History Main / AutomobilesAreAlien

->''The loudcages stood lifeless between pools of shattered clear-stone. Beneath their twisted muzzles were dried pools of the juice longpaws fed them''\\
''The loudcages were bleeding''

* Pufftail from ''Literature/{{Stray}}'' is a cat who refers to cars as "engines of murder", though he also knows the human name for them. His first major interaction with cars was when the drunk son-in-law of his owners threw him out of a car, injuring his leg. His brother Bootsie [[spoiler:didn't survive being thrown out]] and Pufftail saw [[spoiler:his dead body get mangled by cars]].

* Like in [[Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxyTrilogy the book]], Ford Prefect from ''Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy2005'' chose his name because he thought cars were the dominant species on Earth. Here we see he first met Arthur when Arthur had to push him out of the way of a car he was trying to shake hands with.

** Motor vehicles are called "hrududu," by rabbits, an onomatopoeia of their engine noise. Though most of the nomad rabbits are fearful of these things, and debate whether or not they're living creatures, Bigwig dares to sit on the centerline of a road while a passenger car passes by. "See? It's not interested," he remarks.

* ''Series/{{Cosmos}}'': There's one prt in which we zoom on Earth from an alien perspective and stop when cars can be discerned. They're considered as possible lifeforms, humans being suggested to be parasites required by them to start moving.

* Like in [[Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy the book]], Ford Prefect from ''Film/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' chose his name because he thought cars were the dominant species on Earth. Here we see he first met Arthur when Arthur had to push him out of the way of a car he was trying to shake hands with.

* In ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'', Ford Prefect thought that cars were the dominant earth life form while he was researching Earth. He also chose his human name off of the common British car, the Ford Prefect.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

** Motor vehicles in Creator/RichardAdams' {{xenofiction}} ''Literature/WatershipDown'' are called "hrududu," by rabbits, an onomatopoeia of their engine noise. Though most of the nomad rabbits are fearful of these things, and debate whether or not they're living creatures, Bigwig dares to sit on the centerline of a road while a passenger car passes by. "See? It's not interested," he remarks.

** The traveling rabbits think that a train is a divine being. However the Efrafan rabbits live closer to trains and realize that they're just larger versions of "hrududu".

* While most motor vehicles in Disney's ''WesternAnimation/OliverAndCompany'' are routine traffic, and while Fagan's scooter-cum-shopping cart is laughable, TheVillain's matte black sedan is portrayed as ominous, like a V-8 version of Darth Vader. When this villain pursues his fleeing quarry into the subway tunnels with this car, it heightens this effect.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Trollhunters}}'': When [[spoiler:Gunmar, Dictatious and two soldiers reach the surface world]], they mistake an incoming car for a "surface beast" and one of the soldiers tries to slay it, [[CarFu be gets hit]] and [[AnArmAndALeg loses an arm]].

[[folder:Comics]]

* Bowzar the Barkbarian, a one-shot villain of ''ComicBook/CaptainCarrotAndHisAmazingZooCrew'', was transported from a Bronze Age world to the modern day. He establishes his threat level by mistaking a car for a horrible monster and its driver for a swallowed victim, and wrecks it with a single mighty blow. He's surprised when the driver runs for his life instead of showering him with thanks.

* The cats in ''Fanfic/WarriorsTheDayTheClansDied'' come across a car crash but don't fully understand it. They think that the wrecked automobile is "dead" and that the "monster" ate a human.

* The first time that Chrysta the fairy from ''WesternAnimation/FerngullyTheLastRainforest'' set eyes on the Leveler, she termed it a "monster." Considering that this machine has two chainsaw pincers at the ends of two robotic arms, and also houses a complete lumber mill on caterpillar treads, the Leveler is definitely one monster vehicle. Further, the fairies of Ferngully have never before seen a machine of any kind, and even consider humans to be extinct.

* Similar to the film above is ''Film/TheCar'' where a rural town in Utah is terrorized by a mysterious black sedan (really a heavily-modified Lincoln Continental) that appears out of nowhere and runs people over. Like the ''Duel'' truck, it has a very intimidating appearance and the dark tinted windows makes it impossible to see the driver. [[spoiler:[[DemonicPossession Because there is]] [[SentientVehicle no driver!]]]]
* In ''Film/TheAdventuresOfMiloAndOtis'', when Milo sees a train for the first time, he has no idea what it is, and the narrator states that Milo "kept his eye out for those noisy animals".
* Discussed/invoked in the nature documentary ''Hornets: A Sting in the Tale'' -- as a hornet's nest is demolished by a digger, the narrator describes the machine as an "iron dinosaur" immune to stinging.

* In P. D. Eastman's children's book ''Are You My Mother?'', a baby bird encounters an excavator, which it calls a "snort" after the sound it makes. At first the bird mistakes the machine for its mother, but later it believes it to be a dangerous monster.
* Creator/ErinHunter:
** Cats in ''Literature/WarriorCats'' refer to cars as "monsters". Cats try to stay away from highways, or "Thunderpaths" as they call them, however they must use them to pass through territories or go to the High Stone rocks. Quite a few characters end up hit by cars and either killed or [[CareerEndingInjury disabled]]. Not only are the cars frightening, but the general atmosphere of the highway is unnerving to cats due to its disgusting smell and unnatural texture.
** Bears in ''Literature/SeekerBears'' call cars "firebeasts". They realize that flatfaces are swallowed inside them and that they "sleep" near flatface dens, however much else evades them. Firebeasts are simply terrifying adversaries that are known to seriously injure or kill bears. Blackpaths (highways) are also unpleasant smelling and scary to cross.
** In ''Literature/SurvivorDogs'', many of the characters were pet dogs and thus realize there's nothing ''inherently'' scary about "loudcages"; they're seen as generally tame "creatures" that longpaws keep as pets to travel places. However, the loudcages the dogs come across in the forest are ferocious and fearsome.

* Princess Katerina from ''Literature/{{Enchantment}}'' is teleported into the modern day from 9th century Ukraine. When she encounters an automobile for the first time she is absolutely terrified of it, being convinced that it's a monster sent by Literature/BabaYaga.
* Automobiles get treated this way in ''Literature/{{Pollyanna}}'' especially after one cripples the title character right before the third act.
* In ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'', Ford Prefect thought that cars were the dominant earth life form while he was researching Earth. He also chose his human name off of the common British car, the Ford Prefect.
* The poem ''[[https://www.rose-hulman.edu/~williams/poem/Favpoem/html/southbound.htm Southbound on the Freeway]]'' by Mary Swenson has an alien regarding cars as lifeforms
* ''Literature/{{Nightside}}'': In London's titular EldritchLocation, some of the cabs are predatory car-shaped entities that devour the unwary, with imitation "drivers" like anglerfish lures.
* The moles of ''Literature/{{Duncton Wood}}'' fear 'screaming owls' that kill moles trying to cross what human readers can identify as a road.
* Pufftail from ''Literature/{{Stray}}'' is a cat who refers to cars as "engines of murder", though he also knows the human name for them. His first major interaction with cars was when the drunk son-in-law of his owners threw him out of a car, injuring his leg. His brother Bootsie [[spoiler:didn't survive being thrown out]] and Pufftail saw [[spoiler:his dead body get mangled by cars]].

* Played with in Series/IThinkYouShouldLeaveWithTimRobinson, where the aliens don't understand the concept of cars, but only because their culture is based entirely on motorcycles and biker culture, so they think cars are just two motorcycles next to each other with a tiny house in the middle.

* The WesternAnimation/{{Goofy}} short ''Motor Mania' has Goofy (as Mr. Walker) being targeted by predatory drivers while crossing the intersection. One scene even has Goofy being chased up a streetlamp by cars that bark like dogs.

* Automobiles in ''WesternAnimation/ToadPatrol'' are referred to as "Rumble-Crushers" by the young toads after one of them was almost squashed by a car. He was close enough to note that they "rumble." An elder notes "That is a very good name for them."

* [[ThoseWilyCoyotes Coyotes]] in North America have discovered that motor vehicles can't move laterally very well. When coyote hunters pursue them, coyotes run onto a roadway and play Roger-Dodge-'Em with the traffic. Hunters are too smart to risk being squished by drivers, and their pursuit dogs no longer regard vehicles as dangerous. Zoologists have found coyotes teach their pups this anti-pursuit trick,.

* ''Film/{{Duel}}'' is about an ordinary man who is being followed by a large truck whose [[TheFaceless mostly unseen]] driver appears intent on killing him for unknown reasons. The truck's grungy appearance and massive size, and the fact that the driver is barely visible and never makes his intentions clear, give it the sense of it being an MechanicalAbomination.

* Automobiles in ''WesternAnimation/ToadPatrol'' are referred to as "Rumble-Crushers" by the young toads after one of them was almost squashed by a car. He was clise enough to note that they "rumble." An elder notes "That is a very good name for them."