Ford Prefect
E13553
Ford Prefect is a roving alien researcher and eccentric hitchhiker who serves as Arthur Dent’s savvy, sardonic guide to the universe in Douglas Adams’ comic science fiction series.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| Ford Prefect canonical | 44 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T119925 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Ford Prefect Context triple: [The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, mainCharacter, Ford Prefect]
-
A.
Arthur Dent
Arthur Dent is the bewildered everyman protagonist of Douglas Adams' comic science fiction series "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," who is swept off Earth just before its destruction and thrust into absurd intergalactic adventures.
-
B.
Roger the Alien
Roger the Alien is a flamboyant, shape-shifting extraterrestrial character from the animated TV series "American Dad!" known for his sarcastic humor, elaborate disguises, and chaotic schemes.
-
C.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a comedic science fiction series following the misadventures of an unwitting human and his alien friend as they travel through an absurd and satirical universe.
-
D.
Bardeen
Bardeen is a surname most notably associated with John Bardeen, the American physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics twice for his work on the transistor and superconductivity.
-
E.
Ellie Arroway
Ellie Arroway is a brilliant and determined radio astronomer who becomes the central figure in humanity’s first confirmed contact with extraterrestrial intelligence in Carl Sagan’s science fiction story "Contact."
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: Ford Prefect Target entity description: Ford Prefect is a roving alien researcher and eccentric hitchhiker who serves as Arthur Dent’s savvy, sardonic guide to the universe in Douglas Adams’ comic science fiction series.
-
A.
Arthur Dent
Arthur Dent is the bewildered everyman protagonist of Douglas Adams' comic science fiction series "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy," who is swept off Earth just before its destruction and thrust into absurd intergalactic adventures.
-
B.
Roger the Alien
Roger the Alien is a flamboyant, shape-shifting extraterrestrial character from the animated TV series "American Dad!" known for his sarcastic humor, elaborate disguises, and chaotic schemes.
-
C.
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is a comedic science fiction series following the misadventures of an unwitting human and his alien friend as they travel through an absurd and satirical universe.
-
D.
Bardeen
Bardeen is a surname most notably associated with John Bardeen, the American physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics twice for his work on the transistor and superconductivity.
-
E.
Ellie Arroway
Ellie Arroway is a brilliant and determined radio astronomer who becomes the central figure in humanity’s first confirmed contact with extraterrestrial intelligence in Carl Sagan’s science fiction story "Contact."
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (50)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
Character in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
ⓘ
Character in literature ⓘ Fictional character ⓘ |
| aliasOrigin | Named himself after the Ford Prefect car model ⓘ |
| aliasOriginExplanation | Mistakenly assumed the dominant life form on Earth was the automobile ⓘ |
| appearsIn |
Life, the Universe and Everything
ⓘ
Mostly Harmless ⓘ So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish ⓘ The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ⓘ The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ⓘ
surface form:
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy 2005 film
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ⓘ
surface form:
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio series
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ⓘ
surface form:
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy television series
The Restaurant at the End of the Universe ⓘ |
| associatedObject |
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy electronic book
ⓘ
Towel ⓘ |
| catchphraseAssociation | Don't Panic ⓘ |
| closeFriend | Arthur Dent ⓘ |
| creator | Douglas Adams ⓘ |
| fictionalUniverse |
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
ⓘ
surface form:
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy universe
|
| firstAppearance |
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
ⓘ
surface form:
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy radio series
|
| firstAppearanceYear | 1978 ⓘ |
| gender | Male ⓘ |
| genre | Comic science fiction ⓘ |
| homePlanet |
Betelgeusian
ⓘ
surface form:
Betelgeuse Five
|
| knownFor |
Carrying a towel
ⓘ
Extensive knowledge of hitchhiking the galaxy ⓘ Heavy drinking ⓘ |
| medium |
Film
ⓘ
Novel ⓘ Radio ⓘ Television ⓘ |
| notableAction | Rescues Arthur Dent from Earth before its destruction ⓘ |
| notableWork | Entries in The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ⓘ |
| occupation |
Hitchhiker
ⓘ
Researcher for The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy ⓘ |
| personalityTrait |
Eccentric
ⓘ
Sardonic ⓘ Savvy ⓘ |
| portrayedBy |
David Dixon
ⓘ
Geoffrey McGivern ⓘ Mos Def ⓘ |
| relationshipToZaphodBeeblebrox | Semi-cousin ⓘ |
| relative | Zaphod Beeblebrox ⓘ |
| role |
The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
ⓘ
surface form:
Guide to Arthur Dent
|
| shipTraveledOn | Heart of Gold ⓘ |
| species | Betelgeusian ⓘ |
| travelsWith |
Arthur Dent
ⓘ
Marvin the Paranoid Android ⓘ Trillian ⓘ Zaphod Beeblebrox ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: Ford Prefect Description of subject: Ford Prefect is a roving alien researcher and eccentric hitchhiker who serves as Arthur Dent’s savvy, sardonic guide to the universe in Douglas Adams’ comic science fiction series.
Referenced by (44)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.
subject surface form:
And Another Thing...
subject surface form:
Heart of Gold
slogan on merchandise related to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy
→
associatedWithCharacter
→
Ford Prefect
ⓘ
subject surface form:
"Don't Panic" (Hitchhiker's Guide slogan)