Original artwork, not a still
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy · 1979
A Vogon guard, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
Resistance is useless!
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
It is the Vogon version of a villain's threat, undercut by the fact that the guard is just a young man proud of a phrase he learned on the first day. That is Adams's whole method: menace as bureaucracy, with a stun ray, a good-enough pension and no idea why he is doing it. Fans still shout it in mock-doom at any hopeless struggle, usually with a Vogon's bad poetry close behind.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the GalaxyShow the scene
Moments after the Vogons demolish the Earth to make way for a hyperspace bypass, Arthur Dent and Ford Prefect, stowaways aboard the Vogon constructor fleet, are caught by a huge young Vogon guard. He drags them off to face his captain, shouting that resistance is useless, the first phrase he learned on joining the Vogon Guard Corps, and he plainly loves saying it. Captain Jeltz makes them listen to his poetry, and the same guard then marches them to the airlock. The line is in Douglas Adams's 1979 novel and in the radio and TV versions of the same scene.
Sources (2)
- Hitchhiker's Wiki: Vogon GuardHistory; AppearancesReference checked
- Hitchhiker's Wiki: Fit the SecondPlot summaryReference checked
Context reviewed
