Line #100 Main/TheDogIsAnAlien


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14	[[quoteright:300:[[Film/TheCatFromOuterSpace https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/p7282_p_v7_aa300px.png]]]]
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16	Some sort of extraterrestrial lifeform comes to Earth, and, to avoid attention from TheMenInBlack or any other government agencies, disguises itself as a domestic animal, usually a dog. Sometimes the alien happens to already look like a dog, while others may transform themselves using VoluntaryShapeshifting or AppliedPhlebotinum.
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18	The latter variant raises some questions as to why the alien wouldn't choose to disguise itself as a human, giving itself far more freedom within human society. However, given that their disguise may not be perfect, or that they may be unfamiliar with human social norms, this may be a sensible decision. A dog that acts or looks a little bit odd is less likely to attract attention than a human who acts strangely or looks creepy.
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20	The alien often finds itself adopted as a pet, usually at least somewhat willingly. After all, a family who is willing to provide food and shelter seems like a reasonable alternative to living on the streets avoiding TheMenInBlack and dog catchers, and the alien probably reasons that it is capable of escaping if it needs to.
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22	This trope comes in both benign and malevolent variants. The former tends to result in ABoyAndHisX.
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24	The most common variant of this trope involves a dog that's an alien, however, it can also apply to other types of animals, and "alien" can be substituted for virtually any sentient fictional species. If the alien is not intentionally disguising itself as a dog, but gets mistaken for one anyway, it's MistakenForDog.
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26	Compare AlienAnimals, where an entire ''species'' of Earth animal are and have always secretly been aliens. Not to be confused with TheDogWasTheMastermind, though it can sometimes mix together.
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28	----
29	!!Examples:
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31	[[foldercontrol]]
32
33	[[folder:Advertising]]
34	* A Budweiser commercial opens with a dog coming out of a house. It runs to the middle of nowhere and gets taken on board an alien ship. The ship takes the dog to the alien leader's quarters on another planet, where the dog presses a button on its collar and reveals that it is actually an alien in disguise. What did he learn on Earth? [[Advertising/{{Wazzup}} "WAZZAAAAAP!"]]
35	[[/folder]]
36
37	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
38	* Shirogane from ''Manga/AyakashiTriangle'' is a cat [[OurSpiritsAreDifferent ayakashi]] that sometimes alters his [[SleepModeSize smaller form]] to look like a regular stray cat that isn't InvisibleToNormals. Despite regular cats being drawn in a much more realistic style, only Lu notices the difference. At first this was to deter Soga from attacking him as he hangs around Hokusai High School, but he also enjoys the attention and treats the students give him (so long as he can avoid the enormous English teacher's {{Bear Hug}}s). A while after moving into Suzu's house but keeping himself invisible to the rest of her family, Shirogane uses his visible form to become their [[FromStrayToPet adopted stray]] "Shiro", purely so he'll get more food.
39	* In ''Manga/{{Parasyte}}'', one of the first Parasytes Shinichi and Migi encounter is one that accidentally infested a dog rather than a human. Because of this, it had dog-level intelligence and only eats dogs (though it still tries to attack them).
40	[[/folder]]
41
42	[[folder:Comic Books]]
43	* The comic book story [[http://www.misterkitty.org/extras/stupidcovers/stupidcomics149.html "Rover's a Good Dog!"]] from ''Forbidden Worlds'' #106, which is about a race of evil alien dogs sending an agent out in the guise of a domesticated Earth dog to photograph the plans of a top-secret American weapon. However, the agent becomes compassionate to the inventor and his family, and ultimately doesn't have the heart to go through his mission, instead sacrificing himself to save the family.
44	* ''ComicBook/GuardiansOfTheGalaxy'': Rocket claims that ComicBook/{{Captain Marvel\|MarvelComics}}'s cat Chewie is a rare and dangerous alien species called a flerken. [[spoiler:Turns out he's right.]]
45	* ''ComicBook/TheIncredibleHercules'': It's revealed that [[spoiler:Kirby, the coyote pup that Amadeus Cho had adopted, had been long-replaced by a [[{{Shapeshifter}} Skrull]] imposter. While the real coyote was safe and unharmed, the Skrull coyote had accompanied Cho for the better part of a year before TheReveal.]]
46	* ComicBook/KryptoTheSuperdog is (usually) a dog from Krypton that is passable as an Earth native dog when he's not flying around or showing off his super strength.
47	* ''ComicBook/RelativeHeroes'': Cameron treats his potted plant as a pet/CompanionCube and the thing is eventually revealed to be an Es (a type of shapeshifing alien) advance scout for the now occurring invasion, [[spoiler:and so is Cameron]].
48	* ''ComicBook/{{Runaways}}'': "My dog's a [mystically cloaked] genetically engineered psychic dinosaur from the 87th century."
49	[[/folder]]
50
51	[[folder:Film -- Animation]]
52	* Rokoroko from ''Anime/DoraemonNobitasLittleSpaceWar'' is the pet of Papi, an alien from Planet Pirika, arriving on earth to find his missing master. It turns out Papi had already met Doraemon and friends several days ago and is already well-acquainted with the earthlings by the time Rokoroko catches up.
53	* Stitch from ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch'' pretends to be a dog despite looking more like a blue koala (even when he [[RetractableAppendages hides away]] the [[MultiArmedAndDangerous second set of arms]], spines, and antenna). According to the ([[CanonMarchesOn decanonized]]) [[ComicStrip/ComicZoneLiloAndStitch tie-in comics]], however, it explains that one donor of his genetic composition was from an Earth puppy, so he should have somewhat resembled one. It's not very effective. The universal reaction on seeing him is "You're sure it's a dog?" Basically, he only passes because no-one can come up with any alternatives (and RuleOfFunny).
54	[[/folder]]
55
56	[[folder:Film -- Live-Action]]
57	* The Creator/DisneyChannel Original Movie ''Film/CanOfWorms'' has the protagonist's new sidekick be an alien talking dog.
58	* ''Film/CaptainMarvel2019'': The Kree and the Skrulls alike insist on calling Goose the tabby cat a "Flerken", and are downright terrified of her, which the heroes find hilarious. [[spoiler:And just like in the comics, turns out, the aliens are right.]]
59	* Subverted in ''Film/TheCatFromOuterSpace'', in which the alien looks exactly like a cat in his natural state and doesn't do much to pretend to be one except refrain from speaking. If the humans assume he's a cat, it's not his fault.
60	* ''Film/GoodBoy'': It turns out ''every'' dog on Earth is actually an alien from another planet, though many have gone native and forgotten they were originally sent to conquer Earth.
61	* In ''Film/TheHidden'', a parasitic alien creature hides in other beings and uses them. It temporarily uses a dog, but (as in the original "Who Goes There?") it wants to be a man, not a dog.
62	* In ''Film/IAmNumberFour'', [[spoiler:John/Number Four's dog Bernie Kosar shapeshifts into a more monstrous, distinctly more extraterrestrial creature (that still resembles a dog) known as a Chimera to pull a BigDamnHeroes, engaging another alien monster in combat and eventually killing it.]]
63	* Frank the Pug from ''Film/MenInBlack''. The AnimatedSeries revealed that he's a Remoolian, a type of canine-like species that looks just like a pug with pale green scaly skin and a few little antennae popping from his head. Also he is apparently prone to dog-like behavior and it's not part of the disguise.
64	* The alien in ''Film/TheThing1982'' masquerades as a dog for a while.
65	[[/folder]]
66
67	[[folder:Literature]]
68	* In Creator/JohnScalzi's ''Agent to the Stars'', the gelatinous Blob-like alien the protagonist meets eventually takes on the form of a dog in order to come off as more appealing to humans.
69	* {{Inverted}} in ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}'', where dogs were apparently created by a race of AncientAlien androids called the Chee bonding the souls of their dog-like creators, the Pemalites, into wolves.
70	** Technically, anytime [[TokenNonHuman Ax]] morphs into something other than a human. (Or another alien.)
71	** The [[PuppeteerParasite Yeerks]] once tried to infiltrate "[[Area51 Zone 91]]" by infesting wild horses, which are allowed to wander on and off the area without people paying much attention. Another time Visser One was working to genetically engineer sharks so that they could be infested and used on Leera, [[SingleBiomePlanet an ocean planet]] inhabited by amphibious aliens.
72	** Near the end of the series, [[spoiler:[[OhCrap the Yeerks steal the morphing cube, meaning that many Controllers can now turn into animals freely]]]].
73	* ''Dogsbody'' by Creator/DianaWynneJones is about the GeniusLoci of Sirius being accused of murder and losing a powerful McGuffin on Earth. He is sentenced to being born on Earth as a dog, and given one canine lifetime to find the McGuffin and clear his name.
74	* In Creator/DickKingSmith's book ''Harriet's Hare'', the titular hare is an alien from the planet Pars who can shapeshift into apparently anything he wishes; his default form is a hare, but he mentions that he could have chosen the form of a tiger if he wished, and he occasionally turns into birds such as a sparrow or a goldfinch so that he can visit his human friend Harriet in her room.
75	* Trillian's mice from ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1'' turn out to be aliens in disguise. So are all other mice, wild ones included, but Trillian's are specifically implied to be albino laboratory rodents, hence domesticated.
76	* In ''Literature/{{Phantoms}}'', a gelatinous being can send out autonomous drones to do tasks. One of these is a white dog that fools soldiers and gets close enough to send out tentacles and kill them. Later, the dog is used to keep tabs on the surviving humans.
77	* In the short story, "Puppet Show", by Creator/FredricBrown, an old prospector brings a very ugly RubberForeheadAlien out of the wilderness on muleback, and the guest is questioned by the military. After a bit of subterfuge, it turns out that the guest is a robot, and the prospector declares himself to be the real alien. The interrogator expresses relief that the master race of the galaxy looks human after all... at which point, the prospector reveals itself to be a robot as well, and the ''mule'' asks what a "master race" is and why its appearance should matter.
78	* In ''Turning Point'', the first book of Lisanne Norman's ''Literature/SholanAlliance'', the CatFolk Kusac hides his sapience by pretending to be one of the local felines. Carrie then takes him into her home on account of his injuries.
79	* In {{Creator/Dean Koontz}}'s horror/screwball comedy novel ''Literature/TickTock'', Del's dog is an alien who has been sent to watch over her. He's very intelligent, but still has the playful personality of a dog.
80	[[/folder]]
81
82	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
83	* ''Series/{{Alf}}'' does this from time to time, with varying degrees of success. For instance, on one occasion, he is seen by a hobo who thought he was a kangaroo... and promptly leaps off the train they were riding.
84	* ''Series/DoctorWho'': In [[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor "The Day of the Doctor"]], the Tenth Doctor is hunting for a Zygon which, as it turns out, is disguised not as Queen Elizabeth the First, but as the horse that she and the Doctor were riding. Later the trope is subverted, when the Doctor briefly mistakes a mundane rabbit for the Zygon's new disguise.
85	* ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'': In the episode "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS6E12Aquiel Aquiel]]", the crew of the Enterprise suspect a shapeshifting alien monster to have [[KillAndReplace killed and impersonated]] a member of a remote science station. The two humanoid suspects (one of them Klingon) are eventually cleared by lab tests, but in a horrifying twist the dog from the station that [[TheDogWasTheMastermind nobody paid any mind to]] is revealed to be the alien, and it almost devours Geordi to take his form.
86	* In ''Series/{{Supernatural}}'' there are {{Skinwalker}}s who can take the form of a dog. One of them becomes attached to the family he lives with.
87	[[/folder]]
88
89	[[folder:Video Games]]
90	* In ''VideoGame/LegacyOfTheWizard'', Pochi looks like a dog when hanging around the family home, but when selected as a playable character he turns into something that is definitely not a dog.
91	[[/folder]]
92
93	[[folder:Webcomics]]
94	* Ambis in ''Webcomic/{{Jix}}'' are frequently mistaken for dogs, despite the titular character having [[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation blue]] fur among other things. Eventually it is determined that they share a common ancestor with [[AlienAnimal foxes]].
95	[[/folder]]
96
97	[[folder:Western Animation]]
98	* ''WesternAnimation/ConanTheAdventurer'': While not an alien, Needle, a baby phoenix, would occasionally pretend to be a parrot to avoid drawing attention.
99	* ''WesternAnimation/CounterfeitCat'' is a show about the adventures of Gark, a blue tentacled alien who disguises himself as a cat and lives with an ordinary cat named Max.
100	* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'''s Nibbler is a bit of an odd example as everyone knows he's an alien. What they don't know is that he's a member of an incredibly advanced alien race. And he can talk.
101	* ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'': GIR disguises himself as Zim's pet dog...[[PaperThinDisguise by wearing a green costume with a visible zipper]]. He rarely even bothers going on all fours. It's arguably still better than [[HughMann Zim's human disguise]].
102	* The cat in ''WesternAnimation/KidVsKat'' is an alien that looks like one of those hairless cats.
103	* In ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'', [[{{Animorphism}} Beast Boy]] can turn into a [[MorphicResonance green]] version of any animal. In one episode, he gets captured in dog form by an alien looking for his missing pet. Meanwhile, the other Titans have found the alien dog and believe that Beast Boy has somehow become {{Shapeshifter Mode Lock}}ed. [[spoiler:The alien dog is [[ItAmusedMe so amused]] that he takes his time before [[SapientAllAlong telling them the truth]].]].
104	[[/folder]]

Context Main / TheDogIsAnAlien