The 20 Weirdest Aliens in the Marvel Universe

When “Guardians of the Galaxy ” opened in theaters in 2014, it marked a distinct tonal shift in the way Marvel told its stories on the silver screen. Gone were the brooding heroes struggling to cope with the crushing onus of destiny. In their place, we got a motley crew of misfits and mercenaries who were humanoid, if not entirely human. 

With Peter Quill (aka Star-Lord) as the sole Earthling lead among a polychromatic cast, the Marvel Cinematic Universe opened itself to a cosmos of possibilities. Even then, the movie studio has only begun to scratch the surface. From household names like Rocket Raccoon and Groot to the boozy aliens known as the Ciegrimites, here are 20 of the strangest species Marvel has to offer. 

A member of the Guardians, Rocket is a genetically and cybernetically engineered raccoon from the planet Halfworld. He cracks wise, totes guns, pilots ships and conceals a heart of gold underneath his prickly exterior. Together with Groot, a sentient, ambulatory tree, he roamed the galaxy picking up bounties until Star-Lord recruited him to help him sell an orb containing an Infinity Stone to Taneleer Tivan, also known as the Collector. 

The aforementioned tree, Groot is a Flora colossus from Planet X. Despite being a timber of few words—”I am Groot” is his sole refrain—Groot is an expert inquasi-dimensional super-positional engineering. Near the end of the first movie, Groot sacrifices himself to save the lives of his new friends, but Rocket saves a sprig, which is seen sprouting into a Baby Groot in a post-credits scene. 

Dubbed the “most dangerous woman in the whole galaxy,” Gamora is a green-skinned Zen-Whoberi who was adopted by Thanos the Mad Titan as a child and raised to be a ruthless assassin. At least, until she betrays him in the first movie by stealing the orb and attempting to pawn it off to the Collector. When Ronan the Accuser makes off with the orb, Gamora makes a last stand with her fellow Guardians to reclaim it.

Yondu Udonta may not technically be Star-Lord’s father, but he’s probably the closest thing he has to one, even if the Centaurian space pirate was responsible for kidnapping young Peter Quill in the first place. In the comics, Yondu is depicted with blue skin and a large red mohawk-like fin on his head. He’s able to control arrows made from yaka, a sound-sensitive metal found only on his planet, by whistling. 

Howard the Duck, an anthropomorphic, well, duck, from Duckworld makes a cameo in a post-credit scene in the first “Guardians of the Galaxy, but he’s probably best known for his widely panned foray into film in 1986. How he wound up among the Collector’s exhibits remains a mystery, but his comic-book counterpart found himself in the middle of the Florida Everglades after a demon known as Thog the Nether-Spawn used his magic to tilt the interdimensional cosmic axis. 

Ego the Living Planetis a member of a god-like race known as the Celestials. An intelligent, self-aware planet that feasts on unsuspecting interplanetary travelers, Ego possesses a brain-like organ, a digestive tract and an immune system that can dispatch antibody-esque beings to fend off intruders. Besides its ability to shape its terrain at will — it frequently manifests a giant face when speaking to others — Ego can also spawn humanoid avatars if it so chooses. 

Eschewing her human comic-book origins in favor of a more extraterrestrial one, the cinematic Mantis is an alien with antennas who uses touch to experience the feelings of others. She can also use her powers to manipulate emotions or induce sleep. 

Taneleer Tivan, better known as the Collector, only looks like Benicio del Toro, at least in the movies. In reality, he’s a powerful alien billions of years old and virtually immortal. To occupy his time, Taneleer began scouring the universe for artifacts and life-forms he found rare, valuable or interesting, enough to fill up about 10 museum-worlds. 

Immortal, indestructible, and one of the oldest cosmic entities in the universe, the Phoenix Force is described in the comics as the “embodiment of the very passion of Creation — the spark that gave life to the Universe, the flame that will ultimately consume it.” It famously transformed Jean Grey of the X-Men into Phoenix, and later, Dark Phoenix, who inadvertently destroys a planet of 5 billion people after exhausting the energy of a nearby star. 

A member of the Inhuman Royal Family, Lockjaw resembles a giant bulldog with a two-pronged antenna on its forehead. Whether he’s an Inhuman dog or an Inhuman who just looks like a dog is unclear, but Lockjaw can teleport himself — and up to a dozen people — across incalculable distances and dimensions. 

Brought to Earth by Spider-Man, Venom bonded with the web slinger for a time as a black suit before going on to possess Eddie Brock, Deadpool and Flash Thompson, among others. It hails from a race of extraterrestrial parasites known as Symbiotes, which endow their hosts with extraordinary physical abilities in order to feed off their adrenaline. 

Galactus, the “devourer of worlds,” emerged from the death of a previous universe. Likely the most powerful character in Marvel’s pantheon, he maintains his near-omnipotent powers by consuming the life energies of entire worlds.

The Silver Surfer is exactly that: a surfboard-riding humanoid clad in metallic skin. As one of Galactus’ “heralds,” he coasts through interstellar space and hyperspace, seeking planets for Galactus to devour. 

No-Name is a member of a species of parasitic insectoids known as the Brood, which scour the galaxy to find hosts for the spawn. A gladiator on the planet Sakaar, where she meets the Hulk, No-Name is characterized by her fangs, wings and a giant stinging tail. 

Depicted with green skin, pointy ears and furrowed chins, the Skrulls are warlike aliens who can take on the appearance of almost any form, organic and inorganic. Besides being masters of infiltration, they can also use their abilities to sprout weapons from their bodies, making them formidable combatants as well. 

The Dire Wraiths are a branch of Skrulls that evolved into their own distinct species. Like their distant relatives, the Dire Wraiths can also shape-shift. Through vaguely humanoid in shape, their true forms include red or orange skin, small beaks, pincer-like limbs and long, spike-tipped tongues, which they use to suck out the brains of their prey. 

Similar to the Borg in “Star Trek,” the Phalanx is a cybernetic species that shares a hive mind. Phalanx result when organic life-forms are infected with the Transmode virus by the Technarchy, a techno-organic race with shape-shifting powers.  

The reptilian-like Badoon consist of two factions split across gender lines: the militaristic Brotherhood of the Badoon, who live on the planet Moord, and the more pacifist Sisterhood of the Badoon, who dwell on Lotiara. 

The Druffs are short-statured creatures that reproduce asexually and possess a childlike intelligence and timidity. Considered pests by the Skrulls, Druff populations are routinely culled. The fuzz-covered aliens have managed to proliferate on other worlds, however, by stowing away aboard various starships. 

Resembling upright snails, the Ciegrimites have eyes on stalks and a carapace that wraps around their backs and torsos. They’re described as capitalistic, hedonistic and particularly talented in the art of making alcohol, which they use to barter for technology.