History Main / OctopoidAliens

* A recent scientific paper actually proposes that the Octopoda order could originate in space-originate DNA brought by meteorites to Earth.

* The Mon Calamari of ''Franchise/StarWars'' are basically octopi with humanoid bodies. In the old Expanded Universe, they shared their planet with the Cthulu-esque Quarren as well.

* The pak'ma'ra in ''Series/BabylonFive'' are cephalopoid-looking, although mostly their Cthulhu-like heads, despite their look they're very friendly and peaceful.

[[quoteright:299:[[Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/paul2cc2.png]]]]

* ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds'' is probably the TropeMaker, as the Martian invaders are described as cephalopod-like creatures the size of bears who move around on land with their tentacles. Apparently, Wells came up with the idea by postulating that as the Martians advanced technologically, more and more of their bodies became useless and atrophied away, with the only parts preserved being their brains, their eyes and their hands (the "guide and teacher of the brain"). By the time they invade Earth, they're essentially reduced down to a head and a few manipulative tentacles. Oddly the creature redesigns for most of its adaptations (little creatures with multi-colored eyes in the 1953 version and three-legged TheGreys in the 2005 version) actually seem ''less'' exotic by comparison.

* ''WesternAnimation/Home2015'': The Book have multiple tentacles in place of humanoid legs, an ability to change color that's often [[LivingMoodRing dictated by their emotions]] and an elongated pair of siphons from the tops of their hands called "nostricles". The [[WesternAnimation/HomeAdventuresWithTipAndOh follow-up series]] establishes other octopoid traits like having multiple hearts, being cold-blooded and their heads being capable of inflation through their nostricles like a mantle.

* ''Videogame/SpaceInvaders'': According to Wiki/TheOtherWiki, designs of the enemy aliens were based on the octopus-like ones from ''Film/TheWarOfTheWorlds'' as well as in squids and crabs.

* Octopuses themselves are incredibly intelligent, displaying advanced problem solving skills and even tool use. However, this intelligence evolved along completely different lines than that of vertebrates such as mammals and birds. In fact, many regard them as the best example we currently have of an "alien" intelligence on Earth.

* The Mon Calamari of ''{{Franchise/StarWars'' are basically octopi with humanoid bodies. In the old Expanded Universe, they shared their planet with the Cthulu-esque Quarren as well.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Home}}'': The Book have multiple tentacles in place of humanoid legs, an ability to change color that's often [[LivingMoodRing dictated by their emotions]] and an elongated pair of siphons from the tops of their hands called "nostricles". The [[WesternAnimation/HomeAdventuresWithTipAndOh follow-up series]] establishes other octopoid traits like having multiple hearts, being cold-blooded and their heads being capable of inflation through their nostricles like a mantle.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePenguinsOfMadagascar'': There are giant space squids from Mars. One of them wants to invade the Earth, or, in other episode, at least wants to steal an invent from [=InvExpo=]. [[spoiler: Kowalski only thinks this. Actually, the squid wants his invention -- a robotic hand.]]

* Koro-sensei from ''Manga/AssassinationClassroom'' is initially thought to be one of these, [[spoiler:before it's revealed that he's an artificial being created on Earth, and that his octopus form isn't even his real form]].
* The king of the galaxy in ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' is basically an octopus wearing a crown. Interestingly, one of his tentacles is a penis, just like real-life octopuses, something Goku learns after [[GreetingGestureConfusion trying to shake his "hand"]].
* Two Martian octopuses appear as easily-killed villains in '''Go! Go! Ackman'', and one later makes a quick cameo in ''Anime/DragonBallZ''.
* When [[spoiler:Chao Lingshen]] from ''Manga/NegimaMagisterNegiMagi'' reveals that she's a Martian, everyone present reacts by imagining her as one of these.
* K from ''Anime/PuniPuniPoemy'' [[TomatoInTheMirror eventually discovers that he and his family are these]] (despite the fact that his parents don't even bother to disguise themselves, he goes to school in a UFO, and is even wearing a fake human body over his tentacles.)

* ''ComicBook/DoctorStrange'': [[EldritchAbomination Shuma-Gorath]] is a Western example, though he's been [[GermansLoveDavidHasselhoff very popular in Japan]] due to his appearances in the ''VideoGame/MarvelVsCapcom'' series.

* The Boov from ''WesternAnimation/{{Home}}'' are also like this, with multiple tentacles in place of humanoid legs, an ability to change color that's often dictated by their emotions and an elongated pair of siphons from the tops of their hands called "nostricles". The [[WesternAnimation/HomeAdventuresWithTipAndOh follow-up series]] establishes other octopoid traits like having multiple hearts, being cold-blooded and their heads being capable of inflation through their nostricles like a mantle.
* Pleakley, the one-eyed alien from ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch'', has two arms, three legs, and a long, skinny torso that has a flimsy octopus-like quality to it. His design, however, is more comical than truly alien.
* Gallaxhar, the eponymous alien from ''WesternAnimation/MonstersVsAliens'', is an evil extraterrestrial with octopus-like tentacles instead of legs and a large head shaped like a cephalopod's body.
* Cale Tucker of ''WesternAnimation/TitanAE'' gets a serving of alien spaghetti and meatballs in the scrapyard's commissary: the spaghetti resembles boiled kelp, and the meatballs are small creatures that once had tentacles, but these were obviously chopped off. Despite this handicap, they hop around madly on Cale's plate, perhaps sensing their impending doom.

* The heptapods in ''Film/{{Arrival}}'' are very similar to giant octopus aliens, of course except that they have seven tentacles.
* Though the aliens in ''Film/BattleLosAngeles'' look vaguely humanoid, this is only because they have a humanoid cybernetic frame that their bodies are wrapped around that lets them function on land. When their frames are damaged, their bodies are left immobilized on land and they resemble octopus-like creatures. They also seem to be far more at home in aquatic environments, even preferring to deploy their control systems inside the sewers of Los Angeles instead of on the surface.
* The Thermians from ''Film/GalaxyQuest'' have this as their default form, but [[AFormYouAreComfortableWith they disguise themselves as humans so that the main cast will understand them.]]
* In ''Film/MenInBlack'', J helps an alien to deliver a baby. During the process he is attacked by several tentacles, and when the mother finally gives birth to the baby, it looked like [[TheGreys a grey]] and squid hybrid.

* All Jan from ''Literature/AlienInASmallTown'' have at least two tentacles, but members of the the [[HiveCasteSystem Warrior Caste]] have six.

* The Wellsians from ''Literature/TheCrewOfTheCopperColoredCupids'' are, as their name not-so-subtly suggests, versions of H. G. Wells's Martians (their name comes from the name they give their own planet, "Wellsia"). They are frequently described as "vampire octopuses", but look somewhat less like cephalopods than Wells's originals: their flesh is chalk-white, their tentacles are numerous and uneven (with some forking once or even twice like roots), and instead of beaks, they have almost human-like faces.
* Creator/HPLovecraft may be the TropeCodifier with the description of the Great Old Ones and related creatures in his ''Franchise/CthulhuMythos''. Many of them involve tentacles of some kind, and his most famous character, Cthulhu explicitly has a face that resembles an octopus, albeit crossed with a [[SkullForAHead human skull]].
* The Octospiders in ''Literature/RamaII''.
* Creator/HGWells' ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds'' (1898) is probably the TropeMaker, as the Martian invaders are described as cephalopod-like creatures the size of bears who move around on land with their tentacles. Apparently, Wells came up with the idea by postulating that as the Martians advanced technologically, more and more of their bodies became useless and atrophied away. So by the time they invaded Earth, they're essentially reduced down to a head and a few manipulative tentacles. Oddly the creature redesigns for most of its adaptations (little creatures with multi-colored eyes in the 1953 version and three-legged TheGreys in the 2005 version) actually seem ''less'' exotic by comparison.

* The extra-dimensional alien encountered by Crichton in the ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' episode "Through the Looking Glass" resembled a cephalopod dwelling in a strange non-aquatic medium.

** In "Worlds Apart", shortly after his ship crashlands on another planet, the astronaut Lt. Christopher Lindy's inflatable raft is attacked by a giant alien squid.
** In "[[Recap/TheOuterLimits1995S3E7TheCamp The Camp]]", the Commandant keeps a sharrak, an alien creature resembling a giant squid that can split its tentacles in two, at the titular concentration camp. On occasion, he feeds disruptive prisoners to it. The sharrak is itself a food source as the New Masters consider it a delicacy.
* The Yip-yips of ''Series/SesameStreet'' are like benign, childishly curious versions of Wells's Martians.
* One foe of ''Series/UltraSeven'' was Chibu ([[SpellMyNameWithAnS sometimes Chibull]]), who sorta looked like a [[BrainMonster giant brain]] with tentacles and a face. As his appearance suggests, he didn't have a lot of fighting prowess, but he was definitely one of Seven's more cunning foes.
** Another alien of Chibu's species named Exceller appears as the BigBad of ''Series/UltramanGinga S''.

* Octobrains (octopus-like alien brains with tentacles) are regular enemies in the ''VideoGame/DukeNukem'' games.
* ''VideoGame/EccoTheDolphin'' has the Vortex, who in the case of the drones have this look, with big heads and numerous tentacles and limbs beneath.
* Octoman from ''VideoGame/FZero'' is a variation on the concept due to actually having a torso.

* In ''VideoGame/{{Insaniquarium}}'', the Psychosquid takes this trope rather literally: it is a red alien that looks almost exactly like an octopus, only with less tentacles and more weapons.
* Mars' native civilisation in ''VideoGame/JamestownLegendOfTheLostColony'' is a race of floating betentacled creatures of varying size.
* The Mars People from the ''VideoGame/MetalSlug'' series are (mostly) green octopoids that stand on their tentacles while wielding rayguns. They also occasionally curl up to float through the air.
* The Alien enemies in ''VideoGame/{{Miitopia}}'' look a ''lot'' like octopuses. ''Laser gun-wielding octopuses''.
* In the ''VideoGame/{{MOTHER}}'' series, Mooks are a race of aliens with octopus-like bodies.
* In ''VideoGame/PokemonSunAndMoon'', the first of the [[ThinDimensionalBarrier Ultra Beasts]], Nihilego, is designed to evoke the stereotypical Japanese "jellyfish alien", but the positioning of its tentacles [[HumanoidAbomination also causes it to resemble]] a long-haired girl [[TheBlank with no face]]. [[spoiler:They are implied to be one of the more common inhabitants of Ultra Space.]]
* The Octospiders in ''VideoGame/{{Rama}}'', so-named for being cephalopods with hair similar to a spider. They also communicate through [[StarfishLanguage colored light patterns]], being deaf.
* The aliens in the "First Contact" mini-game in ''VideoGame/RhythmHeaven Megamix'' are jellyfish-like creatures.
* According to Wiki/TheOtherWiki, designs of the enemy aliens in ''Videogame/SpaceInvaders'' were based on the octopus-like ones from ''Film/TheWarOfTheWorlds'' as well as in squids and crabs.

** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy'' introduced the Octoombas (alien Goombas) and some of its cousins, such as the [[CallASmeerpARabbit Octopuses]] (big brown Octoombas with tentacles) and also the King Kaliente boss. ''VideoGame/SuperMarioGalaxy2'' added another boss, Prince Pikante, to the list.
** ''VideoGame/SuperMarioOdyssey'' has Astro-Lanceurs, found in the [[spoiler:Moon Kingdom]].

* Sam Starfall of ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}}'' is implied to look like an octopus or squid wrapped around a stick figure artificial skeleton under the environment suit that protects him from Earth-like atmospheres, and humans from going insane from looking at him.

* The urfburgles from the ''WesternAnimation/ChipNDaleRescueRangers'' episode "Dale Beside Himself" are small, have four or five tentacles and a single eye. They're TooDumbToLive, and both look and act like living jelly. The spacefaring aliens that come to Earth consume them alive and whole as a snack, though Ditz tends to make a meal of these junk food critters.
* The [[ProudWarriorRaceguy Yugopotamians]] from ''WesternAnimation/FairlyOddParents'' look like octopuses with faces and exposed brains.
* The Decapodians in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' are a {{Cthulhumanoid}} race with traits of various aquatic animals, primarily squids, crabs and lobsters.

* ''WesternAnimation/ThePenguinsOfMadagascar'': There are giant space squid from Mars. One of them wants to invade the Earth, or, in other episode, at least wants to steal an invent from [=InvExpo=]. [[spoiler: Kowalski only thinks this. Actually, the squid wants his invention - a robotic hand.]]

* One very briefly shows up in an episode of ''WesternAnimation/RockosModernLife'' to return Earl the dog to the Bigheads after Ed launches him into space.

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[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

* Two Martian octopuses appear as easily-killed villains in '''Go! Go! Ackman'', and one later makes a quick cameo in ''Anime/DragonBallZ''.

* Koro-sensei from ''Manga/AssassinationClassroom'' is initially thought to be one of these, [[spoiler:before it's revealed that he's an artificial being created on Earth, and that his octopus form isn't even his real form]].
* The king of the galaxy in ''Anime/DragonBallSuper'' is basically an octopus wearing a crown. Interestingly, one of his tentacles is a penis, just like real-life octopuses, something Goku learns after [[GreetingGestureConfusion trying to shake his "hand"]].

* Pleakley, the one-eyed alien from ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch'', has two arms, three legs, and a long, skinny torso that has a flimsy octopus-like quality to it. His design, however, is more comical than truly alien.
* The Boov from ''WesternAnimation/{{Home}}'' are also like this, with multiple tentacles in place of humanoid legs, an ability to change color that's often dictated by their emotions and an elongated pair of siphons from the tops of their hands called "nostricles". The [[WesternAnimation/HomeAdventuresWithTipAndOh follow-up series]] establishes other octopoid traits like having multiple hearts, being cold-blooded and their heads being capable of inflation through their nostricles like a mantle.

* The heptapods in ''Film/{{Arrival}}'' are very similar to giant octopus aliens, of course except that they have seven tentacles.
* Though the aliens in ''Film/BattleLosAngeles'' look vaguely humanoid, this is only because they have a humanoid cybernetic frame that their bodies are wrapped around that lets them function on land. When their frames are damaged, their bodies are left immobilized on land and they resemble octopus-like creatures. They also seem to be far more at home in aquatic environments, even preferring to deploy their control systems inside the sewers of Los Angeles instead of on the surface.

* Creator/HGWells' ''Literature/TheWarOfTheWorlds'' (1898) is probably the TropeMaker, as the Martian invaders are described as cephalopod-like creatures the size of bears who move around on land with their tentacles. Apparently, Wells came up with the idea by postulating that as the Martians advanced technologically, more and more of their bodies became useless and atrophied away. So by the time they invaded Earth, they're essentially reduced down to a head and a few manipulative tentacles. Oddly the creature redesigns for most of its adaptations (little creatures with multi-colored eyes in the 1953 version and three-legged TheGreys in the 2005 version) actually seem ''less'' exotic by comparison.
* Creator/HPLovecraft may be the TropeCodifier with the description of the Great Old Ones and related creatures. Many of them involve tentacles of some kind, and his most famous character, Cthulhu explicitly has a face that resembles an octopus, albeit crossed with a [[SkullForAHead human skull]].
* ''Literature/{{Armada}}'': The Sobrukai are a race of aliens resembling squids and the antagonists of the FictionalVideoGame. They reside in an underwater base on another planet.

* The extra-dimensional alien encountered by Crichton in the ''Series/{{Farscape}}'' episode "Through the Looking Glass" resembled a cephalopod dwelling in a strange non-aquatic medium.

* One foe of Series/UltraSeven was Chibu ([[SpellMyNameWithAnS sometimes Chibull]]), who sorta looked like a [[BrainMonster giant brain]] with tentacles and a face. As his appearance suggests, he didn't have a lot of fighting prowess, but he was definitely one of Seven's more cunning foes.

* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'':
** In "Worlds Apart", shortly after his ship crashlands on another planet, the astronaut Lt. Christopher Lindy's inflatable raft is attacked by a giant alien squid.
** In "[[Recap/TheOuterLimits1995S3E7TheCamp The Camp]]", the Commandant keeps a sharrak, an alien creature resembling a giant squid that can split its tentacles in two, at the titular concentration camp. On occasion, he feeds disruptive prisoners to it. The sharrak is itself a food source as the New Masters consider it a delicacy.

* The Mars People from the ''VideoGame/MetalSlug'' series are (mostly) green octopoids that stand on their tentacles while wielding rayguns. They also occasionally curl up to float through the air.
* Octoman from ''VideoGame/FZero'' is a variation on the concept due to actually having a torso.

* ''VideoGame/EccoTheDolphin'' has the Vortex, who in the case of the drones have this look, with big heads and numerous tentacles and limbs beneath.
* According to Wiki/TheOtherWiki, designs of the enemy aliens in ''Videogame/SpaceInvaders'' were based on the octopus-like ones from ''Film/TheWarOfTheWorlds'' as well as in squids and crabs.
* VideoGame/GalMetal has the octopus-looking Octoid aliens.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'': The aliens Kang and Kodos are green with helmets and have squid-like bodies and tentacles.
* The [[ProudWarriorRaceguy Yugopotamians]] from ''WesternAnimation/FairlyOddParents'' look like octopuses with faces and exposed brains.

* The Decapodians in ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' are a {{Cthulhumanoid}} race with traits of various aquatic animals, primarily squids, crabs and lobsters.

A subset of StarfishAliens, and a popular form for aliens to take in fiction. This kind of design works because octopi already look alien enough to most people.

* Two Martian octopi appear as easily-killed villains in '''Go! Go! Ackman'', and one later makes a quick cameo in ''Anime/DragonBallZ''.

* ''ComicBook/SuperboyAndTheRavers'': Shaar Q's race are essentially built like oddly shaped head/bodies with octopi-like siphons and a mass of smaller tentacles and one large one, though they move like SnakePeople, slithering along on their large main tentacle.

* The Hawaiian creation myth posits that our universe is created and destroyed in cycles, and that octopi are the sole survivors of the universe that existed before the current one.

* The Alien enemies in ''VideoGame/{{Miitopia}}'' look a ''lot'' like octopi. ''Laser gun-wielding octopi''.

[[folder: Anime and Manga ]]

[[folder: Comic Books ]]

[[folder: Films -- Animated ]]
* Gallaxhar, the eponymous alien from ''WesternAnimation/MonstersVsAliens'' is an evil extraterrestrial with octopus-like tentacles instead of legs and a large head shaped like a cephalopod's body.

* Pleakley, the one eyed alien from ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch'' has two arms, three legs, and a long, skinny torso that have an flimsy octopus-like quality to them. His design, however, is more comical than truly alien.

[[folder: Films -- Live-Action ]]

[[folder: Literature ]]

[[folder: Live-Action TV ]]

[[folder: Religion and Mythology]]

[[folder: Video Games ]]

[[folder: Webcomics ]]

[[folder: Western Animation ]]

* The [[ProudWarriorRaceguy Yugopotams]] from ''WesternAnimation/FairlyOddParents'' look like octopuses with faces and exposed brains.

[[folder: Real Life]]
* Octopuses themselves are incredibly intelligent, displaying advanced problem solving skills and even tool use. However, this intelligence evolved along completely different lines than that of vertebrates such as mammals and birds. In fact, many regard them as the best exemplar we currently have of an "alien" intelligence on Earth.

* When [[spoiler:Chao Lingshen]] from ''Manga/MahouSenseiNegima'' reveals that she's a Martian, everyone present reacts by imagining her as one of these.

* ''{{VideoGame/Ecco the Dolphin}}'' has the Vortex, who in the case of the drones have this look, with big heads and numerous tentacles and limbs beneath.

* The Daleks of ''Series/DoctorWho''. The outer shells are essentially life-support/transportation devices, but on the comparatively rare occasions the actual dalek creatures inside them are shown, they are sometimes cephalopod-like.

* The Boov from ''WesternAnimation/{{Home}}'' are also like this, with multiple tentacles in place of humanoid legs, an ability to change color that's often dictated by their emotions and an elongated pair of siphons from the tops of their hands called "nostricles". The [[Western animation/HomeAdventuresWithTipAndOh follow-up series]] establishes other octopoid traits like having multiple hearts, being cold-blooded and their heads being capable of inflation through their nostricles like a mantle.

* The Boov from ''WesternAnimation/{{Home}}'' are also like this, with multiple tentacles in place of humanoid legs and an ability to change color.

* Creator/HPLovecraft may be the TropeCodifier with the description of the Great Old Ones and related creatures. Most of them involve tentacles of some kind, and his most famous character, Cthulhu explicitly has a face that resembles an octopus, albeit crossed with a [[SkullForAHead human skull]].

This kind of alien is especially popular in Japan (particularly of the Martian variety), replacing the LittleGreenMen and TheGreys that are often seen as the archetypical aliens in American media. Japan's take on the concept usually has them with large octopus, squid or jellyfish-like {{Cephalothorax}} bodies, long tentacles usually used to stand or to hold things, and a [[FunnelMouthedCephalopod funnel-shaped mouth]].

* Pleakley, the one eyed alien from ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch'' has two arms, three legs, and a long, skinny torso that have an flimsy octopus-like quality to them.

* Octopuses themselves are incredibly intelligent, displaying advanced problem solving skills and even tool use. However, this intelligence evolved along completely different lines than that of vertebrates such as mammals and birds. In fact, that many regard them as the best exemplar we currently have of an "alien" intelligence on Earth.