CHARLES ALDEN

Dr. Charles Alden and MacGyver had been friends for a long time, and Alden insisted that MacGyver was the only person in the world who called him "Charlie." A talented artist who enjoyed sketching whatever he observed around him, Alden was a respected scientist who worked for the Inter-Americas Institute of Tropical Ornithology. When dozens of species of birds in the Amazon rain forest were observed in desperate flight, terrified by something in the heart of the jungle, Alden contacted MacGyver, and they organized a small two-man expedition up the Amazon River to investigate the environmental disaster that was affecting the ecology of the region.

Unable to acquire a guide due to the superstitions of the native Indians who were too fearful to venture deeper into the jungle, MacGyver and Alden continued upriver to the cocoa plantation owned by Lucien Trumbo, hoping for better luck at finding a guide. Trumbo, however, considered them to be trespassers and ordered them to leave, but when MacGyver repaired the pump to Trumbo's irrigation system, Trumbo, in gratitude for saving his crop, offered to guide them into the jungle himself.

There they found the cause for the panicked behavior of the local wildlife. An army of soldier ants was eating its way through the jungle, leaving a path of total devastation several miles across. Alden was excited by the opportunity to observe such an incredible and powerful force of nature, and he enthusiastically began taking pictures to document the ants' progress, moving ever closer to their position. However, as the ants began crawling on him and he attempted to brush them away, he lost his footing and slid down an embankment where he was swarmed and consumed by the army of ants before MacGyver could reach him.

Portrayed by: Peter Jurasik

Cross Reference: Brazil, Soldier Ants, Lucien Trumbo

Episode Reference: Trumbo's World