BLUE SKIN ALIENS

Pop culture is crowded with humanoid aliens ressembling normal humans. Reasons for this is often cost (in the case of films and TV series), belivability (the fact that an alien would look like a normal human would be scientifically highly unlikely, but animatronics, prosthetics and make up can often be even more unbelievable) and association with the character (it's easier to associate with Han Solo, a Corellian, than it is with Greedo). In recent years, to make easy-to-associate-with aliens look "scientifically" more believable, the path chosen by designers was that often refered to as "nose job" consisting mainly in of minor prosthetic changes done by adding some latex to modify some facial features and make the extra-terrestrial character unmistakingably alien. From the eighties and on, Star Trek series have used this technique extensively to bring diversity in their aliens of the week. The method had its root in the original series with Mr. Spock's trademark pointed ears made him famous. At the time, though, the use of heavy facial prosthetics was less common and most humanoid aliens used unearhtly color tones to distingish themselves, wether green like the Orions, half with half black (or the reverse) like the Cheronians, blue like the andorians (while the latter also used prosthetics antennea which made them in the not-completely human category). To make the aliens more aliens, cold colors were always a favorite. Little Green Men has somewhat become a stereotypcial portrayal of extraterrestrials, with blue being the next chromatic contender. Among the most known blue skin human aliens, let's note:

• The Kree (created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby for the Marvel Universe)
• The Gamilons (created by Leiji Matsumoto for the Space Cruiser Yamato animated series, and generally associated with what fans call the Leijiverse)
• The Bolar (with a lighter skin complection), still from the Yamato universe.
• The Izarians from the Magnerobo Gakeen animated show
• The Drules from the Voltron american animated series adapted from the Golion series (where the alien presented species is called Garla) and the Dairugger XV series (where the species is the Galbeston)
• The Vineans (from Roger Leloup's Yoko Tsuno series)
  

KHUNDS

Planet of origins: Khundia, a planet perpetually eclipsed by its moon, making it a dark and dreary world, in a star system close to Polaris.
The Khund s are a very aggressive humanoid species ressembling humans with larger and more muscular build and magenta skin. They had spacefaring technology by the end of the twentieth century. Choking on its own dense population, their homeworld has become totally overrun by a mentality of total militarism and violence.
Along with the Dominators and the Gil Dishpans, They were members of an interstellar alliance that planned an invasion of Earth toward 1988-89.After this attmpt failed, they retreated to their homeworld and battled among themselves over the responsability of their failure. It took them over a thousand years before threatening Earht again.
Notes: Khunds share a lot of ressemblance with Star Trek's Klingons.
Source: DC Universe, "Invasion", "Adventure Comics Vol 1 346" (July 1966)

THANAGARIANS

Planet of Origin: Thanagar, a planet is in orbit around the star Polaris (Alpha Ursae Minoris, 430 LY from Earth). Four fifths of the planet is covered in water.
The thanagarians are humanoid, and close to Homo sapiens in general appearance. They evolved into a unified highly advanced spacefaring technological society, with no obvious civil or political unrest. War and crime was rare and virtually non-exsistent ever since the early days of the planets existence. In the 1960ies, following an artificical alien plague that temporarily robbed most of the population from their individuality, the Thanagarians lost much of their science and technology and, suffering from cultural shock and under alien influence, reestablished ithemselves into a more expansionnist civilisation. They began conquering other planets and stripping them of their natural resources and bringing back a number of inhabitants to Thanagar as slaves. The slave class was over 3 billions by the end of the twentieth century. Aliens and Thanagarians alike, were living in "Downside" ghettos, while the Thanagarians nobles lived in floating cities above where poverty, crime, and suffering were virtually unheard of.
Central to Thanagarian technology is the use of Nth Metal, Nth, an hyperconductive transuranic iron (atomic number of 676), possessing innate anti-magical properties, and able to invert mesons and gravitons. Thanagar was one of the planets which united to invade Earth in 1988-1989. The planet remains on hostile terms with most of other civilisation it has been in contact with. Source: DC Universe, "Brave and the Bold" Vol 1 #34

COLUANS

Planet of origin: Colu (Yod), the only inhabitable planet of its solar system and is the fourth planet from its sun in the suburbs of the Magellanic Clouds. With polar ice caps and a few desert, it is mostly a temperate world with its surface covered half by land and half by water. Its capital is Metaire and most of its population resides in urban areas.

The Coluans appear as green-skinned humanoids with exceptionally long lifespans and very high intellectual capacities, both said to be due to genetic manipualtions. Living in a technologically highly advanced society with space faring capacity, They developed a computer network to run their world. The system developed sentience and took over complete control of the planet. The Coluans were under the rule of these Computer Tyrants for millenia until the end of the twentieth century. After their liberation from the Tyrants by one of their scientists, they prefered theoretical research to experimentation. But, accustomed to the rule of the Tyrants, stagnated in both fields.

Source: DC Universe "Legion of Superheroes", "Legion", "Legionnaires"

Colu uses its shrinking technologyto make maximum use of its surface area.

APPOLONIANS

Planet of Origins: Appolon (300 000 LY from Earth)
The appolonians are highly advanced peaceful humanoids who developed a powerful energy source capable a ruined ecosphere. They were conquered by the Dazaans toward the end of the twentieth century. They worship a god like entity called Appolon appearing like a shining humanoid on a winged horse.
Source: [UFO戦士ダイアポロン] UFO Senshi Diapolon (UFO Diapolon) - TBS Toukyou Housou , Eiken Tokyo Agency / www. encirobot.com (thanks for the picture)

DAZAAN

Planet of origin: Dazaan (one million LY from Earth)
Dazaans are an aggressive highly advanced humanoids whose world has suffered a grave ecological disaster and whose atmosphere has been saturated with poisonous gas. Their bodies have suffered horrific mutations that make them physically horrible. And that is why we are trying to take energy Takeshi only because it will establish acceptable living conditions on their planet.
Toward the end of the twentieth century, they conquered planet Appolon in the hope of getting a powerful source of energy the Appolonians had developed in order to regenerate their world. They tehn turned toward Earth where the key of how to operate the power source had been hidden. In the end, Dazaan was regenerated but its oppressing ruling class was decimated. Source: [UFO戦士ダイアポロン] UFO Senshi Diapolon (UFO Diapolon) - TBS Toukyou Housou , Eiken Tokyo Agency / www. encirobot.com (thanks for the picture)

MOGURU

The Moguru are humanoids who lived on the planet 5D, situated between Mars and Jupiter. A few of them left 200 millions years ago when the planet was destroyed and established themselves on Earth as the underwater Altantis empire. As of the end of the twentieth century, after emergning from a millenia old slumber, they tried and faield to subjugate the human race.
They seem to have to subspecies, the governing one being closer to humans in physical appearance, with an ivory white skin compelxion, while the other, while still humanoid are more simian, maybe with reptilian features and a wide variety of skin tones, from green to purple.
Source: Blocker Gundan IV Machine Blaster ©Fuji TV. © Nippon Animation / www. encirobot.com

SHI'AR

The Shi'ar are oviparous humanoids of avian descent; resembling humans with feathered crests atop their heads in lieu of hair.They have light hollow bones, and some vestigial feathers on their forearms, left of wings that were lost over evolution. Through freak genetic throwbacks, some individuals still possess wings which allow them to fly. The average Shi'ar can lift 1 ton in earth-like gravity and has far greater stamina.

With a monarchic society, they are expansionnist and aggressively absorb new cultures.While the empire has grown to include hundreds of thousands of different sentient species and worlds, the Shi'ar race controls and governs the empire. Its central base of power is located on the "throneworld" Chandilar, while the Shi’ar homeworld is called Aerie. Leadership of the empire is am hereditary position, occupied by members of the royal family.The Shi'ar Empire is one of the most advanced and expansive civilizations in the universe, spanning an entire galaxy and spawning into others. It is mainly an economic co-operative, where trade is the driving force. Though having warlike and militaristic ancestry, the Shi'ar Empire has largely occupied the role of peacekeepers in many interstellar affairs.
In 1992, the Shi'ar annexed the Kree Empire at the end of the Kree-Shi'ar but internal affairs made the Shi’ar abandon their dominion soon after. Most recently, The Shi'ar have had contact with the Spartoi, described as an equally advanced distant race.
The Shi'ar possess faster than light starships, force fields, faster than light communication, teleportation technology, advanced holographic technology and Cloaking technology, Stargates network system used for travel to faraway distances, both planet-based used for personal travel and space-based versions used for starships to travel through, Starcracker technology that can cause stars to go supernova. Most of their technology is sentient.Source: X-Men vol. 1 #97 (February 1976) by Chris Claremont & Dave Cockrum. Marvel Universe

KREE

Planet of Origin: Hala, Pama System (Norhtwestern lobe of the Greater Magellanic Cloud)
The Kree are an humanoid species originating from planet Hala that developed an advanced interstellar civilisation. They resemble humans almost exactly but with blue skin and higher physical strength, due to their homeworld’s gravity, and require more nitrogen to breathe comfortably.
A million years ago the Skrulls came upon prehistoric Hala and they set about to educate the natives so they could join their trading empire. However, Hala was home to two equally intelligent races, the mammal Kree and the vegetal Cotati. The Skrulls proposed a test to determine the worthier race. Taking members of both races to a distant planetoid in the Milky Way, Earth's moon, the Skrulls created an arena and bid the two races to use the resources they had to create something of worth within one year’s time. The Kree constructed a magnificent city, while the Cotati created a beautiful garden. When the Skrulls returned, they found the Cotati's accomplishment the worthier. The Kree killed the Skrulls and the Cotati and seized the Skrulls' starship. They used it to return to their native planet, then set about deciphering its technology. Within a hundred years, the Kree empire began to spread throughout the Greater Magellanic Cloud. They launched an attack upon the Skrull empire.The Kree-Skrull War would continue for hundreds of thousands of years. At the same time the Cotati were driven to extinction. However, a small handful of Kree hid and kept safe a group of Cotati. Eventually they began worshipping them. To keep them safe, they relocated them throughout the universe. About 250 years later, aware that the Skrulls had once created an incredibly powerful artefact called the Cosmic Cube, the Kree designed a cybernetic/organic supercomputer called the Supreme Intelligence to help them in creating a Cube. When it became functional, it determined that a Cosmic Cube would be too dangerous to construct. The computer was then used simply in an advisory capacity. Over time, as the war with the Skrull dragged on, the Supreme Intelligence gradually accrued more and more political power and responsibility until finally it was elected as absolute ruler of the Kree. Eventually, the Supreme Intelligence came to be worshipped and an organized religion built up around it. Under its reign, The Kree Empire extended throughout nearly a thousand worlds in the northwestern lobe of the Greater Magellanic Cloud with outposts in other galaxies.
Since their unlikely accession to the status of interstellar civilisaiton, the Kree have become an evolutionarily stagnant race. In an attempt to further their development, some Kree bred with other species, producing the 'pink-skinned' Kree. These pinks eventually outnumbered the blue-skin but due to what they consider to be their genetic purity, remained second class citizens.
In 1992, not long after the conflicts with the Skrull ended, the Kree again found themselves embroiled in a war with the Shi'ar Empire. During the war, a powerful weapon known as the Nega-Bomb was detonated in Kree space. Negative energy was released into space causing an extremely powerful explosive and radioactive reaction, which devastated the Kree empire, killing over 90% of its 30 billion population, and led to its surrender to the Sh'iar. It was eventually revealed that the Supreme Intelligence was ultimately responsible for the bomb's detonation in a bid to kick-start the Kree race's genetic development. Kree territory was then annexed by the Sh'iar for a short while until internal problems made them abandon this dominion.
In 2007, the Kree Empire was subject to the attacks of the Annihilation Wave, which was halted on Hala.
The Kree are known to have come to Earth and experimented on humans to investigate possible ways of circumventing their evolutionary stagnation, and to create a powerful mutant race of soldiers for use against the Skrulls. However, although their experiments were successful in creating a strain of humanity with extraordinary and diverse abilities, the Kree abandoned their experiments.
Source: Fantastic Four #65 (August 1967), created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Marvel Universe Wikipedia