History Main / RubberForeheadAliens

** They also have fur instead of hair, which is why it doesn't need to be cut.

* The [[CrestOfTheStars Abh]] were distinguished by their blue hair though some of them also had pointy ears.

* In ''Franchise/StarTrek'', Klingons, Vulcans, Bajorans, Ferengi, and Cardassians, just to name a few. In fact, the majority of all races encountered in every Star Trek series has two arms, two legs, a head, and a general chest area. The exceptions are usually MonsterOfTheWeek types.
** The less important the species, the smaller the prosthetic. Most common is a small latex prosthetic on the bridge of the nose or eyebrow. It's no wonder that ''StargateSG1'' (''Voyager'''s contemporary) gave up on all pretense and filled the universe with plain humans.

** For example, the Bajorans. Small ridges on the nose are the only ''visible'' differences between fully-clothed Bajorans and fully clothed Humans. There is [[EnforcedTrope a reason for this]]: the Bajoran makeup was designed the way it is specifically to make sure that the (numerous) Bajoran females who would appear in the franchise [[RuleOfSexy would all still be good-looking]].
** The Bajorans were also planned from the outset [[PlanetOfHats to be refugees]]. The minimal makeup was convenient for costuming large crowds and child actors.
** Parodied [[http://www.theonion.com/content/node/32439 in this article]] from TheOnion.

* Most "aliens" in the StargateVerse are just humans, [[TransplantedHumans transported]] from Earth in antiquity. But of those that don't, some - particularly other species used as hosts by the Goa'uld - still fit this Trope. The Unas are just Humans with Scales, for example.
** And chin spikes, and only 4 fingers, which puts them more in the HumanoidAlien category. Wraith fit well enough though, once to get past their (justified) BizarreAlienBiology.
** [[InvertedTrope Inverted]] by a Wraith in the episode ''Vegas''. He uses cosmetics to turn himself into a Rubber Forehead ''Human'', which goes [[CityOfWeirdos completely unnoticed]].

** There are some hilarious rubber headed aliens in ''Mr. Dingle, the Strong'' which feature one race as two guys stuck together with metal antennas on their heads and another race as children with painted mustaches partially inflated balloons on their head and two buy-like anntennas. Thankfully that episode was meant to be a comedy.

* ''StarWars'' has a ''lot'' of humanoid aliens, most of which find the nitrogen/oxygen atmosphere found on human-inhabited planets tolerable, if not comfortable (there are exceptions to this rule, such as the Kel Dor, who must wear goggles and breather masks at all times on human-habitable worlds). There are also, however, several non-humanoids, including a handful of insectoids, a lobster-like species, more than a few quadrapeds or hexapeds... and one that looks like nothing so much as a floating brain. The most human-like aliens are called [[http://starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Near-Human near-human]], and are considered to have descended from humans (the blue-skinned, red-eyed but otherwise human Chiss are a typical example).

* WickedLovely tends to go this route with a lot of TheFairFolk. [[TheWoobie Niall]], for example, is described as having "too-sheer skin, like parchment by a flame, and too many joints."
* The aliens in ''Literature/{{Deathscent}}'' by RobinJarvis are somewhere between this and HumanoidAliens. While both races look quite like humans - enough that when one first arrives the human characters don't realise what he is until they see him in the light - their biology is very different. One of them perceives the world primarily through sense of smell, has four nostrils (one of which is in the forehead) and speaks a musical StarfishLanguage.
* A large number of TheCulture alien species are near human. It was explained as a convergent evolution thing.

* Subverted in David Brin's {{Uplift}} novel ''Brightness Reef''. The Rothen, a human-like alien race trying to con human beings, wear artificial foreheads to make themselves appear more human-like. The Tymbrimi are genuine Rubber Forehead Aliens, mostly-human looking though with different proportions and facial features. All the other aliens in the series are HumanoidAliens or StarfishAliens.

* In ''Franchise/StarTrek'', Klingons, Vulcans, Bajorans, Ferengi, and Cardassians, just to name a few. In fact, the majority of all races encountered in every Star Trek series has two arms, two legs, a head, and a general chest area. The exceptions are usually MonsterOfTheWeek types.
** UnfortunateImplications began to arise by the time ''Series/StarTrekVoyager'' rolled around. Recurring enemy races each have an elaborate, distinctive look. Due to budget constraints, however, everyone else is stuck with tiny, inexpensive prosthetics. This results in all of the "bad" aliens wearing dark makeup, while all the hapless "good" aliens are Caucasians with Silly Putty on their noses.

** For example, the Bajorans. Small ridges on the nose are the only ''visible'' differences between fully-clothed Bajorans and fully clothed Humans. There is [[JustifiedTrope a reason for this]]: the Bajoran makeup was designed the way it is specifically to make sure that the (numerous) Bajoran females who would appear in the franchise [[RuleOfSexy would all still be good-looking]].

** Klingons only gained their rubber foreheads when the movies' increased budget permitted it. Prior to the {{retcon}}, they were Entire Bottle of Bronzer and Upswept Eyebrows Aliens. In fact, until attention was called to it in ''[[Series/StarTrekDeepSpaceNine Deep Space Nine]]'', the LiteraryAgentHypothesis was the official explanation: in-universe, they weren't considered to look exactly like humans. There just wasn't the budget to portray them as they actually looked. (There's actually an onscreen reference, sort of: a Klingon posing as a human was said to have been ''surgically altered'' to appear human (if we take what's onscreen at face value, it wouldn't take surgery, just a haircut).

** Franchise/SuperSentai is known for being far less elaborate with theirs - ''Series/BakuryuuSentaiAbaranger'' has the Ryujin, who merely have four tiny claws over their cheekbones. ''Series/TokusouSentaiDekaranger'' in particular spammed the use of full-head rubber masks (over very mundane clothing too), unlike ''Series/PowerRangersSPD'' which relied a lot on prosthetics.

* ''Franchise/MassEffect'': Asari fit the trope perfectly, being [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe blue-skinned alien space babes]]. Although their tentacles are actually on the ''back'' of their heads, where a human would have hair[[hottip:*:In the third game, Liara describes them as "semi-flexible cartilage-based scalp crests that grow into shape"]]. While they wear the same armor as humans in-game, ''every'' race sees them as their equivalent of [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe blue-skinned alien space babes]] except possibly the Krogan, who still see them as attractive.

** Franchise/SuperSentai is known for being far less elaborate with theirs - ''Series/BakuryuSentaiAbaranger'' has the Ryujin, who merely have four tiny claws over their cheekbones. ''Series/TokusouSentaiDekaranger'' in particular spammed the use of full-head rubber masks (over very mundane clothing too), unlike ''Series/PowerRangersSPD'' which relied a lot on prosthetics.

* Played with in AlastairReynolds novel ''Literature/HouseOfSuns''; All of the civilizations in the Milky Way originally came from Earth, but over millions years (the novel is in 6.3 million AD) they have diverged somewhat. One of the characters seen in the story has a elephant-like trunk, and other humans are mentioned as having scales or full body hair.

** In ''VideoGame/MassEffect3'', if a male Shepard romanced Tali and [[spoiler: saved the quarian fleet]], Tali will leave a photo of herself without mask or helmet on his nightstand. It turns out that [[spoiler: were it not for the skin markings, the three-fingered hands, and the avian legs, she could pass for human.]] It helps that Tali's "photo" is [[spoiler: literally a photoshopped stock image of a model]]

-->-- TheyMightBeGiants, "We Want a Rock"

* ''TeenagersFromOuterSpace'' divides aliens into [[RubberForeheadAliens Near Humans]], Not Very Near Humans, and [[StarfishAliens Real Weirdies]].

* The movie ''ThisIslandEarth'''s aliens were similar to humans except for huge foreheads and white hair. The actors wore rubber foreheads.

* Subverted in David Brin's novel "Brightness Reef". The Rothen, a semi-humanoid alien race trying to con human beings, wear artificial foreheads to make themselves appear more human-like.

* This trope is [[LampShaded lampshaded]] and mocked countless times in the books. Due to the book's tendancy to [[ViewersAreMorons describe what the same aliens look like each book,]] the number of times the Animorphs have said something to the effect of "REAL aliens aren't just humans with rubber foreheads and putty on their faces" could fill an entire page on it's own.

** Well, Hork-Bajir have two legs, but they have their tails for balance.

* This trope is [[LampShaded lampshaded]] and mocked countless times in the Animorph series of books. Due to the book's tendancy to [[ViewersAreMorons describe what the same aliens look like each book,]] the number of times the Animorphs have said something to the effect of "REAL aliens aren't just humans with rubber foreheads and putty on their faces" could fill an entire page on it's own.

** SuperSentai is known for being far less elaborate with theirs - ''BakuryuSentaiAbaranger'' has the Ryujin, who merely have four tiny claws over their cheekbones. ''TokusouSentaiDekaranger'' in particular spammed the use of full-head rubber masks (over very mundane clothing too), unlike ''Series/PowerRangersSPD'' which relied a lot on prosthetics.

* Oh so very averted in ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}''. Not only do ''all'' the other alien races look nothing like humans, but it turns out that humans are the only alien civilization in the universe that walks upright on two legs.