The El-aurians: Have they completely stopped trying?

[Setzer]

Ever since Spock in TOS, the criteria for alien species in Star Trek has been head markings. The Krenim had purple dots on their head, the Klingons skull ridges, the Vulcans point ears . But after having seen Star Trek generations, I noticed that Doctor Soran had no head bumps or anything of that manner? So what's the point? Why did they make Soran an alien is they aren't even going to paint pink dots (or the like) on his head?

[Raoul Duke, Jr.]

Well, when it comes to Trek aliens, apparently the only way to do something new is to do nothing at all. Personally, I think it worked.

[Spanky The Dolphin]

Ever since Spock in TOS, the criteria for alien species in Star Trek has been head markings. The Krenim had purple dots on their head, the Klingons skull ridges, the Vulcans point ears . But after having seen Star Trek generations, I noticed that Doctor Soran had no head bumps or anything of that manner? So what's the point? Why did they make Soran an alien is they aren't even going to paint pink dots (or the like) on his head?

So? Guinum (sp?) looked human.

There have been tons of aliens on ST over the years that look exactly like humans.

I really don't see the problem here.

[Evil Jerk]

Frankly I prefer human looking aliens with no makeup to human looking aliens with some stupid plastic bump on their forehead or nose.

[Grand Admiral Thrawn]

Most "let's the change the ear/nose/etc." human aliens are stupid.

[Raoul Duke, Jr.]

Plus, Soran was one of the better Trek villains. (Due mainly to casting Malcolm McDowell more than to the writers' efforts.)

[Utsanomiko]

Does anyone besides me get really irritated somedays over androcentric near-human species in sci-fi? I can handle it if it's used sparingly, but it's one of my bigger peeves with ST and gets under my skin while watching it. Would it have really ruined their buget to make some latex animatronic masks? The Gorn was the best ST alien, imho; a guy in a cheap rubber suit, and it rocked.

[Raoul Duke, Jr.]

Does anyone besides me get really irritated somedays over androcentric near-human species in sci-fi? I can handle it if it's used sparingly, but it's one of my bigger peeves with ST and gets under my skin while watching it. Would it have really ruined their buget to make some latex animatronic masks? The Gorn was the best ST alien, imho; a guy in a cheap rubber suit, and it rocked.

Probably their best nonhumanoid species was 8472. I'd put them right up their with the Xenomorphs from Alien as one of the better examples of the breed.

[Utsanomiko]

Probably their best nonhumanoid species was 8472. I'd put them right up their with the Xenomorphs from Alien as one of the better examples of the breed.

I personally wouldn't say as good as the Xenomorphs (but I'm a fan of the 1st two films), but the design for 8472 was decent, at least.

Hopefully in years to come, other sci-fi series will implement well-rendered CG-aliens into TV shows, and not rely so much on make-up.

[Darth Akwat Kbrana]

Most "let's the change the ear/nose/etc." human aliens are stupid.

I concur.

[Spanky The Dolphin]

I personally didn't think it was that good of an idea to change the appearence of the Romulans for TNG onward. One of the best plot elements (and revelations) for TOS was that the Vulcans and Romulans looked virtually identical. Later on they were given arching eyebrow ridges and an odd skin tone (like a faint gold-green).

Some of the "near-human" aliens don't bother me, but usually that's because they were established early on:
Vulcans/Romulans
Klingons (IMHO, they really should have come up with SOME reason why Klingons looked different)
Andorians (before they were messed up in ENT)

I really like how the Ferengi were done. It's quite complex, and makes for individuals that are alien enough but still allow you to relate to them (how can you not like Quark?)

Like Utsanomiko, one of my favorite "non-human" aliens was the Gorn. 60r|\| r0x0r2 !! But I kinda disliked S8472.

I personally really disliked the Bajorans. It's just so little effort compared to the work done of the Cardasians that it looks pathetic. Just the nose? Come on!

[Raoul Duke, Jr.]

I always thought a good explanation for the changed appearance of the Klingons would be as follows:

Between the first time Klingons saw humans and sometime before TOS, the Klingons tried to start their own Eugenics program, hoping to create Klingons that looked enough like humans that they could be used as spies. Unfortunately, it didn't quite work out. Unfortunately for the Klingon High Council, these "new" Klingons were smarter than average, and so they were virtually impossible to get rid of. In fact, these "new" Klingons virtually seized the entire Klingon Defense Fleet, and for the space of about 20 years were running the show. But eventually, their failure to defeat the Federation in any number of combat encounters saw them fall from power in disgrace. A few of them managed to have surgery performed secretly to make them look more "normal."

[Stormbringer]

I think this is a much more likely explanation:

[Raoul Duke, Jr.]

I think this is a much more likely explanation:

Your explanation is 404.

[Raoul Duke, Jr.]

Oops, no it isn't. Bad computer!

[Stormbringer]

Your explanation is 404.

It's working for me.

Well, here's a link to it. http://www.sev.com.au/toonzone/sevtrek/ ... rek004.jpg

[Raoul Duke, Jr.]

As far as the Romulans changing... that's just stupid. Not only was there no reason for it, there was a pretty good reason not to do it. Stupid, stupid... but that's what happens when a creative project changes hands. It was inevitable. If Star Wars passes out of Lucas's hands, eventually it will happen to Wars too.

[Setzer]

Ever since Spock in TOS, the criteria for alien species in Star Trek has been head markings. The Krenim had purple dots on their head, the Klingons skull ridges, the Vulcans point ears . But after having seen Star Trek generations, I noticed that Doctor Soran had no head bumps or anything of that manner? So what's the point? Why did they make Soran an alien is they aren't even going to paint pink dots (or the like) on his head?

So? Guinum (sp?) looked human.

There have been tons of aliens on ST over the years that look exactly like humans.

I really don't see the problem here.

My problem is them trying to pass these people off as ALIENS! NON_HUMANS!
How hard would it have been to make Soran a human?

[Setzer]

I think this is a much more likely explanation:

This belongs in the ASVS comics section.

Please say this post will boot me up to youngling oh please, oh please, oh please...

[Stormbringer]

I think this is a much more likely explanation:

This belongs in the ASVS comics section.

Please say this post will boot me up to youngling oh please, oh please, oh please...

It's property of Sev Trek so I'd be hesitant about claiming it. But then again I don't think he has a problem with it being reposted.

[Patrick Degan]

It's hard to say anymore which approach is preferrable. Aliens with funny head/facial appliances have become about as clichéd now as aliens with nothing more than strange skin tones and hair colour were three decades and more ago. Now anybody with an extra notch in the bridge of his nose qualifies as an alien, or you've got the increasingly ludicrous Klingons who not only have bone ridges/plates on their skulls but ones which vary from individual to individual like fingerprints —which is just simply bullshit! If evolution produced the over-arching bone ridges which cover the skull, it must have been for a definite physiological reason and there'd be some degree of consistency in their structure for every Klingon, the same way as there is for the shape of your own ribs, knuckle-joints, and vertebrata. Or, at the other extreme end of the spectrum, you've got a Thing which is interesting for maybe ten minutes, but when all you've seen it do is hiss and move slowly and make a big play of looking menacing, then what?

SF aliens all fall under "suspension of disbelief" rules the same way as FTL, because in actuality anybody with two braincells to rub together knows that all a SF alien is really nothing more than a metaphorical representative of a different human culture or a different aspect of human psychology; a figure which can be as effectively represented by simply painting an actor purple from head to foot (or sticking an iridecent orange wig on his head) and wearing aluminium robes or kilts as by an actor wearing a ton of latex appliances. The truly alien aliens are little more than plot devices or background detail. We have anthrocentric aliens for the simple reason that we identify with human actors with human body language and facial expressions much better than a muppet or a CGI-matted animation. There are exceptions of course, as there are with every rule. But by and large, we accept an alien so long as the part is written and acted well enough —regardless of how many appliances or what colour greasepaint that actor is wearing.

To give you an example: which Klingons are more compelling to watch? Gowron, who spends half the time seeing how far he can make his eyes bulge out of their sockets, and Martok, who rambles half the time about the Glorious Honour of Death in Heroic Battle blah blah blahblahblah... Or the oily Kor, military governor of Organia, and Kang. The former sport the head ridges, hornlets, and melted-over eyesockets you can expect from today's Klingons. The latter were nothing more than guys in thick makeup with Mongolian beards. But they're a lot more interesting to watch, aren't they? And you have no trouble accepting their alienness, do you? Or the idea that they represented an actual spacefaring empire powerful enough and dangerous enough to challenge the Federation.

Let's say that Babylon 5 had gone the basic route in depicting its aliens (barring the Vorlons, Shadows, and First Ones): Minbari would have been bald with pointed ears and deep tan skin, Narns would have been reddish brown, and Drazi grey-skinned. In the end, would there have been a significant difference if the writing and acting remained at the same high level of quality which was that series' trademark? Would the storyline have been any less compelling?

In Japanime, they don't even bother with trying to design weird creatures as their alien characters; they look like us, some have blue skin, others olive, and the rest are more or less like us except for extra long lifespans or eye colour or ability or whatever. The writers know that the aliens are really just metaphorical representations of the Other in us. The fans accept it because the story manages to achieve suspension of disbelief.

It makes for a nice touch to try to go for alien-looking aliens, but in the end, I'll accept basic "alien" beings in cheap makeup in a superior dramatic production over a legion of "actors" parading around wearing a ton of latex any day of the week.

[Spanky The Dolphin]

Anime, you fucking racist prick!

It's not japanime, japanimation, or fucking any stupid fucking inbred pun like that!! Just ANIME!!!!

Continue....

[Patrick Degan]

Anime, you fucking racist prick!

It's not japanime, japanimation, or fucking any stupid fucking inbred pun like that!! Just ANIME!!!!

I am so sorry, Mr. Anal-retentive Fangeek Asshole. I had no idea that my error, which I had not understood to have racial connotations and was simply a term of differentiation between American animation and Japanese animation as art/media forms as I learned from the 80s when the first wave of material from the East arrived upon these shores and made its huge cultural impact and was referred to by the term you find so offensive in the common media and fan parlance. However, I am now aware of the error of my ways, and you have my sincerest apologies for having engaged in any action which could be interepreted in even the smallest way as offensive to the sensibilities of a microscopically tiny mind.

Thanks to your well-considered effort at sensitivity-training, I now realise that the term "Japanimation" is a far more serious example of racism than can possibly be expressed in the example of a poor black man who is taken by a pair of good ol'boys, chained to the back of a pickup truck, and dragged along the roads to his agonising death. Or of a politician who runs for office on a platform of White Supremacy and nurses the dream of segregating every individual who isn't a member of the Euro-Aryan Master Race into seperate "homelands". Of of now-serving members of the national government who lament in the present day the defeat of the Confederate States of America. Therefore I can know that have no real right, upon seeing the expression of your outrage, to tell you quite simply to go fuck yourself. Because my expression of offense was obviously so mortal and grievious.

So, by all means, Spanky, accept this apology in the spirit in which it is intended.

[Spanky The Dolphin]

Apology accepted.

Sarcasm noted.

[Patrick Degan]

Apology accepted.

Sarcasm noted.

Not bad, Spanky. You're alright in my book.


Hail Zeon!