Human Aliens: Difference between revisions

 

{{quote|'''Amy:''' But you look human.<br />

 

When a creature from a planet other than Earth looks like a human, sounds like a human, acts somewhat like a human and gets confused for a human.

* [[Robert Rankin]] shamelessly [[Lampshade|lampshades]] this in one of his stories (''Armageddon, the Musical'' I think) where it is advanced as proof that there is a [[God]] who designs dominant species in his own image. "As any [[Science Fiction]] fan knows, the basic human shape, Head at the top, two feet at the bottom, wedding tackle about halfway down, is the standard for intelligent life the universe over. They often speak good English with a noticeable American accent, too. Facts that should serve up friend Atheist with a workload of eggs, faces for the use of."

* In one [[Discworld]] book (though it was referring to gods, the spirit's the same), it's mentioned that if you ask someone to come up with an alien-looking being, it would basically be a man in an animal mask.

* The Takisians of the ''[[Wild Cards]]'' series. In fact, that's what leads to the entire plot of the series; the Takisians note how biologically similar they are to humans, believe they must be the descendants of a "lost colony," and drop the wild card virus on Earth to test out its purpose as a biological weapon.

* The various biological species of [[The Culture]] are mostly human-looking, although they have various additional internal glands and bits. Given the degree of casual genetic modification in the universe though, it's anyone's guess as to whether they were all always like that.

 

== [[Live Action TV]] ==

** The [[Expanded Universe]] did a [[Lampshade Hanging]] by having a racist founder of Time Lord society, who thought that the Time Lord form was supreme to any other, go around the universe and infect species with a virus that would cause them to evolve into humanoid forms.

** Yet another [[Lampshade Hanging|lampshade was hung]] in the Easter 2009 special ''Planet of the Dead''. A similar conversation between Amy and the Doctor was repeated in "The Beast Below", the following year.

{{quote| '''Christina''': You look human.<br />

** Thals and Kaleds look like humans. "The Stolen Earth" reveals that they have fewer ribs than humans and [[Bizarre Alien Biology]], though.

** According to the audio drama ''I, Davros: Corruption'', Kaleds and Thals were separate species who both evolved (on the same planet, obviously) to a humanoid form as that is the optimum biological form for Earth-like planet. One of the novels in the [[Doctor Who Expanded Universe]] made a similar claim about all human like species which may or may not contradict the explanation given above relating to the Time Lords.

** In the 2007 Christmas special "Voyage of the Damned", everyone seen on board the ''Titanic'' (a starship moulded into a replica of the 1912 ship) apart from two cyborgs are indistinguishable from humans, yet know very little about Earth culture, even the self-proclaimed Earth expert.

* ''[[Star Trek the Original Series]]'' had several, and it was rather strange when Spock was the only crew member who had to disguise himself on an alien planet. (It was even stranger when Kirk's [[Beleaguered Childhood Friend]] was able to make himself dictator of an alien planet without any of the aliens noticing something odd about him.) In fact, aliens are Human Aliens more often than not, probably for budgetary reasons.

* Pax and Crona from ''[[Vintergatan|At The End Of The Milky Way]]'' both look human, but with three differences -- they constantly crave sugar, their hair changes color depending on their emotions, and they make quick, pig-like noises when they're upset. Strangely enough, only Pax shows the two last signs, leading one to believe that it's either an [[Informed Ability]] for Crona, or he's just so slick he never changes emotion from 'groovy'.

* The aliens in ''[[The Event]]'' are distinguished from humans only by their longer lifespans and certain undescribed "skeletal and serological abnormalities". The latter are pronounced enough that a blood test will reveal them, and one plants himself with a tube of human blood to avoid arousing suspicions during a blood test. A DNA test will also reveal them, and [[Evil-Detecting Dog|dogs sometimes bark at them]].

{{quote| '''Vila''': Everyone came from Earth originally. That's a well-known fact.<br />

'''Soolin''': It's a well-known opinion, actually.<br />

* Conspicuously and consciously avoided in Wayne D. Barlowe's illustrated sci-fi novel ''Expedition''. Barlowe, a noted fantastic fiction illustrator who darn well knows his biology, openly despises this trope and so he invented an alien race who is very like humankind in their attitude and culture - {{spoiler|but they look a bit like a cross between a hot air balloon and an [[Space Whale|airborne octopus]].}}

* In [[Larry Niven]]'s [[Ring World]] series, there are various humanoid races who all turn out to be {{spoiler|descended from the same race of [[Precursors]] who are the ancestors of Earth humans}}.

* The aliens in Robert Zubrin's [[The Holy Land]] consider themselves the humans, and the Earthlings merely 'proto-humans'. Given their superior senses, telepathic ability, superior physiques, and [[Arson, Murder, and Jaywalking|superlative hygiene]], they're probably right. However, they themselves originated on Earth, about twenty thousand years ago.

* ''[[The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy|The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy]]'' has a subversion in the book version with Trillian. When she's introduced, she's built up to be one of these. {{spoiler|She's from Earth.}}

* Some of the [[Doctor Who Expanded Universe]] novels have the Doctor come across as mildly not-so-human, to generally [[Uncanny Valley|creepy]] effect. Anji seems to be particularly prone to noticing this. In one scene, when he does strike her as a convincing human, she considers him "a fake" and refers to him as "the alien" and "it" before she remembers he is, after all, [[Platonic Life Partners|her friend]] and a nice guy. In another scene, they'd have ''really'' run up the special effects budget if it were TV, just to make people go "[[Squick|Jesus Christ, ewwww]]" at the protagonist:

{{quote| In [[Gentle Giant|Hugo]]’s arms, the Doctor hung bonelessly limp, as if he might suddenly flow to the floor in a puddle. Anji had never seen a human body sag like that; no human being had that sort of muscular-skeletal frame. For a frightened instant, she felt more kinship with the man with no limbs<ref>they're at a sideshow</ref> than she did with the Doctor.}}

[[Category:Wall Banger (Darth Wiki)/Star Trek]]

[[Category:Human Aliens]]