Characters and races of the Dark Crystal
Encyclopedia
The Characters and Races of the Dark Crystal were created by puppeteer
Jim Henson
and concept artist Brian Froud
for the 1982
cult
fantasy film
The Dark Crystal
and its expanded universe in books, comics, artwork, games
, and proposed sequel. Notably, most of the information about specific character and race names comes from supplementary material such as Froud's book The World of the Dark Crystal
, rather than the film itself.
A young male Gelfling and the protagonist
of the film. Jen's family and people were killed when he was young. Jen was raised by the urRu, also known as the Mystics, in their valley, believing that he was the last survivor of the Gelflings. Jen was educated by the Mystics. When his dying master, urSu, sends him on the quest to find the shard of the Crystal and to heal the Crystal with it, he discovers that he is not the only Gelfling alive. Having obtained the shard and being uncertain about what to do with it, he wanders through the swamp and is startled by Fizzgig, Kira's dog-like pet. Kira, who emerges from behind a nearby shrub, apologizes to Jen, befriends him, and learns of his quest, on which she joins him.
In the deleted scene, while the other Mystics are participating in urSu's funeral, the Ritual-Guardian urZah gives Jen a hint that Aughra has one of the crystal shards that belong to the crystal and her home is up on the hill.
Jen wears a pale, cream-colored tunic
. His skin has a brown complexion
and his hair is dark
with fair (almost silver) streaks and grows to shoulder-length. He carries a flute
around his neck, an urRu token known as a firca.
When the urRu/Mystics chant and Kira vocalizes, he plays it and it makes one of the crystal shards glow. He also does the same thing with the musical Podlings.
Kira survived the slaughter of her people, the Gelflings, because she was hidden by her mother in a hollow tree trunk. After witnessing the death of her mother at the claws of a Garthim, Kira was later found and raised by a village of Podlings, who became her adopted family. Taught by the Podlings, Kira learned to speak with the animals and developed a respect for the natural world. Accompanied by her pet, Fizzgig, Kira often wandered through the swamps and forests around her village, learning the ways and the speech of the flora and fauna.
One day, Fizzgig startled Jen, who was wandering the forest, baffled by his mission and by the mysterious crystal shard that he now possessed. Kira and Jen then befriended each other. Kira would join Jen on his quest to heal the Crystal and restore the vitality of their world. Though the quest cost Kira her life, she was revived by an urSkek.
Kira wears a golden-brown dress
and a brown cloak
. She has a fair complexion
and her hair is long and fair
, almost white. As a female Gelfling, Kira has butterfly-like wings that unfold from her shoulders on command, a physical feature not shared by male Gelflings. Kira is not shown flying or gliding, although she is able to use her wings to break the impact of the fall from a great height.
Described as "... a friendly monster" in the initial draft of the screenplay, the character of Fizzig evolved into a cuddly and loveable character as the pet of Kira. Fizzgig shares some qualities of a domestic dog, such as his distinctive yap and growl. Fizzgig is unlike a dog in that his facial features are tiny and his entire body is more or less simply a brown/red/gray ball of fur, about the size of a basketball
. Fizzgig moves by rolling, though he does appear to have at least two legs. His mouth, when open, appears to encompass most of his size and possesses two sets of sharp teeth.
He is fiercely loyal to Kira, has an aggressive temper, and is wary of unfamiliar things. Fizzgig is at first wary of Jen, but becomes his friend.
The name of Fizzgig's species is not mentioned, nor are any more of his kind seen, although Fizzgig's species are said to be native to Thra. Fizzgig is the only major character represented in the movie by a puppet with immobile eyes.
A one-eyed
, wild-haired seer with the horn
s of a goat
, Aughra is the sole member of her (unidentified) species. She is known as the Watcher of the Heavens and the Keeper of Secrets. A keen astronomer
, she maintains her observatory
set upon a cliff's edge atop a mountain, known as High Hill, which houses an enormous, working orrery
that shows all the worlds that surround Thra's Three Suns. This orrery is said to have enabled Aughra to predict the coming of the Great Conjunction. Aughra holds the Shard of the Crystal, for which reason urSu, wisest of the urRu, sends Jen to find her.
In the movie, Aughra is portrayed primarily by Frank Oz
in a costume. Oz also voiced Aughra originally (making her sound similar to a combination of Fozzie Bear
, Yoda
, and Miss Piggy
), but later her lines were re-dubbed by Billie Whitelaw
.
According to the book The Song of Aughra (alternately titled The World of The Dark Crystal
), Aughra is the essence of Thra itself. Responding to the need of the rocks and trees to have an eye to see the world, the roots made the rocks split, producing Aughra. The novel
The Dark Crystal mentions that Aughra is both male and female. The part of her that has withered is male, and the part that remains is female. Because she is the essence of Thra, she possesses the power to control tendrils, bushes, tall grasses, and other flora. Aughra can remove her heavily bloodshot eye from its socket and hold it in her gnarled hand for extended view or place it in another location and move it by mental command. Her brisk voice is harsh, broken, and short of breath. The novel describes her breath as "loud, rasping, rheumy, and [having] a dank stench".
Her exact age is not given, though the novel says that Aughra is three times three ages old. Aughra can recall life before Mystics and Skeksis
evolved their separate codes. She studies the movements of planets in the heavens and lost an eye one thousand years earlier observing the last Great Conjunction of the Three Suns, which burned her severely. During this time she witnessed the arrival of the urSkeks, who healed her and built her observatory and orrery
upon High Hill.
It is possible to construe that Aughra is at first neutral in the conflict between the Skeksis and Jen. It is only after her home is destroyed by the Garthim and she is kidnapped that she demonstrates a dislike of the Skeksis. When facing the Skeksis, she indignantly rebukes them for pillaging her home, calling them "fools" and the Garthim "stupid". She also exclaims, "You want Gelfling? Why not ask me? No; easier to send your crab-brained soldiers, burn my home!" implying that she might have given Jen to them if they had asked her.
Aughra is cantankerous and prone to mood swings. An example of this is described in the novel: When Jen reaches for something out of curiosity in Aughra's observatory, she angrily holds his hand to the table and growls at him not to touch anything. She then proceeds to behave as if nothing had happened. She is shown saying dramatically that the Great Conjunction is the "end of the world", and then adding, in a different tone of voice, "or the beginning! Hmf!" before dismissively remarking that ends and beginnings are "all the same" (each being a form of change). She seems well-acquainted with what most of Thra's inhabitants would view with awe, but is herself overawed when the urSkeks assume their true forms. When she asks Jen the location of his urRu mentor, and hears that the latter is dead, she becomes wary and says "Could be anywhere, then". Contrastingly, she appears blasé regarding the possibility of her own death. Aughra is allegedly to appear in the sequel to The Dark Crystal, titled The Power of the Dark Crystal, scheduled to be released in 2011. According to the Internet Movie Database, she will again be voiced by Billie Whitelaw
.
and hobbit
s. Their hands have three long fingers and a thumb. Female Gelflings have butterfly-like wings that can be folded to fit easily under clothing. These wings can be used to slow a long fall to allow for a safe landing, even with the added weight of a second Gelfling holding onto the first. The Marvel Comics
adaptation of the movie states that in the past, females could fly; but the wings have become vestigial.
The Gelflings once had a flourishing civilization, as seen in the ruins of one of their cities in the film, and had a system of writing
similar to hieroglyphics. Jen and Kira are the only two known survivors of a massacre upon their race masterminded by the Skeksis. Upon physical contact with one another, Gelflings can share thoughts, memories, and emotions by a process called dreamfasting. Jen and Kira were instrumental in fulfilling the prophecy that restored the Dark Crystal to its natural state. Other Gelflings had been introduced in the Dark Crystal universe, but only for Tokyopop's OEL manga Legends of the Dark Crystal:
described as being "... between a dog
and a dinosaur
". The urRu look similar to the Skeksis in body shape and also in that they are gnarled with age; yet the urRu are not hideous and are very wise and in tune with nature, hence their longevity and also their title of "Mystics
". They often perform enigmatic rituals which has also given them the title of "chanters". There are ten urRu at the beginning of the film who include:
In Tokyopop's OEL manga Legends of the Dark Crystal vol. 1, a new Mystic is introduced:
s of the film, are the ten "evil" versions of the ten "good" urRu. The word "Skeksis" serves as both singular and plural form for this species, with the singular pronounced ˈskɛksɪs and the plural ˈskɛksiːz. They are described by concept artist Brian Froud
as "... part reptile
, part predatory bird
, part dragon
". Like their urRu counterparts, they have four arms; but in the Skeksis the two lower arms have become weak and atrophied, and are rarely seen. The Skeksis have kept themselves from dying of old age by draining the vitality from other beings, yet remain hideous in appearance. In the film, the Skeksis are represented by puppets engineered under the direction of Jim Henson
. Jim Henson has said that in the development of the Skeksis, the creators drew inspiration from the Seven Deadly Sins
, in that each Skeksis represents a different kind of evil, such as cruelty, selfishness, greed, unchecked ambition, treachery, and wrath. The Skeksis include:
In Tokyopop's OEL manga Legends of the Dark Crystal vol. 1, two new Skeksis are introduced:
Two more UrSkeks were mentioned but did not appear, due to the deaths of their UrRu and Skeksis counterparts:
TokyoPop's Legends of the Dark Crystal Vol.1 introduces two new Skeksis (SkekLach the Collector & SkekVar the General), and one new mystic (urSen the Monk), producing:
SkekLach and urSen are counterparts, but SkekVar's counterpart is not introduced in vol. 1. It is expected volume 2, which is scheduled for publication in August 2010, and is due to include more new Skeksis and Mystics.
According to The World of The Dark Crystal, the UrSkeks originated on a world where moral imperfections were found intolerable. The UrSkeks, of which there were originally 18 led by SoSu, were banished from their homeworld and entered the world of Thra via a portal opened by the shining of the three suns on the Crystal of Truth. Their world had an equivalent crystal. Once on Thra, they encountered Aughra, who had been badly burned by the intense heat given off by her close proximity to the Conjunction. They healed her and together made exchanges of knowledge, Aughra teaching them the ways of the planet's nature and ecology
while the UrSkeks taught her astronomy. They hollowed out the mountain containing the crystal that brought them to the world and created a magnificent castle. Thereafter the UrSkeks sought to rectify what they had been taught to believe was their curse of self-impurity.
Creating a network of mirrors around the crystal, the UrSkeks sought to trap the light of the next great conjunction to burn out the imperfections on their souls. For another thousand years they waited till finally it arrived. Upon entering the light, rather than being cleansed, the UrSkeks were splintered into separate species; the Skeksis
, commanded by SkekSo, and the urRu led by urSu. A fight broke out, resulting in the crystal receiving a blow, which chipped off a shard. The shard disappeared and the UrRu left the castle to the Skeksis.
Despite the separation, there was still a sympathetic bond between each Skeksis and its urRu counterpart, a constant reminder that they were only halves of the same being. If either is wounded, the other feels the pain and suffers an identical injury. If one dies, both die in the same manner, preventing the feasibility of war. By the time of the film only ten Skeksis/UrRu pairs remained. When the story begins, both skekSo & urSu perish, leaving skekUng & urIm to succeed them respectively. By the upcoming conjunction, the process that created the two races was reversed and the UrSkeks were reformed. Their new leader, UngIm, revived Kira before the UrSkeks, then they departed into a higher level of existence and left the Gelflings as the keepers of the Crystal. Because skekTek was killed during the course of the film, destroying his urRu counterpart urTil, the UrSkek 'TekTih' never appeared.
Many of the Podlings have been either killed, or have been kidnapped by the Skeksis by whom they are used as slaves. The Skeksis rejuvenate their decaying bodies by draining vitality from the Podlings, and have kept themselves alive for a thousand years by doing so, although it does not stop the constant deterioration. This process reduces the Podlings to weakened and zombie
-like states which also helps the Skeksis use them as slaves. The Podling slaves of the Skeksis appear withered, and their hair has turned white or fallen away. At the end of the film, the Podlings regain most of their youth and knowledge. According to The World of The Dark Crystal
by Brian Froud
, many Podlings were lured to the Castle of the Crystal by the Skeksis.
-like creatures (designer Brian Froud
has claimed a fascination with lobster
s) protected by a tough exoskeleton
or carapace
, who shamble on tentacles and brandish sharp crab
-like claws. The Garthim also appear to be at least partly mechanical in structure, although this is unclear. They make a series of clicking noises which could be either organic or synthetic. Their eyes glow purple and may be pieces of the Dark Crystal. In the film, they are destroyed immediately following the Conjunction and the healing of the Crystal, disintegrating along with the black stone that coats the castle's silver walls.
The Garthim seem to exist only to kill, and it is hinted at that the Garthim are not actually native to Thra but were in fact created or bred by the Skeksis. The Garthim serve the Skeksis, and on the orders of the Skeksis the Garthim have all but exterminated the Gelflings. This is in accordance with the prophecy that Gelflings would bring about the downfall of their masters the Skeksis. The Garthim also kidnap the Podlings in nets or cages constructed on their shells to hold captive Podlings. Given the weakened and decaying state of the Skeksis, it is unlikely they could do much of their own work, and so the Garthim serve an essential purpose for them.
According to The World of The Dark Crystal
by Brian Froud
, the Skeksis made the Garthim from the memories of sea creatures native to their ancestral world, quickened by the light of the Dark Crystal through the skill of skekTek the Scientist and the power of skekUng the Garthim-Master. The Garthim are said to have been immensely strong and stupid creations whose only purpose is to destroy. The Gelflings understood this and lived in fear of them; but the Podlings did not.
s, but with unnatural stick-like bodies, used by the Skeksis to find the shard of the Crystal, and which also act as spies for the Skeksis. According to The World of The Dark Crystal
by Brian Froud
, the Crystal Bats were bred by the Skeksis to carry lenses of artificial crystal that sent images of all they saw back to the Crystal in the Skeksis' castle. At first the bats flew only in the dark, after the manner of their kind; but the Skeksis bred from the bolder and hardier strains, till no corner of the World was unknown to them.
-like faces, long ear-like appendages, and extremely long and powerful limbs with which they are able to move very fast and cover vast distances. Landstriders have always enjoyed a content and symbiotic relationship with the other creatures of Thra. Over a thousand years ago, Landstriders were used as a primary means of transportation in the same manner as a horse
by the now almost extinct Gelflings. In recent times, Podlings have also ridden Landstriders. Given that Podlings are in tune with nature and can speak to animals, the Podlings are able to communicate with the Landstriders. The last female Gelfling, Kira, who was raised by the Podlings, is also able to use this trait and speak with the Landstriders.
Landstriders are very tough and their limbs can be used as formidable weapons. As a result, Landstriders are perhaps the only natives of Thra able to hold their own against the Garthim for any length of time.
According to The World of The Dark Crystal
by Brian Froud
, the Landstriders were the Garthim's most fervent enemies, but were unable to prevent the extermination of the Gelflings.
The long, ear-like appendages on the landstrider are actually an extension of the scapula, their purpose unknown. Given the length of the front legs and their style of gait, it may be possible that these extended shoulder appendages could be balance weights for the front legs to help with locomotion, or may serve as both hearing and balance organs.
qualities, who dwell in marsh
es and swamp
s. Although they appear menacing the Nebries are not especially aggressive and appear to be vegetarian. A Nebrie infant is seen roasted on the dining table of the Skeksis in the Castle of the Crystal, and the novel depicts Nebries as being the Skeksis' food of choice.
. Many other creatures are seen briefly, including plants which are able to fly; flowers able to retract their petals; thick tree-like stalks that expand and compress, giving the impression that they can breath; a gigantic predator that disguises its mouth as a hole in the ground and closes its mouth when prey enter, much in the same manner of a venus flytrap
; vine
-like or grass-like creatures which are able to move; rodent
-like animals; and bird
s with a large horn
instead of a beak
, among others.
Puppeteer
A puppeteer is a person who manipulates an inanimate object, such as a puppet, in real time to create the illusion of life. The puppeteer may be visible to or hidden from the audience. A puppeteer can operate a puppet indirectly by the use of strings, rods, wires, electronics or directly by his or...
Jim Henson
Jim Henson
James Maury "Jim" Henson was an American puppeteer best known as the creator of The Muppets. As a puppeteer, Henson performed in various television programs, such as Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, films such as The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper, and created advanced puppets for...
and concept artist Brian Froud
Brian Froud
Brian Froud is an English fantasy illustrator. He lives and works in Devon with his wife, Wendy Froud, who is also a fantasy artist...
for the 1982
1982 in film
-Events:* March 26 = I Ought to Be in Pictures, starring Walter Matthau, Ann-Margret and Dinah Manoff is released. Manoff would not appear in another movie until 1987's Backfire.* June = PG-rated film E.T...
cult
Cult film
A cult film, also commonly referred to as a cult classic, is a film that has acquired a highly devoted but specific group of fans. Often, cult movies have failed to achieve fame outside the small fanbases; however, there have been exceptions that have managed to gain fame among mainstream audiences...
fantasy film
Fantasy film
Fantasy films are films with fantastic themes, usually involving magic, supernatural events, make-believe creatures, or exotic fantasy worlds. The genre is considered to be distinct from science fiction film and horror film, although the genres do overlap...
The Dark Crystal
The Dark Crystal
The Dark Crystal is a 1982 British-American fantasy film directed by Jim Henson and Frank Oz. Although marketed as a family film, it was notably darker than previous material created by them. The animatronics used in the film were considered groundbreaking. The primary concept artist was the...
and its expanded universe in books, comics, artwork, games
The Dark Crystal (computer game)
The Dark Crystal is a graphic adventure computer game based on Jim Henson's fantasy film, The Dark Crystal. The game was designed by Roberta Williams and published under the SierraVenture line in 1983 as Hi-Res Adventure #6: The Dark Crystal...
, and proposed sequel. Notably, most of the information about specific character and race names comes from supplementary material such as Froud's book The World of the Dark Crystal
The World of The Dark Crystal
The World of The Dark Crystal is a companion book written in conjunction with the film The Dark Crystal. The book was designed and edited by Rupert Brown, with Illustrations by Brian Froud—who was the conceptual designer for the film—and text by J. J. Llewellyn. It was originally published in 1982...
, rather than the film itself.
Jen
| Dark Crystal character | |
|---|---|
| Jen | |
| Species | Gelfling |
| Gender | Male |
| Home | Mystic Valley, also known as the Valley of the Stones |
| Affiliations | Mystics of Mystic Valley, also known as the urRu |
| Performed by: | Jim Henson Jim Henson James Maury "Jim" Henson was an American puppeteer best known as the creator of The Muppets. As a puppeteer, Henson performed in various television programs, such as Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, films such as The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper, and created advanced puppets for... and Kiran Shah Kiran Shah Kiran Shah is an actor and a stuntman.Shah was born in Nairobi, Kenya. He lived in Kenya until he was twelve years old, when he moved to India with his family. While living in India, he became interested in films, and when his family moved to London, he became involved in the show business... |
| Voiced by: | Stephen Garlick |
A young male Gelfling and the protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
of the film. Jen's family and people were killed when he was young. Jen was raised by the urRu, also known as the Mystics, in their valley, believing that he was the last survivor of the Gelflings. Jen was educated by the Mystics. When his dying master, urSu, sends him on the quest to find the shard of the Crystal and to heal the Crystal with it, he discovers that he is not the only Gelfling alive. Having obtained the shard and being uncertain about what to do with it, he wanders through the swamp and is startled by Fizzgig, Kira's dog-like pet. Kira, who emerges from behind a nearby shrub, apologizes to Jen, befriends him, and learns of his quest, on which she joins him.
In the deleted scene, while the other Mystics are participating in urSu's funeral, the Ritual-Guardian urZah gives Jen a hint that Aughra has one of the crystal shards that belong to the crystal and her home is up on the hill.
Jen wears a pale, cream-colored tunic
Tunic
A tunic is any of several types of clothing for the body, of various lengths reaching from the shoulders to somewhere between the hips and the ankles...
. His skin has a brown complexion
Complexion
Complexion refers to the natural color, texture, and appearance of the skin, especially that of the face.-History:The word "complexion" is derived from the Late Latin complexi, which initially referred in general terms to a combination of things, and later in physiological terms, to the balance of...
and his hair is dark
Brown hair
Brown hair is the second most common human hair color.Brown hair varies from light brown to almost black hair. It is characterized by higher levels of the dark pigment eumelanin and lower levels of the pale pigment pheomelanin. Its strands are thicker than those of fair hair but not as much as...
with fair (almost silver) streaks and grows to shoulder-length. He carries a flute
Flute
The flute is a musical instrument of the woodwind family. Unlike woodwind instruments with reeds, a flute is an aerophone or reedless wind instrument that produces its sound from the flow of air across an opening...
around his neck, an urRu token known as a firca.
When the urRu/Mystics chant and Kira vocalizes, he plays it and it makes one of the crystal shards glow. He also does the same thing with the musical Podlings.
Kira
| Dark Crystal character | |
|---|---|
| Kira | |
| Species | Gelfling |
| Gender | Female |
| Home | Podling village |
| Affiliations | Podlings |
| Performed by: | Kathryn Mullen Kathryn Mullen Kathryn "Kathy" Mullen is an actress, voice actress, and puppeteer most closely associated with Jim Henson projects. She began performing on The Muppet Show in its third season, primarily as Gaffer the Backstage Cat... |
| Voiced by: | Lisa Maxwell Lisa Maxwell (actress) Lisa Maxwell is an English actress and television presenter.-Early life:Born in the Elephant & Castle district of Southwark, South London in November 1963, she was trained at the Italia Conti Academy of Theatre Arts, and first acted on TV aged 11 in a schools programme A Place Like Home... |
Kira survived the slaughter of her people, the Gelflings, because she was hidden by her mother in a hollow tree trunk. After witnessing the death of her mother at the claws of a Garthim, Kira was later found and raised by a village of Podlings, who became her adopted family. Taught by the Podlings, Kira learned to speak with the animals and developed a respect for the natural world. Accompanied by her pet, Fizzgig, Kira often wandered through the swamps and forests around her village, learning the ways and the speech of the flora and fauna.
One day, Fizzgig startled Jen, who was wandering the forest, baffled by his mission and by the mysterious crystal shard that he now possessed. Kira and Jen then befriended each other. Kira would join Jen on his quest to heal the Crystal and restore the vitality of their world. Though the quest cost Kira her life, she was revived by an urSkek.
Kira wears a golden-brown dress
Dress
A dress is a garment consisting of a skirt with an attached bodice or with a matching bodice giving the effect of a one-piece garment.Dress may also refer to:*Clothing in general*Costume, fancy dress...
and a brown cloak
Cloak
A cloak is a type of loose garment that is worn over indoor clothing and serves the same purpose as an overcoat; it protects the wearer from the cold, rain or wind for example, or it may form part of a fashionable outfit or uniform. Cloaks are as old as human history; there has nearly always been...
. She has a fair complexion
Complexion
Complexion refers to the natural color, texture, and appearance of the skin, especially that of the face.-History:The word "complexion" is derived from the Late Latin complexi, which initially referred in general terms to a combination of things, and later in physiological terms, to the balance of...
and her hair is long and fair
Blond
Blond or blonde or fair-hair is a hair color characterized by low levels of the dark pigment eumelanin. The resultant visible hue depends on various factors, but always has some sort of yellowish color...
, almost white. As a female Gelfling, Kira has butterfly-like wings that unfold from her shoulders on command, a physical feature not shared by male Gelflings. Kira is not shown flying or gliding, although she is able to use her wings to break the impact of the fall from a great height.
Fizzgig
| Dark Crystal character | |
|---|---|
| Fizzgig | |
| Species | Not stated |
| Gender | Male |
| Home | With Kira |
| Affiliations | Kira and later Jen |
| Performed by: | Dave Goelz Dave Goelz Dave Goelz is a puppeteer best-known for his association with The Muppets, and in particular with the Muppet character Gonzo. His other Muppet characters include Bunsen Honeydew, Zoot , Beauregard the janitor and Tiny... |
| Voiced by: | Percy Edwards Percy Edwards Percy Edwards MBE , was an English animal impersonator, ornithologist, and entertainer.-Biography:... |
Described as "... a friendly monster" in the initial draft of the screenplay, the character of Fizzig evolved into a cuddly and loveable character as the pet of Kira. Fizzgig shares some qualities of a domestic dog, such as his distinctive yap and growl. Fizzgig is unlike a dog in that his facial features are tiny and his entire body is more or less simply a brown/red/gray ball of fur, about the size of a basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
. Fizzgig moves by rolling, though he does appear to have at least two legs. His mouth, when open, appears to encompass most of his size and possesses two sets of sharp teeth.
He is fiercely loyal to Kira, has an aggressive temper, and is wary of unfamiliar things. Fizzgig is at first wary of Jen, but becomes his friend.
The name of Fizzgig's species is not mentioned, nor are any more of his kind seen, although Fizzgig's species are said to be native to Thra. Fizzgig is the only major character represented in the movie by a puppet with immobile eyes.
Aughra
| Dark Crystal character | |
|---|---|
| Aughra | |
| Species | Unknown; said to be born of the essence of the planet Thra to be its "eye". |
| Gender | Often mentioned as "she" and has a female voice; yet is also said to be of two sexes, whereof the male side is said to be "withered", leaving the female side the dominant. |
| Home | High Hill Observatory |
| Affiliations | Neutral; neither good nor evil but indifferent to other creature's affairs. |
| Performed by: | Frank Oz Frank Oz Frank Oz is a British-born American film director, actor, voice actor and puppeteer who is known for creating and performing the characters Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear in The Muppet Show, Cookie Monster, Bert and Grover in Sesame Street, and for directing films, including the 1986 Little Shop of... |
| Voiced by: | Billie Whitelaw Billie Whitelaw Billie Honor Whitelaw, CBE is an English actress. She worked in close collaboration with Irish playwright Samuel Beckett for 25 years and is regarded as one of the foremost interpreters of his works... |
A one-eyed
Cyclops
A cyclops , in Greek mythology and later Roman mythology, was a member of a primordial race of giants, each with a single eye in the middle of his forehead...
, wild-haired seer with the horn
Horn (anatomy)
A horn is a pointed projection of the skin on the head of various animals, consisting of a covering of horn surrounding a core of living bone. True horns are found mainly among the ruminant artiodactyls, in the families Antilocapridae and Bovidae...
s of a goat
Goat
The domestic goat is a subspecies of goat domesticated from the wild goat of southwest Asia and Eastern Europe. The goat is a member of the Bovidae family and is closely related to the sheep as both are in the goat-antelope subfamily Caprinae. There are over three hundred distinct breeds of...
, Aughra is the sole member of her (unidentified) species. She is known as the Watcher of the Heavens and the Keeper of Secrets. A keen astronomer
Astronomer
An astronomer is a scientist who studies celestial bodies such as planets, stars and galaxies.Historically, astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky, while astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena and the differences between them using...
, she maintains her observatory
Observatory
An observatory is a location used for observing terrestrial or celestial events. Astronomy, climatology/meteorology, geology, oceanography and volcanology are examples of disciplines for which observatories have been constructed...
set upon a cliff's edge atop a mountain, known as High Hill, which houses an enormous, working orrery
Orrery
An orrery is a mechanical device that illustrates the relative positions and motions of the planets and moons in the Solar System in a heliocentric model. Though the Greeks had working planetaria, the first orrery that was a planetarium of the modern era was produced in 1704, and one was presented...
that shows all the worlds that surround Thra's Three Suns. This orrery is said to have enabled Aughra to predict the coming of the Great Conjunction. Aughra holds the Shard of the Crystal, for which reason urSu, wisest of the urRu, sends Jen to find her.
In the movie, Aughra is portrayed primarily by Frank Oz
Frank Oz
Frank Oz is a British-born American film director, actor, voice actor and puppeteer who is known for creating and performing the characters Miss Piggy and Fozzie Bear in The Muppet Show, Cookie Monster, Bert and Grover in Sesame Street, and for directing films, including the 1986 Little Shop of...
in a costume. Oz also voiced Aughra originally (making her sound similar to a combination of Fozzie Bear
Fozzie Bear
Fozzie Bear is a Muppet, created by Jim Henson. He is an orange, particularly fuzzy bear who works as a stand-up comic and has a catchphrase, "Wocka Wocka Wocka". Shortly after telling the joke, he is usually the target of rotten tomatoes and ridicule, especially from hecklers Statler and Waldorf...
, Yoda
Yoda
Yoda is a fictional character in the Star Wars universe, appearing in the second and third original films, as well as all three prequel trilogy films. A renowned Jedi master, Yoda made his first on-screen appearance in Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back where he is responsible for...
, and Miss Piggy
Miss Piggy
Miss Piggy is a Muppet character who was primarily played by Frank Oz on The Muppet Show. In 2001, Eric Jacobson began performing the role, although Oz did not officially retire until 2002....
), but later her lines were re-dubbed by Billie Whitelaw
Billie Whitelaw
Billie Honor Whitelaw, CBE is an English actress. She worked in close collaboration with Irish playwright Samuel Beckett for 25 years and is regarded as one of the foremost interpreters of his works...
.
According to the book The Song of Aughra (alternately titled The World of The Dark Crystal
The World of The Dark Crystal
The World of The Dark Crystal is a companion book written in conjunction with the film The Dark Crystal. The book was designed and edited by Rupert Brown, with Illustrations by Brian Froud—who was the conceptual designer for the film—and text by J. J. Llewellyn. It was originally published in 1982...
), Aughra is the essence of Thra itself. Responding to the need of the rocks and trees to have an eye to see the world, the roots made the rocks split, producing Aughra. The novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
The Dark Crystal mentions that Aughra is both male and female. The part of her that has withered is male, and the part that remains is female. Because she is the essence of Thra, she possesses the power to control tendrils, bushes, tall grasses, and other flora. Aughra can remove her heavily bloodshot eye from its socket and hold it in her gnarled hand for extended view or place it in another location and move it by mental command. Her brisk voice is harsh, broken, and short of breath. The novel describes her breath as "loud, rasping, rheumy, and [having] a dank stench".
Her exact age is not given, though the novel says that Aughra is three times three ages old. Aughra can recall life before Mystics and Skeksis
Skeksis
The Skeksis are a fictional species which act as the main antagonists in the 1982 fantasy film The Dark Crystal, its companion book The World of The Dark Crystal and the TokyoPop prequel Legends of the Dark Crystal. The word "Skeksis" serves as both singular and plural form for this species, with...
evolved their separate codes. She studies the movements of planets in the heavens and lost an eye one thousand years earlier observing the last Great Conjunction of the Three Suns, which burned her severely. During this time she witnessed the arrival of the urSkeks, who healed her and built her observatory and orrery
Orrery
An orrery is a mechanical device that illustrates the relative positions and motions of the planets and moons in the Solar System in a heliocentric model. Though the Greeks had working planetaria, the first orrery that was a planetarium of the modern era was produced in 1704, and one was presented...
upon High Hill.
It is possible to construe that Aughra is at first neutral in the conflict between the Skeksis and Jen. It is only after her home is destroyed by the Garthim and she is kidnapped that she demonstrates a dislike of the Skeksis. When facing the Skeksis, she indignantly rebukes them for pillaging her home, calling them "fools" and the Garthim "stupid". She also exclaims, "You want Gelfling? Why not ask me? No; easier to send your crab-brained soldiers, burn my home!" implying that she might have given Jen to them if they had asked her.
Aughra is cantankerous and prone to mood swings. An example of this is described in the novel: When Jen reaches for something out of curiosity in Aughra's observatory, she angrily holds his hand to the table and growls at him not to touch anything. She then proceeds to behave as if nothing had happened. She is shown saying dramatically that the Great Conjunction is the "end of the world", and then adding, in a different tone of voice, "or the beginning! Hmf!" before dismissively remarking that ends and beginnings are "all the same" (each being a form of change). She seems well-acquainted with what most of Thra's inhabitants would view with awe, but is herself overawed when the urSkeks assume their true forms. When she asks Jen the location of his urRu mentor, and hears that the latter is dead, she becomes wary and says "Could be anywhere, then". Contrastingly, she appears blasé regarding the possibility of her own death. Aughra is allegedly to appear in the sequel to The Dark Crystal, titled The Power of the Dark Crystal, scheduled to be released in 2011. According to the Internet Movie Database, she will again be voiced by Billie Whitelaw
Billie Whitelaw
Billie Honor Whitelaw, CBE is an English actress. She worked in close collaboration with Irish playwright Samuel Beckett for 25 years and is regarded as one of the foremost interpreters of his works...
.
Gelflings
Gelflings are slender humanoid beings with pointed ears and protracted facial structures who originally populated much of the world of Thra. Gelflings have similarities to both elvesElf
An elf is a being of Germanic mythology. The elves were originally thought of as a race of divine beings endowed with magical powers, which they use both for the benefit and the injury of mankind...
and hobbit
Hobbit
Hobbits are a fictional diminutive race who inhabit the lands of Middle-earth in J. R. R. Tolkien's fiction.Hobbits first appeared in the novel The Hobbit, in which the main protagonist, Bilbo Baggins, is the titular hobbit...
s. Their hands have three long fingers and a thumb. Female Gelflings have butterfly-like wings that can be folded to fit easily under clothing. These wings can be used to slow a long fall to allow for a safe landing, even with the added weight of a second Gelfling holding onto the first. The Marvel Comics
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
adaptation of the movie states that in the past, females could fly; but the wings have become vestigial.
The Gelflings once had a flourishing civilization, as seen in the ruins of one of their cities in the film, and had a system of writing
Writing
Writing is the representation of language in a textual medium through the use of a set of signs or symbols . It is distinguished from illustration, such as cave drawing and painting, and non-symbolic preservation of language via non-textual media, such as magnetic tape audio.Writing most likely...
similar to hieroglyphics. Jen and Kira are the only two known survivors of a massacre upon their race masterminded by the Skeksis. Upon physical contact with one another, Gelflings can share thoughts, memories, and emotions by a process called dreamfasting. Jen and Kira were instrumental in fulfilling the prophecy that restored the Dark Crystal to its natural state. Other Gelflings had been introduced in the Dark Crystal universe, but only for Tokyopop's OEL manga Legends of the Dark Crystal:
- Lahr
- Neffi
- Belleg
- Kelsee
- Smeeshun
- Jana
The urRu / Mystics
The benevolent, hunchbacked counterparts of the malevolent Skeksis (see section below). The urRu have four arms, elongated heads, white hair and tails, in a manner that concept artist Brian FroudBrian Froud
Brian Froud is an English fantasy illustrator. He lives and works in Devon with his wife, Wendy Froud, who is also a fantasy artist...
described as being "... between a dog
Dog
The domestic dog is a domesticated form of the gray wolf, a member of the Canidae family of the order Carnivora. The term is used for both feral and pet varieties. The dog may have been the first animal to be domesticated, and has been the most widely kept working, hunting, and companion animal in...
and a dinosaur
Dinosaur
Dinosaurs are a diverse group of animals of the clade and superorder Dinosauria. They were the dominant terrestrial vertebrates for over 160 million years, from the late Triassic period until the end of the Cretaceous , when the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event led to the extinction of...
". The urRu look similar to the Skeksis in body shape and also in that they are gnarled with age; yet the urRu are not hideous and are very wise and in tune with nature, hence their longevity and also their title of "Mystics
Mysticism
Mysticism is the knowledge of, and especially the personal experience of, states of consciousness, i.e. levels of being, beyond normal human perception, including experience and even communion with a supreme being.-Classical origins:...
". They often perform enigmatic rituals which has also given them the title of "chanters". There are ten urRu at the beginning of the film who include:
- urSu the Master
- urZah the Ritual-Guardian
- urIm the Healer
- urSol the Chanter
- urTih the Alchemist
- urAmaj the Cook
- urNol the Herbalist
- urAc the Scribe
- urYod the Numerologist
- urUtt the Weaver
In Tokyopop's OEL manga Legends of the Dark Crystal vol. 1, a new Mystic is introduced:
- urSen the Monk
Skeksis
The Skeksis, the antagonistAntagonist
An antagonist is a character, group of characters, or institution, that represents the opposition against which the protagonist must contend...
s of the film, are the ten "evil" versions of the ten "good" urRu. The word "Skeksis" serves as both singular and plural form for this species, with the singular pronounced ˈskɛksɪs and the plural ˈskɛksiːz. They are described by concept artist Brian Froud
Brian Froud
Brian Froud is an English fantasy illustrator. He lives and works in Devon with his wife, Wendy Froud, who is also a fantasy artist...
as "... part reptile
Reptile
Reptiles are members of a class of air-breathing, ectothermic vertebrates which are characterized by laying shelled eggs , and having skin covered in scales and/or scutes. They are tetrapods, either having four limbs or being descended from four-limbed ancestors...
, part predatory bird
Vulture
Vulture is the name given to two groups of convergently evolved scavenging birds, the New World Vultures including the well-known Californian and Andean Condors, and the Old World Vultures including the birds which are seen scavenging on carcasses of dead animals on African plains...
, part dragon
Dragon
A dragon is a legendary creature, typically with serpentine or reptilian traits, that feature in the myths of many cultures. There are two distinct cultural traditions of dragons: the European dragon, derived from European folk traditions and ultimately related to Greek and Middle Eastern...
". Like their urRu counterparts, they have four arms; but in the Skeksis the two lower arms have become weak and atrophied, and are rarely seen. The Skeksis have kept themselves from dying of old age by draining the vitality from other beings, yet remain hideous in appearance. In the film, the Skeksis are represented by puppets engineered under the direction of Jim Henson
Jim Henson
James Maury "Jim" Henson was an American puppeteer best known as the creator of The Muppets. As a puppeteer, Henson performed in various television programs, such as Sesame Street and The Muppet Show, films such as The Muppet Movie and The Great Muppet Caper, and created advanced puppets for...
. Jim Henson has said that in the development of the Skeksis, the creators drew inspiration from the Seven Deadly Sins
Seven deadly sins
The 7 Deadly Sins, also known as the Capital Vices or Cardinal Sins, is a classification of objectionable vices that have been used since early Christian times to educate and instruct followers concerning fallen humanity's tendency to sin...
, in that each Skeksis represents a different kind of evil, such as cruelty, selfishness, greed, unchecked ambition, treachery, and wrath. The Skeksis include:
- skekSo, the Emperor
- skekZok the Ritual-Master/High Priest
- skekUng the Garthim-Master/General and later the new Emperor
- skekSil the Chamberlain
- skekTek the Scientist
- skekAyuk the Gourmand
- skekNa, the Slave-Master
- skekOk the Scroll-Keeper
- skekShod the Treasurer
- skekEkt the Ornamentalist
In Tokyopop's OEL manga Legends of the Dark Crystal vol. 1, two new Skeksis are introduced:
- SkekLach the Collector
- SkekVar the General
UrSkeks
The UrSkeks are the original species from which the urRu and the Skeksis are derived. The UrSkeks are the "whole" of their urRu and Skeksis halves coming together, although implied to be greater than the sum of their parts. The UrSkeks are seen at the end of the film when the Dark Crystal is made whole again, where they are depicted as tall, luminescent beings of vaguely Gelfling-like shape. They sported large craniums and slim bodies. Only eight appeared in the end of the movie, with UngIm as their representative. They include:- UngIm: General/Garthim-Master skekUng + Healer urIm
- SilSol: Chamberlain skekSil + Chanter urSol
- ZokZah: High Priest/Ritual-Master skekZok + Ritual-Guardian urZah
- AyukAmaj: Gourmand skekAyuk + Cook urAmaj
- NaNol: Slave Master skekNa + Herbalist urNol
- OkAc: Historian skekOk + Scribe urAc
- ShodYod: Treasurer skekShod + Numerologist urYod
- EktUtt: Ornamentalist skekEkt + Weaver urUtt
Two more UrSkeks were mentioned but did not appear, due to the deaths of their UrRu and Skeksis counterparts:
- SoSu: Emperor skekSo + Master urSu
- TekTih: Scientist skekTek + Alchemist urTih
TokyoPop's Legends of the Dark Crystal Vol.1 introduces two new Skeksis (SkekLach the Collector & SkekVar the General), and one new mystic (urSen the Monk), producing:
- LachSen: SkekLach the Collector + urSen the Monk
SkekLach and urSen are counterparts, but SkekVar's counterpart is not introduced in vol. 1. It is expected volume 2, which is scheduled for publication in August 2010, and is due to include more new Skeksis and Mystics.
According to The World of The Dark Crystal, the UrSkeks originated on a world where moral imperfections were found intolerable. The UrSkeks, of which there were originally 18 led by SoSu, were banished from their homeworld and entered the world of Thra via a portal opened by the shining of the three suns on the Crystal of Truth. Their world had an equivalent crystal. Once on Thra, they encountered Aughra, who had been badly burned by the intense heat given off by her close proximity to the Conjunction. They healed her and together made exchanges of knowledge, Aughra teaching them the ways of the planet's nature and ecology
Ecology
Ecology is the scientific study of the relations that living organisms have with respect to each other and their natural environment. Variables of interest to ecologists include the composition, distribution, amount , number, and changing states of organisms within and among ecosystems...
while the UrSkeks taught her astronomy. They hollowed out the mountain containing the crystal that brought them to the world and created a magnificent castle. Thereafter the UrSkeks sought to rectify what they had been taught to believe was their curse of self-impurity.
Creating a network of mirrors around the crystal, the UrSkeks sought to trap the light of the next great conjunction to burn out the imperfections on their souls. For another thousand years they waited till finally it arrived. Upon entering the light, rather than being cleansed, the UrSkeks were splintered into separate species; the Skeksis
Skeksis
The Skeksis are a fictional species which act as the main antagonists in the 1982 fantasy film The Dark Crystal, its companion book The World of The Dark Crystal and the TokyoPop prequel Legends of the Dark Crystal. The word "Skeksis" serves as both singular and plural form for this species, with...
, commanded by SkekSo, and the urRu led by urSu. A fight broke out, resulting in the crystal receiving a blow, which chipped off a shard. The shard disappeared and the UrRu left the castle to the Skeksis.
Despite the separation, there was still a sympathetic bond between each Skeksis and its urRu counterpart, a constant reminder that they were only halves of the same being. If either is wounded, the other feels the pain and suffers an identical injury. If one dies, both die in the same manner, preventing the feasibility of war. By the time of the film only ten Skeksis/UrRu pairs remained. When the story begins, both skekSo & urSu perish, leaving skekUng & urIm to succeed them respectively. By the upcoming conjunction, the process that created the two races was reversed and the UrSkeks were reformed. Their new leader, UngIm, revived Kira before the UrSkeks, then they departed into a higher level of existence and left the Gelflings as the keepers of the Crystal. Because skekTek was killed during the course of the film, destroying his urRu counterpart urTil, the UrSkek 'TekTih' never appeared.
Podlings
A race of gentle "earth-people" native to Thra and affiliated with the Gelflings. They are called so because they tend all things that grow, above all the giant Pod plants in whose vast seed-pods they made their villages. The Podlings are dwarf-like in stature yet with very rounded, circular-shaped, bulbous heads and small round eyes. They have a love of music and parties. In tune with nature, they can speak to animals and beasts and teach the female Gelfling Kira this trait. One of the most important Podlings is Ydra, the adoptive mother of Kira.Many of the Podlings have been either killed, or have been kidnapped by the Skeksis by whom they are used as slaves. The Skeksis rejuvenate their decaying bodies by draining vitality from the Podlings, and have kept themselves alive for a thousand years by doing so, although it does not stop the constant deterioration. This process reduces the Podlings to weakened and zombie
Zombie
Zombie is a term used to denote an animated corpse brought back to life by mystical means such as witchcraft. The term is often figuratively applied to describe a hypnotized person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli...
-like states which also helps the Skeksis use them as slaves. The Podling slaves of the Skeksis appear withered, and their hair has turned white or fallen away. At the end of the film, the Podlings regain most of their youth and knowledge. According to The World of The Dark Crystal
The World of The Dark Crystal
The World of The Dark Crystal is a companion book written in conjunction with the film The Dark Crystal. The book was designed and edited by Rupert Brown, with Illustrations by Brian Froud—who was the conceptual designer for the film—and text by J. J. Llewellyn. It was originally published in 1982...
by Brian Froud
Brian Froud
Brian Froud is an English fantasy illustrator. He lives and works in Devon with his wife, Wendy Froud, who is also a fantasy artist...
, many Podlings were lured to the Castle of the Crystal by the Skeksis.
Garthim
The Garthim are imposing, tall, bulky, crustaceanCrustacean
Crustaceans form a very large group of arthropods, usually treated as a subphylum, which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. The 50,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span...
-like creatures (designer Brian Froud
Brian Froud
Brian Froud is an English fantasy illustrator. He lives and works in Devon with his wife, Wendy Froud, who is also a fantasy artist...
has claimed a fascination with lobster
Lobster
Clawed lobsters comprise a family of large marine crustaceans. Highly prized as seafood, lobsters are economically important, and are often one of the most profitable commodities in coastal areas they populate.Though several groups of crustaceans are known as lobsters, the clawed lobsters are most...
s) protected by a tough exoskeleton
Exoskeleton
An exoskeleton is the external skeleton that supports and protects an animal's body, in contrast to the internal skeleton of, for example, a human. In popular usage, some of the larger kinds of exoskeletons are known as "shells". Examples of exoskeleton animals include insects such as grasshoppers...
or carapace
Carapace
A carapace is a dorsal section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tortoises, the underside is called the plastron.-Crustaceans:In crustaceans, the...
, who shamble on tentacles and brandish sharp crab
Crab
True crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax...
-like claws. The Garthim also appear to be at least partly mechanical in structure, although this is unclear. They make a series of clicking noises which could be either organic or synthetic. Their eyes glow purple and may be pieces of the Dark Crystal. In the film, they are destroyed immediately following the Conjunction and the healing of the Crystal, disintegrating along with the black stone that coats the castle's silver walls.
The Garthim seem to exist only to kill, and it is hinted at that the Garthim are not actually native to Thra but were in fact created or bred by the Skeksis. The Garthim serve the Skeksis, and on the orders of the Skeksis the Garthim have all but exterminated the Gelflings. This is in accordance with the prophecy that Gelflings would bring about the downfall of their masters the Skeksis. The Garthim also kidnap the Podlings in nets or cages constructed on their shells to hold captive Podlings. Given the weakened and decaying state of the Skeksis, it is unlikely they could do much of their own work, and so the Garthim serve an essential purpose for them.
According to The World of The Dark Crystal
The World of The Dark Crystal
The World of The Dark Crystal is a companion book written in conjunction with the film The Dark Crystal. The book was designed and edited by Rupert Brown, with Illustrations by Brian Froud—who was the conceptual designer for the film—and text by J. J. Llewellyn. It was originally published in 1982...
by Brian Froud
Brian Froud
Brian Froud is an English fantasy illustrator. He lives and works in Devon with his wife, Wendy Froud, who is also a fantasy artist...
, the Skeksis made the Garthim from the memories of sea creatures native to their ancestral world, quickened by the light of the Dark Crystal through the skill of skekTek the Scientist and the power of skekUng the Garthim-Master. The Garthim are said to have been immensely strong and stupid creations whose only purpose is to destroy. The Gelflings understood this and lived in fear of them; but the Podlings did not.
Crystal Bats
Winged creatures similar to batBat
Bats are mammals of the order Chiroptera "hand" and pteron "wing") whose forelimbs form webbed wings, making them the only mammals naturally capable of true and sustained flight. By contrast, other mammals said to fly, such as flying squirrels, gliding possums, and colugos, glide rather than fly,...
s, but with unnatural stick-like bodies, used by the Skeksis to find the shard of the Crystal, and which also act as spies for the Skeksis. According to The World of The Dark Crystal
The World of The Dark Crystal
The World of The Dark Crystal is a companion book written in conjunction with the film The Dark Crystal. The book was designed and edited by Rupert Brown, with Illustrations by Brian Froud—who was the conceptual designer for the film—and text by J. J. Llewellyn. It was originally published in 1982...
by Brian Froud
Brian Froud
Brian Froud is an English fantasy illustrator. He lives and works in Devon with his wife, Wendy Froud, who is also a fantasy artist...
, the Crystal Bats were bred by the Skeksis to carry lenses of artificial crystal that sent images of all they saw back to the Crystal in the Skeksis' castle. At first the bats flew only in the dark, after the manner of their kind; but the Skeksis bred from the bolder and hardier strains, till no corner of the World was unknown to them.
Landstriders
Landstriders are bizarre creatures native to the forests of Thra, having white skin, vaguely anteaterAnteater
Anteaters, also known as antbear, are the four mammal species of the suborder Vermilingua commonly known for eating ants and termites. Together with the sloths, they compose the order Pilosa...
-like faces, long ear-like appendages, and extremely long and powerful limbs with which they are able to move very fast and cover vast distances. Landstriders have always enjoyed a content and symbiotic relationship with the other creatures of Thra. Over a thousand years ago, Landstriders were used as a primary means of transportation in the same manner as a horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
by the now almost extinct Gelflings. In recent times, Podlings have also ridden Landstriders. Given that Podlings are in tune with nature and can speak to animals, the Podlings are able to communicate with the Landstriders. The last female Gelfling, Kira, who was raised by the Podlings, is also able to use this trait and speak with the Landstriders.
Landstriders are very tough and their limbs can be used as formidable weapons. As a result, Landstriders are perhaps the only natives of Thra able to hold their own against the Garthim for any length of time.
According to The World of The Dark Crystal
The World of The Dark Crystal
The World of The Dark Crystal is a companion book written in conjunction with the film The Dark Crystal. The book was designed and edited by Rupert Brown, with Illustrations by Brian Froud—who was the conceptual designer for the film—and text by J. J. Llewellyn. It was originally published in 1982...
by Brian Froud
Brian Froud
Brian Froud is an English fantasy illustrator. He lives and works in Devon with his wife, Wendy Froud, who is also a fantasy artist...
, the Landstriders were the Garthim's most fervent enemies, but were unable to prevent the extermination of the Gelflings.
The long, ear-like appendages on the landstrider are actually an extension of the scapula, their purpose unknown. Given the length of the front legs and their style of gait, it may be possible that these extended shoulder appendages could be balance weights for the front legs to help with locomotion, or may serve as both hearing and balance organs.
Nebrie
Large grub-like creatures having some amphibianAmphibian
Amphibians , are a class of vertebrate animals including animals such as toads, frogs, caecilians, and salamanders. They are characterized as non-amniote ectothermic tetrapods...
qualities, who dwell in marsh
Marsh
In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....
es and swamp
Swamp
A swamp is a wetland with some flooding of large areas of land by shallow bodies of water. A swamp generally has a large number of hammocks, or dry-land protrusions, covered by aquatic vegetation, or vegetation that tolerates periodical inundation. The two main types of swamp are "true" or swamp...
s. Although they appear menacing the Nebries are not especially aggressive and appear to be vegetarian. A Nebrie infant is seen roasted on the dining table of the Skeksis in the Castle of the Crystal, and the novel depicts Nebries as being the Skeksis' food of choice.
Other lifeforms
Despite its dark times, Thra seems to have a flourishing ecosystemEcosystem
An ecosystem is a biological environment consisting of all the organisms living in a particular area, as well as all the nonliving , physical components of the environment with which the organisms interact, such as air, soil, water and sunlight....
. Many other creatures are seen briefly, including plants which are able to fly; flowers able to retract their petals; thick tree-like stalks that expand and compress, giving the impression that they can breath; a gigantic predator that disguises its mouth as a hole in the ground and closes its mouth when prey enter, much in the same manner of a venus flytrap
Venus Flytrap
The Venus Flytrap , Dionaea muscipula, is a carnivorous plant that catches and digests animal prey—mostly insects and arachnids. Its trapping structure is formed by the terminal portion of each of the plant's leaves and is triggered by tiny hairs on their inner surfaces...
; vine
Vine
A vine in the narrowest sense is the grapevine , but more generally it can refer to any plant with a growth habit of trailing or scandent, that is to say climbing, stems or runners...
-like or grass-like creatures which are able to move; rodent
Rodent
Rodentia is an order of mammals also known as rodents, characterised by two continuously growing incisors in the upper and lower jaws which must be kept short by gnawing....
-like animals; and bird
Bird
Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic , egg-laying, vertebrate animals. Around 10,000 living species and 188 families makes them the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. They inhabit ecosystems across the globe, from the Arctic to the Antarctic. Extant birds range in size from...
s with a large horn
Horn (anatomy)
A horn is a pointed projection of the skin on the head of various animals, consisting of a covering of horn surrounding a core of living bone. True horns are found mainly among the ruminant artiodactyls, in the families Antilocapridae and Bovidae...
instead of a beak
Beak
The beak, bill or rostrum is an external anatomical structure of birds which is used for eating and for grooming, manipulating objects, killing prey, fighting, probing for food, courtship and feeding young...
, among others.