Cuco

Cuco is the protagonist of the film, Ferngully 3: Secrets of the Rainforest. He is a feral human boy who was raised by Go'el, a beast who he considers as his father and believes he's a beast.

Biography

Cuco's real name is Alan Bauer. He is the only child of scientists Chad and Lisa Bauer, who were the leaders of the Biotone Company, working with their subordinate Dr. McLeach. When they learned of the Tree of Life's location in the Ferngully and that the many beasts and fairies living in the forest worshipped it, they decided to protect it from Dr. McLeach, who wanted to destroy it in order to gain access to the secrets of the Healing Springs. Infuriated by this revelation, Dr. McLeach chased the family down as they tried to escape in their car. He soon ran them off the road and into a riverbank. Stealing the data, Dr. McLeach left the family to die in the ensuing explosion, but Alan survived as he had drifted away from the car down the river.

Alan was eventually found by a single beast named Go'el living deep within the jungle. Go'el attempted to return Alan to his parents, however an attempt to leave him in Milfa Town led to Alan nearly walking in front of and almost getting run over by a car. Go'el decided to investigate a nearby lab and upon seeing its wrecked state and a photo of Alan with his parents realized that the baby was now an orphan. Go'el decided to raise Alan as a son and renamed him Cuco. Knowing that this was against the rules of its troop, Go'el decided to leave the other beasts behind so he could raise Cuco safely, as they objected to a human being brought to their sacred tree. Go'el, who took to wearing a torn piece of mint green clothing, would become known as "Dada" to Cuco.

Over the next ten years, Go'el raised Cuco in the depths of the jungle, and the two developed a strong bond. As he had no memory of his human life, Cuco believed he was also a beast and was frustrated by the fact that he was seemingly unable to use magic to grow plants or heal animals. Go'el didn't want to tell Cuco the truth of his origins. However, Cuco began to question about his origins. When Go'el hesitated to give Cuco the answer he asked for, Cuco stormed off to discover his true origins. However, Cuco fell into a river where he was saved by Molly Young. Following his recovery, Cuco found himself in the human world where he noticed that Molly, her father, Zak and his fellow humans were identical to to himself. Cuco soon realized that he was one of them. Cuco befriended Molly and the latter subsequently teaches the former what it means to be human.

After Cuco introduced his father to Molly, Go'el confronted Cuco for speaking the human language and bringing a fellow human. However, Cuco said that Go'el was ignoring the fact that he is also a human and called Dada out on this. Guilty, Go'el confessed to Cuco that the latter wasn't a beast nor the begat of the former. Go'el took Cuco, Molly, Zak, and their friend, a sugar glider named Slider, to the abandoned lab where he explained Cuco's past and showed them the picture of Cuco's real parents.