History ComicBook / ResidentAlien

The comic is published by Creator/DarkHorseComics as a series of episodic mini-series, with one mini-series released per year. Each mini-series is then compiled into a volume at its conclusion. So far, there are five volumes: ''Welcome to Earth'', ''The Suicide Blonde'', ''The Sam Hain Mystery'', ''The Man With No Name'', and ''An Alien in New York''.

In 2018, Syfy announced they are developing a TV series adaptation of the comic book starring Creator/AlanTudyk as Harry. It is slated to be released January 2021.

* ForeShadowing: Helping a young girl, Harry is thrown when she says "you look funny, are you a goodie or a baddie?" Assuming she means just an adult, he assures her a "goodie" and she accepts it. Later, the girl shows her grandmother a drawing of Harry...[[spoiler: which is him in his alien form which the girl can somehow see.]]

In 2018, Syfy announced they are developing a TV series adaptation of the comic book starring Creator/AlanTudyk as Harry. Filming has been delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

* AppearanceIsInTheEyeOfTheBeholder: Harry uses his telepathic abilities in order to appear to others as a normal human. However, about 1 in a million people can see through this disguise. [[spoiler:And apparently, cameras can [[{{Glamour Failure}} see through it too]].]]
* AMindIsATerribleThingToRead: As an empath, Harry has difficulty getting near Doctor Hodges's funeral due to the sheer volume of sorrow present.

In 2018, Syfy announced they are developing a TV series adaptation of the comic book starring Creator/AlanTudyk as Harry.

* TheEmpath: Harry is able to sense others emotions and is very good at reading body language. He also seems to have some mild [[{{Telepathy}} telepathic abilities.]]

* IJustShotMarvinInTheFace: In the first volume, Asta tries to shoot [[spoiler:Ben Maxwell, whom Harry discovered to be a murderer. Ben goes to the clinic and, while Asta is there, tries to kill Harry in order to make sure the truth doesn't get out. Asta tries to shoot Ben to protect Harry]]. However, she misses and accidentally shoots Harry in the leg instead.

* InterruptedSuicide: [[spoiler:In the second volume, Harry shows up {{Just In Time}} to save Karen's life after she attempts suicide.]]

* SympatheticMurderer: With some overlap with {{Sympathetic Murder Backstory}}, [[spoiler:Rebecca Matthewson, who murdered her abusive ex-husband in self-defense when he came back and attacked her]].

* {{Adorkable}}: Harry, definitely.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2360303_01.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''Resident Alien'' Issue #1]]

* AlienNonInterferenceClause: Harry's people observe Earth to see what humanity will do to itself but don't interfere in any way, even [[spoiler:sending Harry to destroy a downed probe to make sure we don't get ahold of their technology.]]

* {{Bookworm}}: Harry is a huge one, as books comprise a great majority of his belongings. Asta even [[http://oi63.tinypic.com/nlvj40.jpg teases him about it.]]

* DeadpanSnarker: Harry has [[http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-fGkW0S2WfwU/VV2AH0oQrdI/AAAAAAALvWA/Hl2tU0U0Vkc/s1600/p48_2.jpg his]] [[http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-lH38OWwrzfA/VV2AJvCGzGI/AAAAAAALvWU/xydNknb0FA4/s1600/p48_3.jpg moments.]]

* HumanityIsInfectious: The society of Harry's species is stale and reserved, but living among humanity has taught Harry how to strive and dream as we do.

* TheOneThatGotAway: Harry had a woman he loved back on his home planet. He's unlikely to ever see her again [[spoiler:as even if he does get back home, she might be dead from old age, since Harry had to travel to Earth via SleeperShip for an unknown amount of time]].

* PenName: In-Universe, Rex Monday [[spoiler:for Rebecca Matthewson.]]

* PsychoLesbian: Averted. In the second volume, [[spoiler:it turns out that Karen, the ex-girlfriend of Shannon (who had recently killed herself), planted Shannon's suicide note so as not to be suspected as the murderer of her girlfriend. Unfortunately, even though Shannon's suicide was genuine, Karen's actions massively backfired and instead cast even more suspicion on her once the police discovered the note was planted.]]

* SecretSecretKeeper: By the beginning of ''The Suicide Blonde'' Issue #0, both Asta and her dad are aware that Harry is an alien, unbeknownst to Harry. They don't tell him that they know his secret so as not to scare him into fleeing, which would allow the government to track him down. [[spoiler:By the third issue of ''The Man With No Name'', they get upgraded to regular [[{{Secret Keeper}} Secret Keepers]] to notify Harry about the upcoming trouble from the government and to try to help him.]]

* SheIsNotMyGirlfriend: When Asta tells her dad about Harry, saying that "there's this guy", he jumps to the conclusion that she's dating Harry. Asta gets flustered and corrects him, as she actually wanted to discuss being able to see through Harry's [[{{Appearance is in the Eye of the Beholder}} disguise]]. Whether or not she actually has romantic feelings for Harry remains unclear.
** Happens again in issue #2 of ''The Man With No Name'', only to Harry this time. Harry tells Cuthbert that he's meeting Asta and her dad for lunch the next day, Cuthbert assumes that things between Harry and Asta are "getting serious", and Harry becomes flustered and says that he and Asta are {{Just Friends}}. Whether ''he'' is developing feelings for ''her'' also remains unclear.

* RhetoricalQuestionBlunder: Played with. [[spoiler:When Asta's seen in the picture of Harry that shows he's an alien, the government agent in charge of tracking him down talks one of the agents working under him about how difficult it would be to find her. After all, how many Native girls of the right age could there be in the Pacific Northwest? That wasn't rhetorical. Get a census.]]

* TheStoic: Nurse Marice wears an expression of perpetual boredom in every panel she's in, no matter what's going on.

--> '''Dan:''' ''[teasing]'' You think I'm trying to unload my daughter on you?\\

* SketchySuccessor: Thank to his youth and inexperience, Ethan, Doctor Hodges' official replacement tends to switch between arrogant and uncertain of himself. This puts the patients and nurses off right away.

* YouCantGoHomeAgain: See {{Trapped in Another World}} above.

* IJustShotMarvinInTheFace: In the first volume, Asta tries to shoot [[spoiler:Ben Maxwell, whom Harry discovered to be a murderer. Ben goes to the clinic and, while Asta is there, tries to kill Harry in order to make sure the truth doesn't get out. Asta tries to shoot Ben to protect Harry.]] However, she misses and accidentally shoots Harry in the leg instead.

* ImprovisedWeapon: In the first volume, Carter Blaine was murdered with a knitting needle.
* InnateNightVision: Harry has some sort of thermal vision.
* {{Labcoat of Science and Medicine}}: Harry and his staff wear ones when on-duty.
* {{Let Off by the Detective}}: [[spoiler:What Harry decides to do after hearing Rebecca's story in the third volume.]]

--> '''Dan''': (''teasing'') You think I'm trying to unload my daughter on you?\\
'''Harry''': I mean, Asta and I aren't...that is, we're '''friends''', but --\\
'''Dan''': Relax, Harry. I just wanted you to know that Asta and I are '''both''' your friends.

* {{Appearance is in the Eye of the Beholder}}: Harry uses his telepathic abilities in order to appear to others as a normal human. However, about 1 in a million people can see through this disguise. [[spoiler:And apparently, cameras can [[{{Glamour Failure}} see through it too]].]]

* {{Close Knit Community}}: The town of Patience, Washington.

* {{Death by Falling Over}}: Walter Mayhew's death, mentioned in the first volume, appeared to be this way. It was also the official story given by the police over his death, even though some still had suspicions that it may have been murder.
* {{Divorce Requires Death}}: This is the opinion that Rebecca Matthewson's ex-husband held. [[spoiler:The trope gets followed through when Rebecca ends up murdering him in self-defense.]]

* {{Dream Walker}}: Asta and her dad are shown to be able to do this in issue #0 of ''The Suicide Blonde''.
* {{Driven to Suicide}}: [[spoiler:Both Shannon and Karen in the second volume.]]

* {{Episode Zero The Beginning}}: In an interesting use of this trope and {{Unusual Chapter Numbers}}, the first three volumes begins with an issue #0 normally, as if #0 were the actual #1. This idiosyncrasy has been fixed for the fourth volume.

* {{Higher Tech Species}}: With advanced technology and interstellar travel, Harry's species is definitely one.

* {{I Just Shot Marvin in the Face}}: In the first volume, Asta tries to shoot [[spoiler:Ben Maxwell, whom Harry discovered to be a murderer. Ben goes to the clinic and, while Asta is there, tries to kill Harry in order to make sure the truth doesn't get out. Asta tries to shoot Ben to protect Harry.]] However, she misses and accidentally shoots Harry in the leg instead.

* {{Make It Look Like an Accident}}: [[spoiler:In the first volume, Ben Maxwell made his first murder victim, Walter Mayhew, look like he had gotten drunk out of his mind and fallen on a scythe.]]

* {{Monster of the Week}}: The story follows this format, with each mini-series covering a single self-contained mystery. However, there are some overarching plot threads, such as Harry's backstory and his being tracked by the government.
* {{Mystery Magnet}}: Harry, as is par for the course for the mystery genre. Somewhat justified in that he seeks out mysteries since he likes to solve them, and that he is sometimes called to murder scenes for medical/forensic advice.

* {{Never Suicide}}: After finding some suspicious items in a nearby dumpster, the police suspect that Shannon's suicide may actually be murder. [[spoiler:Subverted in that it turns out to actually be a suicide. The items were planted by Shannon's roommate, Karen, in an attempt to not be found suspicious. It backfired.]]

* TheOneThatGotAway: Harry had a woman he loved back on his home planet. He's unlikely to ever see her again [[spoiler:as even if he does get back home, she might be dead from old age, since Harry had to travel to Earth via {{Sleeper Ship}} for an unknown amount of time.]]

* {{Revenge by Proxy}}: [[spoiler:In the first volume, it's revealed that Ben Maxwell was the one behind the three recent murders. He had committed the murders to take revenge on Lance Whitehead's behalf, as all three of the men Ben murdered had negatively impacted Lance's life in some way.]]

* {{She is Not My Girlfriend}}: When Asta tells her dad about Harry, saying that "there's this guy", he jumps to the conclusion that she's dating Harry. Asta gets flustered and corrects him, as she actually wanted to discuss being able to see through Harry's [[{{Appearance is in the Eye of the Beholder}} disguise]]. Whether or not she actually has romantic feelings for Harry remains unclear.

* {{Socially Awkward Hero}}: Harry can be rather socially awkward, especially after living with little outside contact for three years, but he's slowly overcoming it.

* {{Slain in Their Sleep}}: Carter Blaine in the first volume.

* {{Sympathetic Murderer}}: With some overlap with {{Sympathetic Murder Backstory}},[[spoiler: Rebecca Matthewson, who murdered her abusive ex-husband in self-defense when he came back and attacked her.]]

* {{Trapped in Another World}}: Harry is stranded on Earth, and it's unknown if he'll ever get to go home again.

* WriteWhoYouKnow: In-Universe, [[spoiler:Rebecca Matthewson's unpublished mystery novel draft was about her own violent run-in with her abusive ex-husband with some names changed.]]

--> '''Dan''': (''teasing'') You think I'm trying to unload my daughter on you?
--> '''Harry''': I mean, Asta and I aren't...that is, we're '''friends''', but --
--> '''Dan''': Relax, Harry. I just wanted you to know that Asta and I are '''both''' your friends.

The comic is published by Creator/DarkHorseComics as a series of episodic mini-series, with one mini-series released per year. Each mini-series is then compiled into a volume at its conclusion. So far, there are four volumes: ''Welcome to Earth'', ''The Suicide Blonde'', ''The Sam Hain Mystery'', ''The Man With No Name'', and ''An Alien in New York''.

* BenevolentAlienInvasion: The real reason Harry got caught by authorities was he stole money from an ATM but only as an emergency fund to afford food and clothing and he had intentions of paying it back.

The comic is published by Creator/DarkHorseComics as a series of episodic mini-series, with one mini-series released per year. Each mini-series is then compiled into a volume at its conclusion. So far, there are four volumes: ''Welcome to Earth'', ''The Suicide Blonde'', ''The Sam Hain Mystery'', and ''The Man With No Name''. A fifth mini-series, titled ''An Alien in New York'', is slated for release sometime in 2017.

* AlienNonInterferenceClause: Harry's people observe Earth to see what humanity will do to itself but don't interfere in any way, even [[spoiler: sending Harry to destroy a downed probe to make sure we don't get ahold of their technology.]]
* AliensSpeakingEnglish: Harry; justified in that he actually took the time to learn it.

* {{Appearance is in the Eye of the Beholder}}: Harry uses his telepathic abilities in order to appear to others as a normal human. However, about 1 in a million people can see through this disguise. [[spoiler: And apparently, cameras can [[{{Glamour Failure}} see through it too]].]]

* AssholeVictim: Carter Blaine in the first volume. Also, [[spoiler: Rebecca Matthewson's abusive ex-husband]] in ''The Sam Hain Mystery''.

* {{Death by Falling Over}}: Walter Mayhew's death, mentioned in the first volume, appeared to be this way. It was also the official story given by the police over his death, even though some still had suspicions that it may be murder.
* {{Divorce Requires Death}}: This is the opinion that Rebecca Matthewson's ex-husband held. [[spoiler: The trope gets followed through when Rebecca ends up murdering him in self-defense.]]

* {{Driven to Suicide}}: [[spoiler: Both Shannon and Karen in the second volume]]

* GlamourFailure: [[spoiler: In the issue #0 of ''The Suicide Blonde'', it's revealed that cameras can see through Harry's telepathic disguise.]]
* GoodbyeCruelWorld: [[spoiler: Subverted in ''The Suicide Blonde''. The suicide was real, but the suicide note was planted.]]

* {{I Just Shot Marvin in the Face}}: In the first volume, Asta tries to shoot [[spoiler: Ben Maxwell, whom Harry discovered to be a murderer. Ben goes to the clinic and, while Asta is there, tries to kill Harry in order to make sure the truth doesn't get out. Asta tries to shoot Ben to protect Harry.]] However, she misses and accidentally shoots Harry in the leg instead.

* InterruptedSuicide: [[spoiler: In the second volume, Harry shows up {{Just In Time}} to save Karen's life after she attempts suicide.]]

* {{Let Off by the Detective}}: [[spoiler: What Harry decides to do after hearing Rebecca's story in the third volume.]]

* {{Make It Look Like an Accident}}: [[spoiler: In the first volume, Ben Maxwell made his first murder victim, Walter Mayhew, look like he had gotten drunk out of his mind and fallen on a scythe.]]

* {{Never Suicide}}: After finding some suspicious items in a nearby dumpster, the police suspect that Shannon's suicide may actually be murder. [[spoiler: Subverted in that it turns out to actually be a suicide. The items were planted by Shannon's roommate, Karen, in an attempt to not be found suspicious. It backfired.]]

* TheOneThatGotAway: Harry had a woman he loved back on his home planet. He's unlikely to ever see her again [[spoiler: as even if he does get back home, she might be dead from old age, since Harry had to travel to Earth via {{Sleeper Ship}} for an unknown amount of time.]]

* PenName: In-Universe, Rex Monday [[spoiler: for Rebecca Matthewson.]]

* PsychoLesbian: Averted. In the second volume, [[spoiler: it turns out that Karen, the ex-girlfriend of Shannon (who had recently killed herself), planted Shannon's suicide note so as not to be suspected as the murderer of her girlfriend. Unfortunately, even though Shannon's suicide was genuine, Karen's actions massively backfired and instead cast even more suspicion on her once the police discovered the note was planted.]]

* {{Revenge by Proxy}}: [[spoiler: In the first volume, it's revealed that Ben Maxwell was the one behind the three recent murders. He had committed the murders to take revenge on Lance Whitehead's behalf, as all three of the men Ben murdered had negatively impacted Lance's life in some way.]]

* SecretSecretKeeper: By the beginning of ''The Suicide Blonde'' Issue #0, both Asta and her dad are aware that Harry is an alien, unbeknownst to Harry. They don't tell him that they know his secret so as not to scare him into fleeing, which would allow the government to track him down. [[spoiler: By the third issue of ''The Man With No Name'', they get upgraded to regular [[{{Secret Keeper}} Secret Keepers]] to notify Harry about the upcoming trouble from the government and to try to help him.]]

* WriteWhoYouKnow: In-Universe, [[spoiler: Rebecca Matthewson's unpublished mystery novel draft was about her own violent run-in with her abusive ex-husband with some names changed.]]

In 2018, Syfy announced they are developing a TV series adaptation of the comic book.

* HumansNeedAliens: Harry gets pressured to do favors for his hometown starting in Issue #0 such as filling in for the town's only doctor who was murdered. Harry first adamantly refused serving as their replacement doctor even for generous pay but comes to enjoy the job and see it not so burdening after all.

* HumansNeedAliens: Harry gets pressured to do favors for his hometown starting in Issue #0 such as filling in for the town's only doctor who was murdered.

* MindOverMatter: It's not shown explicitly, but at one point, Harry considers using telekinesis to cheat at roulette.

* PsychoLesbian: Averted. In the second volume, [[spoiler: it turns out that Karen, the ex-girlfriend of Shannon (who had recently killed herself), planted Shannon's suicide note so as not to be suspected as the murderer of her girlfriend and seen as a {{PsychoLesbian}}. Unfortunately, even though Shannon's suicide was genuine, Karen's actions massively backfired and instead cast even more suspicion on her once the police discovered the note was planted.]]

* HeroAntagonist: So far the worst thing you can say about the government agents is that they're rather cavalier with peoples' privacy. Considering how people like them are usually portrayed in fiction, that's downright saintly.