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Human Aliens / Anime & Manga

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Human Aliens in anime and manga.

  • Bakugan:
    • New Vestroia introduces an extra-dimensional race known as the Vestals. There's not much difference between humans and Vestals, aside from their eyes. Human eyes have distinct, black pupils, while the Vestal pupil is just a darker shade than their iris. Given this style of pupil can be the norm for humans in other shows, one might not notice the difference immediately.
    • Subverted with the Gundalians and the Neathians in Gundalian Invaders. While Ren, his teammates, and Princess Fabia appear human when they first appear, they are actually disguises and their true forms are actually Humanoid Aliens.
  • The Altirrans in Birdy the Mighty, including the title character herself, look pretty much human and most pretty much are. That said though a few of them, again including Birdy, have superpowers thanks to various Super-Soldier projects, including Super Serum projects and bio-engineering super soldiers, the latter involving Birdy herself. However, there are apparently enough differences that in the remake manga, Birdy has to warn Tsutomu to avoid the hospital, lest abnormalities be detected.
  • The Arume in Blue Drop are human in every way, although their whole race consists of females only, leading to certain kinds of behavior.
  • Brave Raideen: The Mu are from the continent of the same name, which, while Earthern, is completely isolated from the rest of the world. Mu are different from ordinary humans, being farther technologically advanced and gifted with the power of telekinesis. It is only when a foreign threat invades when they bother to explore the outside world.
  • Dragon Ball: The franchise in general classifies every humanoid being as humans. Some fansubs use the word "mortal" as a substitute, but it's very clear that the humans on Earth are simply called "Earthlings" by aliens and extraterritorial gods. When Gods refer to aliens as "humans", they don't mean the Earth's race per se.
    • Barring their monkey-esque tails (which can be permanently removed), Saiyans look exactly like Earthlings, and can even interbreed with them with ease. In fact, Goku didn't even know he was an alien until his brother came to Earth looking for him. Of course, the "Earth" of Dragon Ball is also inhabited by five foot tall talking foxes, dogs, cats, pigs, sea turtles... and nobody ever thinks any of it is strange.
      • There's a few other variations that aren't noticeable at first glance, such as their hair remaining the same from the day they are born to the day they die (except for beards and moo-staches), and the fact that their growth halts almost completely for several years as children, until they undergo massive growth spurts in their teens and then remain in their physical prime until at least 80. Also some Saiyans like Borgos and Shorty have inhumanly pale skin. It's also revealed in Dragon Ball Z: Bio-Broly that Saiyan hearts are twice as big as human hearts.
    • The Tuffles, who were the original inhabitants of planet Plant before the Saiyans took over and renamed it planet Vegeta, were even more human-looking. In alternate universes, however, they have inhuman skin tones, placing them among the franchise's multitudes of aliens who look like paletteswapped humans.
    • A lot of Frieza's troops are these as well. Ginyu Force member Recoome just looks like a really big human, unlike the rest of his team. Others, like Namole, Raspberry and a number of nameless Mooks, could well be perfectly ordinary humans. There's also Blueberry, who looks like a crocodile, but since Earth in the Dragon Ball universe is populated by Funny Animals as well as humans, he'd still fit in.
    • A filler arc in the TV series also had some that were fleeing from a world attacked by Frieza.
    • Daiz, one of Turles' goons in Dragon Ball Z: The Tree of Might, could also be mistaken for a human (or a Saiyan, given that his boss is one) but is instead yet another alien species from the planet Kabocha.
  • The Kaguyans from Doraemon: Nobita's Chronicles of the Moon Exploration look exactly like humans.
  • The Coralians in Eureka Seven are born with various shapes and sizes for their forms, including human Coralians like Sakuya, Eureka and Gonzy. Justified in that they were created to look that way.
  • All human characters in EDENS ZERO are called humans, but they're still aliens by virtue of living on planets other than Earth. Rebecca lampshades this by saying she and Shiki are technically aliens to each other due to coming from separate planets.
  • The Greecians from Fantastic Children (compared to Earthlings they're giants though)
  • Haruko Haruhara from FLCL... maybe. She claims to be a 19-year-old space patrol officer, but is actually a galactic criminal out to find the Pirate King Atomsk. It's kinda hard to be sure of anything Haruko tells anybody. Other than pink hair and yellow eyes, Haruko is entirely humanlike. Also she fights with a Rickenbacker guitar, uses a house cat as a walkie-talkie, and has a flying Vespa. She can change her voice and probably appearance at will, as seen in episodes 1 and 5, which puts her in the A Form You Are Comfortable With category. Which would also explain what happens to her face when she's angry.
  • The Yato from Gintama appear very human, although they do have super strength and are weak to the sun. Even their coloring isn't unnatural — Kagura and Kamui's orange hair and blue eyes would be uncommon in Japan, but have been seen elsewhere. Other Yato characters are shown with even plainer coloring.
    • To be fair, with the exception of a few characters, Yoda, or Dragon Ball parodies are most aliens really human looking. They may have an antenna, eyes where they do not belong, Pointy Ears, be an Amazing Technicolor Population, or even colorful hair. Some even walk around in penguin (?) costumes.
    • Subverted with Oboro and Utsuro, their human appearance coupled to some not so human attributes seemed to indicate this trope, but they are actually both from earth. Oboro's healing factor is due to Utsuro's blood, and Utsuro's nigh-immortality is a mutation caused by the series' Phelbotinum .
  • In Hoshin Engi, Taikobo (later known as Fukki) is later revealed to be one of the "First Humans", which are actually an ancient race of aliens, although he looks exactly like a human. Somewhat justified, in that the "First Humans" actually merged with the planet and indirectly influenced the course of nature and evolution. So technically, humans look like THEM.
  • JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Diamond is Unbreakable character Mikitaka Hazekura claims to be an alien as the only features that physically set him apart from others are his pointy ears. Oh, and he has an innate Voluntary Shapeshifting ability and he starts to panic and break out in hives at the sound of a police siren. But these could just be a Stand he developed after getting hit by the magic Stand-imbuing Arrow. But the Arrow just barely grazed his neck after it actively curved away from him and he had the pointy ears already. Also, only Stand users are capable of seeing Stands and Mikitaka cannot see them. No one knows the truth. And the author refuses to say what is the truth.
  • Lagrange: The Flower of Rin-ne has really human like aliens that are at war near earth. Justified, as the aliens in question are descendants of an earlier human generation that fled an apocalyptic Earth.
  • The Time-Space Administration Bureau in Lyrical Nanoha covers multiple worlds but are all apparently human. One character comments on how somebody in her family history was from Earth when they were discussing "Unadministrated World #97".
  • Macross:
    • The Zentraedi, who have appeared in almost every series since the original Super Dimension Fortress Macross, are one of the clearer examples of the trope, straight down to the Hand Wave concerning their origins being linked to that of humanity. Their primary physiological distinction from humans is that they are ten meters tall in their natural state, but can through an ill-defined process be shrunk down to roughly human size (and expanded back to their original size afterwards); the two species are otherwise so similar that they're capable of easily interbreeding (provided that one partner has changed themselves to the right size first). Individual Zentraedi can also have a few other physical traits (generally either incredibly bright hair colors like green and pink, and/or somewhat pasty bluish/greenish skin tones) that don't appear in regular humans, but ever since the two species started interbreeding, these traits are now often found in their mixed-heritage descendants.
    • In fact, most alien species met so far are human-looking (besides the Zentraedi, there's the Zolans, Windermerians, Ragnans, Voldorians, and a few other unnamed races), due to their genes all being messed with millennia ago by the Protoculture, who were biologically near-identical to humans (this is not a coincidence, as they also engineered the human race deliberately). The one alien race met that was not toyed with in its infancy by the Protoculture, the Vajra of Macross Frontier, are Starfish Aliens.
  • Majestic Prince depicts the antagonistic alien species known as the Wulgaru (aka "the Ulgars"), and numerous instances are pointed out to the characters that, despite their notable human appearances, they are aliens. The reason for this is the fact that the species had been in decline for thousands of years, and as a means to preserve itself, spread its genetic data throughout the universe to cultivate new life, only to harvest it later. Humanity is one of these creations.
  • In the Mazinger Z universe, the Fleedian race -represented in the series by The Hero Duke Fleed and his sister Maria- looked completely human. On the other hand, the aspect of The Vegans varies wildly. Big Bad Emperor Vega seemed a hairy, pointy-eared, pig-nosed monster, but his daughter Rubina mostly seemed human. Other humanoid alien races in this universe range of monster-like to human-looking but with unusual hair, skin or/and eyes colour (like secondary character Menao).
  • Negima! Magister Negi Magi has an interesting take on this, in that the Magic World is in Another Dimension, that happens to be layered on top of Mars. Meaning that anyone from the magic world is technically an alien.
  • The aliens from Niea_7 are human for all practical purposes, save for the shape of their ears and conspicuous antennae (for most of them) on top of their heads. Chada is somewhat of an exception, since he is plain ... weird.
  • The people of Queen Earth don't consider themselves human in Nurse Angel Ririka SOS but for all appearances are near identical to humans. The main differences seem to be their unusual powers and equally unusual hair colors.
  • None of the characters in Panzer World Galient are from Earth. All of them are completely humanlike. There're not discernible differences between people of Arst –- like Jordy or Chururu –- or people born in other planet –- like Hilmuka or Marder. Justified, since Hilmuka and other people from her homeworld migrated from Arst several millennia ago.
  • The aliens of Please Save My Earth are only the size of a human thumb, but look exactly like humans.
  • Mizuho Kazami and her family from Please Teacher! look like humans with weird Hair Colors. She is herself a Half-Human Hybrid, but her mother isn't.
  • The Mu from RahXephon are entirely indistinguishable from humans save for their blue blood. Then there are the Half-Human Hybrids such as Ayato and Hiroko whose Mu-phase has yet to be activated, making them appear human in every way even to themselves.
    • Background material indicates that the Mu evolved on Earth alongside humanity, so it's possible that they aren't a different species at all, but merely another race of humanity... which would turn this example into a Subversion.
  • Though the Zentraedi of Robotech are basically identical to the ones in Macross, the novelizations claim that despite their striking physical and genetic similarity, humans and Zentraedi are not the same species, they just look like it by random chance. There are only two hybrid children; Dana Sterling (who was explicitly stated to result from the Workings of the Protoculture) and Hirano (created through genetic manipulation and in-vitro fertilization).
  • Sailor Moon:
    • The S and Stars seasons of Sailor Moon brought so many Human Aliens (or at least aliens that were originally human in appearance) from across the galaxy to Tokyo that one could wonder if non-humanoid intelligent lifeforms really existed at all! Even the talking cats Luna and Artemis, who were aliens from the planet Mau in the manga, could assume human forms. (Rei's crows Phobos and Deimos were also revealed to be aliens who could take human form in the manga). The Filler Villains Eiru and An from the start of the second season were also aliens who could assume human form, though the villains from the first season and the rest of the second season were originally from Earth.
    • The Moon Kingdom inhabitants and the Senshi of the past also count, since they're technically not from Earth. This also means Queen Nehelenia/Zirconia, the Big Bad from SuperS, would count, even though the rest of her minions are either from Earth originally (animals given human form, some girls from the rainforest given powers) or are dream-monsters (the Lemures).
  • Sekirei has the 108 beings that give the series its name, who are essentially a cross between a humanoid Mon and a Magical Girlfriend. The vast majority are beautiful women and cute girls, with a handful of extremely rare Bishōnen on the side. They physically resemble humans, but possess various super-powers and require a human partner (an Ashikabi) to unlock their full power. A major source of their power is The Power of Love, so the partnership with an Ashikabi is almost always Interspecies Romance.
  • Semelparous: The mures, a race that once lived in the Void Between the Worlds until a Civil War led to them conquering Alternate Universe Earth, with their dissidents fleeing to our Earth and creating the Bulwarks to keep the others out. Mures are externally indistinguishable from humans, but can pass through the walls between the worlds, as well as draw energy from them to heal from wounds.
  • The aliens who inhabit the world of Simoun all appear to be human females, but are actually quite different. For one thing, they are neuter until age 17, when they become either male or female.
  • The Nazi-inspired Gamilans (Gamilons) from Space Battleship Yamato / Star Blazers began as looking identical to humans in every sense of the word. However, the creators of the show retconned their design a few episodes into the show and gave them blue skin, blonde hair and black eyes. Why? Probably to distinguish them easily from the human cast. This is further developed when it's discovered that the Gamilons need radiation to survive, like how a human needs oxygen to breathe — which was why the Earth's bombardment was Hostile Terraforming.
    • When the crew captures its first Gamilon prisoner and sees what their opponents look like, this is a huge shock for them, as they'd pictured the Gamilons as monsters. It plays into the theme of the episode, as well, as Kodai (Wildstar) must put aside his overwhelming hatred of the aliens who killed his family to see this prisoner as a person who should be treated decently.
      • This scene is virtually repeated in the second season, when the capture of a Comet Empire POW proves that they are human aliens as well. This time, Wildstar is the level-headed one, and it's Sgt. Knox who has to learn restraint.
    • The 2012 remake, Space Battleship Yamato 2199, decides to take this trope further. The Gamilans with human skin tones from the early episodes are retconned into an entirely different race of Human Aliens who are Slave Mooks to the real Gamilans. In the adaptation of the story where a (native) Gamilan prisoner is captured, it's stated that her DNA is identical to humanity's; the blue skin is just the equivalent of being a race or ethnicity not found on Earth. (The need for radiation wasn't included this time).
      • The Movie, Ark of the Stars, explicitly reveals that a race of Precursors were the common ancestors of all the Human Aliens in the series.
  • The Buff Clan in Space Runaway Ideon look identical to humans, with the exception of them lacking pupils. They also possess the honor code of the samurai, call their warriors samurai (though the actual humans don't), and even call their home planet Earth. They even have the same blood types and can give transfusions to humans. If it weren't for the fact that they were an isolated race before meeting the people of Logo Dau, you'd swear that they were human!
  • Star★Twinkle Pretty Cure:
    • There's Lala (no relation to the other Lala on this page), an alien from the planet Saman who ends up on Earth. Though she is the first alien Magical Girl in the series, she is essentially indistinguishable from one aside from a few easily-missed details — star-patterned eyes, Pointy Ears, and antenna-like feelers — to the point that she's enrolled in a Japanese middle school without issue. She does avert Aliens Speaking English; her magical pendant is what gives her the ability to speak Earth language, and she has to teach herself how to read, among other aspects of Earth culture shock.
    • Yuni, the other non-human main character from this season, subverts it. She comes from the planet Rainbow and appears to be a humanoid Cat Girl, with ears and a tail being her only distinguishing features (she notably has pointed human ears and cat ears). Her blue hair might give it away, if not for everyone else in the series having unusual hair colors, including the humans. She's a shapeshifting Master of Disguise, however, and this human form is what she uses as her default appearance; her true form is even less human and more catlike, as Planet Rainbow is populated by Cat Folk. Other aliens in the series tend to look either like Youkai or other species native to Earth.
  • Tenchi Muyo!:
    • The Juraians not only look human but have Japanese-sounding names. According to Ayeka's computer in the first episode of the OVA, Earth is a 'colony world' seemingly suggesting that humans are actually transplanted Juraians. Unfortunately the matter is never explored beyond that one throwaway comment.
    • Really, barring their hair and eye colors (and in Ryoko's case elongated ears Depending on the Artist), all six members of Tenchi's Unwanted Harem can easily pass for human.
    • This gets flipped in the Tenchi Muyo! GXP novels where it turns out that the Earth in this franchise isn't the original but a duplicate built by the Precursors. Their original home planet is the Earth from Dual! Parallel Trouble Adventure and these original humans are the progenitors off all the human aliens in the galaxy.
    • Magical Project S: The people of the magical kingdom are referred to asnot being human (even though besides having magic they are identical in every aspect).
  • Similar to the Saiyans above, Lala's race from To Love Ru are indistinguishable from humans apart from their tails (which act as erogenous organs). Lala and her sister also have pink hair, though that's apparently a trait from their mother, who belongs to a different alien species. Ren and Run are only distinguishable by how they're Sharing a Body (which only lasted until some way into puberty) and have white/green hair. There are other examples of Human Aliens, but it is shown that there also exist Rubber-Forehead Aliens and Plant Aliens, so at least the universe has some variety.
  • The Plants in Trigun look exactly like humans, all to various degrees. The ones used as power look semi-humanoid with wings and other assorted appendages, while Vash and Knives can easily pass for human. This is because plants were made by humans. In the manga however they are beings from another dimension with different laws of physics which is why they can generate power from seemingly nowhere. In their default state they also look something like a human glued to a bunch of baby corpses, tumors, and angel wings.
  • Lum and her Oni family in Urusei Yatsura look almost exactly like humans, only with two small horns, pointy ears, and green hair. Secondary and tertiary alien characters are either starfish or vaguely humanoid in appearance.
    • Lum's closest friends are also very human-like, to the point Benten doesn't even seem to have any particular supernatural powers at her disposal. Ran fares slightly better in that her fangs and ability to suck the life from others make her at least a tad eldritch.
    • Although her father is a good twelve feet tall, in keeping with their race being the inspiration for Japanese legends of ogre-like Oni.
    • Rei is a handsome-looking humanoid, but he can transform into a giant tiger-cow thing.
  • While not aliens, the main characters of Wolf's Rain spend a lot of time looking human, mainly as a form of camouflage, as they're supposed to be extinct.
  • In The World of Narue, Narue is half-alien half-human, but her father, sister, and all other members of her species look completely human. They also come from planet Japan, which also appears to have a history very similar to the Japan we know, so go figure. The manga series gradually explores the concept further, and it turns into one of the big mysteries of the setting why all the known alien races are indistinguishable from Earth humans. Two major interstellar political bodies are ready to go to war over which answer they believe in. It's one of several soft sci-fi tropes the series tackles.
  • Battle of the Planets changes Science Ninja Team Gatchaman's villains into a race of humanoid aliens called Spectrans.
  • Yu-Gi-Oh! GO RUSH!! has Yudias Velgear, a humanoid alien who hails from the Velgear Star Cluster somewhere far away in the galaxy, and is also the first non-human main protagonist of a Yu-Gi-Oh! anime series. Appropriately, he runs a deck composed of Galaxy-Type monsters, a never-before-heard-of monster type that is exclusive to Rush Duel.

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