Benevolent Aliens

From The Black Vault Encyclopedia Project

The subject of contact and interaction by the human race with benevolent aliens is a subject of science fiction. Works often include an exchage of technology, a military alliance, or just a general understanding and feeling of goodwill between humans and aliens. Such works of this sub-genre include the famous films The Day the Earth Stood Still, and 2001: A Space Odyssey. Also, the movies Star Trek: First Contact, E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial, and the Star Wars universe contain benevolent aliens. Benevolent aliens sometimes use the stereotypical phrase we come in peace.

Aliens may also be depicted as malevolent, such as in The War of the Worlds, Independence Day, or Mars Attacks!. Sometimes science fiction stories have aliens hide their malevolence by seeming to be benevolent such as in the television series, V and the Twilight Zone episode "To Serve Man." In such stories, such a revelation is usually a plot twist.

The portrayal of an alien race as benevolent or malevolent assumes a degree of alien cultural homogeneity that does not currently exist in humanity, but may be possible in the future or in other races as better communication allows for "better" homogenization of world/species culture.

It should be noted that benevolence or malevolence of a group of intelligent extraterrestrial beings can be difficult to discern. For instance, if an alien race aids humanity by providing an otherwise incomprehensibly advanced technology capable of solving human social and physical problems, it may disrupt human development in such a way that humanity is ultimately disadvantaged by the seemingly benevolent act. In this case, the ambiguity regarding the benevolence of the act would be compounded if the alien race is incommunicative or otherwise difficult or impossible for humans to understand. Alternately, a malevolent act, such as violence or invasion, if defeated by humans (as it inevitably is in most fiction) could result in many benefits to humanity, such as encouraging peace among human nations or making available new technologies. A sufficiently advanced and prepared intelligent alien race may be capable of seeming benevolent or malevolent, while in reality pursuing opposite goals.

Copyright

"Original data received from Wikipedia on April 01, 2006. Credit given to original authors can be seen Here."