The Man is the unnamed titular main antagonist of "The Burning Man," the second segment of the eight episode of the first season of the 1985 iteration of The Twilight Zone, airing in the same year. Said episode was an adaptation of a short story of the same name, written by Ray Bradbury as part of his 1976 collection Long After Midnight. He is a mysterious entity referred to as a "57-year person," who emerges and rejuvenates every 57 years before going on a spree of unbridled consumption of humans, animals, and plants alike. Externally, he appears to be an elderly man in a tattered suit, but upon rejuvenation, he appears as a young boy with a clean, shining white suit, and seems to know of the modern world and human society despite his constant hibernations, also appearing to display technopathic abilities. In his elderly form, he appears too weak to attack anyone, and displays a seemingly crazy attitude.
In the episode, the man's elderly form was portrayed by the late Roberts Blossom, while his child form was portrayed by Danny Cooksey.
Biography[]
This entity, origin unknown, lived in a rural area somewhere in the United States, and would hibernate under dried-up riverbeds for 57 years at a time, growing elderly the whole time, yet appearing to not need much air or any other food. Each time he emerged, always summer, seemingly due to the heat eventually reviving him, he would wander until evening, when his elderly form would break away, a fully rejuvenated, child-like form emerging from it, and with only one day to live before returning to the ground to hibernate again, he would go around consuming as much as the landscape as he could to satisfy his voracious hunger that built up over the years, including trees, lakes, animals, and even humans, butchering and cooking them in many ways while coming to believe that he was genetically evil.
After another 57 year hibernation, an especially hot day woke the man, who crawled out of the riverbed, hearing a car approaching, and managed to flag it down. Rather surprised that the occupants, a woman named Neva and her nephew Doug, stopped for him, the man told them that he'd think of a place to go while getting in, telling them to drive fast to escape the sun, implying that he went mad from the heat. He then began talking about the weather, especially heat, mentioning how Lucifer was born on a day like that, before asking if it was time for the 17-year locusts to return. He used that opportunity to say that there was such a thing as 57-year people, who defied the natural human lifespan of being born and growing up, then mentioning "genetic evil" in the world. Just then, one of the car's tires blew out, and while Neva stopped the car to replace the tire, the man and Doug stepped out. Neva asked him what he meant, prompting the man to clarify to her and Doug that there could be someone who was evil from when they were born to the day they died, due to something in their blood. He then began telling Doug about a 57-year person's sole day of living on the surface, such as how they emerge old, but shed their old shell in order to feed, pointing out trees, grass, sunflowers, people, and a lake as prime targets, claiming a 57-year person could drink an entire lake.
Once the car got running again, the man kept talking about 57-year people, enthusiastically going into detail as he described their hunger, especially the many ways they eat people. Neva, fed up with his ravings, especially with how he seemed to be suggesting he was the 57-year person, promptly stopped the car and ordered him to leave, claiming to have a gun and several crucifixes loaded in the car. When the man tried to protest, she kicked him out and left him behind, as he shouted at her that she was crazy while throwing down his coat.
Later, as the sun began to set, the man shed his elderly shell, becoming a child with an impeccably clean, bright white suit. At the same time, after a fun day at a lakeside cabin, Neva and Doug found the boy in the road, stopping for him. The boy claimed to have gotten lost and left behind during a picnic, and asked for a lift back to town, noting it was spooky out. He was let into the car, and as night fell, the three still on the road, the boy leaned forward and whispered something to Neva, making her realize he was none other than the old man they had previously encountered. As the boy sat back down, the car's engines started dying, bringing the car to a full stop. Neva and Doug then looked back at the boy, who asked them if they ever wondered if there was such a thing as genetic evil in the world. He then smiled at them as the car's lights went out, before presumably killing and eating them to start his consumption spree.
