Another area i'm considering during my research is aliens. Whilst looking through some animal/human hybrids, i noticed there were a lot of 'aliens' with very humanistic features with animalistic elements. The aspect that made them alien was the fact that they weren't completely human, but can an alien simply be an animalistic human?
Is a human/animal hybrid an alien? What are the requirements for fulfilling the alien catergory? From my theoretical research I've come to find that that the term alien simply means 'other'.
I've found a couple of characters/films suiting these examples.
The Pale Man. (2006). [online] Available from: http://horror-shock.blogspot.co.uk/2011/08/monster-monday-pale-man.html [Accessed: January 21st 2015]
Silurians, Dr Who. (2010) [online] Available from: http://www.slantmagazine.com/house/article/doctor-who-season-5-episode-9-cold-blood [Accessed: Januray 21st 2015]
Landis, J. (no date) Monsters in the Movies. UK: Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. page 258
Landis, J. (no date) Monsters in the Movies. UK: Dorling Kindersley Publishers Ltd. page 261
The Pale Man - Pan's Labyrinth
The Pale Man is presented as a mythological, fantastical being and is actually based on a legend. Tenome, an old Japanese legend; Tenome was a blind man who was beaten up and murdered by a mugger. He returned as a ghost, but his desire for revenge was so great that his blind eyes were gone, and instead, he grew new eyes in his hands. He's certiainly not of the sci-fi, alien variety, more a mythical legend. He's definately has humanistic qualities and features, but the disturbing 'eyes in hands' feature, the holes positioning in the face and the sallow, sagging skin would suggest otherwise. I don't think he has any animalistic qualities, so I guess his catergory would have to be legendary creature.
The Silurians - Dr Who
In Dr Who, the Silurians were a wise reptilian race that once inhabited the earth. I'm not entirely sure what they're presented as in the show, but to me, they look like an obvious reptile/human hybrid. Aside from the shapes coming off of the head, their form is entirely human, the scaley texture making up the rest of the hybrid.
Although E.T is obviously an extraterrastrial, he has undeniable human features, and certain ape-like qualitites, like his large upper-lip area and small, circular nose area.
The Na'vi are also from another planet, and yet aside from colouring, height and nose shape, seem to be extremely close in terms of human anataomy. Their noses are very lion-like, their markings are similar to tigers and then they have blue skin. In many ways they are humans with adapted animal characteristics, but because they're from another planet, does that defin them as aliens?
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