Bizarre Alien Senses: Difference between revisions

 

A subtrope of [[Bizarre Alien Biology]]. Frequently correlated with [[Eyeless Face]]. Contrast [[Blindfolded Vision]], in which someone denied their normal eyesight relies on other sensory modes, or [[Super Senses]], when normal human senses are enhanced. For a different sort of alien feeling, see [[Inhuman Emotion]].

 

== Comics ==

* The [[Mad Scientist]] Travnicek in ''[[Wild Cards]]'', after his infection due to Typhoid Croyd, develops a ring of unnatural, horn-like sensory organs around his neck.

* In the ''[[Dragaera]]'' novels, the tendrils on the necks of [[Our Dragons Are Different|dragons]] are sensory structures that detect other creatures' psychic energies.

* The creators of the Descolada in ''Children of the Mind'' (''[[Ender's Game (Literature)|Ender's Game]]'' series) are also implied to have this.

* The Sphynxian Treecats of the ''[[Honor Harrington (Literature)|Honor Harrington]]'' universe are [[Telepathy|telepathic]] and empathic, and are evidently unique in the universe in that trait.

** The Orz don't actually smell as their primary sense, it's just the least-wrong translation possible for the concept of exactly how they are sensing their surroundings. Worth noting, the Orz are heavily implied to be an [[Eldritch Abomination]]. A very friendly one. ''Don't ask them about the Androsynth''.

* In ''[[Knights of the Old Republic (Video Game)|Knights of the Old Republic II]]'', the team bounty hunter can give a short lecture on the Bith (the bulb-headed aliens that tend to be musicians in most bars). Apparently their aural perception covers a much wider spectrum than humans', including some radio signals. However, this makes them extra vulnerable to noise and a flashbang will kill them messily.

 

== Webcomics ==

* ''[[Homestuck (Webcomic)|Homestuck]]'' plays with this. After Terezi lost her normal eyesight, she learned how to taste and smell colors to compensate. But when she contacts the human protagonists, she messes with them by claiming that ''all'' Alternians share her abilities.

* In ''[[I Was Kidnapped By Lesbian Pirates From Outer Space]]'', the main characters tend to have antennae. [[Word of God]] is that these are for some bizarre sixth sense which [[Hand Wave|humans don't understand]].