| Martian (The War of the Worlds) | |
 | |
| Sapience level | Sapient |
| Location / range | Mars |
| Diet | Haematophagous |
| Nature | Hostile |
| Danger rating | Lethal |
The Martians, as they are referred to, are a spacefaring extraterrestrial species which engaged in colonization efforts on planet Earth in the early XX century. While the fact that they launched themselves from Mars is unquestionable, there have been doubts whether that planet represents their actual homeworld. After the failure of their mission to populate Earth, the creatures have redirected their efforts to Venus, with presumably successful results.
Appearance[]
The Martians are roughly bear-sized, land-based cephalopod-like creatures. Their bodies are massive and they appear to have no skeleton, and move by crawling around with their long whip-like tentacles.
The entire body of the Martian consists of head and tentacles, with the head being vastly inflated, with a pair of disproportionally large black eyes and a mouth shaped like the letter V. A hearing membrane is located on the back of the head, but appears to be useless on Earth's comparatively thick atmosphere. The Martians however are still capable of communicating with each other thanks to their limited telepathic abilities.
Their appearance is rarely seen, though, as they are most usually found inside their huge tripods and other machines, which they control from within, using them like an artificial body.
Physiology[]
Martians breathe oxygen and can take advantage of the increased abundance of this substance in Earth's atmosphere compared to that of Mars. To a certain point this counter-balances the negative effects that the increased gravitational pull of Earth has over their metabolism.
Most of the internal Martian body consists of its huge brain, which grants them with an advanced intellect. They have no digestive system whatsoever, and instead survive by transplanting the blood of other creatures directly inside their own veins, along with which come all the nutrients they need.
On Mars, the creatures take sustain by consuming the blood of a native humanoid life form with a fragile built and a silicon-based skeleton; when invading Earth they start to feed on humans, for which they have as much consideration as humans have for the non-sapient animals they hunt.
Some kind of ecological peculiarity has seemingly resulted in the Martian environment being completely free from infectious bacteria; which resulted in the Martian body having no immunological system and no other biological defenses against the germs.
Perhaps because of their over-simplified biology in regard to digestive process, Martians need no sleep and are also able to direct practically all of their energy to neurological processes.
Origins[]
An ancient species on a dying planet, the origins of the Martians are still up to speculation. Their curious anatomy and physiology appears to be the result of an increased evolutionary tendency to continuously augment the brain and hands (or other manipulatory organs) in expense of the remaining body systems; ultimately resulting in a cephalopod-like creature, almost nothing but head and fingers.
The question of whether this evolution was natural or artificial (or a combination of both) is disputed, however; as is the question of whether or not they are truly native to the planet Mars or were simply using it as a launching base to reach Earth.
Sociology[]
It has been theorized that the Martians' asexual physiology, completely devoid of food processing, sleep and mating concerns; is what ultimately resulted in their complete lack of emotions as humans commonly understand them.
They are extremely focused and productive creatures, for which work is practically the only concern, 24 hours a day. They work fast in groups and appear to have telepathic abilities and could conceivably represent a very archaic form of hive mind. The Martians view themselves as a superior species and regard humans on the same level on which humans regard the non-sapient animals of Earth.
Technology[]
The Martian weapons are referred to as heat rays and are able to disintegrate by heat everything in a range of several meters. They also make use of the so-called Black Smoke, a dense substance which kills instantly if inhaled but which is rendered harmless in water. Despite being a gas, the smoke is so heavy it behaves almost like a liquid and remains mostly on ground level, thus posing no thread to the Martians standing on their tall tripod machines. One peculiarity of the Martian technology is that they appear to have never developed wheels, since all of their vehicles are based on mechanical limbs instead.
Different Depictions[]
Since their original appearance in H. G. Wells' science fiction novel The War of the Worlds (which is often considered as the foremost example of the "alien invasion" subgenre) the Martians have been portrayed quite differently in subsequent works of fiction by a myriad of authors. The idea that the War of the World invaders are not actually native to planet Mars is very often used in these works.
The species featured in the 1953 theatrical movie adaptation of the novel; in the 2005 movie adaptation by Stephen Spielberg and in the Asylum movies H. G. Wells' War of the Worlds and War of the Worlds II: The Next Wave are all highly different from each other and from Wells' original description, especially when it comes to physical appearance. Of all movie adaptations, perhaps only that produced by Pendragon Pictures depicts the Martians and the overall story faithfully to the source material. With the exception of the Pendragon Pictures film, all movie adaptations have transferred the Martian invasion from the original late XIX, early XX century England to a modern or contemporary setting and none have specifically depicted the invaders as being original to Mars. The 1953 movie in particular was followed by a TV series which expanded upon the origins of the invaders, a race apparently native to the Pleiades Cluster and named Mor-Taxans; which appear to act under the influence of another, unseen superior power.
Wells' Martians have been present in the DC universe as well, although their canon status is questionable. Superman has famously battled them in Superman: War of the Worlds, where no mention is made of DC's traditional Martians (the Martian Manhunter's race). In Secret Origins, the three-part pilot episode of the Justice League animated series, a similar species is seen named the Imperium, which have invaded Mars and fought a war with the natives prior to their invasion to Earth. Their physical appearance bears no similarity to H. G. Wells' Martians though.
Wells' creatures were also featured in the second volume of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, in which they are once again invaders to the red planet, this time fighting against Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoomians before directing their attack forces to Earth.
Sherlock Holmes' War of the Worlds, by Manly W. Wellman and Wade Wellman; retells the original story from the point of view of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's famous characters of Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson and Professor Challenger. In this book it is stated that Wells himself has purposely distorted some facts about the Martian invaders, which as Professor Challenger deduces are not in fact native to Mars. In the end of the book, Challenger manages to communicate and establish more peaceful relationships with the creatures, now living on Venus; and learns that they are mostly nomadic travelers from system to system. He and Holmes also deduce that the Martians have probably gone through artificial genetic enhancing to achieve their current form and that their primordial form was probably similar to some degree to the tripod machines they use.
The anthology War of the Worlds: Global Dispatches by Kevin J. Anderson also gives accounts of the Martian invasion as experienced by a number of historical figures, real and fictional; some stories in this collection have also linked the Martians from Wells' fiction with other well known fictional aliens such as H. P. Lovecraft's creations (in To Mars and Providence by Don Webb) and Edgar Rice Burroughs' Barsoom inhabitants (in Mars: The Home Front by George Alec Effinger). Anderson later went to write the similar novel The Martian War, also featuring Wells' own Selenites from The First Men on the Moon as a species which have been conquered by the Martians. Both Sherlock Holmes' War of the Worlds and The Martian War present a huge contrast with the original novel in which humans are no longer depicted as completely helpless against the Martians, but instead manage to offer a respectable and resourceful resistance to the invaders.
In Larry Niven's Rainbow Mars collection, they are one of the many famous Martian species from different works of fiction to be featured as inhabitants of the red planet.