A) They come out of a giant hole in space B) Their sole motivation is to "KILL EVERYONE" C) They will not negotiate, or even communicate D) They have absurdly advanced technology, usually in one special area which is also their weakness E) There are frelling LOTS of them, sometimes including one REALLY unkillable one
We've got Voyager's 8472, Wing Commander's Nephilheim, Freespace's Shivans, Babylon 5's Thirdspace aliens, and most recently Andromeda's... whatever they are. They also all share the property that we rarely find out anything REAL about any of them, because all that's compelling about them is the mystery, and the only thing compelling about a mystery is solving it. There has to be something BENEATH the mystery to keep it interesting.
So my questions are twofold: are there any other examples of this cookie-cutter villan race? And can we trace the point from whence this idea originated? 'Cause I'm REALLY getting tired of the predictability...
Posted by The Ulcer Mongoose (Member # 239) on :
Countless B-Movie and direct to video releases have used similar villains, in fact, I'd venture to guess that there is not a single space adventure in the direct to video that does not have mysterious advanced killer aliens, which are then killed by a woman named Victoria removing her top. Combined with the sultry sounds of a MIDI saxophone, the Aliens are struck dead.
To an extent, the aliens in Independence Day were as cookie-cutter as you can get, although they did get infected by the Klez, so hmm. They were fairly adamant about the whole killing everything. Their guns were their downfall, with the Randy Quaid man who SHOVE IT UP YOU A-R-S-E!
I would have given my eternal soul for him to have said that. I still will.
Those damn dirty bugs in Starship Troopers had to kill everyone. They even shat out crazy alien shat to kill everyone. I don't remember how the humans won, though. Presumably when Denise Richards removed her top. If she did. Which she probably did. Because she's a whore.
What about those Damn Dirty Aliens from War of the Worlds, by that one older writer guy, Tom Clancy, I think. What was their motivation? Maybe they're similar too.
Blood suckers from Outer Space sounds like a good candidate as well. I don't know if it is, but it's got blood suckers, so c'mon.
Of course, if this is not what was asked, then, again, like always, ignore me.
[ May 25, 2002, 21:49: Message edited by: The Ulcer Mongoose ]
Posted by DeadCujo (Member # 13) on :
I don't know what to say about them, but it'd be nice if they were related to Trance in some way.
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
Well, the ID4 aliens and the Martians both wanted to colonize Earth, which made some sense for the Martians, who lived on a planet fairly like our own and very close.
Posted by The Ulcer Mongoose (Member # 239) on :
But they terrorized us! Colonization does not equal terror! The White Man did not slaughter his adversaries when advancing to the New World. Oh.
Posted by thoughtcriminal84 (Member # 480) on :
Nor did those spanish speaking fellows from Spain, all gleaming and shiny as they were.
Posted by The_Tom (Member # 38) on :
Except! Ho! Below their shiny armour was a fleshy veneer that could be best described as white!
I digress.
Anyone who's had the misfortune of seeing Copolla's lesser-known masterpiece, Captain EO, at Disney[land/world/enclave] would know that Maurice Hurley clearly walked out of the Magic Kingdom one day in 1988 with a glazed look over his eyes and went home to write a certain little episode. Six months later, the madness that was that damn 3D bug still whispering in his ear caused him to break down, and he ran screaming from the Paramount lot straight into the arms of David Hasselhoff's agent. And so it came to pass that there was Baywatch.
And lo, there was rejoicing, for the evil demon on the TNG writing staff had been vanquished, and Roddenberry arranged strippers for all, and the mystic knight known as Michael Piller strode forth to take the place of Hurley. But the dusty old corner office still echoed with the falsetto refrains of MJ, and seven years later, when Ron Moore and Brannon Braga sat down to continue the tale of the Borg, the spirit of Captain EO struck again. And so it came to past that Alice Krige inherited the mantle of Anjelica Huston.
Oh, Hollywood.
[ May 26, 2002, 00:36: Message edited by: The_Tom ]
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
It's obviously been too long since I've seen Captain EO. If such a thing were possible.
Posted by The Ulcer Mongoose (Member # 239) on :
I seem to recall rumours of a missing scene where Picard moonwalks, but that's an unsubstantiated report. There was a lack of "boogeying", in any event.
BONUS POINTS: Captain EO opened at EPCOT on my birthday. Fulfilled, I am.
[ May 26, 2002, 00:36: Message edited by: The Ulcer Mongoose ]
Posted by The_Tom (Member # 38) on :
Posted by Cartman (Member # 256) on :
quote:We've got Voyager's 8472, Wing Commander's Nephilheim, Freespace's Shivans, Babylon 5's Thirdspace aliens, and most recently Andromeda's...
If I'm not mistaken those aliens were code-named Nephilim... something about an ancient Hebrew legend of "giants in the Earth".
C and D don't really apply to them, though. They were all to eager to insult you -- both in funny bug linguo as well as in English -- which is a form of communication. Blair exchanged words and thoughts with the hive.
As for their technology... it was only marginally ahead of Confed's. Definitely not absurdly advanced.
Posted by Vogon Poet (Member # 393) on :
These Nephilim. . . would they have fields, by any chance? 8)
Posted by thoughtychops (Member # 480) on :
They were farmers, yes.
Posted by Vogon Poet (Member # 393) on :
So, I'd be correct in assuming they worked in the, er, Fields of the Nephilim, right? 8)
Posted by thoughtychops (Member # 480) on :
Surely you're thinking of Kevin Sorbo's award winning "Hercules: Teh Legendary Journeys".
There was a crystal-powered microwave oven in one episode. Pretty great science fiction, you ask me.
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
I'm surprised that no one's mentioned the Magog so far... they seem to fit many of these criteria, only slightly less so than these new super-villains.
Then there's also these new Yutzes-Vong that are invading the "Star Wars" universe in their novels which I haven't bothered to read since the first one.
Let's face it -- it's a tired old cliche. Which is one reason why I was really dreading the Andromeda finale, and why I couldn't care less about what happens to everyone next season.
Posted by Omega (Member # 91) on :
Well, I considered those two, but they communicate AND have motive. Of course, the Magog motive IS to KILL EVERYONE, but they have a reason behind it. Posted by Paladin181 (Member # 833) on :
Genesis 6:4 [NASB] "The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of men, and they bore children to them. Those were the mighty men who were of old, men of renown."
Posted by thoughtychops (Member # 480) on :
told you it was from hercules
Posted by Mucus (Member # 24) on :
Genesis == Hercules?
I think I'm going to sit back and watch the fun when some Fundamentalist strolls by Posted by First of Two (Member # 16) on :
How about Fred Saberhagen's "Berserker" roboships?
They came from parts unknown. They were out to kill all organic life. (Which was everyone but them) They only pretended to negotiate. They were pretty advanced, but their abilities were sometimes their weaknesses as well. They weren't especially numerous, but they were all devastating. They could wipe out whole planets individually.
![[Smile]](smile.gif)