#heptapods

Taxxons

they eat anything. even each other.

Heptapods

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Jake’s picks

Jake went with a theme for his top aliens: better Worfs than Worf! Teal’c from Stargate SG-1 may be technically human, but let’s count him anyway because he’s a Jaffa warrior who starts the series under the control of the Goa’uld. This guy could definitely have an honor-off with Worf, as he spends much of the series fighting to free his planet, Chulak. Let’s also hear it for one of our favorites from Farscape: Ka D’argo (though frankly, everyone from Farscape is worthy of being a favorite). This Luxan warrior is such a great friend to have, as he’ll always have your back whether you need backup in a fight or a wingman at the club. Finally, Seth MacFarlane certainly based the Moclan officer Bortus very consciously off Worf when he developed his Trek parody The Orville, and he really does justice to a character who seemed to start off as a single gag! For a man from an unigendered species, Bortus is refreshingly progressive and allows for some deep dives into issues on human (er, Moclan) rights, as good science fiction should!

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Chris’s picks

Chris is starting things off as he typically does: with a video game. The Mass Effect series has no shortage of interesting aliens (we’ve brought it before in another listicle because of that!), but Chris’s pick is going to Mordin Solus. This Salarian is enjoyable enough because of unusual way of speaking and quirky sense of humor, but his backstory of his people having developed the Genophage adds a fascinating moral quandary when he dedicates his life to undoing the wrongs they’ve caused. We also bring up Futurama quite a lot, so it’s only fitting to highlight one of its many recurring alien characters, this time in Zapp Brannigan’s constantly tormented underling Kif Kroker. The running gags concerning just how awkward Kif is get funnier and funnier, but this amphibious sweetheart gets an ongoing arc that develops his delightfully odd character. Finally, you get a full selection of characters that all comprise The Doctor from Doctor Who, whose Time Lord nature grants him the ability to regenerate—a handy super power to have when your television series can take advantage of being able to recast the role, but also a compelling layer in creating a character made up of several histories!

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Caitlin’s picks

We praise Alan Tudyk a lot on this podcast, and it’s well deserved. Resident Alien already made Caitlin’s best sci-fi comedies list, so it’s no wonder that its lead protagonist/antagonist Harry Vanderspeigle (or the alien who has stolen said identity, I suppose) tops out this list. It is just TOO FUNNY watching this fish out of water dealing with our human shenanigans, and Harry’s obvious disdain for people is truly relatable. Another hilarious alien can be found in our second Seth MacFarlane comedy to grace this list: Roger from American Dad! This alien whom Stan saved from Area 51 is such a delightfully catty bitch, and the running gag of his different disguises to conceal his identity makes for some really funny visual gags. Lastly, here’s another vote for The Doctor from Doctor Who. Caitlin wanted to share some love specifically for the fourth doctor, portrayed with that typical British style of camp whimsy by Tom Baker. His aloof weirdness, signature milelong scarf, and fondness for Jelly Babies make him a fan favorite Doctor—this from a collection of standout Doctors!

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Ames’s picks

My picks all started off as books on my shelf, because of course that’s what I tend to highlight. Go watch Arrival if you haven’t seen it yet. The Ted Chiang short story “Story of your Life” is good on its own, but the film is absolutely stunning, and I’ll not spoil it by telling you what I love about its alien characters Abbott and Costello, the two heptapods, except to say that it’s worth going in cold if you can because they’re SO COOL. We’ve also included The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy in a number of these lists so far, so it’s only fair to give a lot of that credit to Ford Prefect, whom I find endlessly fascinating. As a contributor to the titular Guide, he’s full of absolutely random knowledge from around the universe, and he’s just so charming and weird that he warrants including. And I greatly debated including this last one but I love Rocky from Andy Weir’s Project Hail Mary too much to keep dithering. The issue is there’s a movie adaptation coming out next year, and I want to go in without any preconceived expectations for how they’ll treat what I find to be an absolutely brilliant character design and concept from a book I absolutely adore!

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