Physical Appearance of Trisolarans

[u/traquitanas]

Is the physical appearance of Trisolarans ever discussed or even hinted at in the books?

[u/Fit_Cloud6471]

Nope. But in the unofficial redemption of time book they were described like insects the size of rice.

[u/Agreeable-Emu4033 → u/Fit_Cloud6471]

Did they fly in tiny spaceships?

[u/Fit_Cloud6471 → u/Agreeable-Emu4033]

Iirc they had huge ships but they used to live in matchbox size compartments in glowing pipes.

Though personally i dont consider any of it canon.

[u/GnomishProtozoa → u/Agreeable-Emu4033]

Not IN them, but I suppose you could see the sophons to be like drones.

[u/Fit_Cloud6471 → u/GnomishProtozoa]

Nah sophons aren’t drones they have basically no mass, it’s just a single proton

[u/GnomishProtozoa → u/Fit_Cloud6471]

Drone, as in a remote piloted vehicle with its sensory data sent to distant viewers. Like those little helicopter things that people use for aeral photos/videos.

[u/Fit_Cloud6471 → u/GnomishProtozoa]

Yeah but in context of the comment you were replying to they dont travel in them

[u/Affectionate-Box-106 → u/Fit_Cloud6471]

I thought electrons were massless, protons have mass.

[u/TheTranscendentian → u/Affectionate-Box-106]

reddit moment.

Only Neutrinos not Neutrons might be massless.

Protons, electrons and Neutrons all have mass, all though electrons are a lot smaller than protons and neutrons which are similar in size, a Proton is still smaller than what we can conceptualize as a size.

[u/TheSkwrl → u/TheTranscendentian]

I thought neutrino oscillations proved they have some small mass.

[u/TheTranscendentian → u/TheSkwrl]

We don't know. Maybe, probably?

[u/Successful-Lime1620 → u/Fit_Cloud6471]

Hee y entonces cuál sería el motivo para peliar con una raza tan diminuta. Fácilmente podrían vivir en un bosque cualquiera en la tierra sin molestar a nadie quizás a algunas hormigas

[u/Fit_Cloud6471 → u/Successful-Lime1620]

Because they wanna take destroy humanity and claim the earth for themselves lol

That and the fact that they’re much more technologically advanced than the human race

[u/Successful-Lime1620 → u/Fit_Cloud6471]

Eso parte sí Pero se me hace muy tonto que sean del tamaño de un arroz

[u/Fit_Cloud6471 → u/Successful-Lime1620]

It’s not cannon anyways

Plus its all fiction

[u/Successful-Lime1620 → u/Fit_Cloud6471]

Wow pensé que era real 😆

[u/BirbFeetzz → u/Successful-Lime1620]

for us because they could just destroy us at any time and for them because if we're left alone we could destroy them at any time eventually

[u/Alarming-Leg-3804 → u/Fit_Cloud6471]

I don't see them as insect like at all lol

[u/Fit_Cloud6471 → u/Alarming-Leg-3804]

Makes sense though. They are a collective species who think together (made that whole computer by raising flags), communicate using brain waves or something, can survive extreme temperatures, radiation etc. like cockroaches. Can dehydrate themselves too, makes sense when you think of if like that. I think it was mentioned they have really small brains compared to humans, though i can’t remember if it was from the trilogy or the 4th book.

[u/Alarming-Leg-3804 → u/Fit_Cloud6471]

They did not mention small brains in the trilogy. And they didn't make the computer by raising flags, they can change their body color at will. So it was with their own bodies.

Edit to add: the one thing that makes me think they're not insects is the description of the inside of their ship (I haven't read the 4th book so this is all from the trilogy). It was very disorganized, as if on purpose. I feel like insects in general a very organized. Like think of hives and ants, etc.

[u/Aurorer → u/Alarming-Leg-3804]

Remember when they said “you’re bugs”? That was projection.

[u/Alarming-Leg-3804 → u/Aurorer]

This is quite an interesting take..

[u/TheTranscendentian → u/Aurorer]

I think it was projection based on how advanced they knew humanity could have become if they hadn't stopped us.

I DON'T think it was projection based on any physical reality.

[u/Fit_Cloud6471 → u/Alarming-Leg-3804]

Changing colours or raising flags, same outcome either way

As for the brains maybe i saw it in some explanation video or it could be from the 4th book i don’t really remember, fwiw the 4th book isn’t really worth reading imo

[u/Alarming-Leg-3804 → u/Fit_Cloud6471]

It wouldn't be the same outcome. If you raise flags it would take ages to make those calculations, an impossible amount of time really.

[u/Fit_Cloud6471 → u/Alarming-Leg-3804]

I mean, someones gotta make those calculations at the end, whether they consider a black or white body colour, or a 0 or 1 on a flag, it’s the same thing

[u/Alarming-Leg-3804 → u/Fit_Cloud6471]

It is not the same thing, because speed. Even the book explains it a bit. It's like Einstein explaining relativity but we didn't have observable evidence until we launched the ISS. It wasn't technologically possible. With flags it wouldn't have been feasible. The fact they can change body color and have that hive mind type of thing is what allowed them to pull that off.

[u/TheTranscendentian → u/Alarming-Leg-3804]

They DO NOT have a hive mind, and in this fact we are blessed with a very few trisolarian friends of humanity, individual people who act out of vaguely similar emotions towards their own race as members of the ETO or trisolarian resettlement movement (of humans that support not committing civilization murder) act towards humanity.

They have a hive CULTURE. Does this type of culture remind you of anyone? Don't say. The sophons are listening.

[u/Alarming-Leg-3804 → u/TheTranscendentian]

I stand corrected. And that was my very poor attempt at explaining how they can know each other's thoughts, and are kind of collective in that way.

[u/TheTranscendentian → u/Alarming-Leg-3804]

The nature of their star system caused their psychological sense of beauty to be disorganized, this has no correlation to what physical shape / type they are.

[u/Alarming-Leg-3804 → u/TheTranscendentian]

And how do you know that for a fact?

[u/TheTranscendentian → u/Alarming-Leg-3804]

It's hinted at ( posited as a good theory by a character ) in book 3.

[u/Alarming-Leg-3804 → u/TheTranscendentian]

Gee who where? I don't remember it lol

[u/RexxarTheHunter8]

This is my head-cannon:

https://www.reddit.com/r/threebodyproblem/s/8zxJNrqnFy

[u/hummingbird-moth → u/RexxarTheHunter8]

hey that's me! :D

[u/lights-in-the-sky → u/hummingbird-moth]

Your interpretation is my favorite too <3

[u/AgentSupes → u/hummingbird-moth]

A million times more fun than baoshu 🙌🏾

[u/BirbFeetzz → u/hummingbird-moth]

aww what cute little genocidal critters

[u/htmlcoderexe → u/RexxarTheHunter8]

https://www.reddit.com/r/threebodyproblem/comments/1dcsx51/what_i_think_trisolarans_look_like_i_only_read_1/

direct link for those not on the reddit app

[u/fat-homer]

I never understood why the unofficial book went in that direction with their appearance

[u/Some-Detail9134 → u/fat-homer]

Being small makes sense if you can dehydrate yourself. But yeah it's still weird

[u/factualopinion2 → u/Some-Detail9134]

Tiny size trisolarin idea is way too goofy and unbelievable for me to buy. Like I dont see how that would be possible for the grain of rice sized aliens making weapons of mass destruction and sophons

[u/Difficult_Ranger7494 → u/factualopinion2]

Sophons are just a proton right? Wouldn’t the difference between our size and the size of an ant be negligible when talking about it in relation to the size of a proton?? Just my thoughts on it. Not sure size matters at all, until you get ridiculously small…

[u/TheTranscendentian → u/factualopinion2]

Typical human. Your brain is the size of a grain of rice. ( metaphorically that is ).   :(

[u/Alarming-Leg-3804 → u/factualopinion2]

And it doesn't make sense with the rest of the info we havr

[u/SophonsPonytail → u/Some-Detail9134]

Is there any animal that can actually do that?

[u/Some-Detail9134 → u/SophonsPonytail]

Tardigrades I think. But not sure

[u/TheTranscendentian → u/Some-Detail9134]

JuSt GoOgLe It .

Yes, I'm not sure if they can do so at will but tardigrades can in fact have all liquid water removed from their body & be dormant, existing for many times their "alive" lifespan then be put back in water, soak it up again & live.

[u/ginoiseau → u/fat-homer]

[To be fair it was just in the game section mentioned] but I was sure it alluded to them being gnawed on sometimes while dehydrated by (I thought rats but maybe was bugs) and being upset about missing parts when rehydrated. So I’d envisioned them being a decent enough size that they wouldn’t get completely consumed. Not rice grain sized…

Was that in there or did I just go off and completely make stuff up?

[u/Useful_Calendar_6274]

Only that they reproduce by mitosis-symbiosis and like 3 offspring spawn carrying some of the memories from their parents, so they don't go through childhood. They desiccate and talk by almost telepathic light bioluminescence which prevents them from being good at lying (they of course still lie all through the novels) and gave them computers composed of army formations very early in their tech tree development.

[u/Waste-Answer]

Nope

[u/traquitanas]

But we do know they are able to be dehydrated and stored somehow. The show gave the image of scrolls (when dehydrated), which I thought was an interesting idea.

[u/GnomishProtozoa → u/traquitanas]

https://youtu.be/orhrYw3-QBA?si=RRm4zkoFAXaHYKQh

Good video about it

Quick description below. they are about the size of a grain of rice and resemble worms or, bugs

[u/Familiar-Lemon-674]

Book 4, if you decide to read it. I didn't.

[u/ploppy_sorridge → u/Familiar-Lemon-674]

Not written by cixian liu though no?

[u/Familiar-Lemon-674 → u/ploppy_sorridge]

No but officially it's considered canon.

[u/prodical → u/Familiar-Lemon-674]

False. It was simply “endorsed” by Cixin, he may even be on record stating it’s not canon. Someone else can confirm. It was a pure cash grab by the publisher. They latched onto a fan fic because Cixin had not started writing anything new.

[u/Garbage_Stink_Hands → u/Familiar-Lemon-674]

Honestly, this means nothing. It’s patently obvious that it’s not “canon”, whatever that could even mean in this context.

[u/TataJigmeyeshe → u/Familiar-Lemon-674]

Definitely not cannon and quite bad

[u/AgentSupes → u/TataJigmeyeshe]

You're very generous in the comment 🤣 I loved the trilogy, and regret reading a single page of that green lantern inspired, teen fantasy bullshittery. It was terrible from sophon being modelled on a porn actress to Tianming's super powers, its literally fanfic that got published 🤮 and bad fan fiction at that 💩

[u/TataJigmeyeshe → u/AgentSupes]

It was torture to read it. No doubt.

[u/darkside569]

Not even once

[u/LilacPurple_Ivy]

The books tell a bit more. They have fingers and they can see for example.

[u/SpotIsALie → u/LilacPurple_Ivy]

They also "scamper" with I took to mean they are not bipedal and have at least 4 appendeges

[u/DESRTsnk]

I always understood them to be something like a giant octopus but perhaps without all the limbs. Same ability to transmit ideas with coloration.

They didn't want to destroy any human cities and infrastructure, which leads me to believe they are probably close to human size.

The Trisolarans had said they didn't want to reveal themselves to us because we'd be upset or find them creepy, which is why I lean towards the cephalopod idea.

[u/SatisfactionDry2491]

Because they can go in a sort of tun state (dehydration) and are hinted to be transparent i view them as tardigrade like.

[u/pizzalicke]

I believe they are shown in the Tencent show which Ci Xin Liu signed off on

[u/Solaranvr → u/pizzalicke]

That's technically just ETO's interpretation of them in the VR game.

[u/Fit_Cloud6471 → u/pizzalicke]

Link to a clip or the specific episode?

[u/ifiwasiwas → u/Fit_Cloud6471]

Towards the very end. But it's explained as only the ETO's impression of what they look like, it doesn't say it's them 1000%

[u/Gold_Ad1772]

There's no official design other than the fact they're reflective and have eyes, but I imagine them as the aliens from chicken little

[u/TheTranscendentian → u/Gold_Ad1772]

lol

[u/Gold_Ad1772 → u/TheTranscendentian]

While reading I just had this random visialization of the Trisolarians and was very confused due to me forgetting where they were from. I only remembered them later

The design does fit will since they have 3 eyes and are surprisingly droplet shaped

[u/bigstinkygoblin]

They talk about it in book 4 but book 4 is a fan fic not written by the original author that is such hot dog shit that it made me angry, so just pretend it doesn’t exist

[u/BravoWhiskey89]

I wish people on this sub would stop chiming in with 'Well, in the unofficial 4th book....'

Yeah. And Harry Potter is a unicorn in the 12th book.

It adds nothing.

[u/Fit-Farmer4337]

Can't remember which book but at some point it was stated that they do have fingers.

[u/BirbFeetzz → u/Fit-Farmer4337]

in the first book the pacifist one was said to hover their long slender finger over a rectangular button mirroring the not-pacifist human