Creatures (Bird Box)

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Hostile Species
Full Name	Unknown
Alias	The Creatures The Entities Beautiful Things (by River Man and Fish Fingers) Angels (by Sebastián)
Origin	Bird Box
Homeworld	Unknown
Abilities	Madness inducement Hallucikinesis Aerokinesis Brainwashing Voice mimicry Partial intangibility
Members	None known.
Goals	Unknown, seemingly destroy humanity (ongoing).
Crimes	Mass murder by proxy Mass enforced suicide Psychological torture Madness inducement Mayhem inducement
Type of Hostile Species	Unseen Mind-Breakers

“	They're coming! They won't hurt you. As a matter of fact, it's a beautiful thing, friend.	„
	~ An insane follower of the Creatures to Tom.

The Creatures are the main antagonists of Josh Malerman's 2014 post-apocalyptic novel Bird Box, its 2018 film adaptation and the 2023 film Bird Box Barcelona, a spin-off sequel set in Spain.

They are malevolent, unseen monsters who cause humans who look at them to go insane and become suicidal.

Description

“	They go by different names. You got world religion and mythology that's full of mentions of demons or spirit creatures. People who've seen these creatures almost always describe their encounter as this... as with an entity that takes on a form of your worst fears or... your deepest sadness or your greatest loss. They come in all different forms. You got the Aka Manah, the Varios Daevas from ancient Zoroastrian legend. You've got the Surgat from ancient Christian occult beliefs that made pregnant women encounter their unborn children as other creatures such as lobsters or spiders. You've got the Huli-jing from China. You've got the Puca from Celtic mythology. All different names, but the same thing.	„
	~ Charlie says that humanity has been judged, and the appearance of the creatures is a sign of the end times. He mentions that those spiritual beings have different names in various cultures

The Creatures' origin, motives, intent, and appearance are unknown. Their physical presence involves a shadowy wind that blows and sweeps over leaves where they pass. However, besides that, they appear unable to directly interact with anything. Charlie, a store clerk, theorizes that they are demons capable of assuming the appearance of a target's worst fears. While to others manifest as their grief, and pain, while others see demons, angels, aliens, and even their deities. Although this is never confirmed, it is shown that they have the ability to produce human voices to their mesmerized victims. The harm they cause manifests in the victims' minds.

Any human who looks at the Creatures immediately experiences a severe psychological effect. Most seem to enter a trance, as evidenced by the victim's eyes turning grey, that compels the victims to commit suicide by any means available. Others, seemingly those already suffering from mental instability, come to revere the Creatures; referring to them as "beautiful" and hunting down other humans in order to compel them to look at the Creatures. When they cannot compel the unafflicted, they attempt to kill them.

Any other animal possessing sight is immediately driven to some form of madness and eventually suicide. For example; a seagull who saw the creatures immediately flew directly into glass, instantly killing it.

There is only one known case of an affected able to resist the impulse of killing himself. Tom resisted for several seconds and managed to kill another affected in order to save Malorie.

Spread

Starting in Romania, the Creatures began appearing in Russia. They spread via Alaska towards the western coast of North America. A map shows that, at some point, they were also present in Japan, the Korean Peninsula, much of the Middle East, almost all of Europe, northern Africa, Peru, Colombia, and southern Greenland.

Named Victims

Bird Box (movie) observation induced suicides:

1. Jessica
2. Lydia
3. Greg
4. Charlie
5. Olympia runs towards a window and jumps out of it.
6. Cheryl stabs herself with a pair of scissors.
7. Tom shoots himself after fighting a group of possessed humans.

Theories

There are multiple theories about what the Creatures are and represent. a handful of them are presented here.

What do people think they are?

• Alien invaders trying to wipe out humanity by using our own weak minds
• Friendly aliens trying to contact humans without knowing that their presence drives us mad
• Beings from another dimension accidentally transported to our own
• Demons, especially in a biblical context
• Ancient prehistoric creatures reappeared in the modern world.
• Biological warfare – insanity caused by weapons of warfare or terrorism
• Mass hysteria – a massive panic caused by a simple suggestion that there is danger
• Cthulhu - the titular antagonist from H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos

What do they represent?

• Morbid Curiosity - The entities represent the human desire to look upon that which may cause harm.
• The Known Unknown - The entities represent the frustration of knowing what you don't know while seemingly being unable to understand it.
• Madness - The entities represent the madness that many experience when forced to question reality as they know it. A sane mind breaks, but a damaged mind accepts the new reality easier.
• The Fall of Humanity - The entities represent the last stage in human existence as a result of some failure, weakness, or incompatibility.
• parenthood.

Gallery

Design of the Creatures as they would look to Malorie.

Gary's drawings of the creatures.

Distribution of the Creatures at a given time.

Trivia

• Originally, the Creatures were going to have a physical form in the movie. They would look different for each person, and Malorie would see them as beings with withered, bald, baby-like heads. There were even doll models for Malorie's vision of the Creatures, but the idea was dropped because Sandra Bullock found them too ridiculous.

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Villains

Franchise-wide Creatures Books Gary | The River Man | Fish Fingers Movies Bird Box: Seers (Gary, The River Man and Fish Fingers) Bird Box Barcelona: Seers (Padre Esteban and Anna)