Mothman

Mothman
Species Information
Status	Non-existent
Notable Traits	Extraterrestrial Enlarged cranium
Season(s)	5

The Mothmen were initally believed to be an extraterrestrial species of frightening humanoid creatures that had taken refuge in Riverdale since at least the late 1970s. However, Nana Rose revealed to Betty and Jughead that the Mothmen were merely a tale created by the illegitimate children of her late husband, who'd been hiding in the forest for two generations.

Throughout Riverdale

Season 5

Interviewing Old Man Dreyfus

Jughead interviews Old Man Dreyfus

Jughead is directed to Old Man Dreyfus by Tabitha, who informs him that Dreyfus has an interesting story to tell. Jughead arrives at Old Man Dreyfus’, where he comes across a Mothman sculpture made of scrap in the front yard. Dreyfus hands Jughead a sketch book filled with drawings of Mothmen while explaining how he and a group of buddies where hired about 30 or 40 years ago to dig out a collapsed mine not far off the Lonely Highway. One night, they went to bed and the next morning when they woke up, one of the guys, Ramos, was missing. He returned the next morning but then Raymond went missing. Ramos told them that he had been abducted by Mothmen and taken up on their ship. The following day, Raymond was back but Arnold was missing, and Raymond reported that much like Ramos, he was taken up in a ship. Dreyfus claims that these aliens tend to live in the caves off the Lonely Highway. Jughead wonders why he’s never heard of the Mothmen before. Dreyfus informs him that there were some articles from back in the day and says that Jughead should ask around. Jughead asks if he's worried the Mothmen will come back for him. Dreyfus replies that he's hopeful they will.

Tales of the Mothmen

Pop Tate's encounter with the lights

Jughead and Tabitha interview Pop Tate at the diner and ask about his eye witness account of the frightening flashing lights from above. Pop Tate recalls the evening clear as day. It was one night about 50 years ago with very few people in the diner. All of the sudden, he could feel a type of electricity in the air before all the lights suspiciously shut off. The diner was nearly pitch black but far from silent as a jukebox played, gum balls poured out of the machine, and a toy monkey frantically clapped cymbals. A strange yellow tinted light shined into the diner from outside. Pop Tate walked out to the parking lot to take a look, but the lights were gone. Some said aliens, but the most credible explanation Pop heard was that it was military testing from an army base outside Riverdale. A part of Pop Tate wishes the lights would come back. Lastly, Pop Tate reveals that Nana Rose Blossom was among the patrons who witnessed the lights that night and tells them to interview her.

Jughead and Tabitha interview Nana Rose about the Mothmen

Jughead and Tabitha interview Nana Rose about the lights in the sky 50 years ago. Nana Rose remembers it well. Her suspicion is that the light came from the Moth Men’s ship. A few weeks after the incident, she found a hideously misshapen body in the maple forest — a Moth Men corpse. Nana Rose claims that an alien autopsy was performed. However, the Moth Men didn’t want people talking about them, which is why there aren't many articles. They revealed this to her when they came to Thornhill one night looking for their comrade. They don’t like to be known and didn’t like Nana Rose having their deceased. She told them that it had been cremated. In reality, it has been perfectly preserved in a barrel of maple syrup, which she offers to find for them as proof.

Mothman

Jughead enters the diner to find Tabitha waiting for him along with a barrel of maple syrup delivered by Nana Rose. They take the barrel into the back and find what Nana Rose claims to be a Moth Man. It reeks of maple syrup and decay. Still, Tabitha isn’t convinced. She believes it could be human bones mixed with fake, synthetic bones. However, Jughead is truly starting to believe the Moth Man story. So much so that he wants to consult a specialist: Dr. Diana Whitley — an anthropology professor at Centerville University who specializes in urban culture and extraterrestrial phenomenon.

Jughead sees the light

Jughead pours himself a drink while working the night shift at the diner. The jukebox suddenly starts playing. The diner then starts to shake, gum balls pour out the machine, and the cash register opens on its own. Moments later, a yellow tinted light shines just outside the diner. Jughead follows it into the parking lot. There, he finds himself directly under a bright white beam of light. The next day, Jughead tells Tabitha how much like Pop Tate’s encounter 50 years ago, the diner started to shake and he saw a light around 2:00 AM. The last thing he remembers is seeing a bright white light before waking up in a booth four hours later. Tabitha suspects that what Jughead recalls was merely a dream or drunk hallucination. However, Jughead then reveals that the Moth Man is missing as well.

Touched by the Mothmen?

Tabitha and Jughead meet with Dr. Whitley

Jughead and Tabitha meet with Dr. Diana Whitley at Pop’s after contacting her in regards to the alleged Mothman they received from Nana Rose. Dr. Whitley is eager to examine the specimen and is disappointed to learn that it was stolen. Jughead explains that he was babysitting it when a blinding light appeared from the sky. The last thing he remembers is looking up. He woke up hours later, and the Mothman was gone. Dr. Whitley suspects Jughead is subconsciously suppressing a traumatic experience, as common with individuals who have had close encounters with extraterrestrials. Dr. Whitley offers to help Jughead and suggests that he attend her support group, but Jughead declines her offer. Should he decide otherwise, she leaves her card behind.

While Jughead discusses the themes of the novel Slaughterhouse Five, he momentarily hallucinates seeing a Mothman standing just outside the door. He begins to suspect that he’s going crazy and decides to take Dr. Whitley up on her offer to attend her support group.

Tabitha and Jughead at the support group

Tabitha decides to join Jughead at Dr. Whitley’s support group. Jughead shares his story with the group; how he was working late at Pop’s when lights from outside the window began shining into the diner. Dr. Whitley then asks him about lost time, noting that blackouts are common in supposed encounters with extraterrestrials. When she asks if he’s ever blacked out before, Jughead becomes overwhelmed with visions of an approaching Mothman and flees. Tabitha follows him out and inquires further about his blackouts. Jughead reveals that he was in New York when the blackouts first began. He was drinking, doing drugs, and partying hard. During that time, he did some things that he doesn’t remember and lost a lot of time. With that in mind, Tabitha proposes that they skip Cheryl’s party, but Jughead believes that a night of debauchery is precisely what he needs.

The following morning after Cheryl's key party, Jughead exits the shower and is startled by the reflection of a Mothman in the mirror.

Mothmen and Mole People

Weatherbee reads Lerman's story

Jughead monitors any potential extraterrestrial activity from the garage. The following day at school, Jughead shares Lerman’s disturbing short story with Weatherbee. It details how a kid is held captive by mole people only to escape and be abducted by a family of Mothmen, who operate on him. However, in the story, the child survives and is found on the side of the highway. Jughead asks how much they know of Lerman. According to Weatherbee, he’s a good student with average grades, but he has sustained a substantial amount of at-home injuries, such as a broken arm and black eye. He was even on crutches for a while. Jughead suspects that his parents may be abusing him, but Weatherbee has met the Logans and insists that they’re good people.

After class, Jughead asks Lerman about his short story. Lerman claims it was inspired by a series of recurring dreams. Jughead explains how some experts believe that stories about aliens are actually about traumas that people have experienced and that these stories are cries for help. Jughead wonders if any part of his stories are true, but Lerman insists that he made it up.

Jughead is confronted by the Logans

Jughead is called into Weatherbee’s office, where he is confronted by Lerman’s parents. Mr. and Mrs. Logan accuse him of encouraging Lerman’s wild alien fantasies. Jughead apologizes and explains that he suspected that Lerman was having trouble at home. Weatherbee also apologizes on Jughead’s behalf and assures them that it will never happen again, especially since he’ll be moving Lerman to another English class. After the Logans leave, Weatherbee scolds Jughead for breaking protocol and warns him that he’ll be fired should he have another misstep.

Jughead and Betty ask Old Man Dreyfus about the Lonely Highway

Jughead takes Betty to meet Old Man Dreyfus. Betty reveals how her sister made a call from the pay phone on the Lonely Highway, but it was destroyed by the time they arrived. Dreyfus correctly deduces that the phonebooth was shredded like a tin can. He’s seen it before, first during the summer of 1977, and again in 1982. He believes that Polly was abducted by Mothmen. He goes on to explain how the ships use anti-matter fusion reactors that create a gravity field that allow them to levitate like a balloon, but anything that gets caught in the stasis gets crushed. Dreyfus has known for some time that they were back in town, as he’s been picking up their chatter on his radio.

Betty finds Lerman

Jughead gets a call from Weatherbee, who is searching for Lerman, as he has gone missing. They fear that Lerman has ran away. Jughead offers to look for him and tells Weatherbee that he’ll be calling in some help. Jughead then calls Betty and informs her that one of his students is missing and likely somewhere along the Lonely Highway. Betty reveals that she’s on the highway and agrees to meet Jughead. Jughead meets with Betty on the Lonely Highway to discover that she’s already recovered Lerman. He was walking on the shoulder in a daze. Lerman looks to Jughead and asks if it happened again.

Betty and Jughead learn that Lerman is a chronic sleepwalker

Jughead and Betty return Lerman to his parents, who are grateful. They had hoped that he wouldn’t have to go through this again. Lerman is a chronic sleepwalker. They thought he grew out of it, but then he started hurting himself. He’s walked into a door, burned his hand on a stove, and even fallen out of a window, braking his arm. Leaving his parents with no other option but to lock his bedroom door at night. They gave him the basement, where they hoped he would be safe. Jughead surmises that Mr. and Mrs. Logan are the mole people from the story that we’re keeping Lerman locked up. The worst incident came one morning when the Logans awakened to find the front door open. Lerman was missing for an entire week. He was found wandering the Lonely Highway with no memory of the prior week. This is why they were so upset with Jughead. They feared his questioning would trigger Lerman’s sleep walking.

Betty and Jughead at Pop's

Betty and Jughead reconvene at Pop’s, where they discuss the similarities between Lerman and Polly’s disappearances. When Polly escaped and made that phone call, she described being in what sounded like an alien spaceship. They could’ve been abducted by the same person. Betty suspects that Lerman may have escaped, which is why they need to find out what Lerman knows about that missing week.

While under the influence of maple mushrooms, Jughead hallucinates seeing a Mothman in the bunker.

Suffering from the combined effects of his PTSD and carbon monoxide poisoning, Archie begins to hallucinate. He sees a Mothman while in the tunnels and flees.

The Origin of the Mothmen

Nana Rose tells Betty and Jughead about the Starkweathers

Betty and Jughead's investigation into the Highway Killer leads them to the Blossom family after a DNA test performed by Dr. Curdle Jr. revealed that Martin Tucker was a Blossom and a distant relative of Betty's. From there, they decide to visit Nana Rose, who shamefully admits that the alleged Mothman corpse she previously gave Jughead and Tabitha was actually cousin Timothy. She came across his corpse in the woods and put him in a barrel. She pitied him, as he was born with so many defects. Nana Rose reveals that her late husband was a compulsive philanderer. He had sex with every woman that worked on their estate, and then when they became pregnant, he forced Rose to pawn them off to avoid a scandal. Fortunately, she knew a barren couple that lived in a cavern in the woods — the Starkweathers. Rose gave them a total of six children. Betty concludes that Martin Tucker must've been one of the Starkweathers, though he was also a Blossom, meaning that there's a secret illegitimate clan of Blossoms that have lived in the woods for two generations. They kept to themselves and didn't like prying eyes, so they created the tale of the Mothmen, one which the Blossoms were eager to embrace. Nana Rose reveals that they no longer live in the woods. They migrated to the mines until it's closing and then found their way towards the highway. Jughead then remembers Old Man Dreyfus, who has been pushing the Mothmen fable from the highway. When they mention his name, Nana Rose confirms that he is in fact a Starkweather.

Dreyfus admits to fabricating the Mothmen tale

Betty, Jughead, Tabitha, Toni, and Fangs arrive at the junkyard. Jughead is to distract Dreyfus while they search for Britta. He knocks on Old Man Dreyfus' door and enters his shack, where he begins questioning if Dreyfus has any family, referring to him by his last name of Starkweather. He questions just how much Jughead has figured out. Jughead reveals that he knows the Mothmen corpse that was at Pop's was Dreyfus' half-brother, Timothy, and that Dreyfus stole it while they were out. He also stole the bodies from the morgue, specifically his brother, Martin, as well as the mutilated remains of Squeaky. Jughead has come to the conclusion that Dreyfus and his brother search the Lonely Highway for women to murder and questions why. Initially, it was to survive, by stealing from them, but then it became sport and chasing the thrill of the kill. The Mothmen tale was just a cover-up to keep people from looking into the disappearances.

Mothman chokes Betty

While searching the yard, Toni comes across a shed. It's locked, but she can hear Britta from the inside. Toni is then startled by one of the Starkweathers. Having heard Toni's scream, Jughead jumps to his feet. This distraction allows Dreyfus to reach for a knife and lunge at Jughead. Elsewhere, Fangs finds himself stuck in a bear trap. Not far off, Tabitha and Betty are attacked by two men wearing armor crafted in the likeness of the Mothmen. Betty opens fire, but the bullets are incapable of piercing the armor. However, unlike Betty, Fangs is armed with a shotgun and scares off his attacker. Meanwhile, Tabitha manages to break free of the Mothman attacking her and uses a stun gun to render him unconscious. Unfortunately, Betty is still at the mercy of her attacker until Toni intervenes. Toni reveals that Britta is fine and that one of the Starkweathers, a young boy, helped her free Britta. Betty then rushes into the cabin to find Jughead holding Dreyfus down. He tried to chew his tongue off and choke on it, but Jughead continues to pry his mouth open until Betty knocks him unconscious with a swift kick to the face. Dreyfus and his siblings are then taken to the FBI field office.

Appearances

Season 5

• "Chapter Eighty-Two: Back To School" (mentioned)
• "Chapter Eighty-Three: Fire in the Sky" (alleged corpse)
• "Chapter Eighty-Four: Lock & Key" (hallucination)
• "Chapter Eighty-Five: Destroyer" (mentioned)
• "Chapter Eighty-Six: The Pincushion Man" (hallucination)
• "Chapter Eighty-Seven: Strange Bedfellows" (hallucination)
• "Chapter Ninety: The Night Gallery" (hallucination)
• "Chapter Ninety-Three: Dance of Death"

Gallery

Trivia

• The Mothman is based on the urban legend about the cryptid of the same name in Point Pleasant, West Virginia.
• Mole people are based on a fictional underground civilization, or are homeless people living under abandoned cities.