Bizarre Alien Biology: Difference between revisions
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Compare [[Anatomy Tropes]].
{{examples|Categories of aliens that may display Bizarre Alien Biology:}}
* [[Human Aliens]]
* [[Humanoid Aliens]]
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{{examples|Some specific types of Bizarre Alien Biology:}}
* [[Alien Blood]]
* [[Alien Catnip]]
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* [[Eye Beams]]
* [[Eyeless Face]]
* [[Face Full of Alien
* [[Fartillery]]
* [[Feather Flechettes]]
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** Pacifican Selkies also undergo a metamorphosis, from amphibious breeder to fully aquatic adult; again, part way through their adult lives.
** Seleneans are able to link their brains together through specialized spines that permit them to alter each others' brain chemistry as a means of communication.
** Several of the species featured in [[Star Trek: Ex Machina]], whose physiologies and cultures are expanded from background material associated with [[Star Trek: The
* In ''[[Animorphs]]'', Hork-Bajir have two hearts and can survive being shot in one, Andalites have no mouths and absorb nutrients through their hooves and Yeerk reproduction involves three, none of which survive.
** That's nothing compared to the Skrit Na, two species in one. A Skrit is basically a giant, fairly stupid cockroach, which at some point spins itself a cocoon and apparently dies. However, out of its dead body comes a Na, a smarter (but still weird) creature which is basically a member of [[The Greys]].
* In the [[Cthulhu Mythos]] Mi-go look like crustaceans with batlike wings and a fleshy orb covered with small tentacles in place of a head, but biologically they are closer to fungi (and they're not really fungi eighter. It's just what they resemble the most from Earth organisms). The Elder Things are described as being something akin to a mix of vegetable and crinoid. And lets not even go to the [[Eldritch Abomination|Great Old Ones]] which are not really made out of matter in the strictest sense of the word.
* The entire landscape in ''[[The Stormlight Archive]]'' is like this. Probably has something to do with the massive [[Hostile Weather|highstorms]] coming every couple days. Most of the plants and animals look like things you'd find underwater. Extra bonus goes to the Parshendi, who are humanoid but literally grow their own armour (as in, it's a part of them), which weirds out people in-story.
* The [[
* One of the recurring themes of [[Keith Laumer]]'s ''[[Retief]]'' series was bizarre alien biology that didn't fit the preconceived notions of the [[Obstructive Bureaucrat]]s in the diplomatic corps, leading to horrible snafus that only Retief could sort out.
* The kif from [[C. J. Cherryh]]'s [[Chanur Novels]] have two sets of jaws, one at the front of their mouths and one at the back. The front set of jaws is used to rip flesh off of still-living prey, while the second set chews the meat into a paste before swallowing it (the throat of a kif is so narrow that it's incapable of swallowing anything solid). Further, the kif are carnivores who can only eat fresh meat, where "fresh" means "could be used in organ/muscle transplant operations". Meat that most other species of carnivores would consider fresh will make kif so nauseous that even when starving to death they'll be unable to eat it.
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* The Cheela from [[Dragon's Egg|Dragons Egg]] are a pretty extreme example: living on a neutron star, they're not even made of ''atoms'', but rather of tightly-packed atomic nuclei. Their body "chemistry" being based on nuclear reactions—millions of times faster than normal chemical reactions—they live and think [[Year Inside, Hour Outside|much faster]] than humans, which is central to the plot. The fact they're also half-[[Plant Aliens]] and [[Blob Monster]]s that can create and dissolve their bones at will is just the icing on the cake.
* [[Clifford Simak]] was prolific at creating imaginative aliens, often at least three or four new ones in each novel or story. Just in Project Pope, there were Dusters (sentient clouds of dust) and Spheres (spherical aliens that had to make themselves beat like a drum to talk to humans) amongst quite a few others.
* "The Twerlik" from Jack Sharkey's eponymous short story is a huge, intelligent molecule. Its intelligence massively increases when it is unexpectedly given something to think about, in the form of a large input of energy from a visiting rocket's exhaust. As a result it learns to move, manipulate matter, [[Poor Communication Kills|read human minds]] and show gratitude - [[Non-Malicious Monster|after]] a [[Literal Genie|fashion]].
== Live-Action TV ==
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** The freaking ''Ocampa''. Lifespan of nine years. Body temperature around 16 degrees Celsius. Can only have one child. When ready to mate, they exude a yellow substance from their hands and must have an hour long foot massage with 50 hours of the substance appearing to enable mating. Give birth standing up, from a sack between their shoulders. While their psychic powers probably helped, one still wonders how a species with such bizarre, not to mention mathematically troublesome, method of reproduction could have come about in the first place.
*** Just to be fair, it was never said that Ocampa can only have one child, just that if they DON'T breed when the first opportunity comes up, they never will.
** The Caretaker, the alien who caused [[Voyager]] to be stuck in the Delta Quadrant, was a large translucent blob.
* In the episode of ''[[Angel]]'' where Fred {{spoiler|has her body usurped by an [[Eldritch Abomination]]}}, she and Wesley spend the first couple of minutes fighting some small gremlin-like monsters, then discussing the creatures' biology. She describes a portion of their reproductive process, which evidently involves crystals, bacteria, and parasitism.
* ''[[Farscape]]'' is, unusually for a TV series, full of truly bizarre aliens (as well as having the usual complement of humanoid and [[Rubber Forehead Aliens]]).
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*** Humans. Good night.
* The TV version of ''[[Alien Nation (TV series)|Alien Nation]]'' uses this a LOT. EVERY FRACKING EPISODE introduces some new and strange bit of Newcomer biology (including a whole arc about their strange reproductive process).
== Myth ==
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== Tabletop Games ==
* ''[[Dungeons & Dragons]]''. Let's just say ''almost all'' non-humanoid creatures could be featured here, and half of humanoid ones. Sometimes combined with [[No Biochemical Barriers]], and sometimes you have a goat-sized bug who feeds itself by rusting metal with its antennae.
* ''[[Warhammer 40,000]]''
** The Orks in are said to be a mix between flesh and blood beings and fungus. Upon their death they release spores that in turn give birth to Orks and other creatures linked to them (Snotlings and squigs, for instance). Another very alien part in their biology is that ork-species never stop growing. If they get wounded and are allowed to heal, they grow even faster. Normally living organisms have a genetic limit on how big they can be, or they are limited by the environment where they live, but orks and their sub-species can grow infinitely.
** Slaught are composed of worms. Lots of worms.
** Cryptos are greenish gas clouds who can possess people and have limited mind control.
** And then there's wildlife.
*** Nightwing is a critter native to Dusk, shaped like a slug with wings, that attaches and drinks blood like a leech... after it incapacitates the victim with narcotic dust.
*** Void-fluke is sort of vacuum-capable eel who in the wild eat asteroid ores, but they aren't too picky to gnaw on refined metals - like, say, someone's void suit - and became vermin spreading via ships over many systems.
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* ''[[Star Control]]'' aliens include anything from [[Green-Skinned Space Babe|Blue-Skinned Space Babes]] to living crystals crackling with electrical discharges and innate hyperspace communication capability, to [[Eldritch Abomination]] [[Hive Mind]] chatting in [[Starfish Language]].
* While most of the aliens in [[Deadlock]] are pretty standard [[Space Opera]], the Uva Mosk (think a three-way cross between a shrub, a human, and either an anteater or a turnip) definitely fall into this category.
* Zerg from ''[[
** The Protoss are relatively normal biologically in comparison, but that's not saying much in light of the above. They've got digitigrade legs, and [[No Mouth]], which they make up for by being photosynthetic and able to absorb water vapor through the skin. Also, with a bit of training, they can turn [[Psychic Powers|pure rage]] into [[Wrist Blade]]s and cut you to pieces. With a bit ''more'' training, it's either invisibility or climate-altering Psychic Storms.
* In ''[[Metroid]]'', Kraid is a relatively normal looking three-eyed dinosaur—except for those awfully large spikes that constantly shoot out of his belly.
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** They are technically sexless, though may imitate conventions of species who aren't. It normally takes two individuals to make an "egg", but only due to the amount of secreted substance needed. Once the egg (which looks like a meteor) is formed, DNA samples of ''anything'' can be put inside via openings, and it will naturally create a new viable chimeric being capable of [[shapeshifting]] between hybrid and parents' forms, and usually not sterile, [http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2005-03-28 though often asexual]. [[Extra Parent Conception|Any number of sources]] can be used ([http://www.egscomics.com/?date=2003-09-09 "the current known record... is twelve"]). And need not even have an Uryuom as one of the genetic parents - though it gives some perks, thus an egg itself doesn't pass Uryuom DNA and only acts as a "cross-compilier". Basically, they reproduce via a genetic engineer's wet dream.
** The fun part is that aside of the mechanisms, these functions together make surprising amount of sense biologically. Eggs could be symbiotic organs (much like mitochondria) whose primitive ancestor was stealing pre-evolved ferment sequences. Uryuoms may walk into any biome, domesticate or fend off "interesting" local critters, stick a few drops of blood into eggs, and raise as their own a generation of Greater Chimera already adapted to this environment - not enough of them fertile to be a competition, but enough to reliably keep a symbiotic society. Then they easily maintain communication within and between populations - no matter what vocal apparatus the original species had, a chimera can shapeshift half of the way, Uryuom shifts halfway and syncs the languages in seconds. If you thought [[Hive Caste System]] is too efficient, this cheating beats it twice before breakfast.
* ''[[Schlock Mercenary]]'' has sophonts ranging from mostly-humanoids (who also show occasional surprising twist, like having symbiotic moss for "hair") to ''really'' weird.
** Uklakk have two bodies connected by radio link (which with some effort can be [//www.schlockmercenary.com/2002-05-16 wrapped in FTL communications]).
** Three known sophont species (so far) are known to be [[Batman Can Breathe in Space|capable of surviving in hard vacuum]] at least for a while: F'Sherl-Ganni (apparently by virtue of genetic engineering), [[Silicon-Based Life|Carbosilicate Amorphs]] (whose metabolism is so exotic on account of evolving from data storage systems of all things)... And then there are the [//www.schlockmercenary.com/2015-09-06 Esspererin]: they have three legs, two hands, two pairs of wing plus wing cases; are capable of atmospheric flight and talking air-breathers' language, but (along with their whole bizarre [//www.schlockmercenary.com/2016-05-01 ecosystem]) [//www.schlockmercenary.com/2016-05-26 remain functional in vacuum] and microgravity indefinitely due to {{spoiler|being "solar powered [[Mechanical Lifeforms|robo]]-[[Fair Folk|fairies]]", running [//www.schlockmercenary.com/2017-06-29 on chemical metabolism or capacitors as needed]}} — come on, you should have suspected that by now.
** Oafa are living hydrogen blimps.
** A lot of fauna in an ancient Oafan habitat adapted to symbiosis with either really weird microbes or runaway Oafan nanobots, that deposit metal on their skeletons/exoskeletons. This includes vaguely dragon-like [[Giant Flyer]]s and bugs who evolved {{spoiler|a [[Hive Mind]]}}.
== Web Original ==
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[[Category:Alien Tropes]]
[[Category:Fantastic Sapient Species Tropes]]
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