# The Last Men — Last and First Men character guide > The Last Men in Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon. **Role:** major **Also known as:** the Last Men, the Second Men, The Second Men, the bland Second Men **First appearance:** 0066-xv-the-last-men ## Snapshot The final human species, fur-covered giants with telescopic eyes and telepathic minds, who face the end of humanity with clear-eyed acceptance. ## Who they are They are the culmination of a hundred million years of evolution — thickset, graceful, with occipital eyes and a crown-eye that reads the heavens like a telescope. Their world is one of profound spiritual culture, invisible to earlier humans, yet they know they are the last. Their tension is not survival but meaning: how to live fully when you know your species will end. They matter because they embody Stapledon's deepest question — what is humanity for, if not to endure? ## In the story ### [Last and First Men](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/last-and-first-men) The Last Men are the final human species, whose distant future perspective frames the entire narrative. ### [I: Balkan Europe](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/i-balkan-europe) The observers of the First Men's history, providing a distant perspective on the events. ### [The European War and After](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/i-the-european-war-and-after) The distant observers who narrate the history of the First Men. ### [III: Material Achievement](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/iii-material-achievement) The Last Men, including the narrator, look back on the First Men's era with a sense of pathos and comicality, noting the confusion of material development with civilization. ### [VII: The Rise of the Second Men](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/vii-the-rise-of-the-second-men) The central focus of the chapter, describing their physical form, temperament, and cultural development. ### [I: The Appearance of a New Species](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/i-the-appearance-of-a-new-species) The new human species, described in detail with their physical and mental traits. ### [II: The Intercourse of Three Species](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/ii-the-intercourse-of-three-species) The advanced human species exploring Africa, seeking metals, and later devastated by plagues. ### [III: The Zenith of the Second Men](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/iii-the-zenith-of-the-second-men) The focus of the chapter, describing their intellectual achievements, social institutions, and physiological evolution. ### [VIII: The Martians](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/viii-the-martians) The Second Men are mentioned as having a more developed sense of self-consciousness and self-criticism compared to the Martians, highlighting a key difference in their psychologies. ### [Life on Mars](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/ii-life-on-mars) Mentioned as the observers of the Martian cloudlets in their sky, indicating their role in the narrative. ### [III: The Martian Mind](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/iii-the-martian-mind) The Second Men are mentioned as having developed mental coherence and self-criticism further than the First Men, but still lacking the Martian's collective harmony. ### [Earth and Mars](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/ix-earth-and-mars) The Second Men are the central focus, experiencing a spiritual crisis and eventual self-destruction. ### [I: The Second Men at Bay](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/i-the-second-men-at-bay) The advanced human species facing repeated Martian invasions, demonstrating loyalty and heroism but suffering from the physiological and psychological aftermath. ### [II: The Ruin of Two Worlds](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/ii-the-ruin-of-two-worlds) The species suffers a spiritual crisis, leading to social decay and eventual self-destruction. ### [III: The Third Dark Age](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/iii-the-third-dark-age) The surviving remnants of the Second Men, who fall into a trance-like state of racial sleep, unable to rebuild civilization. ### [X: The Third Men in the Wilderness](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/x-the-third-men-in-the-wilderness) Predecessors of the Third Men, who remained in a racial trance for thirty million years before the Third Men emerged. ### [I: The Third Human Species](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/i-the-third-human-species) The predecessor species from which the Third Men evolved. ### [III: The Vital Art](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/iii-the-vital-art) Mentioned as having a high-water mark in applied biological sciences, which the Third Men surpassed. ### [IV: Conflicting Policies](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/iv-conflicting-policies) Noted for their detachment, yet sometimes persuaded by admiration for human personality to believe in immortal souls. ### [III: The Fifth Men](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/iii-the-fifth-men) Referenced as a previous species with titanic stature and innate higher aptitudes, serving as a model for the Fifth Men. ### [The Last Terrestrials](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/xii-the-last-terrestrials) Referenced as having similar philosophical realizations about the brevity of mind's course. ### [I: The Cult of Evanescence](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/i-the-cult-of-evanescence) Mentioned as having previously grappled with similar existential questions. ### [Exploration of Time](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/ii-exploration-of-time) Their era is the setting for a vision of a house destroyed by a monster, and their architecture is noted as atypical. ### [I: Bird’s-Eye View](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/i-bird-s-eye-view) The Last Men are the Eighteenth Men, living on Neptune, and the narrator belongs to this species. ### [III: Slow Conquest](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/iii-slow-conquest) The Eighteenth and final human species, whose world fulfills all earlier cultures, as described in the chapter's conclusion. ### [XV: The Last Men](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/xv-the-last-men) The subject of the chapter, described in detail with their physical and spiritual characteristics. ### [Introduction to the Last Human Species](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/i-introduction-to-the-last-human-species) The species described in detail, with their physical variations, sub-sexes, and spiritual culture. ### [II: Childhood and Maturity](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/ii-childhood-and-maturity) The narrator describes the customs and life cycle of the Last Men, including their extended childhood and adolescence, and their near-immortal adult state. ### [III: A Racial Awakening](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/iii-a-racial-awakening) The narrator's species, characterized by a group-mind and a racial purpose. ### [III: A Racial Awakening](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/iii-a-racial-awakening) Mentioned as having sought the experience of 'cold beauty' deliberately. ### [IV: Cosmology](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/iv-cosmology) The narrators of this chapter, who contemplate the cosmos and their own impending extinction with equanimity and admiration for fate. ### [XVI: The Last of Man](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/xvi-the-last-of-man) The Last Men face their doom with philosophical resignation and a commitment to the dissemination of the seed. ### [I: Sentence of Death](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/i-sentence-of-death) The narrators and protagonists, facing the imminent end of their species. ### [II: Behaviour of the Condemned](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/ii-behaviour-of-the-condemned) Facing their doom, they experience a racial trance and resolve to spread life seeds and influence the past. ### [III: Epilogue](https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/iii-epilogue) The narrators and central figures of the epilogue, now in decline due to the sun's disintegration. ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.dev/discover/last_and_first_men_se/characters/the_last_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