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Goose sitting on control panel

In Captain Marvel, we learn that while Goose appears to be a normal house cat, she's really a Flerken, an incredibly dangerous alien. Talos correctly identifies her almost immediately, which suggests that there are no "normal" cat-like creatures elsewhere in the known universe. But what about even on Earth? Are all cats actually Flerkens that just haven't shown off their abilities?

Goose's Wiki page claims that there are only 118 Flerken left in existence, but no evidence whatsoever is presented to support that statement, and if I recall correctly, it wasn't mentioned in the movie either.

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    For the record, the word flerken was clearly chose so that Samuel Jackson could say "Mother-flerken!!!" in PG-12 movie.
    – Valorum
    Mar 10, 2019 at 22:40
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    Well, given Rocket gets called a raccoon and responded with "What's a raccoon?" means that there could be some species unique to earth that everyone else has no idea what they are.
    – user112668
    Mar 10, 2019 at 23:33
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    This could use some spoiler tags
    – s3raph86
    Mar 11, 2019 at 5:06
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    @Chipster, not only that, but in the comics, Rocket is the one who correctly identifies Captain Marvel's cat as a Flerken, and remarks something along the lines of whats a cat when challenged. I think in Rocket's case its more intended to be a running joke with earth species than anything else.
    – Jack
    Mar 11, 2019 at 23:17
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    If all cats were Flerkens there would be far fewer dogs..
    – user22478
    Mar 13, 2019 at 7:17

2 Answers 2

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It is far more likely that Talos merely possessed a sense that allowed him to distinguish between members of a species and things that just look like members of a species. As shapeshifters it would be handy for identifying each other in their disguises.

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    This seems like the correct answer to me. I believe it's stated in the movie that Skrulls can replicate a living being right down to their DNA, so it makes sense that they can, on some level, understand a being's DNA just by looking at it.
    – F1Krazy
    Mar 11, 2019 at 1:43
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I haven't seen the film yet so I'll answer from the perspective of the comics. The number 118 certainly comes from the comics, and given how it is arrived at, probably doesn't apply to the MCU.

The two main issues covering Flerken are Captain Marvel (2014) #7 and #8.

The gist is that Captain Marvel's cat Chewie is identified as a Flerken by Rocket, and this later confirmed when Chewie lays eggs. It is later revealed by an antagonist that Chewie is believed to to be the last known living Flerken. The eggs hatch and produce 117 offspring, hence the number of remaining Flerken.

Given Flerken lay eggs to reproduce, and earth cats don't, and the indication that Chewie was likely one of the last of her kind, It seems most likely that not all cats are Flerken.

We may have to wait and see whether there are any differences with MCU Flerken or not.

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