Alien Archetypes in Sci-Fi

[Peregrin Toker]

Is it just me, or do some alien archetypes seem to be more prevalent in sci-fi than others???? And why??

Here are the primary archetypes I've seen - feel free to add more:

1. Stereotypical Grey Aliens (SGAs) or just "The Greys." Possibly the most generic alien archetype. They probably don't need any introduction, but if you haven't heard of them - they're small, skinny humanoids with very big heads and dark, staring eyes. I don't need mention any examples.

2. Angelic Space Brothers, not to be mistaken for the Blues Brothers. They vary tremendously, but they're usually tall, beautiful and very spiritually minded. Sometimes they are benevolent, but they're often selfish and arrogant. Examples: The Eldar (Warhammer 40K), the Vulcans (ST), the Protoss (Starcraft), and the Kaminoans (SW: AOTC) who were intended as SGAs but ended up as Space Brothers. (I thought of fitting the Vorlons into this archetype, but they ended up in the "Mysterious Star-Gods" category, see below)

3. Evil Insects From Outer Space. Aside from the SGAs, one of the most common archetypes. They neither need any introductions. By the way, most of them use organic technology. Examples: The Tyranids (Warhammer 40K), the Bugs (Starship Troopers), Species 8472 (ST: Voyager), The Geonosians (SW: AoTC), the Nephilim (Wing Commander: Prophecy), the Xenomorphs (Alien) and the Zerg (Starcraft).

4. Little Green Men. Often regarded as the precursors to the SGAs. They're small and green.

5. Proud Warrior Thugs. They're big, muscular, ill-tempered and aggressive. And usually, they like fighting and have a strong concept of honour. Examples: The Orks (Warhammer 40K), the Kroot (also Warhammer 40K), the Klingons (ST), the Kilrathi (Wing Commander), the Predator (Predator) and to a lesser extent, the the Azadians. (the Culture novel "Player of Games")

6. Mysterious Star Gods. More often than not, these guys are noncorporeal creatures whose motivations are shady and confusing at best, and they often have supernatural powers which cause them to be mistaken for gods.
Examples: The Vorlons and Shadows (B5), the Q (ST), the Elder and Outer Gods (H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu mythos), C'Tan (Warhammer 40K) and the Voyagers beneath the Mare Imbrium. (who are from the lyrics of an obscure metal band called Bal-Sagoth)

7. Mean Mechanical Monkeyjumpers. (MMMs) They're robots and cyborgs and hell-bent on destroying humanity or, in some cases, just annihilating all organic life. An interesting sub-type are the Yuuzhan Vong, who are the MMM archetype turned upside down - instead of being mechanical lifeforms with a hatred for organic life, they are organic beings with a hatred for everything mechanical.
Examples of MMMs are: The Cylons (Battlestar Galactica), the Borg (ST), the Daleks (Dr. Who), Kronos (Kronos) and the Necrons. (WH40K)

Did I miss any of them??

[paladin]

Here's 2 that I thought of:

Angelic Space Brothers - Minbari(B5)

Mean Mechanical Monkeyjumpers - Cybermen(Dr. Who)

[Tsyroc]

Where would the benevolent aliens from Arthur C. Clarke's Childhood's End fit?

They are definately benevolent but at one time in Earth's past they tried to help us and screwed up so from then on their appearance was the basis for the demons of myth.

[Patrick Degan]

You forgot two others common to 40s and 50s scifi:

Space Nazis Either seen as fifth columnists operating with criminal gangs to prepare the way for invasion or your bog-standard Goose Steppers from the Vast Beyond, all of whom get their marching orders from the Great Leader. Sometimes seen in uniforms, sometimes in body-leotards with stocking hoods. Very common to Republic serials and the Japanese Starman series.

Red Menace From Outer Space Infiltrating Earth by stealth and subverting human civilisation from within; can either be humanoid or a totally alien lifeform which "replaces" normal humans with pod duplicates. These were most alien menaces seen in 50s scifi movies at the height of the McCarthyite paranoia sweeping America then. Ubiquitous to American films, this stereotype is virtually unknown in foreign SF of the period.

[SAMAS]

The Jurai(Tenchi Muyo) also count both as Angelic Space Brothers and Mysterious Star Gods.

[Majin Gojira]

The Subjugators Aliens who come down to subjugate earth to their will. First they hammer the Humans into submission and then diliver an ultimatum. Most common point of Earthly contact is Japan. They are a direct reference to America's treatment of Japan in WW2. They often use "Super Weapons" to accomplish their goals. Examples: the Kilaaks (Destroy All Monsters), the X-seijin (Godzilla vs. Monster Zero), The Black Hole Seijin (Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla) and The Baltan-Seijin (Ultraman)

[The Nomad]

5. Proud Warrior Thugs. They're big, muscular, ill-tempered and aggressive. And usually, they like fighting and have a strong concept of honour. Examples: <snip> and to a lesser extent, the the Azadians. (the Culture novel "Player of Games")

Your average Azadian is not exactly that.

The Idirans ( Consider Phlebas ) are much better : 3 legs, 2 meters tall, incredible resilience ( see Quayanorl ) , natural keratin armour, very strong and fast, religious fundies and neo-fascist mentality, the best non-drone infantry of the Cultureverse. Real bad-asses. And they have mastered Grid-Fire tech.

[NecronLord]

The Daleks are organic. It's a travel machine. They are the result of centuries of biological and radiological contamination.

[Gil Hamilton]

Hah, a coincidence thread! I posted something very similar on SB.com a few days ago. The internet moves in mysterious ways.

Here were mine.

The Shadowy Stalker:
This alien archetypes are a staple of horror films. They don't really have much of a motive and when they do they sure aren't telling. Mostly, they like sneaking around buildings in the dark, avoiding light, and then leaping out from behind and grab you for some unpleasant, usually deadly, purpose. These could be anything from the fellows in the recent movie They to the Xenomorphes from Aliens. And no, that creaking behind you in that dark room is not the cat...

The Incomphensible, Probing Aliens:
Rarely going out and about themselves, these aliens usually rely on abducting yokels and travellers off country roads for their own mysterious design. Their motives are completely unknown and seemingly have no real purpose, just experimenting on rednecks and making shadowy deals with local governments, but who knows, right? Tomorrow, the mothership could land and we are all screwed. In the mean time, the mark of their existance is a few missing hours and a sore ass.

The High-Tech Asskicker:
These aliens are the stuff of action movies. They move in, loaded with enough high-tech alien shit to splash an army, and go around killing every bad motherfucker in their way. These aliens tend to have everything from advanced melee weapons to deadly tank crumpling missiles and like to mix things up a bit. Their motives could be that they are on safari, drunk and shooting up natives, or simply ringing in the new year. Who cares? They are either fated to be killed in single combat with some burly human or they go away when they are done. Tends to come alone, fortunately.

The Mysterious Force:
These aliens are readily interchangable with ghosts and other entities. They may have a body, but usually not, and manipulate human lives in the general vicinity for their own means. They could be malignant, experimenting, or just apathetic to humanlife, and their modus operandi usually revolves around psychotic psychic effects. This could be horrible nightmares, possession, mental rape, et cetera, and it rarely pleasant for anyone involved (except for the entity, who may have a good laugh about it). They know when you are sleeping, they know when your awake, they know when you fit into their design, and so run for you life, for goodness sake.

The Shapechanger:
This alien is very similar to the Shadowy Stalker with the main difference that instead of stalking in darkness, they stalk in plain view, taking the form of loved ones and other people. A horror movie classic, they are out to blend in and either take over through infiltration, kill lots of people, or both. Your friend is acting strange? He or she is eating weird, possibly toxic, stuff and his/her expression isn't quite right? Catch him/her following you around and always being there? That's not just human weirdness, they are shapeshifting aliens. Kill them and watch out, they may suprise you with claws and stuff.

The 40ker Wet-Dream:
These aliens are very much like the high-tech alien asskickers only with more high-tech weapons, they don't come alone, and they are more in it for the sheer carnage than they are for any sport. They have no problem smashing cities from orbit, brutally gunning down fleeing surrendering natives for grins, and have tanks with LOTS of guns on them. You are the infestation and they are going to step on you with their big power-armored feet, as messily as possibly.

The Horde of Monsters:
Meet the swarm. This variety of monsters may be big and strong or not, but that's not their selling point. The point is that there are ALOT of them. Millions and millions of them, clawing and gnawing their way around, consuming everything in their path. Not terribly hightech and maybe not all that formidably by themselves, but all together, fighting them is all but useless. No point in reasoning with them either, they don't tend to be that intelligent and besides, it's really irritating to find a table for 100 billion.

The Confused Androgynous Humanoid Anime Invaders:
This tends to be a uniquely Japanese staple. These aliens look just like handsome, elven versions of us, invading Earth for some random fruity philosophical reason. Poetic and vast in their power, they have many ships at their disposal and many more giant transforming robots that are never quite as good as the defenders robots. They are readily foiled by a single intrepid band of adventures, but they are even more readily foiled by some stupid bullshit cop-out reason, like the heroine singing to them and showing them the true meaning of love *collective eyeroll*. One wonders why the guys are any threat at all, but they DO tend to shoot lots and lots of missiles at one time. Also, they are invariably ready to fall in love with cute natives and willing to betray their people and mission for love. What assfucks.

The Bigger the Smile, the Sharper the Knife Aliens:
These are the invaders who don't come across as invaders at all. They are polite, egalitarian, and willing to help out. They wouldn't dream of taking over the planet via subversion and assimilation, as they have great table manners and are free with gifts of great use. Very political as well, they claim to want to make Earth a utopia or join their galactic civilization. They only want to serve man (but what they don't tell you is that they want to serve man with orange sauce on a bed of couscous).

[The Nomad]

Holy shit, Idirans are at least 3 meters tall, me dumbfuck ...

[Beowulf]

5. Proud Warrior Thugs. They're big, muscular, ill-tempered and aggressive. And usually, they like fighting and have a strong concept of honour. Examples: The Orks (Warhammer 40K), the Kroot (also Warhammer 40K), the Klingons (ST), the Kilrathi (Wing Commander), the Predator (Predator) and to a lesser extent, the the Azadians. (the Culture novel "Player of Games")

missed the Kzinti (Niven's knwon Space)

[Stormbringer]

5. Proud Warrior Thugs. They're big, muscular, ill-tempered and aggressive. And usually, they like fighting and have a strong concept of honour. Examples: <snip> and to a lesser extent, the the Azadians. (the Culture novel "Player of Games")

Your average Azadian is not exactly that.

The Idirans ( Consider Phlebas ) are much better : 3 legs, 2 meters tall, incredible resilience ( see Quayanorl ) , natural keratin armour, very strong and fast, religious fundies and neo-fascist mentality, the best non-drone infantry of the Cultureverse. Real bad-asses. And they have mastered Grid-Fire tech.

Who could forget those loveable assholes the Affront. They're easily the Culture-verse's premeier warrior thugs.

[Enlightenment]

Is it just me, or do some alien archetypes seem to be more prevalent in sci-fi than others???? And why??

You don't seriously expect sci-fi writers to think up something original, do you?


A missing category so far seems to be malevolent alien of the week, a class unique to Trek: seems nice but almost invariably turns out to be evil or otherwise undesirable. Seen only once and never again.

[Stormbringer]

Is it just me, or do some alien archetypes seem to be more prevalent in sci-fi than others???? And why??

Because it's damn near impossible to create something genuinely alien. So instead we get the aliens that follow predictable paths. Not to mention a lot of writers simply repeat and tweak what they grew up on.

I think it's mostly that alien archetypes stand out because they are different. Human archetypes fill literature but unlike alien archetypes they don't stand out.

[Bob McDob]

The Nephilim from WC can probably also be considered Star Gods, in that the literature explicitly refers to them as Star Gods.

Also, there should be a Cuddly Alien Catagory (Ewoks, E.T., et al)

I think it's mostly that alien archetypes stand out because they are different. Human archetypes fill literature but unlike alien archetypes they don't stand out.

Yeah, human sci-fi archetypes are generally more limited, since scifi prefers human vs. alien confrontations or alien vs. alien to human vs. human. It can also be considered that aliens often are symbolic of different human ethnic and political groups (as always, Star Trek is the primary example). However, some notables do stand out. A few of them.

Knightly Boy Scouts Also sometimes known as "Americans in Space", though they can be British or Japanese. By far the most common human organization, since in most science fiction the humans are the "good guys". These are usually portrayed as upstanding, infallible heroes fighting for their lives against Evil Insects From Outer Space or Space Fascists. Sometimes, though, the Knightly Boy Scouts later reveal themselves to be devils in disguise.

Atreides (Dune)
Earth Alliance (Babylon 5)
Earth Federation (Mobile Suit Gundam)
Galactic Terran Alliance (FreeSpace)
Global Defence Initiative (Command & Conquer)
Star Kingdom of Manticore (Honor Harrington)
Terran Concordiat (Bolo)
Terran Confederacy (StarCraft)
Terran Confederation (Wing Commander)
Terran Federation (Starship Troopers)
United Federation of Planets (Star Trek)
USMC (Halo)

Space Fascists The human counterpart to Space Nazis, Space Fascists are little different than their alien counterparts. They are supremely confident in their superiority over any other creatures, be they human or alien, and often their ideology borders on genocide. Sometimes they mimic the Roman Empire, complete with scheming emperors and star legions.

Black Lance (Wing Commander)
Brotherhood of Nod (Command & Conquer)
Capellan Confederation (Battletech)
Galactic Empire (Star Wars)
Harkonnen (Dune)
Imperium of Man (Warhammer 40,000)
Principality of Zeon (Mobile Suit Gundam)
Terran Overlord Government (Renegade Legion)

Proud Warrior Thugs These are more or less unchanged from their alien counterparts.

Clans of Kerenesky (Battletech)
Draconis Combine (Battletech)

A missing category so far seems to be malevolent alien of the week, a class unique to Trek: seems nice but almost invariably turns out to be evil or otherwise undesirable. Seen only once and never again.

You forgot to mention they're invariably humanoid, often with bumpy foreheads.

[Stormbringer]

McDob:

The Earth Alliance and Terran Confederacy would hardly be Knighty Boy Scouts. Both were dictatorial police states that were very willing to chrush and brutalize they're people. If that's a knightly boy scout, I'm a god damned elf.

And Manticore won't be remain the angels of the peice for long if the long term spoilers are to be believed.

[Peregrin Toker]

What about the Dumb Tough-Guy Henchmen, a sub-type of the Proud Warrior Thugs?? They usually serve the Space Nazis blindly, act as their soldiers or slaves, and they have often been genetically engineered by the Space Nazis for their purpose. Examples: Jem'hadar (DS9), the Kroot (Warhammer 40K), the Hork-Bajirs and the Taxxons (Animorphs).

[Sir Sirius]

How about.

The just stupid aliens
Well the name says it all. Aliens that are so stupid that one wonders how they ever got in to space in the first place (they might have gotten help).
Ferengi from ST, Gungans and Gamorreans from SW.

[Peregrin Toker]

Hah, a coincidence thread! I posted something very similar on SB.com a few days ago. The internet moves in mysterious ways.

Here were mine.

The Shadowy Stalker:
This alien archetypes are a staple of horror films. They don't really have much of a motive and when they do they sure aren't telling. Mostly, they like sneaking around buildings in the dark, avoiding light, and then leaping out from behind and grab you for some unpleasant, usually deadly, purpose. These could be anything from the fellows in the recent movie They to the Xenomorphes from Aliens. And no, that creaking behind you in that dark room is not the cat...

The Incomphensible, Probing Aliens:
Rarely going out and about themselves, these aliens usually rely on abducting yokels and travellers off country roads for their own mysterious design. Their motives are completely unknown and seemingly have no real purpose, just experimenting on rednecks and making shadowy deals with local governments, but who knows, right? Tomorrow, the mothership could land and we are all screwed. In the mean time, the mark of their existance is a few missing hours and a sore ass.

The High-Tech Asskicker:
These aliens are the stuff of action movies. They move in, loaded with enough high-tech alien shit to splash an army, and go around killing every bad motherfucker in their way. These aliens tend to have everything from advanced melee weapons to deadly tank crumpling missiles and like to mix things up a bit. Their motives could be that they are on safari, drunk and shooting up natives, or simply ringing in the new year. Who cares? They are either fated to be killed in single combat with some burly human or they go away when they are done. Tends to come alone, fortunately.

The Mysterious Force:
These aliens are readily interchangable with ghosts and other entities. They may have a body, but usually not, and manipulate human lives in the general vicinity for their own means. They could be malignant, experimenting, or just apathetic to humanlife, and their modus operandi usually revolves around psychotic psychic effects. This could be horrible nightmares, possession, mental rape, et cetera, and it rarely pleasant for anyone involved (except for the entity, who may have a good laugh about it). They know when you are sleeping, they know when your awake, they know when you fit into their design, and so run for you life, for goodness sake.

The Shapechanger:
This alien is very similar to the Shadowy Stalker with the main difference that instead of stalking in darkness, they stalk in plain view, taking the form of loved ones and other people. A horror movie classic, they are out to blend in and either take over through infiltration, kill lots of people, or both. Your friend is acting strange? He or she is eating weird, possibly toxic, stuff and his/her expression isn't quite right? Catch him/her following you around and always being there? That's not just human weirdness, they are shapeshifting aliens. Kill them and watch out, they may suprise you with claws and stuff.

The 40ker Wet-Dream:
These aliens are very much like the high-tech alien asskickers only with more high-tech weapons, they don't come alone, and they are more in it for the sheer carnage than they are for any sport. They have no problem smashing cities from orbit, brutally gunning down fleeing surrendering natives for grins, and have tanks with LOTS of guns on them. You are the infestation and they are going to step on you with their big power-armored feet, as messily as possibly.

The Horde of Monsters:
Meet the swarm. This variety of monsters may be big and strong or not, but that's not their selling point. The point is that there are ALOT of them. Millions and millions of them, clawing and gnawing their way around, consuming everything in their path. Not terribly hightech and maybe not all that formidably by themselves, but all together, fighting them is all but useless. No point in reasoning with them either, they don't tend to be that intelligent and besides, it's really irritating to find a table for 100 billion.

The Confused Androgynous Humanoid Anime Invaders:
This tends to be a uniquely Japanese staple. These aliens look just like handsome, elven versions of us, invading Earth for some random fruity philosophical reason. Poetic and vast in their power, they have many ships at their disposal and many more giant transforming robots that are never quite as good as the defenders robots. They are readily foiled by a single intrepid band of adventures, but they are even more readily foiled by some stupid bullshit cop-out reason, like the heroine singing to them and showing them the true meaning of love *collective eyeroll*. One wonders why the guys are any threat at all, but they DO tend to shoot lots and lots of missiles at one time. Also, they are invariably ready to fall in love with cute natives and willing to betray their people and mission for love. What assfucks.

The Bigger the Smile, the Sharper the Knife Aliens:
These are the invaders who don't come across as invaders at all. They are polite, egalitarian, and willing to help out. They wouldn't dream of taking over the planet via subversion and assimilation, as they have great table manners and are free with gifts of great use. Very political as well, they claim to want to make Earth a utopia or join their galactic civilization. They only want to serve man (but what they don't tell you is that they want to serve man with orange sauce on a bed of couscous).

I'll include the "The Confused Androgynous Humanoid Anime Invader" archetype. The other seem to be able to fit into other archetypes.

(Although the The Confused Androgynous Humanoid Anime Invaders appear to be the Japanese equivalent of the Angelic Space Brothers)

[Peregrin Toker]

How about.

The just stupid aliens
Well the name says it all. Aliens that are so stupid that one wonders how they ever got in to space in the first place (they might have gotten help).
Ferengi from ST, Gungans and Gamorreans from SW.

The Ferengi are not that dumb. However, the Pakleds certainly qualify for this, and the Orks from Warhammer 40K almost qualify!! (although they seem like a cross between the Just Stupid Aliens and the Proud Warrior Thugs)

[The Yosemite Bear]

You forgot Uber-Pets
Aliens that are intellegent, Often Telepathic, Incredably CUTE, smaller then us, and furry. They look like Teddy Bears, Cats, Dogs, anything that brings back warm childhood memories: Fuzzy Sapians(Fuzzy Sapians), Treecats(Honorverse), Mungi (Dirty Pair), Ein (Cowboy Bebop), Sirians (Firesign Theater: Everything you Know is wrong), & Lovecraft Universe Cats (The the rankings of the Lovecraft verse, Dreamlands cats are just below outer gods)

[Sir Sirius]

The Ferengi are not that dumb.

Have you seen ENT: "Acquisition"?

[starfury]

Space Fascists The human counterpart to Space Nazis, Space Fascists are little different than their alien counterparts. They are supremely confident in their superiority over any other creatures, be they human or alien, and often their ideology borders on genocide. Sometimes they mimic the Roman Empire, complete with scheming emperors and star legions.

Black Lance (Wing Commander)
Brotherhood of Nod (Command & Conquer)
Capellan Confederation (Battletech)
Galactic Empire (Star Wars)
Harkonnen (Dune)
Imperium of Man (Warhammer 40,000)
Principality of Zeon (Mobile Suit Gundam)
Terran Overlord Government (Renegade Legion)

don't forget the UED of starcraft, who had no problem destorying both the colonies and the protoss with the zerg. the Terran dominion of the same game, which was the successor to the confederacy also can fit this catagory.

[Peregrin Toker]

The Ferengi are not that dumb.

Have you seen ENT: "Acquisition"?

No, I haven't seen a single Enterprise episode, but from what I've heard, it's a quite bad show.

[The_Nice_Guy]

Proud warrior thugs also often seem to be composed of mammalian like species. One very important sub class, IMO, is the feline type aliens. Kinzti, Kilrathi, and Orions fit right into this category.

Being catlike furry beings, they invariably refer to humans as those 'hairless apes'. They are often found trying to conquer humanity. Also, they can, and do, end up buddying with humans when some bigger threat appears, and can be staunch and loyal allies.

Or maybe they're just tolerating humans, much like cats do! Remember, you don't own a cat; it just decides to stay in your home!

The Nice Guy