One-Ear

One-Ear is the leader of a rival tribe, who inhabit Africa three million years ago, in Kubrick and Stanley’s 2001 project.

2001: A Space Odyssey
In the 2001 screenplay, One-Ear is tribal leader of “The Others”. He becomes the alpha after the death of Big-Tooth. Daily they occupy the shallow stream for water. Their numbers are anywhere from eighteen to thirty at a time. It is rather impossible to distinguish them one from the other. Moonwatcher’s tribe occupies the otherside of the stream. Whenever another tribe arrives to the water source, there is a ritualistic banter between the two groups, but it is often harmless and everyone eventually gets their fill. In a sense, there is a “truce” not to cross the stream into another's territory.

One-Ear and Moonwatcher are the primary rival leaders featured in the 2001 film. While Moonwatcher and his family are drinking from the water source, the invasion is begun by One-Ear and his tribe of “The Others”. They run off Moonwatcher’s tribe and confiscate the waterhole for themselves. This defeat sets the pace for Moonwatcher’s “rage and confusion” to seek revenge.

Later, Moonwatcher and his tribe become possessed by a “New Rock”, the Africus monolith. Subsequently, Moonwatcher realizes the capability to improvise a weapon. After seeing the successful use of a bone weapon, he then seeks to take back the waterhole.

One-Ear is then confronted by Moonwatcher at the waterhole. One-ear moves in, but is attacked by Moonwatcher’s use of the bone weapon. Once he’s down, the others equiped with bone weapons follow suit in the attack, resulting in the death of One-Ear.