MYSTERIANS / NATARLS / NATALS

The Mysterians (ミステリアン, Misuterian?) is a humanoid species that thousands of years ago lived on an asteroid between Mars and Jupiter. They were far more scientifically advanced than the beings of Earth. When Earth entered the Neolithic Age, this alien race had discovered the atom bomb. Despite all this progress, their world was devastated by terrible weapons when war erupted among their people. The bodies of those who survived were mutated and contaminated with Strontium-90, causing roughly 80% of the new born population to be horribly disfiguredand following this catastrophe, the survivors moved to Mars. However, since that planet was such a wasteland, they had to find a new home that could fit all of their needs. They desired Earth...

Hiding on the dark side of the moon, these people planned their invasion for years. Finally, in the Earth year 1957, they found a place where they could begin their attack: Japan. The aliens arrived on Earth undetected, by transporting their UFOs from their mother ship and hiding underground in the Mt. Fuji area. They used a giant robotic machien called Moguera as the tool of their invasion but failed.

In 1965, a similar species calling itslef the Natarls attacked Earth with  a wide array of technology and and ingenuity in their attempt to overthrow the Earth by various means, including mind control, sabotage, anti-gravity rays, space-torpedoes, saucer attacks, and finally their huge Mothership.

The Natarls are eventually defeated through the cooperation of Earth's nations in developing new weapons, launching a fleet of advanced rocket ships, and a sneak-attack on the aliens moon base.

Source:  The Mysterians (1957), Battle in Outer Space, (1959)

 

 

VORTAAK

The Vortaak are an aggressive humanoid warlike species which developed a spacefaring expanding monarchic civilisation. They are fairly human looking but with softer features, white skin and pitch balck eyes. They tried to conquer Earth at the turn of the 2nd millenium under the rule of Queen Vorticia,by mindcontrolling Earth's Kaiju but failed.

Source: Godzilla universe. Atari and Pipeworks Godzilla game series. In Godzilla: Destroy All Monsters Melee

FEN

The Fen were a barely sentient race of large jellyfish-like creatures that inhabit certain areas of hyperspace.

Though there is no known instance of a Fen ever consuming a Starship, they are attracted to metallic objects.  

SOurce: Babylon 5 universe,  The Well of Forever

BALOSIANS

Planet of Origin: Balos

The Balosians are a humanoid species which developed a small space faring civilisation and became member the League of Non-Aligned Worlds. Balosians can be distinguished by their elongated, almost cone-like skulls that gently curve backwards. They were close to the Markab.

Source: Babylon 5, Deathwalker (episode), Born to the Purple

HURR

Planet of Origin: Androma

The Hurr are a humanoid species which developed a space faring civilisation in the late 22nd century and became members of the League of Non-Aligned Worlds and later the Interstellar Alliance. As a society it is very intolerant, factionalized and thoroughly male-dominated. Female Hurr are considered by their society to be inferior in all ways and are restricted to childbearing and to providing pleasure and company to the males. They have no right to vote and marriage is considered the pinnacle of social achievement for a female. There is a budding feminist movement on Androma but given the nature of the civilisation, any change will be extremely slow and difficult.

Economic disparity within the civilization itself is rampant and there is a significantly large class of Hurr who live in abject poverty while the middle class is typically much smaller and the number of the wealthy elite is extremely small indeed. As is to be expected in this kind of situation, crime and political corruption are rife and crime lords work hand in glove with the government. Most Hurr live in the cities which are constantly suffering from overcrowding. Few Hurr live in rural areas but these are becoming more and more scarce. Hurr generally prize wealth, power and comfort above all else.

The Hurr are not a particularly spiritual people and religion is not considered to be that important to most of them. However, those that do follow a particular faith worship one of three male gods; Bron, Rikay and Skartu. Bron is by far the most popular, being a god of chaos and patron of gamblers. The teachings of the god Rikay on the other hand, preach a more conservative way point of view, urging for moderation in all things. The god Skartu is an avenging god with strict rules of behaviour and as such very few Hurr follow this faith.

Source: Babylon 5, episode The Quality of Mercy

IKSHA

Planet of Origin: Ikos

The Iksha are a fish-like humanoid species with scaly heads and bodies which developed a space faring civilisation were a member race of the League of Non-Aligned Worlds and one of the many affected by the Dilgar invasion of the Non-Aligned sectors in 2230. 

Source: Babylon 5, Deathwalker (episode)

ONTEEN

Planet : Aicha
Onteen are oviparous human-looking humanoids who developed a small space faring civilisation. They do not give birth to live young but lay eggs that incubate and later hatch. Onteen hatchlings, though able to free themselves and crawl out of their egg at at birth are still very vulnerable and small enough to fit into the cradled hands of an average humanoid hand. Onteen have a series of internal air bladders that can become blocked as a result of infection or as a reaction to injury.

At least one sect of Onteen faith refers to themselves as the "Children of Time", believing that those born of the egg are the Chosen of God. This faith centres around the worship the "Great Egg" and involves belief in concepts they refer to as the Great Journey, the Great Song. The Children of Time have a very strict religious prohibition against puncturing the body, believing that the soul will escape the body and allow a demon to take it's place. If this happens then the individual is either cast out or ritually put to death, an act that is considered to be an act of mercy as it is freeing the body from it's misery. Onteen have been known to be uncomfortable with egg-eating species.

Source: Babylon 5

FIRST ONES: FIRST BORN / SPEAKERS

 

Evolving to sapience billions of years ago, The First Born and Lorien, the first among them, were humanoids born naturally immortal, never aging though still susceptible to death by injury or illness. At first they were kept in balance by the race's relatively low birthrates with less than a handful each year. Over time this changed as the younger generations began to grow old, infirm and died, until eventually only those that came first remained. They developed a peaceful advanced civilisation and eventually left their homeworld to explore the galaxy. In their travels they visited countless worlds and found many infant races. Thye acted as teachers and guardians before eventually stepping aside and allowing them to make their own paths, creating great empires, exploring and founding even younger races to whom they became teachers and guardians.

Gradually, over the course of a million years, the First Born who did not perish through injury or illness and most of their remaining pupils left the galaxy. Of those few who were left behind, Lorien was the only First Born to remain while among the handful of First Ones that did not leave, the Vorlons and Shadows took up the responsibility of the sole guardians and protectors of the younger races. Lorien eventually withdrew and dwelt deep beneath the planet that would become known as Z'ha'dum. He would remain there for a million years, but never forgotten by those he had taught. The Shadows, in their endless series of conflicts would always eventually return to the planet after being driven off, in respect for Lorien. 

In 2261, Lorien left Z'ha'dum and helped bring an end to the Shadow and Vorlon conflict and left the Galaxy with his remaining pupils, mainly the Shadows and Vorlons. 

The First Born are nowadays able to appear in their original humanoid form and in an evolved non-corporeal form which can travel through space at FTL speeds. They possess tremendous psychic powers.

Source: Babylon 5 universe

NOX

Planet of Origin: Gaia

The Nox are an advanced and peaceful humanoid species, capable of reviving the dead and rendering objects as large as their own city invisible. The Nox are considered to be a member of the "Alliance of Four Great Races", along with the Ancients, Asgard, and Furlings. They are known to be one of the oldest species that inhabit the galaxy though very few know of them. 

Physically, they resemble primitive humans with a faint gray skin color as well as grass-like hair from which branches and leaves grow. The Nox tend to wear primitive clothing with colors that combine gray to gray-blue to violet and scarlet. They appear slightly shorter than average humans with a slight build; they often present an unassuming façade which belies their capabilities. The species are strict vegetarians; getting their nutrition from fruits, vegetables, roots and other natural foods found in the forests of the natural world.

The eldest of the species can reach the age of 500 years with children reaching maturity by the age of 18 years. Once a Nox reaches adulthood, their aging slows down to an almost imperceptible rate. Only during the last two centuries of a Nox's life do they begin to appear old but this also belies their true age.

The Nox are an extremely intelligent and perceptive race that are able to perform complex arithmetic in fractions of a second. They possess an astounding ability to comprehend and retain information with near perfect memories.They make use of the five senses that Humans use but they are far more acute when compared to Humans allowing them to pick up on details and subtleties around them that others would miss entirely. This provides the Nox with abilities that border on extra-sensory perception due to their perceptive nature and heightened senses. In addition to this, the Nox possess the innate ability to tune into the bio-electrical fields within other beings, in a sense "reading" them at a level far beyond normal senses. They are capable of also channeling their natural heightened perception into a number of extraordinary abilities that include the ability to learn languages after hearing them spoken for only a short time, a mild form of mind reading that allows them to detect nearby surface thoughts, and the ability to heal others. With the latter,  the Nox are capable of completely healing the most severe of injuries and even resurrect the recently deceased so long as the tiniest amount of molecular activity as well as bio-electrical energy remains within the body. In order to accomplish this ritual, there is a minimum requirement of three Nox to perform the intense and focused concentration which interrupts their ability to use their technology. They also can render extremely large objects invisible and insubstantial.

 The race has a symbiotic relationship with nature and, in particular, the forests of the world as well as the living beings that occupy it be they animal or plant. In the view of the Nox, all beings contribute to and receive from the universe. This view prevented the Nox from allowing their technological advances to compromise the natural beauty of their environment of their world. Nox scholars long ago discovered that "life", the energy that keeps all beings alive, is in essence a dynamic energy myriad of other energy fields that exist outside the physical form. The Nox believe these external energy fields comprise the "life force" of their planet and the universe itself. In their view, these individual fields, also known as "consciousness" to the people of Earth, exists with an external field with each working with the other one.

The Nox practice philosophy of absolute pacifism and non-violence that is so strict that they refuse even to defend themselves when threatened. Should a Nox find themselves in such a situation, they tend to typically hide through the use of their stealth technology or simply use their technology to remove the aggressors along with their weapons. This policy is so strict that others within their domain are forced to obey their rules of policy of pacifism when necessary. Should visitors attempt to employ violence against one another, the Nox remove their weapons as part of their rules.

The Nox race highly value freedom; both for themselves and for the others. They refuse to infringe the rights of others for free choice except where such individuals choose to make use of violence or war-like ways. As such, the Nox accept no authority except their own and thus refuse to allow others to impose their views on others.

Isolationist and non-interventionist in the extreme, they feel morally obligated to help both sides of an argument, no matter if one side is thoroughly evil.  They will not even fight to protect themselves, however with their ability of rendering objects invisible and resurrecting their dead, fighting is unnecessary.

The Nox  rarely use their advanced technology,  which  includes the ability to create the effect of invisibility, to build floating cities, and to activate the stargate by thought alone. preferring to live in a simpler state with nature. For transport, they seem to mainly rely on Fenri are a large, flying species indigenous creatures that may appear to be hostile to strangerbut mostly keep to themselves.

Source: Stargate Universe. (SG1: "The Nox") (SG1: "The Fifth Race") and Stargate wikia entry.

COOPER / SUPER 8 ALIEN

 

The alien  is from a highly intelligent species that has developed a spacefaring civilisation. They are sexuate carnvores, have six limbs and generally moves similar to a spider, but can also stand up tall on their two hind legs. They have two long jointed arms that are capable of grabbing objects and throwing them long distances, and can also use their six limbs to climb. Able to breath Earth's atmosphere, they are troglodyte by nature. Gifted with telepathic abilities among themslves, they can also communicate with humans they have physically touched and pôssess some telekynetic talents and are able to interfere with electrical fields.

A ship containing one of these aliens was detected by Sputnik in 1957 orbiting the Earth. It was shot down to Earth in 1958 by detonating a nuclear warhead in the upper atmosphere. The aliens was taken to Area 51 but escaped while being moves to another area in 1979 near Lillian, Ohio. He then managed to reassemble its hsip and left the planet.

Source: Super 8 film.

ALIENS FROM COWBOYS VERS ALIENS

The aliens are a species that has developed an aggressive space faring civilisation. They stand over two meters tall clawed bipedal anthropoids with a nautral exoskeleton. They possess a smaller extra set of arms for precision manipulation which they can extend from their chest cavity the chest exoskeleton plates, reveling their more fragile interior.

They are known ot have come to earth in 1873 in Arizona to replenish their spaceship's fuel supply of gold and experiment on humans. They were planning on exterminating all life on the planet upon leaving, like they did on a planet they visited before but were thwarted by the local population with the help of a surviving member of the species they exterminated prior to coming to Earth.

As they dont seem to have plans of conquest, it is likely that they are on an eradication crusade of all species that could eventually pause a threat to their supremacy.

Source: Cowboys vers Aliens movie

ALIEN BRAIN FROM OUTER SPACE

A meteor crashed near an American city in 1966 and a roughly humanoid alien materialised on top of it. The alien was greeskinned,  man-sized but with a frightful giant head and a childish body and had the ability to turn earthly animals over ten times there normal height and under his mental control. It mentionned that this technique had already been used on other worlds to conquer them.

The destruction of the meteor that brought it made the alien vanish, leading to believe that the Alien Brain was the metero itself and the humanoid alien a mere projection/creation destined to strike fear in the humans rather than a representative of another species.

Source: Hanna Barbera's Frankenstein Jr. Episode 4 "Alien Brain from Outer Space"

SHIFT AGENT

Shift Agents were entities without solid bodies. They could transfer their energy into mechanical objects and control them. It remains unclear is Shift agents are natural lifeforms or engineered agents.

One Shift Agent is known to have come to Earth in 1885 to retrieve some dark matter. It briefly possessed a steam train in England.

Source: Doctor Who universe (DWA: Track Attack)

FEARMONGER

The Fearmonger is an alien entity which fed off fear and hatred. It itself does not stir up fear, but chose hosts capable of stirring up large amounts of fear and stays with them for long periods, moving on if the host died. In addition to feeding off of fear, it can unleash mental bursts of concentrated fear on attackers, rendering them permanently insane with fear. When not inhabiting a host, it was vulnerable to any metal that can ground it, as its body was made of electromagnetic energy. 

According to some stories, an unknown alien civilisation created several psychic entities (each one personifying an emotion such as fear, compassion, pride, and anger) to incite group emotions and thus unite their people. When the civilisation fell, the entities left for other worlds. The entity responsible for fear eventually made its way to Earth.

It shares a lot of traits and history of the Redjac.

Source: Doctor Who Universe (BFA: The Fearmonger)

FAMILY OF BLOOD

The Family of Blood are green, gaseous sentient entities that can inhabit and possess human bodies and possess a unique sense, being able to track a scent over interstellar distances and even time period. They gather in family-based social cells or parents and children and spend their time hunting organic preys. They have very short lifespans, lasting only 3 months, but lend to their descendants technologies they've stolen from their victims. While in human form, the Family can telepathically communicate with each other from a distance. They also had access to their Hosts' memories, which enabled them fast understanding of stolen technologies but though have some difficulty assimilating personnality and pretending.

Source: Doctor Who universe (DW: Human Nature / The Family of Blood)

BODACH

The Bodach were incorporeal creatures who  fed on the energy produced by a mind when dreaming. They could emit psychic energy which would cause nightmares, allowing them to feed. This psychic energy could be blocked by aluminium. As the Bodach had no body, they were forced to control these sleeping people, using them to interact with their surroundings. The Bodach were known to the Celtic people, who believed they were evil spirits. At some point, an Obelisk was made with two crystal eyes. With these crystals, the Bodach would be able to send the whole world to sleep and feed on their dreams. In unknown circumstances, this did not come to pass, and instead the obelisk was buried outside what would be London. In 2050, the site was dug up and the obelisk destroyed shortly after.

Source: Doctor Who Universe (K9TV: Dream-Eaters)

PLANET BUILDERS / OBELISK BUILDERS

The planet builders are a secretive race of extraordinarily advanced beings able to create an entire star system complete with complex life on its one perfect earth-type planet in a matter of weeks. They makr planets they've made with a 2000 ft tall obelisk structure emitting a feint EM field. While they are in the local group, their sphere of influence does not seem to extend to the Milky Way. (SGU: "Faith")
Source: Stargate Universe  (SGU: "Faith")

REDJAC / JACK THE RIPPER / BERATIS / KESLA

The Redjac is a non-corporeal parasitic  lifeform that existed for centuries by journeying from planet to planet and feeding on the pain and fear he caused by committing serial murders. It  requires a host to inhabit in order to commit its crimes. It had many abilities, and can possess others and objects, even spaceship size ones.

One such entity seems to have existed on Earth from at least the 19th to the 22nd century.

It shares some characteristics with the Beta XII-A entity.

Source:  Star Trek Universe, (TOS: "Wolf in the Fold")

CALAMARAIN

The Calamarain are spaceborn intelligent, non-corporeal lifeforms that exist as swirls of ionized gas that emits Berthold rays (a form of deadly radiation that causes living animal tissue to disintegrate) when probing something but can also communicate through a sequence of tachyon emissions. They have the ability ot travel faster-than-light.

Source: Star Trek Universe (TNG: "Deja Q")

BETA XII-A ENTITY

Planet of Origin: unknown, but first encountered in the Beta XII-A system.

The Beta XII-A entity is a parasitic noncorporeal being composed of pure energy. The entity appeares as a small, circular pattern of multiple swirling lights in different colors, although it becomes red in hue and emitts a high-pitched wail when "feeding". It feeds on the emotions of hatred, anger, and primitive predatory instincts exhibited by sentient organic beings in close proximity to it. If those emotions are not present, the entity will try to spawn such feelings. It controls the instantaneous transmutation of matter from one form to another, can pass through solid objects at will, teleport from one location to the next, and influence the thoughts of others. It could heal an organic being's mortal wounds, and could even alter a person's memories. The entity appears unable to communicate in any fashion understandable to organic beings. Although its motives and nature are not wholly known, it lacks the same ethical standards of most humanoids and largely acts in a malignant fashion. Its only weakness appears to be exposure to emotions of humor, good nature, and friendship; it is particularly susceptible to laughter.
It shares several traits with the redjac entity.

Source: Star Trek universe, (TOS: "Day of the Dove")

MU CASSIOPEAEANS

Planet of Origin: A planet orbiting Mu Cassopeae A

An advanced species that has transfered its spirit inside a virtual reality program in a vast computer system on its homeworld.

Source: Robert J. Sawyer, Calculating God New York: Tor Books, 2000

ETA CASIOPEAEANS

Planet of Origin: A planet orbiting Eta Cassopeae A

An advanced species that has transfered its spirit inside a virtual reality program in a vast computer system on its homeworld.

Source: Robert J. Sawyer, Calculating God New York: Tor Books, 2000

TAU CETIANS

Planet of Origin: A planet orbiting Tau Cetians

An advanced species that has transfered its spirit inside a virtual reality program in a vast computer system on its homeworld.

Source: Robert J. Sawyer, Calculating God New York: Tor Books, 2000

EPSILON INDIANS

Planet of Origin: A planet orbiting Epsilon Indi

An advanced species that has transfered its spirit inside a virtual reality program in a vast computer system on its homeworld.

Source: Robert J. Sawyer, Calculating God New York: Tor Books, 2000

SIGMA DRACONIANS

Planet of Origin: A planet orbiting Sigma Draconis

An advanced species that has transfered its spirit inside a virtual reality program in a vast computer system on its homeworld.

Source: Robert J. Sawyer, Calculating God New York: Tor Books, 2000

GOD / CALCULATING GOD / ENTITY

A species or entity which is believed to have triggered orchestrated sychrone mass extinctions  (440, 365, 225, 210 et 65 millions years ago) on several worlds in Earth's vicinity (at least Earth, Beta Hydri 3, Delta Pavonis 2 and possibly Groombridge 1618) and might be doing it on a even bigger, even galaxywide scale  to promote the evolution of sentient life.

This species/entity looks like a pitchblack sphere some 1.5billion kilometres wide. is known to be able to contain the showckwave of a Betelgeuse-sized star going supernova and to give to species that it deems mature enough the know-how to fuse genetic materials from several species to produces a new intelligence able to live in space and whose essence will possibly be able to survive the Big Crunch and create its own Universe.

Source: Robert J. Sawyer, Calculating God New York: Tor Books, 2000

GROOMBRIDGERS

Planet of Origin: Third planet orbiting the star Groombrdige 1618

An advanced reclusive species that has transfered its spirit inside a virtual reality program in a vast computer system on its homeworld's underground and which has the power to turn stars into supernova.

They have the plan around the turn of the 2nd millenium to turn the star Betelgeuse prematurely into a supernova  to sterilize a large volume of the galaxy and prevent any upstart alien visitors from discovering and possibly destroying the underground computers that house their cybernetic souls.

Source: Robert J. Sawyer, Calculating God New York: Tor Books, 2000 

WREEDS

Planet of Origin: Delta Pavonis 2

The Wreeds is an adavanced alien species which has developed an advanced space-faring civilisation using interstellar travel with “frozen sleep,” holographic projection at a distance, and super-advanced computers. They have contact with at least another species, theForhilnor from Beta Hydri 3.
Of aquatic descent, Wreeds are headless bipeds with four arms placed all around  a torso shaped like an inverted pear. The arms still show their origin  as vestgial fins. The pectoral arms hads 4 fingers eacc, among which opposable thumbs. The ventral arm had 9 fingers while the dorsal arm had 6 thicker ones. They have a glossy black strip running around their upper torso which seems to be a sensory organ and skin foldings on either side of the ventral and dorsal arms which serves as ears and an opening at their top taht serves as mouth for eating ans speaking. They are covered in hair (color diversity is unknown but reddish-brown has been observed) apart from their legs and forearms which shows heir blue=grey leathery skin. They dont use clothing apart from utility belts. Their DNA has 54 chromosomes.

Wreeds have discovered that mass extinction has happened at the same time (440, 365, 225, 210 et 65 millions years ago) on their homeworld, Delta Pavonis 2 and Earth and deduced that the simultaneous sets of mass extinctions prove that not only has a Creator consciously designed the universe, this supranatural being intervenes in it on a large scale, apparently to promote the evolution of sentient life

Source: Robert J. Sawyer, Calculating God New York: Tor Books, 2000

FORHILNOR

" It looked like a giant, golden-brown spider, with a spherical body about the size of a large beach ball and legs that splayed out in all directions."


Planet of Origin: Beta Hydri 3

Forhilnor are a peaceful and religious vaguely arachnid six-legged, two-armed species which has developed an advanced space-faring civilisation using interstellar travel with “frozen sleep,” holographic projection at a distance, and super-advanced computers. They have contact with at least another species, the Wreeds from Delta Pavonis 2. Forhilnor 's DNA has 32 chromosomes.

Forhilnors have discovered that mass extinction has happened at the same time  (440, 365, 225, 210 et 65 millions years ago) on their homeworld, Delta Pavonis 2 and Earth and deduced that t the simultaneous sets of mass extinctions prove that not only has a Creator consciously designed the universe, this supranatural being intervenes in it on a large scale, apparently to promote the evolution of sentient life

Source: Robert J. Sawyer, Calculating God New York: Tor Books, 2000

FITHP

Planet of Origin: A planet orbiting Alpha Centauri
Fithp resemble man-sized, quadrupedal elephants with multiple trunks. Being herd creatures, they do not understand the concept of diplomatic compromise… you either dominate or you submit, then fighting ceased and the losers were incorporated into the winning herd. 

They possess more advanced technology than humans, but have developed none of it themselves. In the distant past on their planet, another species was dominant, with the Fithp existing as animals, perhaps even as pets. This predecessor species badly damaged the environment, rendering themselves and many other species extinct, but left behind their knowledge inscribed on large stone cubes (called Thuktunthp, plural of Thuktun in the Fithp language), from which the Fithp have gained their technology. The study of Thuktun is the only science the Fithp possess. The Fithp are armed with a technology that is superior rather than incomprehensible: laser cannon, projectile rifles, controlled meteorite strikes to bombard surface targets, lightcraft surface-to-orbit shuttles the size of warships, etc. Their space-faring technology is based around a part generationnal part sleeper spacecraft driven by a Bussard ramjet put together circa 1919 to answer to threats of possible extinction due to the long-term effects of biological weapons, a group of high-ranking Fithp were selected by wager to escape to the stars.Leaving their homeworld, the Fithp wanted to conquer Earth and become the dominant species on the planet.

Source: Footfall novel by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.

CENTAURI

Planet of Origin: Centauri Prime (not situated in the Centaurus constellation and whose name is supposedly due to mistranslation during first contact between humans and the Centauri) , a small Earth-like planet consisting of two large continents and several smaller islands divided by large oceans of water.  The planet has a population of about 3.4 billions in the 23rd century.

The Centauri Republic is, despite its name, ruled by a powerful Emperoror, in the event of an interregnum, a Regent. The only real check on the monarch's power resides in the Centaurum, an assembly of Ministers and heads of various Houses. Nobles able to manipulate the Centaurum successfully are able to wield great power.  Everything seemed to involve strategic moves and countermoves, strategy games "for keeps" with covert or overt ruthlessness.The Centaurum can vote to overturn a decree of the monarch, although this would appear to be a rare practice. Culturally obsessed with rank, social position, wealth, and powe, the Centauri are not a democracy; the average citizen has little or no political power within the Republic, slavery is legal, but as a form of social stratification, not racial discrimination – many slaves are disenfranchised nobles

The Centauri are humanoid in appearance, similar enough to humans that the species can easily pass for one another under casual inspection. However, in terms of internal structure there are several important differences between the two species. Centauri teeth, for instance, are somewhat pointed. Unlike Humans, the Centauri have no major arteries in their wrists. The sexual organs of the Centauri are quite different from those of humans, and they are in a different location than the human sex organs. Male Centauri have six tentacle-like genital organs that extend out from the sides of the body and "fold" in over the solar plexus when not in use. The males can stretch the tentacles out to four feet. These tentacles are somewhat prehensile. Females have six narrow receptive orifices, three on either side of the base of the spine, just above the hips. During sexual intercourse the male inserts his tentacles in the female's orifices individually. Only a single insertion is necessary to inseminate, but "each [successive] one is a different level of intimacy and pleasure". The cardio-vascular system of Centauri includes two hearts. The right heart is a solid mass of muscle which provides most of the force behind the body's blood circulation. The left heart is much more complex - this heart is made up of an intricate system of thousands of veins that help cleanse the blood in a manner similar to the human kidneys.  As a result, a heart attack in the left heart is a very serious matter because the left heart is very difficult to repair. Their network of blood vessels is also somewhat different than in humans, as they do not have major blood vessels in their wrists.

The Centauri have extra-sensory perception to varying degrees, including precognitive abilities. Most Centauri have limited perceptions, enjoying only rare fleeting glimpses of the future. All Centauri, throughout their lives experience vivid prophetic dreams telling them of the time and the circumstances of their deaths. A rare few Centauri, exclusively female, have very strong prophetic abilities. These females are often given a special status in Centauri society that is much higher than would normally be given to a female. A number of Centauri have telepathic ability. Like humans, the degree of telepathic ability varies with the individual. Unlike humans, who have had proven telepaths for only a few generations, Centauri possess a far greater understanding of the skill, and permit those who possess it far more latitude. The Centauri Emperor was rarely seen without the Imperial Tetrapathy – a quartet of female telepaths who have maintained a telepathic link since infancy. This link is thus so strong that it has effectively unlimited range. Whenever the Emperor leaves Centauri Prime, two of the Tetrapathy accompanied him and two remained at the royal palace, allowing rapid communication between the Emperor and the homeworld at all times. This, however, changed upon the accession of Emperor Cartagia, who had them executed as one of his first official acts.

Centauri males of high social status typically wear their hair in Peacock-tail shaped fans, the length and style of which are determined by relative social class. Low-class Centauri males have not been seen without helmets. Centauri females mostly or entirely shave their heads. Their dress and customs reflect their imperialistic culture, with militaristic clothing reminiscent of the Earth 18th century for the men, gowns for the women the design of which is comparable to those of the same Earth era, and a generally courtly manner one would expect to find in Victorian England (without the Puritanical streak) or Imperial France (with the associated decadence).

Around the earth year 3000 BCE the first true Centauri civilization appeared. This rapid burst of technological development was the result of competition with another sapient species on their world called the Xon. First contact occurred circa 800 BCE when a Centauri expedition of three vessels happened upon a Xon coastal city. The vessels returned to the Centauri continent, carrying a Xon invasion force, its original Centauri crew having been slaughtered. As the Centauri entered a historical period similar to the Renaissance, the Xon began attacking and raiding Centauri villages in small-scale regional wars. The Xon then began a massive campaign to dominate the Centauri on a global scale. The Centauri-Xon war would last for a thousand years. Although technologically inferior to the Centauri, the Xon were physically larger and stronger and possessed superior endurance. The conflict drove the Centauri to greatly advance their level of technology, exceeding the limited capabilities of the Xon and eventually the Xon were eradicated. By this time the Centauri Republic had enteredthe Industrial Age.

Defeat of the Xon gave rise to the current class structure of modern Centauri society. Centauri families who had done the bulk of the fighting, and had the most survivors at the end of the war, became the great houses of the Centauri. This new government of nobles created the Centaurum. The nobles appointed Lord Tuscano, who led the war against the Xon, to the position of Emperor. These noble families would maintain their power and privileges for the ages to come. Centauri females were relegated into the roles of mothers and housewives, as the nobles believed that females needed to focus on bearing children and rebuilding the population instead of competing with males for power and social position. Even in the 23rd Century, Centauri females are discouraged from seeking power or careers for themselves – though many females are the "power behind the throne" in their houses, skilled in deception and manipulation. The widows of many powerful leaders are often considered conduits to their deceased spouses, and wield impressive power.

According to some sources, a species called the Shoggren attacked Centauri Prime during Tuscano's rule. Technomages supported Tuscano, providing some advanced technology. The Centauri with this outside support defeated the Shoggren. The technology acquired from the invaders and the discovery of a Jumpgate in the Centauri system allowed the Centauri to leap ahead technologically and begin the modern Centauri Republic's interstellar conquests.

The Centauri Republic quickly began a period of expansion spanning the centuries before the second Shadow War and the birth of the Interstellar Alliance. By 2257 A.D. the population of Centauri Prime was only about 3.4 billions. However this is a little over a fifth of the fourteen billion total Centauri population. The Centauri first left their homeworld soon after the first Shadow War and were oblivious to it.

At its greatest extent, hundreds of worlds were subject to the Centauri Republic. The occupation of the Narn homeworld began in the early 22nd Century. For the next hundred years the agrarian and technologically primitive Narns were exploited and their world stripped of resources. The Centauri withdrew a hundred years later in the face of growing Narn resistance. By 2258 the Centauri Empire had dwindled to a few colony worlds and Centauri Prime itself, seemingly more through the growing apathy and decadence of the Republic than military inferiority.

Beginning in 2258, the Centauri once again mapped out a path of conquest, taking over not just Narn space but also worlds formerly belonging to the Drazi, pak'ma'ra, and other members of the League of Non-Aligned Worlds. The revival of Centauri power and territory was made possible by their covert alliance with the Shadows, an ancient and extremely powerful alien race which was using the Centauri for their own ends. The Shadows were allowed to base a fleet of their ships on an island on Centauri Prime. This move nearly led to the total destruction of Centauri Prime by a massive Vorlon warship which had traveled to Centauri space to eradicate any Shadow influence from the planet. The Shadow vessels were destroyed by Londo Mollari, the acting Prime Minister, and the planet was saved. However, the Shadow's former servants and soldiers, the Drakh, decided to secretly settle on Centauri Prime, which they remembered from the Shadow occupation, and make it their new home. The Drakh secretly gained control of the Regent and used him to start a war with the other worlds of the Interstellar Alliance in 2262. The destruction of civilian shipping by the Drakh was blamed on the Centauri. Thanks to the Drakh's random attacks on alien shipping, almost every other race fought the Centauri during the war, leaving them almost completely isolated, which was the Drakh's intention. Near the end of the conflict a large force of Narn and Drazi warships made for Centauri Prime, while Drakh agents forced the Regent to deactivate the planetary defences and send any warships defending the planet away on a false mission.

The Narn-Drazi fleet bombarded Centauri Prime and the planet was laid waste, with most of its major cities reduced to rubble and many civilians killed. The Drakh then forced Londo Mollari to accept their secret control of Centauri Prime by threatening to detonate nuclear bombs hidden under the planet's major cities, which would have killed billions more people and totally destroyed Centauri civilization. The Regent was killed, and Mollari was crowned the Emperor of the Centauri, as a puppet for the Drakh. Under the Drakh's direction the Centauri severed all relations with the Interstellar Alliance. By 2278 little was left of the grandeur of the Centauri save their pride, their patriotism, and their determination to rebuild their devastated planet.After the death of Emperor Mollari. Vir Cotto, the Emperor's close aide, went to Minbar, and met with the surviving leaders of the Centauri noble houses. In keeping with Lady Morella's prophecy, Vir's claim to the throne was accepted, and he became Emperor Cotto. The Interstellar Alliance, finally realizing that they were both the victims of a massive Drakh manipulation, joined forces with the Centauri military to liberate the homeworld and then hunt down the Drakh. With help from the Alliance, Emperor Vir spent the next several decades rebuilding his homeworld to its former glory - without the need for conquest and imperial expansion.

Source: Babylon 5

KELGIANS

Planet of Origin: Kelgia, one of the several known members of the Galactic Federation.

Kelgianas (physiological classification DBLF) are a warm-blooded,  sapient, furry (with a beautiful silvery fur covering), caterpillar-like oxygen-breather omnivores species.  Despite their appearance, Kelgians are physiologically very similar to Earth Humans (classification DBDG) and require similar environmental conditions. They walk by undulating their bodies over their several pairs of short legs. The head is conical in shape and the forelimbs end in three manipulating digits. 

Kelgians have no skeletal tissue other than a thin and fragile case protecting the brain. Instead, their vital organs are enclosed by a hollow muscular envelope which also allows them to move about, in their typical undulating gait. Their circulatory system is extremely complex, including a net of blood vessels running just below the skin, to provide oxygen for the outer musculature. As a result, Kelgians are particularly vulnerable to cuts. Wounds that would be considered superficial by other species are often lethal to them. To make matters worse, their fur will never recover after being damaged; leaving the wounded individual both physically and socially awkward. Kelgian blood is red, indicating that haemoglobin is present; and their blood pressure is higher than in Humans. They are herbivorous, dioecious and monogamous; and their overall philosophy and temperament are not too dissimilar from Humans. 

They have four extendable eyestalks, a pair of hearing antennae and a highly variable fur coating; all of which respond in such a subtle and uncontrollable manner to their emotional state that they could almost be considered telepaths among themselves. As such, Kelgians completely lack concepts of lying, diplomacy or tact. They will always say what they think, for good or for bad. 

The Kelgian language mostly consists of loud, foghorn-like hoots. Their voice is not physically able to produce variable speech tones, which is probably the main reason for which they evolved a sophisticated body language to express emotions. 

Sources: JAMES WHITE – Hospital Station (1962),  Star Surgeon (1963), JAMES WHITE – Ambulance Ship (1979)

BABEL FISH

 

"The Babel fish is small, yellow and leech-like, and probably the oddest thing in the Universe."

―The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy

This small non-sapient being lives in the brain of other creatures and feeds on "brainwave energy received not from its own carrier, but from those around it". By unintentionally converting sound waves into brain waves and excreting those into the mind of its host, it actually works as a universal translator and enables its carrier to understand any spoken language, no matter how strange.

Source: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Glalaxy

BETELGEUSIANS

Betelgeusians are an advanced  space faring humanoid species native to the Betelgeuse planetary system, and known to inhabit at least two of the system's planets: Betelgeuse V and VII. Betelgeusians have strange familial structures, including multiple mothers and some sort of relation known as semi-cousin.They are known to sometimes get extra limbs and even heads attached to their body.
Source: The Hitchhikers's Guide to The Galaxy

MAGRATHEANS

Planet of Origin: Magrathea, located in orbit around the twin suns Soulianis and Rahm in the heart of the Horsehead Nebula.

Magratheans are an advanced humanoid alien species which, during ancient times of the Galactic Empire, was known as the famed planet-builders; Hyperspatial engineers sucking matter through white holes in space to form dream planets as their advanced technology and artistic skills allowed them for other species according to the specifications of their clients. Ultimately, such a tremendously expensive and lucrative business accidentally resulted in the galactic economy being ruined and so the Magratheans went dormant for billions of years, waiting for it to recover. Meanwhile, their species, planet and history were slowly relegated to the status of mere legends.

Among the planets built by Magratheans was Earth; actually a supreme computer with an organic matrix requested by the Pan-Dimensionnal Mice, who used it to search for the ultimate question about life, the universe and everything else (the answer to which they already know to be 42). 

Source: The Hitchhiker's Guide to The Galaxy

HOLIDAYS ALIENS FOR THE XMAS TREE

NARN

Planet of Origin: Narn, originally a healthy green planet, dominated by primordial jungles and forests, teeming with animal life, craggy mountains and small, landlocked seas. One of the most revered locations on Narn is the G'Quon mountain range which was once home to the vicious On'Vik, herds of wild Dar and Natok horned beasts. The Centauri occupation of the 22nd century left it fairly barren, with a thin atmosphere and low humidity. The surface temperature can fluctuate by at least 60 degrees Fahrenheit on any given day. Very few areas of original forest and jungle remain. Although the Narn reclaimed much of their planet for agriculture, they managed to restore relatively small areas of forest and jungle. The second Centauri invasion of Narn caused massive climatic upheavals due to asteroid bombardment. The current state of the planet's already depleted biosphere after the bombardment is grim, with Narn's few remaining large animal species (such as the Val) endangered. Apparently only the avian species seem to be flourishing; and only heavy terraforming can return the planet to its former condition of lush forestland.

Narn are tall and stocky bald humanoids with high physical strenght and stamina. Their skin has a red-orange complexion, mottled with brown and/or green spots. Being sexuate marsupials; females give birth much like humans, but shortly after birth the  infant is placed into a pouch in the male, and they remain there until they are old enough to leave their father's pouch. As such, infant Narn are called "pouchlings".

Narn society  is strictly hierarchical and based on a class system. The Kha'Ri,  based in the city of G'Khamazad, consists of 8 circles, with the royal families being First, spiritual leaders Second, government officials Third, and trainees Eighth. The rest of the people are divided into Skilled Workers, Plebeians, or the Lost (unemployed, criminals, and the mentally ill). Upward movement between classes is difficult for the majority. Narn cities are built in roughly concentric districts which reflect the social hierarchy.

With several religions, the Narn are a deeply religious and socially conservative people. The holy Book of G'Quan is so revered that new copies must be hand written and identical in form to existing copies, including any imperfections in the pages, and rituals must be followed correctly or not done at all. It is also considered sacrilegious to translate the Book into another language. The Narn, like other races, also have winged beings of light in their myths (courtesy of Vorlon manipulation). These beings are similar to the angels of various human religions. A Shon'Kar is a Narn blood oath. The oath is sworn by a Narn against someone who wronged them or their family. An individual Narn is expected to not rest until the target of the Shon'Kar is dead. If the individual Narn fails, the family continues the Shon'Kar until the target is killed. Narn never draw weapons unless they mean to use them. If a K'tok, a Narn sword, is drawn, then blood must be spilled before it may be sheathed (even if that blood is one's own).

There were telepaths among the Narn population but during the first Shadow War (corresponding to Earth's 13th Century AD), the Shadows used one of Narn's southern continents as a base. They were driven from the planet by narn telepaths, but the telepaths were exterminated in the process.

In the early 22nd Century, the Centauri encountered the Narn and established relations with them. They saw the far more advanced interstellar visitors as demigods, and welcomed them with reverence. Realizing this, the Centauri quickly moved from being friends to enslaving the entire Narn population. The planet was mercilessly exploited for its natural resources - the forests and jungles were clearcut and most of the planet's land surface strip-mined. Entire animal and plant species were driven to extinction. The Narn themselves were used as servants or manual laborers by the Centauri, who often lived in large estates worked by Narn slaves; many Narn were deported to work camps on other worlds. The Narn began a lengthy guerilla war against their Centauri masters. They learned how to use Centauri technology and weapons, and turned these weapons against them, conducting hit-and-run attacks on Centauri bases, assassinated Centauri officials and civilians, and destroyed Centauri warships and equipment. The Centauri responded to these attacks in a ruthless manner; a hundred thousand Narn were executed as punishment for the Centauri losses, and cities were bombed to demoralize the population. But the Narn persevered, and eventually the Centauri wearied of the conflict and left, around the first third of the 23nd century. Thus Narn regained its independence. The leaders of the rebellion formed a new, united Narn government called the Kha'Ri.
At its greatest expansion, the Narn Regime, besides the Narn homeworld, also included a number of colonies and planetary systems such as Che, Zok, Dros, and Sigma 957. Narn territory also included vital border sectors with the Centauri such as Quadrants 14 and 24. These holdings made the Narn Regime a major power in the galaxy. However, this situation was not to last.

In 2259, unknown even to the Centauri Emperor, certain factions within the Centauri Republic had arranged for a small fleet of Shadows to destroy a Narn military base in Quadrant 37, killing 10,000 of Narn's finest warriors. The Narn were unable to discover who had destroyed the base, and a few months later another Shadow fleet attacked the Narn's largest colony at Quadrant 14, destroying its defences. This time a fleet of Centauri warships arrived after the Shadows to occupy and secure the planet. Over the next few months, the Narn steadily lost their defensive war with the Centauri.The Centauri fleet was able to bombard Narn from space using mass drivers illegally fitted to their battleships. The mass drivers rained huge meteors down onto the planet's surface, reducing most of Narn's cities to rubble, killing millions of Narn civilians, and effectively shattering the Narn's infrastructure and defensive abilities. As an act of simple survival, the Narn Regime agreed to an unconditional surrender to the Centauri, who then re-occupied the Narn homeworld with military forces and enslaved the Narn people once again. The leaders of the Narn Regime were arrested and/or executed, and Narn became a "protected colony" of the greater Centauri Republic. As a result of the Centauri bombardment, the Narn homeworld underwent major climate change, as dust blown into the atmosphere reduced the planet's sunlight, lowered the global temperature, and created near-constant windy conditions around the planet.  Due to the assistance of the Kha'Ri survivor G'Kar's in the assassination of Emperor Cartagia, a gesture which saved Centauri Prime from destruction at the end of the Vorlon, Narn was liberated early in 2261. The Centauri withdrew their occupational force from the Narn solar system and closest colonies.
After the formation of the Interstellar Alliance, the Minbari wanted to atone for their inaction during the early days of the Shadow War. They provided Narn with advanced technology to repair the damage done to its climate by the Centauri mass drivers.

In 2262 the Narn military became more numerous and active again, most notably in a joint strike with the Drazi against Centauri Prime in response to a series of attacks on Interstellar Alliance cargo vessels, but as much for revenge as anything else. Bombarding the Centauri homeworld with conventional weapons, they inflicted considerable damage to its urban areas and tens of thousands of fatalities - only a token repayment for the global carnage wrought by the Centauri upon them, but enough to humiliate the Centauri and help persuade their fleet to stand down without further reprisals.

COSMIC CHRISTMAS ALIENS

A trio of peaceful non-interfering aliens of unknown origin who came to Earth in Canada on Christmas eve 1977 learn the meaning of Christmas.

Source: A Cosmic Christmas, the first television special produced by the Canadian animation company, Nelvana. It premiered on December 4, 1977 in Canada on CBC Television.

FIRST ONES: XU-HA

Somme 2.5 millions years ago, The Xu-Ha were one of the most advanced and respected species in the galaxy. They had been one of the chief architects of their era's galactic peace and  they were beloved by many.

Transcendence drove the race mad. This madness was a slow cultural tide that took millennia to truly manifest but the signs were clear in retrospect. The Xu-Ha had failed as a Third Age race; without no transcended species to guide them, they were adrift.

For no apparent reason, the Xu-Ha began purging the galaxy of lesser races. Their actions were subtle, involving hidden machines that blasted out psychic pulses which only affected pre-Transcendence races. It took centuries for the increasingly isolated elder races to even notice that their lesser counterparts were dying off in droves, and it took even longer to discover the source. The elder races offered the Xu-Ha a chance to stop their campaign of genocide. The Xu-Ha refused this offer so the elder races acted as they saw fit.

The Xu-Ha were annihilated, their existence wiped from the galaxy.

Source: Babylon 5 universe,  Darkness & Light: The Vorlon & Shadow Fact Book, Mongoose Publishing

MINBARI

Planet of Origin: Minbar, the seventh  planet orbiting Chi Draconis — a binary star system just over 25 light years from Earth. It has two moons. Its day is shorter than Earth's, at 20 hours and 47 minutes, and its year is about 1.5 Earth years. Its atmosphere is oxygen/nitrogen with larger polar caps than Earth; the northern cap covers 23% of the planet's surface and, on the whole, Minbar's climate is colder than that of Earth. The planet is noted for vast crystalline structures; many cities are carved directly from crystal. The population of the planet is about 4 billion, and the capital city is located at Yedor.

The Minbari are a humanoids species that developed an advenced space faring civilisation. Their space age began more than a thousand years before the humans's.

Minabi are sexuate and reproduce in a manner similar to that of humans, with sex organs placed similarly. They are bald with light-toned skin and a large external bone crest on the back of their heads which is in fact an extention of their skull which is not present ar birth but grows over time. Female Minbari have a smooth crest which tapers to a single point at the back of the head while males typically have headbones which taper to several points along the bone. The Minbari  live longer than humans, have high stamina and can sustain graver injuries and blood loss. A small percentage of the population are telepaths and as such are highly honored. Some male are known to have facial hair due to the input of human DNA more than a  thousand years ago in their gene pool which was brought by the minbari-human hybrid prophet Valen.

The Minbari society is structured around three quasi-ethnic castes. These castes are called Worker, Warrior, and Religious. Membership in a caste appears to be a hereditary matter - children of parents from one caste will usually follow their parents. If the parents are of different castes, the mother's caste takes precedence - any children belongs to the mother's caste. Sometimes Minbari who have a deep feeling for one caste - which they refer to as the calling of their heart - will join a different caste. The castes are not as limited as their titles would suggest, and to some degree try to be self-sufficient. For instance, all three castes maintain armed security forces. 

Based on Minbar, the Minbari Federation is the government of the Minbari worlds and colonies. The Federation is an oligarchy ruled by the Grey Council which is made up of nine individuals, Initially, it was divided equally between the three social classes, Warrior, Religious, and Worker but after the civil war that occrure in the late 23rd century, membership division was revised to comprise two Warriors, two Religious, and five Workers. This gave the long-overlooked Worker caste a majority voice. Members of the council are addressed by other Minbari with the honorific title "Satai".

The Minbari are a very religious people. Their belief is that the universe itself is sentient, and that the universe has the ability to break itself into many pieces and invests itself in every form of life. Consequently, every being is a projection of a part of the universal soul which uses individual sentient beings in a process of self-examination and a search for meaning. Minbari people believe in reincarnation. After an individual has died, its soul joins with all the other departed. The souls then all meld together becoming one. Then the souls are reborn into the next generation of Minbari. They stopped their genocidal war with the humans in the 23rd century upon realizing that "that Minbari souls were reborn in human bodies" as they had found as well as the fact that the Minbari have some human DNA. Since the Minbari find concept of killing fellow members of their species horrifically unacceptable, the sudden revelation that their young enemy had this unexpected link to themselves put them under the same consideration.

Their link to the humans came from Valen, a central figure in their religion. A "Minbari not born of Minbar". About AD 1260, a fortress suddenly appeared in Minbari space, on which resided Valen flanked by Vorlons, who then led the Minbari people against the Shadows. After the war, Valen helped restructure Minbari society, organizing the Grey Council to lead it. These nine individuals came from each of the three castes. This form of government remained stable for a thousand years until the next Shadow War. Valen knew the Shadows would return and wrote prophecies to warn the Minbari when the next war was starting. After these tasks were completed, Valen left Minbar; the remainder of his life and eventual fate is still a mystery, though it has since been kept a secret by the Grey Council that he did have a wife and children in self-imposed exile, most of whom returned to Minbari society in secret, had families of their own, and added human DNA to the Minbari gene pool. Minbari with human DNA are consequently called "children of Valen". 

Source: Babylon 5 universe

UNIDENTIIFED MARTIAN DOLL

UNIDENTIFIED MARTIAN DOLL Made of solid wood Jointed arms and legs Painted features Hands that look like boxing gloves Measures approx 17in tall (not including atena's) Written in pen on the back 1964 All hand painted Origin unknown.

ALIEN FIGURES FROM TOM CORBETT

Alien  figures from Marx Toys' Tom Corbett playset, 1952.