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Beth: What is that?!
Hud: It's-it's-it's a terrible thing.
~ Beth McIntyre and Hud Platt after the group sees the Clover.
Lily: Do you guys know what it is? Out there? Do you know what that thing is?
Pryce: If they know, they ain't telling me. Whatever it is, it's winning.
~ Lily Ford and Sergeant Pryce talking about the Clover.

The Clover, also known as the Cloverfield Monster, is the titular main antagonist of the 2008 found-footage monster film Cloverfield, the first installment in the Cloververse. A similar creature also briefly appears in The Cloverfield Paradox.

Appearance[]

The Clover is a extraterrestrial quadrupedal aquatic monster with a long, forked tail. Its slender, triple-jointed front legs are longer than its hind legs, ending in multi-fingered hands that can bend backward, allowing the creature to knuckle-walk. Its hind legs are also double-jointed while its skin is light grey with darker speckles. Two "external esophagi," which end in tooth-like projections, extend from the monster's lower chest. The Clover's head has sharp, bony features, two eyes with massive black pupils, and a pair of membranous sacks on the sides, which can inflate and recede back into the head.

Biography[]

Nature and Origin[]

The Clover's origin is not explained by the film or its accompanying marketing material. What is known is that it emerged from the Atlantic Ocean, along with the parasites. Clover was 350-feet tall, yet still an infant. Before the events of the film, it fed on an ocean floor liquid called seabed nectar, which is used in the film's famous icon, the Slusho! company, and is believed to be highly addictive. It was somehow awakened by a satellite which fell into the ocean just off of the east coast. The events of the third film in the franchise, The Cloverfield Paradox, imply that the species ultimately originates in another realm of existence.

Towards the end of the first film, one military officer who aids the protagonists tells them that he personally has no insights into the creature's nature, and that if his superiors do they are not sharing them. Nevertheless, the fact that the military showed up in the city immediately upon Clover's arrival suggests that the government may have been tracking it and understood it to be dangerous.

Cloverfield[]

It was awakened by a falling satellite, seen in the final shot of the film which, chronologically, takes place before the events of the movie. The Clover then found its way towards Manhattan, where it came under heavy attack from the U.S military. Their weapons seemed to have no effect on the Clover, and only enraged and frightened it further, causing it to rampage through Manhattan. It destroys several landmarks along the way; biting the head of the Statue of Liberty before tossing it into the city, toppling the Woolworth Building, and later crushing the Brooklyn Bridge with its gigantic tail.

Rob, Hud, Lily and Marlena are in Manhattan to attend a party, and get caught up in the military’s skirmish with the Clover. After several close encounters with the Clover, the group are attacked by dog sized parasites that fall off it. Marlena is bitten by one of the parasites, and ends up grotesquely exploding at the torso hours later due to the bite. The group rescue their friend, Beth from her apartment and then proceed to evacuate Manhattan in a helicopter. Lily boards the first helicopter while Rob, Hud and Beth board the second helicopter. There, they witness from above the Clover being heavily bombarded by the military. At first, the Clover falls and appears to have succumbed to the bombing, but it then lunges out of the smoke and collides with the helicopter, making it crash into Central Park; although Rob, Hud and Beth survive.

The three regain consciousness hours later, and attempt to flee the city again upon discovering the military plan to initiate a large scale bombing that will destroy the city in the hope it kills the Clover. Hud returns to the wreckage to pick up the camcorder, but is grabbed and bitten in half by the Clover. Beth and Rob retrieve the camcorder and hiding under a bridge in Central Park, they profess their love to one another as the bombing proceeds, killing them both and destroying part of the city in a last ditch attempt to kill the Clover.

Although a voiceover is briefly heard saying; "It's still alive." after the credits, JJ Abrams later confirmed that the bombing of New York successfully killed the Clover.

10 Cloverfield Lane[]

Although the Clover monster did not appear in the spiritual sequel to the first film, an alien spaceship that appears at the end of the film had the exact same roar as the monster, so it is possible they are related. However, the contrasting origins of the two (deep sea versus space) would seem to argue against this. No mention of the Clover beast is made by the characters; one only describes witnessing "an attack" in very vague terms. Other elements, such as the atmospheric contamination and the biomechanical entity encountered towards the end, are entirely absent from Cloverfield. Ultimately, the connection between the movies, if any, is not clear.

The Cloverfield Paradox[]

At the end of The Cloverfield Paradox, a Clover monster of the same species is seen when its head lashes through the clouds and roars. This is believed to be an adult version of the monster; how it got to Earth is unknown, but it is possible that The Shepard opened up gateways to millions of dimensions so it is possible that this monster entered Earth from the world in Cloverfield. This is implied to be Clover's mother.

Powers and Abilities[]

  • Immense Strength: The creature possesses immense physical strength due to its enormous size as it was able to wipe out several landmarks with ease, including tearing the head of the Statue of Liberty off and throwing it into the streets of the city. The creatures tail was shown to be strong enough to smash through the Brooklyn Bridge, which was fortified to withstand 49,200 tons of pressure. It was able to damage skyscrapers, push over large buildings and in one early scene completely destroys the Woolworth Building, which crumbles to the ground in seconds.
  • Immense Durability: The beast seemed to be virtually invulnerable to conventional weaponry, withstanding shells from M1 tanks, AT-4 rockets, AGM-65 Maverick missiles, helicopter-fired rockets, field artillery and Mark 82 bombs (these last delivered by a B-2 bomber). The heaviest bombs had enough force to smash Clover to the ground, though it was able to recover quickly. The creature was, however, killed by a last-resort strike which damaged much of Manhattan, codenamed the "Hammerdown Protocol". The nature of the munition used is not known but it is likely a very high-yield explosive such as a fuel air explosive, a thermobaric "MOAB" or a deep-penetration weapon designed to destroy bunkers; it is possible that multiple such weapons were delivered in rapid succession. The military waited until the creature had entered the open areas of Central Park in an attempt to minimize collateral damage.
  • Enhanced Leap: When attacking the helicopter containing Rob, Beth, and Hud, the monster managed to achieve a leaping height of approximately 560 feet.
  • Aquatic Nature: Clover can survive in the deep sea where it originated. What it was seeking in the urban environment of New York City is not explained.
  • Heat Resistance: Clover's skin is extremely resistant to heat.
  • Parasite Generation: The monster's body is shown to generate parasitic bug-like creatures that fall off of it.

Trivia[]

  • Whatever weapon was used at the finale couldn't have completely obliterated the entire area Clover was in, since the video camera that contains the film footage was not destroyed; this likely rules out a nuclear weapon. This could most likely explain why audiences believe that it is more likely the monster survived than had been killed by the bombings, although J.J. Abrams stated that the monster was killed. The voiceover after the end credits stating that the monster was still alive could be interpreted as an observation of the mortally wounded creature's dying moments. In any case, the United States ultimately survived the Clover rampage, as the beginning of the film shows government classification information indicating that the film itself is recovered evidence in military possession.
  • Production team members have stated that the creature is a young example of its species and that its rampage is a result of being panicked by finding itself in an unfamiliar environment. This still does not explain why it was drawn to the city in the first place, however.
  • The screen time of Clover was kept to a minimum, with the humans and giant parasites taking up most of the screen time. Much of Clover's rampage happened off-screen with the audience witnessing the shocking aftermath.
  • A 14-inch limited edition figure of Clover was released by Hasbro on December 24, 2008. It comes with accessories including the damaged head of the Statue of Liberty, two changeable heads of the monster (one with an open mouth to represent his calm mood and the other with a closed mouth to represent his agitated mood), and 10 static figures of the monsters parasites.
  • To make Clover's vocalizations in the film, the filmmakers recorded sounds of William Files' voice with an upright double bass and animals such as lions, elephants, moose and horses to create the creature's vocal effects.
  • In a MAD parody, Clifford is spoofed as the big monster attacking the city.
  • In a Robot Chicken parody, Clover tried to attack the city again, only to be criticized by the inhabitants because his rampage was insensitive in light of the 9/11 attacks, Clover then goes to Ground Zero and creates a new memorial symbol to apologize for its actions.
  • The monster makes its first appearance in Cloverfield at the same time mark that the particle accelerator fires in The Cloverfield Paradox.

Navigation[]

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Aliens
Cloverfield (Parasites) | Alien Spaceship | Space worms

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Howard Stambler | Mina Jensen