tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post1403725762671085421..comments2024-03-19T04:29:47.922-04:00Comments on GROGNARDIA: Open Friday: Non-Humanoid AliensJames Maliszewskihttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00341941102398271464noreply@blogger.comBlogger98125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-3439577144054839262011-09-21T04:45:34.130-04:002011-09-21T04:45:34.130-04:00@ huth: Except... they're human.
Yes, but not...@ huth: <em>Except... they're human</em>.<br /><br />Yes, but not human<em>oid</em>...richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13517340075234811323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-71872615892184625992011-09-15T22:33:57.657-04:002011-09-15T22:33:57.657-04:00My favorites (Hivers and Puppeteers) have already ...My favorites (Hivers and Puppeteers) have already been mentioned, but another fave of mine that hasn't, I'm surprised to say, is:<br /><br />Bandersnatch (Niven)<br />Intelligent telepathic white slugs the size of whales with a tapered neck ending in a walrus-esque moustache.maxamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17143803116262064891noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-17085172094787413982011-09-13T06:48:54.881-04:002011-09-13T06:48:54.881-04:00I think Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle come up wi...I think Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle come up with fantastic aliens, particularly because they all so well worked out, each come with an alien psychology. like the Fithp (quadruped elephants with multiple trunks) who have a strong herd mentality, the fatalistic Moties, Sesile Grogs (telepathic creatures that physically devolved into fat stumps with no prehensile limbs.<br /><br />I also like Larry Nivens humanoid aliens in ringworld - where you get Hominids evolving to fill every ecological niche, I find this particularly awesome because of extint hominid species on earth like Neanderthals and homoflorensis (trolls and hobbits if ever there were)Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/02209118337511460846noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-89430721469476087202011-09-13T00:36:08.182-04:002011-09-13T00:36:08.182-04:00Also this: http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stori...Also this: http://www.eastoftheweb.com/short-stories/UBooks/TheyMade.shtmlMirandahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10745062840676790649noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-77060246675556784662011-09-13T00:33:11.134-04:002011-09-13T00:33:11.134-04:00I know I'm late to the party, but probably Vor...I know I'm late to the party, but probably Vorlons or Puppeteers. The idea of Nessus having a sexy woman's voice freaks me out.Mirandahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10745062840676790649noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-15017561438791496322011-09-12T18:25:56.412-04:002011-09-12T18:25:56.412-04:00"alien" as a concept in general is borin..."alien" as a concept in general is boring. its just anthropomorphized beings. which leans toward the "we humans invented a god that resembles us, as we invented aliens that resemble us or other creatures we are aware of."<br /><br />or we militarize them the same way as western cultures militarize, etc... aliens usually just become veneers of some concept we are already aware of. dressing it up with aesthetic masks is supposedly creating a dynamic, new, "science" based way of dealing with them. "oh sure, they all created spaceships and lazer guns. weeee." for juvenile fun, it works. for any real discussion, its boring.<br /><br />if anything, Lovecraft's inability to particularly describe his creations seems to be the best so far at creating the idea of an "alien" that is of massive, hyper, cosmic scale. now that's something legit and philosophically interesting. <br /><br />offer me something more radical and the alien question becomes more legit.<br /><br />aliens in the traditional anthropomorphized sense have the opportunity to be interesting in an animistic sense. it might teach us that others/non-humans are legit actors in histories.Karlhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06816975649174987528noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-71599527800471231602011-09-12T15:10:32.785-04:002011-09-12T15:10:32.785-04:00The "Grey Aliens" of modern UFO myth. Th...The "Grey Aliens" of modern UFO myth. They are anthropomorphic, but only vaguely so.<br />Actually a lot of UFO occupants are decidedly weird - especially back in the 50s and 60s. Look up the Flatwoods Monster.<br />These are not supposed to be fictional, but as Jacques Valees or Jung would have it, they derive more from the mass mind or from some disincarnate intelligence than from some space faring civilization.lazycathttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08391072231837230851noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-40709494614783288892011-09-12T12:55:21.317-04:002011-09-12T12:55:21.317-04:00-Dune's Guild Steersman, esp. as David Lynch i...<i>-Dune's Guild Steersman, esp. as David Lynch imagines them. Totally bizzare. </i><br /><br />Except... they're human.huthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16502682297320819595noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-25882964937821609902011-09-12T12:53:58.473-04:002011-09-12T12:53:58.473-04:00Ganymedean slime molds.Ganymedean slime molds.huthhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16502682297320819595noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-71329144616359117332011-09-12T09:40:26.482-04:002011-09-12T09:40:26.482-04:00The horta... living rocks.The horta... living rocks.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00801468265072232351noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-24528606710532728742011-09-12T03:02:25.444-04:002011-09-12T03:02:25.444-04:00Elder things, Mi-Go, Great Race of Yith and Insect...Elder things, Mi-Go, Great Race of Yith and Insects from Shaggai are my favorite non-humanoid aliens.<br /><br />I'd love to run a game of X-Plorers where PC's meet with elder things somewhere in vast dark reaches of space.Jonashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11838302056850766272noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-70300198502239559342011-09-12T01:49:18.173-04:002011-09-12T01:49:18.173-04:00I was particularly struck by Philip Pullman's ...I was particularly struck by Philip Pullman's sapients, as featured in 'The Amber Spyglass': "elephantine creatures who call themselves mulefa and use large seedpods attached to their feet as wheels".Brian Yatmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06964619666544723104noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-5339764007679485912011-09-11T17:58:02.357-04:002011-09-11T17:58:02.357-04:00I think I'm waiting for the martian War Tripod...I think I'm waiting for the martian War Tripods to drag their legs across the surface like Octopus as they move - not balance on two legs while they lift the third in the air.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-38872417853160568322011-09-11T02:02:14.767-04:002011-09-11T02:02:14.767-04:00-Octavia Butler's Oankali are very interesting...-Octavia Butler's Oankali are very interesting: 3 sexes, one of which acts as a genetic engineer between males and females. So many cool features of these things. Ability to mate with almost anything in the universe. A mass of tendrils that end in needle sharp, syringe-like points. <br /><br />-Cygnostikoi from Michael Bishop's "A Little Knowledge"/"Catacomb Years." Big wooden-icon looking heads atop telescoping robotic spindly limbs. Covered in vinegar-scented strips of skin-like patches they tear off and eat. Two big yellow eyes with two pupils each. Eat apples and cats while on earth. <br /><br />-Dune's Guild Steersman, esp. as David Lynch imagines them. Totally bizzare. <br /><br />-Almost every race in M.A.R. Barker's Tekumel setting: SSu, Mnor, Yazai, Tinaliya, Ahoggya, Hokun, Hluss, Pe Choi. Too many to even really try to list. Hands down one of the best and richest settings ever for non-humanoid intelligent species. <br /><br />-Janck Vance's Pnume. Their rasping mantis-like mouth parts, their mysterious and secretive subterranean existence. And his insect-stowaway Nissifer in Cugel's Saga that disguised itself as human. Something creepy about a human exterior hiding a totally alien creature inside...<br /><br />-Agreed on Daleks, almost anything Wayne Barlowe has anything to do with (including Arkus from the obscure 80's Powerlords toy series,,) and Lovecraft in general.<br /><br />- The creature from "The Thing" either John Carpenter's version or the original John W. Campbell short story "Who Goes There?"<br /><br />Great thread!! Easy to get carried away.....Jhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07617254515855361271noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-47576317958211787332011-09-10T21:03:34.987-04:002011-09-10T21:03:34.987-04:00There was a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode...There was a Star Trek: The Next Generation episode with some kind of telepathic mineral (or maybe crystal?) organism that referred to its human captors as "ugly bags of mostly water". I always liked that one.Tom Russellhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01943912870055113512noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-50204593069306959232011-09-10T20:32:46.736-04:002011-09-10T20:32:46.736-04:00To really describe a non-humanoid non-anthropomorp...To really describe a non-humanoid non-anthropomorphized alien the author has to be good enough to conceptualize truly alien. That is why most Elves are portrayed slender humans with pointy years who routinely live for centuries. Now consider a human being who lived to the Biblical 500-700 years, what impact would remainign in your prime for that long have on your emotional, cultural or intellectual development, not to mention accumulation of wealth and power over a 500 year career. That is why I run a humans only campaign, and Elven is just as alien as other humanoid races.<br /><br />With regards to the atempts to describe truly incomprehensible races, there is, of course, Stanislaw Lem Solaris, and Strugatskii brothers' Travelers' Extinct alien race that left its artefacts for the space faring humanity to discover (with the late 1960's they were probbaly the first), in 1972 they wrote a Roadside Picnic novel, about a UFO landing that dumped its trash on Earth and contaminated the planet with its organisms and artefacts. They did an awesome job describing samples of alien technology (based on the earthly effects of advanced physcial chemistry and nuclear physics still not widely known). Somebody, I don't remember who, described a an alien race of beings based on crystaline structure. These things (very much like silicone 10 foot space amoebas) live off the solar radiation and extinguish stars. hey are able to costruct larger structures, which able to fight off the aliens UFOs trying to defend thesir Suns from premature extinction. Story was told from a point of view of an eartling who was kidnapped by the aliens fighting these things.Brooser Bearhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08487438364129415650noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-24699167092723899932011-09-10T17:06:23.905-04:002011-09-10T17:06:23.905-04:00I liked the Cheela, from Robert Forward's Hard...I liked the Cheela, from Robert Forward's Hard Sci-Fi Book "Dragons Egg" An alien lifeform that lived on the surface of a nuetron star. They were about the size of a seasame seed, saw in the ultra-violet to X-ray range of light, and loved sex, which they called "flowing". They were as smart as humans, but lived a million times faster than us. Their lifespan was about 40 minutes in our time. A great book, even if the human characters are little flat. Once I read that book....I never saw aliens the same again.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-85482584015053336062011-09-10T16:48:34.513-04:002011-09-10T16:48:34.513-04:00Face-Hugger from Alien!Face-Hugger from Alien!O'Flux aka SteveEGhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07505599780288759141noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-36727224410463339942011-09-10T13:42:21.996-04:002011-09-10T13:42:21.996-04:00So many out there...
Not that I dislike humanoid a...So many out there...<br />Not that I dislike humanoid aliens as such, mind you, but I'd choose Hivers and Horta.<br /><br />And Daleks, of course. Must be that plunger ;-)SAMhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10145507030952525432noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-71378763786070691852011-09-10T12:43:20.645-04:002011-09-10T12:43:20.645-04:00Not science fiction, but the first thing in any of...Not science fiction, but the first thing in any of the recent monster manuals is the Aboleth, an evil psychic squid with they're own subterranean ocean society.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-83733686650740123402011-09-10T12:37:18.783-04:002011-09-10T12:37:18.783-04:00I like the "continuous creation" races i...I like the "continuous creation" races in Pratchett's pastiche "Strata". "The Wheelers were silicon hemispheres, propelling themselves on three natural <br />wheels."; "a Palaeotech -- dead, at least by human terms [...] It was a thin-walled tube half a million miles long."; "ChThones, who spun <br />giant stars out of galactic matter, and the RIME, who produced hydrogen as part of <br />their biological processes..."Marasmusinehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15656321521663281621noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-39988315334810798872011-09-10T09:48:24.502-04:002011-09-10T09:48:24.502-04:00Oh... and I forgot to mention Wild Talents' Bu...Oh... and I forgot to mention Wild Talents' Builders and the Fish. Also cool non-humanoid races.Tzimiscedraculhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16762161243138880483noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-51765120316900854772011-09-10T09:45:52.005-04:002011-09-10T09:45:52.005-04:00Babylon 5's Shadows. And Eclipse Phase's F...Babylon 5's Shadows. And Eclipse Phase's Factors. Lovecraft is really a great source for truly alien races.Tzimiscedraculhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16762161243138880483noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-30579779453092267192011-09-10T07:51:57.274-04:002011-09-10T07:51:57.274-04:00Jarts, from Greg Bear's Eon. To be honest can...Jarts, from Greg Bear's Eon. To be honest can't remember now if the things I have in mind are Bear's originals or my own adaptation of them, but they were kinda insecty, kinda Lovecraftian, and grew metal legs. <br /><br />If you demand aliens that aren't humans, insects, cephalopods or "pure thought"... the field shrinks dramatically. Although many of Lovecraft's, and Douglas Adams' Hooloovoo, are still in the running.richardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13517340075234811323noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7487871339000666216.post-28742932409208972422011-09-10T05:10:33.346-04:002011-09-10T05:10:33.346-04:00Like Squeeck, I'm thinking Babylon 5 - but the...Like Squeeck, I'm thinking Babylon 5 - but the Shadows, whether the semi-arachnid things themselves or their living starships with human telepaths as flight control computers...The Wordmongerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05812866827808902568noreply@blogger.com