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The phrase "Klaatu barada nikto" originates from the 1951 Cold-War-era science fiction film The Day the Earth Stood Still. The phrase "Gort! Klaatu barada nikto!" was used to stop Gort, the robot in the film, from destroying the Earth.

There is no known translation for the phrase, although "Klaatu" is the name of the humanoid alien protagonist in the film, while nikto means nobody in Russian.

Contents 1 References in popular culture 1.1 1960 - 1969 1.2 1970 - 1979 1.3 1980 - 1989 1.4 1990 - 1999 1.5 2000 - Present 2 Reference

Ever since the release of the movie, this phrase continues to show up in popular culture.

• 1968: In the episode The Monkees Watch Their Feet of the TV series The Monkees, an alien robot who has replaced Micky cries out, "Gort! Veringa! Gort! Veringa!! Klaatu barata nikto! Klaatu barata nikto!"^[1]

• 1972: On the album School's Out by Alice Cooper the words are uttered at the end of the song "My Stars".
• 1977: in the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind there is a high-level shot of an area subdivided into the offices of various people working on contacting alien beings. The phrase appears on a large banner pinned to one of the office walls.
• 1978 (poss.): in an episode of the TV show The Rockford Files (possibly Local Man Eaten By Newspaper, December 8, 1978), James Rockford utters the phrase to a very large thug standing watch next to a doorway. The thug doesn't get the joke.^{[citation needed]}

• 1982: the words are seen in the film Tron, posted on a sign hanging in Alan Bradley's cubicle (27:20).
• 1983:
  • In the film Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi, three of Jabba the Hutt's skiff guards are named Klaatu, Barada, and Nikto, and Barada's species is Klatooinian.
  • In the novel The Armageddon Rag by George RR Martin. A character jokingly says the phrase to a character named Gort.
  • In the play The Foreigner, by Larry Shue, Charlie speaks the phrase when talking about editing a sci-fi magazine.
• 1984: in the computer game Robot Odyssey this phrase appears upon solving one of the puzzles, that disables a sentry robot.
• 1985: in episode: "Chameleon" of TV series The Twilight Zone
• 1986:
  • The movie The Manhattan Project shows a clip from the movie The Day the Earth Stood Still where Klaatu speaks the phrase.
  • In the movie Chopping Mall one of the teenagers uses this phrase when queried by the security robot for his id.
  • In an episode of The Adventures of the Galaxy Rangers (1986), "Klaatu Nikto Barada" is a greeting used by the freedom fighters of Wolcab.
• 1989: in the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles cartoon series episode Invasion of the Turtle Snatchers, a family of three aliens encountered by Donatello and Rocksteady are named Klaatu, Barada and Nikto. Klaatu is the father, Barada is the mother and Nikto is the little boy. In this version, Klaatu, Barada and Nikto come from a planet orbiting the star Antares.

• 1990: In the Halloween episode of Growing Pains.
• 1991: the song "Come In Piece" was released by Doubting Thomas on their album The Infidel. It contains samples from the movie The Day the Earth Stood Still, also the one from the scene where "klaatu barada nikto" is first spoken.
• 1992: in the film Toys, the character Leland Zevo speaks the phrase to stop a rampaging robotic sea creature he calls the "Seaswine".
• 1992-1993: in two episodes of Darkwing Duck (Battle of the Brainteasers, 1992 and The Revenge of the Return of the Brainteasers, Too, 1993), the villains are mind-controlling aliens from the planet Fez who resemble hats. Their leader is named Flarg, but his two lackies are named Barada and Nikto. Klaatu2 appears briefly as a leader of the "Gurlest Revolutionaries" who arrives to arrest Flarg and his minions.
• 1993-2002: in the TV Series, The X-files, Agent Mulder has this phrase pinned to the wall of his office.
• 1993:
  • In the film Army of Darkness, the third installment of the Evil Dead trilogy, Ash has to speak similar words in order to retrieve the Necronomicon. He fails to remember it properly ("Klaatu... verada... necktie?") and thus awakens a horde of malicious Deadites.
  • In the PC game Sam & Max Hit the Road, Sam uses the phrase as one of the game's gag responses.
  • In the song "Rescue Me" by Bryan Ferry on his album Taxi. It contains samples from the movie The Day the Earth Stood Still.
  • In the chronicles of Adventurers by Thomas Miller in episode CIV "Sanctuary?" Alindyar uses "Klaatu barada nikto" as magic incantation.
• 1994: In the David Ives collection of short plays All in the Timing, the play "The Universal Language" contains a reference to the phrase. The character of Don says "Klaato boddami nikto!" to the character of Dawn. It is implied to mean "You're not bothering me at all!"
• 1994 and/or 1995: in the game show Legends of the Hidden Temple, it was used as one of the passwords in "The Room of the Secret Password" in Season 3 (1995) and part of Season 2 (1994).
• 1995: In the sitcom Grace Under Fire episode "Memphis Bound", Russell mentions it while in Memphis.
• 1996:
  • The Maxis game SimCity 2000 Network Edition features a different spelling, 'Klaatu Verta Nictu' as a cheat code, and plays the original sound clip from the movie of the character Klaatu speaking the line, "You must go to Gort. You must say these words: Klaatu Verata Niktu."
  • In the Microprose game Grand Prix 2, the phrase appears in a Globo TV billboard, in the Interlagos circuit.
  • In the SNES video game Lost Vikings II, variants of the phrase were used (such as "Klatu, Veratu... Hadouken!") as teleport spells at the end of a series of levels. Like the misspoken version in Army of Darkness (see above), they do not work quite as desired, though the correct version is eventually remembered.
• 1996-1997: in the Rocko's Modern Life episode, "The High Five of Doom", Heffer says the phrase to Philbert, whom he suspects to be an evil alien, and explains to a confused Rocko that "It's alien language. I saw it in a sci-fi movie."
  • In the Donald Duck comic Attack of the Hideous Space-Varmints, Donald attempts to communicate with some aliens by saying the famous phrase while doing the Vulcan salute.
• 1997: One of the short episodes from Season 1, Episode 6 of Johnny Bravo is titled "The Day The Earth Didn't Move Around Very Much". In this episode, Carl uses the famous phrase.
• 1998:
  • In the video game Duke Nukem: Time to Kill, Duke utters the phrase after reading from a book... This is likely a reference to Army of Darkness (see above 1993).
  • In the video game Myth II: Soulblighter, The Deceiver is revived with the words "clambake veratus nicktoo."[1]
  • In the MMORPG EverQuest, players must speak the phrase, "utalk adarav otcin" to Kizdean Gix as a password to receive a secret note used to anger the Skeleton Llrod in Befallen for a quest.
• 1999:
  • The sentence was used in episode 37 of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids: The TV Show. In this episode, Diane Szalinski goes through a mid-life crisis. At a museum, a druid gives her the spell and promises her eternal life. When she uses it, she awakens an evil princess, the druid's mummy lover.
  • In Galaxy Quest, the aliens who recruit Jason Nesmith come from the planet Thermia located in the "Klaatu Nebula".
  • In Hercules, The Legendary Journeys episode, "City Of The Dead" Ramses speaks this phrase as an incantation.

• 2000
  • The words Klaatu, Barada, and Nikto are used as spell incantations in the game Sacrifice by Shiny Entertainment.
  • The protagonist, Walter Bullit, in Jack Womack's Going, Going, Gone, quotes those words near the end of the first chapter to the character Big Girl, a.k.a. Chloe
• 2000 and/or 2001: in the webcomic Bob and George, the author uses this phrase to resurrect Dr. Light after being shot.
• 2001:
  • in the #5 print issue of PvP volume 1, the phrase is the password used by a game store employee to buy the Xboxes and Gamecubes which he stockpiled.
  • in the anime Read or Die the character Genjo Sanzo uses the phrase as part of a mystic chant to part the ocean.
• 2002:
  • In the Sci-fi series Farscape episode I Shrink Therefore I Am, John Crichton mocks the alien bounty hunters that invaded Moya by repeating the phrase - which of course makes no sense whatsoever to them.
  • In the sci-fi/fantasy book Mothership, the phrase is used by one of the main characters to stop a dragon. The dragon had been trained by the ruling elite, and the phrase was said to be a command in the language "Old Hollywood".
  • In the naval adventure novel Killigrew and the Incorrigibles [2], author Jonathan Lunn has one of the resident cannibals on a South Sea island utter the phrase "Klaatu barada nikto!" to order one of his guests be prepared for dinner (on page 383 of the softbound version published by Headline Books).
  • The phrase is also spoken by Lt. Frank Bartholomew Parker in the television show Seven Days as he enters a recovered suspected alien space craft.
  • In the cartoon series, The Simpsons S14E04 - Large Marge, an similar line was used as an cultural reference to the quote.
• 2003:
  • In the DC Comics mini-series Formerly Known As the Justice League, the Elongated Man says the words "Klaatu barada nikto" in an attempt to communicate with and/or disarm robotic sentries stationed outside of the Super Buddies headquarters.
  • In the MMORPG Ragnarok Online, a vengeful sprit can be found in the town of Nifleheim. One available conversation tree leads to the player choosing "Klaatu Barada Nikto" or "Klaatu Barada Necktie" in order to send his spirit to rest.
  • In the PC game Rayman 3 Globox says the words "Klaatu barada nikto" in attempt to open the secret door.
  • Also in Ragnarok Online, an NPC in Niflheim states that, "To break a curse, tell Gort, 'Klaatu Barada... oh dear, I've forgotten the last word.'"
• 2004:
  • Steve Jackson Games' [3] card game Star Munchkin 2 - The Clown Wars contains a card "Klaatu Barada Necktie" which enables you to use as many armors as you like at the same time. This may, however, be a direct reference to the allusion in Army of Darkness (see above).
  • In the video game Spider-Man 2 Mysterio says these words in the burning theatre scene.
  • In the book Jim Rage's Elite Zombie Hunting Manual the phrase is hidden on one of the pages as though it were a stain.
  • In the short film Bjam Man vs The World the phrase is written on the classroom wall.^{[citation needed]}
  • In My Doctor Has a Cow Puppet, episode 22 [4] of the comedy series Two and a Half Men, the character Alan utters the phrase cryptically during a sleepwalking bout.
  • In the TV show The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius episode Lights! Camera! Danger, where a big shot producer comes to Retroville and makes a movie with Jimmy and his friends, Jimmy says it as a magic spell in a scene of the "movie" whose place is Pigpimples, a name punning Hogwarts. In Time is Money Jimmy travels back in time to meet his hip 70's parents. Jimmy's friend, Carl Wheezer, says the phrase as they encounter Jimmy's parents.
  • Bob and George once again uses variations on the phrase, first to revive George and then to summon a taco. It is worth noting, however, that neither is actually "Klaatu Barada Nikto"; both phrases use "Klatu" instead of "Klaatu" and "Verada" instead of "Barada," and the second uses "Taco" in the place of "Nikto".
• 2005:
  • In Issue 2 of the Marvel Comics mini-series Ultimate Secret, Captain Marvel, a member of the Kree alien race, is asked by Nick Fury why his race stays off-world. Captain Marvel sarcastically answers that his kind "are frightened of you savage humans and your atomic bombs. Klaatu barada nikto."
  • In the end of the song HMH2 (Horror Movie Hero 2) by the Pirate Band The Jolly Rogers on their album Cutlass, Cannon and Curves
• 2006
  • On the December 23rd episode of Car Talk, a caller was asking about a mysterious flash of light in her Ford Explorer and was jokingly asked if she had heard the famous phrase when the flash happened.
• 2007
  • Freefall [5], a science fiction webcomic in which robots figure extensively, created by Mark Stanley, made a reference to the sentence in its episode 01372 on January 22nd [6].
  • In World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade, two NPCs exist together named Klatu and Barada. One named Nikto hasn't been sighted yet.
  • In the video game Guild Wars: Nightfall, characters who are under the influence of a Lunar Blessing's "Spiritual Possession" effect may mutter the phrase at random.
  • In the MMORPG Vanguard: Saga of Heroes, players must speak the phrase "Utaalk Ataraav Utkin" as a secret password to gain admission to Riftseeker's Torrent.
  • In the webcomic Elf Only Inn, Barbivine gives LOD a macro to bind a player to the resurrected monster. The macro is leet speak for Klaatu barada nikto (/setplayer_KL44TU$B4R4D4$NIK2).