wikademia>Wikademia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_disguise

2009-11-02T20:14:30Z

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_disguise

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A '''human disguise''' is a concept in [[mythology]], [[religion]], [[science fiction]], and [[cartoon]] animations, where non-human beings (such as [[god]]s, [[angel]]s, [[Satan]], [[demon]]s, [[monster]]s, [[robot]]s, or [[Extraterrestrial life|alien]]s) are [[disguise]]d to look like [[human being]]s.<ref name=greenwood1>{{cite book
|title= The Greenwood encyclopedia of science fiction and fantasy: themes, works, and wonders, Volume 1
|last= Westfahl
|first= Gary
|year= 2005
|publisher= Greenwood Publishing Group
|isbn= 0313329516
|pages= 202-204
|quote = 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.
|url= http://books.google.com/books?id=SQMQQyIaACYC&pg=PA202#v=onepage&q=&f=false
}}</ref><ref name=greenwood2>{{cite book
|title= The Greenwood encyclopedia of science fiction and fantasy: themes, works, and wonders, Volume 2
|last= Westfahl
|first= Gary
|year= 2005
|publisher= Greenwood Publishing Group
|isbn= 0313329524
|pages= 704-706
|quote = Stories of secret identities have roots in ancient mythologies as disguised deities frequently descended to walk among mortals.
|url= http://books.google.com/books?id=3JXnz9x9sO4C&lpg=PP1&pg=PA704#v=onepage&q=&f=false
}}</ref> The [[deception]] has been depicted in storylines as a means used to blend in with people, and in science fiction to raise questions about what it means to be human. The phrase is also used to ascribe inhuman characteristics to real people, as a suggestion that they are not as they appear to be.

==In religion and mythology==
In the [[Old Testament]] apocryphal [[Book of Tobit]], the [[Archangel]] [[Raphael (angel)|Raphael]] takes on human disguise and the name of Azarias.<ref>[http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/491437/Raphael Raphael] Encyclopedia Brittanica</ref> The [[Book of Genesis]] tells of three angels visiting [[Abraham]] in human disguise ([[wikisource:Bible (World English)/Genesis#Chapter 18|Gen.18]]),<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.forward.com/articles/11447/|title=Host and Hosted|date=August 22, 2007|publisher=[[The Forward]]|accessdate=2009-10-30}}</ref> and two visiting [[Lot (Bible)|Lot]] in [[Sodom and Gomorrah|Sodom]] ([[wikisource:Bible (World English)/Genesis#Chapter 19|Gen.19]]).<ref>{{cite book|last= Isaacs|first= Ronald H.|title= Ascending Jacob's Ladder: Jewish views of angels, demons, and evil spirits|url= http://books.google.com/books?id=4iLqceVe7S0C|accessdate= 2009-10-31|year= 1997|publisher= Rowman & Littlefield|isbn= 9780765759658|page= 6|quote= [...] 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.}}</ref>
Philosophy professor [[Peter Kreeft]] has asserted that when an angel is wearing its human disguise, we wont be able to detect it due to the superior abilities Angels possess. Kreeft cites [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Hebrews%2013:2&version=NIV Hebrews 13:2] as proof, where the Holy Bible tells us that people have encountered Angels without realising it. <ref>
{{cite book
|author= [[Peter Kreeft]]
|title= Angels and demons: what do we really know about them?
|year= 19995
|isbn= 0898705509
|page = 52, 53 , 63
|publisher= Ignatus
}}</ref>

Religions such as [[Hinduism]] , [[Buddhism]] and native American beliefs have traditions where gods and spirits are said to descend to earth in human form to help or hinder humanity. <ref>[http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=6EM6ViuDTLMC&pg=PA286&dq=%22human+form%22++supernatural&lr=&ei=Cw7vSpGLGovazQSn9MCJAg#v=onepage&q=%22human%20%20form%22&f=false The History of the Supernatural in All Ages and Nations] William Howitt</ref>

[[St. Augustine]] and Christian scholars of that age agreed that [[the Devil]] could manipulate a person's senses to create illusions in the mind; fake human bodies would be made from particles of air, that seemed quite real to those who saw them.<ref>Peter Day, ''Vampires: Myths and Metaphors of Enduring Evil'', p.85.</ref>

[[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".<ref>Ruby Blondell [http://books.google.com/books?id=G-0XRfRKzawC&pg=PA325&dq=human+disguise#v=onepage&q=human%20disguise&f=false The play of character in Plato's Dialogues] pages 230 and 325</ref> [[John Milton]]'s poem ''[[Paradise Regained]]'' has Satan disguised as an old man.<ref>John Milton, John Leonard [http://books.google.com/books?id=1XGCUU4_VSoC&pg=PA912&dq=human+disguise#v=onepage&q=human%20disguise&f=false The complete poems] Penguin English poets Penguin classics Classics Series Penguin Classics, 1998 ISBN 0140433635, 9780140433630 Length 982 pages page 13, 912</ref>

Monsters like [[vampire]]s and [[werewolf|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.{{Citation needed|date=October 2009}} Various [[devil]]s were said to appear in human form to offer tempting deals for one's soul.{{Citation needed|date=October 2009}} Stories are also told of [[fairy|fairies]] and even [[mermaid]]s walking in human form.{{Citation needed|date=October 2009}}

[[Changeling]]s 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.

In Japanese mythology the supernatural [[Kitsune]] is a magical fox thats able to assume human shape. Its human disguise is said to be so good the only way to recognise one is by its long red hair. <ref>
{{cite book
|editor = Kate Bernheimer
|title= Brothers and Beasts: An Anthology of Men on Fairy Tales
|year= 2008
|isbn= 0814332676
|page = 53
|publisher= Wayne State University Press
}}</ref>

==In literature==
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<ref name=greenwood2/> to interfere, sometimes to protect their favorites from harm (compare ''[deus ex machina]]''). Their human disguises sometimes extended to them getting hurt in conflicts.<ref>Louis Ropes Loomis [http://books.google.com/books?id=IBuunLvo4CMC&pg=PR15&dq=human+disguise#v=onepage&q=human%20disguise&f=false Introduction to Homer's The Iliad] The Iliad Issue 77 of Classics illustrated Translated by Samuel Butler Publisher Wildside Press LLC, 2007 ISBN 1434488926, 9781434488923 Length 428 pages
</ref>

''[[The Changeover: a Supernatural Romance]]'', a young adult novel by the [[New Zealand]] novelist [[Margaret Mahy]], features a vampiric [[lemur]] named Carmody Braque who masquerades as an [[antique dealer]].<ref>Anita Silvey [http://books.google.com/books?id=8GUNHGutszEC&pg=PA284&dq=characters+disguised+as+human#v=onepage&q=characters%20disguised%20as%20human&f=false] The essential guide to children's books and their creators page 284
</ref>

==Aliens in science fiction==
Various works of science fiction have described aliens disguised in human form.<ref>{{Cite news
| last = Holden
| first = Stephen
| newspaper = New York Times
| title = Film Review: The Arrival (1996)
| date = May 31, 1996
| url = http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9404E7DB1E39F932A05756C0A960958260
| quote = 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.
}}
</ref><ref name=greenwood1/>

The theme of [[Alien invasion#Alien infiltration|alien infiltration]] in human form appeared commonly during the [[Cold War]].<ref>{{cite book
|last = Peter
|first = Lev
|title =Transforming the screen, 1950-1959, Volume 7 of
|publisher = University of California Press
|series = History of the American cinema
| volume = 7
|isbn = 0520249666
|quote = 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.
| page = 177
| url = http://books.google.com/books?id=TEGl2Ele_XoC&pg=PA177#v=onepage&q=&f=false
}}</ref> [[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.<ref>Whitehead, John W. (2001). [http://www.gadflyonline.com/11-26-01/film-snatchers.html "Invasion of the Body Snatchers: A Tale for Our Times".] ''Gadfly Online'', 2001-11-26.
</ref>

David Buxton's ''Avengers to Miami Vice'' discusses the use of human disguise in ''[[The Invaders]]''.<ref>David Buxton [http://books.google.com/books?id=mHq7AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA46#v=onepage&q=&f=false From the Avengers to Miami Vice]: form and ideology in television series Cultural politics Manchester University Press ND, 1990 ISBN 0719029945, 9780719029943 170 pages 46-56</ref>, 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 the closing stages of the Cold War in the 1980s. In the science fiction series ''[[V (science fiction)|V]]'', the [[reptilian alien]]s wear human suits to pass as humans, trying to make humans feel more comfortable around them.
<ref>{{cite book
|last = Booker
|first = M. Keith
|authorlink = David Mumford
|title = Science fiction television
|publisher = Greenwood Publishing Group
|series = The Praeger television collection
|year = 2004
|page = 92
|isbn = 0275981649
| url = http://books.google.com/books?id=WyJf3m1G0ksC&pg=PA92#v=onepage&q=&f=false
| quote = Of course this disguise strategy is in itself understandable given the xenophobia of earthlings, whichis demonstarted 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
}}</ref> ''[[They Live]]'' deviated from the cold war fear of communists by having its alien infiltrators be the capitalist elite, exploiting mindnumbed consumers<ref>[http://www.avclub.com/articles/the-new-cult-canon-they-live,2230/ The New Cult Canon: They Live ], Scott Tobias, March 26, 2008 , Onion AV Club</ref> while ''[[The Thing (film)|The Thing]]'' featured a more visceral biological horror, with an alien that would infect and duplicate hosts.<ref>{{Cite news
| last = Billson
| first = Anne
| title = The Thing set on survival
| newspaper = The Guardian
| date = 27 August 2009
| url = http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2009/aug/27/the-thing-john-carpenter
| accessdate = }}</ref> In the [[1982]] British Sci-fi film ''[[Xtro]]'', a father is abducted by an alien [[spaceship]] and an alien returns disguised as him. The alien rapes the man's wife 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.<ref>Barbara Creed [http://books.google.com/books?id=hs09AAAAIAAJ&pg=PA44&dq=alien+disguised+as+human&lr=#v=onepage&q=alien%20disguised%20as%20human&f=false The monstrous-feminine]: film, feminism, psychoanalysis page 44
</ref>

Recently ''[[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.<ref>Tim Clodfelter [http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/journalnow/access/1436790371.html?dids=1436790371:1436790371&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Feb+28%2C+2008&author=Tim+Clodfelter%2C+relish+staff+writer&pub=Winston-Salem+Journal&desc=VIDEO+TAKES+A+LOOK+BACK+AT+ORIGINS+OF+POPULAR+SUPERHEROES&pqatl=google Video Takes A Look Back At Origins Of Popular Superheroes] (Metro Edition) Salem Journal (Winston-Salem, North Carolina) February 28, 2008 page 5</ref>

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]] America. "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."<ref>Charles Herold [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/16/sports/othersports/16char.html "Aliens in the Suburbs, Surrounded by Stupidity"] July 16, 2005 ''New York Times''</ref>

Some authors portray the [[mannerism]]s of aliens using human disguises as awkward, indicating that the aliens are not comfortable in their false skins,<ref>{{citation |url=http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ODE4Yjc2OWIyNDE0NWI0Y2U2YTYxYzQ3YmVhYmQwYjc= |publisher=National Review |title=Is Gore An Alien? |author=Jonah Goldberg |date=June 14, 2000}}</ref> for instance Vincent D'Onofrio's portrayal of an alien insect wearing a human suit in ''[[Men in Black (film)|Men In Black]]''.<ref>{{cite book
|last = Dozois
|first = Gardner
|title = The Year's Best Science Fiction: Fifteenth Annual Collection
|publisher = Macmillan
|year = 1998
|page = ii
|chapter= Introduction
|quote = ...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.
|url= http://books.google.com/books?id=tpX-CFVG34EC&pg=RA1-PR2#v=onepage&q=&f=false
}}</ref>

The motives of aliens in human disguise are not always sinister: 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 ''[[Star Man]]'', 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]];<ref name="black">Brad Munson Inside MIIB: Men in black II</ref> the alien prince of the Arquillian Empire lives as a human being with a pet cat.

''[[Galaxy Quest]]'', ''[[Third Rock from the Sun]]'', and ''[[Meet Dave]]'' also use the [[meme]]. ''[[Third Rock from the Sun]]'' features a group of aliens given human bodies to observe aspects of human society.

[[Teacher's Pet (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)|An episode]] of ''[[Buffy the Vampire Slayer (TV series)|Buffy the Vampire Slayer]]'' incorporates a [[mantis|praying mantis]] in human disguise, posing as a substitute high-school teacher who seduces her students before eating them. The mantis in disguise is used as a metaphor to suggest to younger viewers that being unprepared and rushing into becoming sexually active can result in being "devoured".<ref name="buffy">{{cite book|last=Stevenson|first=Gregory|title=Televised morality: the case of Buffy the vampire slayer|publisher=Hamilton Books|date=2003|pages=191|isbn=0761828338|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=r7spi5_StNIC&pg=PA191&lpg=PA191&dq=%22human+disguise%22+metaphor&source=bl&ots=7R0B_hoad_&sig=gK_1uwmvNpGFliKsyWRiPfv9sVg&hl=en&ei=UGLrStPWJZKqNsuJmYQM&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CBUQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q=%22human%20disguise%22%20metaphor&f=false}}</ref>

In the film ''[[Mimic (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.

[[Gary Westfahl]] wrote that [[Stanislaw 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."<ref>Gary Westfahl [http://www.irosf.com/q/zine/article/10528 What Science Fiction Leaves Out of the Future #2];
The Day After Tomorrow March 2009 Internet Review of Science Fiction</ref>

==Robots==
In the movies ''[[A.I. Artificial Intelligence]]'', and the [[Alien (franchise)|''Alien'' series]], robots are made to look and act human. In ''[[The Terminator]]'', [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]] played a [[cyborg]] that wore a human disguise.<ref name="terminator">{{cite news|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2008/09/08/f-vp-boag.html|title=Who is afraid of the Terminator now?|last=Boag|first=Keith|date=September 9, 2008|publisher=CBC News|accessdate=2009-10-29}}</ref>

[[Isaac Asimov]] considered [[humanoid]] robots ([[android]]s) in the novel ''[[Robots and Empire]]'' and the short stories "[[Evidence (Asimov)|Evidence]]" and "[[The Tercentenary Incident]]", in which robots are crafted to fool people into believing that the robots are 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, is he accepted as "human".

In the television series ''[[Star Trek: the Next Generation]]'', the android [[Data (Star Trek)|Data]]'s desire to become more human was used as an ongoing source of commentary on the human condition.<ref name="tngcompanion">{{cite book|title=Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion|publisher=Pocket Books|year=2003|author=Nemeck, Larry|isbn=0-7434-5798-6}}</ref> (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 the movie ''[[Bladerunner]]'', the [[replicant]]s are biological robots indistinguishable from humans except by [[Voight-Kampff machine|specialised testing]]. <ref>
{{cite book
|author= = Judith Kerman
|title= Retrofitting Blade Runner: Issues in Ridley Scott's "Blade Runner" and Philip K. Dick's "Do Android's Dream of Electric Sheep?"
|year= 2003
|isbn= 0879725109
|publisher= Bowling Green University Popular Press
}}</ref>
Similarly in the remade series [[Battlestar Galactica (2003)|Battlestar Galactica]], robots known as the [[Cylon (reimagining)|Cylon]]s have evolved to be able to make bodies that appear quite human.<ref>http://www.syfy.com/battlestar/about/index.php?sub=miniseries</ref> 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.{{Citation needed|date=October 2009}}

==In cartoons==
Human disguises sometimes occur in animation for cartoon characters. In a short story by [[Haitham Chehabi]] a human disguise is worn by [[Trix]], a cartoon rabbit.<ref>Haitham Chehabi [http://www.latimes.com/features/kids/readingroom/la-et-story6-2008jan6,1,5331645.story Trix Are For Kids?] January 6, 2008 LA Times</ref> In cartoons aliens are sometimes drawn in human disguise.<ref>Steve Barr [http://books.google.com/books?id=m18lnV1aQyQC&pg=PT18&dq=human+disguise+cartoons&lr=#v=onepage&q=&f=false 1-2-3 draw cartoon aliens and space stuff]: a step-by-step guide</ref>

==Outside fiction==
Outside of fiction, commentators can use the phrase "in human disguise" as a [[metaphor]] to describe a real person allegedly pretending to be something they are not. Former [[Kenyan]] [[Prime Minister of Kenya|Prime Minister]] [[Jomo Kenyatta]] was described by a Kenyan judge as a "monster in human disguise".<ref>{{cite journal|title=Enigma of Jomo Kenyatta|journal=Ebony|issue=August 1961|pages=83|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=oDe4dSJt_6YC&pg=PA82&dq=%22human+disguise%22+politician#v=onepage&q=&f=false}}</ref> [[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}}<ref name="us airways">{{cite news|url=http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/07364/845115-149.stm|title=A pop quiz for Pittsburghers|last= Kalson |first=Sally|date=December 30, 2007|publisher=Puttsburgh Post Gazette|accessdate=2009-10-29}}</ref> 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",<ref>{{citation |url=http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/dailypress/access/82282592.html?dids=82282592:82282592&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Aug+13%2C+1998&author=PATTI+ROSENBERG+Daily+Press&pub=Daily+Press&desc=KILLER+WANTED+TO+TAKE+OWN+LIFE%2C+PSYCHOLOGIST+SAYS+JURORS+NOW+DECIDING+ON+LIFE+OR+DEATH+FOR+EXXON+GUNMAN&pqatl=google| title=Killer Wanted To Take Own Life, Psychologist Says Jurors Now Deciding On Life Or Death For Exxon Gunman|author=Patti Rosenberg|publisher = Daily Press - Newport News, Va. - hosted on pqarchiver.com| date =August 14, 2007 }}</ref> while Manoel de S. Antonio, (Bishop of [[Malacca]] between 1701 and 1723) was refered to as an "angel in human disguise" for his conversion of 10,000 people to Christianity.<ref>{{cite book|last= Schulte Nordholt|first=H. G.|title=The political system of the Atoni of Timor|date=1971|volume=60|pages=176|url=http://books.google.com/books?id=sZluAAAAMAAJ&q=human+disguise#search_anchor}}</ref>

==See also==
* [[Humanoid]]
* [[Reptilian humanoid]]
* [[Plot device]]
* [[Stock character]]
* [[Anthropomorphism]]
* [[Anthropotheism]]
* [[Liminal being]]
* [[List of creatures that pretend to be human]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

[[Category:Deception]]
[[Category:Suits (clothing)]]
[[Category:Shapeshifting]]

Human disguise - Revision history

wikademia>Wikademia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_disguise