# Is Spock the most famous alien in the history of fiction/pop culture? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 1, 2009, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-spock-the-most-famous-alien-in-the-history-of-fiction-pop-culture/495040 "2009-05-01T22:41:52Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2009, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-spock-the-most-famous-alien-in-the-history-of-fiction-pop-culture/495040/81 "2009-05-03T22:15:20Z")
> [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](#): > > His instincts are all wrong. He doesn’t **laugh**. And I wouldn’t be surprised if his body language is very stiff. So he would tell folks he’s English. What does it mean, “Gazoo”? ---
**Author:** ![Khadaji](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9e8a1a/32.png) [@Khadaji](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Khadaji)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2009, 11:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-spock-the-most-famous-alien-in-the-history-of-fiction-pop-culture/495040/82 "2009-05-03T23:01:31Z")
> [@carnivorousplant](#): > > So he would tell folks he’s English. > > What does it mean, “Gazoo”? The Great Gazoo was a martian that appeared to Fred and Barney on the Flintstones. [Pic](http://pointlessbanter.net/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/gazoo-good.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2009, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-spock-the-most-famous-alien-in-the-history-of-fiction-pop-culture/495040/83 "2009-05-03T23:02:31Z")
The Great Gazoo was the little alien on the Flintstones. ---
**Author:** ![SiXSwordS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/49beb7/32.png) [@SiXSwordS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SiXSwordS)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2009, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-spock-the-most-famous-alien-in-the-history-of-fiction-pop-culture/495040/84 "2009-05-03T23:15:36Z")
> [@Khadaji](#): > > The Great Gazoo was a martian Martian my [ASS](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_Gazoo) > [@](#): > > Gazoo is a tiny, green, floating alien who was exiled to Earth from his home planet Zatox ---
**Author:** ![carnivorousplant](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carnivorousplant/32/3563_2.png) [@carnivorousplant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carnivorousplant)\ **Post date:** [May 3, 2009, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-spock-the-most-famous-alien-in-the-history-of-fiction-pop-culture/495040/85 "2009-05-03T23:51:20Z")
> [@Cisco](#): > > The Great Gazoo was the little alien on the Flintstones. Thanks. Nice cape. It seems he is still working. > [@](#): > > Apart from the original TV series, he appears in a Fruity Pebbles cereal commercial… has become the mascot for Marshmallow Mania Pebbles cereal…he is a character in the popular Flintstones vitamins. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-spock-the-most-famous-alien-in-the-history-of-fiction-pop-culture/495040/86 "2009-05-04T05:30:08Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > A challenge! Let’s see, including only individual aliens (not groups or types of aliens) in pop culture, and working with no references and strictly from memory… > > Superman > Spock > Yoda > E.T. > Marvin the Martian > Kang > Kodos > My Favorite Martian > The Great Gazoo > J’onn J’onzz, The Martian Manhunter > The Silver Surfer > Galactus > Klaatu > Tars Tarkas > The Blob > Ming the Merciless > Worf > Sarek > Dr. Zoidberg > Kiff > Supergirl > Krypto > Jor-El > Lara (Superman’s mother) > Predator (not sure if that counts since the character doesn’t have a name) > > … > > …and I’m spent at 25. I’ll try to help you out… ALF The Aliens from the Alien movies The Thing (from the horror movies, not the Marvel comics) Starman Chewbacca Sebulba Jar Jar Binks Jabba the Hutt Doomsday (from the Superman comics) Beta Ray Bill Gort Uatu the Watcher Gladiator (Shi’ar) Lilandra (Shi’ar) Super Skrull Wicket the Ewok Mork from Ork Ch’od (Starjammers, Marvel comics) Hepzibah (Starjammers) Lockheed (X-Men) Warlock (X-Men) Brood Queen (X-Men) Zod (KNEEL BEFORE ZOD!) (the following may be questionable, as some origin stories say that the following characters are extraterrestrial and some do not, all from Marvel Comics) Thor Loki Odin Baldur Sif the Enchantress Volstagg, etc. you get the point… ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-spock-the-most-famous-alien-in-the-history-of-fiction-pop-culture/495040/87 "2009-05-04T06:10:43Z")
> [@Cuckoorex](#): > > Thor > Loki > Odin > Baldur > Sif I am unfamiliar with the comics, but \*surely \*these names are most known for having been part of the Norse mythology for the past thousand years. Valhalla is not in space. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 7:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-spock-the-most-famous-alien-in-the-history-of-fiction-pop-culture/495040/88 "2009-05-04T07:25:23Z")
> [@cactus\_waltz](#): > > I am unfamiliar with the comics, but \*surely \*these names are most known for having been part of the Norse mythology for the past thousand years. Valhalla is not in space. 😛 _AHEM_ “(the following may be questionable, as some origin stories say that the following characters are extraterrestrial and some do not, **all from Marvel Comics** )” They may be BEST known from Norse mythology, but I was responding to the challenge to name 50 aliens, not the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 10:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-spock-the-most-famous-alien-in-the-history-of-fiction-pop-culture/495040/89 "2009-05-04T10:48:37Z")
I admire the effort, But I don’t thnk gods should count as aliens. And Gort is a robot – definitely not an alien. Still, you came up with a longer list than I would be able to. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 11:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-spock-the-most-famous-alien-in-the-history-of-fiction-pop-culture/495040/90 "2009-05-04T11:01:18Z")
Ehm, sorry, but according to Marvel they’re not “gods” in the sense of actually having created the world or any of that stuff, they’re extradimensional beings which at some point were encountered by the ancient (insert culture here, they haven’t done it only with the norse) who started worshipping them. Doesn’t “extradimensional being” count as “alien”? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-spock-the-most-famous-alien-in-the-history-of-fiction-pop-culture/495040/91 "2009-05-04T11:12:33Z")
I dunno. If they started on Earth and later moved on up into some updown dimensions, I’d say no. Besides there ought to be a limit on the numbers of aliens available from any one source. And one other thing – only one alien per species. Kang and Kodos were mentioned as two aliens. By that logic, there were – I dunno, hundreds? – of aliens in Alien. They didn’t all have names, but you could point at them and say, “This alien, and THAT alien, and…” Er, to clarify this, I meant it only as counting the 50 aliens, not as related to the OP. ---
**Author:** ![Cuckoorex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Cuckoorex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cuckoorex)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-spock-the-most-famous-alien-in-the-history-of-fiction-pop-culture/495040/92 "2009-05-04T13:15:51Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > And one other thing – only one alien per species. Kang and Kodos were mentioned as two aliens. By that logic, there were – I dunno, hundreds? – of aliens in Alien. They didn’t all have names, but you could point at them and say, “This alien, and THAT alien, and…” > > Er, to clarify this, I meant it only as counting the 50 aliens, not as related to the OP. Well that’s why I only mentioned Super Skrull, though I suppose I could do a search and find other “named” Skrulls. But limiting it to one alien per species or naming one species without naming a specific alien…do they both count? Because in that case it gets way easier, as I know just from Star Wars about Jawas and Ugnaughts and Tauntauns and Mynocks and the unnamed giant burrowing worm thing that was in the asteroid that nearly ate the Falcon and the Rancor beast and the Sarlac and so on and so forth. On the other hand, if you are going to limit it to one alien per species, but they have to be named aliens, then of course no Jawas, no Ugnaughts, etc. even though most everyone reading this thread is immediately going to know what a Jawa looks like or that the rebels rode Tauntauns on Hoth in Empire Strikes Back. But it also means that if you mention Zod then you can’t mention Superman, even though they are distinct aliens from the same species. ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 1:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-spock-the-most-famous-alien-in-the-history-of-fiction-pop-culture/495040/93 "2009-05-04T13:18:22Z")
> [@Nava](#): > > Ehm, sorry, but according to Marvel they’re not “gods” in the sense of actually having created the world or any of that stuff, they’re extradimensional beings which at some point were encountered by the ancient (insert culture here, they haven’t done it only with the norse) who started worshipping them. Doesn’t “extradimensional being” count as “alien”? Possibly according to Marvel, but not to the Norse mythology in which they belong. To me the whole idea of Thor et al as ‘aliens’ is bizarre, as this is really the first I’ve heard of it. Create a franchise about Jesus and his twelve disciplines as pirates cruising the seven seas, does that mean Jesus is now a pirate? How easily does popular culture override something which has been part of history and religion for a thousand years? ---
**Author:** ![Lightray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lightray/32/391_2.png) [@Lightray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lightray)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-spock-the-most-famous-alien-in-the-history-of-fiction-pop-culture/495040/94 "2009-05-04T13:47:08Z")
> [@cactus\_waltz](#): > > Possibly according to Marvel, but not to the Norse mythology in which they belong. > > To me the whole idea of Thor et al as ‘aliens’ is bizarre, as this is really the first I’ve heard of it. Create a franchise about Jesus and his twelve disciplines as pirates cruising the seven seas, does that mean Jesus is now a pirate? How easily does popular culture override something which has been part of history and religion for a thousand years? Because they are _different characters_. The Asgardians from Marvel are extradimensional aliens who once posed as gods. The Æsir from Norse legends are “gods”. Happens all the time. DC has Superboy who was young Kal-El, Superboy who was an alternate Clark Kent from a parallel Earth, Superboy who was a clone mixing human and Kryptonian genetic material. Three different characters; only one of which is an acknowledged “alien” (although Superboy Prime is implied to be from the alternate Krypton from his parallel home). ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 1:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-spock-the-most-famous-alien-in-the-history-of-fiction-pop-culture/495040/95 "2009-05-04T13:53:04Z")
I have come up with an answer. If you have to ask if an extradimensional being is an alien, then no, it is not. Super powers alone do not constitute alienhood. And if you don’t have certain knowledge of one’s alien origins, you must assume they are from earth. I don’t even know where my grandmother was born, but just because she smelled kinda funny I can’t assume she was alien. ---
**Author:** ![cactus\_waltz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@cactus\_waltz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cactus_waltz)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-spock-the-most-famous-alien-in-the-history-of-fiction-pop-culture/495040/96 "2009-05-04T14:50:11Z")
> [@Lightray](#): > > Because they are _different characters_. The Asgardians from Marvel are extradimensional aliens who once posed as gods. The Æsir from Norse legends are “gods”. > > Happens all the time. DC has Superboy who was young Kal-El, Superboy who was an alternate Clark Kent from a parallel Earth, Superboy who was a clone mixing human and Kryptonian genetic material. Three different characters; only one of which is an acknowledged “alien” (although Superboy Prime is implied to be from the alternate Krypton from his parallel home). OK, you lost me on Superboy but your point came across. ---
**Author:** ![Ronald\_C.Semone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cc9497/32.png) [@Ronald\_C.Semone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ronald_C.Semone)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-spock-the-most-famous-alien-in-the-history-of-fiction-pop-culture/495040/97 "2009-05-04T15:40:12Z")
> [@Clothahump](#): > > Superman’s in the lead, but let’s not forget [Klaatu](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Klaatu_(The_Day_the_Earth_Stood_Still)). (1) Look at the original question, the question of who is the most famous alien in fiction. (2) Stop thinking the world ends at the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. (3) Ask yourself how many of the billion Chinese have ever head of Klaatu. How many of the 600,000,000 Indians? Or the 2 billion or so people in the rest of Asia, Africa, etc.? (4) Then ask, are there more than a handful of people in the entire world who wouldn’t immediately recognize a picture of Superman? ---
**Author:** ![Cisco](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ccd318/32.png) [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)\ **Post date:** [May 4, 2009, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-spock-the-most-famous-alien-in-the-history-of-fiction-pop-culture/495040/98 "2009-05-04T16:17:50Z")
India is over 1.1 billion in population now. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-spock-the-most-famous-alien-in-the-history-of-fiction-pop-culture/495040.md?page=4)