"Think about this. According to the movies, out there in space, untold light years from Earth, exist many alien species with the ability to travel between the stars and send messages across the universe. Their civilizations must be wonderfully advanced, and yet, when we finally encounter them, what do we get? Disgusting, slimy morph-creatures with rows of evil teeth, whose greatest cultural achievement is jumping out at people from behind things. How do they travel through space? By jumping out from behind one star after another?"
— Roger Ebert on Species
"...they want to invade the Earth because they always do. What the fuck's so great about Earth? Good school district, handy for the shops, what?"
Once, I saw xenos as a terrifying threat, the harbingers of our galaxy's destruction. Now I know them for what thery are. Vermins, parasites, suckling at the wounds of a galaxy that already belongs to mankind.
— Daenyathos - "Reliquerae Tactica", Warhammer 40,000
President Whitmore: I know there is much we can learn from each other if we can negotiate a truce. We can find a way to coexist. Can there be a peace between us?
Alien: Peeeeeeeace? No peeeeeeeace.
President Whitmore: What is it you want us to do?
Alien: ...Die...Diiiiiiiieeeeeeeee...
Alien: Peeeeeeeace? No peeeeeeeace.
President Whitmore: What is it you want us to do?
Alien: ...Die...Diiiiiiiieeeeeeeee...
Guerrero: Harris, what's your take on all this?
Harris: I dunno, man. Extraterrestrial?
Emlay: You mean, like, from space?
Stavrou: No. From Canada.
In our obsession with antagonisms of the moment, we often forget how much unites all the members of humanity. Perhaps we need some outside, universal threat to make us recognize this common bond. I occasionally think how quickly our differences worldwide would vanish if we were facing an alien threat from outside this world.
— Ronald Reagan note
"No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's. [...] Yet across the gulf of space, minds that are to our minds as ours are to those of the beasts that perish, intellects vast and cool and unsympathetic, regarded this earth with envious eyes, and slowly and surely drew their plans against us."
— H. G. Wells, The War of the Worlds, (1898)
It was quite by accident I discovered this incredible invasion of Earth by lifeforms from another planet. As yet, I haven’t done anything about it; I can’t think of anything to do. I wrote to the Government, and they sent back a pamphlet on the repair and maintenance of frame houses.
— The Eyes Have It, by Philip K. Dick.
"If you were going to take over the world, would you blow up the White House Independence Day-style, or sneak in through the back door?"
— Casey, The Faculty
Peacemaker (about the Reach): Beat those aliens who showed up and tried to enslave the planet.
Jaime: Which ones didn't try to enslave the planet?
Peacemaker: ...Gimme a second.
Jaime: Which ones didn't try to enslave the planet?
Peacemaker: ...Gimme a second.
Destination Moon created the great SF boom of the 1950s. It offered a single, wild leap of imagination that said the stars could be humanity’s for the taking. But despite the deluge of SF films that subsequently came almost none of them — excepting maybe Forbidden Planet (1956) — accepted the implicit challenge. Instead humanity’s attitude toward the stars contrarily became one that the sky was in imminent danger of falling on our heads, be it filled with alien invaders or atomic monsters.
— Review of Destination Moon
The idea of invaders from the stars has captivated humanity for well over a century, and hundreds of books, movies, and games have been created based on the idea. Everyone is familiar with at least a few of these stories and the tropes they contain, whether they be Martian tripods or pod people. This means that regardless of the specifics, players have at least some familiarity with the concept of an alien invasion.
On another level, the idea of an alien invasion represents our deepest fears about the other, and the dehumanizing effects of war. In the course of an alien invasion, neither side is “human” to the other, whether they see their opponents as beasts, grotesque monsters, or something else. All the horrors of battle are amplified when there is no shared humanity to fall back on. It’s the ultimate expression of war: merciless violence that strips both sides of their inherent worth, of their very essence.
—The End of the World: Alien Invasion
Was today the fourth of July? If not, is the empire striking back or what? Looks like things are gonna get weird today...
—Travis Touchdown, No More Heroes III
Wasp: Have you people really taken over the whole base?
Herr Kleiser: No, just a few strategic points in the Triskelion and some SHIELD personnel positions. That's the intrinsic weakness of these super-spy organizations, I suppose. Nobody's quite sure where their orders are coming from, anyway.
15:37, Eastern Standard Time, 39 alien spacecraft crashed into Red Zones on every continent. While the source and purpose of these aircraft remains unknown, there's no mystery about their intentions.
—William Frank, reporting First Contact, Command & Conquer: Tiberium Wars
Captain America: Thor, what's his play?
Thor: He has an army, called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract.
Cap: An army. From outer space.
Thor: He has an army, called the Chitauri. They're not of Asgard or any world known. He means to lead them against your people. They will win him the Earth. In return, I suspect, for the Tesseract.
Cap: An army. From outer space.
