History Main / TheyLookLikeUsNow

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Which is what they just figured out: [[TitleDrop they look like us now.]]

* In the final episode of Season 1 of ''Anime/PacificRimTheBlack'', [[spoiler:Boy]] is revealed to be a humanoid Kaiju, able to shapeshift into a Kaiju form when sufficiently angry.

** ''Series/{{Galactica 1980}}'' beats them by twenty-odd years by having human-form cylon robots in the episode "The Night The Cylons Landed". However, the ones on the reimagined series are completely human looking, down to having [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots a reproductive system]].

* ''TabletopGame/CallOfCthulhu''.

* This trope is why, according to [[TheMenInBlack Task Force: Valkyrie]] from TabletopGame/HunterTheVigil, werewolves and other shifters are a much greater national security threat than other supernatural creatures. Vampires have [[WeakenedByTheLight known limitations]], and mages have difficulty using spells in public, but the Uratha look completely normal until they walk into a secure area and turn into eight-foot-tall killing machines.

* Malicious Durlans have used their shapeshifting abilities to infiltrate human society, as they did in ''Comicbook/{{Invasion}}''. Luckily for the DCU most Durlans are very against the idea of leaving Durla, meaning large scale invasions by the shape-shiftering aliens are not a major concern.

* In ''FanFic/RWBYEpicOfRemnant'', Ivan the Terrible's Noble Phantasm spawns Oprichniki, a sort of false soldier serving as his SecretPolice. When they attack a White Fang mining operation, the defender Bay Lupin is stunned in horror, [[EntertaininglyWrong thinking]] the Grimm have learned to imitate human forms and use of weaponry, especially as they dissolve into darkness when killed and attack in similar ways.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* Ditto ''Film/{{Halloweentown}}''.

* The Skins on ''Series/{{Roswell}}''.

* All the aliens in ''Series/TheInvaders''.

** The second season implements the same trope, but in a radically different way: the second wave of aliens have altered their biology to the point that they now look outwardly human (Albeit with luminous blood)

* Agents in Film/TheMatrix take on human forms but are easy to spot due to their choice of attire. Also, in Film/TheMatrixReloaded, [[spoiler:Smith downloads their programming into human mind in the real world making them even closer to being human.]]

* In ''Manga/SgtFrog'', higher-ranked Keronian platoons are authorized to use technology that lets them mimic humans almost perfectly. Unfortunately for Keroro, his Rank F squad is forced to rely on a set of [[PaperThinDisguise dubious robotic suits]].

* In Creator/{{Vathara}}'s ''[[https://www.fanfiction.net/s/2698347/1/Walk-Through-the-Valley Walk Through the Valley]]'' has a rare heroic version. Hiko's people, the Confederacy, are at war with TheFederation, which insists on tearing its women and children screaming from their homes, battering them and turning them over to the [[HumanSubSpecies merrows]] for a form of MindRape called conditioning, which [[GettingSmiliesPaintedOnYourSoul leaves you]] [[HappinessInSlavery happy to do and be whatever the Federation wants you to be]]. It's implied that it leaves you without compassion. The reason they take slaves is to restore the genetic diversity they lost when they became chronically inbred because they were such a small, isolated population. They tell themselves that these gene donors are willing. They also do it to Confederate soldiers, who are dropped back into the units they were pulled from to wreak havoc on their comrades. The only way to prevent yourself from becoming conditioned is to temporarily become a LittleBitBeastly with the help of LegoGenetics, which entails government-approved DNA sequences and extremely complicated life-support equipment that no one uses for anything else. Using claws, etc., means modifying the brain. Ensuring that alterants know when to use them means adding instincts from the species used as a source of DNA. This makes alterants easy to spot, no matter how well the alterations are hidden. They cannot make alterants in mind only; volunteers go mad in weeks. This is where the ookamimoya alterants come in. The ''ookamimoya'' are a species of [[{{EMP}} EM]]-sensitive, lupine predators that live very long lives, have few offspring, which they cherish, a pack with which they share a PsychicLink, extreme distrust of outsiders, incredibly durable bodies, InnateNightVision, AlienHair in the form of sensory tendrils with which they pick up emotions and which move on their own; pelt tendrils that don't; and hidden claws. Ookamimoya ''alterants'' will have sensory tendrils on the scalp the thickness of human hair, eyebrows and eyelashes with tendencies of both pelt and sensory tendrils, zero hair or not-hair elsewhere, KaleidoscopeEyes with exotic colors that [[EyeColorChange shift to golden/amber at night/low light conditions]], the ability to sense ''ki'', lack of aging, hidden claws and a strong killer instinct that drive them to kill the conditioned.

** In ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'' the Thin Man alien units would count as this. Their disguise is pulled off pretty good as well... thin men! Until they pull out their alien weaponry and start doing back-flips in business suits that is. Also their eyes if studied are reptilian in nature. Which would explain why they wear dark glasses. The bases of their necks are also scaled, implying that only the always visible parts are human in appearance, although this isn't stated ingame.
** ADVENT troopers from ''VideoGame/{{XCOM 2}}'' look human enough until you remove their faceplate as happens during a cutscene and during any AlienAutopsy you perform on them. Then again, ADVENT troopers are peacekeeping forces and only need to look human enough to not be scary to the human populace while still being armored and armed well enough to keep order in the the VichyEarth regime. Faceless, on the other hand, are straight up ShapeShifter that pose as civilians to ambush your troops while they are trying to rescue them (if they are aligned with LaResistance), or avoid them (if they are aligned with ADVENT, since the GullibleLemmings they are will alert the authority if they see heavily armed [[YourTerroristsAreOurFreedomFighters terrorists]] walking around, but usually aren't attentive enough to pose a threat to the squad).

* In ''Film/MenInBlack'', the alien {{villain}}s do this, but so do many (relatively) friendly aliens, as it is the only way they can live safely on Earth.

Contrast AFormYouAreComfortableWith, which doesn't involve the aliens deceiving us into mistaking them for humans; HumanDisguise, for examples of non-human creatures passing themselves off as humans for purposes other than invasion; and HumanAliens in which the aliens just happened to look like us to begin with. Compare TheVirus. SisterTrope to PuppeteerParasite. A rich source of ParanoiaFuel.

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* This is by far the most significant difference between the ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds'' film/radio show/whatever and the later [[Series/WarOfTheWorlds TV show]] -- in the latter, the Martians are able to [[KillAndReplace posess human bodies at will]].

* Creator/TerryPratchett has the Auditors do this in ''Discworld/ThiefOfTime'': one takes the form of a woman much of the time in order to ensure the building of a glass clock that will stop time (and thereby make their job much tidier). When she starts acting too human, teams of other Auditors join her to ensure that it gets completed and started -- while keeping her, and each other, under control.

* Doubly Subverted in ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'', in which the titular alien wears a PaperThinDisguise consisting of a pair of contact lenses and a wig. Of course, except for a few people, [[HumansAreMorons it works just fine]].

* ''VideoGame/StarCraftIIHeartOfTheSwarm'' adds a (multiplayer-only) Zerg unit called the Changeling, which upon entering sight range of an enemy unit automatically changes its color and transforms into that enemy's tier 1 unit (Terran marine, Protoss zealot, or zergling). Since it can't attack and has no other abilities, this is only useful for scouting.

* In ''FanFic/RWBYEpicOfRemnant'', Ivan the Terrible's Noble Phantasm spawns Oprichniki, a sort of false soldier serving as his SecretPolice. When they attack a White Fang mining operation, the defender is stunned in horror, thinking the Grimm have learned to imitate human forms and use of weaponry, especially as they dissolve into darkness and attack in similar ways.

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[[caption-width-right:319:Zentraedi spies [[RealMenWearPink blending]] in [[HumansThroughAlienEyes seamlessly]] and [[{{Crossdresser}} without]] [[CrossCulturalKerfluffle drawing attention]].]]