how should I define an alien against a human without sounding they are both the same? I have to give facts rather rely on my imagination I have to includes looks/language/abilities/behaviour I am just trying to set a background before I devise the story. An alien is different from a human because it lives on a different planet. what other facts can I add?
There are no specific features of 'aliens' in general. It's a broad category, it just means 'any creature that is not from earth'. The denizens of each different planet should be about as different from each other as they are from earth creatures. And remember - to them, humans are aliens and their own planet is the point of reference. Some advice is to start by changing the traits that all earth creatures have in common. We all use RNA, we're all mostly water, we all get most of our energy from breaking down sugars. Of course, this process gets really technical really fast, so if you don't want to research cellular biology you could just make up weird creatures and hope no one notices that there's not much science behind them. (Only the nerds will notice, anyway.)
I see. The idea of saying that aliens are male and female is adapting them to humans so I am trying to think a different gender for an alien. I can't be man and woman because that is what humans are. I am thinking it cannot be monstrous looking creatures because that is what is used in books and stories and are refered to as monstrous. It can't be halfhuman and half monstours because these creatures are used in mythology. I mean I do have to take it down to the nitty gritty. I usually start with eliminating what I already have in order to see what I am left with.
in that case, i'd suggest making them capable of reproducing asexually in some way and definitely avoiding the nonsensically insectile or reptilian forms that most alien moviemakers come up with... if you don't want to go with that other standard, the almond-eyed 'greys' et al., you'll need to think up some newer body type... which will to some extent depend on what you're going to have them do here on earth and what their home planet is like... have fun! hugs, maia
Male and female are well defined for non-human beings -- female is defined as the sex that has the larger reproductive cell. Of course, that might not be relevant to your aliens, who might be more interested in which sex gets devoured by the developing offspring (something that might take on even more significance if they are hermaphroditic and when mating each tries to impregnate the other without being impregnated themselves). As Mamma suggests, you could move away from sexual reproduction altogether (although I'm not convinced that reptilian or insectival forms are nonsensical if the aliens are themselves reptilian or insectival).
