Alien Archetypes

Alien Archetypes

There are many different types of Aliens, Most of these are encountered in fiction, and only a few are significant players in the “real Alien” mythos.

Little green men: These appeared more in the pulp fiction era and were precursors of Grays. They are found in some of the 1950s UFO movies, which, although often black and white, somehow convey a green-ness to their Aliens. Green Aliens are still found in children's movies, like Toy Story.

The Grays: These are the most common form of Aliens in reported encounters and in any movie in which the Aliens are nominally real. They are called Grays because of the color of their skin. They typically have a large head and forehead, small chin, no nose and almond-shaped, black eyes. The origins of this variant of Alien appears to be the Betty and Barney Hill incident, a well-known Aliens' story.  The Asgard from Stargate, the Visitors from the book Communion, and the Aliens from Close Encounters of the Third Kind are of this type.

Angelic Space Brothers: This type of Alien varies somewhat, but they are described as tall, beautiful, and Nordic in appearance, generally with long hair. These Aliens are very spiritual and have come to teach us about cosmic harmony. They tend to be a bit arrogant and their motivation for contacting us is to save us from self-destructive behavior. Occasionally they warn us to improve how we act or they will somehow keep us on Earth until we do. Some Alien skeptics have noted that this variant  of Alien is very similar to the role that angels once played in society when religion was accepted more universally and that they really have the same function, which is providing an object lesson in knowing how we should behave. Those who believe that the Space Brothers are real point to our legends of angels as proof that they have visited the Earth in the past. One example of this type of Alien is Klaatu from The Day the Earth Stood still.

Alien Elf. Illustration by Elena.

Evil insects: They vary in their range of intelligence, so it is ambiguous whether they count as Aliens or mere alien life-forms. Accordingly, whether they are evil or not depends on their intent. Typically they are hunters and killers of humans. The Aliens in the movie Alien and its sequels have an ambiguous intelligence. Perhaps they hunt just to eat and reproduce. The Aliens from Starship Troopers appear to have a sort of hive mentality, with some of the aliens encountered being swarming fighters, while others are more intelligent. We can also include the Formies Ender's Game here.

Warriors: These are Aliens who value honor, bravery in battle, and aggressiveness above all. They consider life-forms who do not yearn for combat to be weak and therefore creatures to be conquered and either exterminated or enslaved. The Klingons from the Star Trek universe are iconic versions of this type of Alien, especially those from Stark Trek: The Next Generation onward. The Green Martians of Edgar Rice Burroughs's Barsoom universe are other excellent examples. The Hawkmen of the Flash Gordon comics are warriors. As are the Kzinti of the Larry Niven Rigworld universe. It is possible that the eponymous Predator Alien counts, although it is not completely clear whether his race are hunters or warriors out for a little rest and recreation. Another variant of this archetype are Aliens who are a fighting class of a larger society. Often this variant is not the leader class of the society. The Jem'Hadar of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine and Jaffa of Stargate typify this type.

Cuties: These Aliens are usually designed to get our children to have us part with our hard-earned money. They are cute, often evocative of warm and fuzzy pets, teddy bears, or other cuddly memories. The Woks of Return of the Jedi, the Tribbles of Star Trek, E.T. Of E.T.: The Extraterrestrial, and maybe ALF are cutie aliens.

Yankee traders: While the historical and earthly Yankee traders were interested in making money, the Alien variant ranges from the merely acquisitive to species for which money is central to their culture. The Ferengi of the Star Trek universe are one example, as are the Psychlos of L.Ron Hubbard's classic pulp novel Battlefield Earth/

Shape shifters: These Aliens have an unspecified natural form but can assume the shape of others to blend in, sometimes to hunt. Examples include the changeling assassin in Star Wars: Attack of the Clones, the unnamed Alien in John Campbell's Who Goes There, the pod people of Invasion of the Body Snatchers or the race personified by Odo in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.

Mechanical organic life haters: These are a mechanical form of life or occasionally a mix of organic and robotic components. More often than not, they are driven to exterminate or enslave organic beings. The Borg of the Star Trek universe are one example, as are the Cylons of Battlestar Galactica. Star Trek: The Original Series exploited this form of Alien frequently, with the episodes “The Doomsday Machine” and “The Changeling”, as well as V'ger from the first Star Trek movie. Doctor Who fans will recognize the Daleks as one of this type of Alien. A rare variant is the good robot, for instance the Autobots in the transformers cartoons and movies.

Gods: These Aliens are so powerful that they can do anything. They often are capricious, sometimes malicious, and sometimes ambivalent. The Organians and the Q of the Star Trek universe are two examples, as are the Goa'uld of the Stargate universe.

Angel Space Syster... Illustration by Elena.