Top 20 Alien Characters of All Time

“The Iron Giant” (1999)
The Iron Giant is the perfect icon of the split in our hopes and fears for alien contact. On the one hand, he’s a strange visitor from another world, bristling with weaponry. We don’t know whether he’s here to invade, scout or just blow stuff up, but with the sheer number of lasers he’s packing, his original purpose doesn’t seem friendly. On the other hand, though, all it takes is a simple bump on the head for him to forget any nefarious purpose and form a beautiful friendship with Hogarth. In the end, the Iron Giant teaches us that everyone -- human or otherwise -- can be who they choose to be.

“Kirby” Franchise (1992-)
Okay, so less complication here. Kirby is little and pink and pudgy. He sucks up a lot of food, but unless he inhaled a couple of philosophy textbooks, there’s probably not as much duality here as there was in… What do you mean he killed a god? Gods!? Plural!? Okay, then. Turns out the kid appeal character from Super Smash Bros. has a lot more deicide than you’d expect in his backstory. If you’re trying to take over the planet Pop Star, then you’d better be careful not to get on Kirby’s radar, because he’ll mess you up. The weirdest part is, he never seems to know what the villain is even doing. He’s just mad they made him drop his cake.

“ALF” (1986-90)
You might not think of him much today, but in the 1980s, Alf made huge strides in human-alien relations. Rather than a visitor to hide from your parents or a monster from another world, Alf came to earth as… an annoying roommate. How was leaving the toilet seat up and never washing the dishes a huge stride? Well, think of it like this. Alf took the strangeness, the unknowns of an alien life form and made them familiar. Friendly, even. Sure he told bad, bad jokes. And he might try and juice your cat (Not a euphemism, we promise). But Alf taught us that underneath all those superficial differences, an alien might just be a new member of the family.

“The Day the Earth Stood Still” (1951)
Klaatu Barada Nikto. You’ve heard that before, haven’t you? It’s not just random gibberish. Well, it is, but it’s random gibberish from a classic of early Sci-Fi. Klaatu and his robot friend Gort are a pair of space cops who come to earth to tell us the error of our violent ways. Either Earth gives up its nuclear weapons, or they blow the whole place up. And how does Earth respond to that? Well, here’s a hint. Klaatu Barada Nikto means “Klaatu is dead.” Immortalized in everyone’s favourite obscure alien gibberish, Klaatu and Gort remind us of the fear we might not live up to our ideals when faced with an alien species. And exactly how dire the consequences for that might be.

Various (1966-)
Will YOU be ready when Galactus cometh? He hungers for worlds, you know. That was the Silver Surfer’s message when we first met him. He saved his home world from being devoured by agreeing to become the planet-eating space-god’s herald. And he had his sights set on Earth. But the beautiful thing about our shiny friend Norrin Radd is that he doesn’t keep looking for planets to feed to Galactus forever. Instead, he makes friends with the Fantastic Four and -- inspired by their bravery -- he finds the courage to stand up to his master. If Galactus represents the terror of a universe greater than anything we could imagine, then the Surfer reminds us there might just be hope out there, too.

Various (1955-)
Did someone say hope from other worlds? J’onn J’onzz is the last surviving Martian, making his new home among the people of earth, and sworn to protect them any way he can. And while that may sound familiar from the backstory of certain other superheroes who might show up later on this list, Manhunter doesn’t blend in quite as well. With his imposing stature, heavy brow, green skin and uncanny powers like shapeshifting and the ability to read our minds, J’onn looks undeniably, well, Alien. It makes it harder to fit in when he’s not hiding in human form. But no matter how much humans mistrust him or set him apart for his looks, J’onn keeps helping them with constant kindness, courage and tolerance.

“The Fifth Element” (1997)
Close your eyes and picture what the “supreme being” would look like. Is it Mila Jovovich with an orange mop on her head? No? Weird, because that’s what she is in the Fifth Element. Leeloo might come off as a weirdo in cheddar cheese suspenders, but apparently she’s the living embodiment of the fifth element itself -- whose power is only accessed by love. Leeloo represents the romance of the unknown -- our desire to fall in love with another world.

Various (1962-)
What? No way. Thor’s magic. Aliens can’t be magic, right? Huh. Well, there you have it. When the legendary Jack Kirby built the mythology of the Marvel Universe in the early 60s, he made Thor a little different than the original Norse version. Kirby’s Thor is from a race of superhuman beings who had visited Earth for thousands of years, seeding the idea for the Viking myths. That’s why you get to see him hanging out in space ships with Groot and Rocket Raccoon. There’s just something powerful about the image of one of Earth’s legends returning to be one of its mightiest heroes in our hour of need.

“Transformers” Franchise (1984-)
There’s a running theme here of aliens blending in on Earth to be our secret heroes. But nobody ever said they had to look human! Case in point, Optimus Prime is a truck. Well, to be fair, sometimes he’s a robot too. Leading his people in an endless war against the Decepticons, Optimus Prime may have been invented to sell toys, but many have adopted him as a bastion of stable authority, amid a story about aliens bringing their age-old blood feud to our neck of the woods. If Earth has to turn into a series of loud, confusing summer blockbusters, at least we have Prime’s deep, rugged baritone to see us through.

Various (1984-)
They can’t all be good guys. Sometimes aliens are slimy, malicious hate-monsters. And what better example can there be of “slimy and malicious” than Marvel’s Venom? Originally introduced as an alien symbiote that formed a new costume for Spider-Man, in some ways Venom is a perfect, heartwarming partnership between human and alien. In other ways, though, it does force its way into host bodies and transform them into psychotic revenge beasts. So, you know… that might be a bit less heartwarming. Also less heartwarming is the degree of cannibalism, ranging from vampiric life-stealing to just outright dude-chomping. Being a parasite makes Venom more than a monster. He’s a representation of our terror of the other inside ourselves.

“Predator” Franchise (1987-)
The Predator, by contrast, is pretty up front about representing the other outside ourselves. An other who also happens to be invisible and have a laser gun. Some people admire this otherworldly hunter species for their commitment to sportsmanship and desire to hunt the most challenging opponents. Those people are wrong. It should be obvious, but just in case someone needs to hear it, hunting other sapient beings for sport is a pretty messed up thing to do. The Predator preys on our fears of an alien so advanced it doesn’t even need to go to war with us. Humans only stand a chance of survival against it at all, because it chooses to toy with them.

“Looney Tunes” (1948-)
Whether he’s setting us up for an Earth-shattering kaboom or just bickering with Duck Dodgers, Marvin the Martian shows us the cuddlier side of an alien invader. He’s intellectual. Civilized. Adorable. Even as he’s planning to blow up the earth, you can’t help but root for the little guy with his tennis shoes and broom-top helmet. He even seems to have worked out a friendlier relationship with the rest of the Looney Tunes cast after a few decades of invading. How else do you explain him showing up as the referee in “Space Jam”? Looking at Marvin, it’s easier to remember that deep down, even the nefarious aliens are just like us.

“The Call of Cthulhu” (1928)
There’s no better symbol of the fathomless terrors of a universe we cannot understand than H.P. Lovecraft’s squid-faced monstrosity. Cthulhu’s not even from outer space. He’s from whatever horrifying darkness exists outside of space and time. In fact, he’s supposed to be so alien and unfathomable that the very sight of him drives people insane. So much so that a lot of creators shy away from showing him at all in visual media. Either because the unknown is so much scarier than what you can see… or because driving your viewers insane doesn’t usually help ticket sales. Plus, the casting call would be an actual nightmare.

“E.T. the Extraterrestrial” (1982)
Most entries on this list are about how powerful aliens are -- what they can do for us. Or do to us. What makes E.T. stand out is that his story is about what humans might do to hurt him. An adorable sensation in the 1980s, E.T. lives on today in the heartwarming story of how beautiful and innocent a friendship between creatures from different worlds can be; but also, just how fragile that innocence might be. Sure it’s all fun and games when you’re building transmitters out of speak-and-spells or bringing plants back to live. But pretty soon the government’s kicking in your door and trying to drag you back to area 51.

“Star Wars” Franchise (1977-)
Inevitable, this choice is. From Chewbacca to Jabba to this weirdo, Industrial Light and magic pull off some amazingly lifelike aliens and creatures in the original “Star Wars” trilogy. But the greatest trick they ever pulled is convincing us that Yoda, this little green guy, is a mighty Jedi Master. But that is undeniably the truth of the matter. Remember, this was before we saw him flipping around in Episode 2, before we saw him catch Palpatine’s lightning. All he had to convince us with were his clever words and busted sentence structure. And amazingly, we believed it. And boy, he turned out to be a wise badass.

“Alien” Franchise (1979-)
Other aliens might be famous for invading our planet, but the Xenomorphs do them one better: They invade our bodies. In terms of sheer number of gross and gruesome ways to kill you, the Alien from, well, “Alien” may be the most deadly monster in cinema history. Every phase of the Xenomorph life cycle has a way to hideously violate your body, whether it’s strangling you as a facehugger, bursting out of your chest or… whatever it does with that gross second mouth thing it has going on. They even have acid blood, just so they can get the last laugh. So even if you do figure out how to kill one, your face can melt off from one last act of spite.

“Dragon Ball” Franchise (1986-)
Speaking of aliens that can definitely kill you, the Saiyans might be the most ridiculously powerful species ever imagined.So it’s a good thing one of them is on our side. Son Goku started out as a Saiyan baby, sent to Earth to begin an invasion. But much like the Iron Giant, a bump on the head changed his destiny. Instead, he grew up into a powerful, but surprisingly gentle champion of the Earth. Now, his drive to be the strongest, and irrepressible courage, have turned him into a worldwide symbol of perseverance. Fans believe Goku can beat any opponent set before him, and they’re probably right. Well, provided he spends enough filler episodes screaming at them in the desert first.

“Doctor Who” (1963-89; 1996; 2005-)
The Doctor deserves a spot on this list for lifespan alone. Not just the thousand or so fictional years The Doctor has lived, but the fact that this show is literally the longest running science fiction program of all time. How do you sum up a character who has literally had 13 different faces since 1963? It’s surprisingly easy, actually. Wisdom. Courage. Compassion. The Doctor is smarter than anyone, never backs down when lives are on the line and always gives the villain a chance to change. The way The Doctor adopts us mere humans shows that we dare to hope aliens more advanced than us don’t necessarily have to be hostile. Maybe they just want to give us a chance to meet Shakespeare.

“Star Trek” Franchise (1966-)
Admit it. You’re doing the hand gesture right now, aren’t you? Star Trek played a pivotal role in teaching us acceptance and camaraderie, not just for our fellow humans but for potential equals from other worlds. From gruff-but-lovable Worf to the gentle Deana Troi to Q’s omnipotent prankery, there’s not an alien on the show we don’t learn to feel for. But there’s really only one logical choice to sum up that impact. Despite his insistence on avoiding sentimentality, Spock has a permanent place in the heart of any science fiction fan. His unflinching dedication to ethics and logic make him an intellectual role model. But his relationships with the other members of the Enterprise crew make him something more.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Captain Mar-Vell/Captain Marvel (Ed. note: Not Carol Danvers)
Various (1967-)

The Thing
“The Thing” (1982)

Mork
“Mork & Mindy” (1978-82)

Stitch
“Lilo and Stitch” (2002)

The Bug
“Men In Black” (1997)

Various (1938-)
His cousin, Supergirl is deservedly popular in her own right, but if there’s one alien every Earthling can name, it’s Superman. Whether stopping a runaway train or just rescuing a cat from a tree, Clark Kent’s alter ego embodies the ideals of kindness, humility, truth and justice. Why? Because ma and pa Kent taught him to. Since his debut at the tail end of the Great Depression, these ideals were so powerful it made an alien the international symbol of what’s best in humanity. So for all the hopes and fears in our stories about aliens, Superman reminds us all of one thing. Whether you’re born human, Kryptonian or a robot from Mars… You are who you choose to be.