# Aliens that can shape-shift into human form **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 11, 2019, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aliens-that-can-shape-shift-into-human-form/841655 "2019-10-11T21:55:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Wheelz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wheelz/32/5718_2.png) [@Wheelz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wheelz)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aliens-that-can-shape-shift-into-human-form/841655/1 "2019-10-11T21:55:37Z")
The aliens look and act like humans. But when nobody’s looking - or when the dramatic moment arrives to reveal themselves - they morph into their true form, be it reptilian or insectoid or some other bizarre physiology. I feel like I’ve seen this enough for it to have become cliche, yet I’m struggling to come up with any specific examples. The crew from _Third Rock From The Sun_ assumed human form to infiltrate Earth. If I remember correcty, this transformation was a difficult process, and they were pretty much stuck that way for the duration of their mission. The pods in _Invasion of the Body Snatchers_ required a human blueprint of sorts to create a replica that looked, but didn’t really act, human. Neither of these examples is quite what I’m talking about. What I’m thinking of is the alien that can shape-shift back and forth from human to alien form at will (and what a remarkable ability for any species to have evolved!). What examples have you got? ---
**Author:** ![glee](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b5a626/32.png) [@glee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glee)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aliens-that-can-shape-shift-into-human-form/841655/2 "2019-10-11T22:00:16Z")
Species? ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aliens-that-can-shape-shift-into-human-form/841655/3 "2019-10-11T22:06:56Z")
Skrulls, in Marvel comics and movies. _The Arrival_, with Charlie Sheen and Ron Silver. Illusion, rather than shape-shifting, but _They Live_ ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aliens-that-can-shape-shift-into-human-form/841655/4 "2019-10-11T22:09:01Z")
Star Trek’s Changelings - While Odo never really mastered humanoid faces, other Changelings became perfect replicas of humans, Klingons, Cardassians, Romulans, and other races. Similarly, the Durlans of DC comics. Their natural form is never shown clearly, but is highly tentacular, and they have a second default form they use when around other races, but not disguised as them, where they’re orange-skinned bald humanoids with antennae. They have at various times used that ability to blend in, or infiltrate other races. (Olivia Marsdin from the Supergirl TV show, and RJ Brande from the Legion of Superheroes comics are Durlans who spent significant amounts of time in human form - Brande was actually stuck in that form for most of his history. Marsdin’s default form doesn’t resemble either of the comics ‘Durlan’ forms, probably because the tentacular form would be hard to pull off and the orange humanoid would look a bit silly in live action.) DC also has several Martian races with the ability to shapeshift, including human - Green Martian J’onn J’onzz and White Martian M’gann M’orzz use it to have secret identities (John Jones and Megan Morse) - M’gann also has a false Green Martian form to avoid being judged for being a White Martian - other Whites frequently use it to infiltrate. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aliens-that-can-shape-shift-into-human-form/841655/5 "2019-10-11T22:12:43Z")
[Lots of them in _Star Trek_](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Shapeshifter). ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aliens-that-can-shape-shift-into-human-form/841655/6 "2019-10-11T22:13:34Z")
_The Thing From Another World_ is the obvious example. From John Campbell’s story, “Who Goes There?” ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aliens-that-can-shape-shift-into-human-form/841655/7 "2019-10-11T22:15:04Z")
The Changelings in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Maya in Space: 1999. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aliens-that-can-shape-shift-into-human-form/841655/8 "2019-10-11T22:19:24Z")
From DOCTOR WHO: the Zygons (one of whom replaced Queen Elizabeth!) ---
**Author:** ![mbh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a6a055/32.png) [@mbh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mbh)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aliens-that-can-shape-shift-into-human-form/841655/9 "2019-10-11T22:33:40Z")
Dire Wraiths, in _Rom: Spaceknight._ ---
**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aliens-that-can-shape-shift-into-human-form/841655/10 "2019-10-11T22:58:48Z")
The Piurivar (aka Metamorphs/Shapeshifters) of Robert Silverberg’s Majipoor books come to mind. They get annoyed by sentient beings from other worlds settling on their planet and displacing them, and use their abilities to impersonate various ruling figures. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aliens-that-can-shape-shift-into-human-form/841655/11 "2019-10-11T23:41:22Z")
> [@mbh](#): > > Dire Wraiths, in _Rom: Spaceknight._ Nope. Fails the OP criterion “What I’m thinking of is the alien that can shape-shift back and forth from human to alien form at will.” Dire Wraiths have to suck the essence from a human to be able to take their shape. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aliens-that-can-shape-shift-into-human-form/841655/12 "2019-10-11T23:44:59Z")
The Thermians in **Galaxy Quest**. _ **Guy Fleegman:** Oh that’s not right! No…_ ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2019, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aliens-that-can-shape-shift-into-human-form/841655/13 "2019-10-11T23:55:20Z")
Hank Henshaw is badass enough in the first season of Supergirl, but every once in a while, his eyes glow red (out of sight of everyone but the camera, and often at the end of an episode, so you’re watching and you yell, “Oh, come onnnnn, we want to see what happens next!”) Turns out, he’s an _alien that can shape-shift back and forth from human to alien form at will._ [Here’s the big reveal](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=az7rrdzPOdk), with a bonus whammy at the end. The writer and actor discuss it [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fSa7oaAs9-I). ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2019, 2:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aliens-that-can-shape-shift-into-human-form/841655/14 "2019-10-12T02:55:43Z")
[Lifeforce](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0089489/?ref_=tt_urv). ---
**Author:** ![Enola\_Straight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dec6dc/32.png) [@Enola\_Straight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enola_Straight)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2019, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aliens-that-can-shape-shift-into-human-form/841655/15 "2019-10-12T03:04:25Z")
In Marvel Comics the Makulans…extraterrestrial dragons, of which Fin Fang Foom is a member…can shapeshift into human, amongst other forms. ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2019, 3:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aliens-that-can-shape-shift-into-human-form/841655/16 "2019-10-12T03:09:28Z")
Various aliens in the Men in Black films had the ability to either take human form or had the ability to disguise themselves as humans using various methods (with varying degrees of effectiveness). ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2019, 5:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aliens-that-can-shape-shift-into-human-form/841655/17 "2019-10-12T05:49:29Z")
Kheldians from City of Heroes. They are a merger of human and alien, and once merged can at will transform between their human and two other forms. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2019, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aliens-that-can-shape-shift-into-human-form/841655/18 "2019-10-12T06:12:07Z")
The Mangalores in _The Fifth Element_. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2019, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aliens-that-can-shape-shift-into-human-form/841655/19 "2019-10-12T14:31:18Z")
I’ve always wondered what Orkians natural shape was. ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2019, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aliens-that-can-shape-shift-into-human-form/841655/20 "2019-10-12T14:31:42Z")
There is the alien in a _South Park_ episode that can take any shape, including a taco that craps ice cream. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/aliens-that-can-shape-shift-into-human-form/841655.md?page=2)