# Most alien aliens **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 26, 2013, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-alien-aliens/672296 "2013-10-26T11:08:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-alien-aliens/672296/21 "2013-10-26T14:08:56Z")
This is, famously, why Asimov wrote his award-winning **The Gods Themselves** : as if to prove he of course _could_ do it, but usually didn’t _want_ to. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-alien-aliens/672296/22 "2013-10-26T14:31:17Z")
> [@grude](#): > > Or the Gorn(admittedly humanoid), Horta, or Tholians(not fully seen until Enterprise but they look like crystal spiders). The Medusans, also. Mildly interesting concept, but man, what a pointlessly sexist episode. ---
**Author:** ![LC\_Strawhouse](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19adc/32.png) [@LC\_Strawhouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LC_Strawhouse)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-alien-aliens/672296/23 "2013-10-26T15:16:03Z")
[Liquid Sky](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085852/) - the aliens are invisible and their spaceship is the size of a dinner plate. I’m not particularly into sci-fi but this movie was amazing. ---
**Author:** ![blindboyard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blindboyard/32/2833_2.png) [@blindboyard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blindboyard)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 3:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-alien-aliens/672296/24 "2013-10-26T15:23:40Z")
> [@Lute Skywatcher](#): > > Apparently you missed the insectoids toward the end of “Enterprise”. And the Aquatics. And from Kirk-era Trek, the Horta. NO KILL I. And of course all the incorporeal superbeings Kirk came across. Lexx, Moya in Farscape and such living ships. In Babylon 5, the various First Ones (including Vorlons and Shadows), and the hunch-backed and tentacle-faced Pakhmara. The Nanites that become self aware in one of Wesley’s experiments in an episode of TNG. Also from TNG the “ugly bags of mostly water” aliens. But in truth, everybody wants prosthetic foreheads on their real heads. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-alien-aliens/672296/25 "2013-10-26T15:40:06Z")
The sapient black hole from _Eater_ by Gregory Benford. The Darmats from _Starplex_ by Robert J Sawyer; they aren’t even entirely made of normal matter, but are planet sized entities largely made of dark matter. [Elder Things](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elder_Thing). The Tines from Vernor Vinge’s Zones of Thought setting. Wolflike creatures that come in packs of 6-8; the pack is sapient, while the individual bodies are only components of the overall mind. The bodies are linked together by ultrasound to form the group-mind, which can long outlast any particular individual body. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-alien-aliens/672296/26 "2013-10-26T15:44:24Z")
The TV trope for this is “Starfish Alien” [http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StarfishAliens](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/StarfishAliens) ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-alien-aliens/672296/27 "2013-10-26T15:47:06Z")
Dosadi Experiment and Whipping Star by Frank Herbert had some pretty neat aliens. ---
**Author:** ![Amateur\_Barbarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/59ef9b/32.png) [@Amateur\_Barbarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amateur_Barbarian)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-alien-aliens/672296/28 "2013-10-26T15:48:55Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Going back, the various creatures in Stanley G. Weinbaum’s “[A Marian Odyssey](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Martian_Odyssey)” are all convincinginly alien on both counts. Few writers have topped his portrayals of Tweel, the pyramid crature, and the “We are vreeeendds.” Beat me to it. Weinbaum set the bar very high, very early on. Other than a few dated points, it’s astonishing how casually realistic, believable and yet utterly strange this story is, 75 years on. ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-alien-aliens/672296/29 "2013-10-26T15:51:06Z")
There’s an adventure in Traveller 2300 where the PCs encounter hyper-dimensional beings building ramparts against the galaxy’s central black hole. An unlucky PC might get herself rotated through a 4th dimension. ---
**Author:** ![Cayuga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@Cayuga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cayuga)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-alien-aliens/672296/30 "2013-10-26T16:11:01Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > This is, famously, why Asimov wrote his award-winning **The Gods Themselves** : as if to prove he of course _could_ do it, but usually didn’t _want_ to. IIRC, he was chided by someone for not writing sex scenes. He decided to do it, but created an alien race that had three sexes, making the sex scene somewhat unusual. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-alien-aliens/672296/31 "2013-10-26T16:49:07Z")
> [@C\_K\_Dexter\_Haven](#): > > It’s easier in books than in movies (at least, in movies prior to CGI) since movies/TV tend to want human actors… When K. A. Applegate starting writing the **Animorphs** originally the Andalites were just going to be standard Grays, but her editor encouraged her to make the aliens as alien as possible. Which she did. Then a low-budget TV series was made. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 5:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-alien-aliens/672296/32 "2013-10-26T17:35:57Z")
**The Blob**. Also, the Vashta Nerada (the Shadows) from **Doctor Who**. ---
**Author:** ![AncientHumanoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ancienthumanoid/32/278_2.png) [@AncientHumanoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AncientHumanoid)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-alien-aliens/672296/33 "2013-10-26T17:40:49Z")
Hoovaloo - an extremely intelligent shade of blue. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 7:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-alien-aliens/672296/34 "2013-10-26T19:23:55Z")
> [@grude](#): > > … aliens aren’t really alien at all, they are aspects of humanity. … You really have to strive for even aliens with “totally incompatible with humanity thought patterns” in scifi because consumers apparently don’t find it compelling. … > [@DrFidelius](#): > > Stories written for humans tend to have characters that humans can relate with … Well said by both. If an alien is not in some sense humanoid - either in apearance or at least in motivation (even the space creature of Next Gen’s Episode 1, “Encounter at Farpoint”, had a human-like motivation, love) then it is just not going to be all that interesting as a character. Not unless the writers are _extremely_ gifted. And if they are not _characters_ then they are no more interesting than the volcano eruption or star explosion threats that occur which characters must deal with. Important parts of the plot but not what typically actually interests us as readers/viewers. ---
**Author:** ![Andy\_L](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c67d28/32.png) [@Andy\_L](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andy_L)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-alien-aliens/672296/35 "2013-10-26T19:26:57Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Few writers have topped his portrayals of Tweel, the pyramid crature, and the “We are vreeeendds.” “We are vreeeendds - Ouch!” ---
**Author:** ![Reepicheep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@Reepicheep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reepicheep)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-alien-aliens/672296/36 "2013-10-26T19:39:22Z")
The concept of Galactus - a being who eats planets for food and uses another species to help find the food planets. How Galactus has played out in the various comic books and the movie is very different from the concept. ---
**Author:** ![Suburban\_Plankton](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/suburban_plankton/32/219_2.png) [@Suburban\_Plankton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Suburban_Plankton)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-alien-aliens/672296/37 "2013-10-26T20:10:49Z")
How about the “mice” in _The Hitchthiker’s Guide to the Galaxy_, which aren’t really mice at all, but rather just the physical protrusions into our dimension of a race of hyperintelligent pan-dimensional beings? ---
**Author:** ![GIGObuster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gigobuster/32/421_2.png) [@GIGObuster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GIGObuster)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-alien-aliens/672296/38 "2013-10-26T20:16:15Z")
Another vote for the Horta. > **[Horta](https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Horta)** > > The Devil in the Dark2267 The Horta were a sentient non-humanoid silicon cycle life form native to the planet Janus VI. Horta anatomy was composed of a material similar to fibrous asbestos. Horta physiology was very different from the carbon-based... > [@](#): > > The Horta was a silicon-based lifeform from Janus VI. It was composed of a material similar to fibrous asbestos. > > Horta physiology was very different from the carbon-based norm more commonly found in the galaxy. Horta were difficult to detect with tricorders, and were invulnerable to type 1 phasers, though they could be injured with an adjusted type 2 phaser. They fed on rock, and thus they were nourished just by tunneling. Horta tunneled through rock like most humanoids walked through air, moving with the aid of an extremely corrosive acid. They left perfectly round tunnels in their wake. This acid was so corrosive that it only left fragments of bone and teeth if used on a Human. Although Hortas did not evolve in an oxygen environment, they seemed able to exist in it for extended periods of time. > > The Horta species possessed (as compared to carbon-based lifeforms) an unusually long life span. Every fifty thousand years, all of the Horta died out except for one, the so-called mother Horta, who then watched the eggs until they hatched, and mothered and protected them. Horta eggs were spherical in shape, and they seemed to mostly consist of silicon, aside from a few trace elements. They were stored in the Vault of Tomorrow in the Chamber of the Ages. ---
**Author:** ![dasmoocher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dbc845/32.png) [@dasmoocher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dasmoocher)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 9:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-alien-aliens/672296/39 "2013-10-26T21:06:50Z")
> [@Reepicheep](#): > > The concept of Galactus - a being who eats planets for food and uses another species to help find the food planets. How Galactus has played out in the various comic books and the movie is very different from the concept. I don’t know if Galactus would be considered an alien. Isn’t he more like an aspect of the universe? The Xenomorphs from the _Alien_ franchise take on characteristics of whatever species they infect/parasitize–like humans, a predator, and a dog. What would they look like if they infected some non-four appendage species? ETA: Like the Horta? ---
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2013, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-alien-aliens/672296/40 "2013-10-26T21:25:53Z")
> [@Andy\_L](#): > > Schild’s Ladder by Greg Egan Yep–that’s the one. Thanks! They’re the most alien aliens I’ve ever encountered in a book. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-alien-aliens/672296.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/most-alien-aliens/672296.md?page=3)