A Form You Are Comfortable With: Difference between revisions

 

{{quote|'''Joan:''' ''Are you -- Are you being ''snippy'' with me? God is snippy.''

 

Sometimes, when [[God]] or some other [[Reality Warper|vastly powerful]] or [[Eldritch Abomination|very strange]] [[Energy Being|Cosmic Entity]] needs to have a chat with a [[Puny Humans|mere human being]], they are aware that the meeting [[Go Mad from the Revelation|might be a little too overwhelming for the human to handle]]. Sometimes the nonhuman being isn't ''so'' powerful, but still has a [[The Masquerade|Masquerade]] to maintain. Or they fear having to deal with ''hours'' of questions and [[What Measure Is a Non-Human?|a great deal of prejudices]]. Humans tend to flip out when they see a dragon or learn that Fairies are real.

*** Likewise, the Chaos Lord called Shivering Jemmy of the Nightmare Brigade manifests as a three year old girl, complete with a balloon and a love of ice cream.

{{quote|'''Jemmy:''' Nobody ''clever'' bes boxes!}}

* The Martian Manhunter, [[Shape Shifter]] extraordinaire, avoids using his "true" martian appearance to avoid frightening people.

* [[Galactus]] and other [[Marvel Comics]] "higher plane of existence" beings look humanoid to us, but that's just our filter.

** Galactus, however, doesn't have such a temporary body. Instead, his own form looks different to different viewers; for instance, a Skrull sees him as Skrull-like. (Galactus's original form as a mortal being in the universe preceding our own, however, was indeed humanoid.)

*** One issue featured a scene where humans and dozens of aliens gazed upon him at once, the frame was filled with smaller images representing what each of them saw him as.

* Inverted intentionally by [[Doctor Strange]] foe Shuma-Gorath, who invades dimensions in whatever form will terrify the inhabitants most. On Earth he appears as a single glaring eyeball surrounded by tentacles.

** Played straight with the Vishanti, who take vaguely human or animal visages to avoid [[You Cannot Grasp the True Form|terrifying their worshipers]].

* ''[[PS238]]'' has [http://ps238.nodwick.com/comic/01022012/ lords] of [[Order Versus Chaos|Order and Chaos]], and to somewhat lesser extent their minions.

 

* In ''[[Aeon Natum Engel]]'', thanks to the ''[[Cthulhu Tech]]'' legacy, there are variable auto-censors that automatically render images (in real time) in ways that are deemed to be less harmful to the human psyche. The most common appears to make video look like [[Mythology Gag|something from an anime]].

* Some ''[[Naruto]]'' fanfiction show the various bijuu choosing to assume human forms in order to communicate with their containers. Whether the bijuu are more sociable or not varies from author to author, but the Kyuubi almost invariably ends up being [[Evil Redhead|a redheaded woman]] with a model's body.

“Yeah.” }}

* In ''[[The 10 Doctors]]'', {{spoiler|the Guardians}} say that their appearances change with the needs of their desired champions. In the story proper, they manifest as attractive humanoid women in order to toy with the Tenth Doctor's need for meaningful companionship, and in a flashback, {{spoiler|the White Guardian}} manifests to Davros as a military officer.

 

== Film ==

 

== Literature ==

** Nyarlathotep, however, does hide in the ever-so-subtle form of... [[Refuge in Audacity|an Egyptian Pharaoh]]. He also likes to [[Mind Screw|fuck with people's heads]] by sticking to the bare minimum. The reason one of his masks is known as "the Black Man" isn't because it appears to have African features, but because its skin is ''pitch black.''

** Actually, he does not always appear dressed as a Pharaoh, in ''Nyarlathotep''; he is described only as a swarthy man "of the race of the Pharaohs" - from Lovecraft's letter: ''Nyarlathotep was a kind of itinerant showman or lecturer who held forth in public halls and aroused widespread fear and discussion with his exhibitions. These exhibitions consisted of two parts — first, a horrible — possibly prophetic — cinema reel; and later some extraordinary experiments with scientific and electrical apparatus. ''

*** So, [[The Sandman|Dream?]]

** The Mi-Go in "The Whisperer In Darkness" take a stab at this trope with the...materials they have at hand.

** In particular, one of those forms is described as being a particular perception of the eldila in much the same way as suffering a concussion and seeing stars is a particular perception of a rock (i.e. one that has been thrown at your head).

* C.S. Lewis also explores the idea in an interesting way in ''[[The Chronicles of Narnia]]''. Aslan the talking lion isn't just a [[Crystal Dragon Jesus]], he actually ''is'' Jesus. Or rather, on Earth, among humans, he went by that name and form, while in the [[Talking Animal]] world of Narnia, he manifests as a fellow talking animal.

* Wheeler, an alien of some kind or other beyond human understanding in the books ''[[Signal To Noise]]'' and ''[[A Signal Shattered]]'', by Eric S. Nylund takes on a sort of human form. He takes on the form of the protagonist, Jack, except for perhaps some odd little differences such as the spinning gears in his eyes.

* Michael Scott Rohan's ''[[The Spiral Series]]'' does this twice to the protagonist. In ''[[Chase The Morning]]'' it's part of the [[Battle in the Center of the Mind]] with the [[Big Bad]], and in ''[[Cloud Castles]]'' it's his interaction with the [[Big Good]]. Both times it's presented as a business deal in his office, since that's how his brain could best handle what was happening.

* Played with in a [[Judge Dredd]] spin-off novel, ''Wetworks'' by Dave Stone: An alien adopts the form of a certain famous cartoon character in an attempt to make the humans it deals with more comfortable; it doesn't really work, partly because seeing a cartoon character in the flesh is actually pretty discomforting, and partly because although the alien's shape has changed it neglected to do anything about the fact that it constantly emits a toxic gas.

* Subverted in ''[[Solaris]]'' by [[Stanisław Lem]], where a planet-sized alien intelligence spawns human replicants convincingly interacting with the protagonists, while the purpose of this phenomenon and the message, if any, behind it are a maddening enigma.

* [[Flatland]]: A Romance of Three Dimensions, features an interesting variation of this trope. As the Square passes through Lineland, the king of Lineland can only perceive the Square as another Line. When a Solid passes through the plane of Flatland, the Square can only perceive the Solid as another Shape.

 

* This happened a lot in the various ''[[Star Trek]]'' series:

** The original ''[[Star Trek: The Original Series|Star Trek]]'' series featured Trelane ("The Squire of Gothos"), the Organians ("Errand of Mercy"), and the Metrons ("Arena"), all of whom took human form in order to interact with the mere mortals.

** This is immediately [[Lampshaded]] by Ray, who says "You're Santa Claus, not a [[Star Trek|Klingon]]."

* Done in the ''[[Animorphs (TV series)|Animorphs]]'' live action adaptation, where the Andalite Visser 3 takes the form of a human in order to make his enemies (humans who he thinks are Andalites) more comfortable. If you think that sounds like a poor excuse to cut corners on the show's special effects, congratulations, you're smarter than the [[Viewers are Morons|target demographic]].

** Not to mention that incident where Head-Baltar appeared to Baltar. Baltar was everything ''but'' comfortable.

** The angelic-like ascended aliens (called Being's of Light)from the original series did this when they needed Apollo's help with a mercy mission. He got a sidekick that only he (and later Starbuck) could see called "John".

** He could create hallucinations of almost anyone, but it’s implied that he could only physically mimic a limited number of people. Every solid human shape he takes is of a dead person whose corpse is on the island ("Isabella" never physically interacts with Richard). This would explain why he took the form of Christian in front of characters for whom that form carried no significance; Christian was the most convenient non-threatening form that he had in his repertoire at the time.

* The Operators, Specialists, et. al. of ''[[Sapphire and Steel]]''. [[Shrug of God|Maybe.]]

{{quote|'''Sarah''': I guess i should've expected it.

'''Neil''': What?

'''Sarah''': How do you know that?

'''Kurt''': 300 hours of [[Star Trek]]. }}

 

== Newspaper Comics ==

* The ''Tao te Ching'' is an attempt to do this to the Tao, through a series of analogies.

* For the most part, the followers of [[Egyptian Mythology]] understood that the various forms ascribed to their various gods weren't supposed to be how the gods actually were. Those forms were supposed to be symbolic of concepts and traits found in the gods, with the actual gods themselves being thought to exist as abstract forces.

 

== Tabletop Games ==

** Other Incarnae also have the power to assume more comforting forms. Luna in particular is defined by being a [[Voluntary Shapeshifting|shapeshifter]], with a multitude of forms and identities, some of which are specifically assumed to be comforting to others.

** There's also the implication that some of the jouten (bodies) of certain [[Eldritch Abomination|Primordials]] serve the purpose of giving them a means of interacting with lesser beings in a context other than complete awe and terror. Note that in most cases, this doesn't constitute actual shapeshifting; they're just capable of existing as multiple bodies simultaneously.

 

== Theatre ==

* In Marlowe's ''[[Doctor Faustus]]'', the eponymous scholar is appalled by the first form Mephistophilis presents himself in after being summoned (it's never made explicit in the text what that form resembles), and asks him to come back in the shape of a [[Death by Irony|Franciscan Friar]].

 

== Video Games ==

* Played with in ''[[Catherine]]''. {{spoiler|''Catherine'' is a succubus, meaning that she changes appearance playing up to the fetishes of the men she seduces prefer. You only see one form during the game, but we possibly see her true form in the True Cheater Ending}}.

* [[Final Fantasy X]] has the Eidolon Bahamut appear to you in the form of a small boy with Bahamut-themed clothing. Though considering how Eidolons are made it's a mixture of this trope and [[Was Once a Man]]

 

* Something does this by accident in ''[[Beyond Reality]]''. It's trying to ''not'' to appear as something the human is comfortable with, but doesn't know much about humans, and thus has to make an educated guess.

{{quote|'''Interdimensional Being:''' You... don't find it frightening?

* The [[Starfish Aliens|insectoid]] Princess Voluptua in ''[[The Inexplicable Adventures of Bob]]'' usually interacts with Earthlings by disguising herself as a beautiful woman. One of her subordinates criticizes her that "'Tis undignified for the heir apparent to dress like a monkey!"

* The Sovereign of Sorrow in [[Captain SNES]]'s appearance depends on "how [someone's] mind understands [her]", though she typically appears as female video game royalty. For example, Magus from ''[[Chrono Trigger]]'' sees her as Queen Zeal and [[Super Mario Bros.|Roy Koopa sees her as Princess Peach]].

* Inverted in ''[[The Gods of Arr-Kelaan]]''. The mortals-turned-gods can look like anything they want, but they default to what they looked like as mortals because it makes ''them'' more comfortable.

* In ''[[Narbonic]]'', a demon coming to claim a fleeing demon's soul does this, picking an image from Dave's head. That image just so happens to be [http://www.webcomicsnation.com/shaenongarrity/narbonic_plus/series.php?view=archive=45751&name=narbonic_plus#strip5 Helen, dressed like a nerdy fanboy's wetdream].

* In ''[[Olympic Dames]]'', this trope is Pan's excuse for appearing as a tall blond human to the leads. He really just wants to get laid without [[Double Standard Rape (Divine on Mortal)|hearing women scream.]]

* Played for laughs when ''[[Blade Bunny]]'' expresses disgust for being stared at by a big gooey dragon's eyeball that is bigger than she is. The dragon then voluntarily shrinks down small enough to punch out.

** Also played straight later as she takes the form of Fox, Nanase's summon, to wake her up and get Nanase to listen to her so Nanase will do what Chaos asks with out freaking out too much. Nanase eventually catches on that she's not Fox but by that time she doesn't care and is willing to do what Chaos asked anyway.

* Lampshaded in ''[[Dubious Company]]''. [[Random Number God|Phred]] visits Sal and Leeroy as a [[Visual Pun|pair of sweatpants]].

* In ''[[Wayrift]]'', the Arweinydd ''Zemi Dreigiau'' appears to people in person form or dragon form—depending on his mood. The Arweinydd ''Zazo'' also takes on a wolf form to communicate with people, and eventually takes the form of a woman to gain attention from the man she's in love with.

* For King, from ''[[Housepets]]'', the [[Cosmic Chess Game|Universes & Unrealities]] game is an overglorified [[Dungeons & Dragons]] game... played by two celestial beings who happen to take the respective forms of a giant eastern-style dragon and a griffon.

 

== Web Original ==

* All of the [[Anthropomorphic Personifications]] in the ''[[Global Guardians PBEM Universe]]'' are made of this trope because, being the physical incarnations of ideas, everyone has a different interpretation of that idea. What this means is that two people could be talking to The King (the [[Anthropomorphic Personification]] of "The Legend of Elvis Presley") and he'd look precisely like how they think Elvis Presley looks like when they think of Elvis Presley (meaning if one person pictures [[Ed Sullivan]]-era Elvis, he looks like Ed Sullivan-era Elvis; if they picture Vegas-era white-tassle pudgy Elvis, he looks like Vegas-era white-tassle pudgy Elvis).

* On deviantART there is this prose piece called "God Drinks Black Coffee". The main character meets God on the sidewalk in the form of a woman.

 

== Western Animation ==

* ''[[Daria]]'' met many holidays at the "Depth takes a holiday" episode. Christmas, Halloween and Guy Fawkes day wanted to start a band, but Cupid and Saint Patrick day wanted them to return home. They are supposed to say that home is "in your hearth", but it was actually in another dimension they could access through a dimensional wormhole at the back of the chinesse food restaurant. The holidays seem and act like common teenagers, and in their dimension they are all at a place that seems like Lawndale High, but which is worse (a quote that Daria and Jane will be repeating in their adult life).

* In ''[[Young Justice (animation)|Young Justice]]'', {{spoiler|Miss Martian is a White Martian. Since White Martians are pretty hideous by human standards she uses her shapeshifting powers to look like an attractive young green-skinned humanoid. She based her humanoid form along with her ''entire personality'' on broadcasts of an old television show "Hello Megan!" since she hated her lonely life on Mars. As far as she is concerned, her "disguise" ''is'' her true self, so this is actually more a case of a form ''she'' is comfortable with.}}

 

== Real Life ==

* Some zoos have been known to feed animals using hand puppets that look like an adult of that species.

** This is actually necessary for baby primates when humans are feeding them. The human literally wears a monkey suit to simulate the fur of the mom. This way the baby will accept the mother when he's returned to her.

* One example of this is the quadrupolar echo pulse sequence in nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. The math works out perfectly, but trying to visualize it invariably winds up with the spin pointing 90 degrees from where the math says it should be and where experiment confirms that it actually is. The lesson here is that once you get into the realms of quantum mechanics, physics really ''is'' just math, and what you ''think'' of as "physics" is just a Form You Are Comfortable With.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Otherness Tropes]]

[[Category:Religion Tropes]]

[[Category:Speculative Fiction Tropes]]

[[Category:Older Than Feudalism]]

{{DEFAULTSORT:Form You Are Comfortable With, A}}