History Main / TheMorlocks

* ''Animated/{{Metropolis}}''

TheMorlocks as a trope are almost AlwaysChaoticEvil. They are often the byproduct of a SufficientlyAdvancedSociety.

TheMorlocks as a trope are almost AlwaysChaoticEvil. They are often the byproduct of a Sufficiently Advanced Society.

--Except that the book implies that it is kind of a Blue and Orange morality: the Eloi have no conception of altruism, art, love or even the future tense. They don't actually have a culture. The Morlocks, on the other hand, are actually productive society members: they just breed the Eloi like cattle, and for the same purpose. The narrator speculates that, as the upper class constantly pushed the lower class belowground, the upper class lost the ability to think and work for itself, leaving the lower class adapted to operating heavy machinery and thinking logically. The entire thing is commonly interpreted as a critique on Victorian society.

* IIn NewYorkCity there are many UrbanLegends of "Mole People" living BeneathTheEarth in [[SinisterSubway abandoned tunnels]]. These legends have some basis in fact, due to the many railroad tunnels under Midtown Manhattan (not the NewYorkSubway, however) which were poorly patrolled prior to the TurnOfTheMillennium. This allowed [[RagTagBunchOfMisfits a variety of eccentrics]] to dwell there, some of whom never left.

* ''{{FireFly}}'' has the reavers.

* ''DoctorWho'' has occasionally portrayed the future of humanity this way. "Utopia," set at nearly the end of the universe, has ordinary humans plagued by the "futurekind," tattooed cannibals (or maybe technically not) with sharpened teeth, who seem barely capable of speech.

* The creatures in C.H.U.D. are quite morlock-like.

* ''The hunters'' in ''{{Pandorum}}'' are very similar to the Morlocks in the TheTimeMachine remake and even used the heads from the Morlock costumes from the film.

* The creatures in C.H.U.D. are quit morlock-like.

* The hunters in ''{{Pandorum}}'' are very similar to the Morlocks in the TheTimeMachine remake and even used the heads from the Morlock costumes from the film.

* The hunters in ''{{Pandorum}}'' are very similar to the Morlocks in the 'TheTimeMachine remake and even used the heads from the Morlock costumes from the film.

* The hunters in ''{{Pandorum}}'' are very similar to the Morlocks in the ''{{TheTimeMachine}}'' remake and even used the heads from the Morlock costumes from the film.

Common in science fiction and fantasy, TheMorlocks usually represent everything that science and art cannot redeem in the working class. This is a somewhat insidious remnant of Victorian phrenology and its ideas on EvolutionaryLevels, and has left a huge impact in genre fiction.

The name of this trope stems from TheTimeMachine by H.G. Wells. The Morlocks are hideous troll like beings that haunt the night while the innocent Eloi culture sleeps.

* The Orcs of ''LordOfTheRings'' are described as originally Elves who were subverted by the will of Morgoth, Sauron's master from ''TheSilmarillion''.
** ...I don't think so. I could be wrong, but I think Silmarillion describes the Orcs as being the result of Morgoth trying to create his own version of the children of Iluvatar (elves and men).
*** Tolkien wnet back and forth on the matter repeatedly, and hadn't settled on a definitive version even when he died, aminly due to trying to reconcile his dislike of AlwaysChaoticEvil with his belief in Evil as inherently incapable of creativity.
* Just who exactly lives on the ground in ''TheJetsons''?
** Isn't this more of an [[EpilepticTrees Epileptic Tree]] than a trope actually seen in the series? Although I haven't watched more than a tiny bit of it, so I wouldn't know.

* And, of course, ''{{X-Men}}'' supporting characters the Morlocks, mutants whose mutations are physically disfiguring and who live underground with others of their kind. Of course, even among the Morlocks, there are hierarchies, and the Tunnellers look down on the Drain Dwellers (and vice versa). Only one Morlock, Marrow, has ever been a member of the X-Men proper, reflecting the bad blood between the two groups.
** [[DumbMuscle Sunder]] was a tempory member of the X-Men... for about 1 or so issues, but he still technically counts, too.
* In DungeonsAndDragons supplement "Races of Destiny", there are the Sharakim, who look like orcs and are seen as sub-human because of it, but are a subversion. They actually are 'tainted' humans and are generally lawful, while having a thriving arts and culture to show their difference from ''normal'' orcs.
** Grimlocks, originally from the 1E ''Fiend Folio'', are a more straightforward version of this trope.
* The Morlocks in TheTimeMachine were actually the more advanced race, providing all the food and luxuries the mentally deficient Eloi depended on.
* In RealLife, in NewYorkCity there are many legends of MolePeople living BeneathTheEarth in [[SinisterSubway abandoned tunnels]]. These legends have some basis in fact, due to the many railroad tunnels under Midtown Manhattan (not the NewYorkSubway, however) which were poorly patrolled prior to the TurnOfTheMillennium. This allowed [[RagTagBunchOfMisfits a variety of eccentrics]] to dwell there, some of whom never left.

* In RealLife, in NewYorkCity there are many legends of MolePeople living BeneathTheEarth in [[SinisterSubway abandoned tunnels]]. These legends have some basis in fact, due to the many railroad tunnels under Midtown Manhattan (not the NewYorkSubway, however) which were poorly patrolled before TurnOfTheMillennium. This allowed [[RagTagBunchOfMisfits a variety of eccentrics]] to dwell there, some of whom never left.

* In RealLife, in NewYorkCity there are many legends of MolePeople living BeneathTheEarth in [[SinisterSubway abandoned tunnels]]. These legends have some basis in fact, due to the many railroad tunnels under Midtown Manhattan (not the NewYorkSubway, however) which were poorly patrolled before TurnOfTheMillennium. This allowed [[RagTagBunchOfMisfits a variety of eccentrics]] to set up shop there, some of whom never went outdoors.

* In RealLife, in NewYorkCity there are many legends of MolePeople living BeneathTheEarth in [[SinisterSubway abandoned tunnels]]. These legends have some basis in fact, due to the many railroad tunnels under Midtown Manhattan (not the NewYorkSubway, however) which were poorly patrolled before TurnOfTheMillennium.

* The Morlocks in TheTimeMachine were actually the more advanced race, providing all the food and luxuries the [[{{Anvilicious}} mentally deficient]] Eloi depended on.

* The Morlocks in TheTimeMachine were actually the more advanced race, providing all the food and luxuries the mentally deficient Eloi depended on.

* In RealLife, in NewYorkCity there are many legends of MolePeople living BeneathTheEarth in [[SinisterSubway abandoned tunnels]]. These legends have some basis in fact, due to the many railroad tunnels under Midtown Manhattan which were poorly patrolled before TurnOfTheMillennium.

* In RealLife, in NewYorkCity there are many legends of MolePeople living BeneathTheEarth in [[SinisterSubway abandoned tunnels]]. These legends have some basis in fact, due to the many railroad tunnels under Midtown Manhattan which were poorly patrolled before TheTurnOfTheMillenium.

* In RealLife, in NewYorkCity there are many legends of MolePeople living BeneathTheEarth in [[SinisterSubway abandoned tunnels]]. These legends have some basis in fact, due to the many railroad tunnels under Midtown Manhattan which were poorly patrolled before the TurnOfTheMillenium.

''"The Proles will never awake until they are free and the Proles will never be free until they awaken." - George Orwell, 1984''

'''Examples:'''

* In {{Dungeons and Dragons}} supplement, Races of Destiny, there are the Sharakim, who look like orcs and are seen as sub-human because of it, but are a subversion. They actually are 'tainted' humans and are generally lawful, while having a thriving arts and culture to show their difference from ''normal'' orcs.

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