Do we know an alien that.......it is actually an Alien in fiction?

[SweetShark]

We all known many movies/videogames/comics/etc that we see many kind of aliens species created from many creative minds, like Xenomorphs, Predators, Headcrabs, Tyranids, Zergs, Mutons, Sangheili, etc.

But in reality even if these different races are aliens, we "understand" what they are.
We understand them cause they have same need as we have, like food or sleep, etc and even similar characteristics and quit similar body anatomy [like Asari race for example].

In reality an alien should be something we don't understand. To be more specific, "something" that our concept of our mind can't comprehend what are we looking at.

If we see for example an Xenomorphs, we understand that it have mouth, two arms, legs etc. Plus if we watch the movies of Alien series, we see the Xenomorphs are like animals trying to accomplish the most basic instics: eat and expand their species. Plus we can "explain" their actions. We can explain how the Xenomorphs breed their race for example

What will happen if we find an alien that it don't follow or don't have this kind of ideas. An alien that doesn't know what it is food, sleep, sex, anger or even death!!!
An alien with his own personal "vocabulary" that our couldn't handle if somone learned.
Or an alien that we can't explain his actions. Or a "body" that we can call it a "body".

So my question is:
Is there a alien creature that it is at least very close to the real concept of the meaning of the word "alien"?
Something that a human mind couldn't understand the whole concept of this creature in any way possible?

Thank you fo reading.

 

[King Billi]

Actually to be specific an "Alien" can be anything you can think of... just something which is here but which didn't originate from here... whether it be an "extraterrestrial" alien from another planet or indeed any other kind of alien such as an animal introduced into an unfamiliar environment, it dosen't matter how well people understand it or not.

I get what you're saying though so sorry to bore you with all that.


Anyway if you're talking about something in fiction then just try reading HP Lovecraft. Most of his stories tend to be about alien beings so unreal and incomprehensibly massive and powerful that human beings just simply can't comprehend their existence and are driven insane by the mere sight of them or even the knowledge that they exist at all.

Pretty cool stuff and really the best I can think of...

 

[Eddie the head]

I can think of a few times Star Trek did this well. Voyager for all it's problems I think did this the best, they had that one race that the Holodeck was "reality" to them and they couldn't understand our physical word to them them that was the fake thing. It was kind of a cool idea but they did go anywhere with it. Well that last sentence was Star Trek: Voyager in nut shell. They had a few other things like that, the one that lived in the gas cloud then got stuck in the ship was ehh. But yeah Star Trek had a few alien aliens.

 

[SckizoBoy]

But in reality even if these different races are aliens, we "understand" what they are.

Ehm... what's wrong with that? Part of the reason humans are the dominant species on Earth is because we've very quickly come to understand at least the basic mechanism, anatomy and behaviour of virtually every other species on the planet, particularly the sentient ones.

Now, if/when humans encounter aliens, based on what we know of what is necessary to maintain life and the adaptation/evolution of superior body types and modes of locomotion along with sufficient protection of organs etc. etc. there are only (really) three options: bipedal; quadrapedal; a la Serpentes. Bipedal: fairly obvious. Quadrapedal, with either multifunctional forelimbs or a separate set of upper limbs (similar to centaurs, only... well, real as opposed to mythical). As to the last, sidewinding is probably most likely for size/energy requirement reasons. Regarding number of limbs, any more than four for use in locomotion is rather redundant (IMO... I've got a couple sketchy reasons for why six is hardly an improvement on human sized organisms).

With regard to technology, the alien would require means to manipulate what it finds, and the only real answer is phalanges... or telekinesis. -_-

So, it rather is quite difficult to get away from 'humanoid'... though based on what I've just said, I'm suddenly picturing a race of Gorgons...

 

[Jamash]

It sounds like you're describing something unnameable and unimaginable.


H.P. Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos has plenty of true alien entities who's descriptions are vague and only likened to human concepts (and of course these types of things crop up in lots of fiction that is inspired by Lovecraft), but really you're paradoxically asking for the near impossible.

For something to exist in fiction, for it to be created and put into that work by it's author, it has to be relatively relatable to humans for the author and audience to envisage it.

The best you're going to find is in the aforementioned work of HP Lovecraft, the works of Olaf Stapledon such as Starmaker, and also in some of the more "out there" episodes of Star Trek (which has featured lifeforms that aren't immediately recognisable as such).

 

[BrassButtons]

This isn't an alien, but it fits the "we don't know wtf it is" requirement:

Meet Hullucigenia, so named because it looks like something you might see while on an acid trip. Scientists aren't entirely sure which end of the creature is the top and which is the bottom, or which side is the head. Heck, we don't even know if that's the complete creature.

 

[Vault101]

things like Turians Assari Korgans ect are "fun" aliens...they make things interesting but they aren't "actual" aliens because even in the context of Mass Effect they act pretty much like humans

"real" aliens arent as fun because...well you can;t really comprhend them

 

[Axolotl]

Yes.

So alien that the only way we can interact with them is so bizarre that it was used to fuel LSD trips when the film came out.

There are other works people have mentioned, Lovecraft, Stapledon, most long running Sci-Fi shows like Star Trek or Dr Who have one turn up every so often but overall 2001 still has the most inhuman alien ever.

 

[someonehairy-ish]

Well... no, of course noone has come up with a creature that defies comprehension, except in the most vague terms. Unimaginable things are by definition, impossible to imagine.

Anyway, any alien lifeform would have to have certain things in common with us. Anything that uses energy needs sustenance, so something similar to eating or photosynthesis would be a must. And they'd have to reproduce somehow to continue as a species, so that would likely be achieved through a process comparable to that used by earth flora or fungi, or even fauna...

Without those qualities, something doesn't qualify as a lifeform in the first place.

So yeah, even the weirdest alien species wouldn't defy comprehension. Even silicate based life that lives at molten glass temperatures would have something about them comparable to an earth-based species.

 

[Amaror]

You talk about how thinks are no "Real" Aliens, but an Alien does not have to be unimaginable. By definition an Alien is an unknown living being, in most cases an extraterestrial.

 

[NightmareWarden]

That fits the description of the aliens in the novel Stranger in a Strange Land by a Mr. Heinlein. I really liked that book. Unfortunately the aliens are only a side part of the story. Their appearance is simple, however their culture, concepts, "sciences", and powers were very difficult for humans to even conceive of. To them, humans are ridiculous and paradoxical creatures.

One series which I read fits your description of a species which does not really have a "body". They are a product of their world's unique...qualities. It was the Chaos Walking trilogy, the first one is the Knife of Never Letting Go. If you choose to read this one I would like to warn you: you will probably hate the main character at first. The first book is good in its own right, but I'd say they improve as you move from novel to novel.

I can't think of any movies or games off the top of my head that fit that description... Eternal Darkness: Sanity's Requiem might fit that description if you consider how time could be relative to aliens...

 

[RoonMian]

Neil deGrasse Tyson talked about something like that. Comparing the 1% difference in DNA between humans and chimps to a hypothetical 1% difference between humans and aliens.


It's very interesting. But what disturbs me even more is: What if it's not 1%? What if it's like 23%? 'Cause I think I've read somewhere that that is the difference between a human and a banana D:

 

[spartan231490]

We all known many movies/videogames/comics/etc that we see many kind of aliens species created from many creative minds, like Xenomorphs, Predators, Headcrabs, Tyranids, Zergs, Mutons, Sangheili, etc.

But in reality even if these different races are aliens, we "understand" what they are.
We understand them cause they have same need as we have, like food or sleep, etc and even similar characteristics and quit similar body anatomy [like Asari race for example].

In reality an alien should be something we don't understand. To be more specific, "something" that our concept of our mind can't comprehend what are we looking at.

If we see for example an Xenomorphs, we understand that it have mouth, two arms, legs etc. Plus if we watch the movies of Alien series, we see the Xenomorphs are like animals trying to accomplish the most basic instics: eat and expand their species. Plus we can "explain" their actions. We can explain how the Xenomorphs breed their race for example

What will happen if we find an alien that it don't follow or don't have this kind of ideas. An alien that doesn't know what it is food, sleep, sex, anger or even death!!!
An alien with his own personal "vocabulary" that our couldn't handle if somone learned.
Or an alien that we can't explain his actions. Or a "body" that we can call it a "body".

So my question is:
Is there a alien creature that it is at least very close to the real concept of the meaning of the word "alien"?
Something that a human mind couldn't understand the whole concept of this creature in any way possible?

Thank you fo reading.

In the book "Embassytown" by China Mieville(don't quote me on that spelling) with an alien race who cannot lie, and who can't even speak figuratively. In order for them to use similies they have to have someone perform the similied action so that person becomes a simie

 

[Marik2]

I found the aliens from Muv Luv Alternative(stupid name I know) to fit that bill. They were very grotesque and would defy logic. They viewed humans as nothing more than obstacles and never hesitated to just do their stuff.

 

[Euryalus]

The color out of space was Lovecraft's answer to this very question. READ IT!

[sub][sub][sub] poor Nahum [/sub][/sub][/sub]

Also I want to point out that the word alien means foreign or different. Not unknowable, incomprehensible, or completely dissimilar.

 

[Xpwn3ntial]

I found the aliens from Muv Luv Alternative(stupid name I know) to fit that bill. They were very grotesque and would defy logic. They viewed humans as nothing more than obstacles and never hesitated to just do their stuff.

That gives me an idea. Are there aliens in fiction that think people are grotesque and defy logic?

OT: I remember a book a while back with an alien that was only portrayed as a ray of light. That apparently wasn't his real form, but one those looking upon him could understand.

Kind of like biblical angels.

 

[RicoGrey]

The most "alien" thing that I could think of would be a hive mind. I mean along the lines of like ants acting as individual brain cells even though there are in fact separate creatures. Get enough of these hive mind ants together and they form a high functioning intelligence. That would be weird to interact with.

Kinda like the Geth from mass effect actually, rather hard to mentally visualize even though I get the basic concept.

 

[Marik2]

I found the aliens from Muv Luv Alternative(stupid name I know) to fit that bill. They were very grotesque and would defy logic. They viewed humans as nothing more than obstacles and never hesitated to just do their stuff.

That gives me an idea. Are there aliens in fiction that think people are grotesque and defy logic?

OT: I remember a book a while back with an alien that was only portrayed as a ray of light. That apparently wasn't his real form, but one those looking upon him could understand.

Kind of like biblical angels.

I think there has been but it would be obscure and it be like "oh god we thought you were the disgusting hideous aliens, we were just trying to do our business"

Well technically the aliens from that game were like that when it was revealed why they are on earth.

And biblical angels are very strange

http://www.cracked.com/article_18757_5-things-you-wont-believe-arent-in-bible.html

 

[CaptainMarvelous]

I'm gonna go with the madness concept in Shade the Changing Man, if just because I'm unsure how to best explain it. While Shade himself is an alien, the whole zone of madness/power of the M-Vest itself is so ambiguous that the only options are either a)Shade's just a very powerful alien who's utterly f*cking insane or b) the whole zone is so alien we can't hope to control it.

Beyond that anything that doesn't come from (INSERT LOCATION) is alien in (INSERT LOCATION), but I get what you're saying. Captcha, "Always there", well, that's helpful.