The most memorable pop culture aliens and extraterrestrials

Gordon Shumway left Melmac and landed on Earth, hiding away with the Tanner family. As he was an alien life form, he became known as ALF. “ALF” is a goofy sitcom, but definitely a memorable one and the character definitely became indelible. ALF even got his own talk show, cartoon, and once returned in pog form.

ALF was a danger to cats, but the Xenomorph is dangerous to everybody. First introduced in “Alien,” the Xenomorph became a quintessential extraterrestrial. You don’t want to mess with these acid-blooded baddies. Well, unless you’re Ellen Ripley.

From evil to benevolent, E.T. looked a little strange, but he had a heart of gold. Or a heart of light, it would seem. E.T. came to Earth in the Steven Spielberg classic and befriended younger Elliott, but of course, E.T. really needed to phone home. At least he made a bike fly before then.

The Xenomorph will likely kill you, but not out of any malevolence. The Predator, on the other hand, is out to hunt you for sport. Eventually, we find out that it’s an entire species of aliens, but in the original film “Predator” there’s just one going up against Arnold Schwarzenegger, Carl Weathers, and the rest. In time, the Xenomorphs would face off with the Predators in not one but two woeful movies.

There are all sorts of aliens in the “Men in Black” films, but none of them are as memorable as the baddie from the first film. Known only as the Bug, he’s basically a giant, scavenging cockroach from the stars. He’s memorable in that form, but for most of the movie the Bug is traveling around stuffed into the skin of a man named Edgar, so we can credit Vincent D’Onofrio for making the Bug stick out as an alien.

There are a ton of aliens in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, especially in the “Guardians of the Galaxy” films. Thor is technically an alien as well. That being said, Groot definitely stands out. Sure, he only says one thing – “I am Groot” – but that and the fact he is a giant tree being certainly grabbed your attention. Or, to phrase it another way, I am Groot.

The original “Star Trek” doesn’t have as many aliens as later series or movies. Well, not of the recurring variety at least. Usually, the crew is just stopping by a planet for one episode, but they themselves are mostly human. Spock, though, is a Vulcan. Well, he’s half Vulcan, half-human, but he’s from the planet Vulcan so he definitely counts.

Marvin isn’t hiding his home planet. It’s right in his name. The “Looney Tunes” baddie with a distinct voice and a penchant for getting angry comes to us from Mars, and he has a technological advantage over many “Looney Tunes” characters. Of course, as Wile E. Coyote also knows, technology doesn’t always help out as you would hope.

The premise of “3rd Rock from the Sun” involves four aliens posing as humans, and all four of them are memorable. While it’s a silly sitcom, there are a lot of laughs to be had from the comedy. If any alien stands out the most, though, it’s Dıck Solomon, the patriarch of the family on Earth and the ostensible main character. Plus, John Lithgow won three Emmys for the show.

You may know them as Doctor Who, but their name is really just “The Doctor.” Though the Doctor can change their appearance to seem human and has now taken the form of both men and women, the Doctor is a Time Lord from Gallifrey and travels through time and space thanks to the TARDIS.

Technically, everybody in the “Star Wars” movies are aliens. Nobody is from Earth. Even the “humans” like Luke Skywalker and Han Solo are actually aliens. However, they don’t really feel like “aliens,” do they? Chewbacca, on the other hand, is a giant, hairy Wookiee who speaks in growls. He’ll do on the alien front. Plus, Chewy rules.

From the planet Krypton, Kal-El is sent to Earth by his parents as their planet is destroyed. Fortunately for ol’ Kal-El, the Earth’s yellow sun gives him superpowers, allowing him to be a superhero. In fact, Superman is one of the most-powerful superheroes there is, as long as there isn’t any Kryptonite around.

We go back into the MCU once more, this time on the villainous side of things. Thanos eventually becomes the primary villain of the Marvel movies and is the main antagonist of the final two “Avengers” films. Thanos’ entire goal is to get the Infinity Stones together to wipe out half the universe’s population. In terms of formidable enemies, Thanos is one of the toughest from modern pop culture.

Crashing down to Earth in a meteor, the Blob doesn’t seem to think. It just oozes. And consumes. And grows. While the Blob may just look like a glob of purple jelly, it’s capable of doing great damage simply by existing and getting larger and larger as time goes on. Eventually, the Blob was able to be defeated, but there’s something spooky about an unthinking, seemingly unstoppable ooze.

“The Flintstones” already had a pretty high-concept premise, as it’s basically “The Honeymooners” but in Stone Age times. A lot of dinosaurs being used as can openers and such. Eventually, “The Flintstones” felt like that wasn’t enough, so they introduced a little green alien named The Great Gazoo who only Fred could see. He called Fred “Dum Dum” all the time. Somehow, a show about a Stone Age family was able to jump the shark, but we’ll never forget The Great Gazoo.

For a show set in the year 3000 (and beyond) that involves a great deal of space travel, there aren’t a lot of aliens in the main cast. At least there’s Dr. Zoidberg. A lobster-like alien, Zoidberg knows nothing of human anatomy, which isn’t great for his patients. There’s much more to the character than those jokes, though, as they turned Zoidberg into one of the funniest alien characters.

If it’s Halloween on “The Simpsons,” you can probably expect Kang and Kodos to show up. The big, green aliens showed up in the first “Treehouse of Horror” episode and proceeded to become a staple of those episodes. Perhaps most famously they were in the story “Citizen Kang,” one of the best “Treehouse of Horror” segments.

Mostly, we’ve been focusing on individual aliens or aliens with names, but we can’t do that with these aliens. They don’t really have names or at least ones we know of, but how could we talk memorable extraterrestrials and not mention the Martians from “Mars Attacks?” They look distinct, they make a distinct noise, and they are all over Tim Burton’s dark comedy based on…a trading card series? Hey, however you get your inspiration…

Audrey may look like a harmless flower, but it's anything but. In reality, particularly in the musical remake of “Little Shop of Horrors,” Audrey II is in fact a “mean, green mother from outer space” and it feeds on blood, growing stronger by day.

Is “Space Jam” a good movie? We don’t think so, no matter what some Millennials will claim. However, “good” and “memorable” are necessarily synonymous. We all remember Michael Jordan and the Looney Tunes crew taking on the Monstars, a team of aliens that have stolen the talents of a few really talented NBA players…and also Muggsey Bogues and Shawn Bradley.

Imagine being trapped in Antarctica with a shapeshifting alien. That would be stressful, and that’s what the crew in John Carpenter’s “The Thing” is dealing with. We will never forget The Thing, mostly because it’s just so damn gross. Seriously, if you are squeamish you may want to skip this one.

We go back to the “Star Trek” universe, but this time to the “Next Generation.” There are more aliens in this version of the show, but Worf definitely stands above the fray for us. The Klingons are a big part of “TNG,” and Worf is uncommon in that he is a Klingon that works alongside the Federation on the USS Enterprise.

Seth McFarlane is a fan of non-human characters. On “American Dad,” an odd, out-there show that many consider the best program with his name on it, that includes an alien named Roger. At first, he’s just a sassy wisecracker, but Roger’s role eventually becomes to take on seemingly a different persona every episode.

Disney has given us genies, monsters, and the like, but there’s also a particular alien that many have come to love. That would be Stitch, of “Lilo and Stich” fame. Stitch is a little blue alien that seems like your typical pet until it becomes clear he very much isn’t. For kids of a certain generation, Stitch is a quintessential Disney character.

We end with our favorite Martian. Well, that’s what the title of the show “My Favorite Martian” claims at least. In this ‘60s sitcom that predates the Moon landing, a Martian who has visited Earth many times over is stuck when his ship is destroyed. A newsman named Tim O’Hara agrees to take him in and passes him off as his Uncle Martin. In the early days of sitcoms, Martin became one of the first alien characters on TV.