This is discussion archived from a time before the current discussion method was installed.
(Relocated from main entry)
Grammar Cop: Wasn't the Horta just some big foam rock that Bones nevertheless "communed" with? The effect is more hokey than anything else, and led to decades of "Horta culture" puns. If we're talking Star Trek, the most interesting and pertinent non-humanoid alien would seem to be the Tribble. (Or perhaps the unseen whaliens from the movie.)
Looney Toons: Actually, as I recall, the Horta "costume" was quite a bit more than that, although there were parts that were basically foam rocks. Just because the effect is crude or primitive doesn't mean it's not successful at giving the impression of genuine alienness. Apparently it worked even in person at close range, because the story I heard is that the costume designer just brought it in one day and so impressed the executive producer that he wrote the episode for it. Oh, and it was Spock who "communed". Vulcan mind meld, donchyaknow.
Gus: You know, I just racked my brain for a while, trying to come up with a better no-kidding-really-alien alien on TV than the Horta, then gave up and tried to come up with another no-kidding-really-alien alien on TV. I got nothing.
Looney Toons: Not even some of the Farscape critters? Wow. And back on the topic of the horta, one of the things that really made it work was Nimoy's performance as Spock channelling its mind. The fact that it never spoke itself somehow added to the effect.
Gus: Yes, I considered and rejected the Farscape critters. All of the muppets, and the ship, had recognizably human motivations. Horta? Not so much. It wanted things humans do not want. Hunger, of course, is a shared element, but the rest of it... alien.
Red Shoe: Also its opinion on the subject of "KILL I" (It was against it).
Semiapies: Babylon 5 had a lot of good non-human-looking aliens, but the only prominent ones were the Vorlons (both in and out of encounter suits) and Shadows. Most of the rest you only saw in passing.
Bluetooth The Pirate: Well, I'm not sure that having human motivations is an instant disqualifier. It's a bone of philosophical contention wether a sapient lifeform can be all that different from us, behavior-wise.
Think about it. If something is, in fact, alive it will exhibit instincts consistent with the same. It is unlikely that a creature can evolve without an instinct to eat (whatever it is that it needs to consume) reproduce (by whatever means) and protect its young (although sharks and insects get by without that one, they are unlikely to build spaceships.) So calling Rigel or Moya a RFA just because they do is probably wrong. That having been said, this article seems to focus solely on the appearance aspect.
Also, don't forget about the Big Creepy-Crawlies. Most of your "bugs" don't meet the requirements in either sense (behavoral or appearance-wise), and they do show up from time to time, like in the Animated Adaptation of Starship Troopers.
Morgan Wick: This has been racking my brain for the longest time.
Aliens who look like humans but with a different skin color. Human Aliens or Rubber-Forehead Aliens?
Anonymous editor says: Buffyverse demons. Rubber Forehead Aliens or not? The vast majority of them are humans with latex masks.
