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1[[quoteright:350:[[ComicBook/ResidentAlien https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/2360303_01.jpg]]]]
2[[caption-width-right:350:[[VideoGame/AmongUs There is 1 Impostor among us.]]]]
3->''"Hello, friends! I am a perfectly normal human worm baby. You have nothing, absolutely nothing, to fear from me. Just pay no attention to me and we'll all get along just fine."''
4-->-- '''Zim the Irken''', ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'', "[[Recap/InvaderZimS1E1TheNightmareBegins The Nightmare Begins]]"
5
6A being from outer space generally comes to Earth either to observe and learn about us or to help guide us (or just get stuck here) and must keep his true nature a secret. A good opportunity for MrExposition to make his presence felt as the alien often needs everything explained, or describes the situation for others of his kind who might share his curiosity. A lot of comedy can be drawn from the newly landed alien having NoSocialSkills.
7
8Alternatively, the alien or aliens could be stranded and unable to leave. If they want to return home, they'll never get to, making Earth their ''Series/GilligansIsland.'' Often, the alien will eventually [[HumanityIsInfectious lose interest in leaving]], and if given the opportunity will [[IChooseToStay refuse it]]. This is usually the case when they form strong attachments and relationships to Earthlings, such as becoming [[MonsterRoommate friends with a human roommate]].
9
10Tends to grow less and less plausible the longer a series lasts, as evidenced by the difficulty many viewers had with the idea that the ''Series/ThirdRockFromTheSun'' aliens would not know about taxes after four years in the United States.
11
12If the main character is from our world (or one close to it) and the setting is another, that's TrappedInAnotherWorld. A whole community of Aliens Among Us, living here for a while, will probably form a WainscotSociety.
13
14Compare FirstContact. See also HughMann, AmusingAlien, HumanityEnsues, RaisedByWolves, FishOutOfWater, MysteriousWaif.
15
16----
17!!Examples:
18
19[[foldercontrol]]
20
21[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
22* This was the starting premise of Creator/KenichiSonoda's ''Manga/CannonGodExaXxion'' manga, where aliens called the Riofaldians came to Earth in peace, bringing their advanced technology with them and have been coexisting with humans on Earth for several years. Of course, they were secretly infiltrating us to set us up for conquest all along (the weapons technology they gave us is ineffective against their REAL weapons) and this appears to be standard operating procedure for them.
23* ''Anime/BraveRaideen'': [[spoiler: Akira's mother, Reiko Hibiki, is actually Princess Lemuria of the fallen Mu Empire. She is over [[Really700YearsOld 12,000 years old]], and has been feuding with Demon Emperor Barao her entire life. He was the one who destroyed Mu, and fears Lemuria because she is the only one who can defeat him.]]
24* [[Creator/TadaoNagahama Tadao Nagahama]]'s SuperRobot anime ''love'' this trope.
25** ''Anime/VoltesV'': The Boazanian Empire is a planet located 14,000 light years from Earth, in the Scorpius Constellation. The Boazanians are split it into two classes - the [[HornedHumanoid those with horns]] and the [[HumanAliens those without them]]. The ones that have them look down on the ones that don't, and enslave them so that they can live in luxury. During the reign of the 123rd Emperor of Boazania, the next heir apparent to the throne, in spite of his RoyalBlood, was born without horns. After narrowly escaping fillicide, he was given prosthetic horns so he could live in peace. Things took a turn on the day of his coronation, when his [[BigBad sleazy bastard of a cousin]] exposed his dark secret to the public. The witnesses of the coronation were shocked at his deceit, being disgusted that the Prince they adored for so long was actually hornless. Humiliated, abused, and separated from his first wife (who later [[DeathByChildbirth died in childbirth]]), the ex-Prince of Boazania took up arms and began leading slave rebellions all over the planet. He used his skill in technology to manufacture weapons for them. [[spoiler: However, the empire continued to crackdown on protests, to the point all chances for an equal Boazania seemed hopeless. Knowing that his intelligence was too valuable for the anti-slave cause to be lost, the ex-Prince's fellow rioters urged him to flee the planet and prepared a spaceship for him. The ex-Prince eventually landed on Earth, where a kind-hearted scientist discovered him and rescued him from dying. With the other humans he met treating him like an equal, the hornless Boazanian fell in love with the planet and felt a new hope for the future. That man is Kentaro Gō/Prince Gohl, the father of our main protagonist Kenichi Gō - which means him and his brothers are this trope too.]]
26** ''Anime/{{Daimos}}'': The series begins with [[SpaceRomans Planet]] [[AngelicAliens Baam]] launching a war against Planet Earth after blaming them Earthlings for the death of their monarch, King Leon. Participating in the war are Leon's children, Prince Richter and Princess Erika, but while Erika is tending to the wounds of some of the Baam soldiers, her ship crashes and she loses her memory. She wakes up on Earth, having lost her memories, and is touched by the kindness of the humans that try to help her. She instantly falls in love with the human who rescued her, Kazuya, who feels the same way. Erika's love for Kazuya is undercut she remembers that she's the Princess of the Baam and she's complicit in their war crimes against Earth. Scared that Kazuya would hate her if he knew the truth, Erika tries to run away from the base and fakes her death, but Kazuya finds out and tells her he loves her anyway.
27** ''Anime/{{Daltanious}}'': [[spoiler: When Planet Helios was destroyed, Emperor Palmillion ordered his senator, Earl, to take his son, Prince Harlin, and flee to safety. After they landed on Earth, Earl programmed his cryo-sleep device to awaken both of them in 1995, so that they could fight the Zaal invasion in time. Unfortunately, a malfunction happened in the device and Harlin awoke much earlier than he should have, in 1945, while Earl remained asleep. Prince Harlin (then three years old) escaped his ship and began wandering the mountains, where he was found by a Japanese kite painter, Kazuto Tate. Kazuto decided to adopt the boy and named him Hayato. Due to his young age, he forgot his DarkAndTroubledPast, and believed he was an ordinary Japanese boy. However, he would freqiuently have vivid dreams of his memories of his birthplace, the Planet Helios, which he chalked up to {{Hallucinations}}.]]
28* ''Franchise/DragonBall'': Pretty much every other character, mainly Goku, Piccolo and Vegeta. Even Gohan pulls this off for a bit at the beginning of the Buu arc -- despite being born and raised on Earth, his childhood was still wildly abnormal and he has a hard time blending in.
29* In ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureDiamondIsUnbreakable'', Mikitaka claims to be an alien living among humans. [[AmbiguouslyHuman It's ambiguous whether or not he's telling the truth]], but if indeed he is an alien, the world shown in JJBA is so weird and chaotic that his unusual appearance, eccentric demeanor, and weird powers actually do nothing to prevent him from blending right in. It helps that he's a RubberForeheadAlien living in a world where humans typically look at least a little extraordinary, and his VoluntaryShapeshifting abilities are small potatoes compared to the {{Lovecraftian superpower}}s frequently displayed by many Earth-born characters.
30* ''Anime/MagicalGirlLyricalNanohaAs'' has the crew of the Arthra set up shop on Earth during the Book of Darkness case, and Lindy ends up moving her entire family there after the season is over (partially so that Fate could continue attending school with her friends, but mostly because she's a Japanophile).
31* ''Manga/MyMonsterSecret'' has Aizawa Nagisa and her brethren, a race of {{Lilliputian|s}} aliens who interact with humanity in a MobileSuitHuman. They look and act every bit like humans, except Nagisa constantly talks like she's on a battlefield and takes everything [[TheComicallySerious way too seriously]].
32* Shows up twice in the ''Onegai'' franchise, with an alien observer disguised as a high school teacher in ''Anime/PleaseTeacher'' and an alien castaway disguised as a high school student in ''Anime/WaitingInTheSummer''.
33%%* ''Manga/SgtFrog'': ...well, that's kind of the ''idea''. There are other aliens on Earth besides the Keroro Platoon, though.
34* ''Anime/UFORoboGrendizer'': The initial premise of this ''[[Anime/MazingerZ sequel]]'', is alien prince Duke Fleed [[spoiler:and his sister Maria]] arrived at Earth running from [[AlienInvasion his homeworld's destruction]], and he chose living on our planet (he ''might'' leave at any time, but having no home to return to, he sees no point), pretending being a normal human with assistance of his surrogate father. However, ''[[Anime/MazingerZ Kouji Kabuto]]'' suspected he was not a normal person when he met him for first time, and playing his charade gets increasingly hard due to the [[TheEmpire VeganAlliance]] [[AlienInvasion invasion]] he has to fight, in such a way that all of his acquaintances know his real self after the first season. Finally, after the GrandFinale he [[spoiler:and his sister]] return to planet Fleed to help to rebuild it.
35* The characters from ''Anime/SonicX'' can communicate with the humans whose world they fall into without any difficulty. The Sonic from ''Film/SonicTheHedgehog2020'' also works the same way.
36* Lala from ''Anime/StarTwinklePrettyCure'' is a {{Human Alien|s}} who lands on Earth and befriends the human PinkHeroine, Hikaru. She averts AliensSpeakingEnglish at first, but once the two of them become {{Magical Girl Warrior}}s, the TransformationTrinket takes care of translating. Though there's an AlienNonInterferenceClause, she gets around it by enrolling into school as a human, where her odd behavior sometimes raises eyebrows. She also brings along the squid-like alien Prunce, who usually disguises himself as Lala's backpack. Later on, they also take in a CatGirl alien named Yuni, who doesn't enroll in school and just kind of hangs out in tree branches until she's needed.
37[[/folder]]
38
39[[folder:Asian Animation]]
40* ''Animation/{{Lamput}}'': In "Alien Again", Slim Doc and an alien who looks a lot like him inadvertently switch places. The alien, after realizing he can mimic Slim's appearance easily, does a good enough job at blending in with the other docs that nobody notices he's an alien by the time he and the actual Slim return to their proper places.
41[[/folder]]
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43[[folder:Comic Books]]
44* ''ComicBook/{{Icon}}'': A SupermanSubstitute who landed on Earth just prior to the American Civil War and took the form of a black slave. As a result of having a [[WeAreAsMayflies longer lifespan than humans]], he has been forced to take multiple identities over the last century by [[MyGrandsonMyself pretending to be his own descendant]]. In the Modern Day, his current identity is Augustus Freeman IV, the Great-Grandson of his original persona, who is inspired by a young teenage girl named Raquel to use his powers to help others as the Hero: Icon, with Raquel becoming his {{Sidekick}}: Rocket.
45* ''ComicBook/MartianManhunter'': [[LastOfHisKind The last surviving Martian]] who was accidentally transported to Earth and has been forced to live here since. Also applies to his adopted niece, Miss Martian, who is a member of an offshoot species referred to as White Martians. Both of them are able to blend in thanks to their VoluntaryShapeshifting ability, but struggle with loneliness over being the last survivors of their respective races.
46* Pictured above, ''ComicBook/ResidentAlien'' has a benign alien crash-landing on Earth and taking on the persona of a semi-retired doctor. At first, he lives in a cabin deep in the woods so as not to draw attention to himself. However, he reluctantly gets involved with the lives of the residents of a neighboring town when their only other physician dies - with no replacement readily available - and slowly becomes more and more used to once again experiencing a social life and contact with fellow sentient beings.
47* The Marvel hero ''ComicBook/{{Sleepwalker}}'', who had his own comic book in the early 1990s. Fortunately, since he spent all his time fighting monsters in his home dimension, he was able to make the best of being trapped on Earth by fighting supervillains and catching criminals, all while defending humanity from demons native to the Mindscape.
48* ''ComicBook/Starfire2015'': ComicBook/{{Starfire}}'s objective in the series is to culturally assimilate into human society, but she doesn't really try to pass off as a human. Yet despite her [[AmazingTechnicolorPopulation bright orange skin]] and FlamingHair quite a few citizens seem to mistake her for a pretty human girl with an exotic tan.
49* Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}:
50** While this is not really the case for Franchise/{{Superman}}, since he was raised here, it is often the case for his cousin Comicbook/{{Supergirl}}, who came here as a teenager. The version that probably gets the most milage out of the concept is ''ComicBook/SupergirlCosmicAdventuresInThe8thGrade''
51--->'''Linda:''' What's money? Is it important?
52** In ''Comicbook/ManyHappyReturns'', Kara Zor-El -aka, Pre-Crisis Supergirl- arrives on the Post-Crisis universe. Linda gets Kara enrolled at her high school, and Kara does her best to blend in, but she is a fifteen-year-old girl who comes from another planet and reality. She simply doesn't fit in, and her schoolmates think she is some kind of freak.
53** In ''Comicbook/SupergirlBeingSuper'', Kara also has trouble fitting in and understanding Earth's customs and traditions.
54** In her ''[[Comicbook/{{Supergirl 1982}} second solo book]]'', Kara explains she felt like a fish out of water at the beginning. Earth was primitive and mundane compared with Argo City.
55--->'''Kara:''' Earth was kind of disappointing at first. All I could see was that it wasn't Argo City... didn't have the scientific majesty of my home world. And most importantly, it didn't have my parents!
56** Subverted in ''[[ComicBook/Supergirl2005 the fifth volume]]''. At the beginning, Supergirl feels she doesn't understand Earth or Terrans and she doesn't fully fit in. But then ''[[ComicBook/SupermanBrainiac she and Superman rescue]]'' ''[[ComicBook/NewKrypton Kandor]]'' and Kara finds she doesn't fit in with Kryptonians anymore either because she got used to thinking and acting like an Earth woman.
57[[/folder]]
58
59[[folder:Fan Works]]
60* The idea of the ''Manga/SgtFrog'' fanfic ''Fanfic/OneHundredDaysSgtFrog''. Aliens are now in Arizona.
61* ''Series/Supergirl2015'' story ''Fanfic/{{Survivors}}'' starts out with [[ComicBook/{{Supergirl}} Kara]] and [[Franchise/{{Superman}} her baby cousin]] crash-landing on Earth. Being an orphaned teenager stranded in a primitive alien world full of strange creatures and sentient beings that speak incomprehensible languages and have odd customs, Kara makes an effort to keep herself and her cousin out of sight until she is found and taken in by a human family.
62* The author of ''Fanfic/FutureShock'' spares no expense to remind us how utterly alien Kryptonians can be at times, and that doesn't even get into the other aliens who are introduced throughout the series. Probably the most noteable example is that Kryptonians have an entire sign language for giving orders to servitor droids without interrupting a conversation.
63[[/folder]]
64
65[[folder:Film — Animated]]
66* Happens in ''WesternAnimation/ScoobyDooAndTheAlienInvaders''. [[spoiler: Shaggy and Scooby's new girlfriends, Crystal (for Shaggy) and Amber (for Scooby), are eventually revealed to be aliens--specifically ones from a planet about twenty lightyears away from Earth. After the villains are apprehended, Crystal and Amber have to return to their home planet and are forced to ends things with Shaggy and Scooby, but they at least share a heartfelt goodbye with them.]]
67[[/folder]]
68
69[[folder:Film — Live-Action]]
70* ''Film/TheCatFromOuterSpace'' has the alien cat named Jake crash-landing on Earth. Aware that his presence may cause conflict, so he tries to leave as quickly and quietly as possible.
71* Husband and wife Beldar and Prymat end up stranded on Earth in ''Film/{{Coneheads}}'', but claim they are from France.
72* ''Film/CowboysAndAliens'' has [[spoiler: Ella, the MysteriousWaif]].
73* Franchise/DCExtendedUniverse:
74** ''Film/ManOfSteel'': the film plays more like a "first contact" AlienInvasion film, and Zod makes humans aware that one member of his species has been living among them unbeknownst to them.
75** ''Film/BatmanVSupermanDawnOfJustice'': the films addresses the issue humans can have with a PhysicalGod from another world living among them.
76** ''Film/ZackSnydersJusticeLeague'': it is revealed that [[spoiler:Calvin Swanwick (Creator/HarryLennix)]] was the Martian Manhunter all along.
77* Tony and Tia from ''Film/EscapeToWitchMountain'' are orphaned children who don't know who they are or where they came from, except for Tia's dim memories of a shipwreck. They also have an assortment of PsychicPowers. Turns out they're aliens, and the shipwreck was the ship that took them to Earth crashing in the ocean.
78* ''Film/TheGirlFromMonday'': An alien called only "Nobody" has come to Earth in human form. It's later revealed [[spoiler: Jack]] too is an alien, who came earlier.
79* Lloyd Gallagher, the FBI agent in ''Film/TheHidden'', is actually an alien inhabiting someone's body. He is quite well adapted to life on Earth, but is still awkward and doesn't know how to take a aspirin, for example.
80* ''Film/ItCameFromOuterSpace'' (1953)
81* In ''Film/MenInBlack'' the M.I.B allow aliens to live on Earth as long as they are registered, wear their human disguises when they're outside, and don't cause any trouble. Some of them are even under constant surveillance.
82* The central plot of the ''Film/SonicTheHedgehog2020'' movie universe. The main character is an [[AlienAnimals alien hedgehog]] who escaped to Earth when he was an infant, spent the next 10 years living in the woods, and meets a sheriff of a small town. The [[Film/SonicTheHedgehog22022 sequel]] expands on this.
83* ''Film/StepsisterFromPlanetWeird'' has a father and daughter be political refugees hiding out on Earth from the dictator of their planet. They are actually sentient [[StarfishAliens bubbles]], but they have taken human shapes after arriving to Earth via a portal. They are still instinctively afraid of strong winds.
84* The main character in ''Film/SuburbanCommando'' is a {{Human Alien|s}} stranded on Earth due to a mishap with his spaceship. He ended up having to rent a room in a house owned by a nuclear family to live in while he's getting his ship fixed.
85* In ''Film/{{Thor}}'', the titular character, a SufficientlyAdvancedAlien is stranded on Earth as a punishment.
86* Station engineer Philo in ''Film/{{UHF}}.''
87* ''Film/UltramanMebiusAndTheUltraBrothers'': The first four Ultra Brothers - Ultraman, Ultraseven, Ultraman Jack and Ultraman Ace - lose their powers in the ActionPrologue and ends up in the city of Kobe, where they spend the next 20 years living perfectly normal lives amongst humans.
88* ''Film/VoyageOfTheRockAliens'': In a diner, the aliens clumsily attempt to pass for human by intently studying random objects and pouring condiments into their mouths.
89* In the Czechoslovak film ''Film/WolfsHole'', it's eventually revealed that Daddy, Dingo, and Babeta are aliens who have come to Earth to conquer it for their race, as they ruined their own homeworld's ecology through overpopulation due to their HealingFactor, which essentially makes them immortal. They're running experiments on the teenagers at the ski lodge to figure out how to best turn humans against one another. The teens eventually escape after setting the lodge on fire, which kills the aliens, since they need the cold for their HealingFactor to work.
90[[/folder]]
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92[[folder:Literature]]
93* Ax in ''Literature/{{Animorphs}}''. He actually spends most of his free time hiding in the woods, but occasionally morphs into a human form and tries to pass as an ordinary human. Given that his mouthless species doesn't speak verbally or have a sense of taste, it takes him a long time to get the hang of it. [[spoiler:Turns out it runs in the family; though we don't see all the details, his brother Elfangor once did the same thing, even having a child with his human friend Loren.]]
94* Creator/MikhailAkhmanov's ''Literature/ArrivalsFromTheDark'' series has an alien character whose name roughly translates as Exile. He is a Proteid (or Metamorph), a species of [[VoluntaryShapeshifting Voluntary Shapeshifters]], whose [[PlanetOfHats hat]] is observing other races using their shapeshifting and PsychicPowers. Exile has a rare genetic disorder that only allows him to fully shapeshift once, at which point he is stuck in this form for life (and they're, effectively, immortal), only able to make small cosmetic alterations. He chooses to be an observer on Earth and arrives in the 13th century during the Mongol invasion. He has secretly observed humanity, only interfering occasionally to subtly boost progress. When the [[HumanAliens Faata]] arrive to conquer Earth, humanity is far from ready to take them on, still being stuck in the Solar System and lacking advanced weapons. Exile gives the humans the means to destroy the Faata ship in such a way that it can be studied and its technology reverse-engineered. Since then, Exile has taken a slightly more active role in helping humanity, although he has always remained in the shadows, revealing himself to a select few individuals and changing identities (and faces) every so often.
95** Inverted in the ''Trevelyan's Mission'' books, which take place centuries later in the same 'verse, with the titular protagonist and his colleagues, whose job is to infiltrate primitive humanoid cultures in order to study them and accelerate their progress.
96* ''Literature/DemonicHousehold'': [[spoiler: The man who gives the protagonist the bug zapper in “Zapping Filth Away” is actually an insectoid alien in a human suit. He then secretly records him shocking himself on it again and again so he can put it on the alien equivalent of the Internet]].
97* ''Literature/TheDevilIsAPartTimer'': Satan Jacob, a demon lord from the magical world of Ente Isla, is forced to flee to another dimension with his most loyal general Alciel. Unfortunately, that world is the Shibuya ward of Tokyo, Japan on modern-day Earth. BroughtDownToNormal by the lack of magic, "Maou Sadou" is forced to take a job at a fast-food restaurant while his room-mate "Shiro Ashiya" tries to find a way home.
98* ''Literature/HaruhiSuzumiya'':
99** Yuki Nagato is a humanoid interface created by an alien group called the Data Integration Thought Entity, being sent to Earth to observe the titular Haruhi Suzumiya due to the latter's RealityWarper abilities. It's later revealed that Ryoko Asakura is one as well, though she's much better at passing as a normal human girl than Yuki (at least until she decides to kill Kyon with a knife just so she can get an observable reaction from Haruhi).
100** Kuyou Suoh is from a different alien organization, the Canopy Domain, which is implied to be so alien that they don't even have any kind of language. Kuyou was sent to Earth to learn how to communicate, but [[HumanoidAbomination she's so incredibly alien in her behavior despite her human appearance]] that she comes across as rather unsettling.
101* Ford Prefect in ''Franchise/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'', in the fifteen-year exile set before the main action of [[Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy1 the first book]]. Downplayed heavily because he actually blends in quite successfully, apart from the choice of name, and it's his human friend Arthur Dent who ends up being the subject of all the FishOutOfWater comedy after their abrupt departure from the planet Earth.
102* [[http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/26741 "I'm A Stranger Here Myself"]], a short story by Creator/MackReynolds. Two western expatriates in Tangier are discussing a news article on the FlyingSaucer craze, and the usual Alien Among Us theories. One scoffs at the idea, [[FridgeLogic pointing out]] that with the vast number of police, security and counter-intelligence agents on Earth, one of these alien observers would be bound to slip up and get caught. His companion responds that Tangiers, as opposed to one of the major capitals like New York or London, would be a perfect place to hide out, as no-one plays attention to anyone's business. It turns out that both men are aliens, but rather than being there for the expected noble reasons, one is [[ToServeMan harvesting human protein]], the other is [[WarForFunAndProfit stirring up wars and tribal conflicts for alien thrill tourists]]. Which, the first one points out sourly, could spoil an awful lot of good meat.
103%%* Literature/TheLibrarian, it's a short novel where not even the aliens are aware of their non-human status.
104%%* A large part of the ''Literature/LorienLegacies'' series, and the ''Film/IAmNumberFour'' movie.
105* In the book and film ''Literature/TheManWhoFellToEarth'', the being that calls itself Thomas Jerome Newton comes to Earth in order to help his own people, and in doing so embetters humanity as well by introducing alien technologies to Earth. In the end, [[spoiler: the government learns what he is and captures him. He ultimately cannot complete his mission, and the story ends with him as a disillusioned (and in the book, blinded) alcoholic who will live out his life on Earth]].
106%%* ''My Summer On Earth''
107* In the short story [[http://sfreader.com/contest-2008-1.asp "On a Clear Day You Can See All the Way to Conspiracy"]] by Creator/DesmondWarzel, there are two aliens among us--one was sentenced to live here, and the second is here to keep an eye on the first guy.
108* Subverted in the Creator/LawrenceWattEvans short story "One of the Boys", a {{Deconstruction}} of Franchise/{{Superman}}, about an alien that [[HumanAliens looks human]] and was raised on Earth all his life, but is still painfully, dangerously alien.
109* Zenna Henderson's ''Literature/ThePeople'' stories are about a race of HumanAliens with PsychicPowers who fled to Earth after [[DoomedHometown their homeworld was destroyed]].
110* The children's book ''Stinker from Space'' by Pamela F. Service is about an alien who is fatally wounded when he crash lands on Earth while fleeing enemy aliens. He has the ability to transfer his consciousness/intelligence into other bodies, which will save his life. Unfortunately, the only compatible body within range is that of a skunk. Hence the title. He spends much of the book trying to pass himself off as a tame, deodorized skunk so that people won't shoot him while he tries to repair his ship in secret.
111* ''Literature/Area51'': Initially humans in the know think the aliens whose technology they've gotten hold of left millennia ago. This turns out to be wrong-some never left, and have been manipulating humanity from the shadows. Once their past presence has been made known, they reveal themselves fully.
112* Creator/IsaacAsimov's "Literature/DoesABeeCare": [[spoiler:Kane is a member of an alien race whose life-cycle involves being [[BizarreAlienReproduction deposited on planets as an ovum]], and when they hatch into their larval form, they [[{{Metamorphosis}} take the shape of the dominant intelligent life]], and hide amoung them until they develop spaceflight. Once they get into space, they {{Metamorphos|is}}e again, to their adult form; a SpaceWhale.]]
113[[/folder]]
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115[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
116* ''Series/ThirdRockFromTheSun'': The Solomons are a team of aliens who are sent to pose as a human family so they can learn about Earth and study humankind. It's mentioned throughout the series that they've done the "pose as local life-forms" mission on other planets before and that Earth is often more challenging and confusing than they were expecting.
117* ''Series/{{Alf}}'' crash landed, and had little motivation to leave, but had little problem adapting.
118* The Tenctonese[=/=]Newcomers on ''Series/AlienNation'' were refugees and slaves. In this case it was over 100,000 aliens, who form their own community in Los Angeles. Therefore the cultural misunderstandings went both ways, as humans learned to deal with odd newcomer traditions.
119* On the short-lived Jim Henson Productions sitcom ''Series/AliensInTheFamily'', an alien and a human fall in love and form a blended family. Oddly enough, their family (which includes a {{Muppet}} baby and two older aliens in full body costumes) lives on Earth.
120* Bibi from the French Canadian kid's show ''Bibi et Genevi?'', later translated as ''BB & Jennifer'', was an alien from the planet [=XY1000Z=] come to Earth to study it.
121* The character of Anya from ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' could also be considered a variation on this device. Anya was a 1,120-year-old former demon, who did not understand the conventions of humans and, therefore, had wacky misunderstandings and needed to have things explained to her. Anya eventually subverted this trope in a (according to some) GoodTroiEpisode which flashed back to show her in her pre-demonic days. [[RetCon Turns out]] that her inability to grasp the conventions of humans has less to do with her being a former demon, and more to do with her just being very literal-minded.
122* ''Series/{{Defiance}}'' deals with humans living side-by-side several alien races on Earth that has become a DeathWorld thanks to a malfunction of alien tech. Cultural clashes are common, although most at least try to assimilate and be tolerant.
123* ''Series/DoctorWho'':
124** The Doctor generally avoids telling everyone that they're an alien time traveller, although certain fortunate people do get to find out. They also have psychic paper to help them avoid rousing suspicions when they investigate.
125** [[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E7TheZygonInvasion "The Zygon Invasion"]]/[[Recap/DoctorWhoS35E8TheZygonInversion "The Zygon Inversion"]] reveals that, since the events of [[Recap/DoctorWho50thASTheDayOfTheDoctor "The Day of the Doctor"]], millions of [[VoluntaryShapeshifting Zygons]] have been living incognito on Earth, with only UNIT and the Doctor knowing about it.
126* ''Series/GabbyDuranAndTheUnsittables'' centers on the titular character babysitting the children of aliens that are hiding out on Earth.
127* The TV series ''Series/HardTimeOnPlanetEarth'' starred Martin Kove as an alien criminal sentenced to serve out his time on the unimportant backwater planet Earth. Accompanied by his "warden" (a computer-animated flying eye), the protagonist used his inhuman strength to fight bad guys while WalkingTheEarth.
128* The short-lived Nickelodeon show ''Series/TheJourneyOfAllenStrange'', about a young {{Energy Being|s}} living incognito as a human on Earth.
129* ''Series/JustRollWithIt'' had an episode with this very trope name and, well, it was the plot for the episode.
130* Season 6 of ''Series/LegendsOfTomorrow'' reveals that [[spoiler:Gary has been an alien all along. Apparently, his assignment was to abduct Sara, but he fell in love with humanity and decided to stay. However, his boss/fiancée Kayla found him and demanded that he complete the mission]].
131* The entire fourth season of ''Series/{{Lexx}}'' uses this to hilarious effect. The crew of the titular ship are from a society so intrinsically different than any on Earth that even when they ''do'' figure out how something works, they're completely flabbergasted about it. Examples include confusion over how much machinery and power is used by the space shuttle just to reach the Moon, as well as being unable to comprehend the practice of burying the dead; since the dead were processed for protein back on the Cluster, this seems like, literally, a waste of resources.
132* Four of the BBC's ''Look and Read'' educational series for children involve aliens coming to Earth.
133** In 'The Boy From Space', a ship crash lands after one of the three crew members turns on the others out of greed. After teaming up with some humans to defeat him, the alien boy (called Peep-Peep) and his father leave with the mutinous crew member their prisoner.
134** In 'Earth Warp', an alien comes to Earth to recover a pollution-monitoring probe, which is malfunctioning and will blow up if not found soon. Teaming up with some children, he eventually finds it, says his goodbyes and leaves.
135** In 'The Legend of the Lost Keys', it's revealed there have been aliens on Earth for nearly 2000 years. When the good aliens/alien hybrids beat the bad and stop their attempted takeover of Earth, some of the good guys leave for their homeworld to make it a better place while the other good guys choose to stay on Earth.
136%%* The core plot of the short-lived sitcom ''Meego''.
137* ''Series/MorkAndMindy'' once had a clever LampshadeHanging about this trope when, in one of the last seasons of the show, Mindy exclaimed in exasperation, "Oh, Mork, what Earth concept have you misunderstood ''this'' week?"
138* ''Series/MyBestFriendIsAnAlien'' is a rare version where the RubberForeheadAliens are living publicly among humans, and the main character is the son of a diplomat at an alien embassy.
139* ''Series/MyFavoriteMartian'': "Uncle Martin" is a Martian anthropologist who crash lands on Earth. Martin becomes the house-guest and adoptive "uncle" of reporter Tim O'Hara while he fixes his spaceship. Martin is extremely intelligent and has an array of powers including mind-reading and invisibility. He's also 450 "Martian" years old, and knows more about Earth and its history than most Earthlings, having visited many times before.
140* ''Series/MyHero2000'': Thermoman is a dim-witted Ultronian superhero who takes on a human alias (George Sunday) on Earth and tries to keep his identity as an alien superhero a secret. However, his unfamiliarity with human life leads to many humorous misunderstandings.
141* ''Series/MyParentsAreAliens'' is about two aliens from the planet Valux, who crash-landed on Earth when one of them tampered with the controls of their spaceship. Taking on three orphans, they must learn how to navigate human life whilst making sure that no other human learns that they are aliens (for fear of them being taken away for scientific study).
142* In ''Series/TheOrville'', [[spoiler:Lieutenant Janel Tyler is revealed to be a Krill named Teleya (many fans figured it out, since they are played by the same actress). Her assignment was to infiltrate the ''Orville'', get Captain Mercer to fall for her, and then have him kidnapped by the Krill for his command codes]].
143* ''Series/TheOuterLimits1995'': In "[[Recap/TheOuterLimits1995S1E10CornerOfTheEye Corner Of The Eye]]" it turns out that disguised aliens whose real form resembles demons are living on Earth.
144* ''Series/OutOfThisWorld1987'': Evie must keep her half-Anterian powers a secret from the rest of the planet and since she was born and raised on Earth, she sometimes explains concepts to her alien dad.
145* Trip from ''Series/PowerRangersTimeForce'', sort of, since apparently aliens aren't as common in the year 2001 as they are in the year 3000.
146** His counterpart in ''Series/MiraiSentaiTimeranger'' Sion, [[HumanAliens looks human]] and tends to dye his hair, but is the LastOfHisKind.
147%%* ''Series/ThePowersOfMatthewStar'' combined learning about Earth with HowDoIShotWeb.
148* ''Series/{{Roswell}}'': An adaptation of the Roswell High books about three teenagers who were stranded on earth as children with no memory of what planet they come from.
149* ''Series/RoswellNewMexico'': Is a re-adaptation of the Roswell High books set ten years after High School, with the main characters being in their mid-late twenties.
150* ''Series/StargateSG1'' plays with this trope. One of the core team members is an alien (technically two, if you count the symbiote in his belly), which of course isn't a secret to the SGC. But he has to conceal his identity when out among the general public. Other aliens vist Earth from time to time, some even serving in high-profile roles such as a TV producer or corporate CEO.
151* In ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'', [[spoiler:it's eventually revealed that Lieutenant Ash Tyler is, in fact, a Klingon ManchurianAgent named Voq, whose personality has been suppressed with the memories of the real Tyler put on the surface. Eventually, the conflict between the two personalities nearly kills him, so Voq's LoveInterest L'Rell is forced to remove the Voq personality, effectively turning him permanently into Ash Tyler, except he now has access to all of Voq's memories]].
152* The ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'' episode "Carbon Creek" has T'Pol tell Archer and Trip the story of her great-grandmother T'Mir, who crash-landed in the titular town on Earth in 1957 along with another Vulcan named Mestral. While they did seem a little weird, they didn't have too much trouble keeping below the radar, which is no mean feat in the midst of UsefulNotes/ColdWar. In fact, Mestral finds Earth's culture to be fascinating and even develops friendships and, possibly, romantic attachments. T'Mir tries to stay focused on going back to Vulcan, only interfering once to help a bright kid get into college (by selling a velcro pouch to a businessman and leaving the money to the kid). Mestral opts to stay on Earth, and T'Mir lies to the crew of the rescue ship that he died. Presumably, he lived out his life on Earth and died, keeping his true identity a secret.
153* On ''Series/TopGearUK'', one possible explanation for The Stig. Granted, [[ShroudedInMyth there are many]]...
154* ''Series/Tracker2001'': Cole/Dagon doesn't really make much effort to blend into human society. His speech is strange and monotonous, although it gets better in later episodes. He has trouble understanding things we take for granted (such as trying to explain to Mel, who knows who he really is, what ''Franchise/StarWars'' is). Even ''bathing'' is new to him, though that’s possibly {{justified|Trope}} since his species are indicated to be EnergyBeings. It's a lot easier for the alien fugitives, since they were forced to take human bodies to survive and absorbed their skills and memories. Cole arrived on his own and took on human form from an underwear ad.
155* ''Franchise/UltraSeries''
156** ''Series/{{Ultraseven}}'', ''Series/UltramanLeo'', ''Series/UltramanEighty'', ''Series/UltramanMebius'' and ''Series/UltramanOrb'' feature the titular Ultras having human forms rather than hosts.
157** ''Series/UltramanGinga'' also plays with this trope as well, with Spark Dolls, compacted forms of either kaiju or Ultra following an incident known as the Dark Spark War.
158** ''Series/UltramanX'' features an alien as part of the main cast as part of Xio's science department, with a episode having several aliens living on Earth disguised as humans. In ''Ultraman Orb'' and ''Series/UltramanGeed'', Earth has a good-sized alien population living in secret. The latter series even features an organization called the Alien Investigation Bureau that deals with troublemaking aliens and deports them. Geed is also himself an Ultra in human form, but unlike the others he was unaware of his true nature as everyone else.
159* Korean sitcom ''Series/VampireIdol''. An alien vampire prince and his three bodyguards are stranded in Seoul when their space ship crash lands. They develop friendships and love interests as they train to be kpop idols.
160[[/folder]]
161
162[[folder:Podcasts]]
163* In ''Podcast/TheAdventureZoneAmnesty'', Sylphs actually come from another planet, but live (mostly) undetected as humans.
164[[/folder]]
165
166[[folder:Roleplay]]
167* Fesxis from ''Roleplay/DawnOfANewAgeOldportBlues'' came from another world and shacked up in the body of the earth-bound Sebastian to serve as his protector. While she's [[TimeAbyss been around long enough]] to understand most of Earth culture, humour is still drawn from her lack of patience for mundane Earth problems, and her eagerness to solve them with [[MurderIsTheBestSolution murder]].
168[[/folder]]
169
170[[folder:Tabletop Games]]
171* In ''TabletopGame/DarkMatter1999'', there are several aliens who hid on Earth, with some who tried to prepare them for the High Tide.
172[[/folder]]
173
174[[folder:Toys]]
175* The premise of most ''Franchise/{{Transformers}}'' series starts here.
176* This is also the premise of ''Toys/NoviStars'', which is about a group of teenaged aliens eager to learn about Earthling life, and even experience Earthling teenhood for themselves.
177[[/folder]]
178
179[[folder:Video Games]]
180
181%%Among Us is not an example. This is a Fish Out of Water trope about when an alien is living on Earth.
182
183* In ''VideoGame/CoffeeTalk'', Neil tries blending in with the other patrons by learning their culture and etiquette, [[spoiler:and in the Stinger, they become a human to fit in better and hide from the authorities]]. In Episode 2, Amanda, another alien of the same species as Neil, arrives on Earth to research on it, but they start out awkward by They start out awkward at first by calling Lua, a succubus, a "purple Earthling", and then a "four-appendages Earthling" after she tries correcting them.
184* ''VideoGame/EscapeFromStMarys'': There's an alien in the school, says an agent you meet. Whoever it is has decided to blend as a student or teacher.
185* ''VideoGame/PartTimeUFO'': Despite being a sentient UFO, Jobski adjusts fairly well to Earth life and makes a lot of friends (and money) doing part-time jobs for various people. It helps that Jobski's not the weirdest thing there, what with the talking statues, mecha laboratory, and technicolor fish it encounters. Ankh is heavily implied to have been one of these as well, though she's established herself as a shopkeeper for galactic goods.
186* ''VideoGame/TheSims2'' has aliens that will abduct your sims and implant [[MisterSeahorse males]] with hybrid offspring. In Strangetown, a retired (male) Pollination Technician has married a sim woman, and they're raising their children together. Two of his adult offspring (from when he was active) are looking for roommates in the Sim Bin.
187* In ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWars4'', ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsCompact'' and ''VideoGame/SuperRobotWarsGC'', ''Anime/HeavyMetalLGaim'' shows up in the game and its protagonists observe the other characters and the overarching plot.
188[[/folder]]
189
190[[folder:Web Animation]]
191* ''WebAnimation/AstroLOLogy'': "Outerspace Imagination" centers around Pisces being convinced that Aquarius is an alien. He's not, but [[spoiler:at the end, it turns out that Gemini are]].
192[[/folder]]
193
194[[folder:Webcomics]]
195* ''Webcomic/AlienbyComics'': Riri's alien depiction from [[https://www.instagram.com/p/C4BP11wRSx3/ "Alien Enby"]] is briefly depicted as one of these to represent young Riri's struggles growing up.
196-->'''Riri:''' I spent years trying to look and talk like a normal human. But the antennae became too hard to hide...
197* In ''Webcomic/AtArmsLength'' a person from a different universe appears on the roof top of a bar, which the Heroines of the story just happen to be at the time. They quickly attempt to disguise him as a native, so not to raise questions later by the general public.
198* ''Webcomic/ElGoonishShive'' has the Uryuoms, an entire species of aliens living on Earth more or less unnoticed by all but a few (it helps that they have natural shapeshifting powers). Some even object to being characterized as aliens since they were born in the USA (where the series takes place), and thus are legally natural-born citizens.
199-->'''William:''' I could run for president!\
200'''Gillian:''' You'd lose, though.\
201'''William:''' Oh yes. By a ''landslide''.
202* Summer's classmate [[http://eheroes.smackjeeves.com/comics/1923206/an-alien-concept/ Uma]] from ''Webcomic/EverydayHeroes''. Even though she and her father [[IntelligentGerbil resemble cows]], no one has mentioned this or even noticed... apparently it's [[WeirdnessCensor Someone Else's Problem]].
203* Done to an extent in ''WebComic/GetMedieval'', where the characters ''are'' aliens but also bear a distinct likeness to twenty-first century humans in terms of ideas and culture. Unfortunately for them, they landed in Earth's 12th century Europe.
204* ''Webcomic/GirlsInSpace'' main character Zoe Strider is marooned on Earth, in Edinburgh, Scotland.
205* In ''WebComic/{{Jix}}'' the titular character, Caligos, Dyonus, and Dyona (the latter two being droids made by the aliens) are all aliens living with a Polynesian couple.
206* Killroy of ''Webcomic/KillroyAndTina'' is a warlord who was sent to Earth and bonded with the other title character both as punishment and as GambitRoulette.
207* In ''Webcomic/SluggyFreelance'' Aylee is a double duty alien (she's from another planet ''and'' from another dimension). Even after 11 years, she's still very much the RaisedByWolves character.
208* Dabbler, in ''WebComic/GrrlPower'', is a Succubus -- which counts as 'alien' in this universe. She's apparently on Earth to learn what ''Terran'' humans are like (as it turns out, there are several million humans in the greater galaxy, for various reasons). Until the very public reveal that aliens exist, her abilities and appearance are explained as being a 'super' with a "battle form".
209** Also there are tourists, who usually use some sort of disguise to visually fit in as they go to the clubs.
210[[/folder]]
211
212%%[[folder:Web Video]]
213%%* [[spoiler: Professor Mindy Benton]] of the "here to observe us" variety. [[spoiler: She]] has a device that makes [[spoiler: her]] look human.
214%%[[/folder]]
215
216[[folder:Western Animation]]
217* ''WesternAnimation/AmericanDad'''s Roger is an alien that freeloads off the Smith family, in a seeming parody of ''Series/{{Alf}}''. He doesn't drive the entire series' plot, but often drives [[ADayInTheLimelight a whole episode]].
218* Astronut, from the Creator/{{Terrytoons}} studio, crashes on Earth and becomes the companion of earthling Oscar Mild. He originally appeared in two episodes of ''WesternAnimation/TheDeputyDawgShow''.
219* ''WesternAnimation/BikerMiceFromMars'' had this with the Planet Looting plutarkians. One example being Limburger.
220* ''WesternAnimation/DorgVanDango'': One of the Magicals, RD, is an amorphous, shapeshifting alien. He's also the one who can arguably pass best as a human.
221* In ''WesternAnimation/TheFairlyOddParents'', alien prince Mark Chang flees to Earth to escape an ArrangedMarriage. [[spoiler: He grows to like it enough that, even after the StoryArc is resolved, he doesn't go back.]]
222* ''WesternAnimation/FanboyAndChumChum'': In "Face-Eating Aliens from Planet X", Fanboy is led to believe his and Chum Chum's female classmates are secretly disguised aliens who eat the faces off of boys like the ones in his comic book, so he and Chum Chum infiltrate Yo's girls only sleepover to get answers. When they find no proof and are exposed, they brace for the inevitable, but to their surprise, they don't get their faces eaten; instead they are CoveredInKisses and flee the sleepover embarrassed. But once they've gone and Francine scoffs about their beliefs, Yo reveals they're not face-eating aliens, but ''head''-eating aliens, so Fanboy was right all along. This was not acknowledged for the rest of the series.
223* ''WesternAnimation/FourEyes'' is about an 11-year alien girl from the planet Albacore 7 who is sent to a boarding school on Earth by her parents for flunking the fifth grade. She keeps her true identity secret from the humans using a device shaped like glasses to turn herself into a human girl.
224* Parodied to no end in ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'', where the alien doesn't do much to hide his identity, [[PaperThinDisguise yet it somehow works]], because everyone else is so stupid that he can pass himself off as a human just by wearing a wig and contact lenses, not even bothering to hide his green skin.
225* In the French cartoon "Jamie's Got Tentacles", has Jamie, an alien prince who is hiding on Earth from aliens who want to eat him. He befriends a human boy called Erwin and lives with him in his house while wearing a human costume. Most plots are usually about Erwin trying to stop other people from finding out Jamie is an alien.
226* Some facets of the ''WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes'' franchise apply this to Marvin the Martian, particularly in ''WesternAnimation/TheLooneyTunesShow'' (although he still technically lives on Mars). To be fair, when more than half the cast is [[FunnyAnimal humanoid cartoon animals]], it seems perfectly normal compared to other examples.
227* Glomer, from the ''WesternAnimation/PunkyBrewster'' cartoon, hails from Chaundoon, a land inside a rainbow where his type--a "glomley"--serve as leprechaun helpers. When Glomer strays from the rainbow and the rainbow disappears, he's stranded in Chicago. But Punky takes him under her care, keeping him a secret from her foster father Henry Warnimont all the same.
228* The premise of ''WesternAnimation/ReadyJetGo'' is that the Propulsion family, who are aliens from the planet Bortron 7, live on Earth in order to learn about it for a travel guide, but they must hide their identity. The only people who know are Mindy, Sean, and Sydney.
229* A rare example where there are no humans involved; Ema from ''WesternAnimation/RobTheRobot'' is an alien among a group of robots.
230* The ''WesternAnimation/SevenLittleMonsters'' episode "April Fools" has a boy named Maurice audition for the monsters' play and subsequently help One, Two, Three, Six and Seven get back at their brothers Four and Five by playing a prank that involves him pretending to be an alien from Jupiter out to get the two pranksters. At the end of the episode, it turns out [[AccidentalTruth he really is an alien from Jupiter]] and was only posing as a normal human boy, but he fortunately has no malevolent intentions and only wants to bring a copy of Three's play script to his home planet so it can be used to entertain his people.
231* All of the Crystal Gems from ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'' apply, though Garnet, Pearl, and Rose had been on Earth for thousands of years and are familiar with the planet by the time the series starts, and Amethyst was [[BizarreAlienReproduction made]] on Earth (though they don't seem to have spent much time with humans, so they're not familiar with certain human customs). [[spoiler:Peridot, a recent arrival to Earth, struggles to understand things.]] That said, they're not trying to keep themselves secret--[[FantasticallyIndifferent humans simply don't notice or care that they're aliens]].
232* ''WesternAnimation/TUFFPuppy'' has a minor recurring gag where it was implied Keswick is actually an alien.
233[[/folder]]

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