Also Known As: Clover, the Cloverfield Creature
First Appearance: Cloverfield (2008)
Most Iconic Form: Towering, quadrupedal kaiju with gangly limbs, pale flesh, and parasite-shedding pores
Kill Count: Estimated hundreds to thousands (collateral, direct, and parasitic)
Portrayed by: CGI, designed by Neville Page
Cloverfield (2008)
Directed by Matt Reeves and produced by J.J. Abrams, Cloverfield reimagines the kaiju genre through a modern horror lens — presented entirely in found footage.
The film opens with a farewell party in Manhattan. As the camera rolls, the power cuts out, an explosion rocks the city, and the head of the Statue of Liberty crashes into the street. Chaos erupts as a colossal creature rampages through the city.
The monster — nicknamed Clover by fans and crew — is never fully explained. It’s glimpsed in fragments:
- Long, insectoid limbs
- Pale, sickly skin
- Gaping jaws with secondary mandibles
- A whipping tail and exposed ribs
- Skin that drops parasitic creatures the size of dogs
The military launches full-scale strikes, but the creature proves resilient, adaptive, and enraged. The real horror lies in its unpredictability: it’s not methodically attacking — it’s panicking, lost, and lashing out.
As survivors flee underground, they’re attacked by parasites shed by Clover — creatures that bite, infect, and cause internal hemorrhaging. One character, Marlena, is bitten and later explodes offscreen in quarantine, adding a biological warfare layer to the chaos.
The final shot is ambiguous. As the city is bombed, the found footage ends with the couple under rubble. But a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it frame on the Coney Island tape shows something falling from the sky into the ocean — hinting that Clover may not be alone… or from Earth.
The Cloverfield Paradox (2018)
This loosely connected sci-fi film suggests a multiverse explanation: a particle accelerator malfunctions, tearing reality apart and potentially unleashing Cloverfield-like creatures into alternate Earths.
In the final moments, a version of Clover — much larger and fully grown — bursts through cloud cover, dwarfing even skyscrapers. While not the same individual, it confirms Clover is not a one-off event, but a species, or a cross-dimensional terror unleashed through human error.
This film expands the mythos but offers more questions than answers, leaning into cosmic horror and corporate irresponsibility.
Physiology & Behavior
- Estimated height: 240–300 feet
- Pale, amphibious skin with exposed musculature
- Spindly forelimbs used for grappling and smashing
- Rear legs and tail for balance and speed
- Face features:
- Massive jaw with multiple rows of teeth
- Secondary mouth structure (possibly for feeding or breathing)
- Drops parasites from its body — they attack independently and inject victims with unknown agents
- Possibly juvenile — its behavior suggests confusion and pain rather than calculated destruction
- Resistant to artillery, tank fire, and explosives
- May be from:
- Deep ocean
- Another dimension
- Space (based on Paradox‘s final shot)
- Does not communicate or respond to stimuli — feral and uncontrollable
Cultural Impact
- A surprise monster movie that reignited found-footage horror in the late 2000s
- Viral marketing campaign (including Slusho!, Tagruato, and hidden websites) became a blueprint for genre film promotion
- Inspired comics, ARGs, and speculative lore-building communities
- Clover’s design by Neville Page is praised for being both alien and animalistic
- Often compared to:
- Godzilla (but less noble)
- The Rancor (due to its flailing limbs and aggression)
- Lovecraftian monsters (due to cosmic ambiguity)
- Referenced in 10 Cloverfield Lane and Paradox as part of an anthology-universe
- Fan theories suggest Clover is a baby — the adult form is far more dangerous
League Placement
The Cloverfield Monster belongs in the Second Class Tier — not for lack of size or fear, but because it is still young, still lost, and its legacy is fragmented across timelines. It didn’t come to destroy the world. It came through it. And in doing so, it tore it apart.