History Main / SiliconBasedLife

* ''Franchise/{{Superman}}'':
** ComicBook/{{Superboy}} (Kal-El) had to save a race of silicon-based aliens called the Vulxans in ''The New Adventures of Superboy #7'' (1980).

** The Horta from the ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E25TheDevilInTheDark The Devil in the Dark]]" may be the most widely known example of this trope in all fiction, due to that episode being a fan favorite. It's pretty amusing watching a scientist [[ArbitrarySkepticism dismiss the idea of a silicon-based lifeform as incredulous]] when that very scientist is already a RubberForeheadAlien.

Silicon biochemistry would be wildly different though: you can't replace carbon with silicon in known biomolecules and get anything functional. Even the small "hydrosilicon" molecules are much more reactive than their carbon counterparts. Plus, carbon is actually not so common on the earth, with the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abundance_of_elements_in_Earth%27s_crust SECOND most abundant element being... wait for it... silicon.]][[note]] silicon dioxide is the most abundant compound on earth but as the name suggests, oxygen is at least twice as abundant as silicon.[[/note]] If that kind of life ''were'' able to form, it's reasonable to assume it would have done so here (as you know, it didn't).

** In ''VideoGame/XCOMEnemyUnknown'', researchers are forced to admit that they have no idea whether the Cyberdisks are living or purely mechanical, but conclude that if they ''are'' living, then they're probably silicon-based lifeforms. [[spoiler: The Sectopods, on the other hand, ''are'' alive, and ''are'' silicon-based.]]

* ''The Dancing Meteorite'' by Anne Mason includes a flashback to humans' first encounter with silicon-based life, which the human explorers think is just part of the landscape until it rises up and attacks them.
* Ullerans in Creator/HBeamPiper's ''Uller Uprising''. The concept is made more believable by using siloxanes (alternating silicon-oxygen chains), some of which are pliable at what we consider room temperature. Piper didn't come up with idea - he was presented with an introductory essay by Dr. John D. Clark describing life on both Uller and Niflheim (see entry below under "Other Elements".
* ''Dark is the Sun'' by Creator/PhilipJoseFarmer: Phremompit is a silicon based lifeform native to an asteroid, coming to Earth in a meteor shower. He eats radioactive rocks and moves on natural treads. Unfortunately, he drills through many people before learning his morse-code communication laser is turned up a bit too strong for the mushy-bodied earthlings.
* In Creator/BenBova's ''Venus'', it's discovered that such a lifeform inhabits the titular planet. It has a massive underground body, and tentacles a few kilometers long which it uses to search the planet's surface, for food or whatnot.

* In ''Jimsy and the Monsters'', a short story by Walt Sheldon, a scientist uses teleportation to bring two silicon based organisms to Earth.

* ''WesternAnimation/InvasionAmerica'' has a genetically-engineered species called manglers. A baffled human scientist describes the discovered bones of one as a "silicon analog" rather than carbon-based.

'''Dr. Hibert:''' Is the alien carbon based or silicon based?\\
'''Homer:''' Uh ... the second one. Silliphone.
* Diamondhead and his {{expy}}, Chromastone, as well as Echo Echo in ''WesternAnimation/{{Ben 10}}''. The difference with Echo Echo is it's species is not totally silicon: it's body is a suit made of silicon to hold its real body, which is [[EnergyBeings a sonic wave]].
* In one episode of the ''WesternAnimation/{{Flash Gordon|1979}}'' animated series, Ming the Merciless created a silicon based monster and unleashed it on the heroes. The heroes weapons had no effect on the creature because, in their words, they were shooting sand.
* The aptly named Silicon Red, a folk singer resembling a bearded humanoid made out of stone and one of Bender's celebrity idols (asides Elzar and Calculon) from the seventh season ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'' episode "Forty Percent Leadbelly".
%% Gems from Steven Universe are listed under "other" because they're not all based on silicon

* ''VideoGame/MassEffect'': Though you don't encounter them in game, the FlavorText for the planet Sharjila mentions it has a silicon-based animal ecology. With the series ''thorough'' aversion of AllPlanetsAreEarthlike, these animals live on a DeathWorld of 40 atmospheres worth of pressure.

* ''LightNovel/HaruhiSuzumiya'': Silicon-based Data lifeforms were [[spoiler:responsible for the mysterious happenings]] in one of the two stories of the eighth volume. But they live on without their bodies. How? That's classified, apparently.

*** The 'Crystalline Entity' from "[[Recap/StarTrekTheNextGenerationS1E12Datalore Datalore]]" that wiped out all life on the planet where Data was found.

* ''Film/Gamera2AdventOfLegion' features the titular Legion, whose primary threat actually comes from the fact that she’s silicon based. However, the fact that she’s based on silicon winds up making her less resilient than her fleshier carbon based foes.

* ''Film/Gamera2:AdventOfLegion'' features the titular Legion, whose primary threat actually comes from the fact that she’s silicon based. However, the fact that she’s based on silicon winds up making her less resilient than her fleshier carbon based foes.