# The Great Brains — Last and First Men character guide

> The Great Brains in Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon.

**Role:** major

**Also known as:** The Great Brains

**First appearance:** 0049-i-the-first-of-the-great-brains

## Snapshot

Sessile, telepathic colossi who rule a planet of serfs yet suspect that knowing everything amounts to knowing nothing at all.

## Who they are

The Great Brains are the Fourth Men's final experiment: vast disembodied intellects who govern the Third Men as menials while pursuing pure intellection as the sole purpose of existence. When research stalls, their dispassion sours into cold jealousy of their servants' movement, companionship, and lovemaking — cravings they disguise even from themselves. Their escalating demands, including a plan to multiply themselves a thousandfold and slaughter all useless animals, turn a devoted workforce into a divided and mutinous population.

## In the story

### [IV: The Catastrophe](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/iv-the-catastrophe)

Mentioned as part of the ancient World State's history, their rule is contrasted with the Patagonian's paternalistic governance.

### [IV: Conflicting Policies](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/iv-conflicting-policies)

The secret project aims to breed a being that is 'nothing but man,' with brain as the sole focus, potentially leading to the Great Brains.

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

The first Great Brain is created and becomes an autocrat, mastering science and philosophy. It later designs and produces the Fourth Men, a new species of super-intellects.

### [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 Fourth Men themselves, who are the central focus of the chapter's tragedy.

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

The intellectual elite of the Fourth Men who oversee the creation and later fail to understand the Fifth Men.

### [Exploration of Time](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/ii-exploration-of-time)

Referenced in a child's vision of 'little red people living in a squat white tower,' indicating their historical presence.

## Links

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