This article is about the character. For the dress, see | Caterpillar | |
|---|---|
| Biographical information | |
| Alias | Oracle |
| Provenance | Wonderland |
| Physical description | |
| Gender | Male |
| Skin color | Green |
| Personal information | |
| Allies | Alice Liddell |
| Enemies | Queen of Hearts |
| Occupation | Oracle |
| Further information | |
| Voiced by | Jarion Monroe |
| Image gallery (9) | |
| “ | If I had the time I'd detail how often you prefer dealing with illusions rather than the real thing. Problems you don't refuse to deal with don't exist. You deny reality! |
” |
The Caterpillar is a resident of Wonderland, who is considered to be its wisest creature. He is of great significance to Alice Liddell during her adventures, as he often gives her advice and words of wisdom.
Biography
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Alice meeting Caterpillar.
Alice first met Caterpillar shortly after she had escaped the White Rabbit's house, and she was presently only a couple of inches high. She found Caterpillar sitting on a mushroom and smoking a hookah. He began questioning Alice, asking who she was and she admitted to him she was not sure anymore and was having an identity crisis, due to the fact that she had been changing forms a lot, previous to their meeting. Although Alice tried to explain herself, Caterpillar did not see why she did not know herself at that moment and refused to see her point of view. As the creature seemed to be getting annoyed with her, Alice tried to leave, but Caterpillar called her back to give her some advice about keeping her temper. However, it only made Alice angrier.
Caterpillar then, slowly coming around to her point of view, asked Alice to repeat the poem "You Are Old, Father William" to see if she could remember things like her original self, but the poem came out rather strange, like many of the nursery rhymes Alice attempted in Wonderland. Before leaving, Caterpillar told Alice how to change size by eating the mushroom upon which he was sitting: one side of the mushroom will make her taller, and the other will make her shorter. After then, he calmly strolled away into the grass.
American McGee's Alice
When Alice returned to Wonderland after becoming insane, she first sought Caterpillar because she had lost the White Rabbit, and the Mock Turtle told her that he would know, as he knew anything.[3] However, going through the Wonderland Woods, she found Rabbit and the two of them go together to Caterpillar, until Rabbit was killed by the Mad Hatter.[4]
Caterpillar telling Alice of her task.
Alice continued the journey alone, and when she found Caterpillar, she asked why she was brought back to Wonderland. He explained that only she could revert the twisted world Wonderland had become and save everyone, as it was the loss of her family that had almost made her destroy Wonderland, and the only way to do so was to kill the Queen of Hearts. He then told her to find the Mushroom of Life that would help her return to her normal size, and created a portal for her to leave through with his smoke.[2]
The Caterpillar was later revealed to be the oracle residing in the Oracle's Grove of Wonderland Woods. He explained that the Queen of Hearts' death was not only the cure for Wonderland's corruption, but the only remedy for Alice's insanity.[5]
When Wonderland was restored to its peace, he appeared with Alice in the final scene.
Alice: Madness Returns
Alice talking to Caterpillar.
After Alice visited Wilton J. Radcliffe,[6] she returned to Wonderland to find the Vale of Tears had turned into the corrupted Vale of Doom. Following the sound of Caterpillar's voice, she found that the Oriental Grove appeared to be still all right. Caterpillar then used his magical smoke to shrink Alice down to the size of an ant, so she could enter the grove and meet him on top of a mountain.[7]
As Alice traveled through the grove, it was clear that the Origami Ants that lived here looked up to Caterpillar as a kind of messiah, and believed that he would save them from the deadly threat of the Samurai Wasps that were capturing and murdering them. However, as time passed and nothing happened, the Ants began to lose faith in Caterpillar, thinking that he had abandoned them. Every time Alice passed through the Oriental Scrolls, the voice of Caterpillar would tell the story of an unlikely hero who helped villages against powerful foes, reflecting what Alice was doing throughout the grove.
The Caterpillar as a chrysalis.
When Alice made it to the summit, it was revealed that Caterpillar had become a chrysalis at some point, and was unable to do anything due to his new state. As he began to mature into a butterfly, he advised Alice to speak to the Queen of Hearts to find the cause of this new-found evil and mayhem that had taken over Wonderland. He then flew away,[1] and Alice woke up in London again.[8]
As Alice traveled through the Infernal Train to face the Dollmaker, she met Caterpillar again, who was now a butterfly, in one of the carriages. He asked her if she had come to receive her punishment. Even though Alice admitted she was guilty of something, she had no knowledge of her actions. Caterpillar then explained to her that while abusers of the weak must be punished for their crimes, so too should those who witness abuse and do nothing to stop it. He was referring to the fact that while Alice was a witness to the abuse Angus Bumby was giving to the orphans, she was too caught up in her own problems to actually see it or act against it, making her just as guilty as Bumby, and that the pain she was currently feeling was her punishment.[9]
Appearance
Caterpillar is a large, green caterpillar with a segmented body and six arms on his upper body. The lower part of his body forms a tail. Although, when Alice found the Grove in the Vale of Doom, Caterpillar is only three inches in height, unlike before, he is always gigantic compared to Alice and always seems to tower over her. He has a long face similar to that of a human, with long, thin lips, a small nose and narrow yellow eyes. He wears no clothing, save of a red fez on top of his head.
As a butterfly, he has a smaller, thinner body, but large white, black, and red wings. The pattern of his wings forms his face. He also gains a long white beard.
Abilities
Caterpillar seems to possess a few supernatural powers, mostly made by the smoke from his hookah to help Alice in her journey.
American McGee's Alice
- Hookah: The Caterpillar was able to create a portal for Alice by blowing a smoke ring.
Alice: Madness Returns
- Hookah: He used the smoke to shrink Alice down to the size of an insect so she could enter the Grove.
- Telepathic abilities: He was able to throw his voice, as he could speak to Alice from miles away.
Trivia
- The "Caterpillar" dress appears as DLC for Alice: Madness Returns. It gives Alice permanent Shrink Sense, whether she is shrunken or not.
- In a trailer for Madness Returns, Alice encounters a caterpillar, but it doesn't seem to be Caterpillar in the game. It can be theorized this caterpillar is Caterpillar's beta design, or simply another caterpillar.[1]
References
External links
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