History Main / StarFishAliens

* [[spoiler:[[CuteIsEvil Kyubey]]]] in ''Anime/PuellaMagiMadokaMagica''. The [[spoiler:RidiculouslyCuteCritter]] appearance hides a possibly [[HiveMind hive-minded]] being capable of creating a new body out of thin air if one is killed. It's also completely incapable of emotion and has no understanding of human [[LackOfEmpathy empathy]] or [[BlueAndOrangeMorality morality]]. The moment where this is most apparent is when it can't understand why [[spoiler: the girls would get upset that making a deal with it tears out your soul and eventually turns you into an EldritchAbomination, [[WellIntentionedExtremist because what is one human life compared to the universe?]] ]]

** In the event of a False Vacuum Collapse, [=AKA=] a "Big Slurp" [[note]]Basically, a tiny bubble of the very fabric of the universe just collapses into a lower energy stage, [[NightmareFuel and starts spreading through the cosmos at the speed of light]], [[ParanoiaFuel which means one could be heading our way and we'd never know anything about it]], though on the plus side we'd just die instantly without knowing we're dead and without suffering. Also depending on where it is in the universe it's possible that the expansion of the universe would eventually be faster than light, which means it would never be able to reach us.[[/note]] nothing would be able to survive, but it's possible that something resembling life could appear in the aftermath. Since the ''very fabric of reality'' would be different, this would be a very starfishy alien form of life.

Given the long, strange history of life on Earth (a given house includes such a bewildering variety of life as humans, houseplants, pets, spiders, molds, bacteria, etc.), it's likely if we ever actually encounter alien life it might fit in this category. Species that evolve naturally would have adapted to solve similar basic problems: obtaining food/necessities, negotiating natural disaster, adapting to new circumstances, avoiding contamination by pathogens and parasites, competing with other species, competing with themselves, and so forth. So we would expect to find at least a few familiar aspects to their psychology as opposed to sheer indecipherable mystery... if they evolved in similar conditions as us.

* The [[spoiler:Scub Coral and Coralians]] of ''Anime/EurekaSeven'', which as the name implies, are [[spoiler:''sentient alien land corals''.]]

* ''WebVideo/AlienBiospheres'' is a youtube series dedicated to the speculative evolution of a planet of these, using the principles of actual real world evolution. One family of creatures breathes through two holes ''on either side of it's head'' that '''''used to be tentacles'''''.

** On the other hand, the phenomenon of convergent evolution - when unrelated species evolve similar adaptations to the same or similar environments - is observed in countless contexts on earth. A good example is how closely dolphins resemble fish, when in fact they are more closely related to elephants. If it turns out that an earth-like environment really is necessary for complex life to evolve, it could take forms relatively similar to those seen on earth (which would not preclude literal Starfish Aliens of course).

* Related to the former entry are those hypothetical lifeforms (or life that adapted itself to those conditions) that could exist in the ''[[TimeAbyss very far]]'' future, if the Universe kept expanding forever, or otherwise collapsed on a Big Crunch, though this scenario seems to be unlikely.

* All ''WebOriginal/OrionsArm'' aliens, as a rule. The To'ul'h look like headless bats but are anatomically closer to starfish, perceive the world through echolocation, and are native to a Venus-like world with very high temperatures and atmospheric pressures. They're considered very close to humanity for xenospohonts by virtue of being carbon-based beings with two sexes from a rocky world close to its sun. The truly alien aliens include the Muuh, extremely ancient, vaguely arthropodal aliens from very cold worlds whose bodies would largely melt in terrestrial environments; the Meistersingers, intelligent trees who use symbiotic animal-like beings as manipulator organs and live in massive space fleets migrating away from the galactic core; and what are essentially living "knots" in the surfaces of neutron stars that exist on extremely fast timescales, have a society completely incomprehensible to terragens, and see the rest of the universe as just a set of interesting mathematical equations.

* Website/SCPFoundation:

* Website/RPCAuthority: [[http://rpcauthority.wikidot.com/rpc-701 RPC-701]], a race of sentient naturally-occurring ''nuclear reactors'' with a [[FirstContactMath mathematic language]] whose society primarily consisted of philosophical debates. Somewhat subverted as said reactors evolved and went extinct [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_nuclear_fission_reactor here on Earth]] many millenia ago.
* Website/GoodbyeStrangers is a sort of catalog of starfish critters: the eponymous strangers have no bones, brains or other internal organs, yet behave like living things. When dissected, they're revealed to be either hollow or stuffed with random objects and substances, such as calligraphy ink and various trash. No one understands exactly how these creatures work or ''why'' they exist in the first place.

** For example, it might turn out that harnessing neutrinos for communication and creating a machine that can catch them is the most efficient method of communication. But since neutrinos only interact ''very'' rarely with normal matter we could essentially be surrounded by alien communication and be entirely in the dark about it, in the same way a Paleolithic caveman would have no knowledge of our radio waves.

* In ''WesternAnimation/AlienatorsEvolutionContinues'', the AnimatedAdaptation sequel to the movie ''Film/{{Evolution}}'', the Genus aliens become literal starfish-like creatures when hit by a devolution ray.
* The twist of the two-episode ''WesternAnimation/BatmanBeyond'' story "The Call" is that a (literal) starfish alien [[spoiler: is controlling Superman. In fact, the entire plot came about because the alien just wanted to go home and it couldn't communicate with Superman to explain where that was or even that it was a sentient being. So it took matters into its own...arms...]]

* ''WebOriginal/HamstersParadise'': The troglofauna living in the Sub-Arcuterran Cavern System are a number of different species with tentacled faces, [[EyelessFace no eyes]], multiple insect-like appendages used for either walking or as feelers, a life cycle similar to amphibians and the aquatic species have flexible snorkel-like nostrils for breathing. The twist is that they (like all vertebrates on HP-02017) are actually descended from hamsters and their bizarre appearance is the result of evolving in a system of caves and tunnels. If one were to look at the animals living on the surface (also descended from hamsters) they would find creatures that [[FantasticFaunaCounterpart look much closer]] to what humans would think of as animals.

* ''WebOriginal/{{Snaiad}}'' is an ongoing xenobiology project by [[http://nemo-ramjet.deviantart.com Nemo Ramjet]] which covers the biosphere of a fictional extrasolar planet as catalogued by human colonists. A short list of the differences between Snaiadi and Terran vertebrates: Their skeletons are carbon-based rather than calcium based (making fossils rather hard to find, and bones an excellent source of fuel); a portion of their musculature structures are hydraulic instead of contractile, i.e. they push instead of pull; they have two heads, one for eating and one for reproduction; and a number of aquatic species move by way of biological jet engines, a quality they share with Earth octopuses, though still unique as far as vertebrates go. Front legs are optional.

* ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'':
** The [[SufficientlyAdvancedAlien Data Overmind]] is some kind of non-corporeal, out-of-phase "data-lifeform." [[note]] It's a concept based on an old theory that states that in its most basic form, the entire Universe is merely quantifiable information that can be [[RealityWarper manipulated]]; the Overmind is supposed to be a gestalt consciousness born of that information.[[/note]] What exactly it/they is/are, or how it/they think/thinks is never really explained, instead we get a lot of TechnoBabble. Important to know is that its/their mind vastly differs from that of humans and that it/they does/do not communicate through language and therefore created the [[ArtificialHuman Interfaces]] (Yuki, [[spoiler:Asakura]], [[spoiler:Kimidori]]) as its/their mediums. It appears that the entity/entities has/have different "voices" in itself with different opinions. Oh, and they can [[RealityWarper hack reality]]. Playing up on their godlike nature, in one short story Kyon is contacted by an old school acquaintance who had fallen in love with Yuki at first sight and now worships the ground she stands on. It turns out that [[spoiler:he had the minor power to see her connection to the IDE which consequently overloaded his brain, [[TheseAreThingsManWasNotMeantToKnow as no mere mortal could possibly comprehend its true form]].]]
** Later, another entity similar to the Data Overmind is introduced, the Sky Canopy Domain/Macrospatial Quantum Cosmic Existence. While having a similar non-corporeal, [[RealityWarper reality warping]] nature as the Data Overmind, its mindsets and motivations are so different they are alien ''even to the Overmind itself''. They are so alien to each other that despite knowing of each other for millennia they are totally unable to communicate, and the little contact the two entities have had is through a coincidental meeting of Yuki and [[HumanoidAbomination Kuyou Suou]] on Earth, the latter being the Domain's human interface, and one much worse at fitting in than any of the Overmind's.

** [[http://www.scp-wiki.net/scp-1701 SCP-1701]], a race of sentient naturally-occurring ''nuclear reactors'' with a [[FirstContactMath mathematic language]] whose society primarily consisted of philosophical debates. Somewhat subverted as said reactors evolved and went extinct [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_nuclear_fission_reactor here on earth]] many millenia ago.

** For example, it might turn out that harnessing neutrinos for communication and creating a machine that can catch them is the most efficient method of communication. But since neutrinos only interact ''very'' rarely with normal matter we could essentially be surrounded by alien communication and we entirely in the dark about it, in the same way a paleolithic caveman would have no knowledge of our radio waves.

* In mental terms, [[http://www.rfreitas.com/Astro/Xenopsychology.htm this article]] reflects upon the profoundly alien possibilities extrapolated from our own minds, while breaking down each factor that could possibly make alien minds different from human minds.