History Main / EnclosedExtraterrestrials

** The Gaim are InsectoidAliens, the Gaim ambassadors are the only humanoid ones according to background material (as they are all genetically designed by their queens) but still have insectoid features. They use a full body armor not so much to hide their look (other insectoid aliens walk without them) but because they can't breed in the environments that most races find comfortable. The name of the race is an homage from Creator/JMichaelStraczynski to Creator/NeilGaiman as the Gaim's helmet looks like the one use by ''ComicBook/TheSandman''.

** The quarians (pictured) are a wandering species and after centuries of living in sterilized environments they lost most of their immune system, thus they always use enviro-suits, to protect them from disease or infection, when dealing with other races.
* ''Videogame/XCom2''

* The Breen in ''Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine'' a race that is entirely hidden behind a suit and long-snouted helmet. Worf mentions that no-one has ever seen a Breen without the suit and lived to speak of it. The suit is known to be a refrigeration suit, regulating a cold environment for the wearer and the Breen are known to have no blood. The most common belief among the races of the Alpha Quadrant is that the Breen homeworld is a frozen wasteland which is why they need to wear refrigeration suits. However, Weyoun once refers to the Breen homeland as being quite comfortable, maintaining the mystery of the Breen and their suits. An Expanded Universe novel Zero Sum Game claims that the Breen wear the suit to promote equality between the different species of their Confederacy by forcing them all to have the same external appearance.

** The Vorlons claim to use their strange-looking exo-suits to survive in other environments, although later it is revealed that the real reason is to hide their true EnergyBeings meet StarfishAlien look from outsiders.

Often done for budgetary reasons (as it save you time and money from complex make-ups and/or body painting) when correctly used may create some truly creative design and give the creatures a truly alien look. Sometimes combined with UniformityException in order to save money on expensive makeup. Contrast with the exact opposite ExposedExtraterrestrials.

May overlap with MobileFishbowl, which is when aquatic beings survive on land by wearing or carrying water with them.

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone1959'': In the episode "The Invaders", a woman living alone on a farm is menaced by two small aliens in form-concealing armor. At the end of the episode we learn that [[spoiler: the 'aliens' are actually human astronauts and the woman is a giant alien]]

** The Volus live in a high-pressure greenhouse atmosphere, forcing them to use full body suits when dealing with other species.
** The Quarians (pictured) are a wandering species and after centuries of living in sterilized environments they lost most of their immune system, thus they always use enviro-suits, to protect them from disease or infection, when dealing with other races.

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone'': In the episode "The Invaders", a woman living alone on a farm is menaced by two small aliens in form-concealing armor. At the end of the episode we learn that [[spoiler: the 'aliens' are actually human astronauts and the woman is a giant alien]]

** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS37E1TheWomanWhoFellToEarth "The Woman Who Fell to Earth"]]: The antagonist is a Stemza, who come from a planet much colder than Earth, with a body temperature low enough to freeze humans on skin contact. As a result, he wears a suit of armour. However, downplaying the trope, he can expose his hands and face briefly with no ill effects.

* The Daleks from ''Series/DoctorWho'' are actually OctopoidAliens inside their iconic metallic suits.

* [[OurTrollsAreDifferent Trolls]] in ''Series/TheShannaraChronicles'' are fully covered [[AfterTheEnd Post Apocalyptic]] SteamPunk-looking mutants.

Often done for budgetary reasons (as it save you time and money from complex make-ups and/or body painting) when correctly used may create some truly creative design and give the creatures a truly alien look. Sometimes combined with UniformityException in order to save money on expensive makeup. Contrast with the exact opposite ExposedExtraterrestrials

!!Examples

[[AC:ComicBooks]]
* Inverted in the Creator/ECComics story "Judgement Day", where a human astronaut visits a planet of robots to determine their fitness to join the Galactic Federation and keeps his helmet on for the entire visit. He eventually decides that the robots are not ready to join because some robots discriminate against others because of the color of their casings. In the final panel [[spoiler: he takes off his helmet, showing he is a black man]].

[[AC:{{Film}} - Animated]]

[[AC:[[FilmsLiveAction Film - Live Action]]]]
* The Jawas and the Tusken in the ''Franchise/StarWars'' franchise cover all their bodies with heavy clothing, hoods and masks, among other things. In the expanded universe is explained that, at least in the case of the Tusken, showing any kind of skin is absolute taboo.

[[AC:{{Literature}}]]

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

[[AC:Tabletop Games]]

[[AC:VideoGames]]
* ''VideoGame/MassEffect''

* In the ''Videogame/DawnOfWar'' games, the only Tau unit without a face-concealing helmet is the Ethereal, who wears robes anyway.

* ''WesternAnimation/BattleForTerra'' has the peaceful inhabitants of planet Terra raided by an alien GenerationShip. The invaders wear flight suits with full helmets, as they cannot breathe the heavy Terrian air. In fact, the Terrians actually swim around in their atmosphere. [[spoiler:The aliens are revealed to be humans, who have become InvadingRefugees after a nuclear war left Venus, Earth and Mars uninhabitable]].

* ''WesternAnimation/BattleForTerra'' has the peaceful inhabitants of planet Terra raided by an alien {{GenerationShip|s}}. The invaders wear flight suits with full helmets, as they cannot breathe the heavy Terrian air. In fact, the Terrians actually swim around in their atmosphere. [[spoiler:The aliens are revealed to be humans, who have become InvadingRefugees after a nuclear war left Venus, Earth and Mars uninhabitable]].

** The Vorlons claim to use their strange-looking exo-suits to survive in other environments, although later is reveal that the real reason is to hide their true EnergyBeings meet StarfishAlien look from outsiders.
** The Gaim are InsectoidAliens, the Gaim ambassadors are the only humanoid ones according to background material (as they are all genetically design by their queens) but still have insectoid features. They use a full body armor not so much to hide their look (other insectoid aliens walk without them) but because they can't breed in the environments that most races find comfortable. The name of the race is an homage from Creator/JMichaelStraczynski to Creator/NeilGaiman as the Gaim's helmet looks like the one use by ''ComicBook/TheSandman''.

* ''ComicBook/TechJacket'' has the Geldarians, who are always wearing their Tech Jackets as TwentyFourHourArmor due to their weak bodies, but their helmets are retractable.

** On LowerDeckEpisode "A View from the Gallery", the station is attacked by alien FacelessMooks who look like a red Stormtrooper.

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/mass_effect_quarian.png]]

An Enclosed Extraterrestrial is a kind of alien whose entire race seems to cover their bodies from head to toe, whether by clothing, attire, armors or even especially design artifacts. Sometimes this is done because they have some [[BizarreAlienBiology biological need]], others just don't want [[DontLookAtMe any stranger to see their real looks]] because of some sort of cultural taboo, or because they are EnergyBeings or StarfishAliens choosing AFormYouAreComfortableWith.

* Inverted in the Creator/ECComics story "Judgement Day", where a human astronaut visits a planet of robots to determine their fitness to join the Galactic Federation and keeps his helmet on for the entire visit. He eventually decides that the robots are not ready to join because some robots discriminate against others because of the color of their casings. In the final panel he takes off his helmet, showing he is a black man.

* ''Series/TheTwilightZone'': In the episode "The Invaders", a woman living alone on a farm is menaced by two small aliens in form-concealing armor. At the end of the episode we learn that [[spoiler: the men are actually human astronauts and the woman is a giant alien]]

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/0e494838775d87541d854cfddaacf52e.jpg]]

** The Gaim (pictured) are InsectoidAliens, the Gaim ambassadors are the only humanoid ones according to background material (as they are all genetically design by their queens) but still have insectoid features. They use a full body armor not so much to hide their look (other insectoid aliens walk without them) but because they can't breed in the environments that most races find comfortable. The name of the race is an homage from Creator/JMichaelStraczynski to Creator/NeilGaiman as the Gaim's helmet looks like the one use by ''ComicBook/TheSandman''.

** The Quarians are a wandering species and after centuries of living in sterilized environments they lost most of their immune system, thus they always use enviro-suits, to protect them from disease or infection, when dealing with other races.

** The Gaim are InsectoidAliens, the Gaim ambassadors are the only humanoid ones according to background material (as they are all genetically design by their queens) but still have insectoid features. They use a full body armor not so much to hide their look (other insectoid aliens walk without them) but because they can't breed in the environments that most races find comfortable. The name of the race is an homage from Creator/JMichaelStraczynski to Creator/NeilGaiman as the Gaim's helmet looks like the one use by ''ComicBook/TheSandman''.