Morlocks
Underground future dwellers
Morlocks are a fictional species from H.G.
Wells's *The Time Machine* (1895)—brutish, light-fearing underground dwellers who prey on the gentle surface-dwelling Eloi.
The name has become shorthand for people associated with dark, subterranean, or menial work, or for a brutish underclass: The night-shift workers joked about being Morlocks.
Sometimes used to contrast with a privileged elite.
Below ground or countercultural
- cannibalsThose who consume human flesh
- dystopiaImaginary terrible society
- futureTime still to come
- devolutionTransferring power locally
troglodytes · subterranean · Victorian · science fiction · servants · darkness · prey · evolution
Underground hollow in rock
- nocturnalActive during darkness
- photophobicAverse to illumination
- pallidUnhealthily lacking color
- humanoidBeing with body like ours
predators · eyes · claws · subhuman · monsters · lurkers · troglodytes · cannibalistic
Mutant superhero collective
- mutantsGenetically altered organisms
- comicsSequential art medium
- villainsEvil characters in narratives
- undergroundBelow ground or countercultural
tunnels · Callisto · sewers · Manhattan · superhero · Caliban · mutant · alley
People doing jobs
- proletariatLaborers lacking capital ownership
- underclassLowest socioeconomic group
- exploitationSelfish use of others
- mastersThose with dominion
servants · labor · oppression · industry · factories · toil · division · hierarchy
underground
Below ground or countercultural
devolution · troglodytes · subterranean · Victorian · science fiction · servants · darkness · prey · evolution · class
cave
Underground hollow in rock
- nocturnalActive during darkness
- photophobicAverse to illumination
- pallidUnhealthily lacking color
humanoid · predators · eyes · claws · subhuman · monsters · lurkers · troglodytes · cannibalistic · feral
X-Men
Mutant superhero collective
- mutantsGenetically altered organisms
- comicsSequential art medium
- villainsEvil characters in narratives
underground · tunnels · Callisto · sewers · Manhattan · superhero · Caliban · mutant · alley · hideout
workers
People doing jobs
- proletariatLaborers lacking capital ownership
- underclassLowest socioeconomic group
- exploitationSelfish use of others
masters · servants · labor · oppression · industry · factories · toil · division · hierarchy · subjugation
- H.G. WellsThe Time Machine, The Invisible Man, War of the Worlds, Invisible Man, Dr. Moreau
- The Time Machinetime traveler, fourth dimension, human evolution, Victorian era, inventor
- X-MenX-Men, Wolverine, Magneto, Cyclops, Storm
- future worldsdystopia, utopia, megacity, Mars colony, cyberpunk
- Marvel CosmicStar-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Groot, Rocket Raccoon
Morlocksleisure class
Wealthy non-workers
aristocracy · bourgeoisie · upper class · ruling class · landed gentry