Lucan's Origins

The Backstory of the 1977 Wolf Boy Series

The Rescue of Feral Child Lucan

In the pilot movie of the 1977 ABC television series, the audience learns the tragic origins of Lucan. Found running wild in the remote forests of Northern Minnesota, Lucan had spent the first ten years of his life completely isolated from humanity, adopted and raised by a pack of wild wolves.

In 1967, when he was ten years old, the boy was discovered by hunters and promptly shipped off to a University in California. The terrified boy (Played by Todd Olsen) is left under the tutelage of reputable Anthropologist Dr. Don Hoagland. The boy is aggressive and untamed and lashes ferociously at anyone within a few feet of him.

LUCAN (1977) is based on the true story of Victor of Aveyron, A wild boy who was found by a French huntsman sometime between 1797 and 1800. Victor was brought to a research institute for the deaf and Dumb and taught by Dr. Jean Itard. However, unlike intelligent Lucan, his cognitive functioning was too impaired to make substantial development. It was later believed he had moderate autism and schizophrenia, unknown mental disorders at the time, which led to his abandonment.

In 1969, filmmaker Francois Truffant used Victor's story for his movie Le 'Enfant Sauvage (The Wild Child), starring Jean-Pierre Cargol as wolf-boy Victor, with Truffant playing Dr. Itard.

A scene from the LUCAN (1977) Pilot Film. Television screenshots and archival promotional imagery from Lucan (1977) featured for historical commentary and review.

Dr. Hoagland and University Research

Following his capture, Lucan was brought to a university research facility where he was placed under the compassionate care of Dr. Hoagland. For the next ten years, Dr. Hoagland worked to socialize and civilize the feral child, teaching him language, human customs, and basic survival skills in the modern world.

Dr. Hoagland is patient, firm, and kind, and spends countless hours teaching the feral boy the ways of civilization.

The boy is given his name three years later. He has a tantrum when he's unable to fit the blocks into their proper shapes, but with Dr. Hoagland's prodding, he doesn't give up.

"See, you can! You can!" Dr. Hoagland enthusiastically repeats to the ecstatic little boy. The child smiles and points to himself and the blocks. "Lu … can, Lu … can!" and thus inspires his name.

The name "Lucan" is also a play on the words "Lycanthrope" or "Lykos," which loosely translates to "wolf" or "wolf-man."

Lucan excels and perplexes the University staff, and some fear he'll become a menace to society if he reverts to wolfish behavior. Lucan is the first case of a "Feral child" successfully treated and "restored to human behavior." 

Lucan lives with Doctor Hoagland. However, the University would rather have him institutionalized than continue to provide grants for his training. The Board overlooks the fact that Lucan developed into a wise, intelligent, and mild-mannered individual.

Some administrators and professors dismiss him rudely, comparing him to a circus animal performing tricks, despite never having met him in person before passing judgment.

Dr. Hoagland trusts that Lucan can venture out on his own, but Lucan must keep his feral instincts in control and always remember where he came from. In the touching opening scenes of the Pilot, Dr. Hoagland and Lucan watch footage of all the training they'd endured during their early years at the University.

The Search for Birth Parents

Despite being successfully civilized, Lucan's core physiology remains unique, displaying heightened, acute wolf-like senses. When his research funding is compromised and he is forced to run, Lucan's primary driving mission becomes finding his biological parents and unraveling the mystery of how he was abandoned in the woods.

Lucan does not enjoy fighting for sport or for malicious reasons, nor does he create trouble for its own sake, as many so-called "civilized" people do. Instead, trouble tends to find him, and he will defend himself or others when necessary.

Lucan fears being caged, stemming from witnessing hunters in the wild trapping wolves and other wild animals. Later, he himself was hunted and caged by the University. When Lucan encounters others, he shares insightful thoughts and draws parallels between animal and human behavior. His manners are polite and courteous toward everyone.