Friday, July 3, 2015

5 Fandom Friday: Five Favorite Aliens.

There are two directions I considered taking this week's 5 Fandom Friday topic--since there's no overlap between the two, I really couldn't decide, so I just made two lists for this week. :-P

First off, five aliens I'd like to meet:

1. The Doctor (Time Lord - Doctor Who)


Ten FTW.

I'd love to go adventuring with any incarnation of the Doctor, really, but Ten was my favorite.  I loved his enthusiastic highs and his melancholy lows, and I bawled more during his seasons than I have ever cried at a TV show (granted, I binge-watched during my second pregnancy...so I blame it largely on that).  And, of course, there's the hair.  Who wouldn't want to see that in person?  Allons-y!

2. Chewbacca (Wookiee - Star Wars)



Because Han and Chewie were my heroes as a kid.  My most constant friend during my childhood was my dog (we moved a lot), so Han and Chewie's friendship made sense to me despite the fact that the rest of us have no clue what Chewie's ever saying.  Even as a kid, I loved the badass smugglers vibe--fast ship, no-nonsense weaponry, and an attitude.  I always belonged more on the Millennium Falcon than at Jedi Academy, and I would have loved a Wookiee friend like Chewbacca.

3. Wicket (Ewok - Star Wars)



And then there are the Ewoks, my other favorite furry aliens from the Star Wars universe.  Surprisingly tenacious for a race of teddy bears, I just want to hug them all.  But especially Wicket, the first Ewok we meet through Princess Leia on the forest moon of Endor.  I have a still have a stuffed toy of him somewhere that I acquired when I was eight...

4. Thor (Asgardian - The Avengers)



Do I need to use words to explain this one?  Just sign me up.

5. Ro Laren (Bajoran - Star Trek)



Confession: I haven't actually finished watching "Star Trek: The Next Generation" yet--I'm halfway through season six.  But from what I've seen so far, I think I would get along well with Ensign Ro.  She's grumpy and straightfoward, disciplined but with a strong rebellious streak.  I like her.

And my second interpretation of the prompt, the five most fascinating aliens:

1. Xenomorphs (Alien)



I can count on one hand how many times I've seen any of the Alien movies, but though I'm no expert on the franchise, I think the Xenomorph species is one of the most fascinating alien species ever created.  Their life cycle of host-detecting egg, impregnating face-hugger, and then emerging worm that grows rapidly into the terrifying final form (complete with a second mouth on its tongue and acid blood), is such an interesting progression.  I would love to study them.  From a distance.  A very vast, very safe distance.

Xenomorph.

2.  Weeping Angels (Doctor Who)


DON'T BLINK.

Another incredibly creative species, I am intrigued by the defining defense mechanism of the Weeping Angels--turning to stone when anything living is looking at them, which is why they hide their eyes.  Our inability to observe the nature of the species in their true form, which they only take when unobserved, leaves me utterly fascinated.  What is their skin like?  Are they dressed colorfully?  Do they fly?  How do they interact with one another?  What do they do in their spare time?  The "lonely assassins" are just so unknown, I can't help but want to see more of them.  Just DON'T BLINK.

3. The Borg (Star Trek)



Again, I'm still a season and a half away from being done with TNG, and I haven't seen any of the "Star Trek" series to come after it, but I already love the idea of the Borg.  I find the concept of a hive mind fascinating, though undesirable.  But the Borg represent such a truth: that, in reality, total peace within a race is only achievable at the cost of free will.  As long as we can disagree, we will, and we will fight over our different ideas of what is "right".  Mankind can have peace, or free will; we will never have both.

4.  The Ood (Doctor Who)



My fascination with the Ood begins in a similar place as with the Borg, with the idea of a hive mind.  But unlike the Borg--who achieve peace by complete subjugation--the Ood represent an ideal rather than reality: that an advanced race is capable of choosing a level of peaceful coexistence such that the every member of the entire race can walk around with an external brain in their hand, and no one will harm them (at least, of their own race--humans are another story).

5.  Unnamed race of aliens (Independence Day)


Welcome to Earth.

It would feel wrong to talk about aliens this holiday weekend without including the race featured in Independence Day.  With their superior technology--the most interesting of which is their biomechanical protective suits--and telepathic abilities, I'm not entirely sure mankind really would have stood a chance, but I look forward to seeing Will Smith kick some alien butt this weekend as we celebrate the 4th with an annual re-watch.

"Independence Day" alien.

So which are your favorite aliens?

14 comments:

  1. I love that you looked at this from two perspectives. Absolutely adore your fascinating Aliens list, they all terrify me

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    1. Thanks! I know--I wouldn't want to meet any of the most interesting races!! Even the Ood were a bit scary when we first met them...But terrifying is just more interesting sometimes. :-)

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  2. The Independence Day aliens are pretty cool! I like how you your made your two lists - was hard to narrow down all the aliens to a top 5 :)

    Danielle @ From Girlie to Nerdy

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    1. Thanks! Yeah, I HAD to have the Doctor and Chewbacca, but I also HAD to have the Xenomorph and Weeping Angels...and I just couldn't find a sensible interpretation of the prompt that would encompass such extremes! Plus, this way, I could fit more...though I still had to leave a few "favorites"--like the Adipose! :-P

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  3. WICKET!!! How could I forget my Ewoks - they really are my favorite! Seeing a lot of 10th Doctor love this round of 5 Fandom Friday!
    xx mal @ www.badwolfbrunch.com

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    1. Yes, the Tenth Doctor seems to be the most constant (quite right, too)--but it's fun to see him surrounded by SO MANY different picks on everyone's lists this week! And I keep seeing ones on other lists that I wish I had thought to include (or had room for--I already had to cut so many favorites, and that's with TWO lists!). Aliens are just such a vastly diverse bunch!! :-)

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  4. I like that you did two lists! It's neat seeing who pops up a few time as well!

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    1. Thanks! Truthfully, I just had too many I HAD to include, but for such different reasons, that it made so much more sense to just double up! There is such an incredibly diverse array of options for a prompt like this--it has been really fun reading through everyone's posts this week! :-)

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  5. Ewoks <3 And Thor! I got Loki on my list :p Though alien... that's spooky. Nice long list ;)
    xoxo
    dePepi.com

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    1. Oh, Loki...he was pretty close! Your list had two of my runners-up in their respective fandoms, actually--I was going to include Spock, before Ro Laren came to mind! :-)

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  6. Oh great twist. Doing two lists! Weeping Angels wouldn't make my favourites list but they are spooky and fascinating creatures!

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    1. Thanks--both Weeping Angels and the Doctor are such "favorites" of mine, but in VERY different ways! Two lists was really the only way it made sense to feature both! :-P

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  7. lol, love the two lists hack, that was well done!

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    1. Thanks! I just couldn't think of a better way to include both characters like the Doctor AND races like the Xenomorph--they're "favorites" in SUCH different ways!! :-P

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