Humanoid or Human?

[Extrocomp]

In TOS and to a lesser extent in TNG we saw a lot of aliens that looked completely identical to humans even though they certainly didn't come from Earth. On Star Wars and Stargate, any human-looking being is said to be a human regardless of their planet of origin. In Star Trek some of the human-like aliens are clearly identified as being humanoid rather than human but others are described more vaguely. TOS have established that there is a civilization called the Preservers that transport humans to other worlds. Also mentioned is Hodgkin's Theory of Parallel Evolution which is used to explain worlds that have managed to produce exact imitations of Earth languages and cultures. I will discuss the various human-like aliens shown and try to conclude whether they are human or humanoid:

Miri's people
Considering their planet is an exact duplicate of Earth, it's very probable that the inhabitants are human.
McCoy quote: The idea was to create a new series of diseases, a chain reaction of viruses meant essentially to extend the life of the human cell immeasurably.

Landru's people
Repeatedly identified as human.
Kirk quote: Are you suggesting the Lawgivers are mere computers, that they aren't human?
Spock quote: Quite human, Captain.
Spock quote: A computer capable of directing the lives of millions of human beings.

Eminians
Kirk quote: We're human beings with the blood of a million savage years on our hands,
Since Kirk is talking with Anan 7 at this time, the quote could be interpreted to imply that both Kirk and Anan are human. Since there's nothing in the episode that suggests otherwise, I'm going to call them human.

Capellans
McCoy quote: Capellans aren't human, Jim. They're humanoid. There's certain internal differences.
Also, in one novels, Leonard James Akaar replies "I am no more human than you are" after a Romulan mistakenly calls him human.

Klingons
The Klingons of 2nd season TOS looked identical to humans but The Trouble with Tribbles clearly demonstrates that they're not.
McCoy quote: Heartbeat is all wrong. His body temperature is. Jim, this man is a Klingon.

Argelians
Some Argelians women are empaths but that doesn't mean they're not human since Miranda Jones was human and she was a full-blown telepath. Since there's nothing in the episode that suggests otherwise, I'm going to call them human.

Iotians
Again, there's nothing to suggest they're not human so I'm saying they are.

Tyree's people
McCoy quote: Inhabitants superior in many ways to humans.
Unfortunately no one explains exactly how they are superior to humans. Nona's herbal remedies work perfectly well on Kirk considering he's from another species. Still, the above quote is pretty clear. Not human.

Ekosians
Spock quote: The Ekosians are humanoid, so there is apt to be a similarity in architecture.
Of course, humans are also humanoid so that doesn't necessarily mean much. I'm going to say they're human.

Zeons
Nazi quote: Zeon pig. On your feet, pig.
Seriously though, they seem to be be just as human as the Ekosians. I don't know how the Nazis recognize them.

Kelvans
McCoy quote: They registered as human.
Although the Kelvans were originally immense beings with hundreds of tentacles, their new bodies are human.

Yangs and Kohms
The inhabitants of Omega IV managed to come up with cultures very similar to Earth's by parallel evolution so it's probable that they were once human. They probably registered as human on the tricorder, which would explain why Captain Tracey thought their long lifespans were caused by environmental factors. However, it turned out that their long lives and immunity to disease were due to evolution so they're not human.

Romans
They speak perfect English and have a culture identical to ancient Rome's. They even have Roman names. All because of parallel evolution. If parallel evolution can duplicate Earth's cultures it can also duplicate the human genome. Definitely human.

Morgs and Eymorgs
Scott quote: Captain! There's someone, something out there in the rocks. Five of them. Humanoid, large.
Spock quote: She is an alien. The configurations of her brain are different. It could cause irreparable damage to your human brain, Doctor.
The Morgs are repeatedly called humanoids and they're much bigger than human men. Spock's quote confirms it. Not human.

Miramanee's people
Clearly identified as American Indians from the Navajo, Mohican and Delaware tribes. Transplanted by the Preservers.

Fabrini
There's nothing in the episode to suggest they're not human. The novel Ex Machina describes the Fabrini in more detail but I haven't read it yet. For now I'll consider them humans.

Platonians
Their telekinesis doesn't count because it comes from their food. However, they live for thousands years and have no immunity to disease so they can't be human.
Philana quote: I'm two thousand three hundred years old.

Scalosians
Deela quote: I hate what happens to them when they're damaged. If they are so stubborn a species, perhaps they will last longer. They all go so soon. I want to keep this one a long time.
This quote implies humans and Scalosians are different species and that Scalosians don't die from minor cellular damage like humans do and that they have much longer lifespans.

I'll continue later. Any information from the novels is welcome.

 

[Timewalker]

Regarding the Eminians: Unless the Eminians owe their civilization to the Preservers, they can't be human. At the start of the episode, Eminiar and Vendikar have been at war for 500 years -- longer than humans have had space travel.

I see no reason why Kirk couldn't simply have been referring to humans from Earth.

 

[splodenode]

In TOS and to a lesser extent in TNG we saw a lot of aliens that looked completely identical to humans even though they certainly didn't come from Earth. On Star Wars and Stargate, any human-looking being is said to be a human regardless of their planet of origin. In Star Trek some of the human-like aliens are clearly identified as being humanoid rather than human but others are described more vaguely. TOS have established that there is a civilization called the Preservers that transport humans to other worlds. Also mentioned is Hodgkin's Theory of Parallel Evolution which is used to explain worlds that have managed to produce exact imitations of Earth languages and cultures. I will discuss the various human-like aliens shown and try to conclude whether they are human or humanoid:

Miri's people
Considering their planet is an exact duplicate of Earth, it's very probable that the inhabitants are human.
McCoy quote: The idea was to create a new series of diseases, a chain reaction of viruses meant essentially to extend the life of the human cell immeasurably.

Landru's people
Repeatedly identified as human.
Kirk quote: Are you suggesting the Lawgivers are mere computers, that they aren't human?
Spock quote: Quite human, Captain.
Spock quote: A computer capable of directing the lives of millions of human beings.

Eminians
Kirk quote: We're human beings with the blood of a million savage years on our hands,
Since Kirk is talking with Anan 7 at this time, the quote could be interpreted to imply that both Kirk and Anan are human. Since there's nothing in the episode that suggests otherwise, I'm going to call them human.

Capellans
McCoy quote: Capellans aren't human, Jim. They're humanoid. There's certain internal differences.
Also, in one novels, Leonard James Akaar replies "I am no more human than you are" after a Romulan mistakenly calls him human.

Klingons
The Klingons of 2nd season TOS looked identical to humans but The Trouble with Tribbles clearly demonstrates that they're not.
McCoy quote: Heartbeat is all wrong. His body temperature is. Jim, this man is a Klingon.

Argelians
Some Argelians women are empaths but that doesn't mean they're not human since Miranda Jones was human and she was a full-blown telepath. Since there's nothing in the episode that suggests otherwise, I'm going to call them human.

Iotians
Again, there's nothing to suggest they're not human so I'm saying they are.

Tyree's people
McCoy quote: Inhabitants superior in many ways to humans.
Unfortunately no one explains exactly how they are superior to humans. Nona's herbal remedies work perfectly well on Kirk considering he's from another species. Still, the above quote is pretty clear. Not human.

Ekosians
Spock quote: The Ekosians are humanoid, so there is apt to be a similarity in architecture.
Of course, humans are also humanoid so that doesn't necessarily mean much. I'm going to say they're human.

Zeons
Nazi quote: Zeon pig. On your feet, pig.
Seriously though, they seem to be be just as human as the Ekosians. I don't know how the Nazis recognize them.

Kelvans
McCoy quote: They registered as human.
Although the Kelvans were originally immense beings with hundreds of tentacles, their new bodies are human.

Yangs and Kohms
The inhabitants of Omega IV managed to come up with cultures very similar to Earth's by parallel evolution so it's probable that they were once human. They probably registered as human on the tricorder, which would explain why Captain Tracey thought their long lifespans were caused by environmental factors. However, it turned out that their long lives and immunity to disease were due to evolution so they're not human.

Romans
They speak perfect English and have a culture identical to ancient Rome's. They even have Roman names. All because of parallel evolution. If parallel evolution can duplicate Earth's cultures it can also duplicate the human genome. Definitely human.

Morgs and Eymorgs
Scott quote: Captain! There's someone, something out there in the rocks. Five of them. Humanoid, large.
Spock quote: She is an alien. The configurations of her brain are different. It could cause irreparable damage to your human brain, Doctor.
The Morgs are repeatedly called humanoids and they're much bigger than human men. Spock's quote confirms it. Not human.

Miramanee's people
Clearly identified as American Indians from the Navajo, Mohican and Delaware tribes. Transplanted by the Preservers.

Fabrini
There's nothing in the episode to suggest they're not human. The novel Ex Machina describes the Fabrini in more detail but I haven't read it yet. For now I'll consider them humans.

Platonians
Their telekinesis doesn't count because it comes from their food. However, they live for thousands years and have no immunity to disease so they can't be human.
Philana quote: I'm two thousand three hundred years old.

Scalosians
Deela quote: I hate what happens to them when they're damaged. If they are so stubborn a species, perhaps they will last longer. They all go so soon. I want to keep this one a long time.
This quote implies humans and Scalosians are different species and that Scalosians don't die from minor cellular damage like humans do and that they have much longer lifespans.

I'll continue later. Any information from the novels is welcome.

them betazeds

 

[Timo]

Overall, I'd assume that nobody is human unless explicitly stated. That is, when they look human, they derive from common stock, but they need not be recent transplants mere centuries or millennia old, but can be the result of a seeding program that dates back millions of years. Meddling with the lives of lesser species is a common pastime for Trek superspecies, so I assume there have been at the very least three layers of meddlers: first, the original seeders from TNG "The Chase", billions of years ago; second, advanced galactic rulers like Sargon's folks, millions of years ago; and third, recent petty criminals like Preservers or Caretaker or Briori or Skagarrans, typically only centuries or millennia old but sometimes perhaps time-traveling to more distant past. The first two would create nonhumans who may look human but are easily tricorder-distinct, while the third group would seldom be capable of modifying the original stock.

In some cases, the plot itself yells that the people in question be transplants from Earth (assuming that Earth isn't the result of transplanting, too): Miri's people and Miramanee's people fall in this category. The means by which they were transplanted differ, though. Miramanee's folks were apparently moved fairly recently by "third-category" aliens, while Miri's folks seem to be the result of some sort of a perverse experiment at exact duplication which requires a bit more than just a bunch of drunken kids with a transporter-equipped starship.

The folks at Omega IV are no different from Plato's stepchildren in that they both have odd biologies but retain key elements of Earth culture. In the former case, we could blame cultural contamination from a time-traveling Earthling - but it would be a bit superfluous to also claim that said "third-category" Earthling spread his sperm or her ova to create the Omegan peoples. It would suffice for the US constitution and flag to be brought to the Omegan past by a sufficiently fanatic meddler; the locals would be much older "second-category" transplants.

Hodgkins' Law I'd dismiss as utter bullshit, a desperate attempt by TOS era scientists to explain the existence of interstellar humans before all the facts were known. Instead, I'd interpret all "pseudo-Earths" such as the Roman planet as the result of direct meddling by a cultural contaminant such as a time traveler. The contamination for the pseudo-Romans simply came a bit earlier on than for the pseudo-Nazis, and thus lies deeper in the culture.

On that same vein, the folks supervised by Landru would be natives (that is, "second-category" transplants again), and the fact that their current culture has influences from Earth history would be due to Landru stealing those influences from Earth spacefarer databanks and applying them on his society for a bit of welcome variation.

Iotians probably have tentacles and snouts. Mimicry is their way of life, so their imitation of human life would naturally include mimicry of human biology as well. I'm not saying they're shapeshifters. I'm saying they take their games so seriously that they bioengineer their looks for each game of make-believe. (And I don't buy for a second that their technology would be that of 1920s Earth. They are probably veritable wizards in that department.)

Timo Saloniemi

 

[Extrocomp]

If the Iotians were really and advanced race pretending to be primitive, then why did they let the Federation push them around so bad? There's absolutely no evidence to suggest they are shapeshifters or expert biotechnicians.

The book Preserver by William Shatner supposedly describes the Preservers in more detail and links them with Miri's planet. If they could create a duplicate Earth who knows what else they are responsible for.

Halkans
There is not enough information to draw any conclusions. There was only one Halkan character and he only had a few lines.

Minaran empaths
Obviously not human, considering the lack of vocal chords and the weird healing powers.
Spock quote: Although humanoid, it is definitely not Homo Sapiens.

Elasians
Elasian tears are a powerful aphrodisiac so they're definitely not human. The book Starfleet Survival Guide explains that Elasian tears can even change the DNA of the infected person but for a non-Elasian the effect is temporary.

Gideonites
No evidence either way. I'm saying they're human.

Kalandans
This long-extinct race was definitely not human because their computer was programmed to attack any life-forms other than their own and it killed some guy named D'Amato.

Ardanans
Again there is no mention about whether the inhabitants of Ardana are human or not. It's too bad most of the alien races seen in Star Trek are only seen once so they never get fleshed out. Supposedly Ardana was going to make an appearance in the fifth season of Enterprise but there's no chance of that now. I'll say they're human. Zenite gas has the same had the same effect on Kirk that it did on Plasus. Then again Kirk is always like that.

Sarpeids
The inhabitants of Sarpeidon. The term Sarpeid originally came from Star Trek Concordance I think. Anyway, they were referred to as a "civilized humanoid species" in the captain's log which implies that they're not human since I don't think Kirk would ever refer any humans he met as a "humanoid species". Sarpeidon is revisited in the novel Yesterday's Son but I haven't read it yet.

Deltans
Ilia quote: I'm sworn to celibacy, Mister Sulu. That makes me as safe as any human female.
I think that quote is from one of the deleted scenes. The fact that she's bald could be just a cultural thing but Ilia's ability to reduce a person's pain makes it clear that she isn't human. One can't help but wonder what makes humans so "sexually immature" compared to the Deltans. The Motion Picture novelization elaborates further about the Deltans were telepathic and had very strong pheromones.

Betazoids
Despite their human appearance, Betazoids have a very different physiology. Their entire species is telepathic, their gestation perioid is 10 months, they dream on a different brain wave frequency than humans and they have weird middle-age sexual phases. Oh yeah, they also have black eyes.

Ligonians
Riker quote: Not only are they closely humanoid, but their history has remarkable similarities to ours.
Troi quote: Much the same has happened in human history too.
These quotes imply that Ligonians are not human but it's rather vague. I still don't know what Earth culture the Ligonians are supposed to be similar to.

 

[Rÿcher]

The majority of the galaxy in the Stargate universe are human - including the Jaffa. Their nomenclature are different in that they come from Kelowna or belong to a group or race called Jaffa. They all came from Earth when the Goa'uld wanted them as slaves and hosts on various worlds throughout the galaxy.

In Star Trek, it's been established that most if not all the life forms in the galaxy were seeded by the preservers (possibly the Salome Jens character from "The Chase"). That was millions of years ago, long enough for them to develop their own culture and evolutionary traits (ridged foreheads, pointy ears, blue skin, et cetera)

So depending on how long a people have been on a planet, whether they've developed unique characteristics would dictate their nomenclature.

 

[Timo]

If the Iotians were really and advanced race pretending to be primitive, then why did they let the Federation push them around so bad?

"Push around"? There's no indication that the Iotians would have been forced to do anything they didn't want to do. Becoming part of Kirk's racket would have been a welcome further act in their gangster make-believe, surely.

There's absolutely no evidence to suggest they are shapeshifters or expert biotechnicians.

...Yet somehow they were able to perfectly duplicate the 1920s without ever having lived through the 1910s, the 1900s or even the 1500s.

The book Preserver by William Shatner supposedly describes the Preservers in more detail and links them with Miri's planet. If they could create a duplicate Earth who knows what else they are responsible for.

It seems incredibly contrived to draw any sort of a connection between the small-time players who moved a few Indians a couple of hundred years ago and then abandoned them, and the demigods who altered/created a whole planet in the image of another. Worse still, those books suggest the Preservers were related to the original bioengineers of humanoid life, the folks from "The Chase". How the mighty would have fallen if that were the case...

Again there is no mention about whether the inhabitants of Ardana are human or not.

McCoy and Spock discuss the origins of the two halves of Ardanans at length. They seem to agree that both halves evolved on that planet from common origins. That is, they aren't recently transplanted humans, but at most ages-old seeding program results. As such, they wouldn't be humans by the standards I outlined above, but merely a similar-looking species. Also, it is a plot point that the two halves have evolved to a minor degree of biological distinction already - so if one is human, the other is not.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[C.E. Evans]

I believe in the "Keep It Simple, Stupid" approach:

Human: A general term to describe a fairly common life-form in the Star Trek Universe.

Humanoid: A life-form that is similar to a Human, but with enough profound physical differences (either external or internal) to be considered non-Human.

Terran: A Human from Earth.

 

[Timo]

Sometimes, however, it's a plot point that our heroes can distinguish between "human" and "only looks like human". The identity of Zephram Cochrane got a confirmation from the fact that he scanned as "human" on McCoy's instruments, for example.

It's too bad that "human" in Trek is used both as a biological and political indicator (and written in lowercase!). It's more informative with some other players: Vulcans and Romulans are considered separate peoples, even though they are basically the same species. We really should get more references to "Terran" in Trek, but that ship has lamentably sailed in the sixties already.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[C.E. Evans]

As a point of habit, I've always written "Human" with a capital letter, but if it's such a fairly generalized term (like reptilian or android), then, yeah, I could see how it could be this lowercased umbrella title for so many species that are physically indistinguishable from us "Earthers" (as the Klingons used to call us)...

 

[gastrof]

...Sarpeids
The inhabitants of Sarpeidon. The term Sarpeid originally came from Star Trek Concordance I think. Anyway, they were referred to as a "civilized humanoid species" in the captain's log which implies that they're not human since I don't think Kirk would ever refer any humans he met as a "humanoid species". Sarpeidon is revisited in the novel Yesterday's Son but I haven't read it yet....

I'll comment on this, but with a big ole' spoiler warning-

Spoiler: ummm.....this

If I'm remembering right it turns out the reason Spock and Zarabeth produced a son who himself was also able to mate and have offspring (all of this without medical/genetic intervention) was that the people of Sarpeidon were, despite their rounded ears and normal eyebrows, vulcanoid.

Strangely, I think it was also said that they didn't have green blood.

The son's blood was an odd color which McCoy said was in a whole catagory of its own.

Apparently while similar enough to Vulcans (or to a Vulcan/Human hybrid) where reproduction was easy, they were still somewhat different.

Yeah...

I know.

 

[Extrocomp]

Thanks for that gastrof.