A human disguise (also human guise and sometimes human form) [1] is a concept in fantasy, folklore, mythology, religion, literature, iconography, and science fiction whereby non-human beings such as gods, angels, monsters, extraterrestrials, or robots are disguised to seem human. [2] [3] Stories have depicted the deception as a means used to blend in with people, and science fiction has used the dichotomy to raise questions about what it means to be human. [4]
In pagan religions, deities very often took on the form of a human disguise for various tasks. [5] [6] [7] [8] The gods "of whom the minstrels sang" in Homer's Iliad watched the "human spectacle" as partisans, and came down to Earth invisible or in human disguise [3] to interfere, sometimes to protect their favorites from harm (compare deus ex machina ). Their human disguises sometimes extended to their getting hurt in conflicts. [9] Zeus's human disguises have been compared to Plato's use of communicating through alternate characters as a means to express that the "essential philosophical nature is divine rather than human" and "cannot be represented without some element of human "disguise". [10] In the borderlands between religion, myth, and literature, Dunn in his study of the concept of incarnation notes that Greek gods appeared disguised as humans in Ovid's legend of Baucis and Philemon. [11]
In the Torah, angels only appeared to men in a human disguise, and never without one. [6] In the Old Testament apocryphal Book of Tobit, the Archangel Raphael takes on human disguise and the name of Azarias. [12] (Child and Colles note that '... he appears as a mere man, an archangel incognito as it were". [13] ) The Book of Genesis tells of three angels visiting Abraham in human disguise (Gen.18), [14] and two visiting Lot in Sodom (Gen.19). [15] Philosophy professor Peter Kreeft has asserted that when an angel wears its human disguise, human beings cannot penetrate the disguise due to the superior abilities angels possess; Kreeft cites as proof Hebrews 13:2: "... some people have entertained angels without knowing it." [16] Child and Colles summarize: "The angels in the Old Testament were known to be messengers of God, sent to do his will, usually invisible and mysterious, but sometimes coming without wings in the guise of men." [17]
St. Augustine and Christian scholars of that age agreed that the Devil could manipulate a person's senses to create illusions in the mind, constructing from particles of air fake human bodies that seemed quite real to those who saw them. [18] John Milton's poem Paradise Regained has Satan disguised as an old man. [19] The Christian heresy of docetism held that Jesus was not a human but was, instead, a divine spirit in the guise of a human. [20]
Monsters like vampires and werewolves could purportedly take human form at certain times, and lore gave advice as to how to detect or drive away these seemingly human creatures. [21] Even Red Riding Hood's Wolf (though presumably not a werewolf) could disguise himself as her grandmother. Stories are also told of mermaids walking in human form, such as Hans Christian Andersen's Little Mermaid, which is based on many such legends. Changelings are often described in Western European folklore as a type of legendary creature, left in place of a human infant, for a variety of reasons. They are usually not able to mimic the human perfectly, thus there are various ways to reveal them.
Religions such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Native American beliefs have traditions whereby gods and spirits descend to earth in human form to help or hinder humanity. [22] In native American myths "the sun, moon, and morning star seem free to take human form and roam the earth, seeking love and other adventures." [23]
In Japanese mythology, kitsune , or legendary foxes, often take on a human disguise; most frequently taking the form of an elderly man, an attractive woman, or a child. [24] Kitsune can also replicate the exact appearance of a specific person. [25] In medieval Japan, the belief that any beautiful women met alone at dusk was a kitsune was prevalent. [26] In some legends, kitsune cannot fully transform, but maintain a tail or other foxlike characteristic [27] such as long red hair. [28] Some kitsune in disguise prey on humans through sexual contact, much like the succubus. [29]
Other Japanese animals that (according to myth) can take human disguise include the bakeneko (ghost-cat), Bake-danuki (Japanese raccoon dog), mujina (Japanese badger), and jorōgumo (spider). Japanese-speakers call the category of such shapeshifting creatures obake or bakemono .
The wandering stranger ( ijin , 異人) in Japanese folklore may turn out as a secret prince or as a priest... "And he can also be an avowedly supernatural being, outside the human race. The Wardens of certain pools, for example, who are believed to be snakes, and to be ready to lend lacquer cups and bowls to those who wish to borrow them for a party, are referred to as ijin. So are the uncanny yamabito or 'mountain people', said to be seven or eight feet tall, to be covered with hair or leaves, and to live deep in the mountains beyond human habitation. .... The Stranger is... possessed of powerful magic, but he is disguised as a filthy beggar. Be careful therefore how you treat strangers...." [30] Generically, a stranger "may as easily be a dangerous incarnation of the Devil as a messenger from God". [31]
Selkie, seals which can shed their skin and turn into humans, [32] appear in Faroese, Icelandic, Irish, and Scottish mythology, as well as in myths of the Chinook people, and are the premise of the film The Secret of Roan Inish .
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Roland Mushat Frye discusses a common iconographic tradition of Satanic disguise as a "falsus frater, as an old Franciscan friar, or as a hermit, often with a rosary, as Botticelli represented him in his Sistine Chapel frescoes". [33]
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In a study of multi-cultural literary traditions Quint traces examples of the recurring literary archetype of a disguised supernatural visitor: for example in Virgil's Aeneid and in Torquato Tasso's Gerusalemme liberata . [34]
Fiction may feature disguise for dramatic or comedic considerations. For instance, besides the aerial-daemonic Asmodeus and the undead-human Dracula, non-human primates have also been represented as vampires. [35]
Gary Westfahl wrote that Stanisław Lem and other writers use a standard argument: that "science fiction writers, as human beings, are inherently incapable of imagining truly alien beings, meaning that all aliens in science fiction are nothing but disguised humans." [36]
Various works of science fiction have described aliens disguised in human form. [2] [37]
The theme of alien infiltration in human form appeared commonly during the Cold War. [38] Jack Finney's 1955 novel The Body Snatchers , and the films made from it, involve aliens not only looking generally human, but replacing specific human beings, an intensely frightening prospect because one's own neighbors, friends, and family must now be suspected. It has been suggested that this conveyed the paranoia of the McCarthy era. [39]
The various incarnations of Star Trek had numerous aliens capable of impersonating humans, for example the Salt Vampire of "The Man Trap", Trelane the Squire of Gothos, the Organians in "Errand of Mercy", the re-created historical combatants in "The Savage Curtain", among others from the original series; the Changelings (Odo's people) in Deep Space Nine ; and the Suliban in Enterprise .
David Buxton's From The Avengers to Miami Vice discusses the use of human disguise in The Invaders , [40] suggesting that though it might at first glance appear to be an extraterrestrial representation of the communist threat the show also picks up on deeper doubts regarding the American value-system.
The theme of infiltration continued in popularity into the closing stages of the Cold War in the 1980s. In the science fiction series V , the reptilian aliens wear human suits to pass as humans, trying to make humans feel more comfortable around them. [41] They Live deviated from the cold-war fear of communists by having its alien infiltrators be the capitalist elite, exploiting mindnumbed consumers [42] while The Thing featured a more visceral biological horror, with an alien that would infect and duplicate hosts. [43] In the 1982 British sci-fi film Xtro , an alien spaceship abducts a father and an alien returns disguised as him. The alien rapes a woman and she gives birth to a fully grown man in what author Barbara Creed describes as being a primal "phantasy" where man is born fully grown and completely independent of its mother. [44]
In the CW television series Supernatural practically all the supernatural creatures the protagonistic Winchester brothers encounter can assume human form, although there are a few exceptions to this, such as the Shtriga and the Wendigo. Most noticeable with the "human disguises" in the show are that of angels and demons. The true forms of angels are brilliant, amazing and overwhelming, as well as being as high as New York skyscrapers, forcing angels to possess humans whenever they manifest on Earth. The true forms of demons are destructive and deadly, forcing demons to forcibly possess humans. Other creatures, such as shapeshifters and the Leviathans, need samples of humans to take on their form.
Recently DC: The New Frontier returned to the cold war theme, using the character of the Martian Manhunter, "a shape-changing alien who adopts human disguise because he knows his alien form would scare people", to look back at cold-war paranoia and fear of outsiders. [45]
In Roald Dahl's novel The Witches the titular creatures, the Witches, are effectively evil demons which assume human form. In their human form, they do not really fit comfortably within their human disguises, and even when they disguise themselves as human, they have several giveaway clues which can only be identified by truly observant individuals. Such individuals have formed an organization called Witchophiles who are dedicated to hunting down and killing the evil demons. In their human forms, witches have unnatural eyes, which flash ice and fire, and also they have long felinstic claws which they disguise with gloves. Their most notable feature is their bald heads, which they disguise with first-class wigs.
In Pandemic's 1950s-themed Destroy All Humans! video game, the Furon character Crypto, a gray-skinned alien, uses a holographic human disguise to infiltrate suburban United States. "In human form he cannot use weapons but is still able to use his mental powers to hurl objects and hypnotize people into becoming obedient slaves." [46]
Some authors portray the mannerisms of aliens using human disguises as awkward, indicating that the aliens may not feel comfortable in their false skins, [47] for instance Vincent D'Onofrio's portrayal of an alien "Bug" wearing a human suit in Men In Black . [48]
Aliens in human disguise do not always have sinister motives: in Meet Dave , a group of aliens arrive in a spaceship shaped like a human being, and pilot it, to interact with the humans without getting noticed. In Starman the alien appears in human form, explaining it was so "you not be a little bit jumpy." In the Men in Black movie and comic book, alien immigrants disguised as humans inhabit the Earth; [49] the alien prince of the Arquillian Empire lives as a human being with a pet cat.
Galaxy Quest and 3rd Rock from the Sun also use the meme. 3rd Rock from the Sun features a group of aliens given human bodies to observe aspects of human society.
An episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer incorporates a praying mantis in human disguise, posing as a substitute high-school teacher who seduces her students before eating them. The mantis in disguise serves as a metaphor to suggest to younger viewers that rushing unprepared into sexual activity can result in being "devoured". [50]
In the film Mimic , insects native to Earth are genetically modified to stop a cockroach-borne disease, but as a side-effect later evolve in size and shape to mimic and prey upon human beings.
In Marvel Comics the Skrull, a race of aliens, commonly disguise themselves as humans to move about unnoticed on Earth.
A particularly notable and riveting form of human disguise appears in Larry Niven's Ringworld , specifically in the minor religion practiced by the Kdaptists, a religious order of Kzin who believe that the pinnacle of creation is not Kzin but man, and adopt a mask of human skin during prayer to attempt to trick God into thinking they are His children. [51] [52]
Isaac Asimov considered humanoid robots (androids) in the novel Robots and Empire and the short stories "Evidence" and "The Tercentenary Incident", in which robots are crafted to fool people into mistaking them as human. Some of Asimov's robots respond to human distrust and antipathy by passing as human and influencing human development for its own good. In Asimov's novella The Bicentennial Man , the robot Andrew gradually replaces his mechanical body with organic components, but only on the 200th anniversary of the start of his organic conversion, when he allows his positronic brain to "decay" and thus abandons his immortality, does he become accepted as "human".
In the movies A.I. Artificial Intelligence , and the Alien series, robots are made to look and act human. In The Terminator , Arnold Schwarzenegger played a cyborg that wore a human disguise. [53]
In the 2010 Metroid game, the antagonist is a cyborg named Madeline Bergman who has been raised by the governing Galactic Federation and has effectively been kept in imprisonment on a derelict space vessel, thus making her gradually loathe humans. Madeline eventually plans to raid the Federation headquarters and destroy human civilization, but fortunately Samus Aran is called onto the scene by the Federation before this can occur.
The various Star Trek shows also had persuasive androids, for instance in the original series episodes "What Are Little Girls Made Of?", "Shore Leave", "I, Mudd", and "Requiem for Methuselah".
In Star Trek: The Next Generation , the android Data's desire to become more human became an ongoing source of commentary on the human condition. [54] (Data's positronic brain is a nod to Asimov's stories.) An earlier pilot-film by Star Trek's creator Gene Roddenberry, The Questor Tapes , had featured an android left on 20th-century Earth as the last of a series of advanced alien technology, with the same subtext.
In Philip K. Dick's novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? and its film adaption Blade Runner , the replicants are biological robots indistinguishable from humans except by specialised testing of their empathic reactions. [55] As those androids are manufactured exclusively for off-world colonies on Mars and are illegal on Earth they attempt to disguise as human to evade their killing by special police operatives.
Similarly in the remade series Battlestar Galactica , robots known as the Cylons have evolved the ability to make bodies that appear quite human. [56] When killed, they transfer their consciousness from one body to an identical model elsewhere. This seeming immortality, the uncertainty of who is really human and who is Cylon, and the love between characters who are revealed to be human or Cylon, are used for discussion of what it means to be human. [57]
Pretenders in Transformers are Autobots and Decepticons who encase their robotic bodies in organic-like outer shells. While most Decepticons use shells patterned after monsters, most Autobots use shells that appear human.
Human disguises sometimes occur in animation for cartoon characters. In a short story by Haitham Chehabi, Trix, a cartoon rabbit, wears a human disguise. [58] Cartoons sometimes portray aliens drawn in human disguise. [59] Note too the cartoon dragons passing as humans in Gnuff .
Commentators may use the concept of human disguise as a metaphor for a lack of humanity. For example, a Kenyan judge described the former Kenyan Prime Minister Jomo Kenyatta as a "monster in human disguise". [60] Doug Parker, chairman of US Airways, was described as a "Klingon in a human disguise", after he "vaporized much of what was left of USAirways in Pittsburgh."[ sic ] [61] The human disguise does not always carry negative connotations - in the US, a well regarded murder victim has been described as "an angel running round with a human suit on", [62] while Manoel de S. Antonio, (Bishop of Malacca between 1701 and 1723) was referred to as an "angel in human disguise" for his conversion of 10,000 people to Christianity. [63]
Some conspiracy theorists such as David Icke believe that aliens have assumed human form and control the world by masquerading as human leaders such as Queen Elizabeth II, George Bush and Tony Blair. [64]
This table lists fictional creatures which pretend to pass as human.
| Creature | Origin | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Changeling | European | A troll-, faerie- or elf-child, switched at birth for various reasons |
| The Devil | various | Believed to take on human forms in order to tempt people |
| Doppelgänger | German | A ghostly double of a living person |
| Ghoul | Arabic | A malevolent jinn who likes human flesh. It can make all but its feet look human in order to lure the unwary. |
| Kitsune | Japanese | A fox which can take the form of a beautiful maiden, and which grows an extra tail every hundred years. A kitsune was said to be the mother of the legendary onmyoji Abe no Seimei. |
| Noppera-bō | Japanese | Sometimes also called a mujina, At first appearing completely human, when approached it can wipe its face completely off, as though cleaning a chalkboard, leaving behind a featureless orb similar to an egg. Lafcadio Hearn introduced this entity to the West in his 1903 book Kwaidan: Stories and Studies of Strange Things . |
| Selkie | Scottish | A seal which can shed its skin to become a beautiful maiden |
| Vampire | Pan-European | An undead consumer of blood which, in some traditions, passes for human in order to attain blood |
| Tanuki | Japanese | A Japanese raccoon dog which can take the form of a human, though without always achieving a perfect transformation |
An android is a humanoid robot or other artificial being often made from a flesh-like material. Historically, androids existed only in the domain of science fiction and were frequently seen in film and television, but advances in robot technology have allowed the design of functional and realistic humanoid robots.
Mars, the fourth planet from the Sun, has appeared as a setting in works of fiction since at least the mid-1600s. Trends in the planet's portrayal have largely been influenced by advances in planetary science. It became the most popular celestial object in fiction in the late 1800s, when it became clear that there was no life on the Moon. The predominant genre depicting Mars at the time was utopian fiction. Around the same time, the mistaken belief that there are canals on Mars emerged and made its way into fiction, popularized by Percival Lowell's speculations of an ancient civilization having constructed them. The War of the Worlds, H. G. Wells's novel about an alien invasion of Earth by sinister Martians, was published in 1897 and went on to have a major influence on the science fiction genre.
A monster is a type of fictional creature found in horror, fantasy, science fiction, folklore, mythology and religion. Monsters are very often depicted as dangerous and aggressive, with a strange or grotesque appearance that causes terror and fear, often in humans. Monsters usually resemble bizarre, deformed, otherworldly and/or mutated animals or entirely unique creatures of varying sizes, but may also take a human form, such as mutants, ghosts, spirits, zombies, or cannibals, among other things. They may or may not have supernatural powers, but are usually capable of killing or causing some form of destruction, threatening the social or moral order of the human world in the process.
Science fiction is a film genre that uses speculative, fictional science-based depictions of phenomena that are not fully accepted by mainstream science, such as extraterrestrial lifeforms, spacecraft, robots, cyborgs, mutants, interstellar travel, time travel, or other technologies. Science fiction films have often been used to focus on political or social issues, and to explore philosophical issues like the human condition.
A humanoid is a non-human entity with human form or characteristics. By the 20th century, the term came to describe fossils which were morphologically similar, but not identical, to those of the human skeleton.
A gynoid, or fembot, is a feminine humanoid robot. Gynoids appear widely in science fiction film and art. As more realistic humanoid robot design becomes technologically possible, they are also emerging in real-life robot design. Just like any other robot, the main parts of a gynoid include sensors, actuators and a control system. Sensors are responsible for detecting the changes in the environment while the actuators, also called effectors, are motors and other components responsible for the movement and control of the robot. The control system instructs the robot on what to do so as to achieve the desired results.
A disguise can be anything incognito which conceals one's identity or changes a person's physical appearance, including a wig, glasses, makeup, fake moustache, costume or other items. Camouflage is a type of disguise for people, animals and objects. Hats, glasses, changes in hair style or wigs, plastic surgery, and make-up are also used.
The Buffyverse or Slayerverse is a media franchise created by Joss Whedon. The term also refers to the shared fictional universe in which the TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel are set. This term, originally coined by fans of the TV series, has since been used in the titles of published works, and adopted by Joss Whedon, the creator of the fictional universe. The Buffyverse is a place in which supernatural phenomena exist, and supernatural evil can be challenged by people willing to fight against such forces. Much of the licensed Buffyverse merchandise and media, while being official, is not considered to be canon within the universe.
An elder or progenitor race, in science fiction, fantasy, or horror fiction, is an ancient race that not only preceded but helped shape the races that followed, often playing a significant role in the basis of the story. Humanity may have been descended from them, or they may be a different fictional race, such as elves, dwarves, or aliens. While in some cases, whether they currently exist is unclear, in other instances, members of an elder race still inhabit the world, either openly or in secret. In order to hide their existence, they may make use of a wainscot society, inhabit a parallel universe, only visiting the current one occasionally, or disguise themselves as a fool, deity, magician or trickster. One such example is in Lord of Light (1967), where highly advanced humans take on the identities of Hindu deities and act as gods to the less advanced colonists.
Jupiter, the largest planet in the Solar System, has appeared in works of fiction across several centuries. The way the planet has been depicted has evolved as more has become known about its composition; it was initially portrayed as being entirely solid, later as having a high-pressure atmosphere with a solid surface underneath, and finally as being entirely gaseous. It was a popular setting during the pulp era of science fiction. Life on the planet has variously been depicted as identical to humans, larger versions of humans, and non-human. Non-human life on Jupiter has been portrayed as primitive in some works and more advanced than humans in others.
Saturn has made appearances in fiction since the 1752 novel Micromégas by Voltaire. In the earliest depictions, it was portrayed as having a solid surface rather than its actual gaseous composition. In many of these works, the planet is inhabited by aliens that are usually portrayed as being more advanced than humans. In modern science fiction, the Saturnian atmosphere sometimes hosts floating settlements. The planet is occasionally visited by humans and its rings are sometimes mined for resources.
Pluto has appeared in fiction as a setting since shortly after its 1930 discovery, albeit infrequently. It was initially comparatively popular as it was newly discovered and thought to be the outermost object of the Solar System and made more fictional appearances than either Uranus or Neptune, though still far fewer than other planets. Alien life, sometimes intelligent life and occasionally an entire ecosphere, is a common motif in fictional depictions of Pluto. Human settlement appears only sporadically, but it is often either the starting or finishing point for a tour of the Solar System. It has variously been depicted as an originally extrasolar planet, the remnants of a destroyed planet, or entirely artificial. Its moon Charon has also appeared in a handful of works.
The Loch Ness Monster is a creature from folklore that has appeared in popular culture in various genres since at least 1934. It is most often depicted as a relict dinosaur or similar, but other explanations for its existence such as being a shapeshifter or from outer space also appear. It is only occasionally portrayed as threatening, despite its name.
In science fiction and fantasy literatures, the term insectoid ("insect-like") denotes any fantastical fictional creature sharing physical or other traits with ordinary insects. Most frequently, insect-like or spider-like extraterrestrial life forms is meant; in such cases convergent evolution may presumably be responsible for the existence of such creatures. Occasionally, an earth-bound setting — such as in the film The Fly (1958), in which a scientist is accidentally transformed into a grotesque human–fly hybrid, or Kafka's famous novella The Metamorphosis (1915), which does not bother to explain how a man becomes an enormous insect — is the venue.
Ancient astronauts have been addressed frequently in science fiction and horror fiction. Occurrences in the genres include:
Comets have appeared in works of fiction since at least the 1830s. They primarily appear in science fiction as literal objects, but also make occasional symbolical appearances in other genres. In keeping with their traditional cultural associations as omens, they often threaten destruction to Earth. This commonly comes in the form of looming impact events, and occasionally through more novel means such as affecting Earth's atmosphere in different ways. In other stories, humans seek out and visit comets for purposes of research or resource extraction. Comets are inhabited by various forms of life ranging from microbes to vampires in different depictions, and are themselves living beings in some stories.
Ash is a fictional character in the film Alien (1979) portrayed by actor Ian Holm who, while known in the UK as a stage actor, was at the time unknown to American audiences. Ash serves as the secondary antagonist of the first film. The character is the science officer of the Nostromo, who breaks quarantine by allowing Kane, a member of the crew, back on board after he has been infected by an alien life form. It is later discovered that Ash is not human, as he appears, but is a Hyperdyne Systems 120-A/2 android, a sleeper agent who is acting upon secret orders to bring back the alien lifeform and to consider the crew and cargo as "expendable".
Parasites appear frequently in biology-inspired fiction from ancient times onwards, with a flowering in the nineteenth century. These include intentionally disgusting alien monsters in science fiction films, often with analogues in nature. Authors and scriptwriters have, to some extent, exploited parasite biology: lifestyles including parasitoid, behaviour-altering parasite, brood parasite, parasitic castrator, and many forms of vampire are found in books and films. Some fictional parasites, like Count Dracula and Alien's Xenomorphs, have become well known in their own right.
Reptilian humanoids, or anthropomorphic reptiles, are fictional creatures that appear in folklore, fiction, and conspiracy theories.
Disguises also aid in crossing racial barriers, often represented in science fiction through the use of aliens in space or robots. Sometimes humans attempt to pass as the other ... more often, aliens, and robots attempt to appear human.
Stories of secret identities have roots in ancient mythologies as disguised deities frequently descended to walk among mortals.
human disguise.
We have examples of gods appearing in the guise of men, as in the legend of Baucis and Philemon (Ovid, Metam. VIII.626-721)
The archangel Gabriel in the story of Tobias from the Apocrypha, is depicted in the early art of the catacombs as a selfless and noble being, who can declare 'I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels who present the prayers of the saints and enter into the presence of the glory of the Holy One.' Yet in the narrative he appears as a mere man, an archangel incognito as it were.
[...] Hagar's angel, as well as many of the other angels in the Bible, appeared in human form, so that the individuals to whom they appeared were at first quite unaware of their angelic natures.
The angels in the Old Testament were known to be messengers of God, sent to do his will, usually invisible and mysterious, but sometimes coming without wings in the guise of men.
stranger[: ...] In other traditions, the stranger is perceived as a potential rival and, although benefitting from the laws of hospitality, he may as easily be a dangerous incarnation of the Devil as a messenger from God. He needs to be honoured in the latter capacity and conciliated in the first.
Between the fifteenth century and the seventeenth, the Tempter in the Wilderness [Satan] appeared in several standard forms. Most frequently, he was shown as the falsus frater, as an old Franciscan friar, or as a hermit, often with a rosary, as Botticelli represented him in his Sistine Chapel frescoes. This is the only disguise which Milton entirely ignores in Paradise Regained [...] Each of the other Renaissance guises he does incorporate into his treatment. [...] Other well-known guises for the Tempter in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century art cast him as an old peasant or shepherd, as Milton does in the first temptation, or as a richly dressed man of the world, as he does in the second. In the final temptation, the devil is usually shown as unmistakably demonic in physical appearance [...] Aside from the final temptation, there was no fixed order of the disguises employed, and each artist was apparently fee to choose at will among the possibilities.
As the infernal denizens scatter to carry out their mission, their leader makes a nocturnal visit to Cesare d'Este, assuming the disguise of an aged friend: the model is the visit of Virgil's Allecto to the sleeping Turnus, the same model imitated by Tasso in Argillano's dream. The devil speaks: [...]
There is one obvious answer to be drawn from the standard argument advanced by Stanisław Lem and others, that science fiction writers, as human beings, are inherently incapable of imagining truly alien beings, meaning that all aliens in science fiction are nothing but disguised humans.
Alien invaders in the movies tend to fall into two types. There are monsters from outer space ("The War of the Worlds", the forthcoming "Independence Day") and infiltrators ("Invasion of the Body Snatchers") who slip in using human disguise.
Invasion films were common in the 1950s featuring a variety of aliens portrayed as superior to earthlings both in intelligence and technology. In these films, aliens represent what some Americans feared about the Soviets. Invaders, friends or enemies, and often with the help of robots, either come to warn earthlings or destroy them with superior technology. Sometimes the invaders use the strategy of infiltration, taking over the minds of the people, making slaves of them or appropriating their bodies, thus making war unnecessary.
Of course this disguise strategy is in itself understandable given the xenophobia of earthlings, which is demonstrated by the very telling way in which audiences were supposed to concluded that the aliens were evil simply because they looked different from humans, especially because they had lied about the difference. Of course by this time there was a whole science fiction tradition in which aliens disguised as humans turned out to be evil invaders seeking to conquer Earth, so audience reactions were also conditioned to some extent by generic expectations
...a wonderful portrayal – done mostly with body language – of a menacing bug stuffed into an ill-fitting Human Suit, scary and very funny at the same time, by Vincent D'Onofrio.