History Main / AliensAreBastards

** In the First Contact War, the turians were pretty bastardly too. First they attack a human science expedition who were activating a mass relay, which is illegal by Citadel law. Humanity is a species who they knew they never met before and could have no knowledge of Citadel law, and even then aren't part of the Citadel, so they wouldn't be subject to it anyways. Then they proceed to attack and invade the nearest colonized planet for no sane reason as the humans shot them back in self defense, engaging in a short skirmish war. Due to cultural dissonance, they assumed that, like them, every human was military trained and simply in reserve, despite having no proof or evidence to back up that thought, and dealing with perhaps dozens of species who are unique in their own way as well, very few of which engage in such a practice themselves. So they were left rather confused when humanity considered them horrible monsters for attacking civilian targets. Even after the Council put a stop to the war, some turians (such as the instructor at Kaidan's biotics academy) continued to be right assholes to humans, though thankfully most of them chilled out by the time the games start. Bonus points for the Codex to point out that turians are hard to drive to war, [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness despite humanity's first contact showing other wise]]. [[PoliceBrutality Keep in mind, the turians are basically the Citadel's police and peacekeeping forces]]. It can be extrapolated the turians suffered a massive ass chewing over it.

* Averted and subverted in the ''Franchise/Ben10'' series, where there are good aliens, evil aliens, and everything in between. With some minor exceptions (most notable being the [[TheEmpire Inku]][[BloodKnight rsians]]), it seems most aliens avert the AlwaysChaoticEvil status ([[TheMentor Azmuth]]'s assistant, Myaxx, is from the same species as ''[[BigBad Vilgax]]'', yet is in no way as evil as he is, and most of their species aren't portrayed as evil either.).

* ''Literature/TheThreeBodyProblem'' and its sequels:

** In the First Contact War, the turians were pretty bastardly too. First they attack a human science expedition who were activating a mass relay, which is illegal by Citadel law. Humanity is a species who they knew they never met before and could have no knowledge of Citadel law, and even then aren't part of the Citadel, so they wouldn't be subject to it anyways. Then they proceed to attack and invade the nearest colonized planet for no sane reason as the humans shot them back in self defense, engaging in a short skirmish war. Due to cultural dissonance, they assumed that, like them, every human was military trained and simply in reserve, [[IdiotPlot despite having no proof or evidence to back up that thought, and dealing with perhaps dozens of species who are unique in their own way as well, very few of which engage in such a practice themselves]]. So they were left rather confused when humanity considered them horrible monsters for attacking civilian targets. Even after the Council put a stop to the war, some turians (such as the instructor at Kaidan's biotics academy) continued to be right assholes to humans, though thankfully most of them chilled out by the time the games start. Bonus points for the Codex to point out that turians are hard to drive to war, [[OOCIsSeriousBusiness despite humanity's first contact showing other wise]]. [[PoliceBrutality Keep in mind, the turians are basically the Citadel's police and peacekeeping forces]]. It can be extrapolated the turians suffered a massive ass chewing over it.

* ''Manga/DragonBallZ'': The first antagonists are from a ProudWarriorRace of HumanAliens known as Saiyans. Apparently, being violent and evil is the modus operandi of their (at this point, near-extinct) species and [[TheHero Goku]], who is also a Saiyan, is one of the few exceptions (and even then, only because of ChildhoodBrainDamage). Frieza, a HumanoidAlien, is one of the first arc villains and one of the most evil characters in the series and an ArchEnemy to Goku. What few other members of Frieza's species shown (mostly his family) are evil.
* ''Manga/SoulHunter'' has [[spoiler:Nuwa/Joka. She has been playing God with this little planet of ours for ''millions'' of years, modifying genomes of species, altering face of the world, causing rise and fall of major dynasties and in short controlling the history of the entire planet in order to evolve it into a perfect replica of her lost home planet. When something goes wrong in her plan, she life wipes the entire planet, destroying the planet's surface and starts afresh. She has repeated this rinse and repeat tactics quite a few times, by the time the story begins. Oh,and she does all this in spirit form, cut off from her physical body and much of her power! This trope is otherwise subverted by the other four Ancestors, who despite coming from the same planet and race as Joka found her plans abhorrent, sealed her body and then merged with wildlife and Earth.]]

** There are some races such as the ComicBook/TheInhumans and ComicBook/TheEternals who are [[TranshumanAliens more or less aliens but they are also off-shoots of humanity.]] They are usually good guys but they've had their moments (read ''ComicBook/WarOfKings'' to see what the Inhumans have been doing lately). In this way, they combine Aliens Are Bastards with HumansAreTheRealMonsters in one, neat package. Oh, and [[Characters/MarvelComicsThanos Thanos]] is an Eternal, so there's that.

** ComicBook/{{Lobo}}, from the planet Czarnia (usually; it's varied over time). His name in Khundian translates to "He who devours your entrails and thoroughly enjoys it." Lobo started as a parody/deconstruction of the trend towards DarkerAndEdgier characters, and became popular among both people who ''hated'' those characters (because he was such an over-the-top parody) and who ''loved'' those characters (because he was such an over-the-top parody). Ironically, his homeworld was (supposedly) a paradise populated with PerfectPacifistPeople and everything nice to the point of almost absurdity, and was completely unprepared for Lobo's birth. ([[WhereIWasBornAndRazed Lobo intentionally destroyed them]]. [[TeensAreMonsters With his high school science project]].)

* ''Film/TheWorldsEnd'': The Network's claim of wanting to [[spoiler:"civilise" humanity]] rings pretty hollow considering [[spoiler:they have to kill over 99% of it to achieve its aims]]. And then there's the aftereffects of them [[spoiler:leaving...]]

* Discussed in passing in ''Literature/{{Blindsight}}'': a mention is made of the benevolent aliens of Creator/CarlSagan, then compared with the idea that someone who ventures into space must have strong instincts of conquest and expansion.
** Later played with. While the [[StarfishAliens scramblers]] are a huge potential threat to humanity, they [[spoiler: aren't hostile because they're not ''capable'' of hostility. They're highly intelligent, but completely lack consciousness and self-awareness, which may be the StatusQuo in the universe at large. Detecting signals from humanity sent out decades ago, they were unable to parse any information useful to survival from it and concluded that the signals- and human thought as a whole- are a dangerous virus designed to waste mental energy. Speaking to them is essentially the same thing as ''an attack.'']]

* The Vogons of ''Literature/TheHitchhikersGuideToTheGalaxy'' are every ObstructiveBureaucrat stereotype cranked up and armed with planet destroying weaponry (and horrible poetry). Even ''evolution'' considers them to be a mistake.

** In ''The Dark Forest'' this becomes a key plot point that involves game theory and reconsidering the Drake Equation. [[TheProtagonist Luo Ji]] is given a few bits of information in the beginning of the story, which becomes the foundation for comsmological sociology. There are a few cornerstones: given communication is established between similarly technological societies, the first cornerstone being [[spoiler: the Chain of Suspicion, meaning that it's practically impossibly to verify what one party says, what their counterpart thinks they're lying about, what they think their counterparts think, what their long-term intentions are, vice versa, et cetera, meaning that meaningful trust is impossible to establish]]. The second cornerstone is [[spoiler: the Technology Explosion, meaning one society can experience sudden technological and societal growth and gain a sudden upperhand against an uncertain rival]]. Also given that [[spoiler: life isn't uncommon, and in fact there are potentially ''billions'' of species out there in the galaxy competing for limited resources. Extrapolated out, everybody is a potential enemy, even well-meaning and naively friendly species, as even they can accidentally out anybody who they make contact with]]. In short, the Fermi Paradox is the result of [[spoiler: virtually everybody assuming that their counterparts are going to be hostile, so they keep quiet. Its assumed by all species that any other species that can wipe them out would, not out of spite or hatred, but as a matter of course out of ruthless self-interest. The Trisolarans were shocked humanity hadn't figured this out ourselves, and dedicated considerable resources to us from figuring it out.]]

* ''VideoGame/KirbyAndTheForgottenLand'' has the BigBad, [[spoiler: Fecto Forgo. It invaded the titular forgotten land decades ago with the intent of destroying it, but the planet's scientists managed to capture it and perform experiments on it (even turning it into [[ComeToGawk a tourist attraction]]). Said experiments led to the creation of Kirby's FairyCompanion [[RidiculouslyCuteCritter Elfilin]], the living embodiment of Fecto's compassion and kindness. When the two halves forcibly become whole again, Fecto Elfilis still remains determined to lay waste to the universe in revenge. So while it ''is'' smart enough to know what compassion is, it [[ForTheEvulz just doesn't care]].]]

* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' did have some good aliens (one of the main heroes is one, after all), but normally an alien species would only show up if some of their members were going to be the episode's villains. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d with the Source, whose only reason for wanting to [[EarthShatteringKaboom blow up the Earth]] is [[ItsWhatIDo "It is our way."]]

* In ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'', it is eventually revealed that both the Data Integration Thought Entity and the Sky Canopy Dominion, the two opposing races of SufficientlyAdvancedAlien, are too concerned with fighting each other than caring about the effect their actions will have on humans, or even their own interfaces. Indeed, [[spoiler:The DITE is willing to send Yuki as an ambassador to the [[EldritchAbomination Dominion]], in order to [[BreakTheCutie break her]], as punishment for going rogue due to an error which wasn't her fault in the first place. The only reason they can't enforce a more direct punishment is because [[BadassNormal Kyon]] is threatening them with a [[TrustPassword trump card]] that could potentially fuck over the universe]]. The Sky Canopy are the villains, so they're even worse than that. When Kyon tells another DITE Interface that "Earth is not a playground for aliens", the response is, roughly, [[CosmicHorrorStory "What an entertaining joke."]] So at this point, it seems that the only unambiguously good alien is [[MySpeciesDothProtestTooMuch Yuki]].

* Early on in ''Machinima/FreemansMind'', Gordon refers to this trope by name after trying (and failing) to negotiate with a Houndeye and being zapped by a Vortigaunt. Which is pretty ironic, since Vortigaunts are some of the only aliens that ''aren't'' bastards after they are freed.

* ''Manga/DragonBallZ'': The first antagonists are from a ProudWarriorRace of HumanAliens known as Saiyans. Apparently, being violent and evil is the modus operandi of their (at this point, near-extinct) species and [[TheHero Goku]], who is also a Saiyan, is one of the few exceptions. Frieza, a HumanoidAlien, is one of the first arc villains and one of the most evil characters in the series and an ArchEnemy to Goku. What few other members of Frieza's species shown (mostly his family) are evil.

* ''WesternAnimation/SolarOpposites'': Korvo discusses this, writing off their unintentional destruction of the town in order to give life to a fictional character as a case as them being [[BlueAndOrangeMorality aliens with a different set of morals that humans couldn't understand.]] Except that he says this to avoid responsibility for said destruction.

** [[ComicBook/SecretInvasion The Skrulls]] like to infiltrate other planets with their [[VoluntaryShapeShifting shape-shifting power]] in order to destroy them from the inside. This is usually because they're ([[{{Irony}} ironically enough]]) just that damn paranoid.

* The flipside to [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters the original idea]] of ''Fanfic/TheConversionBureau'': several pro-human spin-offs characterize ponies as xenophobic [[TheSocialDarwinist Social Darwinists]] with KnightTemplar tendencies. In-universe comparisons between Equestria and UsefulNotes/NaziGermany are common.

* ''Wiki/SCPFoundation'': [[https://scp-wiki.wikidot.com/scp001-kln Kalinin's proposal for SCP-001]], Past and Future, a member of an alien civilization whose members enjoy the suffering of others. This race wants humanity to return to their true birthplace, one of their nine companions, the Planet of Hands, as armless, subordinate slaves, born to die for them. SCP-001's mission is to make humanity suffer on Earth so that they themselves can return to their homeworld. SCP-001, capable of creating very powerful anomalies, has teleported numerous objects outside of containment and improved their effects[[note]]For example, SCP-106 has become dangerously sapient, SCP-993 now targets adult politicians rather than children.[[/note]], nullifying all Foundation efforts to contain them and causing massive damage to the entire world. Before completing his mission, he tortured SCP-990 and used its powers to send an ultimatum to O5-2, appearing as her dead child to emotionally torment her, driving her to suicide. Completing what it started, SCP-001 mutilated thousands of people in Egypt and flooded China, removing the Three Gorges Dam, and successfully persuading thousands of people to flee to Planet of Hands. An incredibly evil mind with insane logic, Kalinin's proposal for SCP-001 is considered one of the most evil characters in the SCP Foundation.

* [[TheLegionsOfHell The Burning Legion]] of the ''VideoGame/{{Warcraft}}'' franchise. They all hail from other worlds -- some from ''[[AnotherDimension other dimensions]]'' -- and thanks to [[TheCorruption fel corruption]], are all bastards.
* The ''VideoGame/{{XCOM}}'' games use this in spades. Attempts to communicate with the aliens are made, but it's generally [[WeComeInPeaceShootToKill a bad idea]].
** In ''VideoGame/TheBureauXCOMDeclassified'', the Outsiders (AKA Zudjari) are PlanetLooters who have ruined their own planet and dozens of others and have to keep on conquering new worlds in order to maintain their unsustainable culture. In fact, they have managed to conquer and enslave the Sectoids and the Mutons. Earth is just their latest attempt, but it can also be their last.
** In ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'', the Ethereals want humanity in order to [[spoiler:create the perfect SuperSoldiers, with all the other races being failures. Assuming you succeed in destroying TheMothership, their attempt has GoneHorriblyRight]]. Interestingly, the Sectoids and Mutons in this game look the same as in ''The Bureau''. According to Firaxis, ''The Bureau'' can be treated as a sort-of prequel, meaning that, as soon as the Zudjari were defeated by the original XCOM, the two races were re-conquered by the Ethereals.
** In ''VideoGame/XCOM2'', the Ethereals have turned the entire planet into a fascist police state. While the surface looks well-fed and shiny, humans are being kidnapped en-masse to be genetically experimented on and then pulped into a slurry. Trying to live in outskirt settlements is covertly declared punishable by death with genocidal hit-squads. Even worse, multiple times it is heavily implied that the Ethereals plan to [[YouHaveOutlivedYourUsefulness screw their alien servants over]] [[UngratefulBastard after their decades of service]], by sabotaging their own fleet[[note]]Alluded to when Shen notes that the Avenger's structural flaws are suspiciously well-designed to 'dip' the alien warship under specific simulated conditions[[/note]] once they acquire everything they need from humanity, leaving them stuck on a ruined planet that hates them and ruled by a psychotic governor overlord.
** Subverted in ''VideoGame/XCOMChimeraSquad'', since the [[HalfHumanHybrid introduction of human DNA to their genomes]] made several of the alien species more receptive to cooperation with humans after the [[VideoGame/XCOM2 fall of]] [[VichyEarth ADVENT]] and the Ethereals leading it. The game itself takes place in a city where humans and aliens live in relative harmony compared to most other places.
* Earth during ''VideoGame/XenobladeChroniclesX'' was caught in the crossfire in a war between two alien factions. While humanity managed to avoid complete extinction by escaping on space arks, they were still hunted down by these two alien factions. While one of them, the Ganglion, have a reason to hunt them down [[spoiler: Humanity hold the key to stopping them within their DNA]], the other alien faction has no reason shown why and they were the ones who were shown attacking the White Whale, the ark that the characters in the story were on.

* Subverted in ''Literature/TheFifthWave'' by Rick Yancey. [[NotUsingTheZWord The Others]] are at first depicted as coldly killing off humanity, but then [[spoiler: the main love interest, [[MysteriousPast Evan]] is discovered to be one, and he explains that some of The Others wanted to live side by side with the humans, but were outnumbered by those who wanted to KillEmAll]].

* This is less true over at Creator/DCComics, probably because so many DC alien races first appeared as members of the Comicbook/LegionOfSuperHeroes or [[Characters/GLGreenLanternCorps Green Lantern Corps]]. Though there are some who do invade Earth but there are several other races who are more greyish and willing to be allies to Earth tending to act more like [[AntiHero Anti- Heroes]] instead of being bastards to them.
** The Post-Crisis depiction of the [[Franchise/{{Superman}} Kryptonians]] cast them in an unflattering light. LackOfEmpathy for anyone that isn't a [[Comicbook/{{Supergirl}} Kryptonian]] is their [[PlanetOfHats Hat]]. Prior to that, Pre-Crisis Krypton was depicted quite favorably, though. Modern depictions tend to mix the two.

** [[Comicbook/NewGods The people of Apokolips]]. All of them. Even the downtrodden Lowlies prove themselves to be total bastards if they are given power -- [[Characters/NewGodsDarkseid Darkseid]]'s TortureTechnician Granny Goodness used to be one of the Lowlies. One of Darkseid's hobbies is to free some slaves and make them his new overseers just so he can watch them become as cruel as their former tormentors. Considering who's [[GodOfEvil in]] [[FisherKing charge]] of the place, being the biggest bastard you can be is actually a ''very'' sound survival strategy.
** The Thanagarians from Comicbook/{{Hawkman}}, Tamaranians from Comicbook/TeenTitans, and the citizens of Rann from ComicBook/AdamStrange have all had turns being antagonists at some point but they tend to be more gray than many of the aliens here.
** The DC crossover ''[[Comicbook/InvasionDCComics Invasion!]]'' involved a race called [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast the Dominators]] wanted to conqueror the Earth to use humans as guinea pigs and weapons out of sheer prejudice, forming an alliance with several other species to do so, including the [[ComicBook/{{Hawkman}} Thanagarians]] and the [[Comicbook/LegionOfSuperHeroes Durlans]].

* The robot invaders from ''Videogame/CloneDroneInTheDangerZone'' intend to [[UnwillingRoboticisation roboticize every living human]], and ''then'' [[CondemnedContestant force them all to fight to their deaths]] in [[BloodSport spectator fights]] just for [[ItAmusedMe for fun]].

** The DC crossover ''Comicbook/{{Invasion}}'' involved many races forming an alliance to invade Earth, including the aforementioned Thanagarians and [[Comicbook/LegionOfSuperHeroes Chameleon Boy's race]]. A race called the Dominators were the main villains, however.

* Played with in ''WesternAnimation/{{Home}}'', in regards to the Boov. They were only looking for a place to call home, but in doing so they deprived other species of their homes.

* In ''Literature/TheThreeBodyProblem'' and its sequels, this is very much at play. The Trisolarans' history bred everything out of their culture except the desperate need to survive at all costs... though there seem to be individual exceptions. By the third book, [[spoiler:they have mastered human deception by feeding humans false science to hamper humanity's technological boom, embracing their culture only to deceive and enslave them later, and refusing to give them the means to escape a dark forest strike.]]

* The Franchise/{{Predator}}s, who use Earth as a game reserve for HuntingTheMostDangerousGame. The ExpandedUniverse of the ''Franchise/AlienVsPredator'' comics show they regularly seed other planets with aliens so they'll have a good hunting spot later on. Note that this is a major case of DependingOnTheWriter; nobody seems to be able to agree on how good or evil the Predators are. Most try to portray them as extremely honor-bound and having a society built on "the strong led". There's one comic where a Predator comes to Earth not to hunt, but to apprehend a serial killer who has come to Earth for that purpose. There's been multiple times where Predators have acted very respectful of other races (particularly humans) and worked with them to deal with a problem (most commonly dealing with a xenomorph infestation).

** [[ComicBook/TheAvengers The Kree]] tend to produce more heroic characters than most alien races (most famously, [[Characters/MarvelComicsMarvels Captain Mar-Vell]]), and their ruling Supreme Intelligence is sometimes the OnlySaneMan among the cosmic hierarchy, but they like to [[EvilutionaryBiologist play god with genetics]] as part of attempts to kickstart their evolution, are big fans of enslavement, and at worst are [[ANaziByAnyOtherName Nazis]] [[RecycledInSpace IN SPACE]]! Eons ago, the above-mentioned Skrulls were actually a pretty nice bunch until they ''offended'' the Kree, prompting the Kree to start a ForeverWar with them that has turned the Skrulls into the paranoid jerks they are today.

* Creator/StephenHawking believed any aliens that would come to Earth would be imperialists [[RecycledInSpace (in space)]], pointing out that this has been the typical results of low-tech societies on Earth being "discovered" by high-tech societies.

* ''Film/KillerKlownsFromOuterSpace'': It's a story about a [[MonsterClown grotesque, murderous]] ClownSpecies that loves [[ImAHumanitarian sucking on liquified humans]] and finds a lot of [[{{Sadist}} glee]] in subjecting people to [[CruelAndUnusualDeath cruel and unusual deaths]]. In the ''ONE'' instance a Klown stops and has a meaningful thing to say to one of the heroes, through the use of a DeadGuyPuppet, is that all they want to do... ''is killing us''.

* While the WesternAnimation/JoeOrioloFelixTheCat cartoons has a [[InnocentAliens friendly alien]] in the form of Mar''t''in the Martian and a couple friendly, shapeshifting martians in other episodes (i.e. "The Master Cylinder's Spacegram", [[Recap/JoeOrioloFelixTheCat1x58TheExchangingMachine "The Exchanging Machine"]]), Felix has also encountered a couple nasty aliens. In [[Recap/JoeOrioloFelixTheCat1x66TheMartianRescue "The Martian Rescue"]], he encounters an unintelligible martian who crash lands near his house, rudely eats a load of Felix's food, and then [[ImAHumanitarian tries to eat Felix himself!]] We also have General Clang, a minor recurring lackey of [[BigBad Master Cylinder]] who is a jerk who wants to invade Earth, to the point where in [[Recap/JoeOrioloFelixTheCat1x60TheMasterCylindersSpacegram "The Master Cylinder's Spacegram"]], [[TheStarscream he betrays his own boss]] just so he can take over Earth all by himself.

** ComicBook/{{The|Avengers}} [[ComicBook/XMen Shi'ar]] [[ComicBook/FantasticFour Empire]] are probably the "nicest" aliens, historically speaking. They're a militaristic empire that bounce back and forth between [[WellIntentionedExtremist Well Intentioned Extremists]], [[AntiHero Anti-Heroes]], and [[TheSocialDarwinist Social Darwinists]] depending on who is in charge of the empire and what mood they are in. They tend to fight against Earth's heroes as often as they team up with them. They're also not above murdering [[ThePurge someone's family]] just because they ''might'' conceivably become a threat someday. Generally, they're referred to as Marvel's version of [[Franchise/StarTrek the Romulans]]: smart, mean, and ruthless.

** Coluan scientist and Superman villain ComicBook/{{Brainiac}} has personified this trope since 1958. The Coluans as a whole aren't always evil, but pretty much all of them are jerks. It's an entire planet of {{insufferable genius}}es, and no, they don't like offworlders. That said, they [[EvenEvilHasStandards don't condone Brainiac's universal xenocide either]], and in some comics either his family line or his species as a whole [[StopBeingStereotypical has to deal with the reputation Brainiac's actions bring to them.]]

*** During Creator/RobertKanigher's run there were new jerk aliens to be introduced. Badra is from a planet in a forever war that destroyed the place and where virtues of violence and theivery were valued. The Uranians under Uvo enslave and slaughter all women they come across and are planning a nuclear bombardment of earth's major cities.

* While aliens tend to be fairly variable in ''Literature/ArrivalsFromTheDark'', many of the books in the main series are devoted to wars with aliens, starting with a nearly-successful AlienInvasion of a then-primitive Earth (it only fails because of the assistance of a friendly alien). Humanity's rise as a galactic power is full of wars because some of the races see humans as upstarts and wish to crush them before they get any stronger. The Bino Faata attempt to invade Earth and then spend nearly a century in brutal wars with humanity, wishing to defeat humans and turn them into a SlaveRace. The Dromi are LizardFolk and {{Explosive Breeder}}s, so their attempts to wipe everyone out are due to their constant need to expand. The Kni'lina are highly arrogant and mostly dislike humans because we look so much like them (it violates their own beliefs about their uniqueness). The Haptors are a ProudWarriorRace, so their reasons are obvious. Generally averted with several other races, such as the {{Technical Pacifist}}s [[SpaceElves Lo'ona Aeo]] and the primitive but friendly Llyano (although this is a RetCon from their original depiction as a hostile starfaring race). The [[VoluntaryShapeshifting Proteids]] tend to play their own {{Long Game}}s, but their interests generally align with those of Earth, and the Paraprims are both advanced and peaceful.

* {{Zigzagg|ingTrope}}ed in Pamela Service's ''Under Alien Stars'': Yes, [[AlienInvasion Tsorians]] ''are'' [[ProudWarriorRace brutal]], [[VichyEarth paternalistic]] [[FantasticRacism bastards]]. [[spoiler: {{Humans|AreTheRealMonsters}} don't have [[FantasticRacism much of a moral high ground]]. And compared to the [[HordeOfAlienLocusts Hykzoi]], ''both'' races [[BlackAndGrayMorality look like saints]].]]

** The Ice Warriors were first introduced as a [[AlwaysChaoticEvil villain race]], but over subsequent appearances were [[CharacterDevelopment gradually developed]] into an honourable ProudWarriorRace, similar to the development of the Klingons on ''Star Trek''.

* The Zerg from ''VideoGame/StarCraft'' are largely mindless, but are controlled by Cerebrates and the Overmind. Who are all pretty bastardly. As a HordeOfAlienLocusts, they desire to assimilate the most favorable genetic traits from sentient species and essentially swallow them whole. They get a dose of HumansAreTheRealMonsters mixed in when Sarah [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast "Queen of Blades"]] Kerrigan takes over, even explicitly referring to herself as [[BadassBoast "Queen Bitch of the Universe.'']] The Protoss and [[HumansAreTheRealMonsters Terrans]] also have their moments, and if the sequel is anything to go by, [[{{Precursors}} the Xel'Naga]] aren't/weren't exactly saints either. The latter's [[GreaterScopeVillain true enemies]] are probably worse.

* [[WesternAnimation/LooneyTunes Marvin the Martian]] was an AffablyEvil bastard in his shorts, being perfectly willing to [[EarthShatteringKaboom murder billions of lives]] solely because Earth [[ItsAllAboutMe was blocking his view of Venus]]--though like most of WesternAnimation/BugsBunny's foils, he's not too bright.
* ''WesternAnimation/ShaunTheSheep'': Or at least their kids are ''really'' annoying.
* ''WesternAnimation/TransformersPrime'': The Decepticons, although they do in this iteration have the occasional NobleDemon and TokenGoodTeammate among their ranks.
* While the WesternAnimation/JoeOrioloFelixTheCat cartoons has a [[InnocentAliens friendly alien]] in the form of Mar''t''in the Martian and a couple friendly, shapeshifting martians in other episodes (i.e. "The Master Cylinder's Spacegram", [[Recap/JoeOrioloFelixTheCat1x58TheExchangingMachine "The Exchanging Machine"]]), Felix has also encountered a couple nasty aliens. In [[Recap/JoeOrioloFelixTheCat1x66TheMartianRescue "The Martian Rescue"]], he encounters an unintelligible martian who crash lands near his house, rudely eats a load of Felix's food, and then [[ImAHumanitarian tries to eat Felix himself!]] We also have General Clang, a minor recurring lackey of [[BigBad Master Cylinder]] who is a jerk who wants to invade Earth, to the point where in [[Recap/JoeOrioloFelixTheCat1x60TheMasterCylindersSpacegram "The Master Cylinder's Spacegram"]], [[TheStarscream he betrays his own boss]] just so he can take over Earth all by himself.
* In ''WesternAnimation/InvaderZim'', the Irken Empire. Not only are they after total intergalactic domination, but, they destroy all the life on a planet, just to build a [[PlanetOfHats parking lot on it!]]

* Kang and Kodos of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons'' subvert this in their initial Halloween appearance, but play this trope straight (or, at the very least, [[RuleOfFunny parody]] it) thereafter.
* ''WesternAnimation/TeenTitans2003'' did have some good aliens (one of the main heroes is one, after all), but normally an alien species would only show up if some of their members were going to be the episode's villains. {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d with the Source, whose only reason for wanting to [[EarthShatteringKaboom blow up the Earth]] is [[ItsWhatIDo "It is our way."]]
* {{Justified|Trope}} in ''WesternAnimation/AxeCop'': When Axe Cop kills the last remaining bad guys on Earth, he decides VictoryIsBoring and wishes for every alien to be a bad guy so he can go kill them.
* Several of the villains from ''WesternAnimation/MegaBabies'' are this. Often this trope also overlaps with {{Evil Is Petty}} in the show.
* ''WesternAnimation/RickAndMorty'': While this show features many aliens who often fall between the lines of good, neutral, and bad, the alien species that comes closest to fitting this trope are the gromflomites. They run a PeoplesRepublicOfTyranny government called the Galactic Federation that treats humans and other alien species like second class citizens. They also don't seem to care about the well being of their prisoners and constantly invade other planets to expand their empire while committing several atrocities against them. Even Krombopulous Michael who is friends with Rick turns out to be an assassin who has no qualms with killing children and animals.
* Take out the risque language and you'd have the actual title of an episode of ''Tom of T.H.U.M.B.'': "Guys From Outer Space are Creeps" (they are, too).
* In ''WesternAnimation/ThePenguinsOfMadagascar'' episode, "Alienated", a Space Squid from Mars lands in the Zoo to take over Earth. When Private suggests a peaceful attempt at first contact, Kowalski replies by lampshading this trope:
-->'''Kowalski''': Aliens are evil! They are slimy, disgusting, and ruthlessly determined to conquer and/or consume the Penguin race!
* The alien cats from the ''WesternAnimation/MightyMouse'' cartoon "Goons From the Moon." Seems legit as they're invading Terrytown, a city populated by mice.

* ''WesternAnimation/SolarOpposites'': Korvo discusses this, writing off their unintentional destruction of the town in order to give life to a fictional character as a case as them being [[BlueAndOrangeMorality aliens with a different set of morals that humans couldn't understand.]] Except that he says this to avoid responsibility for said destruction.
* ''WesternAnimation/DextersLaboratory'': Aliens are generally evil. One episode featured alien parasites that took control of Dexter's family in an attempt to conquer Earth. Another episode had aliens come to Earth and steal Dexter's merchandise during a yard sale. One episode had aliens kidnap Dexter and his family so their leader could try and drain Dexter's intelligence. Most of the villains in the "Dial M For Monkey" sketches are also aliens.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheBatman'': The Joining are a race of alien robots that destroyed their creators and have since traveled the universe attacking planets and stealing all the knowledge and technology they can to make themselves smarter and more powerful before wiping out all life on the planet and moving on. They had already ravaged half the galaxy.

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': The scammer aliens from "Bender's Big Score" are the most straightforward example in the series. It's PlayedForLaughs, so their brand of bastardry is less "brutally exterminate the human race" and more "greedy, petty dickishness".