Writing realistic aliens

ne issue many, if not most, science fiction writers will face is creating convincing aliens. Just slapping on pointy ears or a wrinkly forehead isn’t good enough. How do you make an alien creature seem believable?

Biology and Environment

Biology and environment are intimately connected. Your alien’s body should be specifically adapted for its home world. What specific challenges would the environment pose to developing life? What type of life would evolve in an alien world?

Your first task is to determine which is more important to your story: the alien or the environment? If you have a specific alien in mind, then use the alien’s biological makeup to determine what sort of environment would have produced it. If your story is mainly about the environment, then use the environment to establish what kinds of life would be likely to evolve there.

But how do you do that? Say I’m writing a story about an asteroid heading for earth, and the astronauts who are sent to space to destroy it with an atomic bomb. I’ve already researched asteroids and written half the story, but now I decide I want the astronauts to find intelligent life. Finding intelligent life on the asteroid would make them reconsider destroying it, and make the story much more interesting.

Since I can’t change the asteroid to something else, I have to work from the environment to determine what kind of life the astronauts might find. I have to work from the environment to determine what kind of life the astronauts might find. An asteroid would pose numerous problems for an organism to overcome. For example, there is no atmosphere, and no sun to provide heat. What if the aliens lived underground? That might provide some protection from radiation. There could also be frozen water underground which would help them survive. Since the aliens live underground, they would be blind, relying instead on their sense of touch to get around. But what about heat? Perhaps this asteroid passes by several stars in its lightyears-long orbit. When the asteroid is close enough to a star, the aliens are active, but the rest of the time they go into a long hibernation period.

Culture

In the case of intelligent aliens, biology and environment also affect the alien’s culture.

Religion – In my asteroid example, the entire population undergoes a deathlike hibernation period. To these aliens, death and resurrection are natural, and not considered a miracle. So, a religion like Christianity would not develop in their world. Perhaps these aliens are conscious during hibernation. How would being frozen for most of their existence affect their view of the supernatural world? Perhaps these aliens spend their hibernation period praying that the God of Warmth will return and thaw their world. While frozen, the aliens would be cut off from each other, unable to communicate. Maybe they rely on a deity for a sense of companionship during this time.

Your aliens’ religion might be their reaction to a hostile environment. They might look to a deity to protect them from predators or natural disasters.

Your aliens might look to the gods for food. What do your aliens eat? Are they agricultural? Do they raise animals for food? What about parasites? Would a species of intelligent parasites look upon their host as a god?

Language – The asteroid aliens live in a world with no light and no atmosphere, and all the water is frozen. Without liquid water or air, there is no way to transmit sound from one alien to another. So, they cannot use sound or visual cues to communicate. Their language would be entirely based on touch. They would be unable to communicate with the astronauts. Even if one of the astronauts understood their touch-language, what would he say? The aliens, being blind and deaf, would have a very limited vocabulary, at least from the astronaut’s perspective. The language gap would be immense!

What kind of things would the asteroid aliens talk about? Probably much of their conversation would have to do with hibernation. They would have special words for the “frozen time” and for the reunion period after the thaw when they get reacquainted with their friends. They would have many words for “frozen water” and “dirt,” but none for “star” or “sky.” What about your aliens? Do they have more than one language, or is one tongue spoken worldwide? Languages develop in geographical isolation, so if your planet has multiple islands or land separated by mountains, there would probably be more than one language. Languages develop in geographical isolation, so if your planet has multiple islands or land separated by mountains, there would probably be more than one language, at least at first.

Even if there is one language spoken on the entire planet, there would be variation within that language. Each individual has his own unique way of speaking. The way an individual speaks depends upon education, occupation, gender, social class, and many other factors.

What is the most important on your alien world? For what would they have more than one word? What would your aliens have no words to describe? How would their religion (or lack thereof) affect their language?

What about when two alien races meet? When two groups who speak different languages meet, the result depends upon the length of the meeting and how often it happens, and the status of the two groups. Two equal groups will interact in a different way than if one culture is more advanced or has a stronger economy or military.

When two equal cultures meet, they might become bilingual, speaking both languages. Or the businessmen and traders might use a separate language as a means of communication, rather like the way English is used today.

If two unequal cultures meet, the people in the less advanced culture might learn a simplified version of the other’s language, called a “pidgin.” The less advanced culture might lose their language entirely, completely switching to the other’s language. Or they might become bilingual, with a “high” and a “low” language. The high language might be used for business and the low only spoken at home.

A big part of language is nonverbal communication. If your aliens have bodies radically different from humans, they would have very different gestures, facial expressions, body language, and more.

Art – Again, the asteroid aliens are blind and deaf. If they have an art form, it would have to be tactile. They would probably excel at sculpture. They could use their hibernation period to completely plan a piece in their mind, waiting for the active period when they could finally commit it to stone.

What kind of art would aliens have if they saw heat, rather than light? What about aliens who communicated via smell? What kind of art would a race of sentient trees have? Could you have art if you were entirely immobile?

Your aliens’ biology would have a profound affect on their art. Human standards of beauty have much to do with biology. Scientists say that the faces humans find the most attractive are the most likely to be healthy and fertile. Many men are attracted to women with large breasts, which scientists say is evolution prompting them to choose a mate who is able to breastfeed many children. What standards of beauty would your aliens have? What sorts of biological advances would they look for in a mate? What would they consider sexy?

Other Things to Consider

History – It might be helpful to write a short history of your alien world. Major wars, scientific discoveries, important artists, anything that is likely to affect your aliens’ culture. This affects how they view other races, and their motivation for exploring space, fighting wars, conquering worlds, and more.

Technology – The technology your aliens develop is affected by their bodies, and by their environment. Humans have done a lot with their opposable thumbs. Can aliens without hands develop technology? What kind of technology would aliens with flippers develop? With hooves? What about giant amoebas? What kind of natural resources are available on your alien world? Is the environment harsh, making it hard to build? What kinds of technology would your aliens develop to defend themselves against predators or natural disasters?

Individuality – Unless the aliens are always viewed from afar, it’s important to make them unique individuals. Don’t resort to stereotyping your aliens. Don’t simply assure your reader that “all Martians are warlike” or “everyone from Venus is secretive and mysterious.” Your aliens should be just as unique as your human characters.

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