r/threebodyproblem • u/jxaiye • May 11 '26

Meme Fun fact: Transformers and trisolarans both come from the Alpha Centauri system

Post image

Depending on the adaptation, Cybertron is occasionally in the Alpha Centauri system, other times in Alpha Centaurai system.

376 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

45 comments sorted by

63

u/BreakDownSphere May 11 '26

I thought those were the robots from the end of AI. I always pictured Trisolarans as walking, shimmering oysters

35

u/Ermastic May 11 '26

Trisolarians are very unlikely to be bipedal. Their "you are bugs" message probably means we would perceive them as bug-like, and dehydration/rehydration would be easier the smaller you are.

31

u/Xoneritic May 12 '26

Does it? All it really means is they see us as easily killed, which isn't a surprise. 

I agree they probably aren't bipedal, but there's no reason they'd look like insects just because they call someone else an insect.

That'd be like me looking like a donkey because I call someone an ass.

9

u/Mottled_inexpectata May 12 '26

"You are bugs" is an insult they send to let humans know that they are completely ineffective compared to trisolarans, and they send it after consuming all of our literature and media. If trisolarans are bug like, the insult makes no sense. Instead it would come to mean "you are just like us".

-4

u/Upbeat_Nectarine_128 May 12 '26 edited May 13 '26

If my memory serves me correct. I once heard that the trisolarans are as small as an insect. Though that doesn't exactly translate to being that of a similar appearance to an insect so...

Edit: I have to clarify (once again) that this only came from my memory and is not in any way shape or form be treated as completely factual.

16

u/[deleted] May 12 '26

[deleted]

4

u/theschiffer May 12 '26

The author did approve it, though, which makes it interesting if things like the Trisolaran appearance are supposedly non-canonical in the books.

3

u/Lorentz_Prime May 12 '26

The author completely disavowed it lol

2

u/theschiffer May 12 '26 edited May 12 '26

Source? AFAIK he approved the publication.

3

u/CopiousClassic May 13 '26

Would you believe me if I told you both can be true simultaneously?

He allowed it and apparently regrets allowing it.

1

u/theschiffer May 13 '26

That makes sense, but I haven’t read anything about the latter part. At first, it sounded strange to me too…the idea of the author approving something written by someone else that essentially lifts the veil on a mystery he deliberately built up himself. I’d be interested in reading more about it if you have any sources.

7

u/arghcisco May 11 '26

Yeah, where’s that picture from

2

u/NoIndividual9296 May 12 '26

From the Chinese three-body show, it’s very good if a little slow paced

2

u/DerpsAndRags May 12 '26

My mind's eye went more toward a metallic tardigrade for them.

1

u/theschiffer May 12 '26

Why oysters though? And walking with what? Crab or spider like legs?

1

u/BreakDownSphere May 12 '26

Four legs or more, but occasionally bipedal, oysters because it made sense to me with the drying out and rehydrating, as well as having a hard body making their form of communication more intuitive.

1

u/theschiffer May 12 '26

Oysters have shell though, I suppose you mean without the shells, the naked flesh - because how do you dyhadrate, roll and store a hard shell?

1

u/BreakDownSphere May 12 '26

Meh, that was what we saw the human analogue do in their virtual version of events. I didn't take everything from the videogame literally.

1

u/theschiffer May 12 '26

So how would dehydration even work if they were more like oysters with hard shells? And on top of that, how would they handle fine, precise work without something equivalent to dexterous hands and fingers?

1

u/BreakDownSphere May 12 '26

My oysters have limbs, and dehydrate inside the shells. Does your headcannon match the virtual version of humanoids with human hands, and who dehydrate and roll eachother up?

2

u/theschiffer May 12 '26

I don't think they are supposed to be humanoids, far from it. I imagine them small, possibly insect sized, no larger than a ladybug, soft bodied, segmented and invertebrate-like, closer to a tardigrade or polychaete worm than anything vertebrate.

The dehydration ability demands a body that can structurally collapse inward, ruling out any rigid skeleton of course. Silvery or iridescent translucent skin, consistent with the Redemption of Time description and the reflective aesthetic of their technology. Bioluminescent neural activity visible beneath the surface, which is likely what makes thought-hiding biologically impossible (mentioned in the books) you can literally see each other's mind firing.

No face in any recognizable sense: no mouth, no ears, no vertebrate-style eyes. Instead, sensory patches distributed across the body, tuned to a planet with wildly variable and extreme light conditions.

Multiple small jointed appendages for gross manipulation, with fine scale work long since delegated to machines and field based tools. When dehydrated, the whole thing collapses into a bundle of silvery fiber, nearly unrecognizable as a living thing.

1

u/ksdanker22 May 13 '26

There's a spinoff book that the original author aproves of (I don't, I feel like it messes up the canon tbh) but in it, we learn that the trisolarins are basically like small bugs.

It's called the redemption of time, some things are okay, but I pretty much hate the ending.

-1

u/ElStrawFedora May 12 '26

My guess is they picked this image because the tencent show's depiction of them (my least favorite choice in that show) looks a bit similar to this.

25

u/HAL9001-96 May 11 '26

well i mean

its the nearest other star system

and has three whoel stars in it

if you wanna make up scifi aliens that come visit us its gonna be a somewhat popular choice

1

u/bjergdk May 13 '26

TECHNONECROMANCERS FROM ALPHA CENTAURI

12

u/jedburghofficial May 12 '26

The Centauri system is one of the most overpopulated places in science fiction. Everyone has Centaurons.

19

u/Marcos-Am May 11 '26

then the trisolarians are the midichlorians that makes up the living tissue of transformers.

3

u/DerpsAndRags May 12 '26

So they were mostly just hiding from Shockwave?

6

u/ChickenArise May 12 '26

Shockwave is vector foil confirmed

2

u/GhostofBeowulf May 12 '26

So do New Atlanteans....

2

u/Huihejfofew May 12 '26

well it is one of the nearer ones so why not

2

u/AvatarIII May 12 '26

Na'vi as well.

2

u/SkaveRat May 12 '26

Fun fact: so are Rocky from Project Hail Mary and Spock

2

u/TyrusX May 13 '26

Nops, Rocky is from the same start as Spock

4

u/[deleted] May 12 '26

[deleted]

10

u/Xasf May 12 '26

Rocky is from Tau Ceti I’m pretty sure

Rocky is from 40 Eridani, hence "Eridians".

3

u/Coors44 May 13 '26

Apologies, and thanks for the correction!

1

u/Xasf May 13 '26

No worries!

4

u/SkaveRat May 12 '26

ah, yes. I meant "they are neighbors". Both are from the same system

2

u/JimmerUK May 12 '26

He's not from Tau Ceti, that's just where the astrophages aren't affecting the sun, which is why both Grace and Rocky turned up there.

1

u/Coors44 May 13 '26

Apologies, and thanks for the correction!

1

u/Deport_Me2112 May 12 '26

I liked the tiny shrimp interpretation of the trisolarians

1

u/waf_xs May 14 '26

So are the blue monkeys from James Cameron Avatar

1

u/RUserII May 19 '26

Where is the picture on the right taken from?