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.

NEKKISTANI

Planet of Origin: Nekkistan

The Nekkistani is a slug-like species which developed and advanced imperial civilisation with spacefaring and timefaring abiliities. They are known to have had dealings with the Time Lords. 

Source: Doctor Who universe (BFA: The Apocalypse Element) (BFG: Square One) (BFA: Medicinal Purposes)(BFG: Imperiatrix)

GRASKE / GROSKE

Planet of Origin: Griffoth

The Graske and Groske are a diminutive sentient humanoid species with  three tentacle-like features on their heads. Graske have  with  pebbly brown skin while groske have blue skin. There seems to be a dislike between the two group.

Mischevious by nature, they possess advanced spacefaring and timefaring technology and are also known to have had conquering pulses at some point in their history. When invading a planet, they switched inhabitants of a planet with artifiical changelings. The originals were then stored on their homeworld in stasis chambers in order to maintain the copy. It is beleived they tried so to invade Earth at some point but were thwarted somehow.

Troglodytes, they shared their homeworld with dangerous predators and lived in the caverns, hollowing out tunnels which were connected by airlocks with puzzles.

Source: Doctor Who universe (DW: Attack of the Graske) (SJA: Whatever Happened to Sarah Jane?, DW: Music of the Spheres) . (SJA: Death of the Doctor)

ARKAN

The Arkan are a species  mostly made of liquid that had access to spacefaring technology as of the beginning of the 21st century. One of their ship is lnown to have transitted  breifly in Earth's orbit.

Source: Doctor Who universe (Torchwood), episode Cyberwoman

Martian Popper / Popping Martian Stress Reliever / Martian Popping Thing / Popping Martian, Panic Pete / Bug Out Bob / Obie

Bug Out Bob The Popping Martian Doll is a compulsive fiddle toy. According to some sources, he originates from the 1950s, the 1970s or the early 1980s and was produced in Taiwan.The company's real focus was on latex and rubber products. However they made a few toys as a sideline, and the Martian Doll was one of them.
It recently made a retour en force on the market and can be found a lot opf places online.

TWIN MARTIANS

Found on the great Kitschy Kitschy Coo blog

(Many thanks to them for spreading this alien knowledge!)

From McCall's Needlework & Crafts, Spring/Summer 1971, instructions for making these twin Martian dolls.

 

ZONTAR

Zontar is a three-eyed, clawed, bat-winged humanoid claiming to come from Venus. 

He can produce drones from his body. The drones, called injectapods, look like bat-winged lobsters, and can attach organic antennas to the back of the necks of other sentient beings, allowing Zontar to control them.

Zontar came to Earth in 1966 with the intent of seizing power of the planet by manipulating and controlling key people but was thwarted in the end before his menace became public.

Source: Zontar, the Thing from Venus, 1966. Directed by  Larry Buchanan. Writtten by Hillman Taylor &, Larry Buchanan

SEEDS FROM SPACE

The Seeds from space are sentitent mobile tree-like vegetal lifefroms with articulated roots serving as legs and leaf-like appendages serving as arms and hands. They possess a pair of red eyes on top of their body. Specimens are known to have been seen on Earht in the 1930ies. In their own words:

"We are vegetables, in your language. Possibly trees, though we cannot be sure. Your books seem to describe only the lower orders of vegetable life. Possibly we are animals. When we had been through the small primers and others of your books we found the dictionary, which was most thorough and helpful. All three of us read this through page by page last night. Animals seem, according to the dictionary, to be many things - but active and sentient, as distinguished from vegetables. We are active and sentient, yet the pictures of animals seem quite different from us, and many of the vegetables look somewhat like us - so we are uncertain as to our status."

From  "Seeds from Space" by Laurence Manning. Cover art by Frank R. Paul. Published in  June 1935 Wonder Stories.

ALIENS OF THE DAY: 1960's Martian Space Rat Fink Gumball Charms

5 vintage 1960's Martian Space Rat Fink Gumball Charms, licensed and dated 1965 on the back.

THE ALIEN OF THE day: Vintage

Cadburys Smash Martian Mechanical Robot from Marx Toys

ELS

Planet of Origin: A planet on  the far side of the galaxy in their old home world. After billions of years of their evolution, their planet was on the brink of destruction as their sun went supernova and engulfed their home world. To survive, they sent out a expedition force in a giant sphere about 3000 kilometers in diameter in search of a new place to settle on/assimilate and make into their home world. Along their expedition, they assimilated and reformed several planets and planetary systems. Their journey ended in the Solar System in the year A.D. 2314, when they arrived near Jupiter and encountered the Europa, a space exploration ship and assimilated it, sending it on a course to Earth. 

The ELS is a peaceful techno-organic sentient species that has the unique ability to assimilate/infect nearly all life and technology.  They appear as silver metallic organisms that can take solid or liquid-like forms. While not aggressive, their ways of understanding their environment is based on assimilation of all things. The ELS has no true form as they are capable of taking any shape or size relative to their mass. They can combine or separate from one another to increase or decrease its mass as needed. When faced with an opponent or something they don't understand, the ELS can assimilate and convert the target of interest into an ELS. 

When confronted with unknown organic lifeforms and/or technologies, the ELS assimilates the target like an aggressive virus. It's rapid adaptability and versatility allows it to take hold of technology in a matter of seconds and organic matter in a manner of minutes. However, for organics, it can have detrimental effects to those not completely assimilated, such as causing brain damage and various biological instabilities due to their invasive nature to their condition. While their complete nature is not understood, it IS understood that they can utilize quantum brainwave frequencies, make copies of what they have assimilated.The ELS also are able to develop countermeasures against enemy forces.

The ELS assimilation process can come in two different ways. One is where a ELS attaches itself to a technological construct or a living organism and stays attached, appearing as large metal shards covering the infected target. The second way is an actual merger with the target, appearing as a mercury-like substance covering the target.

First contact turned into a short war which was followed by the  full merger of a human and the ELS and the ensuing mutual understanding. The ELS began returning to their mothership, now reconfigured into the shape of a desert flower, signifying the end of hostilities. Fifty years later, the  desert flower remained in orbit of Earth, indicating that the ELS maintain a form of co-existence with humanity. 

Source: MS Gundam 00 universe, MS Gundam 00 Movie: A wakening of the Trailblazer

ACANTI

Benevolent and compassionate by nature, The Acanti are a species of peaceful sentient kilometers long  reddish brown whale-like, space-faring extraterrestrial beings. They possess dorsal, ventral, lateral, and caudal fins, as well as green eyes widely spaced on their heads.  They communicate through psionic sounds referred to as songs. Acanti have the innate ability to fly faster than the speed of light, without technological assistance.

A long time ago, the Acanti were led by one individual known as the Prophet-Singer. The Prophet-Singer was the repository of the Acanti's racial Soul, a collective semi-mystical force that linked and motivated the Acanti species. As death approached, the Acanti typically hurled themselves into stars. The Prophet-Singer of each generation would also do so, releasing the Soul to join the body of the next Prophet-Singer.

Upon migrating to the Milky Way galaxy, the Brood species began to enslave the Acanti to take advantage of their natural ability to travel at speeds exceeding light. The Brood would infect individual Acanti with a disease known as the Slaver Virus, which would destroy the higher cognitive functions of their minds, making them ripe for easy control. Then, the Brood would transform the mindless husks into living starships. The Brood succeeded in enslaving the Acanti Prophet-Singer, and when he eventually died and crashed on a planet, its body was reconstructed as the "throne city" (presumably like a capital) on the planet (referred to as "Broodworld" or "Sleazeworld") that the Brood then established as the center of their empire. Thus, the Soul remained trapped in the skull of the dead Prophet-Singer.

Salvation for the Acanti came when a new Prophetsinger was born, however, without transferring the soul to him, the Acanti were still stuck near Sleazeworld. Only when the SOul was freed by external intervention in 1982 did the Soul unite with the young Prophet-Singer, who assumed leadership of the Acanti.

Source: Marvel Universe.  Uncanny X-Men #156 (April 1982) They were created by writer Chris Claremont and artist Dave Cockrum.

FORERUNNERS

Forerunners are most likely, the first lifeforms to appear in the universe after the Big Bang.  They only possessed a low-level intelligence level, enough for them to seek out food and consume it. Their food was any form of matter in the universe. Although they were unable to consume stars, they used starlight to guide them and flew to the stars like moths to a flame

The first forerunner appeared billions of years ago, in a dwarf galaxy far from the Milky Way. It was a lifeform made of powerful magnetic fields that developed around a gas giant. Once it attained sentience, it realized that eventually its homeworld would die and it needed to be able to leave it to survive. It created much smaller artificial lifeforms, consisting of the same form of EM field as his. To animate and program its "children", it created the first ever DNA molecules in existence. They were programmed to journey the universe and seek out other gas giants with similar conditions to their homeworld. Once found, the gas giant's magnetic fields were to be reshaped to allow their parent to "settle" there. Other of their functions included self-defense and self-replication with the use of any form of matter. When some Forerunners were destroyed due to various causes, their DNA would sometimes find favorable conditions on a planet's surface and form the beginning of organic life.

In essence, the original magnetic being can be called "God", as it was the cause of all organic life in the universe even though it was merely a side effect of its survival instinct.

Eventually, a swarm of Forerunners reached our galaxy and found a system in the Orion nebula, where a suitable gas giant was located and settled. 3 million years ago, the system's star went nova and nearly killed the gas giant lifeform. Seriously wounded, the lifeform lost all control of its Forerunners, whose programming was also damaged by the stellar explosion. They departed the nebula and began to travel the galaxy. Lacking their original purpose, their primary function became to feed on all matter around them and replicate more of themselves.

This large swarm was detected approaching an inhabited region of space in our galaxy. The swarm consumed all planets, asteroids, and even space dust in their path. This region of space, later named by humans the Sleeve of Emptiness, lay directly in the path of the Forerunners. Realizing that the swarm would destroy their races, the inhabitants of the region began to prepare for it. The two-headed Logrians chose to take their massive space habitats and attempt to outrun the Forerunners, fleeing from them. The Insects decided to hide themselves and wait out the "storm" by building a massive Dyson Sphere around their home star - thus making their star invisible to the swarm. Unfortunately, the sphere was not yet completed, when the Forerunners attacked and nearly destroyed it. Desperate, the Insects abandoned their worlds and left after the Logrians. Only the Delphons, who by that time visited many worlds in the galaxy, including Earth, decided to stay and fight, if not for their own survival, then for the survival of the races to come. After years of trying and failing to halt the swarm's advance, the Delphons came up with a suicidal plan to stop the Forerunners once and for all: whenever the swarm would approach one of their systems, they would detonate the systems star, destroying at least a part of the swarm. In the end, the Delphon civilization completely annihilated itself; however, their sacrifice was not in vain - the rogue Forerunners were destroyed as well.

Millions of years later, an archaeological expedition by the Confederacy of Suns to one of these annihilated systems discovered several Forerunners in an inert state. By feeding them matter, the humans managed to reawaken the ancient creatures, not knowing the danger they represent. The Forerunners managed to break containment and attacked and nearly destroyed a Confederate fleet in the system, constantly multiplying. Only a counterattack by their natural enemies, the entriphages, allowed the humans to stop another catastrophe.

After the fall of the Confederacy, several different parties found the Orion nebula and found not only thousands of Forerunners in the local gas giant and their guiding intelligence, but also humans descended from the colonists of Earth's first interstellar colony ship, the Alpha, lost for over a thousand years. These humans appear to worship the gas giant being as God, which also allows them to be reincarnated once they reach old age (i.e. none of the colonists have died of natural causes since the founding of the colony). They also appear to be able to exert some control over the Forerunners through the use of implants.

Unfortunately, the gas giant is slowly being depleted by ancient human-built biomechanical terraforming machines, who are mining a rare metal known as "metallic hydrogen" to fulfill their original programming and increase their numbers. This makes these so-called "phages" similar to the Forerunners. While the Forerunners are constantly trying to defend their creator from the phages, the machines' unique energy-absorbing armor and powerful lasers allow them to easily defeat the Forerunners and continue mining the gas giant.

Source: The History of the Galaxy series of novels by Russian science fiction writer Andrey Livadny. (and the related Wikipedia entry)

MAKLUANS / KAKARANTHARAIANS

Planet of Origin:  Kakaranathara (Aka Maklu IV), the fourth planet orbiting the star Maklu in the Milky Way galaxy.

Makluans are a reptilians species which has developed a highly advanced and peaceful democratic interstellar space faring society. 

A Makluan spaceship crashlanded in ancient China. Makluans are said to have been seen on Earth at the time as far as Camelot around the same time, and possibly other places as well. Makluans's  shapeshifting abilities made them able to walk among men without being recognised.

Makluans can function both as biped and quadruped; with green skin that average 32' in height when upright, reptilian scales, dragon-like wings, an elongated neck with rows of spikes running down the spine & tail, antennae, fan-like earlobes & clawed hands & feet. Their metabolism grants them rapid healing & the ability to regenerate certain of their body parts, entering a hibernationary state to accomplish this. Makluans are able to survive in the vacuum of space or under water for extended periods. Their lifespan is counted in centuries.Their wings endow them with flight capabilities under the speed of sound. They exhibit limited telepathy and  have natural shape-shifting abilities which allow them to assume a multitude of forms, able to alter not only their physical appearence but also their size, weight & mass by many orders of magnitude. If these polymorphic abiliites are inherent ot the species or has been artificially acquired s is unknown but it has been observed that individuals are able to transfer their life essence into the body of another living entity in case of death or serious injury; having done so, they are often able to transform the possessed body into their true form via their shape-shifting abilities. They can also exhale a corrosive chemical mist from their mouth, resembling fire, with varying degrees of intensity & accuracy.

Known individuals:  Fin Fang Foom, Axonn-Karr (who gave power rings to the Mandarin)

Source: Created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby in  Strange Tales (vol.1) #89 (1961) and further developed in  Tales of Suspense #62 (Feb 1965) with the help of Don Heck. See also  New Excalibur #12