Places in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Encyclopedia
This is a list of places featured in Douglas Adams
's science fiction
series, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
. The series is set in a fictionalised version of the Milky Way
galaxy and thus, while most locations are pure invention, many are based on "real world" settings such as Alpha Centauri
, Barnard's Star
and various versions of the Earth
.
, though it is referred to exclusively as "the Galaxy" in the series. Apart from a very brief moment during the first radio series, when the main characters were transported outside the galactic plane into a battle with Haggunenons, and a moment when one of Arthur's careless remarks is sent inadvertently though a wormhole
into "a distant galaxy", the Galaxy provides the setting for the entire series. It is home to thousands of sentient races, some of whom have achieved interstellar capability, creating a vast network of trade, military and political links. To the technologically advanced inhabitants of the Galaxy, a small, insignificant world such as Earth is considered invariably primitive and backward. The Galaxy appears, at least nominally, to be a single state, with a unified government "run" by an appointed President. Its immensely powerful and monumentally callous civil service is run out of the Megabrantis Cluster, mainly by the Vogon
s.
A "former Galactic Empire
" is mentioned in several adaptations of the series. By the time set in the Hitchhiker's series, the government of the Galaxy is referred to as the "Imperial
Galactic Government", though it is further explained that the term 'Imperial' is now something of an anachronism. In the television adaptation
of the series, the name Imperatala Galacticon is used in one graphic as an alternate name for the previous Galactic Empire.
In and the , the empire is described as being known five million years ago for its richness
, wildness
and lack of tax
es. People were described as daring "to boldly split infinitives that no man had split before
". However, the craving for luxury custom-made planets among the Galaxy's mercantile elite led to the planet Magrathea gaining control of most of its wealth, which led to a financial Dark Age
.
In and , it is established that by the present day setting of the various series, the real imperial
rule has been long since abolished. It is explained that when the last Galactic Emperor
was just about to die, he was put under a stasis field
of static electricity
, keeping his body perpetually alive in a coma
. Over time, all the emperor's heirs died and governance of the state shifted from a monarchy
to a democracy
, with the galactic assembly of the imperial advisors
switching from privy council
to administration
and the head of the council
becoming President
of the Galaxy.
Thus it is further explained that since the shift to democracy brought an end to the previous absolutism
, this meant there was a chance the head of state
wasn't just not in full power but not in power at all; and so the President of the Galaxy became an extreme figurehead
; a celebrity, but someone who could reasonably be in power. Thus the president and the entire executive branch's purpose is not to wield power but to draw attention away from it
. Only a handful of people know this fact, and only six of them know who actually wields power.
The current President of the Galaxy when the series begins is Zaphod Beeblebrox
. Zaphod, along with Yooden Vranx, Roosta and Zarniwoop, found out how little power the president wields, and set out on a complex journey to find the real ruler of both the Imperial Galactic Government and in fact the entire Universe. Their mission, which ends in , culminates in the discovery that power is actually wielded more or less entirely by a man in a shack. He expresses no interest in actually ruling the Universe, instead choosing to enjoy the company of his pet cat
(known as "the Lord") and being fascinated with simple things such as a pencil and paper. This behaviour, so reasoned the old imperial government, allowed him to not be distracted by desire or eagerness and made him a perfect ruler. Zarniwoop is somewhat frustrated upon discovering the truth.
is economically unviable', and in the "uncharted backwaters of [its] unfashionable end", the 'planet' Earth is found.
that the small print advised against hyperspace travel for those born in Plural sectors. This is apparently common knowledge throughout the rest of the galaxy.
and So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish
.
is a giant star
in the constellation of Taurus
. Max Quordlepleen claims that the only thing left after the end of the Universe will be the sweets trolley and a fine selection of Aldebaran liqueurs. It is described as "great, OK," in a song protesting against teleportation, and has fine wines that are on the Heart of Gold.
of Perseus
. It is the home of the Algolian Suntiger, the tooth of which is one of the ingredients of the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster. Before being placed into the Total Perspective Vortex, Zaphod Beeblebrox
wished for Algolian Claret
, an alcoholic drink presumably created by the gray humanoid species inhabiting the planet. Despite Zaphod's apparent affinity for this drink, Algolian cuisine is equally noted for its unpleasantness. The Algolian Zylatburger is one such case; as related by Ford Prefect
, "They're a kind of meatburger made from the most unpleasant parts of a creature well-known for its total lack of any pleasant parts." It is briefly mentioned as pretty neat in a song protesting against teleportation.
is home to both a local planning department office of the Galactic Hyperspace Planning Council and a race of small furry creatures (who, during the times of the Galactic Empire, "were real small furry creatures"). It has a rough, bumpy surface and sixteen cities (the fifteenth one is one of the best places to buy a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster), and is also inhabited by super-intelligent lizard squirrels. Its main spaceport, Port Brasta, has a massive duty-free shopping mall, the motto of which is, "be like the twenty-second elephant with heated value in space -- bark!" This slogan contains an ingenious pun in Centaurian that the natives find hilarious.
. The Altairian dollar is one of three freely convertible currencies in the galaxy, though by the time of the novels it had apparently recently collapsed. According to the Hitchhiker's Guide TV series, one Altairian "long way" is equal to 37 Earth miles.
is a red supergiant
star in the constellation of Scorpius
. In the first book, the guide relates smuggling Antarean parakeet glands, a notably unpleasant analogue of an olive in a typical cocktail.
star Arcturus is home to the great Arcturan megafreighters, automated cargo carriers that transport vast quantities of goods between star systems. So large that they eclipse a planet's sun when in orbit, they are supposedly impregnable, though Zaphod Beeblebrox
somehow managed it as a child. Former galactic president Yooden Vranx was captain of the megafreighter infiltrated by Zaphod and Ford. Arcturus is also home to a staggering array of oversized and often deadly megafauna
, from the Arcturan Megaleech to the Arcturan Megavoidwhale, the Arcturan megagnat to the Arcturan megaelephant and megapuppy, as well as the megacamel, well known by the turn of phrase "one's soul moves at the speed of an Arcturan megacamel", presumably the reason for distilling Arcturan Mega-gin.
star only six light years from Earth, Barnard's Star
is an interstellar transit stop used by the Vogon
constructor fleet after demolishing Earth, where the crews' planet leave is cancelled after Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz has an unhappy love affair.
is a red giant
star which appears to Earthbound observers to be in the constellation of Orion
. A song protesting against teleportation claims that "Betelgeuse's pretty girls will knock you off your feet", and that, "they'll do anything you like, real fast and then real slow."
spent many nights talking and drinking with Hotblack Desiato, who was often writing songs for his ajuitar in the neighbouring room.
to Frogstar World B. Frogstar World A is described as an altogether more congenial place than Frogstar World B.
". It is somewhat like the books' equivalent of Brontitall in the radio show; although there are differences between the two, they share some attributes. Although there is no statue of Arthur on Frogstar B, the bird people came about the same way; there is no archeologist called Lintilla in the part of the books that concerns itself with Frogstar B; however, the spaceport with the massively delayed spaceship is there.
Frogstar B was thrown into poverty through an event termed the Shoe Event Horizon. Many years ago, Frogstar World B was "a thriving, happy planet - people, cities, shops, a normal world." However, there were slightly too many shoe shops on the high streets of the planet, and the number of shoe shops was steadily increasing. The more shoe shops there were, the more the shops had to make. The more they had to make, the worse and more unwearable the shoes became. And the worse and more unwearable the shoes became, the more the people had to buy, and the more money the shops made until it became economically impossible to build anything other than shoe shops. The result was collapse, ruin, and famine. Most of the population died out, but a select few with the right kind of genetic instability mutated into a bird-like species and cursed the ground, refusing to set foot on it ever again.
Frogstar B is the home of the Total Perspective Vortex, a machine that effectively annihilates one's soul by showing one in an instant the whole infinity of creation and oneself in relation to it.
In the continuity of the books, Frogstar World B is the future site of Milliways, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe. In the radio series this role is instead given to Magrathea.
which boils away into the ultraviolet shortly before the rest of the Universe ends, thus providing Milliways' patrons with a first foretaste of the apocalypse to come at the end of their meals. Max Quordlepleen wryly notes to Hastromil-native patrons that by this point it's "too late to worry if [they] left the gas on now".
s migrated to from Vogsphere, where they "formed the immensely powerful backbone of the Galactic Civil Service." The philosophers who had previously managed the galaxy were relegated to roles in the stationery room, licking stamps.
belts. At a hyperspace port serving the mining belts Ford Prefect
learned to play a drinking game
similar to that of Earth's "Indian wrestling." Judging by the name, this location may be Rigel
, which is also known as Beta Orionis.
system (Epsilon and Zeta) in . Pleiades Zeta is known in its local language as Zondostina.
in orbit around Zondostina. The space near the planet is home to the space station Port Sesefron, a docking place for Xaxisian battleships and other spacecraft visiting the star system. Ford Prefect takes an Escape-O-Buggy from the sales ship he left in orbit around Epun to Port Sesefron in .
constantly playing on the sound system) orbiting during .
Squornshellous Alpha
The first planet in from the four-star system Squornshellous, it is very cold and inhabited by giant, burrowing mattresses that spit acid.
Squornshellous Beta
Two planets in from Squornshellous Zeta, it is inhabited by square cushions who enjoy being rubbed up against, especially with people's shoulders. Unlike Squornshellous Zeta, it has desert terrain rather than swamps.
Squornshellous Delta
The second planet in between Squornshellous Zeta and Beta, it is inhabited by flying pillows — there is no solid ground but only infinite clouds, indicating that it is a gas giant
.
Squornshellous Gamma
Squornshellous Gamma is a hot, bumpy little planet, with a thick, dense atmosphere. Probably the worst place to crash, because communication to other planets is impossible due to the thick atmosphere, and the rain is solid.
The 12' by 9' cushions have only a five-second memory — they'll first ask you who you are, then who they are, and will quickly forget the conversation up to that point and start all over again. Needless to say, most visitors die of annoyance within an hour.
Squornshellous Zeta
Dimly illuminated and very very swamp
-intensive, Squornshellous Zeta is the source of almost all the Galaxy's mattress
es. Said mattresses (all of whom are called Zem) spend most of their time flolloping, globbering, volluing, vooning, and willomying. Said activities make the planet a favourite destination of etymologists. The Zems themselves remain a foot tall, until they are caught, freeze-dried and cleaned, and made into mattress-size corpses (which are promptly used as mattresses). It is a process which, strangely enough, they don't seem to mind at all. Very few mattresses have ever come back to life again.
Marvin the Paranoid Android
was invited to the planet to give a speech marking the opening of a giant new bridge intended to revive the economy of the Squornshellous System, said bridge also costing the total sum of the economy of the entire planet to construct. After delivering a characteristically pessimistic speech, Marvin was plugged into the bridge's opening circuits and the whole cyberstructure instantly folded itself up and collapsed from sheer misery, presumably after being directly exposed to Marvin's chronically depressed view of the Universe. Marvin was left stranded in the swamp with only the mattresses to talk to, until warrior robots from Krikkit stole his leg, and then the rest of him.
in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the galaxy. It is home to a number of planets, including Earth and Rupert.
". The sapient life forms on Earth are, in descending order of intelligence, mice, dolphins and humans, the lattermost of whom may or may not be descended from a race of Golgafrinchan telephone sanitisers, hairdressers, management consultants, and documentary film producers." These Golgafrinchans arrived in a space ark which crashed into the planet circa 2 mya, promptly christening their new home "Fintlewoodlewix" (though obviously the name didn't stick).
Earth is widely regarded with derision and scorn by most sentient beings in the galaxy. That most other races have shunned Earth is in part due to its primitive technological state and also for its invention of the game of cricket
, an unfortunate product of racial memory that appears to make light of the horrendously genocidal Krikkit Wars, which right-thinking galactic citizens find immensely distasteful. Before the arrival of Ford Prefect
and the Vogon
s, Earth's main form of extraterrestrial contact was with "teasers": bored rich kids who cruise the galaxy looking for planets yet to make interstellar contact, find some isolated spot, land in front of some credulous soul they know no one will ever believe, strut up and down in front of them with "silly antennas on their head" and make "beep-beep" noises at them. Ford regards this practice as "rather childish, really".
Although often mistaken for a planet
, Earth is in reality the greatest supercomputer
of all time, designed by the second greatest supercomputer of all time, Deep Thought, to calculate the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe and Everything (to which the answer is 42
). It was built by the then-thriving custom planet industry of Magrathea to run a ten-million-year program in which organic life would play a major role. Slartibartfast
, a Magrathean designer, was involved in the project and signed his name among the fjord
s of Norway
(an area that won him an award).
Earth is also home to Arthur Dent
and Trillian
. Earth is located in Galactic Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy originally described Earth as "harmless" (the entry is short because of the limited amount of space the Guide possessed, what with the sheer size and content of the galaxy itself). After lengthy research over fifteen years (intended only to be a week), Ford Prefect
expanded the entry immensely, though his editor trimmed the new description to "mostly harmless". The original entry authored by Ford was later reinstated in So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
.
Five minutes before the program was to finish running, Earth was destroyed by the Vogon
s, allegedly to make way for a hyperspace bypass but in fact to prevent the Ultimate Question being discovered, as it was seen as a threat to the psychiatric industry. It was subsequently replaced by an exact duplicate by the dolphin "Save The Humans" movement, as shown in So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish (the dolphins having escaped by unspecified means shortly before the demolition). The dolphins themselves, however, elected not to return. Some time later, the Earth was once again destroyed by the Second Guide, acting through the amnesiac Grebulons.
Boston
is the home of Mrs. Enid Kapelsen, who sees Arthur and Fenchurch flying as she takes an airplane trip.
A town in Dorset, England, about which Ford Prefect wrote a baroque
fiction that caused it to be visited by a giant mute robot.
Cottington is, or rather was, an obscure and unsung little country hamlet in the West Country of England which was, for the last three years prior to the demolition of Earth, Arthur Dent's home. If the Vogons had not shown up, Cottington was scheduled to be transformed into a service station for the very "splendid and worthwhile" New Beddingford bypass
, with the village being transformed into the Cottington Service Station
, despite the unpopularity of this project with the locals.
The village has a small hotel with a saloon bar named the Horse and Groom.
A town in Surrey which is the home, at least metaphorically, of "Martin Smith". When Arthur Dent, upon meeting Zaphod Beeblebrox, unexpectedly tells Ford Prefect that they had met previously, Ford insists that Zaphod is "not bloody Martin Smith from Croydon." It turns out, however, that Zaphod has previously visited the Earth and indeed met Arthur (very briefly) at a party.
On Earth, Glastonbury was a short-lived location for the Guide's financial records office - ten years' worth of financial records were transferred to a magic hill just outside the town mere hours before the Vogons arrived, in .
Guildford, a town in southeastern England, is where Ford Prefect usually claimed to be from, as opposed to Betelgeuse, which is where he was actually from.
At a party in Islington
(a section of London), about six months before the destruction of the Earth, Arthur totally failed to hit it off with Tricia McMillan (Trillian), who instead went off with "Phil", a space alien who turned out to be Zaphod Beeblebrox.
Islington also was the location of the cave in which Arthur lived during Earth's prehistoric period, as described in the third novel. Two million years later, exactly the same spot was the location of Fenchurch's home as described in the fourth novel.
The Hitchhiker's Guide advises any alien visitor to New York
to get a job as a cab driver, as it does not require a human appearance, knowledge of the English language or indeed the local laws of physics. It won't matter where you land your ship, as no one will notice. The East River
is particularly recommended for many amphibious lifeforms from the Swulling, Noxios or Nausalia systems, as its pollution
is richer in nutrients than any known synthetic alternative.
A particular love of its creator, the Magrathean Slartibartfast
, who eulogises its "lovely crinkly edges". For a time in the distant past, fjord
s were fashionable and he won an award for their design. During their trek away from the site of Golgafrinchan ark crash, Ford and Arthur see Slartibartfast's likeness and signature carved into an ice wall in one of the fjords, making them realize that they are on prehistoric Earth.
Rickmansworth is a place in England where, according to the prologue to the first novel, a young woman sitting on her own in a small cafe (later identified as Fenchurch in the fourth book) realized how the Earth could be made a good and happy place. Unfortunately, this epiphany came to her just before the Earth was demolished by the Vogons.
A distorted version of Southend is one of the visions that confront Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect when the Improbability Drive of the Heart of Gold transports them to the ship from outer space having been thrown out from the Vogon ship. This version of Southend created by the Improbability Drive is in all respects very similar to the normal one, except that the buildings wash up onto the sea and not the other way around.
Stepney is the final resting place, the Guide says, of the chef who dies forgotten and alone among his cats in a back stair, whose memorial is those plastic pins in the shape of a chef's hat found in pub sausages. In So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish
.
In Arthur and Fenchurch have a drink in a pub in Taunton (Somerset, England), and where Arthur wins a raffle and later spends time rooting though the bins in search of the raffle ticket on which Fenchurch wrote her phone number.
, but nicknamed Rupert after an astronomer's pet parrot
. It was eventually settled by the Grebulons.
In 2005, an actual tenth planet fitting Rupert's description was discovered beyond Pluto (which was considered a planet then, as opposed to a dwarf planet now). In a poll of the public conducted by New Scientist
magazine to search out potential names for the object, "Rupert" ranked #5, and "Persephone" was the top choice. The planet was, however, ultimately named Eris
.
is home to some of the great galactic publishing and media corporations.
Beta has the quite peculiar property that most of its surface consists of subtropic coastline. Even more peculiar, on this world it's always Saturday afternoon, just right before the beach bars close. Light City, the only city on Ursa Minor Beta, which can only be reached by plane, is the very place where the editorial offices of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy reside. A further anomaly in Light City is that the Lalamatine district, just behind the beach, is the only place on the planet not to enjoy a perpetual Saturday afternoon. Instead it is always early evening, with cooling breezes - this is where the nightclubs are located.
The novel The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
states that "Ursa Minor Beta is, some say, one of the most appalling places in the known Universe."
"Although it is excruciatingly rich, horrifyingly sunny and more full of wonderfully exciting people than a pomegranate is of pips, it can hardly be insignificant that when a recent edition of Playbeing Magazine headlined an article with the words, 'When you are tired of Ursa Minor Beta you are tired of life', the suicide rate there quadrupled overnight."
Megadodo Publications are the original publishers of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
. The company's headquarters were located on Ursa Minor Beta, in a pair of 30-story office buildings connected partway up their height by a walkway, so that the entire structure resembled a giant letter H. The relocation of the offices to a resort planet caused the company to lose much of its credibility among its customer base. One of the buildings was uprooted by a squadron of Frogstar fighters and brought to the Frogstar, in an attempt to capture and discipline rogue Galactic President Zaphod Beeblebrox
. The Megadodo lobby is always filled with grubby-looking hitchhikers
wanting to complain about the Guide's many inaccuracies.
The president of Megadodo Publications is Zarniwoop, who is always too cool
to see visitors. Megadodo was criticized by its customers for setting up an artificial universe
in order to allow its editors and contributors to collect book information without leaving their offices. Notably secretive (or destructive) about their financial and historical records, the entire company was later (in ) bought out by Infinidim Enterprises, which stopped selling the Guide to hitchhikers entirely and eliminated all of what Megadodo had once stood for, much to the disapproval of employee Ford Prefect
. The takeover was, in fact, part of a new plan by the Vogons to destroy Earth in all possible parallel dimensions - a plan that eventually succeeded.
The Lalamatine district of Ursa Minor Beta has shops, bolonut trees and pavement cafes and enjoys a cool perpetual early Saturday evening, from the second novel.
Ydsdllodins is the star system which, centuries ago, was the centre of the galactic insurance
business. Its star went supernova
almost immediately after the destruction of the Starship Titanic
. Its name is a partial anagram of "Lloyds ins", a reference to the ancient insurance market Lloyds of London.
lived for a short time, Bartledan is inhabited by Bartledanians, a race that appears human but only physically. The major difference, aside from not needing to breathe, is a near-total state of apathy, expressing no emotion whatsoever. They are so uncaring that if a source of drinking water is not available, they will simply accept it and forgo the drink altogether, even if it results in their eventual death from extreme thirst. Otherwise, Bartledanians generally occupy their time by playing netball (with no particular intent to actually win) and writing literature that, rather than following conventional narrative structures, simply stop at 100,000 words.
. Thus it is vitally important to get a receipt after every trip to the lavatory while on the planet.
are native. Its air is rich in methane
, and its inhabitants have thus evolved to breathe the gas.
, built as a reminder of the moment when Arthur (due to a freak occurrence) appeared in the sky over the city arguing with a Nutrimatic Drink Dispenser, inspiring the people of the planet to get rid of all robots
.
On the ground, three clones
of an archaeologist called Lintilla discover the strata
of shoes, thus revealing the planet's history.
Nearby, a derelict spaceport contains a number of crumbling old spaceships, but one of which is still on power, "delayed" for over 900 years due to the non-arrival of its complement of lemon-soaked paper napkins.
Originally the bird people were ground dwellers, but gradually the planet was taken over by the shoe shops of the Dolmansaxlil Shoe Corporation, apparently thanks to the shoe shop intensifier ray deployed by the corporation in order to keep the populace buying more and more poorly made and ill-fitting shoes. The guide later reveals that the shoe shop intensifier ray "is, in actuality, a phony, designed to make Dolmansaxlil executives feel they are doing something excitingly aggressive, when in fact all they need to do is wait". Rather than falling to the predation of the corporation, the planet had instead succumbed to the natural state of decay known as the Shoe Event Horizon.
, people tend to look down, and when they look down, they see their shoe
s. To cheer themselves up, they might buy themselves a new pair. Thus, in a generally depressed society, demand for shoes will rise.
In the critical condition, demand for shoes rises faster than the capacity to make good quality footwear. As shoe quality decreases, the demand increases further because shoes wear out faster and need to be replaced more often; as the demand for shoes increases, cheap mass production
causes shoe quality to drop even more. What results is a spiral of increasing shoe demand and decreasing shoe quality. Eventually, this destabilizes the economy to the point where it is "no longer economically viable to build anything other than shoe shops", and planetary society collapses.
Adams had gone to London's Oxford Street
where, quoting him, "You can't throw a brick without breaking a shoe shop window". Despite every shop stocking thousands of shoes, none had a pair which was the right size, price, or colour, or which was comfortable, durable or stylish without being outrageous.
Brontitall is only mentioned in the original BBC radio show. However, in the books, Frogstar B has some (but not all) of the attributes of Brontitall.
" and "France
". The starship Heart Of Gold was built on this planet and promptly stolen by Zaphod Beeblebrox at its launching.
The background shot used in the film version contains a view of Church Rock, near Stackpole in Pembrokeshire in west Wales, UK. This location is later used (in unaltered form) during the flyby sequence of Slartibartfast and Arthur in the planet-builder's factory.
For more information, see: The Sun
. It is also one of the 85 percent of inhabited worlds in the galaxy that has, for reasons unknown, independently developed a drink named with a phonetic variant of "gin and tonic
s." The Gagrakakan version, however, tzjin-anthony-ks, can kill cows at a hundred paces.
. Its people decided it was time to rid themselves of an entire useless third of their population, and so the descendants of the Circling Poets concocted a story that their planet would shortly be destroyed in a great catastrophe. (It was apparently under threat from a "mutant star goat"). The useless third of the population (consisting of hairdresser
s, tired TV producer
s*, insurance
sales
men, personnel officer
s, security guard
s, management consultants, telephone sanitisers and the like) were packed into the B-Ark, one of three purported giant Ark spaceships, and told that everyone else would follow shortly in the other two. The other two thirds of the population, of course, did not follow and "led full, rich and happy lives until they were all suddenly wiped out by a virulent disease contracted from a dirty telephone".
The B-Ark was programmed to crash-land on a suitably remote planet on one of the outer spiral arms of the galaxy, which happened to be Earth, and the Golgafrinchan rejects gradually mingled with and usurped the native cavemen**, becoming the ancestors of humanity and thereby altering and distorting the course of the great experiment to find the question for the Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything, or so Ford Prefect presumes. A lot of them didn't make it through the winter three years prior to Arthur Dent
's reunion with Ford Prefect
, and the few who remained in the spring said they needed a holiday and set out on a raft. History says they must have survived.
People from Golgafrincham are called Golgafrinchans. In some versions of , the planet is also referred to as "Golgafrinchan", but this usage is less common and is thought to be an error of typography.
* Tired was a typo for Tri-D, but was left as is because D.A. thought there should be some tired TV producers too.
** Arthur and the Golgafrinchans reflexively call the primitive Earth primates "cavemen", despite Ford pointing out that they didn't actually live in caves as such, to which one Golgafrinchan wittily replies "Maybe their caves are being remodeled"
The city of Vassilian on the planet of Golgafrincham is where the five princes journey of the traditional long poems started from, in the second novel.
In the parking lot at Milliways, Ford Prefect briefly recounts a tale about being passed by a Lazlar Lyricon custom spaceship that subsequently crashed into the third moon of Jaglan Beta, observing that the ship looked like a fish and moved like a fish, but steered like a cow.
A popular showtune in the Hitchhiker's universe is "I Left My Leg in Jaglan Beta
."
. Unlike Mars, Kakrafoon has a sentient species
known as the Belcerebons, who are a very accomplished and above all quiet race. Because this quietness was deemed antisocial by the rest of the galaxy, the Belcerebons were sentenced by Galactic Tribunal to be telepathic. The only way for them to avoid mentally broadcasting every thought that crossed their minds was to make incessant chattering small talk about mundane subjects like the weather. Another method, it turns out, was to play host to a Disaster Area
rock concert
.
In fact, one such concert, following Hotblack Desiato's visit to Milliways, was so apocalyptically loud that not only did it permanently disperse the Belcerebons' telepathy, but the whole landscape of Kakrafoon's Rudlit Desert was turned upside down like a big pancake, then hit by the solar flares from the star nearest it when Hotblack's stuntship hit it. These flares caused the desert land to turn into a great, beautiful fertile landscape. Hotblack's agent would later call it "a good gig", although the event may or may not have had anything to do with the large Improbability Field passing through the area at the time.
. Azgoth poetry was once exceeded in awfulness by a human poet from Essex, England (on Earth), though the Vogons' demolition of that planet leaves the Azgoths in the top spot. Their poetry master, Grunthos the Flatulent, is best known for his work "Ode to a Small Lump of Putty I Found in my Armpit One Midsummer Morning", which caused four listeners to die of internal hemorrhaging and forced a fifth to gnaw his own legs off to survive. However, Grunthos was reportedly "disappointed" by this reception, so apparently the Azgoths' poetry isn't as deliberately awful as Vogon poetry seems to be. An attempt to embark on another of his works, "Zen And The Art Of Going To The Lavatory", was thwarted when his major intestine leapt up through his neck and throttled his brain in ana ttempt to preserve civilization.
composed chiefly of the disintegrated remains of the enormous spaceborne computer
Hactar. Hactar was originally created by the Silastic Armorfiends of Striterax to design the Ultimate Weapon. Hactar produced a very, very small bomb that, when activated, would connect every star to every other star, cause them to all go supernova
simultaneously and, thus, destroy the universe. The bomb proved dysfunctional because Hactar had designed it with a tiny flaw, reasoning that no consequence could be worse than that of setting the bomb off. The Silastic Armorfiends disagreed and destroyed Hactar.
Due to the dust cloud, the sky above Krikkit was completely black, and thus the people of Krikkit led insular lives and never realised the existence of the Universe. With the population thus prepared, Hactar, disintegrated but still functional, built and crashed a model spaceship onto Krikkit in order to introduce its inhabitants to the concept of the Universe. Secretly guided by Hactar, the Krikkiters built their first spaceship, Krikkit One, penetrated the dust cloud, and surveyed the Universe before them. Unbeknownst to the Krikkiters, Hactar had been subliminally conditioning their minds to the point where they could not accept a Universe into their world view
with the intention of putting them into a similar mindset to that of the Silastic Armorfiends. Sooner or later, they would require an Ultimate Weapon, and this would allow Hactar to finally complete his purpose, something he had felt considerably guilty about not doing before. Upon first witnessing the glory and splendor of the Universe, they casually, whimsically, decided to destroy it, remarking, "It'll have to go." Aided again by the mind of Hactar, the Krikkiters built an incredible battlefleet and waged a massive war against the entire Universe. The Galaxy, then in an era of relative peace, was unprepared, and spent the next 2,000 years fighting the Krikkiters in war that resulted in about two "grillion" casualties.
When Krikkit was eventually defeated, Judiciary Pag sentenced Krikkit and its sun to be sealed in a Slo-Time envelope within which time would pass almost infinitely slowly until the end of the Universe, thus serving the dual purpose of protecting the Universe from Krikkit, and allowing the Krikkiters to enjoy a solitary existence in the twilight of Creation. Light would be deflected around the envelope, making it invisible and impenetrable. The Wikkit Gate, the key that would unlock the envelope, was disintegrated into time, and could therefore not be used to free the planet from the envelope ahead of time.
However, a Krikkit warship carrying deadly white robots of the kind used in the war escaped before the envelope was sealed, and, within a brief ten billion years, managed to reassemble the Wikkit Gate. The Gate was composed of the Steel
Pillar
of Strength and Power (Marvin the Paranoid Android
's artificial leg), the Golden Bail
of Prosperity (The Heart of Gold, the small golden box that makes the Infinite Improbability Drive function), the Perspex Pillar of Science and Reason (The Argabuthon Scepter of Justice; "Plastic
Pillar" in the American version), the Silver
Bail of Peace (The Rory Award For The Most Gratuitous Use Of The Word "Fuck" In A Serious Screenplay—The Rory Award for the Most Gratuitous Use of the Word "Belgium" in a Serious Screenplay in the American version), and the Wood
en Pillar of Nature and Spirituality (The reconstituted ashes of the stump signifying the death of English cricket: see The Ashes
).
The robots unsealed the envelope, but Arthur, Slartibartfast
, Trillian
, and Ford Prefect
, with the unintentional help of Marvin
, were able to disperse Hactar's particles, freeing the Krikkiters from his continued influence, and thus saving the Universe. Arthur then went to live on Krikkit for three years, before leaving for an unexplained reason.
Krikkit also managed to leave other marks besides the destruction of numerous worlds: due to racial memories, the Earth sport of cricket
and the pan-dimensional sport of Brockian Ultra-Cricket were based on the Krikkit Wars. Slartibartfast enjoys the game of cricket, but he notes that most sensible citizens of the galaxy find the sport to be in rather bad taste.
The Krikketers are described as humanoid
aliens who are charming and polite, despite their cosmocidal tendencies. They are capable of composing incredibly moving and poetic music. Some of the younger Krikketers are interested in developing sporting links with the rest of the Universe rather than destroying it.
(Most of the Krikkit material from the novel was adapted by Adams from an episode treatment, "Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen", which he had written for the television series Doctor Who
. It would have featured the Fourth Doctor
and Sarah Jane Smith
.)
The "Krikkit Song" was composed and performed by Philip Pope
for , featured on An Informational Visit and Arthur Diverted, first broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 5 October 2004.
The song's lyrics provided clues to Arthur Dent
and Ford Prefect
that the people of Krikkit could never see any neighbouring planets or stars, and the odd effects that may have on them. The song also features in when Ford Prefect
pays Elvis to play the song at the Domain of the King and incidentally starts to cry.
lives and works as The Sandwich Maker at the start of . The planet is mostly made up of villages, though there is only one significant settlement on the planet. It intersects a plural zone, allowing for teleportation to the Domain of the King. The primary species of the planet are humanoids, Perfectly Normal Beasts - named thus by Old Thrashbarg, and Pikka Birds. The residents of Lamuella worship a deity by the name of Almighty Bob. Among the many things Arthur likes about Lamuella are the number of suns and moons (one of each), the number of hours in a day (25, giving him an extra hour in bed and a few minutes every day adjusting his watch, a task he greatly enjoys) and the number of days in a year (about 300, so the year doesn't drag on). The planet is mostly unknown, so few space travelers ever taste the superbly made sandwiches that would be the planet's claim to fame.
located in orbit around the twin suns
Soulianis and Rahm in the heart of the Horsehead nebula
. Magrathea is a planet whose economy was based on the manufacturing of other planets for the wealthiest people in the universe. It was the people of Magrathea (known as "Magratheans") who created the Earth.
Magrathea is considered the home of the industry of "Custom-made luxury planet building." It was a market aimed at the richest of the rich, during the days of the former Galactic Empire. The Magratheans would design and create entire planets for wealthy clients. They were so successful that Magrathea became the richest planet of all time. However, this resulted in the rest of the galaxy
being plunged into abject poverty and the economy collapsing. The planet then faded from memory with most people believing it to be just a myth.
Amongst the clients who asked for planets to be created were a race of hyper-intelligent pan-dimensional beings who asked the Magratheans to create the Earth which, in addition to being a planet, was a super-computer designed to calculate the ultimate question to the ultimate answer to life, the universe, and everything. Amongst the people who worked on it was Slartibartfast
, a coastal designer who won an award for his work on Norway.
The surface of the planet appears to be dead, described as "blighted", with the Magratheans kept in cryogenic sleep
within the planet, not to be awakened until the economy was again strong enough to afford luxury planets. The book says that, "Bits of it were dullish grey, bits of it dullish brown, the rest of it rather less interesting to look at. It was like a dried-out marsh
, now barren of all vegetation and covered with a layer of dust about an inch thick. It was very cold." They were later awakened for the reconstruction of the Earth (the Earth, Mk. II).
The word Magrathea might come from Agartha
, a supposed underground kingdom from which Aryans originated in Nazi and Tibetan ideology .
When the television version
of the series was made, a clay pit in St Austell
, Cornwall
was used to film the exterior shots of Magrathea. Creator of the series Douglas Adams
however, claimed that he wanted to film in Iceland
or Morocco
, but these locations were too expensive.
In the radio series and TV series (but not the novels or the film), Magrathea is the location of Milliways, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe.
In , you complete the game once you set foot on Magrathea.
in the Whole Sort of General Mish Mash formerly known as the Hitchhiker's Guide universe. NowWhat can be found in place of planet Earth at an unlikely position along the probability axis, in an alternate universe.
According to , "the planet of NowWhat had been named after the opening words of the first settlers to arrive there after struggling across light-years of space to reach the furthest unexplored outreaches of the Galaxy. The main town was called OhWell."
The only export of NowWhat is the NowWhattian boghog skin, which no one in their right minds would want to buy because it's thin and very leaky, and the export trade only manages to survive because of the significant number of people in the Galaxy who are not in their right minds.
Travellers that arrive on NowWhat are greeted by a picture of the president smiling a ghastly smile; the picture was taken after he shot himself, and the missing corner of his face had been drawn in crayon. Everyone there pursues one ambition: to leave.
Arthur Dent
arrives on NowWhat in search of Earth. After turning the map upside down and adjusting for different sea levels, he discovers that the shapes of the continents of NowWhat resemble those of the planet Earth. For lack of any other similarity Arthur Dent concludes that it is the right planet but the wrong universe and leaves again.
from the oceans adjoining those beaches, which contain extremely oblivious fish that apparently don't care where they're going, forms a key ingredient for the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster. The drummer of rock band Disaster Area once stayed here while the rest of the band moved onto the next tour location (the planet Kakrafoon), and found a small pebble that he declared would be his friend.
.
The Jatravartids are also unique because they were the first people in Universe who invented the aerosol deodorant before the wheel. In , they seem to not have invented the wheel at all, as a square-wheeled
bicycle
can be seen in the foreground.
Other Galactic religions have sent missionaries to Viltvodle VI to attempt to convert the Jatravartids to whichever religion the specific missionary in question happens to be a follower of. The most notable of these missionaries is Humma Kavula (although in , he seems to be preaching the Jatravartids' religion).
In , the guide describes a bit of it. This passage is also included in :
s. In the books it is said to be long-abandoned, although in it still seems to be a "thriving" (if the word can be used) administrative center. According to , anyone standing on Vogsphere must be careful not to think, because the planet is infested with shovel
-like creatures which leap up out of the ground and smack you in the face if you do so. These creatures, parasites which prey on free thought
and punish original ideas, were conceived by Adams and apparently represent the physical embodiment of bureaucracy
. It may be that the existence of such creatures on the Vogons' homeworld is the reason for their pathological hatred of independent thought, as survival on Vogsphere would entail avoiding such thinking. It is also home to scintillating jewel
-encrusted crab
s, which the Vogons smash with hammers, and beautiful silk
y-coated gazelle
-like creatures, which the Vogons sit on (invariably fatally).
In , the exterior shots of Vogsphere were filmed at Trefil Quarry, a few miles north of Tredegar
in south Wales
.
. The ship was one of the first large experiments in Improbability Physics, with the intent being to make it Infinitely Improbable that anything would ever go wrong with any part of the ship. The shipbuilders were unaware that, due to the nature of Improbability calculations, that which is Infinitely Improbable is actually very likely to happen almost immediately upon the improper activation of an Infinite Improbability Drive. Before it could transmit its first radio message — an SOS — the ship underwent the most Infinitely Improbable occurrence: a most gratuitous Total existence failure.
In the novel Douglas Adams's Starship Titanic by Terry Jones
, the Starship Titanic
was launched from the planet Blerontin rather than Artifactovol, and was built on the neighbouring planet of Yassacca, suggesting that there are two alternate versions of the Starship Titanic
.
, namely the Big Bang
. It is known as The Big Bang Burger Chef in the radio and UK versions of the book.
and grill
restaurant
located in a desert
on an unspecified planet. This planet is apparently the true home of the Perfectly Normal Beasts that migrate across the Anhondo Plain of Lamuella twice yearly; for reasons and by means unexplained, the portion of the Beasts' migratory path on this planet which would intersect with The Domain of the King is diverted to Lamuella. Elvis Presley, who appears to have not been abducted by aliens but gone to them himself, spends time there, hence the name.
and Hotblack Desiato would frequent before Hotblack became a rock star and Ford wound up stranded on Earth in the course of his job as a field researcher for that wholly remarkable book, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
card, before as a last resort he threatened a write-up in the Hitchhiker's Guide.
at the start of the book. In the beginning of the series, Zaphod is perplexed that the Heart of Gold took them to Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha, when their trajectory should have taken them through the Horsehead Nebula, the location of Magrathea.
It is noted in that had Effrafax simply painted the mountain pink and erected a Somebody Else's Problem field, he would have won his bet. Because no one would expect to see the Magramal thus colored, the effect of the Somebody Else's Problem field would have rendered it invisible.
that has produced many marvellous discoveries in a myriad of fields scientific and otherwise. Its faculty is composed of many of the finest minds in the Galaxy, and includes the rock band Disaster Area's chief accountant (he is the Professor of Neomathematics). The university also published the Ultra-Complete Maximegalon Dictionary of Every Language Ever. Only one copy of the Dictionary was ever printed, and requires a fleet of trucks to haul it around. Due to the Dictionary's immense size, the University is trying to sell it and regain some valuable parking lots.
The university includes the Maximegalon Institute of Slowly and Painfully Working Out the Surprisingly Obvious (MISPWOSO), site of the famous Herring Sandwich experiments, where a robot was tricked into an infinite loop
whereby it attempted eternally to eat a herring sandwich by picking it up, dropping it, picking it up again, et cetera. From this, the institute both correctly concluded that any intelligence
with a function of logic
can be deceived by an intelligence with a function of logic of equal or greater power, and incorrectly concluded that the driving force behind all change and evolution in life is herring sandwiches, a theory which was later recanted.
Among the other attractions present on or near the campus is the Museum of Diseased Imaginings, where the bathtub in which the Golgafrinchan B-Ark captain spends his time does not reside, despite apparently being well qualified.
, as it exists at the end of time and matter. Marvin the Paranoid Android
is one character who manages to reach Milliways without the use of time travel, merely by being very patient. One of the restaurant's major attractions is that diners can watch the entire universe end around them as they eat. The terminal moment is followed by dessert
. Reservations are easily obtained, since they can be booked once the patron returns to his or her original time after their meal, and the restaurant's bill can be paid by depositing a penny in any bank account of the present time: by the end of the universe, the compound interest
on that penny over the course of time will be enough to pay the extremely high bill. Near-instant transportation to the restaurant can be achieved in certain rarefied circumstances, such as being next to an exploding hyperspatial field generator on the planet where Milliways will eventually be built several billion years after the explosion occurs.
Among the items on the menu are various cuts of meat from the very obliging Amiglion Major Cow and the somewhat less obliging vegetable
s in a green salad. While water and Aldebaran
liqueur
s are in stock, tea
is not.
Because of the special number of impossibilities surrounding all aspects of Milliways, their advertising firm penned the following slogan: "If you've done six impossible things this morning, why not round it off with breakfast at Milliways—the Restaurant at the End of the Universe!" Believing "six impossible things before breakfast" is a quote of the White Queen
's from Lewis Carroll
's Through the Looking-Glass
.
In the book form of the series, the visit to Milliways takes place in . In the different versions of the story, Milliways is built on the ruins of either Magrathea or of Frogstar World B.
In , when many of the main characters meet at Milliways, Thor the thunder god asks that champagne be sent to Trillian
, and in the process reveals that Arthur Dent
and company are seated at Table 42, almost without a doubt an allusion to The Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything.
At the end of there is a gag about "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe" not being at the temporal end
, but at the "other end" in terms of location. In , a similar venue is referenced that does exist at the beginning of the universe called "The Big Bang
Burger Bar".
According to The Salmon of Doubt
, Douglas Adams came up with the idea while listening to Procol Harum
's Grand Hotel
.
.
that he was killed again in an assassin's failed attempt to kill Arthur at Stavromula Beta. However, Agrajag discovered that Arthur had not yet been there. Despite the time paradox that would be created, Agrajag decided to kill Arthur anyway. When Agrajag's assassination attempt failed, Arthur decided that "logically, he could not die until he had been to Stavromula Beta" (Mostly Harmless
, US edition, p. 106). By the end of Mostly Harmless, many of the major characters found themselves in a club in London called Beta, so named for being the second club that Stavro Mueller owned (Mueller's first club was Alpha in New York City). An attempt is made on Arthur's life, but he ducked, and the bullet hit the human incarnation of Agrajag. Arthur realized that Agrajag meant this club, not a planet
, and that he could now be killed. Then the Vogon
s, with the help of their new Guide and the Grebulons, finally destroy all parallel versions of Earth.
. A party of minor deities from Asgard were cheered by Max Quordlepleen at Milliways. In , Asgard is portrayed as the protected home of many Norse Gods and immortal beings. (See Asgard
for mythological references.)
. The Guide describes the WSOGMM as a way of understanding the sum of parallel universes
in creation (in this context, creation is best described to a casual observer as spacetime
). The theory of WSOGMM states that parallel universes are not parallel
as such but rather each universe is simply a quantum physical perception of the same construct, which is the WSOGMM.
The last version of the Guide gives a description of the Mish Mash to Arthur Dent
's daughter Random. The guide explains that individuals in her universe move freely in the first three dimensions, which they know as space, travel in a straight line in a fourth (Time) and are rooted to one place in a fifth, which is described as the first fundamental of probability.
The fifth dimension (and, it is implied, every other dimension
up to the twenty-second) is actually an axis
of probability
that makes up the Mish Mash. Any multiverse in creation is actually a location in the fifth dimension. To an observer, a certain universe functions alone, but it's proven that if something is introduced simultaneously into every dimension (such as the bird version of The Guide was as a marketing ploy), an action on that object can affect the entire Mish Mash. In the final chapter of , when Earth is destroyed by the Vogon
s and the bird dies with it, the Earth is destroyed in all other universes—finally removed from the WSOGMM.
Douglas Adams
Douglas Noel Adams was an English writer and dramatist. He is best known as the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which started life in 1978 as a BBC radio comedy before developing into a "trilogy" of five books that sold over 15 million copies in his lifetime, a television...
's science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
series, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy series created by Douglas Adams. Originally a radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978, it was later adapted to other formats, and over several years it gradually became an international multi-media phenomenon...
. The series is set in a fictionalised version of the Milky Way
Milky Way
The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains the Solar System. This name derives from its appearance as a dim un-resolved "milky" glowing band arching across the night sky...
galaxy and thus, while most locations are pure invention, many are based on "real world" settings such as Alpha Centauri
Alpha Centauri
Alpha Centauri is the brightest star in the southern constellation of Centaurus...
, Barnard's Star
Barnard's star
Barnard's Star, also known occasionally as Barnard's "Runaway" Star, is a very low-mass red dwarf star approximately six light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Ophiuchus . In 1916, the American astronomer E.E...
and various versions of the Earth
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun, and the densest and fifth-largest of the eight planets in the Solar System. It is also the largest of the Solar System's four terrestrial planets...
.
The Galaxy
"The Galaxy" is our home galaxy, the Milky WayMilky Way
The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains the Solar System. This name derives from its appearance as a dim un-resolved "milky" glowing band arching across the night sky...
, though it is referred to exclusively as "the Galaxy" in the series. Apart from a very brief moment during the first radio series, when the main characters were transported outside the galactic plane into a battle with Haggunenons, and a moment when one of Arthur's careless remarks is sent inadvertently though a wormhole
Wormhole
In physics, a wormhole is a hypothetical topological feature of spacetime that would be, fundamentally, a "shortcut" through spacetime. For a simple visual explanation of a wormhole, consider spacetime visualized as a two-dimensional surface. If this surface is folded along a third dimension, it...
into "a distant galaxy", the Galaxy provides the setting for the entire series. It is home to thousands of sentient races, some of whom have achieved interstellar capability, creating a vast network of trade, military and political links. To the technologically advanced inhabitants of the Galaxy, a small, insignificant world such as Earth is considered invariably primitive and backward. The Galaxy appears, at least nominally, to be a single state, with a unified government "run" by an appointed President. Its immensely powerful and monumentally callous civil service is run out of the Megabrantis Cluster, mainly by the Vogon
Vogon
The Vogons are a fictional alien race from the planet Vogsphere in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams, who are responsible for the destruction of the Earth, in order to facilitate an intergalactic highway construction project. Vogons are slug-like but vaguely humanoid, are...
s.
A "former Galactic Empire
Galactic empire
Galactic empires are a common trope used in science fiction and science fantasy, particularly in space opera. Many authors have either used a galaxy-spanning empire as background, or written about the growth or decline of such an empire...
" is mentioned in several adaptations of the series. By the time set in the Hitchhiker's series, the government of the Galaxy is referred to as the "Imperial
Empire
The term empire derives from the Latin imperium . Politically, an empire is a geographically extensive group of states and peoples united and ruled either by a monarch or an oligarchy....
Galactic Government", though it is further explained that the term 'Imperial' is now something of an anachronism. In the television adaptation
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (TV series)
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, is a BBC television adaptation of Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy broadcast in January and February 1981 on BBC Two...
of the series, the name Imperatala Galacticon is used in one graphic as an alternate name for the previous Galactic Empire.
In and the , the empire is described as being known five million years ago for its richness
Wealth
Wealth is the abundance of valuable resources or material possessions. The word wealth is derived from the old English wela, which is from an Indo-European word stem...
, wildness
Wildness
Wildness is literally the quality of being wild or untamed, but further to this, it has been defined as a quality produced in nature , as that which emerges from a forest , and as a level of achievement in nature...
and lack of tax
Tax
To tax is to impose a financial charge or other levy upon a taxpayer by a state or the functional equivalent of a state such that failure to pay is punishable by law. Taxes are also imposed by many subnational entities...
es. People were described as daring "to boldly split infinitives that no man had split before
Where no man has gone before
"Where no man has gone before" is a phrase originally made popular through its use in the title sequence of most episodes of the original Star Trek science fiction television series. It refers to the mission of the original starship Enterprise...
". However, the craving for luxury custom-made planets among the Galaxy's mercantile elite led to the planet Magrathea gaining control of most of its wealth, which led to a financial Dark Age
Economic collapse
There is no precise definition of an economic collapse. While some might consider a a severe, prolonged depression with high bankruptcy rates and high unemployment an economic collapse, others would additionally look for a breakdown in normal commerce, such as hyperinfalation, or even a sharp...
.
In and , it is established that by the present day setting of the various series, the real imperial
Empire
The term empire derives from the Latin imperium . Politically, an empire is a geographically extensive group of states and peoples united and ruled either by a monarch or an oligarchy....
rule has been long since abolished. It is explained that when the last Galactic Emperor
Emperor
An emperor is a monarch, usually the sovereign ruler of an empire or another type of imperial realm. Empress, the female equivalent, may indicate an emperor's wife or a woman who rules in her own right...
was just about to die, he was put under a stasis field
Stasis (fiction)
Stasis , or hypersleep, is a science fiction concept akin to suspended animation. Whereas suspended animation usually refers to a greatly reduced state of life processes, stasis implies a complete cessation of these processes, which can be easily restarted or restart spontaneously when stasis is...
of static electricity
Electrostatics
Electrostatics is the branch of physics that deals with the phenomena and properties of stationary or slow-moving electric charges....
, keeping his body perpetually alive in a coma
Coma
In medicine, a coma is a state of unconsciousness, lasting more than 6 hours in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to respond normally to painful stimuli, light or sound, lacks a normal sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate voluntary actions. A person in a state of coma is described as...
. Over time, all the emperor's heirs died and governance of the state shifted from a monarchy
Monarchy
A monarchy is a form of government in which the office of head of state is usually held until death or abdication and is often hereditary and includes a royal house. In some cases, the monarch is elected...
to a democracy
Democracy
Democracy is generally defined as a form of government in which all adult citizens have an equal say in the decisions that affect their lives. Ideally, this includes equal participation in the proposal, development and passage of legislation into law...
, with the galactic assembly of the imperial advisors
Council of State
The Council of State is a unique governmental body in a country or subdivision thereoff, though its nature may range from the formal name for the cabinet to a non-executive advisory body surrounding a head of state. It is sometimes regarded as the equivalent of a privy council.-Modern:*Belgian...
switching from privy council
Privy council
A privy council is a body that advises the head of state of a nation, typically, but not always, in the context of a monarchic government. The word "privy" means "private" or "secret"; thus, a privy council was originally a committee of the monarch's closest advisors to give confidential advice on...
to administration
Executive (government)
Executive branch of Government is the part of government that has sole authority and responsibility for the daily administration of the state bureaucracy. The division of power into separate branches of government is central to the idea of the separation of powers.In many countries, the term...
and the head of the council
Senior Advisor
In some countries, a Senior Advisor is an appointed position by the Head of State to advise on the highest levels of national and government policy. Sometimes a junior position to this is called a National Policy Advisor...
becoming President
President
A president is a leader of an organization, company, trade union, university, or country.Etymologically, a president is one who presides, who sits in leadership...
of the Galaxy.
Thus it is further explained that since the shift to democracy brought an end to the previous absolutism
Absolute monarchy
Absolute monarchy is a monarchical form of government in which the monarch exercises ultimate governing authority as head of state and head of government, his or her power not being limited by a constitution or by the law. An absolute monarch thus wields unrestricted political power over the...
, this meant there was a chance the head of state
Head of State
A head of state is the individual that serves as the chief public representative of a monarchy, republic, federation, commonwealth or other kind of state. His or her role generally includes legitimizing the state and exercising the political powers, functions, and duties granted to the head of...
wasn't just not in full power but not in power at all; and so the President of the Galaxy became an extreme figurehead
Figurehead (metaphor)
In politics, a figurehead is a person who holds de jure an important title or office yet de facto executes little actual power, most commonly limited by convention rather than law. The metaphor derives from the carved figurehead at the prow of a sailing ship...
; a celebrity, but someone who could reasonably be in power. Thus the president and the entire executive branch's purpose is not to wield power but to draw attention away from it
Power behind the throne
The phrase power behind the throne refers to a person or group that informally exercises the real power of an office. In politics, it most commonly refers to a spouse, aide, or advisor of a political leader who serves as de facto leader, setting policy through influence or manipulation.The...
. Only a handful of people know this fact, and only six of them know who actually wields power.
The current President of the Galaxy when the series begins is Zaphod Beeblebrox
Zaphod Beeblebrox
Zaphod Beeblebrox is a fictional character in the various versions of the humorous science fiction story The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams who based him on his Cambridge contemporary, Johnny Simpson....
. Zaphod, along with Yooden Vranx, Roosta and Zarniwoop, found out how little power the president wields, and set out on a complex journey to find the real ruler of both the Imperial Galactic Government and in fact the entire Universe. Their mission, which ends in , culminates in the discovery that power is actually wielded more or less entirely by a man in a shack. He expresses no interest in actually ruling the Universe, instead choosing to enjoy the company of his pet cat
Cat
The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...
(known as "the Lord") and being fascinated with simple things such as a pencil and paper. This behaviour, so reasoned the old imperial government, allowed him to not be distracted by desire or eagerness and made him a perfect ruler. Zarniwoop is somewhat frustrated upon discovering the truth.
North West ripple
Relative to life on NowWhat, living on an affluent world in the North West ripple of the Galaxy is said to be easier by a factor of about seventeen million.Outer Eastern Rim
The Outer Eastern Rim of the Galaxy where the Guide has supplanted the Encyclopedia Galactica among its more relaxed civilisations, and where in Arthur Dent heads for "wisdom and truth were to be found" and goes to Hawalius.Western Spiral Arm
In the radio series, the Western Spiral Arm of the Galaxy reports that 'the wheelWheel
A wheel is a device that allows heavy objects to be moved easily through rotating on an axle through its center, facilitating movement or transportation while supporting a load, or performing labor in machines. Common examples found in transport applications. A wheel, together with an axle,...
is economically unviable', and in the "uncharted backwaters of [its] unfashionable end", the 'planet' Earth is found.
Galactic Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha
Galactic Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha is a galactic sector containing Earth, Barnard's Star, and probably other nearby systems. The "Plural" designation may indicate probability problems; after Fenchurch disappeared during a hyperspace jump, it was pointed out to Arthur DentArthur Dent
Arthur Philip Dent is a fictional character, the hapless protagonist and anti-hero in the comic science fiction series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams....
that the small print advised against hyperspace travel for those born in Plural sectors. This is apparently common knowledge throughout the rest of the galaxy.
Galactic Sector QQ7 Active J Gamma
Galactic Sector QQ7 Active J Gamma contains the Sun Zarss, the planet Preliumtarn of the famed Sevorbeupstry and Quentulus Quazgar Mountains. It appears in the novels Life, the Universe and EverythingLife, the Universe and Everything
Life, the Universe and Everything is the third book in the five-volume Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy science fiction series by British writer Douglas Adams...
and So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish is the fourth book of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy "trilogy" written by Douglas Adams. Its title is the message left by the dolphins when they departed Planet Earth just before it was demolished to make way for a hyperspace bypass, as described in The...
.
Aldebaran
AldebaranAldebaran
Aldebaran is a red giant star located about 65 light years away in the zodiac constellation of Taurus. With an average apparent magnitude of 0.87 it is the brightest star in the constellation and is one of the brightest stars in the nighttime sky...
is a giant star
Star
A star is a massive, luminous sphere of plasma held together by gravity. At the end of its lifetime, a star can also contain a proportion of degenerate matter. The nearest star to Earth is the Sun, which is the source of most of the energy on Earth...
in the constellation of Taurus
Taurus (constellation)
Taurus is one of the constellations of the zodiac. Its name is a Latin word meaning 'bull', and its astrological symbol is a stylized bull's head:...
. Max Quordlepleen claims that the only thing left after the end of the Universe will be the sweets trolley and a fine selection of Aldebaran liqueurs. It is described as "great, OK," in a song protesting against teleportation, and has fine wines that are on the Heart of Gold.
Algol
Algol is an eclipsing binary star in the constellationConstellation
In modern astronomy, a constellation is an internationally defined area of the celestial sphere. These areas are grouped around asterisms, patterns formed by prominent stars within apparent proximity to one another on Earth's night sky....
of Perseus
Perseus (constellation)
Perseus is a constellation in the northern sky, named after the Greek hero Perseus. It was one of the 48 constellations listed by the 2nd century astronomer Ptolemy, and remains one of the 88 modern constellations defined by the International Astronomical Union...
. It is the home of the Algolian Suntiger, the tooth of which is one of the ingredients of the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster. Before being placed into the Total Perspective Vortex, Zaphod Beeblebrox
Zaphod Beeblebrox
Zaphod Beeblebrox is a fictional character in the various versions of the humorous science fiction story The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams who based him on his Cambridge contemporary, Johnny Simpson....
wished for Algolian Claret
Claret
Claret is a name primarily used in British English for red wine from the Bordeaux region of France.-Usage:Claret derives from the French clairet, a now uncommon dark rosé and the most common wine exported from Bordeaux until the 18th century...
, an alcoholic drink presumably created by the gray humanoid species inhabiting the planet. Despite Zaphod's apparent affinity for this drink, Algolian cuisine is equally noted for its unpleasantness. The Algolian Zylatburger is one such case; as related by Ford Prefect
Ford Prefect (character)
Ford Prefect is a fictional character in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by the British author Douglas Adams. He is the only character other than the protagonist, Arthur Dent, to appear throughout the entire Hitchhiker's saga.-Name:Although Ford had taken great care to blend into Earth...
, "They're a kind of meatburger made from the most unpleasant parts of a creature well-known for its total lack of any pleasant parts." It is briefly mentioned as pretty neat in a song protesting against teleportation.
Alpha Centauri
Apart from being the closest star system to Earth's, (4.1 light-years northwest of earth) Alpha CentauriAlpha Centauri
Alpha Centauri is the brightest star in the southern constellation of Centaurus...
is home to both a local planning department office of the Galactic Hyperspace Planning Council and a race of small furry creatures (who, during the times of the Galactic Empire, "were real small furry creatures"). It has a rough, bumpy surface and sixteen cities (the fifteenth one is one of the best places to buy a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster), and is also inhabited by super-intelligent lizard squirrels. Its main spaceport, Port Brasta, has a massive duty-free shopping mall, the motto of which is, "be like the twenty-second elephant with heated value in space -- bark!" This slogan contains an ingenious pun in Centaurian that the natives find hilarious.
Alpha Proxima
Alpha Proxima is the smallest (and closest to Earth) member of the Alpha Centauri system. The first novel points out that it's four light years from Earth's solar system to Alpha Proxima, whilst Damogran is five hundred thousand light years away.Altair
Altair is a blue star in the constellation of AquilaAquila (constellation)
Aquila is a stellar constellation. Its name is Latin for 'eagle' and it is commonly represented as such. In mythology, Aquila was owned by the Roman god Jupiter and performed many tasks for him....
. The Altairian dollar is one of three freely convertible currencies in the galaxy, though by the time of the novels it had apparently recently collapsed. According to the Hitchhiker's Guide TV series, one Altairian "long way" is equal to 37 Earth miles.
Antares
AntaresAntares
Antares is a red supergiant star in the Milky Way galaxy and the sixteenth brightest star in the nighttime sky . Along with Aldebaran, Spica, and Regulus it is one of the four brightest stars near the ecliptic...
is a red supergiant
Red supergiant
Red supergiants are supergiant stars of spectral type K or M. They are the largest stars in the universe in terms of volume, although they are not the most massive...
star in the constellation of Scorpius
Scorpius
Scorpius, sometimes known as Scorpio, is one of the constellations of the zodiac. Its name is Latin for scorpion, and its symbol is . It lies between Libra to the west and Sagittarius to the east...
. In the first book, the guide relates smuggling Antarean parakeet glands, a notably unpleasant analogue of an olive in a typical cocktail.
Arcturus
The red giantRed giant
A red giant is a luminous giant star of low or intermediate mass in a late phase of stellar evolution. The outer atmosphere is inflated and tenuous, making the radius immense and the surface temperature low, somewhere from 5,000 K and lower...
star Arcturus is home to the great Arcturan megafreighters, automated cargo carriers that transport vast quantities of goods between star systems. So large that they eclipse a planet's sun when in orbit, they are supposedly impregnable, though Zaphod Beeblebrox
Zaphod Beeblebrox
Zaphod Beeblebrox is a fictional character in the various versions of the humorous science fiction story The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams who based him on his Cambridge contemporary, Johnny Simpson....
somehow managed it as a child. Former galactic president Yooden Vranx was captain of the megafreighter infiltrated by Zaphod and Ford. Arcturus is also home to a staggering array of oversized and often deadly megafauna
Megafauna
In terrestrial zoology, megafauna are "giant", "very large" or "large" animals. The most common thresholds used are or...
, from the Arcturan Megaleech to the Arcturan Megavoidwhale, the Arcturan megagnat to the Arcturan megaelephant and megapuppy, as well as the megacamel, well known by the turn of phrase "one's soul moves at the speed of an Arcturan megacamel", presumably the reason for distilling Arcturan Mega-gin.
Barnard's Star
A red dwarfRed dwarf
According to the Hertzsprung-Russell diagram, a red dwarf star is a small and relatively cool star, of the main sequence, either late K or M spectral type....
star only six light years from Earth, Barnard's Star
Barnard's star
Barnard's Star, also known occasionally as Barnard's "Runaway" Star, is a very low-mass red dwarf star approximately six light-years away from Earth in the constellation of Ophiuchus . In 1916, the American astronomer E.E...
is an interstellar transit stop used by the Vogon
Vogon
The Vogons are a fictional alien race from the planet Vogsphere in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams, who are responsible for the destruction of the Earth, in order to facilitate an intergalactic highway construction project. Vogons are slug-like but vaguely humanoid, are...
constructor fleet after demolishing Earth, where the crews' planet leave is cancelled after Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz has an unhappy love affair.
Betelgeuse
BetelgeuseBetelgeuse
Betelgeuse, also known by its Bayer designation Alpha Orionis , is the eighth brightest star in the night sky and second brightest star in the constellation of Orion, outshining its neighbour Rigel only rarely...
is a red giant
Red giant
A red giant is a luminous giant star of low or intermediate mass in a late phase of stellar evolution. The outer atmosphere is inflated and tenuous, making the radius immense and the surface temperature low, somewhere from 5,000 K and lower...
star which appears to Earthbound observers to be in the constellation of Orion
Orion (constellation)
Orion, often referred to as The Hunter, is a prominent constellation located on the celestial equator and visible throughout the world. It is one of the most conspicuous, and most recognizable constellations in the night sky...
. A song protesting against teleportation claims that "Betelgeuse's pretty girls will knock you off your feet", and that, "they'll do anything you like, real fast and then real slow."
Betelgeuse Five
- Betelgeuse Five is the home planet of Galactic President Zaphod BeeblebroxZaphod BeeblebroxZaphod Beeblebrox is a fictional character in the various versions of the humorous science fiction story The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams who based him on his Cambridge contemporary, Johnny Simpson....
and his semi-cousin Ford PrefectFord Prefect (character)Ford Prefect is a fictional character in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by the British author Douglas Adams. He is the only character other than the protagonist, Arthur Dent, to appear throughout the entire Hitchhiker's saga.-Name:Although Ford had taken great care to blend into Earth...
.
Betelgeuse Seven
- Betelgeuse Seven was the birthplace of Ford Prefect's father, who was the only survivor of the Great Collapsing Hrung Disaster of Gal./Sid./Year 03758, which wiped out the old Praxibetel communities on the planet. The whole episode is shrouded in deep mystery: in fact no one ever knew what a Hrung was nor why it should choose to collapse on Betelgeuse Seven in particular.
New Betel
Presumably a location somewhere in the Betelgeuse system. Café Lou is a dive bar in Gretchen Town, New Betel. There are rentable rooms on the floors above the bar, Ford PrefectFord Prefect (character)
Ford Prefect is a fictional character in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by the British author Douglas Adams. He is the only character other than the protagonist, Arthur Dent, to appear throughout the entire Hitchhiker's saga.-Name:Although Ford had taken great care to blend into Earth...
spent many nights talking and drinking with Hotblack Desiato, who was often writing songs for his ajuitar in the neighbouring room.
Folfanga
Folfanga is a star system, the fourth planet of which is inhabited by a species of small slug, of the genus Arth-Urp-Hil+ Ipdenu. Wowbagger, the Infinitely Prolonged travelled to this planet to insult one such slug, intending to call it a "brainless prat."Frogstar
In the original radio series, the Frogstar system does not exist and the Total Perspective Vortex is said to be located on "The Frogstar". It is described in little detail, save that it is "very unpopular", and has been struck by several bombs. A travel brochure recommended the Frogstar for "sun, sand and suffering". The books later expanded the Frogstar into a full system with three known habitable planets.Frogstar World A
Frogstar World A is the first planet of the Frogstar system and the home of the Frogstar fighters which take Zaphod BeeblebroxZaphod Beeblebrox
Zaphod Beeblebrox is a fictional character in the various versions of the humorous science fiction story The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams who based him on his Cambridge contemporary, Johnny Simpson....
to Frogstar World B. Frogstar World A is described as an altogether more congenial place than Frogstar World B.
Frogstar World B
Frogstar World B is said to be "the most totally evil place in the galaxyGalaxy
A galaxy is a massive, gravitationally bound system that consists of stars and stellar remnants, an interstellar medium of gas and dust, and an important but poorly understood component tentatively dubbed dark matter. The word galaxy is derived from the Greek galaxias , literally "milky", a...
". It is somewhat like the books' equivalent of Brontitall in the radio show; although there are differences between the two, they share some attributes. Although there is no statue of Arthur on Frogstar B, the bird people came about the same way; there is no archeologist called Lintilla in the part of the books that concerns itself with Frogstar B; however, the spaceport with the massively delayed spaceship is there.
Frogstar B was thrown into poverty through an event termed the Shoe Event Horizon. Many years ago, Frogstar World B was "a thriving, happy planet - people, cities, shops, a normal world." However, there were slightly too many shoe shops on the high streets of the planet, and the number of shoe shops was steadily increasing. The more shoe shops there were, the more the shops had to make. The more they had to make, the worse and more unwearable the shoes became. And the worse and more unwearable the shoes became, the more the people had to buy, and the more money the shops made until it became economically impossible to build anything other than shoe shops. The result was collapse, ruin, and famine. Most of the population died out, but a select few with the right kind of genetic instability mutated into a bird-like species and cursed the ground, refusing to set foot on it ever again.
Frogstar B is the home of the Total Perspective Vortex, a machine that effectively annihilates one's soul by showing one in an instant the whole infinity of creation and oneself in relation to it.
In the continuity of the books, Frogstar World B is the future site of Milliways, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe. In the radio series this role is instead given to Magrathea.
Frogstar World C
Frogstar World C is the home planet of Gargravarr, the guardian of the Total Perspective Vortex. It is said to be a beautiful place with wonderful fishing opportunities. Its native intelligent life apparently exists in two separate forms, minds and bodies, which cohabit in a similar fashion to married couples. The bodies have not been described physically in the series, save for the fact that they are said to be on their "last elbows" rather than "last legs".Hastromil
An inhabited solar systemSolar System
The Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
which boils away into the ultraviolet shortly before the rest of the Universe ends, thus providing Milliways' patrons with a first foretaste of the apocalypse to come at the end of their meals. Max Quordlepleen wryly notes to Hastromil-native patrons that by this point it's "too late to worry if [they] left the gas on now".
Megabrantis Cluster
The political hub of the Galaxy, which all the VogonVogon
The Vogons are a fictional alien race from the planet Vogsphere in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams, who are responsible for the destruction of the Earth, in order to facilitate an intergalactic highway construction project. Vogons are slug-like but vaguely humanoid, are...
s migrated to from Vogsphere, where they "formed the immensely powerful backbone of the Galactic Civil Service." The philosophers who had previously managed the galaxy were relegated to roles in the stationery room, licking stamps.
Orion Beta
Orion Beta is a star system noted for its madranite miningMining
Mining is the extraction of valuable minerals or other geological materials from the earth, from an ore body, vein or seam. The term also includes the removal of soil. Materials recovered by mining include base metals, precious metals, iron, uranium, coal, diamonds, limestone, oil shale, rock...
belts. At a hyperspace port serving the mining belts Ford Prefect
Ford Prefect (character)
Ford Prefect is a fictional character in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by the British author Douglas Adams. He is the only character other than the protagonist, Arthur Dent, to appear throughout the entire Hitchhiker's saga.-Name:Although Ford had taken great care to blend into Earth...
learned to play a drinking game
Drinking game
Drinking games are games which involve the consumption of alcoholic beverages. These games vary widely in scope and complexity, although the purpose of most is to become intoxicated as quickly as possible...
similar to that of Earth's "Indian wrestling." Judging by the name, this location may be Rigel
Rigel
Rigel is the brightest star in the constellation Orion and the sixth brightest star in the sky, with visual magnitude 0.18...
, which is also known as Beta Orionis.
Pleiades system
Ford Prefect hacks into the British phone system from the PleiadesPleiades (star cluster)
In astronomy, the Pleiades, or Seven Sisters , is an open star cluster containing middle-aged hot B-type stars located in the constellation of Taurus. It is among the nearest star clusters to Earth and is the cluster most obvious to the naked eye in the night sky...
system (Epsilon and Zeta) in . Pleiades Zeta is known in its local language as Zondostina.
Sesefras Magna
Sesefras Magna is an orange gas giantGas giant
A gas giant is a large planet that is not primarily composed of rock or other solid matter. There are four gas giants in the Solar System: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune...
in orbit around Zondostina. The space near the planet is home to the space station Port Sesefron, a docking place for Xaxisian battleships and other spacecraft visiting the star system. Ford Prefect takes an Escape-O-Buggy from the sales ship he left in orbit around Epun to Port Sesefron in .
Epun
Epun is a small cold blue moon of Sesefras Magna that Ford Prefect left a sales ship (with the speaking clockSpeaking clock
A speaking clock service is a recorded or simulated human voice service, usually accessed by telephone, that gives the correct time. The first telephone speaking clock service was introduced in France, in association with the Paris Observatory on 14 February 1933.The format of the service is...
constantly playing on the sound system) orbiting during .
Sirius Tau system
The Sirius Tau Star system is home to the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation, in the first novel, in which the anti-teleportationists' poem recommends that you "see Tau before you're dead". A party of Young Conservatives from Sirius B visit Milliways in the second novel.Eadrax
Home to the main administrative hub of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation Complaints Division, which now covers the major landmasses of three medium-sized planets. Eadrax is home to the Complaints Division spaceport, and originally home to the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation Complaints Division motto, "SHARE AND ENJOY", which stood in 3-mile-high letters above the main office block, before it fell through said office block and into the ground. Only the top halves of the letters are now visible, and appear to read, in the local language, "Go Stick Your Head in a Pig".Squornshellous
Squornshellous is a four-star system 27 light-years from Earth, possessing a number of planets all sustaining curiously furniture-based species.Squornshellous Alpha
The first planet in from the four-star system Squornshellous, it is very cold and inhabited by giant, burrowing mattresses that spit acid.
Squornshellous Beta
Two planets in from Squornshellous Zeta, it is inhabited by square cushions who enjoy being rubbed up against, especially with people's shoulders. Unlike Squornshellous Zeta, it has desert terrain rather than swamps.
Squornshellous Delta
The second planet in between Squornshellous Zeta and Beta, it is inhabited by flying pillows — there is no solid ground but only infinite clouds, indicating that it is a gas giant
Gas giant
A gas giant is a large planet that is not primarily composed of rock or other solid matter. There are four gas giants in the Solar System: Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune...
.
Squornshellous Gamma
Squornshellous Gamma is a hot, bumpy little planet, with a thick, dense atmosphere. Probably the worst place to crash, because communication to other planets is impossible due to the thick atmosphere, and the rain is solid.
The 12' by 9' cushions have only a five-second memory — they'll first ask you who you are, then who they are, and will quickly forget the conversation up to that point and start all over again. Needless to say, most visitors die of annoyance within an hour.
Squornshellous Zeta
Dimly illuminated and very very 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...
-intensive, Squornshellous Zeta is the source of almost all the Galaxy's mattress
Mattress
A mattress is a manufactured product to sleep or lie on, consisting of resilient materials and covered with an outer fabric or ticking. In the developed world it is typically part of a bed set and is placed upon a foundation....
es. Said mattresses (all of whom are called Zem) spend most of their time flolloping, globbering, volluing, vooning, and willomying. Said activities make the planet a favourite destination of etymologists. The Zems themselves remain a foot tall, until they are caught, freeze-dried and cleaned, and made into mattress-size corpses (which are promptly used as mattresses). It is a process which, strangely enough, they don't seem to mind at all. Very few mattresses have ever come back to life again.
Marvin the Paranoid Android
Marvin the Paranoid Android
Marvin, the Paranoid Android, is a fictional character in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams. Marvin is the ship's robot aboard the starship Heart of Gold...
was invited to the planet to give a speech marking the opening of a giant new bridge intended to revive the economy of the Squornshellous System, said bridge also costing the total sum of the economy of the entire planet to construct. After delivering a characteristically pessimistic speech, Marvin was plugged into the bridge's opening circuits and the whole cyberstructure instantly folded itself up and collapsed from sheer misery, presumably after being directly exposed to Marvin's chronically depressed view of the Universe. Marvin was left stranded in the swamp with only the mattresses to talk to, until warrior robots from Krikkit stole his leg, and then the rest of him.
The Sun
A small, unregarded yellow sunSun
The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is almost perfectly spherical and consists of hot plasma interwoven with magnetic fields...
in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the galaxy. It is home to a number of planets, including Earth and Rupert.
Earth
Earth is "an utterly insignificant little blue-green planet far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm of the galaxyMilky Way
The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains the Solar System. This name derives from its appearance as a dim un-resolved "milky" glowing band arching across the night sky...
". The sapient life forms on Earth are, in descending order of intelligence, mice, dolphins and humans, the lattermost of whom may or may not be descended from a race of Golgafrinchan telephone sanitisers, hairdressers, management consultants, and documentary film producers." These Golgafrinchans arrived in a space ark which crashed into the planet circa 2 mya, promptly christening their new home "Fintlewoodlewix" (though obviously the name didn't stick).
Earth is widely regarded with derision and scorn by most sentient beings in the galaxy. That most other races have shunned Earth is in part due to its primitive technological state and also for its invention of the game of cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
, an unfortunate product of racial memory that appears to make light of the horrendously genocidal Krikkit Wars, which right-thinking galactic citizens find immensely distasteful. Before the arrival of Ford Prefect
Ford Prefect (character)
Ford Prefect is a fictional character in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by the British author Douglas Adams. He is the only character other than the protagonist, Arthur Dent, to appear throughout the entire Hitchhiker's saga.-Name:Although Ford had taken great care to blend into Earth...
and the Vogon
Vogon
The Vogons are a fictional alien race from the planet Vogsphere in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams, who are responsible for the destruction of the Earth, in order to facilitate an intergalactic highway construction project. Vogons are slug-like but vaguely humanoid, are...
s, Earth's main form of extraterrestrial contact was with "teasers": bored rich kids who cruise the galaxy looking for planets yet to make interstellar contact, find some isolated spot, land in front of some credulous soul they know no one will ever believe, strut up and down in front of them with "silly antennas on their head" and make "beep-beep" noises at them. Ford regards this practice as "rather childish, really".
Although often mistaken for a planet
Planet
A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...
, Earth is in reality the greatest supercomputer
Supercomputer
A supercomputer is a computer at the frontline of current processing capacity, particularly speed of calculation.Supercomputers are used for highly calculation-intensive tasks such as problems including quantum physics, weather forecasting, climate research, molecular modeling A supercomputer is a...
of all time, designed by the second greatest supercomputer of all time, Deep Thought, to calculate the Ultimate Question of Life, The Universe and Everything (to which the answer is 42
42 (number)
42 is the natural number immediately following 41 and directly preceding 43. The number has received considerable attention in popular culture as a result of its central appearance in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy as the "Answer to the Ultimate Question of Life, the Universe, and...
). It was built by the then-thriving custom planet industry of Magrathea to run a ten-million-year program in which organic life would play a major role. Slartibartfast
Slartibartfast
Slartibartfast is a fictional character in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a comedy/science fiction series created by Douglas Adams. The character appears in the first and third novels, the first and third radio series , the 1981 television series and the 2005 feature film...
, a Magrathean designer, was involved in the project and signed his name among the fjord
Fjord
Geologically, a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created in a valley carved by glacial activity.-Formation:A fjord is formed when a glacier cuts a U-shaped valley by abrasion of the surrounding bedrock. Glacial melting is accompanied by rebound of Earth's crust as the ice...
s of Norway
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
(an area that won him an award).
Earth is also home to Arthur Dent
Arthur Dent
Arthur Philip Dent is a fictional character, the hapless protagonist and anti-hero in the comic science fiction series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams....
and Trillian
Trillian (character)
Tricia McMillan, also known as Trillian Astra, is a fictional character from Douglas Adams' series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. She is most commonly referred to simply as "Trillian", a modification of her birth name, which she adopted because it sounded more "space-like". According to the...
. Earth is located in Galactic Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy originally described Earth as "harmless" (the entry is short because of the limited amount of space the Guide possessed, what with the sheer size and content of the galaxy itself). After lengthy research over fifteen years (intended only to be a week), Ford Prefect
Ford Prefect (character)
Ford Prefect is a fictional character in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by the British author Douglas Adams. He is the only character other than the protagonist, Arthur Dent, to appear throughout the entire Hitchhiker's saga.-Name:Although Ford had taken great care to blend into Earth...
expanded the entry immensely, though his editor trimmed the new description to "mostly harmless". The original entry authored by Ford was later reinstated in So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish is the fourth book of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy "trilogy" written by Douglas Adams. Its title is the message left by the dolphins when they departed Planet Earth just before it was demolished to make way for a hyperspace bypass, as described in The...
.
Five minutes before the program was to finish running, Earth was destroyed by the Vogon
Vogon
The Vogons are a fictional alien race from the planet Vogsphere in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams, who are responsible for the destruction of the Earth, in order to facilitate an intergalactic highway construction project. Vogons are slug-like but vaguely humanoid, are...
s, allegedly to make way for a hyperspace bypass but in fact to prevent the Ultimate Question being discovered, as it was seen as a threat to the psychiatric industry. It was subsequently replaced by an exact duplicate by the dolphin "Save The Humans" movement, as shown in So Long, And Thanks For All The Fish (the dolphins having escaped by unspecified means shortly before the demolition). The dolphins themselves, however, elected not to return. Some time later, the Earth was once again destroyed by the Second Guide, acting through the amnesiac Grebulons.
Boston
Boston
Boston
Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...
is the home of Mrs. Enid Kapelsen, who sees Arthur and Fenchurch flying as she takes an airplane trip.
Bournemouth
A town in Dorset, England, about which Ford Prefect wrote a baroque
Baroque
The Baroque is a period and the style that used exaggerated motion and clear, easily interpreted detail to produce drama, tension, exuberance, and grandeur in sculpture, painting, literature, dance, and music...
fiction that caused it to be visited by a giant mute robot.
Cottington
Cottington is, or rather was, an obscure and unsung little country hamlet in the West Country of England which was, for the last three years prior to the demolition of Earth, Arthur Dent's home. If the Vogons had not shown up, Cottington was scheduled to be transformed into a service station for the very "splendid and worthwhile" New Beddingford bypass
Bypass (road)
A bypass is a road or highway that avoids or "bypasses" a built-up area, town, or village, to let through traffic flow without interference from local traffic, to reduce congestion in the built-up area, and to improve road safety....
, with the village being transformed into the Cottington Service Station
Motorway service area
In the UK motorway service areas, also known as service stations, are places where drivers can leave a motorway to refuel, rest, or take refreshments. The vast majority of motorway services in the UK are owned by one of three companies: Moto, Welcome Break and RoadChef. Extra are also developing a...
, despite the unpopularity of this project with the locals.
The village has a small hotel with a saloon bar named the Horse and Groom.
Croydon
A town in Surrey which is the home, at least metaphorically, of "Martin Smith". When Arthur Dent, upon meeting Zaphod Beeblebrox, unexpectedly tells Ford Prefect that they had met previously, Ford insists that Zaphod is "not bloody Martin Smith from Croydon." It turns out, however, that Zaphod has previously visited the Earth and indeed met Arthur (very briefly) at a party.
Glastonbury
On Earth, Glastonbury was a short-lived location for the Guide's financial records office - ten years' worth of financial records were transferred to a magic hill just outside the town mere hours before the Vogons arrived, in .
Guildford
Guildford, a town in southeastern England, is where Ford Prefect usually claimed to be from, as opposed to Betelgeuse, which is where he was actually from.
Islington
At a party in Islington
Islington
Islington is a neighbourhood in Greater London, England and forms the central district of the London Borough of Islington. It is a district of Inner London, spanning from Islington High Street to Highbury Fields, encompassing the area around the busy Upper Street...
(a section of London), about six months before the destruction of the Earth, Arthur totally failed to hit it off with Tricia McMillan (Trillian), who instead went off with "Phil", a space alien who turned out to be Zaphod Beeblebrox.
Islington also was the location of the cave in which Arthur lived during Earth's prehistoric period, as described in the third novel. Two million years later, exactly the same spot was the location of Fenchurch's home as described in the fourth novel.
New York
The Hitchhiker's Guide advises any alien visitor to New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
to get a job as a cab driver, as it does not require a human appearance, knowledge of the English language or indeed the local laws of physics. It won't matter where you land your ship, as no one will notice. The East River
East River
The East River is a tidal strait in New York City. It connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates Long Island from the island of Manhattan and the Bronx on the North American mainland...
is particularly recommended for many amphibious lifeforms from the Swulling, Noxios or Nausalia systems, as its pollution
Pollution
Pollution is the introduction of contaminants into a natural environment that causes instability, disorder, harm or discomfort to the ecosystem i.e. physical systems or living organisms. Pollution can take the form of chemical substances or energy, such as noise, heat or light...
is richer in nutrients than any known synthetic alternative.
Norway
A particular love of its creator, the Magrathean Slartibartfast
Slartibartfast
Slartibartfast is a fictional character in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a comedy/science fiction series created by Douglas Adams. The character appears in the first and third novels, the first and third radio series , the 1981 television series and the 2005 feature film...
, who eulogises its "lovely crinkly edges". For a time in the distant past, fjord
Fjord
Geologically, a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created in a valley carved by glacial activity.-Formation:A fjord is formed when a glacier cuts a U-shaped valley by abrasion of the surrounding bedrock. Glacial melting is accompanied by rebound of Earth's crust as the ice...
s were fashionable and he won an award for their design. During their trek away from the site of Golgafrinchan ark crash, Ford and Arthur see Slartibartfast's likeness and signature carved into an ice wall in one of the fjords, making them realize that they are on prehistoric Earth.
Rickmansworth
Rickmansworth is a place in England where, according to the prologue to the first novel, a young woman sitting on her own in a small cafe (later identified as Fenchurch in the fourth book) realized how the Earth could be made a good and happy place. Unfortunately, this epiphany came to her just before the Earth was demolished by the Vogons.
Southend-on-Sea
A distorted version of Southend is one of the visions that confront Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect when the Improbability Drive of the Heart of Gold transports them to the ship from outer space having been thrown out from the Vogon ship. This version of Southend created by the Improbability Drive is in all respects very similar to the normal one, except that the buildings wash up onto the sea and not the other way around.
Stepney
Stepney is the final resting place, the Guide says, of the chef who dies forgotten and alone among his cats in a back stair, whose memorial is those plastic pins in the shape of a chef's hat found in pub sausages. In So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish
So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish is the fourth book of the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy "trilogy" written by Douglas Adams. Its title is the message left by the dolphins when they departed Planet Earth just before it was demolished to make way for a hyperspace bypass, as described in The...
.
Taunton
In Arthur and Fenchurch have a drink in a pub in Taunton (Somerset, England), and where Arthur wins a raffle and later spends time rooting though the bins in search of the raffle ticket on which Fenchurch wrote her phone number.
Rupert
A planet in Earth's solar system beyond the orbit of Pluto. Rupert was named PersephonePersephone
In Greek mythology, Persephone , also called Kore , is the daughter of Zeus and the harvest-goddess Demeter, and queen of the underworld; she was abducted by Hades, the god-king of the underworld....
, but nicknamed Rupert after an astronomer's pet parrot
Parrot
Parrots, also known as psittacines , are birds of the roughly 372 species in 86 genera that make up the order Psittaciformes, found in most tropical and subtropical regions. The order is subdivided into three families: the Psittacidae , the Cacatuidae and the Strigopidae...
. It was eventually settled by the Grebulons.
In 2005, an actual tenth planet fitting Rupert's description was discovered beyond Pluto (which was considered a planet then, as opposed to a dwarf planet now). In a poll of the public conducted by New Scientist
New Scientist
New Scientist is a weekly non-peer-reviewed English-language international science magazine, which since 1996 has also run a website, covering recent developments in science and technology for a general audience. Founded in 1956, it is published by Reed Business Information Ltd, a subsidiary of...
magazine to search out potential names for the object, "Rupert" ranked #5, and "Persephone" was the top choice. The planet was, however, ultimately named Eris
Eris (dwarf planet)
Eris, formal designation 136199 Eris, is the most massive known dwarf planet in the Solar System and the ninth most massive body known to orbit the Sun directly...
.
Ursa Minor
Ursa MinorUrsa Minor
Ursa Minor , also known as the Little Bear, is a constellation in the northern sky. Like the Great Bear, the tail of the Little Bear may also be seen as the handle of a ladle, whence the name Little Dipper...
is home to some of the great galactic publishing and media corporations.
Ursa Minor Alpha
A silver trophy awarded at the Annual Ursa Minor Alpha Recreational Illusions Institute Awards Ceremony was later stolen and used as part of the key needed to unlock the Slo-Time envelope that surrounded the planet Krikkit.Ursa Minor Beta
The rich and sunny planet Ursa MinorUrsa Minor
Ursa Minor , also known as the Little Bear, is a constellation in the northern sky. Like the Great Bear, the tail of the Little Bear may also be seen as the handle of a ladle, whence the name Little Dipper...
Beta has the quite peculiar property that most of its surface consists of subtropic coastline. Even more peculiar, on this world it's always Saturday afternoon, just right before the beach bars close. Light City, the only city on Ursa Minor Beta, which can only be reached by plane, is the very place where the editorial offices of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy reside. A further anomaly in Light City is that the Lalamatine district, just behind the beach, is the only place on the planet not to enjoy a perpetual Saturday afternoon. Instead it is always early evening, with cooling breezes - this is where the nightclubs are located.
The novel The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe is the second book in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy comedy science fiction trilogy of five by Douglas Adams. It was originally published by Pan Books as a paperback. The book was inspired by the song "Grand Hotel" by British rock band Procol Harum...
states that "Ursa Minor Beta is, some say, one of the most appalling places in the known Universe."
"Although it is excruciatingly rich, horrifyingly sunny and more full of wonderfully exciting people than a pomegranate is of pips, it can hardly be insignificant that when a recent edition of Playbeing Magazine headlined an article with the words, 'When you are tired of Ursa Minor Beta you are tired of life', the suicide rate there quadrupled overnight."
Megadodo Publications
Megadodo Publications are the original publishers of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy series created by Douglas Adams. Originally a radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978, it was later adapted to other formats, and over several years it gradually became an international multi-media phenomenon...
. The company's headquarters were located on Ursa Minor Beta, in a pair of 30-story office buildings connected partway up their height by a walkway, so that the entire structure resembled a giant letter H. The relocation of the offices to a resort planet caused the company to lose much of its credibility among its customer base. One of the buildings was uprooted by a squadron of Frogstar fighters and brought to the Frogstar, in an attempt to capture and discipline rogue Galactic President Zaphod Beeblebrox
Zaphod Beeblebrox
Zaphod Beeblebrox is a fictional character in the various versions of the humorous science fiction story The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams who based him on his Cambridge contemporary, Johnny Simpson....
. The Megadodo lobby is always filled with grubby-looking hitchhikers
Hitchhiking
Hitchhiking is a means of transportation that is gained by asking people, usually strangers, for a ride in their automobile or other road vehicle to travel a distance that may either be short or long...
wanting to complain about the Guide's many inaccuracies.
The president of Megadodo Publications is Zarniwoop, who is always too cool
Cool (aesthetic)
Something regarded as cool is an admired aesthetic of attitude, behavior, comportment, appearance and style, influenced by and a product of the Zeitgeist. Because of the varied and changing connotations of cool, as well its subjective nature, the word has no single meaning. It has associations of...
to see visitors. Megadodo was criticized by its customers for setting up an artificial universe
Universe
The Universe is commonly defined as the totality of everything that exists, including all matter and energy, the planets, stars, galaxies, and the contents of intergalactic space. Definitions and usage vary and similar terms include the cosmos, the world and nature...
in order to allow its editors and contributors to collect book information without leaving their offices. Notably secretive (or destructive) about their financial and historical records, the entire company was later (in ) bought out by Infinidim Enterprises, which stopped selling the Guide to hitchhikers entirely and eliminated all of what Megadodo had once stood for, much to the disapproval of employee Ford Prefect
Ford Prefect (character)
Ford Prefect is a fictional character in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by the British author Douglas Adams. He is the only character other than the protagonist, Arthur Dent, to appear throughout the entire Hitchhiker's saga.-Name:Although Ford had taken great care to blend into Earth...
. The takeover was, in fact, part of a new plan by the Vogons to destroy Earth in all possible parallel dimensions - a plan that eventually succeeded.
Lalamatine district
The Lalamatine district of Ursa Minor Beta has shops, bolonut trees and pavement cafes and enjoys a cool perpetual early Saturday evening, from the second novel.
Ysdllodins
Ydsdllodins is the star system which, centuries ago, was the centre of the galactic insurance
Insurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
business. Its star went supernova
Supernova
A supernova is a stellar explosion that is more energetic than a nova. It is pronounced with the plural supernovae or supernovas. Supernovae are extremely luminous and cause a burst of radiation that often briefly outshines an entire galaxy, before fading from view over several weeks or months...
almost immediately after the destruction of the Starship Titanic
Starship Titanic
Starship Titanic is a computer adventure game designed by Douglas Adams and made by The Digital Village. It was released in 1998. It takes place on a starship of the same name which has undergone "Spontaneous Massive Existence Failure" and crash landed on Earth on its maiden voyage .The player...
. Its name is a partial anagram of "Lloyds ins", a reference to the ancient insurance market Lloyds of London.
Zarss
A star in Galactic Sector QQ7 Active J Gamma, beyond what used to be known as the Limitless Lightfields of Flanux, until the Grey Binding Fiefdoms of Saxaquine were discovered lying beyond them. It is orbited by the planet Preliumtarn, on which is the land of Sevorbeupstry, in which is the Great Red Plain of Rars, bounded on the South side by the Quentulus Quazgar Mountains. According to the dying words of Prak, written here in 30 feet (9.1 m) letters of fire is God's Final Message to His Creation. In , Arthur and Fenchurch journey here, and do indeed see the Message, and also discover Marvin the Paranoid Android there, who by that point is thirty-seven times older than the Universe itself.Allosimanius Syneca
Allosimanius Syneca is a planet noted for ice, snow, mind-hurtling beauty and stunning cold. The view from the top of the Ice Crystal Pyramids of Sastantua is widely known for its ability to release the observer's mind to hitherto unexperienced horizons of beauty.Argabuthon
Argabuthon is a technologically advanced planet whose perspex Sceptre of Justice turned out to be part of the key to the Wikkit Gate. It is also the home of Prak, a man placed into solitary confinement after an overdose of truth drug caused him to tell the Truth in its absolute and final form, causing anyone to hear it to go insane. The planet's Arglebard Forest provided the wood to build the Argabuthon Chamber of Law.Arkintoofle Minor
Motivated by the fact that the only thing in the Universe that travels faster than light is bad news, the Hingefreel people native to Arkintoofle Minor constructed a starship driven by bad news. Unfortunately, the ship's drives didn't work terribly well, and, even if they had, their fuel source rendered them incredibly unwelcome when they finally arrived at their destination, thus defeating the whole point of the exercise.Bartledan
An Earthlike planet on which Arthur DentArthur Dent
Arthur Philip Dent is a fictional character, the hapless protagonist and anti-hero in the comic science fiction series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams....
lived for a short time, Bartledan is inhabited by Bartledanians, a race that appears human but only physically. The major difference, aside from not needing to breathe, is a near-total state of apathy, expressing no emotion whatsoever. They are so uncaring that if a source of drinking water is not available, they will simply accept it and forgo the drink altogether, even if it results in their eventual death from extreme thirst. Otherwise, Bartledanians generally occupy their time by playing netball (with no particular intent to actually win) and writing literature that, rather than following conventional narrative structures, simply stop at 100,000 words.
Bethselamin
Bethselamin is a fabulously beautiful planet which attracts billions of tourists each year. Unsurprisingly, erosion is a serious concern of the local authorities. Their solution is to calculate the net imbalance between the amount of matter eaten and the amount subsequently excreted by each visitor, and remove the weight difference through amputative surgerySurgery
Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...
. Thus it is vitally important to get a receipt after every trip to the lavatory while on the planet.
Blagulon Kappa
Blagulon Kappa is the planet to which the police that attack Zaphod BeeblebroxZaphod Beeblebrox
Zaphod Beeblebrox is a fictional character in the various versions of the humorous science fiction story The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams who based him on his Cambridge contemporary, Johnny Simpson....
are native. Its air is rich in methane
Methane
Methane is a chemical compound with the chemical formula . It is the simplest alkane, the principal component of natural gas, and probably the most abundant organic compound on earth. The relative abundance of methane makes it an attractive fuel...
, and its inhabitants have thus evolved to breathe the gas.
Brequinda
Brequinda on the Foth of Avalars was famed in myth, legend and incredibly dull tri-d mini-series as home of the magnificent and magical Fuolornis Fire Dragon. As the Hitchhiker's Guide hardly ever updates, it now mystifies tourists who go to visit the City State of Brequinda.Brontitall
Brontitall is a planet with a warm, rich atmosphere and no mountains. It is populated by highly evolved bird people who live in the right ear of a 15-mile high marble statue of Arthur DentArthur Dent
Arthur Philip Dent is a fictional character, the hapless protagonist and anti-hero in the comic science fiction series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams....
, built as a reminder of the moment when Arthur (due to a freak occurrence) appeared in the sky over the city arguing with a Nutrimatic Drink Dispenser, inspiring the people of the planet to get rid of all robots
Neo-luddism
Neo-Luddism is a personal world view opposing any modern technology. Its name is based on the historical legacy of the British Luddites which were active between 1811 and 1816...
.
On the ground, three clones
Cloning
Cloning in biology is the process of producing similar populations of genetically identical individuals that occurs in nature when organisms such as bacteria, insects or plants reproduce asexually. Cloning in biotechnology refers to processes used to create copies of DNA fragments , cells , or...
of an archaeologist called Lintilla discover the strata
Stratum
In geology and related fields, a stratum is a layer of sedimentary rock or soil with internally consistent characteristics that distinguish it from other layers...
of shoes, thus revealing the planet's history.
Nearby, a derelict spaceport contains a number of crumbling old spaceships, but one of which is still on power, "delayed" for over 900 years due to the non-arrival of its complement of lemon-soaked paper napkins.
Originally the bird people were ground dwellers, but gradually the planet was taken over by the shoe shops of the Dolmansaxlil Shoe Corporation, apparently thanks to the shoe shop intensifier ray deployed by the corporation in order to keep the populace buying more and more poorly made and ill-fitting shoes. The guide later reveals that the shoe shop intensifier ray "is, in actuality, a phony, designed to make Dolmansaxlil executives feel they are doing something excitingly aggressive, when in fact all they need to do is wait". Rather than falling to the predation of the corporation, the planet had instead succumbed to the natural state of decay known as the Shoe Event Horizon.
Shoe Event Horizon
The foundation of the Shoe Event Horizon theory is that when depressedDepression (mood)
Depression is a state of low mood and aversion to activity that can affect a person's thoughts, behaviour, feelings and physical well-being. Depressed people may feel sad, anxious, empty, hopeless, helpless, worthless, guilty, irritable, or restless...
, people tend to look down, and when they look down, they see their shoe
Shoe
A shoe is an item of footwear intended to protect and comfort the human foot while doing various activities. Shoes are also used as an item of decoration. The design of shoes has varied enormously through time and from culture to culture, with appearance originally being tied to function...
s. To cheer themselves up, they might buy themselves a new pair. Thus, in a generally depressed society, demand for shoes will rise.
In the critical condition, demand for shoes rises faster than the capacity to make good quality footwear. As shoe quality decreases, the demand increases further because shoes wear out faster and need to be replaced more often; as the demand for shoes increases, cheap mass production
Mass production
Mass production is the production of large amounts of standardized products, including and especially on assembly lines...
causes shoe quality to drop even more. What results is a spiral of increasing shoe demand and decreasing shoe quality. Eventually, this destabilizes the economy to the point where it is "no longer economically viable to build anything other than shoe shops", and planetary society collapses.
Adams had gone to London's Oxford Street
Oxford Street
Oxford Street is a major thoroughfare in the City of Westminster in the West End of London, United Kingdom. It is Europe's busiest shopping street, as well as its most dense, and currently has approximately 300 shops. The street was formerly part of the London-Oxford road which began at Newgate,...
where, quoting him, "You can't throw a brick without breaking a shoe shop window". Despite every shop stocking thousands of shoes, none had a pair which was the right size, price, or colour, or which was comfortable, durable or stylish without being outrageous.
Brontitall is only mentioned in the original BBC radio show. However, in the books, Frogstar B has some (but not all) of the attributes of Brontitall.
Broop Kidron 13
Home to the Shaltanacs, the happiest race in the galaxy, due to not having a word or phrase for unhappy. Presumably the Shaltanacs never had a Shoe Event Horizon.Ciceronicus 12
Ciceronicus 12 is the planet on which the Great Hyperlobic Omni-Cognate Neutron Wrangler, the Magic and Indefatigable, is located.Damogran
A small, remote, uninteresting planet whose surface comprises a number of small, uninteresting islands surrounded by ocean. Two of these islands are coincidentally named "Easter IslandEaster Island
Easter Island is a Polynesian island in the southeastern Pacific Ocean, at the southeasternmost point of the Polynesian triangle. A special territory of Chile that was annexed in 1888, Easter Island is famous for its 887 extant monumental statues, called moai, created by the early Rapanui people...
" and "France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
". The starship Heart Of Gold was built on this planet and promptly stolen by Zaphod Beeblebrox at its launching.
The background shot used in the film version contains a view of Church Rock, near Stackpole in Pembrokeshire in west Wales, UK. This location is later used (in unaltered form) during the flyby sequence of Slartibartfast and Arthur in the planet-builder's factory.
Dangrabad Beta
Dangrabad Beta is noted for its sand blizzards. The Googolplex Star Thinker was said to have been able to calculate the trajectory of every single dust particle throughout a five-week Dangrabad Beta sand blizzard.Earth
Mostly harmless.For more information, see: The Sun
Eroticon VI
Place of residence of Eccentrica Gallumbits, a triple-breasted whore who is mentioned several times throughout the series. Her erogenous zones are thought to extend to a distance of four miles around her actual body. Ford Prefect disagrees, believing it to be five.Esflovian
Mentioned in a Guide entry on the first Hitchhikers LP sleeve, Esflovian is a "planet populated by the descendants of an ancient personal-growth-orientated hippy peace commune... It is rumoured to have destroyed itself in recent nuclear encounter therapy".Fallia
The planet Fallia is best known for its marshes which, according to the instructions on how to make a proper Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster, are quite dangerous. You should allow four litres of Fallian marsh gas to bubble through the drink "in memory of all those happy Hikers who have died of pleasure in the Marshes of Fallia." It can therefore be assumed that these gases are highly intoxicating, possibly even hallucinogenic.Gagrakacka
The band Disaster Area were from the Gagrakacka Mind Zones. It is later referred to as a place with all that stuff going on out there in Mostly HarmlessMostly Harmless
Mostly Harmless is a novel by Douglas Adams and the fifth book in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. It is described on the cover of the first editions as "The fifth book in the increasingly inaccurately named Hitchhikers Trilogy"...
. It is also one of the 85 percent of inhabited worlds in the galaxy that has, for reasons unknown, independently developed a drink named with a phonetic variant of "gin and tonic
Gin and tonic
A gin and tonic is a highball cocktail made with gin and tonic water poured over ice. It is usually garnished with a slice or wedge of lime, or lemon. The amount of gin varies according to taste...
s." The Gagrakakan version, however, tzjin-anthony-ks, can kill cows at a hundred paces.
Golgafrincham
Golgafrincham is a red semi-desert planet that is home of the Great Circling Poets of Arium and a species of particularly inspiring lichenLichen
Lichens are composite organisms consisting of a symbiotic organism composed of a fungus with a photosynthetic partner , usually either a green alga or cyanobacterium...
. Its people decided it was time to rid themselves of an entire useless third of their population, and so the descendants of the Circling Poets concocted a story that their planet would shortly be destroyed in a great catastrophe. (It was apparently under threat from a "mutant star goat"). The useless third of the population (consisting of hairdresser
Hairdresser
Hairdresser is a term referring to anyone whose occupation is to cut or style hair in order to change or maintain a person's image. This is achieved using a combination of hair coloring, haircutting, and hair texturing techniques...
s, tired TV producer
Television producer
The primary role of a television Producer is to allow all aspects of video production, ranging from show idea development and cast hiring to shoot supervision and fact-checking...
s*, insurance
Insurance
In law and economics, insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. An insurer is a company selling the...
sales
Sales
A sale is the act of selling a product or service in return for money or other compensation. It is an act of completion of a commercial activity....
men, personnel officer
Human resource management
Human Resource Management is the management of an organization's employees. While human resource management is sometimes referred to as a "soft" management skill, effective practice within an organization requires a strategic focus to ensure that people resources can facilitate the achievement of...
s, security guard
Security guard
A security guard is a person who is paid to protect property, assets, or people. Security guards are usually privately and formally employed personnel...
s, management consultants, telephone sanitisers and the like) were packed into the B-Ark, one of three purported giant Ark spaceships, and told that everyone else would follow shortly in the other two. The other two thirds of the population, of course, did not follow and "led full, rich and happy lives until they were all suddenly wiped out by a virulent disease contracted from a dirty telephone".
The B-Ark was programmed to crash-land on a suitably remote planet on one of the outer spiral arms of the galaxy, which happened to be Earth, and the Golgafrinchan rejects gradually mingled with and usurped the native cavemen**, becoming the ancestors of humanity and thereby altering and distorting the course of the great experiment to find the question for the Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything, or so Ford Prefect presumes. A lot of them didn't make it through the winter three years prior to Arthur Dent
Arthur Dent
Arthur Philip Dent is a fictional character, the hapless protagonist and anti-hero in the comic science fiction series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams....
's reunion with Ford Prefect
Ford Prefect (character)
Ford Prefect is a fictional character in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by the British author Douglas Adams. He is the only character other than the protagonist, Arthur Dent, to appear throughout the entire Hitchhiker's saga.-Name:Although Ford had taken great care to blend into Earth...
, and the few who remained in the spring said they needed a holiday and set out on a raft. History says they must have survived.
People from Golgafrincham are called Golgafrinchans. In some versions of , the planet is also referred to as "Golgafrinchan", but this usage is less common and is thought to be an error of typography.
The city of Vassilian on the planet of Golgafrincham is where the five princes journey of the traditional long poems started from, in the second novel.
Han Wavel
An exotic holiday planet, Han Wavel is one of the wonders of the Galaxy, a world of fabulous ultra-luxury hotels and casinos, all of which have been formed by the natural erosion of wind and rain. However geophysicists, probability statisticians, meteoranalysts or bizzarrologists who are keen to research this curious effect cannot afford to stay there to find how this "infinity to one against" situation came about. It appears in .Happi-Werld III
Home of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation Teleport Systems factory. As per usual with the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation, their teleport systems seldom work properly, and the results are, as can be imagined, rather alarming. For this reason the planet has seen an almost continuous mob of protestors outside the factory, chanting songs of defiance, one featuring the memorable lyrics: "I teleported home last night with Ron and Sid and Meg/Ron stole Meggy's heart away and I got Sidney's leg."Hawalius
Hawalius, was home to oracles, seers, soothsayers and take-away pizza shops, but was being Plutoed by time-travelling journalists, taking away the planet's trade. Arthur Dent travelled there and met the smelly Old Woman in the Cave (with a solar-powered photocopier) and the Old Man on the Poles in .Jaglan Beta
Jaglan Beta is, evidently, the second planet in a star system near the Axle Nebula. The entry on the usefulness of towels in the Hitchhiker's Guide notes that Jaglan Beta's moons are quite cold, and that a towel is useful for wrapping up with while on them.In the parking lot at Milliways, Ford Prefect briefly recounts a tale about being passed by a Lazlar Lyricon custom spaceship that subsequently crashed into the third moon of Jaglan Beta, observing that the ship looked like a fish and moved like a fish, but steered like a cow.
A popular showtune in the Hitchhiker's universe is "I Left My Leg in Jaglan Beta
I Left My Heart in San Francisco
"I Left My Heart in San Francisco" is a popular song, written in 1954 by George Cory and Douglass Cross, and best known as the signature song of Tony Bennett...
."
Jajazikstak
Jajazikstak is homeworld to the warlike Strangulous Stilettans in .Kakrafoon Kappa
Kakrafoon is an arid world which has a reddish surface similar to that of MarsMars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
. Unlike Mars, Kakrafoon has a sentient species
Sentience
Sentience is the ability to feel, perceive or be conscious, or to have subjective experiences. Eighteenth century philosophers used the concept to distinguish the ability to think from the ability to feel . In modern western philosophy, sentience is the ability to have sensations or experiences...
known as the Belcerebons, who are a very accomplished and above all quiet race. Because this quietness was deemed antisocial by the rest of the galaxy, the Belcerebons were sentenced by Galactic Tribunal to be telepathic. The only way for them to avoid mentally broadcasting every thought that crossed their minds was to make incessant chattering small talk about mundane subjects like the weather. Another method, it turns out, was to play host to a Disaster Area
Disaster area
A disaster area is a region or a locale heavily damaged by either natural hazards, such as tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, floods, earthquakes, technological hazards including nuclear and radiation accidents, or sociological hazards like riots, terrorism or war. The population living there often...
rock concert
Rock concert
The term rock concert refers to a musical performance in the style of any one of many genres inspired by "rock and roll" music. While a variety of vocal and instrumental styles can constitute a rock concert, this phenomenon is typically characterized by bands playing at least one electric guitar,...
.
In fact, one such concert, following Hotblack Desiato's visit to Milliways, was so apocalyptically loud that not only did it permanently disperse the Belcerebons' telepathy, but the whole landscape of Kakrafoon's Rudlit Desert was turned upside down like a big pancake, then hit by the solar flares from the star nearest it when Hotblack's stuntship hit it. These flares caused the desert land to turn into a great, beautiful fertile landscape. Hotblack's agent would later call it "a good gig", although the event may or may not have had anything to do with the large Improbability Field passing through the area at the time.
Kria
Homeworld of the Azgoths, Kria is therefore home to the second worst poetry in the Universe according to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the GalaxyThe Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a science fiction comedy series created by Douglas Adams. Originally a radio comedy broadcast on BBC Radio 4 in 1978, it was later adapted to other formats, and over several years it gradually became an international multi-media phenomenon...
. Azgoth poetry was once exceeded in awfulness by a human poet from Essex, England (on Earth), though the Vogons' demolition of that planet leaves the Azgoths in the top spot. Their poetry master, Grunthos the Flatulent, is best known for his work "Ode to a Small Lump of Putty I Found in my Armpit One Midsummer Morning", which caused four listeners to die of internal hemorrhaging and forced a fifth to gnaw his own legs off to survive. However, Grunthos was reportedly "disappointed" by this reception, so apparently the Azgoths' poetry isn't as deliberately awful as Vogon poetry seems to be. An attempt to embark on another of his works, "Zen And The Art Of Going To The Lavatory", was thwarted when his major intestine leapt up through his neck and throttled his brain in ana ttempt to preserve civilization.
Krikkit
The planet Krikkit is (at the beginning of ) located in a dust cloudNebula
A nebula is an interstellar cloud of dust, hydrogen gas, helium gas and other ionized gases...
composed chiefly of the disintegrated remains of the enormous spaceborne computer
Computer
A computer is a programmable machine designed to sequentially and automatically carry out a sequence of arithmetic or logical operations. The particular sequence of operations can be changed readily, allowing the computer to solve more than one kind of problem...
Hactar. Hactar was originally created by the Silastic Armorfiends of Striterax to design the Ultimate Weapon. Hactar produced a very, very small bomb that, when activated, would connect every star to every other star, cause them to all go supernova
Supernova
A supernova is a stellar explosion that is more energetic than a nova. It is pronounced with the plural supernovae or supernovas. Supernovae are extremely luminous and cause a burst of radiation that often briefly outshines an entire galaxy, before fading from view over several weeks or months...
simultaneously and, thus, destroy the universe. The bomb proved dysfunctional because Hactar had designed it with a tiny flaw, reasoning that no consequence could be worse than that of setting the bomb off. The Silastic Armorfiends disagreed and destroyed Hactar.
Due to the dust cloud, the sky above Krikkit was completely black, and thus the people of Krikkit led insular lives and never realised the existence of the Universe. With the population thus prepared, Hactar, disintegrated but still functional, built and crashed a model spaceship onto Krikkit in order to introduce its inhabitants to the concept of the Universe. Secretly guided by Hactar, the Krikkiters built their first spaceship, Krikkit One, penetrated the dust cloud, and surveyed the Universe before them. Unbeknownst to the Krikkiters, Hactar had been subliminally conditioning their minds to the point where they could not accept a Universe into their world view
World view
A comprehensive world view is the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society encompassing the entirety of the individual or society's knowledge and point-of-view, including natural philosophy; fundamental, existential, and normative postulates; or themes, values, emotions, and...
with the intention of putting them into a similar mindset to that of the Silastic Armorfiends. Sooner or later, they would require an Ultimate Weapon, and this would allow Hactar to finally complete his purpose, something he had felt considerably guilty about not doing before. Upon first witnessing the glory and splendor of the Universe, they casually, whimsically, decided to destroy it, remarking, "It'll have to go." Aided again by the mind of Hactar, the Krikkiters built an incredible battlefleet and waged a massive war against the entire Universe. The Galaxy, then in an era of relative peace, was unprepared, and spent the next 2,000 years fighting the Krikkiters in war that resulted in about two "grillion" casualties.
When Krikkit was eventually defeated, Judiciary Pag sentenced Krikkit and its sun to be sealed in a Slo-Time envelope within which time would pass almost infinitely slowly until the end of the Universe, thus serving the dual purpose of protecting the Universe from Krikkit, and allowing the Krikkiters to enjoy a solitary existence in the twilight of Creation. Light would be deflected around the envelope, making it invisible and impenetrable. The Wikkit Gate, the key that would unlock the envelope, was disintegrated into time, and could therefore not be used to free the planet from the envelope ahead of time.
However, a Krikkit warship carrying deadly white robots of the kind used in the war escaped before the envelope was sealed, and, within a brief ten billion years, managed to reassemble the Wikkit Gate. The Gate was composed of the Steel
Steel
Steel is an alloy that consists mostly of iron and has a carbon content between 0.2% and 2.1% by weight, depending on the grade. Carbon is the most common alloying material for iron, but various other alloying elements are used, such as manganese, chromium, vanadium, and tungsten...
Pillar
Column
A column or pillar in architecture and structural engineering is a vertical structural element that transmits, through compression, the weight of the structure above to other structural elements below. For the purpose of wind or earthquake engineering, columns may be designed to resist lateral forces...
of Strength and Power (Marvin the Paranoid Android
Marvin the Paranoid Android
Marvin, the Paranoid Android, is a fictional character in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams. Marvin is the ship's robot aboard the starship Heart of Gold...
's artificial leg), the Golden Bail
Bail (cricket)
In the sport of cricket, a bail is one of the two smaller sticks placed on top of the three stumps to form a wicket. The bails are used to determine when the wicket is broken, which in turn is one of the critical factors in determining whether a batsman is out bowled, stumped, run out or hit wicket...
of Prosperity (The Heart of Gold, the small golden box that makes the Infinite Improbability Drive function), the Perspex Pillar of Science and Reason (The Argabuthon Scepter of Justice; "Plastic
Plastic
A plastic material is any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic solids used in the manufacture of industrial products. Plastics are typically polymers of high molecular mass, and may contain other substances to improve performance and/or reduce production costs...
Pillar" in the American version), the Silver
Silver
Silver is a metallic chemical element with the chemical symbol Ag and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it has the highest electrical conductivity of any element and the highest thermal conductivity of any metal...
Bail of Peace (The Rory Award For The Most Gratuitous Use Of The Word "Fuck" In A Serious Screenplay—The Rory Award for the Most Gratuitous Use of the Word "Belgium" in a Serious Screenplay in the American version), and the Wood
Wood
Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...
en Pillar of Nature and Spirituality (The reconstituted ashes of the stump signifying the death of English cricket: see The Ashes
The Ashes
The Ashes is a Test cricket series played between England and Australia. It is one of the most celebrated rivalries in international cricket and dates back to 1882. It is currently played biennially, alternately in the United Kingdom and Australia. Cricket being a summer sport, and the venues...
).
The robots unsealed the envelope, but Arthur, Slartibartfast
Slartibartfast
Slartibartfast is a fictional character in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a comedy/science fiction series created by Douglas Adams. The character appears in the first and third novels, the first and third radio series , the 1981 television series and the 2005 feature film...
, Trillian
Trillian (character)
Tricia McMillan, also known as Trillian Astra, is a fictional character from Douglas Adams' series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. She is most commonly referred to simply as "Trillian", a modification of her birth name, which she adopted because it sounded more "space-like". According to the...
, and Ford Prefect
Ford Prefect (character)
Ford Prefect is a fictional character in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by the British author Douglas Adams. He is the only character other than the protagonist, Arthur Dent, to appear throughout the entire Hitchhiker's saga.-Name:Although Ford had taken great care to blend into Earth...
, with the unintentional help of Marvin
Marvin the Paranoid Android
Marvin, the Paranoid Android, is a fictional character in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams. Marvin is the ship's robot aboard the starship Heart of Gold...
, were able to disperse Hactar's particles, freeing the Krikkiters from his continued influence, and thus saving the Universe. Arthur then went to live on Krikkit for three years, before leaving for an unexplained reason.
Krikkit also managed to leave other marks besides the destruction of numerous worlds: due to racial memories, the Earth sport of cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
and the pan-dimensional sport of Brockian Ultra-Cricket were based on the Krikkit Wars. Slartibartfast enjoys the game of cricket, but he notes that most sensible citizens of the galaxy find the sport to be in rather bad taste.
The Krikketers are described as humanoid
Humanoid
A humanoid is something that has an appearance resembling a human being. The term first appeared in 1912 to refer to fossils which were morphologically similar to, but not identical with, those of the human skeleton. Although this usage was common in the sciences for much of the 20th century, it...
aliens who are charming and polite, despite their cosmocidal tendencies. They are capable of composing incredibly moving and poetic music. Some of the younger Krikketers are interested in developing sporting links with the rest of the Universe rather than destroying it.
(Most of the Krikkit material from the novel was adapted by Adams from an episode treatment, "Doctor Who and the Krikkitmen", which he had written for the television series Doctor Who
Doctor Who
Doctor Who is a British science fiction television programme produced by the BBC. The programme depicts the adventures of a time-travelling humanoid alien known as the Doctor who explores the universe in a sentient time machine called the TARDIS that flies through time and space, whose exterior...
. It would have featured the Fourth Doctor
Fourth Doctor
The Fourth Doctor is the fourth incarnation of the protagonist of the long-running BBC British television science-fiction series Doctor Who....
and Sarah Jane Smith
Sarah Jane Smith
Sarah Jane Smith is a fictional character played by Elisabeth Sladen in the long-running British BBC Television science-fiction series Doctor Who and its spin-offs K-9 and Company and The Sarah Jane Adventures....
.)
The "Krikkit Song" was composed and performed by Philip Pope
Philip Pope
Philip R. J. Pope is a British composer and actor. He was educated at Downside School and New College, Oxford.-Performer:He appeared in the Oxford Revue in Edinburgh Festival Fringe in 1978 and 1979, both with Angus Deayton...
for , featured on An Informational Visit and Arthur Diverted, first broadcast on BBC Radio 4, 5 October 2004.
The song's lyrics provided clues to Arthur Dent
Arthur Dent
Arthur Philip Dent is a fictional character, the hapless protagonist and anti-hero in the comic science fiction series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams....
and Ford Prefect
Ford Prefect
Ford Prefect may refer to:* Ford Prefect , a line of British cars produced by the UK section of the Ford Motor Company from 1948 - 1961* Ford Prefect , a character in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, named after the car...
that the people of Krikkit could never see any neighbouring planets or stars, and the odd effects that may have on them. The song also features in when Ford Prefect
Ford Prefect
Ford Prefect may refer to:* Ford Prefect , a line of British cars produced by the UK section of the Ford Motor Company from 1948 - 1961* Ford Prefect , a character in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, named after the car...
pays Elvis to play the song at the Domain of the King and incidentally starts to cry.
Lamuella
Lamuella is the planet on which Arthur DentArthur Dent
Arthur Philip Dent is a fictional character, the hapless protagonist and anti-hero in the comic science fiction series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams....
lives and works as The Sandwich Maker at the start of . The planet is mostly made up of villages, though there is only one significant settlement on the planet. It intersects a plural zone, allowing for teleportation to the Domain of the King. The primary species of the planet are humanoids, Perfectly Normal Beasts - named thus by Old Thrashbarg, and Pikka Birds. The residents of Lamuella worship a deity by the name of Almighty Bob. Among the many things Arthur likes about Lamuella are the number of suns and moons (one of each), the number of hours in a day (25, giving him an extra hour in bed and a few minutes every day adjusting his watch, a task he greatly enjoys) and the number of days in a year (about 300, so the year doesn't drag on). The planet is mostly unknown, so few space travelers ever taste the superbly made sandwiches that would be the planet's claim to fame.
Magrathea
Magrathea is an ancient planetPlanet
A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...
located in orbit around the twin suns
Soulianis and Rahm in the heart of the Horsehead nebula
Horsehead Nebula
The Horsehead Nebula is a dark nebula in the constellation Orion. The nebula is located just to the south of the star Alnitak, which is farthest east on Orion's Belt, and is part of the much larger Orion Molecular Cloud Complex. The Horsehead Nebula is approximately 1500 light years from Earth...
. Magrathea is a planet whose economy was based on the manufacturing of other planets for the wealthiest people in the universe. It was the people of Magrathea (known as "Magratheans") who created the Earth.
Magrathea is considered the home of the industry of "Custom-made luxury planet building." It was a market aimed at the richest of the rich, during the days of the former Galactic Empire. The Magratheans would design and create entire planets for wealthy clients. They were so successful that Magrathea became the richest planet of all time. However, this resulted in the rest of the galaxy
Milky Way
The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains the Solar System. This name derives from its appearance as a dim un-resolved "milky" glowing band arching across the night sky...
being plunged into abject poverty and the economy collapsing. The planet then faded from memory with most people believing it to be just a myth.
Amongst the clients who asked for planets to be created were a race of hyper-intelligent pan-dimensional beings who asked the Magratheans to create the Earth which, in addition to being a planet, was a super-computer designed to calculate the ultimate question to the ultimate answer to life, the universe, and everything. Amongst the people who worked on it was Slartibartfast
Slartibartfast
Slartibartfast is a fictional character in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, a comedy/science fiction series created by Douglas Adams. The character appears in the first and third novels, the first and third radio series , the 1981 television series and the 2005 feature film...
, a coastal designer who won an award for his work on Norway.
The surface of the planet appears to be dead, described as "blighted", with the Magratheans kept in cryogenic sleep
Cryogenics
In physics, cryogenics is the study of the production of very low temperature and the behavior of materials at those temperatures. A person who studies elements under extremely cold temperature is called a cryogenicist. Rather than the relative temperature scales of Celsius and Fahrenheit,...
within the planet, not to be awakened until the economy was again strong enough to afford luxury planets. The book says that, "Bits of it were dullish grey, bits of it dullish brown, the rest of it rather less interesting to look at. It was like a dried-out 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....
, now barren of all vegetation and covered with a layer of dust about an inch thick. It was very cold." They were later awakened for the reconstruction of the Earth (the Earth, Mk. II).
The word Magrathea might come from Agartha
Agartha
Agartha is a legendary city that is said to reside in the earth's core. It is related to the belief in a hollow earth and is a popular subject in esotericism....
, a supposed underground kingdom from which Aryans originated in Nazi and Tibetan ideology .
When the television version
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy (TV series)
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, is a BBC television adaptation of Douglas Adams's The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy broadcast in January and February 1981 on BBC Two...
of the series was made, a clay pit in St Austell
St Austell
St Austell is a civil parish and a major town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated on the south coast approximately ten miles south of Bodmin and 30 miles west of the border with Devon at Saltash...
, Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
was used to film the exterior shots of Magrathea. Creator of the series Douglas Adams
Douglas Adams
Douglas Noel Adams was an English writer and dramatist. He is best known as the author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, which started life in 1978 as a BBC radio comedy before developing into a "trilogy" of five books that sold over 15 million copies in his lifetime, a television...
however, claimed that he wanted to film in Iceland
Iceland
Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...
or Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
, but these locations were too expensive.
In the radio series and TV series (but not the novels or the film), Magrathea is the location of Milliways, the Restaurant at the End of the Universe.
In , you complete the game once you set foot on Magrathea.
Nano
In , Nano is the home of an Earth colony led by Hillman Hunter.NowWhat
NowWhat is a planetPlanet
A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...
in the Whole Sort of General Mish Mash formerly known as the Hitchhiker's Guide universe. NowWhat can be found in place of planet Earth at an unlikely position along the probability axis, in an alternate universe.
According to , "the planet of NowWhat had been named after the opening words of the first settlers to arrive there after struggling across light-years of space to reach the furthest unexplored outreaches of the Galaxy. The main town was called OhWell."
The only export of NowWhat is the NowWhattian boghog skin, which no one in their right minds would want to buy because it's thin and very leaky, and the export trade only manages to survive because of the significant number of people in the Galaxy who are not in their right minds.
Travellers that arrive on NowWhat are greeted by a picture of the president smiling a ghastly smile; the picture was taken after he shot himself, and the missing corner of his face had been drawn in crayon. Everyone there pursues one ambition: to leave.
Arthur Dent
Arthur Dent
Arthur Philip Dent is a fictional character, the hapless protagonist and anti-hero in the comic science fiction series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams....
arrives on NowWhat in search of Earth. After turning the map upside down and adjusting for different sea levels, he discovers that the shapes of the continents of NowWhat resemble those of the planet Earth. For lack of any other similarity Arthur Dent concludes that it is the right planet but the wrong universe and leaves again.
Oglaroon
The large forest planet Oglaroon is home to the Oglaroonians, an "intelligent" species who maintain an entire civilisation, including some extremely small wars, in one small nut tree, believing it to be the entire universe, and other trees to be merely Oglanut-induced illusions. From .Poghril
Located in the Pansel system, Poghril was once inhabited by a primitive tribe of humanoids, who were wiped out by famine, with the exception of one man. A few weeks after the Infinite Improbability Drive caused a space-time rip to dump two hundred and thirty-nine thousand lightly fried eggs on the planet, this man died of cholesterol poisoning.Santraginus V
Santraginus V is a planet known widely for its marble-sanded beaches. SeawaterSeawater
Seawater is water from a sea or ocean. On average, seawater in the world's oceans has a salinity of about 3.5% . This means that every kilogram of seawater has approximately of dissolved salts . The average density of seawater at the ocean surface is 1.025 g/ml...
from the oceans adjoining those beaches, which contain extremely oblivious fish that apparently don't care where they're going, forms a key ingredient for the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster. The drummer of rock band Disaster Area once stayed here while the rest of the band moved onto the next tour location (the planet Kakrafoon), and found a small pebble that he declared would be his friend.
Saquo-Pilia Hensha
Saquo-Pilia Hensha is the planet to which the headquarters of the Guide are moved after InfiniDim Enterprises bought it out. One of Saquo-Pilia Hensha's most renowned holidays is Assumption of St. Antwelm. Because King Antwelm assumed everybody wanted to be happy, enjoy themselves, and have the best possible time together, on his death he willed his entire personal fortune to financing an annual festival for this purpose. Events of this holiday include a feast, dancing, and fatuous games such as Hunt the Wocket.Stegbartle Major
Stegbartle Major is a planet in the Constellation Fraz. In , it is noted that the Greater Drubbered Wintwock is no longer found there.Striterax
Striterax is the homeworld of the insanely aggressive Silastic Armorfiends in . A world ravaged by the insatiable combativeness of its sentient inhabitants, who abandoned the surface long ago and migrated into underground bunkers. Said Armorfiends have since blown themselves up, presumably taking the planet with them.Traal
Traal is a planet whose jungle swamps are home to the infamous Ravenous Bugblatter Beast, and because of its inclusion in the Guide, an infamous court case about the literal interpretation of the entry came about because it said "Beasts often make a very good meal for visiting tourists" rather than "beasts often make a very good meal of visiting tourists". Luckily, protection from the Beast can be attained by wrapping a towel around one's eyes, thanks to the fact that it is "so mind-boggling stupid it believes that if you can't see it, it can't see you". The planet has only one surviving oral hygenistDental hygienist
thumb|right|300px|Dental hygienist holding a scalerA dental hygienist is a licensed dental professional who specializes in preventive oral health, typically focusing on techniques in oral hygiene. Local dental regulations determine the scope of practice of dental hygienists...
.
Viltvodle VI
Viltvodle VI is the home world of the small, blue, fifty-armed Jatravartids, who live in perpetual fear of what they refer to as "The Coming of the Great White Handkerchief." This is their cosmology's version of the end of the Universe, and can be explained by the fact that they believe that the Universe was sneezed out of the nose of a being called the Great Green Arkleseizure.The Jatravartids are also unique because they were the first people in Universe who invented the aerosol deodorant before the wheel. In , they seem to not have invented the wheel at all, as a square-wheeled
Square wheel
A square wheel is a wheel that, instead of being circular, has the shape of a square. While literal square wheels exist, a more common use is as a metaphor meaning stereotypically bad or naïve engineering ....
bicycle
Bicycle
A bicycle, also known as a bike, pushbike or cycle, is a human-powered, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, having two wheels attached to a frame, one behind the other. A person who rides a bicycle is called a cyclist, or bicyclist....
can be seen in the foreground.
Other Galactic religions have sent missionaries to Viltvodle VI to attempt to convert the Jatravartids to whichever religion the specific missionary in question happens to be a follower of. The most notable of these missionaries is Humma Kavula (although in , he seems to be preaching the Jatravartids' religion).
In , the guide describes a bit of it. This passage is also included in :
Vod
A primeval planet (at least it was 10 billion years ago) with three suns, and at one time famed for its beaches, whose skies "glittered with some of the greatest tanning power ever known." Judiciary Pag stayed here after passing judgement on the people of Krikkit.Vogsphere
This is the homeworld of the VogonVogon
The Vogons are a fictional alien race from the planet Vogsphere in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams, who are responsible for the destruction of the Earth, in order to facilitate an intergalactic highway construction project. Vogons are slug-like but vaguely humanoid, are...
s. In the books it is said to be long-abandoned, although in it still seems to be a "thriving" (if the word can be used) administrative center. According to , anyone standing on Vogsphere must be careful not to think, because the planet is infested with shovel
Shovel
A shovel is a tool for digging, lifting, and moving bulk materials, such as soil, coal, gravel, snow, sand, or ore. Shovels are extremely common tools that are used extensively in agriculture, construction, and gardening....
-like creatures which leap up out of the ground and smack you in the face if you do so. These creatures, parasites which prey on free thought
Freethought
Freethought is a philosophical viewpoint that holds that opinions should be formed on the basis of science, logic, and reason, and should not be influenced by authority, tradition, or other dogmas...
and punish original ideas, were conceived by Adams and apparently represent the physical embodiment of bureaucracy
Bureaucracy
A bureaucracy is an organization of non-elected officials of a governmental or organization who implement the rules, laws, and functions of their institution, and are occasionally characterized by officialism and red tape.-Weberian bureaucracy:...
. It may be that the existence of such creatures on the Vogons' homeworld is the reason for their pathological hatred of independent thought, as survival on Vogsphere would entail avoiding such thinking. It is also home to scintillating jewel
Gemstone
A gemstone or gem is a piece of mineral, which, in cut and polished form, is used to make jewelry or other adornments...
-encrusted 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...
s, which the Vogons smash with hammers, and beautiful silk
Silk
Silk is a natural protein fiber, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. The best-known type of silk is obtained from the cocoons of the larvae of the mulberry silkworm Bombyx mori reared in captivity...
y-coated gazelle
Gazelle
A gazelle is any of many antelope species in the genus Gazella, or formerly considered to belong to it. Six species are included in two genera, Eudorcas and Nanger, which were formerly considered subgenera...
-like creatures, which the Vogons sit on (invariably fatally).
In , the exterior shots of Vogsphere were filmed at Trefil Quarry, a few miles north of Tredegar
Tredegar
Tredegar is a town situated on the Sirhowy River in the county borough of Blaenau Gwent, in south-east Wales. Located within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, it became an early centre of the Industrial Revolution in South Wales...
in south Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...
.
Voondon
Voondon is the home planet of the Holy Lunching Friars who were a great influence on the Guide's fourth editor, Lig Lury Jr. From .Xaxis
Home of the Xaxisian Giant Robot ship from , Xaxis is at war when Ford Prefect suggests that Bournemouth may be nicer. It is a democracy where the humanoid majority are ruled by a lizard elite. Although the humanoids hate the lizards, they won't vote against them, in case the wrong lizard gets in.Zirzla
Xaxis is fighting an automated war against Zirzla during .Artifactovol
Artifactovol is the name given to the great shipbuilding asteroid complexes which produced the majestic, luxurious cruise-liner Starship TitanicStarship Titanic
Starship Titanic is a computer adventure game designed by Douglas Adams and made by The Digital Village. It was released in 1998. It takes place on a starship of the same name which has undergone "Spontaneous Massive Existence Failure" and crash landed on Earth on its maiden voyage .The player...
. The ship was one of the first large experiments in Improbability Physics, with the intent being to make it Infinitely Improbable that anything would ever go wrong with any part of the ship. The shipbuilders were unaware that, due to the nature of Improbability calculations, that which is Infinitely Improbable is actually very likely to happen almost immediately upon the improper activation of an Infinite Improbability Drive. Before it could transmit its first radio message — an SOS — the ship underwent the most Infinitely Improbable occurrence: a most gratuitous Total existence failure.
In the novel Douglas Adams's Starship Titanic by Terry Jones
Terry Jones
Terence Graham Parry Jones is a Welsh comedian, screenwriter, actor, film director, children's author, popular historian, political commentator, and TV documentary host. He is best known as a member of the Monty Python comedy team....
, the Starship Titanic
Starship Titanic
Starship Titanic is a computer adventure game designed by Douglas Adams and made by The Digital Village. It was released in 1998. It takes place on a starship of the same name which has undergone "Spontaneous Massive Existence Failure" and crash landed on Earth on its maiden voyage .The player...
was launched from the planet Blerontin rather than Artifactovol, and was built on the neighbouring planet of Yassacca, suggesting that there are two alternate versions of the Starship Titanic
Starship Titanic
Starship Titanic is a computer adventure game designed by Douglas Adams and made by The Digital Village. It was released in 1998. It takes place on a starship of the same name which has undergone "Spontaneous Massive Existence Failure" and crash landed on Earth on its maiden voyage .The player...
.
Axel Nebula
Near the Axel Nebula Ford Prefect was passed by limoship customized by Lazlar Lyricon.The Big Bang Burger Bar
The Big Bang Burger Bar is mentioned by Max Quordlepleen as another place where he performs. It is the opposite of Milliways in that it is situated at the beginning of the universeUniverse
The Universe is commonly defined as the totality of everything that exists, including all matter and energy, the planets, stars, galaxies, and the contents of intergalactic space. Definitions and usage vary and similar terms include the cosmos, the world and nature...
, namely the Big Bang
Big Bang
The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological model that explains the early development of the Universe. According to the Big Bang theory, the Universe was once in an extremely hot and dense state which expanded rapidly. This rapid expansion caused the young Universe to cool and resulted in...
. It is known as The Big Bang Burger Chef in the radio and UK versions of the book.
The Bistro Illegal
A no doubt seedy nightclub fondly recalled by Ford Prefect during his one-way conversation with his former drinking buddy, the currently-deceased rock star Hotblack Desiato. According to the Guide's onscreen playback at the beginning of the television series, the bar staff at the Bistro Illegal mix a very good Pan-Galactic Gargle Blaster.Carfrax
The Carfrax Gamma Caves became a war front line between the Strangulous Stilettans of Jajazikstak, the Strenuous Garfighters of Stug and the Silastic Armorfiends of Striterax.Chalesm
Where the Cathedral of Chalesm once stood is now an ion refinery. Due to various delays, the constructors of the refinery continually moved the demolition of the Cathedral and commencement of the refinery's construction back through time to progressively earlier dates to remain on schedule. Eventually the refinery was being built so far back in history that it predated the Cathedral itself, meaning that the Cathedral never actually existed at all. As a result, picture postcards of it are highly valuable (and according to the radio series, blank). The loss of the Cathedral was the pivotal event in the creation of the Campaign for Real Time.Cruxwan
Cruxwan has a University where Majikthise and Vroomfondel either once studied, currently study or hold professorial status.Cwulzenda
The Silastic Armorfiends of Striterax fought the Strenuous Garfighters of Stug in the Radiation Swamps of Cwulzenda.The Domain of the King
The Domain of the King is a barBar (establishment)
A bar is a business establishment that serves alcoholic drinks — beer, wine, liquor, and cocktails — for consumption on the premises.Bars provide stools or chairs that are placed at tables or counters for their patrons. Some bars have entertainment on a stage, such as a live band, comedians, go-go...
and grill
Grilling
Grilling is a form of cooking that involves dry heat applied to the surface of food, commonly from above or below.Grilling usually involves a significant amount of direct, radiant heat, and tends to be used for cooking meat quickly and meat that has already been cut into slices...
restaurant
Restaurant
A restaurant is an establishment which prepares and serves food and drink to customers in return for money. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and food delivery services...
located in a desert
Desert
A desert is a landscape or region that receives an extremely low amount of precipitation, less than enough to support growth of most plants. Most deserts have an average annual precipitation of less than...
on an unspecified planet. This planet is apparently the true home of the Perfectly Normal Beasts that migrate across the Anhondo Plain of Lamuella twice yearly; for reasons and by means unexplained, the portion of the Beasts' migratory path on this planet which would intersect with The Domain of the King is diverted to Lamuella. Elvis Presley, who appears to have not been abducted by aliens but gone to them himself, spends time there, hence the name.
Dordellis
The Dordellis wars saw space pirate activity wiped out, but not before Arcturan megafreighters had the most fantastic defence shields known to science fitted.The Evildrome Boozarama
Noted in the television series' animated graphics for its excellent Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters, The Evildrome Boozarama was one of the clubs that Ford PrefectFord Prefect (character)
Ford Prefect is a fictional character in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by the British author Douglas Adams. He is the only character other than the protagonist, Arthur Dent, to appear throughout the entire Hitchhiker's saga.-Name:Although Ford had taken great care to blend into Earth...
and Hotblack Desiato would frequent before Hotblack became a rock star and Ford wound up stranded on Earth in the course of his job as a field researcher for that wholly remarkable book, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
Flargathon Gas Swamps
During his time as an itinerant hitchhiker, Arthur contracted a virulent space disease in the Flargathon Gas Swamps a few days before his return to Earth. The disease was fortunately killed when he ate the three least-hairy things in his fridge. Had this not occurred, the disease would have killed off half the population of the Western Hemisphere, blinded the other half and left everyone else psychotic and sterile. (in , Chapter eight)Flanux
Just beyond what were known as the limitless light fields of Flanux, before the Grey Binding Fiefdoms of Saxaquine were found lying just beyond them, lie the Grey Binding Fiefdoms of Saxaquine. From .Foth of Avalars
The planet Brequinda is located in the Foth of Avalars in .Frazfraga
The Fire Mountains of Frazfraga were a regular battleground between the Silastic Armorfiends and the Strenuous Garfighters of Stug in .Han Dold City
A far from harmless city on an unspecified planet, where warring police tribes lay ambushes for one another, bass players get machine-gunned for playing the wrong riff too many times, and call girls with degrees in sociology tell wealthy record company executives that it's actually okay for them to be rich. The Old Pink Dog Bar is a far from harmless bar in Han Dold City where Ford Prefect discovers that Earth was not as demolished as he previously believed at the beginning of . It was also here that Ford almost lost his breathing privileges after attempting to pay an extensive bar tab with an American ExpressAmerican Express
American Express Company or AmEx, is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Three World Financial Center, Manhattan, New York City, New York, United States. Founded in 1850, it is one of the 30 components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The company is best...
card, before as a last resort he threatened a write-up in the Hitchhiker's Guide.
Horsehead Nebula
In , Arthur Dent hitches to Earth from the Horsehead NebulaHorsehead Nebula
The Horsehead Nebula is a dark nebula in the constellation Orion. The nebula is located just to the south of the star Alnitak, which is farthest east on Orion's Belt, and is part of the much larger Orion Molecular Cloud Complex. The Horsehead Nebula is approximately 1500 light years from Earth...
at the start of the book. In the beginning of the series, Zaphod is perplexed that the Heart of Gold took them to Sector ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha, when their trajectory should have taken them through the Horsehead Nebula, the location of Magrathea.
Hunian Hills
Ford Prefect learned mind control techniques in the Hunian Hills from ex-Pralite monks at their Mind-Surfing resort in the second novel.Magramal
The great megamountain Magramal was the focus of a wager made by Effrafax of Wug, who claimed that, given a year, he could make it invisible. By the end of the time limit, Effrafax found himself unable to do this, and instead simply removed it with the aid of an interstellar trucking company. Effrafax lost the wager, however, partially because the megamountain could be demonstrated to be not present rather than simply invisible, partially due to the overnight appearance of a suspicious extra moon.It is noted in that had Effrafax simply painted the mountain pink and erected a Somebody Else's Problem field, he would have won his bet. Because no one would expect to see the Magramal thus colored, the effect of the Somebody Else's Problem field would have rendered it invisible.
Maximegalon
The University of Maximegalon (often simply called Maximegalon) is a very august institution of higher learningHigher education
Higher, post-secondary, tertiary, or third level education refers to the stage of learning that occurs at universities, academies, colleges, seminaries, and institutes of technology...
that has produced many marvellous discoveries in a myriad of fields scientific and otherwise. Its faculty is composed of many of the finest minds in the Galaxy, and includes the rock band Disaster Area's chief accountant (he is the Professor of Neomathematics). The university also published the Ultra-Complete Maximegalon Dictionary of Every Language Ever. Only one copy of the Dictionary was ever printed, and requires a fleet of trucks to haul it around. Due to the Dictionary's immense size, the University is trying to sell it and regain some valuable parking lots.
The university includes the Maximegalon Institute of Slowly and Painfully Working Out the Surprisingly Obvious (MISPWOSO), site of the famous Herring Sandwich experiments, where a robot was tricked into an infinite loop
Infinite loop
An infinite loop is a sequence of instructions in a computer program which loops endlessly, either due to the loop having no terminating condition, having one that can never be met, or one that causes the loop to start over...
whereby it attempted eternally to eat a herring sandwich by picking it up, dropping it, picking it up again, et cetera. From this, the institute both correctly concluded that any intelligence
Intelligence
Intelligence has been defined in different ways, including the abilities for abstract thought, understanding, communication, reasoning, learning, planning, emotional intelligence and problem solving....
with a function of logic
Logic
In philosophy, Logic is the formal systematic study of the principles of valid inference and correct reasoning. Logic is used in most intellectual activities, but is studied primarily in the disciplines of philosophy, mathematics, semantics, and computer science...
can be deceived by an intelligence with a function of logic of equal or greater power, and incorrectly concluded that the driving force behind all change and evolution in life is herring sandwiches, a theory which was later recanted.
Among the other attractions present on or near the campus is the Museum of Diseased Imaginings, where the bathtub in which the Golgafrinchan B-Ark captain spends his time does not reside, despite apparently being well qualified.
Milliways
Milliways, also known as The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, can only be visited practically by time travelTime travel
Time travel is the concept of moving between different points in time in a manner analogous to moving between different points in space. Time travel could hypothetically involve moving backward in time to a moment earlier than the starting point, or forward to the future of that point without the...
, as it exists at the end of time and matter. Marvin the Paranoid Android
Marvin the Paranoid Android
Marvin, the Paranoid Android, is a fictional character in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams. Marvin is the ship's robot aboard the starship Heart of Gold...
is one character who manages to reach Milliways without the use of time travel, merely by being very patient. One of the restaurant's major attractions is that diners can watch the entire universe end around them as they eat. The terminal moment is followed by dessert
Dessert
In cultures around the world, dessert is a course that typically comes at the end of a meal, usually consisting of sweet food. The word comes from the French language as dessert and this from Old French desservir, "to clear the table" and "to serve." Common Western desserts include cakes, biscuits,...
. Reservations are easily obtained, since they can be booked once the patron returns to his or her original time after their meal, and the restaurant's bill can be paid by depositing a penny in any bank account of the present time: by the end of the universe, the compound interest
Compound interest
Compound interest arises when interest is added to the principal, so that from that moment on, the interest that has been added also itself earns interest. This addition of interest to the principal is called compounding...
on that penny over the course of time will be enough to pay the extremely high bill. Near-instant transportation to the restaurant can be achieved in certain rarefied circumstances, such as being next to an exploding hyperspatial field generator on the planet where Milliways will eventually be built several billion years after the explosion occurs.
Among the items on the menu are various cuts of meat from the very obliging Amiglion Major Cow and the somewhat less obliging vegetable
Vegetable
The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....
s in a green salad. While water and Aldebaran
Aldebaran
Aldebaran is a red giant star located about 65 light years away in the zodiac constellation of Taurus. With an average apparent magnitude of 0.87 it is the brightest star in the constellation and is one of the brightest stars in the nighttime sky...
liqueur
Liqueur
A liqueur is an alcoholic beverage that has been flavored with fruit, herbs, nuts, spices, flowers, or cream and bottled with added sugar. Liqueurs are typically quite sweet; they are usually not aged for long but may have resting periods during their production to allow flavors to marry.The...
s are in stock, tea
Tea
Tea is an aromatic beverage prepared by adding cured leaves of the Camellia sinensis plant to hot water. The term also refers to the plant itself. After water, tea is the most widely consumed beverage in the world...
is not.
Because of the special number of impossibilities surrounding all aspects of Milliways, their advertising firm penned the following slogan: "If you've done six impossible things this morning, why not round it off with breakfast at Milliways—the Restaurant at the End of the Universe!" Believing "six impossible things before breakfast" is a quote of the White Queen
White Queen (Through the Looking Glass)
The White Queen is a fictional character who appears in Lewis Carroll's fantasy novella Through the Looking-Glass.-Plot:Along with her husband the White King, she is one of the first characters to be seen in the story. She first appears in the drawing room just beyond the titular looking-glass as...
's from Lewis Carroll
Lewis Carroll
Charles Lutwidge Dodgson , better known by the pseudonym Lewis Carroll , was an English author, mathematician, logician, Anglican deacon and photographer. His most famous writings are Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and its sequel Through the Looking-Glass, as well as the poems "The Hunting of the...
's Through the Looking-Glass
Through the Looking-Glass
Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There is a work of literature by Lewis Carroll . It is the sequel to Alice's Adventures in Wonderland...
.
In the book form of the series, the visit to Milliways takes place in . In the different versions of the story, Milliways is built on the ruins of either Magrathea or of Frogstar World B.
In , when many of the main characters meet at Milliways, Thor the thunder god asks that champagne be sent to Trillian
Trillian (character)
Tricia McMillan, also known as Trillian Astra, is a fictional character from Douglas Adams' series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. She is most commonly referred to simply as "Trillian", a modification of her birth name, which she adopted because it sounded more "space-like". According to the...
, and in the process reveals that Arthur Dent
Arthur Dent
Arthur Philip Dent is a fictional character, the hapless protagonist and anti-hero in the comic science fiction series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams....
and company are seated at Table 42, almost without a doubt an allusion to The Answer to Life, the Universe, and Everything.
At the end of there is a gag about "The Restaurant at the End of the Universe" not being at the temporal end
Ultimate fate of the universe
The ultimate fate of the universe is a topic in physical cosmology. Many possible fates are predicted by rival scientific theories, including futures of both finite and infinite duration....
, but at the "other end" in terms of location. In , a similar venue is referenced that does exist at the beginning of the universe called "The Big Bang
Big Bang
The Big Bang theory is the prevailing cosmological model that explains the early development of the Universe. According to the Big Bang theory, the Universe was once in an extremely hot and dense state which expanded rapidly. This rapid expansion caused the young Universe to cool and resulted in...
Burger Bar".
According to The Salmon of Doubt
The Salmon of Doubt
The Salmon of Doubt: Hitchhiking the Galaxy One Last Time is a posthumous collection of previously published and unpublished material by Douglas Adams...
, Douglas Adams came up with the idea while listening to Procol Harum
Procol Harum
Procol Harum are a British rock band, formed in 1967, which contributed to the development of progressive rock, and by extension, symphonic rock. Their best-known recording is their 1967 single "A Whiter Shade of Pale"...
's Grand Hotel
Grand Hotel (album)
Grand Hotel is an album by Procol Harum, released in 1973.-Track listing:#"Grand Hotel" - 6:10#"Toujours l'amour" - 3:31#"A Rum Tale" - 3:20#"TV Caesar" - 5:52#"A Souvenir of London" - 3:23#"Bringing Home the Bacon" - 4:21...
.
Qualactin Zones
By providing Hypermint extract for mixers of Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters, Qualactin Zones are known for being "subtle sweet and mystic", in the first novel.Qvarne
In , Max Quordlepleen greets a party from the Zansellquasure Flamarion Bridge Club from beyond the Vortvoid of Qvarne.River Moth
The River Moth is a slow and heavy torrent, which can be sailed down on a mini-raft using a towel as a sail.Slim's Throat Emporium
One of the drinking establishments where very well-mixed Pan Galactic Gargle Blasters are served to customers. Ford Prefect and Hotblack Desiato were patrons at least once before the success of Disaster AreaDisaster area
A disaster area is a region or a locale heavily damaged by either natural hazards, such as tornadoes, hurricanes, tsunamis, floods, earthquakes, technological hazards including nuclear and radiation accidents, or sociological hazards like riots, terrorism or war. The population living there often...
.
Stavromula Beta
In , Agrajag tells Arthur DentArthur Dent
Arthur Philip Dent is a fictional character, the hapless protagonist and anti-hero in the comic science fiction series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams....
that he was killed again in an assassin's failed attempt to kill Arthur at Stavromula Beta. However, Agrajag discovered that Arthur had not yet been there. Despite the time paradox that would be created, Agrajag decided to kill Arthur anyway. When Agrajag's assassination attempt failed, Arthur decided that "logically, he could not die until he had been to Stavromula Beta" (Mostly Harmless
Mostly Harmless
Mostly Harmless is a novel by Douglas Adams and the fifth book in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. It is described on the cover of the first editions as "The fifth book in the increasingly inaccurately named Hitchhikers Trilogy"...
, US edition, p. 106). By the end of Mostly Harmless, many of the major characters found themselves in a club in London called Beta, so named for being the second club that Stavro Mueller owned (Mueller's first club was Alpha in New York City). An attempt is made on Arthur's life, but he ducked, and the bullet hit the human incarnation of Agrajag. Arthur realized that Agrajag meant this club, not a planet
Planet
A planet is a celestial body orbiting a star or stellar remnant that is massive enough to be rounded by its own gravity, is not massive enough to cause thermonuclear fusion, and has cleared its neighbouring region of planetesimals.The term planet is ancient, with ties to history, science,...
, and that he could now be killed. Then the Vogon
Vogon
The Vogons are a fictional alien race from the planet Vogsphere in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams, who are responsible for the destruction of the Earth, in order to facilitate an intergalactic highway construction project. Vogons are slug-like but vaguely humanoid, are...
s, with the help of their new Guide and the Grebulons, finally destroy all parallel versions of Earth.
Zentalquabula
Zentalquabula is noted for its ancient alabastrum quarries. Large slabs of lustrous stone cut from these quarries were used to pave a terraced plaza between the towers of The Hitchhiker's Guide offices.Asgard
Thor, the thundergod is from Halls of AsgardAsgard
In Norse religion, Asgard is one of the Nine Worlds and is the country or capital city of the Norse Gods surrounded by an incomplete wall attributed to a Hrimthurs riding the stallion Svadilfari, according to Gylfaginning. Valhalla is located within Asgard...
. A party of minor deities from Asgard were cheered by Max Quordlepleen at Milliways. In , Asgard is portrayed as the protected home of many Norse Gods and immortal beings. (See Asgard
Asgard
In Norse religion, Asgard is one of the Nine Worlds and is the country or capital city of the Norse Gods surrounded by an incomplete wall attributed to a Hrimthurs riding the stallion Svadilfari, according to Gylfaginning. Valhalla is located within Asgard...
for mythological references.)
Seventh Dimension
Ford says he has heard of a planet in the seventh dimension that got used as a ball in a game of intergalactic bar billiards, in the second novel. Tragically, the act of potting this planet in a black hole and killing ten billion people scored only thirty points. The Guide describes the inhabitants of the higher dimensions as "a pretty nasty heathen lot", that should be wiped out if only we could "work out a way of firing missiles at right angles to reality." A favoured pastime in the higher dimensions is Brockian Ultra-Cricket, a team sport that involves people beating each other with sporting equipment, then apologising from a safe distance. Like real cricket, the rules of the game are massively convoluted, leading to a perpetual state of war between the players over their interpretation. Brockian Ultra Cricket was named after an old friend of Douglas Adams, Jonny Brock.Seventh Galaxy of Light and Ingenuity
In the first novel, the giant computer the Googolplex Star Thinker is from the Seventh Galaxy of Light and Ingenuity.The Universe
According to the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, the Universe has an infinite area (as far as anyone can make out), no imports whatsoever (because the Universe has no outside from which to import anything), exports (ditto), art (because "the function of art is to hold a mirror up to nature, and there simply isn't a mirror big enough"), or population (because its population, by definition, must be finite, and any finite number divided by infinity is zero, or as near to it as makes no odds), or sex (well, there is an awful lot of this, largely because of the total lack of anything else that might keep the nonexistent people of the universe occupied).Whole Sort of General Mish Mash
The Whole Sort of General Mish Mash (WSOGMM) is mentioned in Mostly HarmlessMostly Harmless
Mostly Harmless is a novel by Douglas Adams and the fifth book in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series. It is described on the cover of the first editions as "The fifth book in the increasingly inaccurately named Hitchhikers Trilogy"...
. The Guide describes the WSOGMM as a way of understanding the sum of parallel universes
Multiverse (science)
The multiverse is the hypothetical set of multiple possible universes that together comprise everything that exists and can exist: the entirety of space, time, matter, and energy as well as the physical laws and constants that describe them...
in creation (in this context, creation is best described to a casual observer as spacetime
Spacetime
In physics, spacetime is any mathematical model that combines space and time into a single continuum. Spacetime is usually interpreted with space as being three-dimensional and time playing the role of a fourth dimension that is of a different sort from the spatial dimensions...
). The theory of WSOGMM states that parallel universes are not parallel
Parallel (geometry)
Parallelism is a term in geometry and in everyday life that refers to a property in Euclidean space of two or more lines or planes, or a combination of these. The assumed existence and properties of parallel lines are the basis of Euclid's parallel postulate. Two lines in a plane that do not...
as such but rather each universe is simply a quantum physical perception of the same construct, which is the WSOGMM.
The last version of the Guide gives a description of the Mish Mash to Arthur Dent
Arthur Dent
Arthur Philip Dent is a fictional character, the hapless protagonist and anti-hero in the comic science fiction series The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams....
's daughter Random. The guide explains that individuals in her universe move freely in the first three dimensions, which they know as space, travel in a straight line in a fourth (Time) and are rooted to one place in a fifth, which is described as the first fundamental of probability.
The fifth dimension (and, it is implied, every other dimension
Dimension
In physics and mathematics, the dimension of a space or object is informally defined as the minimum number of coordinates needed to specify any point within it. Thus a line has a dimension of one because only one coordinate is needed to specify a point on it...
up to the twenty-second) is actually an axis
Cartesian coordinate system
A Cartesian coordinate system specifies each point uniquely in a plane by a pair of numerical coordinates, which are the signed distances from the point to two fixed perpendicular directed lines, measured in the same unit of length...
of probability
Probability
Probability is ordinarily used to describe an attitude of mind towards some proposition of whose truth we arenot certain. The proposition of interest is usually of the form "Will a specific event occur?" The attitude of mind is of the form "How certain are we that the event will occur?" The...
that makes up the Mish Mash. Any multiverse in creation is actually a location in the fifth dimension. To an observer, a certain universe functions alone, but it's proven that if something is introduced simultaneously into every dimension (such as the bird version of The Guide was as a marketing ploy), an action on that object can affect the entire Mish Mash. In the final chapter of , when Earth is destroyed by the Vogon
Vogon
The Vogons are a fictional alien race from the planet Vogsphere in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series by Douglas Adams, who are responsible for the destruction of the Earth, in order to facilitate an intergalactic highway construction project. Vogons are slug-like but vaguely humanoid, are...
s and the bird dies with it, the Earth is destroyed in all other universes—finally removed from the WSOGMM.