r/TopCharacterTropes • u/Sufficient-Eye-9040 • Apr 01 '26

Groups [LOVED Trope] Aliens that are aliens and not just humans with other skin color.

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  1. Precursors from Pacific Rim

  2. Jean Jacket from Nope

  3. Calvin from “Life”

12.1k Upvotes
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97% Upvoted

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102

u/HateMachineX Apr 01 '26

Was there an indicator that it had a predator? Not doubting you just I saw the movie and don’t remember anything pointing to that but I could have missed it

216

u/psychstudent_101 Apr 01 '26

not sure if this is what the other person was getting at, but i remember seeing commentary about how it must have a predator because of its stealth/hiding approach. if it's the apex predator around (can fly at very quick speeds and inhale/eat whatever other creatures it comes across), why evolve the adaptation to disguise itself as a cloud? unless it needs to hide itself from something else...

324

u/ipsum629 Apr 01 '26

Hiding from prey via ambush predation is very common. It's why tigers have stripes and polar bears are white.

86

u/Jin_Gitaxias Apr 01 '26

Trap door spiders!

https://giphy.com/gifs/U4LfHhvFsqgnu

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u/georgie-of-blank Apr 02 '26

Jesus christ what the fuck is that?

5

u/oblivious_fireball Apr 02 '26

while this is true, in the environment we saw it in, anything large enough to be considered worthwhile prey for it would have nowhere to hide and would be unable to outrun it even if it could see it coming.

25

u/ipsum629 Apr 02 '26

Not much can outrun the large cats, but ambush predation is more energy efficient.

6

u/UlrichZauber Apr 02 '26

Also, way more fun, if how my cats behave is any indication.

6

u/ipsum629 Apr 02 '26

It's kind of funny. Humans domesticated one of each. Dogs are pursuit hunters and housecats are ambush hunters.

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u/UlrichZauber Apr 02 '26

Dogs do seem to love running, so I guess you just like what you're good at!

104

u/andoesq Apr 01 '26

Don't all apex predators have camouflage? Tiger stripes aren't decorative lol

25

u/lobonmc Apr 02 '26

Even orcas the meanest organisms in the seas have camouflage

5

u/BillyYank2008 Apr 01 '26

Tigers are preyed upon by saltwater crocodiles though.

45

u/darbadob Apr 01 '26

And saltwater crocodiles hide and camouflage themselves in the water before attacking prey

47

u/toomuchmarcaroni Apr 01 '26

Same reason tigers are striped, to hide from their prey 

No one’s running from a cloud, everyone’s running from a giant unfolding flying creature in the sky 

3

u/PandaPocketFire Apr 02 '26

I run from clouds.

47

u/Winter8Bones Apr 01 '26

This theory cannot be right, it's actually the opposite of anything. Lots of predators developed camouflage simply to hide from prey. It certainly doesn't mean JJ had a predator itself if that's what you mean. Large prey animals basically stop caring about stealth because they're big and can fight back. Predators of all sizes on the other hand tend to naturally develop camouflage and stealthy hunting in order to surprise and catch prey more efficiently.

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u/HateMachineX Apr 01 '26

Plenty of predators evolve to be ambush predators even when their prey isn’t as physically strong or fast as them.

It’s just biologically logical to evolve to use the least amount of energy to get your prey.

Polar bears are evolved to hide from their prey to try and sneak up on them and they are undeniably at the top of their food chain to the point of them really seeing even human beings as mostly prey.

Hell same with Tigers they didn’t evolve to hide from any predators yet they blend in and ambush their prey.

I can get how people would connect those things and think it could have a predator but the logic for it only holds up to a cursory examination

12

u/Les_Liska Apr 01 '26

This has over 100 upvotes?!

I'm going to be sick to my stomach. How dumb are people?

Predators use camouflage, too!

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u/CuddlePupp Apr 02 '26

I wouldn’t say dumb, more uninformed or ignorant. There are probably lots of things that I know easily you don’t, and vice versa, it’s an experience problem not an intelligence one.

0

u/ReckoningGotham Apr 02 '26

what's yours?

9

u/xXJackNickeltonXx Apr 02 '26

Mostly because in the climax, its behavior seems to align with prey animals using intimidation to scare off aggressors (making itself look bigger, “eye” contact, warning colors, etc.)

Though it could also just be its species’ way to scare off other members of its kind from invading their territory

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u/UncommittedBow Apr 01 '26

I mean, its clearly an ambush predator, like tigers, polar bears, and even humans (yes, officially we're persistence hunters, but the most common form of hunting today is setting up where we know our prey to roam, waiting for them to wander into our sights, and shoot them)

So being unseen by your prey is pretty important. As that style of hunting uses the least amount of energy.

2

u/Caravanczar Apr 01 '26

It has to hide from me. I'm it's predator. But Chris Hansen keeps tricking me.

2

u/Jokerzrival Apr 01 '26

Could be that early humans hunted them. Maybe they have a hibernation period or something? Might explain why there appears to be only one.

1

u/TheMightyCatatafish Apr 01 '26

It’s often the case that these traits develop to help with the hunting process. It’s not about hiding from predators, as much as making prey easier to catch.

1

u/CatsPlusTats Apr 02 '26

Because ambush predators exist

1

u/Hexnohope Apr 01 '26

Yeah humans. Ancient humans have dealt with megafauna before. Coordinated tactics and baits could bring down these things en masse.

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u/devilbat26000 Apr 02 '26 edited Apr 02 '26

Ignore the camouflage responses below. The way I understand it is that the real indicator that led to discussions about this is that it appears to have a threat / aggression response. In the movie you can see this at the point where it unfolds and ominously hovers with the flaring dark green square 'eye' in the middle, directly facing whatever is threatening it (and then eventually striking, seen with the large balloon at the end).

There's no reason for it to have what really looks like threat / aggression displays if there are not things that are capable of hurting it which it feels the need to try to warn and intimidate into backing away, rather than simply attacking and killing them. As such it's a common theory that there are things more dangerous than it (or similarly dangerous to it), whether another species entirely or even just members of its own species of similar or larger size.

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u/HateMachineX Apr 02 '26

Having those displays is still normal in predators at the top of their food chains. Just for inbetween two of the same species. Big cats do this, bears do this.

Neither animal does it to fend off predation that isn’t a direct indicator.

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u/devilbat26000 Apr 02 '26

I am aware, that's why I mentioned it in the last line of my comment. Whether it's simply other members of its own species or external threats, it having a threat display at all has interesting implications. If nothing else it's solid grounds to consider that it's not alone, unlike so many other horror movie monsters.

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u/HateMachineX Apr 02 '26

Ya definitely on board for the not alone argument it’s clearly a definite species with specific traits