Humanoid

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Humanoid is a term that describes anything with a largely human shape; the word can be used as a noun or an adjective. A humanoid is bilaterally symmetrical with two arms for manipulating objects and two legs for locomotion. These connect to a central torso with a head atop (when the humanoid is standing upright). A humanoid will typically have two eyes, two ears, a nose, and a mouth on the front of the head.

Humanoids in Science Fiction

The vast majority of alien species and artificial beings in science fiction are humanoids. It is likely that authors choose to write about humanoids because both they and their readers can more easily relate to beings much like us.

In science fiction movies and television, humanoid species are far easier to depict simply because humanoid aliens and androids can be portrayed by human actors.

Humanoids in Star Trek

In Star Trek, most sentient species are humanoids because an ancient humanoid race seeded planets all over the galaxy with genetic programming designed to cause humanoid races to evolve[1]. This makes no scientific sense, but it is the reality of the Star Trek setting.

References

  1. TNG "The Chase"