Line #28 PlayingWith/FirstContact


1	'''Basic Trope''': Humanity encounters an intelligent alien species for the first time.
2	* '''Straight''': The crew of the starship ''Lazarus'' arrives in their destination solar system and picks up coherent radio signals from one of the planets.
3	* '''Exaggerated''': ...And then from another ... And another ... And another...
4	* '''Downplayed''': SETI picks up a radio signal from several light years away, and starts sending radio signals in response.
5	* '''Justified''': [[{{Infodump}} The crew exobiologist explains]] that life is likely to evolve everywhere that human beings would find habitable in the universe.[[note]]In RealLife, this is one of the many ideas that the UsefulNotes/FermiParadox calls into question.[[/note]]
6	* '''Inverted''':
7	** An alien species completely vanishes from the universe, never to be encountered again.
8	** An intelligent alien species encounters humans for the first time.
9	* '''Subverted''':
10	** As the ''Lazarus'' closes in on the planet, they discover that it is actually Earth.
11	** The radio signal turns out to be from the crash site of [[UsefulNotes/{{NASA}} Voyager I]].
12	* '''Double Subverted''': ...Millions of years after WorldWarThree, when a new species has replaced humanity.
13	* '''Parodied''':
14	** A crew of geeks looking to see if intelligent life may be found in a biker bar after they get a response to a message they sent to there in a parody of SETI.
15	** The aliens turn out to be extremely stupid, not intelligent at all.
16	** It turns out that the humans have met these aliens several times before, but found them so boring they forgot about them.
17	* '''Zig Zagged''':
18	** Two HumanSubspecies from long-separated lineages encounter for the first time.
19	** The ''Lazarus'' finds out that the signals are an automatic message sent by machines, whose intelligent creators died out or moved unimaginably far away eons ago.
20	* '''Averted''': AbsentAliens.
21	* '''Enforced''': The story is being written for a collection of first-contact novellas.
22	* '''Lampshaded''': "I don't believe it! To find extraterrestrial life on our first voyage out of the solar system... It's fantastic!"
23	* '''Invoked''': The ''Lazarus'' was sent to its target solar system because spectral analysis of the planet indicated the presence of life.
24	* '''Exploited''': The ship exobiologist uses FirstContact as an excuse to [[TheMutiny seize control of the ship]].
25	* '''Defied''': The ''Lazarus'' immediately leaves the solar system when the signals are discovered.
26	* '''Discussed''': "In the event of possible alien contact, starship crews are advised to proceed with extreme caution. Standard protocols are listed in Appendix L of ''[[FictionalDocument The Terran Science Fleet Manual]]''."
27	* '''Conversed''': "What kind of aliens do you think they'll turn out to be?"
28	* '''Implied''': The future Earth in the story has an AlternativeCalendar based on years "Since Contact".
29	* '''Deconstructed''': The alien species is [[StarfishAliens so radically different from humanity]] that no [[StarfishLanguage communication]] or [[BlueAndOrangeMorality understanding]] is possible.
30	* '''Reconstructed''': The radical differences between the humans and the aliens are not unbridgeable thanks to convergent evolution, and so both species can gain [[OddFriendship great benefits from their interactions]].
31	* '''Played For Laughs''': The aliens make a ridiculous ClicheStorm upon meeting humans.
32	* '''Played For Drama''': The arrival of aliens threatens our place in the universe, leading to existential crises.
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34	Back to Main/FirstContact
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36	%% Optional items, added after Conversed, at your discretion:
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Context PlayingWith / FirstContact