# The Fourth Men — Last and First Men character guide

> The Fourth Men in Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon.

**Role:** supporting

**Also known as:** the Fourth Men, the artificial Fourth Men

**First appearance:** 0048-xi-man-remakes-himself

## Snapshot

Artificial beings built by the Third Men to surpass their makers, they perfect themselves into the Great Brains and inherit a world they can no longer touch.

## Who they are

The Fourth Men are the Third Men's engineered successors — designed to be purely intellectual, and succeeding so completely that they become sessile, affectionless, and incapable of art or play. Their thwarted research breeds a jealousy of their menials' physical and emotional lives, which they punish with increasingly unjust rule. They embody the novel's warning that a species can perfect one faculty at the cost of everything that makes a life worth living.

## In the story

### [Man Remakes Himself](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/xi-man-remakes-himself)

The Fourth Men are the new species designed by the Great Brain, with enhanced senses, telepathic abilities, and a long lifespan. They are created to pursue deeper research.

### [I: The First of the Great Brains](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/i-the-first-of-the-great-brains)

The species to which the first true individual belongs, produced through artificial means.

### [II: The Tragedy of the Fourth Men](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/ii-the-tragedy-of-the-fourth-men)

The artificial species of Great Brains, obsessed with intellection, who face frustration and a crisis of meaning.

### [III: The Fifth Men](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/iii-the-fifth-men)

The creators of the Fifth Men, who meticulously design the new species.

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/characters/the_fourth_men
- Book: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se
- All characters: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/characters