Moodri

Moodri was a Newcomer character on the television series Alien Nation and expanded universe materials based on the novel and TV series. He was portrayed by the late American actor .
A member of the Tectonese race, Moodri was born in what was the middle of Earth's 19th century on the planet Tecton, shortly before the Kleezantsun enslaved their fellow Tectonese and took them onboard slave ships they had brought to Tecton. Moodri was taken onboard the slave ship Gruza, where he would spend most of the remainder of his life.
As the decades passed Moodri became one of the decreasing number of Tectonese who was not born on the ship, and as such became an elder. Over the years Moodri and the other elders began making plans to revolt against the Kleezantsun and find a new world to settle on. They began to learn the Gruza's secrets for the day when they would finally openly rebel. Most habitable planets they were able to obtain data on were for various reasons unsuitable for the Tectonese to make their new home on. However there was one star that was used for course corrections and for slingshots into hyperspace whose third planet was habitable. (The second planet was also investigated but was found to be much too hot to support Tectonese life). Moodri and the others realized that the planet would be a good candidate to settle on, even though a good portion of its surface was covered by salt water, which was deadly to younger Tectonese (but not to some elders like Moodri). However, they were prepared to write off that planet as a candidate for a colony due to the presence of intelligent tool users on the planet. Moodri and the other elders decided they had to take the chance when they learned Gruza was likely on course for a place called Terminus that according to rumor was where slaves were turned into mindless drones and what was left of their cultures were destroyed. 
Moodri gave his great nephew Finiksa - who would later come to be known as Buck Francisco - a circuit key that would cause the stardrive section of the ship to separate and jump to lightspeed. As Buck was being groomed to become a Kleezantsun, he was given a tour of the bridge, at which point he was able to plug the key into a console. Moodri initually planned to stay on the stardrive section and send out messages as the section jumped to hyperspace indicating that the jump had gone wrong and the section could never exit hyperspace ever again. However, another Tectonese elder convinced him to go to the cargo section, and she remained to send out the messages. The stardrive separated as planned and went off on an uncontrolled trip through hyperspace, becoming lost forever. Meanwhile explosives Moodri and the elders arranged to be placed around fresh water tanks went off, causing the ship's water supply to be rerouted and altering the weight distribution of the ship enough to cause the ship to slow to the point where the automatic routines would direct the ship to land before it could be caught in the local star's gravity well. 
When the rest of the Gruza crashed on the third planet, Moodri and the other elders set the cargo section of the Gruza to self destruct on landing so that the ship could not be found by other Kleezantsun ships. Even though there was valuable survival equipment on board, Moodri and the other elders mandated that the equipment be left on the ship in fears that the equipment would contain locator beacons that would enable the Kleezantsun fleet to find and reenslave them. They made sure that all the remaining beacons that made it off the ship were destroyed before they could be used. Only one beacon remained but Moodri was confident that it had been lost in the desert and would run out of power before it could be used.
Moodri found Earth's environment to be fairly pleasant, and the lighter gravity made it easier for him to move given the condition of his knees. When Buck was found with a broken arm, Moodri accompanied Buck to a hospital, where his arm was set in a cast. Moodri meanwhile learned that the planet they had landed on was called Earth. He was then reunited with his family.
After the Newcomers were released from quarantine, Moodri moved in with his nephew George Francisco and his family. Moodri continued to impart advice to his younger family members about adapting to Earth's culture while keeping their own traditions and culture intact.
Five years after the Newcomers arrived on Earth, Moodri helped Buck own up to the consequences of his actions in shooting a human gang member in self defense. As part of convincing Buck to accept the consequences he had George drive him and his great-nephew out to the ocean where he demonstrated that salt water had no effect on him. This led Buck to remember the time on the ship as Moodri had reached into a salt-water tank on the ship to retrieve the circuit key but suffered no ill effects in the process. As time progressed Moodri helped Buck to remember more of his life on the ship, events that Buck would later relay to his father. 
Later the ancient Tectonese artifact called the Heart of Tecton resurfaced on Earth. Moodri was adamant that it be given back to the Tectonese people, that it was an object of vital importance to the Tectonese. Moodri was able to obtain the artifact after it was stolen from the company who had purchased it at auction, and was able to activate the artifact. The artifact allowed him to see Tecton one last time before people working for company injured him, causing his death a short time later.
After the Heart of Tecton was retrieved, it was returned to the other elders, who showed Francisco and Matthew Sikes why the artifact was so important, and allowed both men to experience the Newcomers' home planet.
Category:Aliens
Category:TV Show Heroes
Category:Book Heroes
Category:Selfless
Category:Mentors
Category:Elderly
Category:Wise
Category:Protectors of Innocence
Category:Leaders
Category:Deceased
Category:Live Action Heroes
Category:Optimists
Category:Freedom Fighters
Category:Egalitarian
Category:Supporters