Sci-fi characters: Where are they now? - TechRepublic

Sci-fi characters: Where are they now?

  • Neary.jpg

    Roy Neary—Close Encounters of the Third Kind

    After gallivanting around the solar system in an extraterrestrial mothership for nearly 30 years, Roy tired of its All-you-can-Eat buffet and piano bar (the guy kept playing the same five notes over and over) and asked to be dropped back on Earth. This took a little acclimation as you can imagine, and Roy would have done fine had he not turned on this television set and got a taste of the proliferation of reality shows. The last we heard, he was trying to get reinstated on the mothership.

  • Gort—alien from The Day the Earth Stood Still

    Completely featureless, Gort at first found it hard to relate to human beings. After all, no one could tell when he was happy or sad. But then he stumbled upon modern-day Hollywood, whose inhabitants just thought he’d overdone the Botox. He was adopted by the Kardashians, and now has over 3 million Twitter followers.

  • Jabba the Hutt—Star Wars

    Despite what most people think, Jabba the Hutt did not die in Return of the Jedi. That was just a clever ruse that allowed him to drop out for a while and reinvent himself. He underwent lapband surgery, which changed his physical appearance markedly but did nothing for his nasty disposition. He is now a talking head for a 24-hour news network.

  • Robot, from Lost in Space

    After decades of warning that dim bulb Will Robinson of impending danger, Robot retired to a small asteroid just off the coast of Jupiter where he plays bass for a death metal band.

  • Solomon "Sol" Roth, Soylent Green

    Though not shown on camera, Sol ended up second-guessing his desire for an assisted suicide at the government clinic. He decided to take his chances in the dystopian future with its pollution, overpopulation, depleted resources, poverty, dying oceans and reality shows. He eventually made a fortune off Soylent Green. He’s now in product development at a major fast food chain.

  • Jar Jar Binks

    Still hated by everyone.

  • Dr. Zaius—Planet of the Apes

    Currently Head of Reality Programming at MTV.\u00a0\u00a0

  • The Tribbles, Star Trek

    The seemingly adorable furballs from the vintage series disbanded after their last appearance on the show. While most members dropped out of the public eye, some have gone on to become stunt hairpieces for Justin Bieber and Rob Blagojevich.

  • Logan 5, Logan's Run

  • Honorable mention: Pluto, the thing formerly known as a planet

    (Not a sci-fi character, but we thought it was important to include his story.) Having been a part of the planet \u201cclub\u201d since 2003, you can imagine what a blow it was to Pluto to be kicked out unceremoniously on August 24, 2006. And Mecury and Venus? They don’t call, they don’t write. So Pluto went on a four-year drinking binge until its moons, Nix and Hydra, attempted an intervention. As of this posting, Pluto was going the way of most has-beens and has joined a reality show. Look for Celestial Rehab on the schedule this Fall. (You thought I was going to say Dancing with the Stars, didn’t you?)

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Michael Kassner

Information is my field...Writing is my passion...Coupling the two is my mission.