production company, Sid & Marty Krofft Pictures, they have made numerous children's television a ...
**
List of ''Land of the Lost'' episodes
*
''Land of the Lost'' (1991 TV series), the 1991 remake of the 1974 series
*
''Land of the Lost'' (film), a 2009 film starring
Will Ferrell
John William Ferrell (; born July 16, 1967) is an American actor, comedian, and producer. He first established himself in the mid-1990s as a cast member on the NBC sketch comedy show ''Saturday Night Live'', where he performed from 1995 to 200 ...
based on the 1974 series
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Land Of The Lost (1974 Tv Series) Characters And Species
Land of the Lost
Lists of science fiction television characters