| abstract | - Mobile, quasi-sentient-and-upward trees aren't necessarily evil, but they're often hostile, because that's scary. This is the third type of tree listed in Diana Wynne Jones's The Tough Guide to Fantasyland. Variations include, as quoted from the book: 1.
* Prehensile. These will grab you with their branches and try to eat you. 2.
* Mobile. These will quietly move about and get in your way. They may also try to eat you. In extreme cases they will attack buildings. 3.
* Poisonous. Avoid any drippings from these. 4.
* All these things at once. Run away. These tend to contribute to Gaia's Vengeance and may populate The Lost Woods. A Plant Person or someone with a Green Thumb may summon these in battle. When facing these, killing it with fire is recommended. A good source of Paranoia Fuel: as something innocuous you see all the time, it really shouldn't be fighting. Moreover, if you think about it, the concept of a mobile, fighting tree is actually a lot more worrisome than it might sound. For one thing, humanity has built a lot of stuff out of wood- like houses and boats. Notice a common theme? Those things are built to last. Imagine a being, made entirely out of that substance, who dislikes you and has strength proportional to that toughness. A living tree would pack one hell of a punch -- and that's not even taking into account how much the thing would weigh, or the sheer number of limbs they have... Hostile trees are also a source of humor, partly because of the absurdity of something seemingly so innocuous and ignorable striking fear into the hearts of men, and partly because "tree" itself is a mildly Inherently Funny Words. If you're lucky, they'll turn out to have more bark than bite. Compare Plant Aliens and Man-Eating Plant. If you see lots of these, it might indicate that you are in Mordor or a Garden of Evil or on a Death World. If your trees are attacking you, it may be a sign that they're Epileptic Trees. Or not... Examples of When Trees Attack include:
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