It’s tough to imagine what an alien might look like. The mind races, combining biological ideas that exist with ones that don’t to create something we haven’t seen yet. In a visual medium, however, there are logistical concerns that make designing aliens much tougher. It’s much easier to create an alien by outfitting a human actor with a single weird trait, like a rubber forehead.
Aliens serve many purposes in sci-fi stories.Some exist as threats, while others are important allies. Some exist just to fill a single function across their species. Whatever their purpose, however, there are a few key looks that everyone agrees read as alien.
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Rubber-Forehead aliens are extraterrestrial beings thatare unquestionably different species, but look almost identical to humans. Since the character’s face will almost always be visible, an unusual feature placed there will inevitably set them apart from humanity. This trope isn’t limited to facial features, slight changes like unique skin colors or bodily markings would also qualify. These aliens can serve any purpose, their look is the focus of the trope. Of course, the easy explanation of the Rubber-Forehead alien is that they’re a cheap solution to the problem of creating believable aliens. There’s more going on with this trope than cheap prop work.
There are reasons to use Rubber-Forehead Aliens in a story.A hard sci-fi storymight use this to keep an alien looking relatable since humans would have an easier time seeing the subtle emotional details in a fellow human. A more complex design can be tough to choreograph action for since there would be little source material to animate after, and we can only motion capture things that exist. The opposite of a Rubber-Forehead alien is a Starfish alien, which completely eschews human-like attributes, in favor of something completely unique. Some of the most beloved characters in sci-fi are Rubber-Forehead aliens.
The go-to example of this trope almost always comes out ofStar Trek. The series has countlesscreatures of the weekthat pop up throughout the many seasons, but it often returns to the same handful of iconic species. As the series falls more and more into self-referential callbacks, the familiar faces will rear their ugly forehead even more frequently. Most of theiconicStar Trekracesare Rubber-Forehead aliens. The Klingons have those central ridges, the Vulcans have pointed ears, the Ferengi have giant ears and a raised brow ridge, and so on. Interestingly, theStar Trekmovies often feature brief glimpses of more complex alien designs. The films have the budgets to accommodate Starfish aliens, but the classic structure of the manyStar Trekseries are better suited to rubber foreheads.
The overwhelming majority of aliens in the space-faring corners of the Marvel Cinematic Universe are Rubber-Forehead beings. Four of theGuardians of the Galaxyfit the bill. Gamora’s green skin and facial markings, Drax’s gray skin and red tattoos, Mantis’s antennas and black eyes, and Nebula’s purple skin and cyborg parts all leave most of their human appearance intact. Just about every bystander in theGuardiansfranchise is of a similar description. Plenty of horns, spikes, weird hair, unusual skin tones, bizarre eyes or mouths, and other small details that don’t mess with the overall human frame. Humanoid seems to be the dominant design strategy throughout the Marvel universe, but the films do feature interesting alternatives, like a giant tree or a talking raccoon.
Star Wars provides one of the most interesting looks at this trope. For a galaxy so full of life, there are shockingly few Rubber-Forehead designs wandering around. Imagining alien biology as a spectrum with unaugmented humans on one side andH. P. Lovecraft’s Old Godson the other, the Rubber-Forehead is one step away from humanity. George Lucas’s beloved franchise prefers to take a second step more often than not. Most of the aliens in Star Wars are still humanoid, but they are unmistakably more alien than something like a Klingon. The most iconic Rubber-Forehead alien is probably the Twi’lek, which are effectively humans with unique headgear. The go-to alien in Star Wars is human-shaped with heavy animal features. Zoomorphic beast-people make up a lot of the franchise’s bystanders and minor characters. People with lizard-like heads, bipedal bear dogs, giant slug people, and other unique designs are common in the galaxy far, far away.
Rubber-Forehead aliens aren’t lazy or uninteresting, but they are a frequent target of good-natured jokes. It would seem a bit silly if thetheoretically endless expanse ofspace featured almost exclusively other stuff that looks like us. Most sci-fi works feature a wide variety of alien designs, representing multiple points on the theoretical spectrum. With a good idea and the right eye for design, Rubber-Forehead aliens can look distinct and iconic, no matter how close to mankind they may look.
