Aliens

[Bry_Sinclair]

I love alien races. Personally I think the next Trek series should be filled with them, all with different perceptions and viewpoints, to truly help look at moral and ethical questions with a POV that isn't just the 'human' way.

However, what races would you want to see in future series? Would you want them to just use all the tried and tested (Vulcans, Klingons, etc), examine aliens that only had a single episode where they featured (eg Deltans, Ullians), dig up ones we only saw in passing (eg Betelgeusian, Saurian), or would you want all new alien races introduced rigth across the board?

 

[Autistoid]

Booo


I'm a quality over quantity guy. Either establish that they are long lost cousins of humans, or have fewer and better developed aliens.

Honestly I just think it's flat out dumb. Like one would have to be incredibly unaware what the idea of aliens even are for the way star trek chooses to do them.

The one suspension of disbelief I always have in mind when watching trek, is that these aliens are actually just direct cousins of humans.

It just makes more sense.

It's part of why I see no reason to goto far away stars.




Also if your gonna do them display different neurologies.

I'd use alien race if humanoid to parallel mental health issues.


Have entire alien races with autism.

With psychopathy.

A race of people with ocd.


Not as a way of creating a planet of hats but exploring the diversity that occurs within a certain neurological mindset.

 

[T'Girl]

Personally I think the next Trek series should be filled with them

Yes please, for all the flack "forehead of the week" gets among some fans, Star Trek needed aliens. I personally would have no trouble with aliens without any significant makeup, just the level of the Bajorian (small nose piece), or Betazeds (contact lenses).

Far more important would be that they (the actors) play non-Humans.

 

[Esirprus]

Well I agree with all points above. Psychologically aliens act alien. That one rule of writing Star Trek that I have learned. And to the guy who wants alien anatomies what about a race that keeps their heart in their head?

 

[T'Girl]

^ And their testicles in their knees.

 

[alpha_leonis]

^ Or their heart where their liver should be.

 

[uniderth]

This topic has covered some good stuff in just a few posts.

I would like to see more aliens. However, I'm also of the opinion that on Starships similar alien types would serve together. For some alien species 72 degrees F would be far too hot or far too cold. These aliens would probably not be serving together on the same ship. You would have aliens used to a certain temperature or certain gravity all serving together. This way to ships environment could be universal throughout. I think this would limit the number of types of aliens we see on any human inhabited ship. For more diversity could be found on non-human Starfleet ships.

Also, as was mentioned it, needs to be pegged down whether these are alien species or alien races. Perhaps some are related to humans, ala The Chase; while others evolved independently.

Now having said that, forehead of the week aliens tend to throw me out of the story. My suspension of disbelief goes out the window when they ask me to believe that these aliens evolved to look exactly like humans except for some tiny bump on their forehead. Really?! Why didn't the bump evolve on their arm or their back? It had to be right in the middle of their forehead? For some reason aliens that look exactly like humans(perhaps with a different color) are easier to believe than aliens with a bump on their forehead. So I would say when doing aliens, either go all the way Star Wars style, or go home and keep them human looking.

Even more than looks I think alien cultures are far more interesting. I really enjoy having my preconceived notions ripped to shreds so that I am forced to consider an alternative. And I would prefer to see the main characters be the ones to learn lessons from aliens rather than our heros always correcting the "backward" cultures of aliens. Maybe a main character could find an alien species where tradition is very important and the character goes back to the ship and decides to become more focused on family traditions or something.

Maybe there's an alien species where cannibalism is normal. Or an alien species where slavery is a beneficial aspect of their society. In exploring these strange new worlds I want to have all of my ideas for what is "normal" turned on their head. But I would like it done in a way where at the end of the episode I think, "You know, they make a good point. What if..."

As far as what aliens I would like to see. I think that would largely depend on the era the show is set in. But if existing species are depicted I would prefer a bit more world building so that they aren't just stereo types. The way Star Trek does aliens is the way Star Wars does planets. Vulcanians: logical, Klingons: biker-gang-heavy-metal-warriors, Romulans: deceitful, etc. So more variety in the roles individuals play within an alien species.

That goes for humans too. I prefer much more cosmopolitan view of humanity one where various culture are expressed rather than merged together. Not all humans are going to be cookie cutter Americans. Lets have some humans with diverse religious backgrounds, or different cultural traditions. But it would be important to make sure each character doesn't become a stereotype as well. How about a light skinned african. or maybe a dark skinned british person.

Anyway back to aliens. I would prefer seeing more of the aliens we've only seen in passing. Additionally, I would like to see more aliens from accounts of alien abductions and encounters. Lets see some greys from Zeta Reticuli, or maybe an entire race of Flatwoods Monster-esque aliens. Lets see some of those Nordics from the Pleiades that had a secret base on Venus all these years.

That would be fun to learn that all this time earth has been a sort of hub for extra terrestrial research. Also maybe explain the Fermi Paradox.

 

[T'Girl]

That goes for humans too. I prefer much more cosmopolitan view of humanity one where various culture are expressed rather than merged together.

Definately need an end to the Human mono-culture. I love TNG, but one of my complaints is that the character were too much the same. There were times went you probably could have exchanged dialog between the actors and the the audience wouldn't have noticed the difference.

The scene in Pen Pals where the principal characters disagree about the prime directive is one of my favorites.

 

[Tarek71]

I love alien races. Personally I think the next Trek series should be filled with them, all with different perceptions and viewpoints, to truly help look at moral and ethical questions with a POV that isn't just the 'human' way.

However, what races would you want to see in future series? Would you want them to just use all the tried and tested (Vulcans, Klingons, etc), examine aliens that only had a single episode where they featured (eg Deltans, Ullians), dig up ones we only saw in passing (eg Betelgeusian, Saurian), or would you want all new alien races introduced rigth across the board?

Depends on what Era it's set in. There are supposed to be 150 odd member world's by the 24th Century. We know next to nothing about the vast majority of them.

Even a show set in the 2160s there should be room to meet quite a few of them. So yes, I'd like to meet some of the dozens of "new" races we never got to know, including some seen rarely or only mentioned by name.

And hopefully no Planet of Hats species. Or at least keep that to a minimum.

 

[Esirprus]

I agree about the forehead stuff. I keep it real, to the best of my ability. And keep alien societies seeming alien. As well as being in some cases better or equal in advances to the Federation and show steriotypical races in new ways.

 

[Jeffe525]

I love alien races. Personally I think the next Trek series should be filled with them, all with different perceptions and viewpoints, to truly help look at moral and ethical questions with a POV that isn't just the 'human' way.

Mee-sa likes dis!

However, what races would you want to see in future series? Would you want them to just use all the tried and tested (Vulcans, Klingons, etc), examine aliens that only had a single episode where they featured (eg Deltans, Ullians), dig up ones we only saw in passing (eg Betelgeusian, Saurian), or would you want all new alien races introduced rigth across the board?

All Of The Above - I love the way they did the Andorians in ENT. I would love to see more of them. Klingons have been explored to death, but they should still be there (even if in the background).

The biggest problem with aliens is cost. A nose ridge or pointy ears is a lot cheaper than an 8472.

But I agree that they should sprinkle some off the wall aliens among the crew whenever they can. Aliens like Deltans and Betazoids are cheap. Those kind should be shown roaming about as much as possible, if nothing else just to thin out the white, 20-something extras in the background. And while your at it, give every character a name - that simple act is so easy to do and it adds depth, even if they don't speak back.

And I agree, stop with the freakin' foreheard of the week. Give me some crawlers in a uniform. Show me a tripedal, a quadrapedal, hell how about a unipedal. Show me a starship with deck plates on the floor and the ceiling so the stickers can get around too. Give me some exo-skeleton rollers. How about some that hover? Or fly? Or aliens that just look like a tendril web that moves and deforms to fill and work a large, circular station of consoles (maybe it speaks by changing color).

We've got, green ones, blue ones, white ones, black ones, yellow ones and brown ones... but where are the red ones? Or the multicolored ones?

And for God's sake can we finally get an f-ing talking monkey in space, and please, for the love that is all holy, please make him the chief engineer.

 

[Tim Walker]

"Ian Douglas" is a pen name for William H. Keith

In both Abyss Deep (Star Corpsman series), and the Star Carrier series, Keith has tried to portray aliens with strange psychologies. One concept he has used is an exaggeration of fight-or-flight. This adds an intellectual step in trying to understand the behavior of the alien, it isn't as intuitive as undering the behavior of another human.

BTW, one of the most alien of aliens in Trek was the Borg. A hive mind is something that we can conceive of, but which is nevertheless foreign to the human condition.

 

[T'Girl]

Give me some crawlers in a uniform. Show me a tripedal, a quadrapedal, hell how about a unipedal.

For a actual series there would be practicalities involved, unless we're talking about an animated series what you're suggesting would be financially impossible.

With a cable audience of three or four million people we get some clever makeup for the aliens, multiple major characters who are CGI creations would require a much large audience to afford the show.

 

[Jeffe525]

Give me some crawlers in a uniform. Show me a tripedal, a quadrapedal, hell how about a unipedal.

For a actual series there would be practicalities involved, unless we're talking about an animated series what you're suggesting would be financially impossible.

With a cable audience of three or four million people we get some clever makeup for the aliens, multiple major characters who are CGI creations would require a much large audience to afford the show.

I agree. I'm not saying make an ensemble cast of CGI's, but let's sprinkle some of the easier, established humanoids into the cast and background (Deltans, Betazoids, Bajorans, etc.). Then we can save the pricey makeup and CGI work for the alien of the week, the occasional distinguished guest or lower-deck crewman.

Either way, I would vote to restrict the next crew to 50% human, and only 1 white guy/girl.

 

[Bry_Sinclair]

^ 50% of the main characters (though I'd prefer less than that, though can understand that some viewers might be turned off by too many aliens) but in total have humans comprise at most 10% of the overall crew.

 

[Jeffe525]

^ 50% of the main characters (though I'd prefer less than that, though can understand that some viewers might be turned off by too many aliens) but in total have humans comprise at most 10% of the overall crew.

Agreed. There are plenty of easy near-human aliens to choose from to get humanoids up to an overall 50%. While I acknowledge that Star Trek is ultimately about humans, there's no reason that exploration into the human condition can't be done well with nonhumans (Spock, Data, Worf, etc.).

I still stand firm though: I won't be on board with any of this unless I can have a talking monkey Chief Engineer. NO EXCEPTIONS!

 

[Esirprus]

Why skin color variety is more believable than forehead variety.

Perhaps because here on Earth where our subconscious awareness of "reality" comes from there are many skin tones, but even in ethnic groups with radical skin tones the foreheads are all the same. Hair color, waves and length is noted. How it's cut and/or kept by each group. So we more easily accept aliens who simply are a new race of humans whose planet made that skin tone important.

I noticed when complaining about the "foreheads of the week" that Klingon foreheads were not complained about. However like a head plated dinosaurs they seem to use theirs as a form of natural armor which given the rest of their culture is believable. I think the key to prosthetic faces of aliens is that they have a purpose the viewer can easily identify. Otherwise it's just wasted makeup.

 

[Tim Walker]

Discussion of Uncanny Valley

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley

 

[TheSubCommander]

However, what races would you want to see in future series? Would you want them to just use all the tried and tested (Vulcans, Klingons, etc), examine aliens that only had a single episode where they featured (eg Deltans, Ullians), dig up ones we only saw in passing (eg Betelgeusian, Saurian), or would you want all new alien races introduced rigth across the board?

I'm a quality over quantity guy. Either establish that they are long lost cousins of humans, or have fewer and better developed aliens.

For me, less is more. Personally, I think the galaxy is a little too crowded. I think the more that races have a connection and/or shared ancestry, the better. I also would like to see a focus on TOS aliens, like the Andorans for example, as Enterprise started to do. In fact, that was part of Enterprises failing...I had no use for the Xindi, but would have loved to see more of the founding members of the federation. When you think about it, once Enterprise started doing just that, it started getting good.

I've never been too bothered with human-like aliens. I never really found the argument against the "forehead of the week" all that strong, and personally, near-human aliens are something I PREFER. I know TV shows have their budgets to consider, and as long as the design is interesting, I am okay with it, because it is more about the story than anything else.

TOS aliens often were virtually indistinguishable from humans, so the fact that TNG-ENT attempted to introduce aliens with cosmetic features to give them an alien appearance, should be lauded, not criticized.

I noticed when complaining about the "foreheads of the week" that Klingon foreheads were not complained about. However like a head plated dinosaurs they seem to use theirs as a form of natural armor which given the rest of their culture is believable. I think the key to prosthetic faces of aliens is that they have a purpose the viewer can easily identify. Otherwise it's just wasted makeup.

I think this is a good observation. The make up needs to look like it serves an actual purpose other than to simply look non-human, but I also think that if a race is explained as being distantly related to say human, Vulcan, Klingon, or Andoran, you can get away with slight changes.

For example, if Bajorans or Betazoids had been explained to have some connection to humans (IE preservers), the slight changes could have been explained by genetic drift. Another example could have been that the Kazon could have been distantly related to Klingons.

I know that may be a stretch for some, but if you think about it, we already see that with Vulcans and Romulans: they have the same ancestry, but now have evolved to be different just enough to be distinct species.

I would like to see more aliens. However, I'm also of the opinion that on Starships similar alien types would serve together. For some alien species 72 degrees F would be far too hot or far too cold. These aliens would probably not be serving together on the same ship. You would have aliens used to a certain temperature or certain gravity all serving together. This way to ships environment could be universal throughout. I think this would limit the number of types of aliens we see on any human inhabited ship. For more diversity could be found on non-human Starfleet ships.

I agree with this. The fact that species who serve on the same ship in the same environment, are going to have similar physiologies. So, I think that is sufficient enough explanation for human-like appearances is good enough for me. That is for aliens who roam within humanoid environments.


For aliens who aren't able to function in humanoid environments, environmental suits are a good solution. The Breen come to mind, and in fact, I think it was a quite effective use of suits, because it left what they actually looked like to the imagination, yet they didn't have to spend a fortune on make up or CGI.

Discussion of Uncanny Valley

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uncanny_valley

This leads to something interesting: in Star Trek TOS, androids look almost too human.

However, Data seemed to break that mold, and as a result, he did encounter some prejudice. Unfortunately, holographic characters have sort of made android redundant and obsolete, but I think it would have been interesting (especially if Data had encountered one) if we had other android characters who didn't look quite human: IE metallic appearance (Voyager did this one time), or maybe androids with a skin that looked too synthetic, etc.

 

[RAMA]

Yes aliens. One of the small handful of story ideas I've ever done for Trek included more aliens in the crew, simply because aliens would outnumber humans in the Federation by a huge margin.

RAMA