Bloody Tales

EPISODE XXXII: The Jungle Book

SUMMARY: 
Taking place in the Indian jungles of Madhya Pradesh during the British Raj, a Hindu zoologist, his wife and their infant son are camping out in the Seoni on a small family expedition when suddenly, their campsite is attacked by Shere Khan, a fearsome and bloodthirsty Bengal tiger that has a strong contempt towards the humans. The ferocious tiger kills both the parents and is about to eat the baby next, but a pack of wolves known as the Seeonee Pack intervene and chase Shere Khan away.

Rama and his mate, Raksha, decide to take the "man-cub" in as their own, naming him "Mowgli". Even though it is against the law of the jungle to raise man in their environment, the pack leader, Akela, agrees to allow the wolves to raise Mowgli. At that moment, Shere Khan returns for the man-cub, but Akela reasons that Mowgli is in their care now and their responsibility. Furious, Shere Khan storms off in defeat, but promises that one day, he will have the man-cub's blood dripping from his lips. As Mowgli grows up along with his wolf brothers, he easily adapts to his new habitat, learning how to hunt, attack, run and kill prey much like a wolf under the sloth bear, Baloo's tutelage and the panther, Bagheera's guidance. While hunting with the pack, Mowgli is discovered by a band of hunters led by Buldeo. After the hunters shoot one of Mowgli's brothers, he angrily attacks them and even steals one of their guns to shoot them in retaliation, but then a stampede of elephants led by Hathi, frightens away Buldeo before Mowgli could finish him as well. Tabaqui, a golden jackal and Shere Khan's spy, finds Mowgli and taunts him, saying that because he is a man-cub, he'll never be one with the pack. In response, Mowgli kills Tabaqui by eating his throat out. Afterwards, he is captured by the Bandar-log, langur monkeys who are outcasts in the jungle, and taken to their home in a ruined city to their leader, a Gigantopithecus. Before long, Baloo, Bagheera and the wise python, Kaa, arrive to rescue Mowgli, killing off the Bandar-log and ending with Kaa biting the Bandar-log King and injecting him with his lethal venom. Mowgli tries his best to keep up with the rest of the cubs, but feels like he is still the odd one out. Meanwhile, Shere Khan manipulates the other wolves to rebel against Akela. When Mowgli catches wind of this, he sets out to a nearby human village and steals a torch to use against the tiger, but arrives too late as Shere Khan has already killed Akela himself. As revenge, Mowgli fights against Shere Khan with the torch and even burns his face, driving him and his allies off. Unfortunately, the guilt-ridden Mowgli comes to the saddening realization that because he has used fire against an animal of the jungle, he has now become a man and must leave to be with his own kind, but knowing that Shere Khan may return one day, Mowgli promises to come back and kill him once and for all.

Mowgli arrives in the village and is found by a beautiful woman named Messua, who takes him in as her own, stating that he resembles her son, Nathoo, who was also killed by Shere Khan long ago. Over time, Mowgli slowly begins to adjust the human customs, etiquette and nature of the village. However, Buldeo also lives in the village and upon sighting Mowgli, angrily throttles the boy for killing his men before being reprimanded by Messua and her rich husband, who refuse to believe his claims. Desperate for revenge, Buldeo kills Mowgli's adoptive parents in their sleep by slitting their throats and passes the blame on Mowgli, turning the entire village against him. As they try to lynch him, Bagheera intervenes and saves the boy, bringing him back to the jungle. Distraught and heartbroken, Mowgli rallies up the other animals to attack the human village. Hathi and the elephant stampede in a straight line through the village, trampling some unlucky people in their path before Mowgli, Bagheera, Baloo, Kaa and the entire pack lay siege to the humans, killing them all left and right until Buldeo attempts to shoot Mowgli before he gets stabbed in the heart with a knife.

After their attack, the whole village is left to nothing but ruin and dead bodies. Mowgli encounters Shere Khan outside the desolation, but instead of killing him, Shere Khan is amazed that Mowgli was able to lay waste to his own kind and decides that they are now one and the same. After having been rejected by both the wolves and the humans, Mowgli decides to go and survive on his own, with the exception of his wolf brothers, until he is old enough to return to the humans.

CAST:
Mowgli, a young orphaned boy who is raised by the wolves of the Seeonee Pack.

Baloo, a middle-aged, strict sloth bear who trains wolf pups the law of the jungle.

Bagheera, a black panther who acts as Mowgli's guide and mentor.

Shere Khan, a ferocious and wild Bengal tiger with a huge grudge against humanity who killed Mowgli's parents and now hopes to kill him too.

Akela, the wise and dignified leader of the Seeonee who allows the man-cub to be taught the ways of the wolf.

Raksha, Mowgli's adoptive wolf mother.

Rama, Mowgli's adoptive wolf father.

Hathi, the leader of the elephants.

Kaa, a smart venomous python with hypnotic abilities whom the Bandar-log fear the most.

Tabaqui, a golden jackal and Shere Khan's only ally.

The Bandar-log King, a deranged Gigantopithecus and the leader of the Bandar-log who holds Mowgli hostage.

Messua, a young woman from the human village who adopts Mowgli, who reminds her of her long-lost son, Nathoo.

Soosham, Messua's husband and the richest man in India who is the general of the maharaja's army.

Buldeo, an arrogant chief hunter who wants revenge on Mowgli for murdering his men.