Klaatu Barada Nikto - Usage in The Film

Usage in The Film

Edmund H. North, who wrote The Day the Earth Stood Still, also created the alien language used in the film, including the phrase "Klaatu barada nikto". The official spelling for the phrase comes directly from the script (as shown in the image) and provides insight as to its proper pronunciation.

The phrase was never translated in the film and neither Edmund North nor 20th Century Fox ever released an official translation.

Toward the end of the film, Klaatu is pursued by the military with orders that he be taken dead or alive. Klaatu tells Helen Benson his concern about Gort and requests she memorize the phrase, saying "There's no limit to what he can do. He could destroy the Earth... If anything should happen to me you must go to Gort, you must say these words, 'Klaatu barada nikto', please repeat that."

Shortly after, Klaatu is shot and killed. While Klaatu's body is being put in a jail cell, Gort removes himself from the plastic encasement and kills two guards. Helen Benson visits Gort outside the spaceship and just before Gort attacks her, she says, "Gort, Klaatu barada nikto. Klaatu barada nikto." Gort takes Helen inside the spaceship then retrieves Klaatu's lifeless body from the jail and brings him back to life using the alien technology aboard the ship.