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Update: On December 6th Scott Thunes found another John in the Buckaroo Banzai novelization! On page 215 it says "John Emdall is unavailable, but John Parker speaks with John Penworthy, Commander of the Fleet."

On May 4th, 2018 I received an e-mail from Gray with a link to this 9:29 minute YouTube video called "Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984) Trailer" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xCyyU0bSPtk). This is obviously more than a trailer because of the length but also because it contains different audio for the song Buckaroo plays as well as some footage not found in the film. And in this new footage we learn the names of some new Lectroids! Three are seen listed on the computer and they are John Web, John Shaw, John Turk, while the fourth, John Fat Eating, is spoken by New Jersey. I'm adding these Johns to the list below.

The following information was provided by Scott Tate :

A quick perusal of the Internet Movie Database lists the principal Lectroid characters, most of whom you can probably remember off the top of your head: John Whorfin, John Bigboote, John Emdall, John Parker, John O'Connor, John Gomez, John Yaya and John Gant. (Note that "Yaya" is rendered as one word by the IMDb, but both the movie and novel use "Ya Ya," which is therefore presumably the official spelling.)

There's also John Valuk, who died shortly after his thermopod was shot down by duck hunters: "John Valuk is dead, he fell on his head."

The biggest treasure trove of name is from the scene where Billy, Perfect Tommy, and some of the others hack into Yoyodyne's personnel records. First Billy pulls up a list of Yoyodyne employees who all applied for Social Security Numbers on the same day. Hit that pause button and you'll find: John Fish, John Joseph, John Cooper, John Omar, John Fledgling, John Roberts, John Milton, John Barnett, John Nephew, John Guardian, John Ya Ya, John Two Horns, John Edwards, and one more that I can't make out (it's only visible for a frame or two). During this same scene, the dialogue establishes a few more names from records that we the audience don't see directly: John Ya Ya (again), John Parrot, John Bigboote (already well established as a character by this point in the plot, of course), John Nolan, John O'Connor (again, a character who's already had screen time), and John Small Berries. Meanwhile Perfect Tommy, working at another terminal, has pulled up a few more names: John Wright, John Wood, John Camp, John Grim, John Many Jars, John Coyote, John Jones, John Chief Crier, John Rajeesh, John Littlejohn, John Starbird, John Small Berries (again), and John Lee.

The novel mentions a few others. During the scene analogous to the one in the movie where Yoyoydyne's records are hacked, Reno notes (p. 148) that, "There, interspersed among ordinary names such as Jones or Smith, were such queer ones as these..." and then goes on to list the following: John Icicle Boy, John Repeat Dance, John Careful Walker, John Thorny Stick, John Mud Head, John Small Berries (mentioned above), John Ya Ya (mentioned above), John Take Cover, John Many Jars (mentioned above), and John Ready to Fly.

In the movie, a line of dialogue establishes that forty-six Lectroids applied for Social Security (a number held consistent through various drafts of the script, although in the novel Tommy asks what the odds are that happening to "a hundred guys," but such a large and round number might be simple hyperbole). This ballpark figure might suggest how many total Lectroids were posing as Yoyodyne personnel. Add in a few more to account for the Black Lectroids who were never affiliated with the Reds' scheme, and that should yield a rough guess of how many names would comprise a truly complete list, although of course in actuality many of these guys never played a significant enough role to appear in the story. At any rate, assuming there are around fifty characters whose names we might have a chance at learning, we've managed to document more than forty of them -- not too shabby. In summary, here's an integrated alphabetical list:

 

46 Yoyodyne Employees (Red Lectroids)

John Barnett
John Bigboote
John Camp
John Careful Walker
John Chief Crier
John Cooper
John Coyote
John Edwards
John Fat Eating
John Fish
John Fledgling
John Gomez
John Grim
John Guardian
John Icicle Boy
John Jones
John Joseph
John Kim Chi
John Lee
John Littlejohn
John Many Jars
John Milton
John Mud Head
John Nephew
John Nolan
John O'Connor
John Omar
John Parrot
John Penworthy
John Rajeesh
John Ready to Fly
John Repeat Dance
John Roberts
John Scott
John Shaw
John Smallberries
John Starbird
John Take Cover
John Thorny Stick
John Turk
John Two Horns
John Web
John Whorfin
John Wood
John Wright
John Ya Ya

 

Freedom Loving Forces (Black Lectroids)

John Valuk
John Emdall
John Gant
John Parker

If anyone out there can find more names from the movie and book or correct any of the names found here, drop Sean a line at figment@figmentfly.com.

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This page was last updated on December 8th, 2024.
Maintained by Sean Murphy [figment@figmentfly.com]