A human disguise (also human guise and sometimes human form)Or other synonymous descriptions, such as "disguised as human being(s)", or "taking human shape". This article concerns the underlying concept rather than any particular phrase. 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 able to shapeshift or be disguised to seem human. 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.The Android and the Human, Philip K. Dick, 1972
In religion, mythology, and folklore In pagan religions, deities often took on human form or disguise to carry out various tasks.Joseph Campbell (1991). The Masks of God: Primitive Mythology. Arkana, Viking Penguin. .H. J. Rose (1956). "Divine Disguisings", pp.63-72, in The Harvard Theological Review, Vol. 49, No. 1 (Jan.1956). (print), (web).Warren Smith (1988). "The Disguises of the Gods in the Iliad", pp.161-178 in Numen, Vol.35, Fasc.2 (Dec.1988). (print), (web). 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 to interfere, sometimes to protect their favorites from harm (compare deus ex machina). Their human disguises sometimes extended to their getting hurt in conflicts.Louis Ropes Loomis Introduction to Homer's The Iliad The Iliad Issue 77 of Classics illustrated Translated by Samuel Butler Publisher Wildside Press LLC, 2007 . Length 428 pages 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".Ruby Blondell (2002). The Play of Character in Plato's Dialogues. Cambridge University Press. pp.230 & 325. , . 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.
In the Torah, angels only appeared to men in a human disguise, and never without one. In the Old Testament apocryphal Book of Tobit, the Archangel Raphael takes on human disguise and the name of Azarias.Raphael Encyclopædia Britannica (Child and Colles note that '... he appears as a mere man, an archangel incognito as it were".) The Book of Genesis tells of three angels visiting Abraham in human disguise (Gen.18), and two visiting Lot in Sodom (Gen.19).In this context Isaacs notes the nature of the interaction between angelic and human figures: 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."Peter Kreeft (1995). Angels and Demons: What Do We Really Know About Them?. Ignatius Press. pp.52-53, 83. . 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."
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.Peter Day, Vampires: Myths and Metaphors of Enduring Evil, p.85. John Milton's poem Paradise Regained has Satan disguised as an old man.John Milton, John Leonard (ed.) (1998). The Complete Poems. Penguin Classics. pp.13, 912. . The Christian heresy of docetism held that Jesus was not a human but was, instead, a divine spirit in the guise of a human.
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.Raymond T. McNally, Radu Florescu (1994). In Search of Dracula: the History of Dracula and Vampires. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt. Chapter 10: Vampirism: Old World Folklore, pp. 117-132. .Compare detecting a werewolf in human form: Christopher Golden, Stephen Bissette, Thomas E. Sniegoski (2000). The Monster Book. Simon and Schuster. p.247. . 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.William Howitt (1863). The History of the Supernatural in All Ages and Nations. Longman, Green, Longman, Roberts, & Green. p.286. 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."Richard Erdoes, Alfonso Ortíz (1984). American Indian Myths And Legends. Random House. p.xii. , .
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. Kitsune can also replicate the exact appearance of a specific person. In medieval Japan, the belief that any beautiful women met alone at dusk was a kitsune was prevalent. In some legends, kitsune cannot fully transform, but maintain a tail or other foxlike characteristic such as long red hair. Some kitsune in disguise prey on humans through sexual contact, much like the succubus.
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...."Carmen Blacker (1990). "The Folklore of the Stranger: A Consideration of a Disguised Wandering Saint", pp.162–168, in Folklore, Vol.101, No.2 (1990). (print), (web). Generically, a stranger "may as easily be a dangerous incarnation of the Devil as a messenger from God".
Selkie, seals which can shed their skin and turn into humans,Meliss Bunce (2003). "The Selkie Wife", p.56, in Happily Ever After: Folktales that Illuminate Marriage and Commitment. August House. , . 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.
Art iconography
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".
In literary criticism
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.
In fiction
"Beauty and the Beast": The classic French story of a beastly bridegroom that changes into a prince. "The Little Mermaid": Hans Christian Andersen's famous tale of the mermaid who sacrified her tail for human legs. "East of the Sun and West of the Moon": A Scandinavian fable where a white bear becomes a man by night. "Bisclavret" (The Werewolf): Marie de France's famous 12th-century story where a nobleman is trapped in beastly skin. "The She-Bear": Basile's classic, older fairy tale where humans are transformed into animals. "The White Cat": Madame d'Aulnoy's classic French fairy tale where a feline has a secret human identity.
Supernatural creatures 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.Anita Silvey, The Essential Guide to Children's Books and Their Creators, p.284.
Aliens
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."March 2009
Various works of science fiction have described aliens disguised in human form.
The theme of alien infiltration in human form appeared commonly during the Cold War. 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.Whitehead, John W. (2001). "Invasion of the Body Snatchers: A Tale for Our Times". Gadfly Online, 2001-11-26.
The various incarnations of Star Trek had numerous aliens capable of impersonating humans, for example the Salt Vampire of "The Man Trap", Trelane in "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,David Buxton From the Avengers to Miami Vice: form and ideology in television series Cultural politics Manchester University Press ND, 1990 , , 170 pages 46-56 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.
They Live deviated from the cold-war fear of communists by having its alien infiltrators be the capitalist elite, exploiting mindnumbed consumersThe New Cult Canon: They Live, Scott Tobias, March 26, 2008, Onion AV Club while The Thing featured a more visceral biological horror, with an alien that would infect and duplicate hosts. 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.Barbara Creed The monstrous-feminine: film, feminism, psychoanalysis page 44