History Main / StandardAlienSpaceship

* ''Film/ManOfSteel'': The Kyoptonian spacecrafts are darkly colored but have a very distinct look to them, with the ancient scout ship having very organic, clam shell-like details, and Zod's dropship resembling a metallic beetle of sorts.

* ''Film/ManOfSteel'': The Kyoptonian spacecrafts are darkly colored but have a very distinct look to them, with the ancient scout ship having very organic, shell-like details, and Zod's dropship resembling a metallic beetle of sorts.

* ''Franchise/{{Predator}}'': The [[https://preview.redd.it/393mrrq9o0n91.jpg?auto=webp&s=9bf921c80dca471c730485df85cd38ff645635d3 Yatuja ships]] squarely fit the bill, looking more shapely, decorated and composed of separate parts unlike any StandardHumanStarship, very alien looking, but without stepping into the EldritchStarship zone of the [[Franchise/{{Aliens}} Engineer ships]].

[[folder:Live-Action Television]]

** Troll spaceships are streamlined vessels adorned with numerous smooth, forward-pointing spines and painted bright red. The overall impression is one of a swift, sleek, aggressive predator... which suits the troll empire's [[ScaryDogmaticAliens culture]] quite well.
** The "spaceships" used by the Prospitians and Dersites in their eternal war are a bit of an odd case -- they're for all intents and purposes world wars-era warship designs capable of flight, but they nonetheless use tapered, slender designs (as a consequence of their real-life bases) and are painted bright gold or purple, respectively.

-->-- '''WebVideo/{{Spacedock}}''', "[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfMbr3tFLDw Why Are Alien Ships Always So Boring?]]"

Also: note that for this trope to come into play, the ship and the aliens who made it ''must'' be on a similar [[TechnologyLevels Technology Level]] to their human counterparts. If the ship in question is packed full of super-advanced technologies that are as alien to the outside observer as the ship's design and aesthetic, it means we're dealing an EldritchStarship or MechanicalAbomination instead.

See also FlyingSaucer and ShinyLookingSpaceships, which sometimes overlap with this trope. Contrast StandardHumanSpaceship: this trope's opposite.

Also: note that for this trope to come into play, the ship and the aliens who made it ''must'' be on a similar [[TechnologyLevels Technology Level]] to their human counterparts. If the ship in question is packed full of super-advanced technologies that are as alien to the outside observer as the ship's design and aesthetic, it means we're dealing an EldritchStarship instead.

** ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'' During the first season, and into the second season, Klingon ships a Gothic look with lots of curves and protrusions. Starting with the second season, the Klingons begin developing the cleaner avian-inspired ships they (and the Romulans) would be known for in the original series and onward.

---> ''I think they were fighting too much against the clichés that aliens should have organic looking structures that look like them. We are trying to fight that but we had to go back and base this level off of what the Collector’s bodies actually look like. […] It's like us humans going into houses that look like heads and arms and bodies. Our buildings and structures don't look anything like us, but when we do aliens we usually have to match the design; it sort of avoids the problem. So we had to throw all these out.''

* ''Franchise/MassEffect'' usually averts this; standard starship design philosophy favors long and angular ships armed with mass drivers that run the entire length of the vessel. But there are two exceptions:

* ''ComicBook/WonderWoman1942'': The villain Uvo's empire uses large mostly sleek ships that are painted a solid purple on the outside.

In science fiction, especially SpaceOpera, it is common for alien-built spacecraft to have a flowing, smooth, organic-looking appearance, painted in one or two eye-catching colors. The main reasons for this are to set the ship apart from the far more utilitarian-looking ISOStandardHumanSpaceship and to reflect the fact that its builders evolved under different circumstances and have their own unique history and culture, influencing their general aesthetic.

* The ship has a flowing and curved geometry. That geometry may extent at some points into tendril-like protrusions. At first glance the ship will look like an ocean-themed {{Living Ship}}, despite it being made of the same stuff as human vessels.

* The ship has a flowing and curved geometry, sometimes peppered with tendril-like structures. At first glance it will look like an ocean-themed {{Living Ship}}, despite it being made of the same stuff as human vessels.

* The ship has a streamlined and curved shape, sometimes peppered with tendril-like structures. At first glance it will look like an ocean-themed {{Living Ship}}, despite it being made of the same stuff as human vessels.
* The hull will be smooth, with few to none obvious functional components and/or [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greeble greebles]].

In science fiction, especially SpaceOpera, it is common for alien-built spacecraft to have a flowing, smooth, organic-looking appearance, painted in one or two eye-catching colors. The main reasons for this are to set the ship apart from the StandardHumanSpaceship (which usually looks more like a UsefulNotes/WorldWarII battleship) and reflect the fact that its builders evolved under different circumstances and have their own unique history and culture, influencing their general aesthetic.

* The ship has a lot of curves and soft edges, and often what look like tendrils or tentacles. One could be forgiven for mistaking them for {{Living Ship}}s at first glance, although usually they're made of the same kind of materials as their human contemporaries.
* The hull itself will be fairly smooth overall, with few [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greeble greebles]] if any.

* The ship is on a similar [[TechnologyLevels Technology Level]] to those of their contemporaries. If it's packed full of super-advanced technologies that other races can't understand, it's probably an EldritchStarship instead.

See also FlyingSaucer and ShinyLookingSpaceships, which sometimes overlap with this trope. Contrast StandardHumanSpaceship (this trope's opposite) and EldritchStarship (vessels so strange they boggle the mind).

* ''TabletopGame/Warhammer40000'': Two of the major alien factions in the game, the T'au and the Craftworld Aeldari, both favor these sorts of ship designs. T'au vessels tend towards smoothly curved, flattened and elegant designs reminiscent of sea life, while the Craftworlders favor fusiform, streamlined hulls and prominently displayed, almost wing-like triangular solar sails. Both stand in sharp contrast to the blocky, angular, ruthlessly utilitarian masses of metal the Imperium uses; the cobbled-together junkers flown by the Orks; and the {{Eldritch Starship}}s used by Chaos. Necron ships are much less angular than the Imperium's as well, tending to follow geometric curves and shapes, although they're not as colorful.

* ''Franchise/{{Halo}}'': Covenant ships fit this trope to a T, being purple in color and having a smoother surface than their UNSC counterparts. This is meant to reflect the Covenant's technological and economic superiority over humanity: they're so powerful, they can afford to be CoolButInefficient.

** ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'' Klingon ships a Gothic look with lots of curves and protrusions.

* ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'': The Molluscoid ships (pictured above) play this completely straight, as do the regal-looking [[HigherTechSpecies Fallen Empire]] ships. Avian and Fungoid ships combine it with ShinyLookingSpaceship, while the spaceships from the Humanoid DLC find a medium between this and RaygunGothic. The Reptilian, Plantoid, and Arthropod ships are less drastic examples, as they have colorful highlights but otherwise fall closer to {{Standard Human Spaceship}}s in shape.

* ''VideoGame/{{Stellaris}}'': The Avian, Molluscoid (pictured above), Humanoid, and Fungoid shipsets play this completely straight, as do the regal-looking [[HigherTechSpecies Fallen Empire]] ships. The Reptilian, Plantoid, and Arthropod ships are less drastic examples, as they have colorful highlights but otherwise fall closer to {{Standard Human Spaceship}}s in shape.

* In ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'', Gem ships are bright, smooth, colorful geometric, and full of incredibly advanced technology. For instance, Yellow and Blue Diamond both have ships shaped like giant hands that are the same colors are their respective owners.

* In ''WesternAnimation/StevenUniverse'', Gem ships are bright, smooth, colorful, and full of incredibly advanced technology. For instance, Yellow and Blue Diamond both have ships shaped like giant hands that are the same colors are their owners.

** Klingon and Cardassian ships skirt the edge of this trope: they're hard-edged for the most part, but their hulls are painted green-grey and yellow-beige in color, respectively. ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'' makes the Klingons a straight example, giving their ships a Gothic look with lots of curves and protrusions.

** Ironically, both the preset human empires use the smooth-edged Humanoid design, if the Humanoids DLC is installed, while the Mammalian design looks like the StandardHumanSpaceship and is used by alien species.