Line #38 Main/TheyWalkAmongUs


1	[[quoteright:350:[[Film/{{District 9}} https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/district-9_jpg_595x325_crop_upscale_q85.jpg]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:Nope, nothing weird going on here.]]
3
4	A [[SpeculativeFiction sci-fi/fantasy]] trope.
5
6	Let's say, for instance, that you are a perfectly normal human being living in a perfectly normal house in a perfectly normal urban community. Every day you wake up, you go to work or to school, you come home and have dinner. You have perfectly normal friends and family you enjoy doing perfectly normal things with. Also, your neighbor is, say, a robot. And your robot neighbor lives in the perfectly normal house right next to yours. He also gets up every morning and goes on with his robot affairs. And as the both of you walk down the street, side by side, you meet other humans just like yourself, sure, but the robot community is there as well, minding their own business just like you do. And nobody thinks it's weird because, you see, [[TitleDrop they walk among you]].
7
8	That's the main gist of this trope: in an otherwise normal world not too different from [[RealLife our own]], humans share the world with something distinctly nonhuman, or at least abnormal or fantastic; another sentient species, or a different kind of being altogether. Their presence in the world is not regarded differently in any way from how we look at all the different races and ethnic groups here. Needless to say, FantasticRacism tends to ensue, but though this is a common staple, it's not a necessity.
9
10	''Related tropes include:''
11
12	* LionsAndTigersAndHumansOhMy
13	* UnusuallyUninterestingSight
14	* RogerRabbitEffect
15	* FantasticRacism
16	* MundaneFantastic
17
18	Fantasy beings Walking Among Us is often a component of a MagicRealism setting. For beings who Walk Among Us ''without'' our knowledge, see {{Masquerade}}.
19
20	Not to be confused with ''VideoGame/AmongUs''.
21	----
22	!!Examples:
23
24	[[foldercontrol]]
25
26	[[folder:Advertising]]
27	* The alien from the Babbel language course commercials, who despite looking somewhat like a XenomorphXerox finds that his greatest social impediment is the language barrier (until he uses Babbel to learn English of course, then he gets invited to dinners and tells funny jokes to the humans there).
28	* Modern-day cavemen in the famous GEICO commercials.
29	[[/folder]]
30
31	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
32	* According to Yuki, Data Interfaces, time travelers and members of the Organization have completely infiltrated North High because of the titular character, Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya. Proven in the eight novel, [[spoiler:where the Student Council President is a representative from the Organization, and the secretary is a Data Interface named Emiri Kimidori.]]
33	%%* The wolves from ''Anime/WolfsRain''.
34	%%* Vampires in ''Literature/TrinityBlood''.
35	* ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' bounces between this and {{Masquerade}} depending on the incarnation, where they are in the timeline, [[DependingOnTheWriter and what's more convenient for the plot]]. ''WesternAnimation/TransformersAnimated'' completely threw it out the window and everyone knows of their existence from the first episode.
36	%% * The ''VideoGame/SonicTheHedgehog'' characters in ''Anime/SonicX''
37	%%* Nation-tans in ''Webcomic/HetaliaAxisPowers''
38	%%* Persocoms in ''Manga/{{Chobits}}''
39	* In ''Franchise/LyricalNanoha'', pretty much any [[RidiculouslyHumanRobots clones, programs, cyborgs, etc.]] are [[WhatMeasureIsANonHuman politically considered people]] and therefore blend into society to the extent that most of the active characters aren't even regular born humans.
40	* Not only are the titular critters all over the place in ''Franchise/{{Pokemon}}'', but they often appear to have replaced every sort of real animal.
41	* Any ''Anime/{{Macross}}'' series that takes place after ''Anime/SuperDimensionFortressMacross'' is likely to include some thirty-foot tall Zentraedi walking around and nobody really blinking an eye. ''Anime/MacrossFrontier'' even has a mixed-size shopping mall, where some human characters hang out with a Zentraedi friend by being on the third floor, equal to her eye level.
42	[[/folder]]
43
44	[[folder:Comic Books]]
45	* Mutants in ''ComicBook/XMen''. Even Nightcrawler can walk around undisguised, and few people seem to care. (One issue has him and ComicBook/{{Wolverine}} walking around in public and 'Crawler worried about it... only for a pretty girl to slip him her phone number.)
46	* In fact, superhumans from both Creator/MarvelComics and Creator/DCComics often walk among normal humans with little fanfare.
47	* The Bone Cousins in ''ComicBook/{{Bone}}''. People remark that they're funny-looking a few times but it seems to be more of a case of them being from another part of the world. A later book show a more cosmopolitan city, with plenty of fey-like or gnome-like creatures, so it's no surprise the Bones would be ignored.
48	* All manner of bizarre creatures in ''ComicBook/{{Hellboy}}'', including the titular character, despite looking like a BigRedDevil.
49	* Costumed heroes in ''ComicBook/{{Watchmen}}''.
50	* {{Funny Animal}}s in ''Midnite, the Rebel Skunk''
51	* The titular characters in ''ComicBook/{{Elephantmen}}''-- {{Half Human Hybrid}}s of hippos, elephants, and various other African megafauna.
52	* In ''ComicBook/{{Arrowsmith}}'', various fantasy races such as trolls live alongside humans; albeit as second-class citizens in many places.
53	[[/folder]]
54
55	[[folder:Fan Works]]
56	* The ''Fanfic/TheConversionBureau'' genre typically consists of the [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic Kingdom of Equestria]] popping up on our Earth and setting a divisive cultural exchange in motion -- whereas humans may not enter the Equestrian island, which is protected by an anti-human forcefield, many ponies travel and settle in human countries. In most iterations, racism and political strife on both sides usually destroys any chance for peaceful coexistence, and end with one side forcefully usurping the other.
57	* This essentially describes the Doctor's final plan to deal with the T-Virus in ''Fanfic/DangerousTenant''; having determined the nature of the T-Virus, he intends to modify it into a new form that he calls 'the D-Virus', which will infect humanity and preserve the virus's existence without actually causing any kind of mutation to the subject and rendering them immune to infection from other strains of the virus.
58	[[/folder]]
59
60	[[folder:Films -- Animated]]
61	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheIncredibles1'', Supers go through most of their lives just like everyone else.
62	[[/folder]]
63
64	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
65	* Anthropomorphic dinosaurs in ''Film/TheodoreRex''.
66	* ''Film/Underworld2003'': Vampires and Lycans in ''Rise of the Lycans''. The first two movies have a {{Masquerade}}, complete with shadowy corporate intermediaries and both in-house and third-party [[TheMenInBlack cleaner squads]].
67	* [[{{Toon}} Toons]] (living cartoon characters) in ''Film/WhoFramedRogerRabbit'' and its SpiritualSuccessor ''Film/ChipNDaleRescueRangers2022''. Ditto ''Film/CoolWorld'' (but there they're called "Doodles").
68	* The crustacean alien "prawns" in ''Film/District9'', pictured above.
69	* In ''Film/{{Bright}}'', orcs, elves, and other fantasy races live alongside humans in modern-day LA.
70	* A central conceit of the ''Franchise/MenInBlack'' franchise is that aliens have been resettled on Earth, usually in a manner that makes them indistinguishable from most terrestrial natives.
71	[[/folder]]
72
73	[[folder:Literature]]
74	* ''Literature/ThursdayNext'' blatantly plays with the FantasyKitchenSink. The first of its two main "gimmicks" is that genetic engineering has allowed humans to [[FossilRevival resurrect several extinct animals]], and as a result, mammoths migrate through Swindon, dodo birds are the popular pet of choice, and Neanderthals [[FantasticRacism fight discrimination]] from humans and live in their own separate, politically anarchic (but peaceful) communities. The second gimmicks involves [[DirectLineToTheAuthor living literary characters]]. It's complicated.
75	* In ''Literature/WhoCensoredRogerRabbit'', [[RogerRabbitEffect humans and toons coexist]].
76	* Fairy tale and nursery rhyme characters in ''Literature/NurseryCrime''.
77	* Monsters and occult powers in the ''Literature/AnitaBlake'' series.
78	* Robots in the ''Literature/RobotSeries''. They're never treated as equivalent to humans, but the human response to them frequently echoes something from actual human history. Earth society resents them for displacing human labor (similar to the way many societies treat immigrants), while Spacer society treats them like slaves, generally ignoring them unless there's something they want a robot to do.
79	* ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', particularly in Ankh-Morpork, which is inhabited by humans of many ethnicities, trolls, dwarves, gnomes, vampires, golems, small gods, the occasional talking dog ...
80	* Vampires in ''Literature/TheSookieStackhouseMysteries'', and later [[spoiler:weres]].
81	* In ''Tales of a Sixth-Grade Muppet'' by Kirk Scroggs, Danvers can't remember if the entire cast of ''Series/TheMuppetShow'' always lived in his hometown, or if it just happened after his transformation. No one else seems to find it odd.
82	[[/folder]]
83
84	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
85	* Vampires in ''Series/TrueBlood''.
86	* Humanoid Cylons in the last season of ''Series/BattlestarGalactica2003''.
87	* Any of Jim Henson's works involving the Muppets, but the effect was not handled the same way in every case. In ''Series/SesameStreet'', for example, humans and "monsters" recognized each other as different, but in ''The Muppets Show'' there were instances where ordinary humans and the Muppets were in perfectly equal standing. (As in, a humanoid muppet and a real human were both "human")
88	* The world of ''Series/SpecialUnit2'': All sorts of supernatural creatures still live among the humans. There is no organized {{Masquerade}}; most people don't realize they're there but the Chicago Police Department has established SU 2 to deal with them.
89	* The Newcomers, a.k.a. Tenctonese, in ''Series/AlienNation''.
90	* Puppets in ''Series/GregTheBunny.''
91	* ''Franchise/PowerRangers'':
92	** ''Series/PowerRangersSPD'' has aliens and humans living side by side in 2025. However, humans with powers are discriminated against, at least at the [[KidsAreCruel grade school level]]. By the year 3000 of ''Series/PowerRangersTimeForce,'' it went FromBadToWorse, with aliens still around, but humans' treatment of the mutants that are born when humanity's DesignerBabies habit doesn't yield such good results revolting, traveling to the present, and becoming the villains of the series.
93	** ''Series/PowerRangersNinjaStorm'' had a MirrorUniverse where monsters were good and Rangers were bad, and Tori had to get the civilian versions of the villainous generals to rise up against the evil Rangers. Was it the fault of the MonsterOfTheWeek back in the main universe, or did Tori just dream it when she was injured? [[OrWasItADream Yes, it's definitely one or the other]].
94	** ''Series/PowerRangersMysticForce'' ends with integration between humans and the magical creatures who'd previously kept to their side of the dimensional barrier in the forest, after humans and magical creatures come together to restore the Rangers' powers via ClapYourHandsIfYouBelieve.
95	[[/folder]]
96
97	[[folder:Video Games]]
98	%% * ''Franchise/SonicTheHedgehog'', especially in the newer games.
99	* Vortigaunts in ''VideoGame/HalfLife2'' have reached this status. No one bats an eyelid at them (except the Combine who [[TranshumanTreachery harass them just as much as humans]]).
100	* The Gurhal System in ''VideoGame/PhantasyStar'' universe really doesn't care if you're human, newman, beast, or CAST, because they're all on equal standing. Though the four races have planets (or a space station) to themselves, other races can and do live there with equality (excepting those bigots that no amount of time will erase).
101	* In ''VideoGame/TheSims'', your human sims can live among servos, vampires, werewolves, [[PlantPerson plant people]], and other supernatural creatures, and no one bats an eye.
102	* The ''Franchise/TouhouProject'' takes place in a FantasticNaturePreserve where humans, {{youkai}}, fairies, ghosts, deities, etc. coexist and regularly interact, and only a minority of named characters are human. It's by no means an integrated society, and the various groups tend to have their own territories, so youkai openly visiting the Human Village make the locals unhappy and uncomfortable, and those that cause trouble will probably be driven off by a youkai exterminator like the two main characters. Meanwhile, any humans who start poking around Youkai Mountain are likely to be chased away by the local kappa and tengu, and will probably be harassed by fairies along the way. While the Spell Card Rules the major players have agreed to provide a nonlethal means of conflict resolution, and an understanding that despite their taunting, Gensokyo's youkai won't try to [[ToServeMan eat people]], this only applies to ''local'' humans - any outsiders who wander into Gensokyo and get caught outside the Human Village are fair game.
103	* ''VideoGame/XCOMChimeraSquad'' takes place 25 years after a successful AlienInvasion resulted in a VichyEarth scenario, and five years after a resistance movement overthrew the alien "Elders." So humanity now has to coexist with not just the [[HalfHumanHybrid hybrid]] peacekeepers created by the alien regime, but also the various other races that served as the Elders' BattleThralls: [[TheGreys sectoids]], [[GiantMook mutons]], [[SnakePeople vipers]], and more. The game's setting of City 31 is one of the most successful examples of post-war integration, and even elected a hybrid mayor, but there's still undercurrents of tension between the races. The titular combat unit is thus an experiment of sorts, to see whether a collection of human, hybrid and alien operatives can form a cohesive team.
104	[[/folder]]
105
106	[[folder:Webcomics]]
107	* ''Webcomic/QuestionableContent'' is set in an alternate-present Massachussetts where true ArtificialIntelligence is common; the first AI characters are {{Robot Budd\|y}}ies like Pintsize who are initially treated like possessions, but an expanding cast of {{Robot}}s with day jobs is introduced. It's mentioned that TheSingularity passed and [=AIs=] were granted full citizenship without any particular hassle and, indeed, without most people noticing.
108	* As the nature of megacrossovers this is the norm of the ''Webcomic/{{Buildingverse}}'' so for a perfectly muggle waitress to see [[Webcomic/{{Roommates}} Thor chasing Nyan-cat]] down the street is a Monday. There are some works that allude to some kind of a {{Masquerade}}, but it can't be too serious if aforementioned waitress [[Webcomic/GirlsNextDoor can turn around and date an elf]].
109	* Stories set in the ''Webcomic/SamAndFuzzy''-verse past the MythArc are like this. The {{Masquerade}} has been well and truly broken, and at this point the sight of werewolves, robots, vampires and a dinosaur with a monocle has become normal to the average citizen, and Jess the shapeshifting slug monster has no problems getting Tinder dates while proudly displaying her species on her page (some FantasticRacism is to be expected, but nothing systemic).
110	* ''Webcomic/GirlGenius'': People in Europa (which is run, badly, by [[MadScientist Sparks]]) live alongside robots ("clanks") and various "abominations of science", to varying degrees of acceptance. Under Baron Wulfenbach's Empire, "constructs" (often, but not limited to, [[FleshGolem patchwork reanimated people]] a la FrankensteinsMonster) are granted equal rights to people, though it's noted that in smaller towns, FantasticRacism is in full effect.
111	[[/folder]]
112
113	[[folder:Web Original]]
114	* The ''Website/OrionsArm'' worldbuilding project includes every possible kind of being in a science fiction setting (genetically modified humans, uplifted animals, robots, cyborgs, sentient vehicles, etc.) co-existing in the same interstellar civilization.
115	* Due to the MegaCrossover nature of ''WebOriginal/ProtectorsOfThePlotContinuum'', it is not exactly uncommon to see a [[VideoGame/StarCraft protoss]], an [[WesternAnimation/MyLittlePonyFriendshipIsMagic earth pony]], and a [[RealLife World-1 human]] walking the same halls.
116	[[/folder]]
117
118	[[folder:Western Animation]]
119	* Magical creatures in ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDragonJakeLong''.
120	* [[{{Toon}} Toons]] again in ''WesternAnimation/{{Bonkers}}''. The "human" characters were also animated, so they made them a bit more realistic and detailed than is standard for Disney fare, to make it easier to differentiate.
121	* ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' features bipedal, sentient animals (such as deer or dogs) of human-like intelligence; who have (nearly) the same rights and privileges as humans (such as insurance policies). The main example would be Brian; who's allowed to drink alcohol, go to college, and even [[InterspeciesRomance date human girls (a guy in the case of his cousin)]]; all without anyone batting an eyelash. Usually. Sometimes the show treats Brian like a dog (conveniently ignoring the bipedalism and power of speech) when the plot calls for it. They even had Peter randomly shout "[[LampshadeHanging Ah! Talking dog]]!" before the break in one episode. In general, they go with [[RuleOfFunny whatever would be funnier]] in the circumstances.
122	* The titular creatures of ''WesternAnimation/FostersHomeForImaginaryFriends''.
123	* Aliens, robots, and [[SciFiKitchenSink other science-fictiony things]] in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}''.
124	%% * Gargoyles in ''WesternAnimation/{{Gargoyles}}''.
125	* [[DuelingShows Magical creatures in]] ''WesternAnimation/TheLifeAndTimesOfJuniperLee''. Interestingly, in ''Juniper Lee'' all magical creatures (with one exception) are InvisibleToNormals while in ''Jake Long'' creatures ''are'' visible to humans [[ExtraStrengthMasquerade while somehow co-existing with them in]] [[BigApplesauce New York City]].
126	* Robots (most of them capable of human emotion) in ''WesternAnimation/MyLifeAsATeenageRobot''.
127	* ''WesternAnimation/UglyAmericans'' is all about this trope. Earth is populated by all the strangest creatures the writers and artists can imagine, many of them from myth and folklore. The main character, Mark Lilly, is an employee of the US Department of Integration; his job is to aid the creatures at finding their way in American (and human) society.
128	[[/folder]]

Context Main / TheyWalkAmongUs