Our Independence Day Aliens guide has everything you need to know about everyone’s favorite destroyers of mankind
It’s a common misconception that the aliens from Independence Day invaded the Earth on the 4th of July. Even 20th Century Fox’s recent Las Vegas Ruins viral video got that wrong. Within the world of the film, the aliens arrived on July 2 and attacked on July 3. The 4th of July was the day we fought back.
After 20 years, the aliens are back this week in Independence Day: Resurgence, the long-awaited sequel by director Roland Emmerich which reunites most of the ID4 cast as history repeats itself. But what do we know about these aliens? The original Independence Day didn’t go out of its way to give the invaders a backstory or even a name. Presumably, that choice was made to keep the focus on the film’s ensemble cast. But there are clues in the first ID4 and the ancillary material for the sequel which can help fill in the gaps of our knowledge about our unfriendly visitors from another world.
Independence Day Aliens Guide: The Space Locusts
It’s telling that alien invaders don’t appear to have names for themselves as individuals or as a species. Former President Whitmore (Bill Pullman) said it best in ID4: “They’re like locusts.” When Whitmore attempted to bargain for peace, he got a first-hand view of their plan to take Earth’s natural resources and exterminate humanity, just as they had done on countless inhabited planets before.
Independence Day Aliens Guide: Telepathy
Independence Day Aliens Guide: Technology
The ancillary ID4 media suggests that the aliens’ technology was grown, not built. Somehow, they managed to create an armada (or two) that is capable of wiping out whole planets. But here’s an interesting tidbit: the aliens don’t appear to have mastered simple radio transmissions. Remember, the only reason that David Levinson (Jeff Goldblum) knew that the aliens were up to no good came when he realized that they were using the Earth’s satellite network as relay for a simultaneous strike on the largest cities.
You’d think an advanced alien race wouldn’t need to rely on inferior human technology. But because they did, the human race had a fighting chance in the War of 1996.
Independence Day Aliens Guide: Return Visits
The fact that an alien craft was waiting at Area 51 in ID4 is proof that the invaders came to Earth decades before their attack, possibly in a suicide or scouting mission. The so-called Roswell incident proved to be very fortunate for humanity, since it led to the ultimate victory over the invaders.
Independence Day Aliens Guide: Physiology
The Independence Day aliens may look intimidating, but if Will Smith’s Steven Hiller can punch out an alien in full armor, then maybe that’s why they rarely seen outside of their ships. Or perhaps that particular alien had a glass jaw. Despite the obvious physical differences between the aliens and humans, there are some similarities. Both species appear to have some things in common, including the ability to walk on two legs. The aliens also have only two fingers on each hand, and two toes on each foot.
Independence Day Aliens Guide: The War Never Really Ends
According to the War of 1996 website, the ultimate defeat of the Independence Day aliens was not instantaneous. A group of alien fighters held out for over a decade in the Congo. That may be why there are live prisoner aliens at the start of the line. Those prisoners may have even alerted the other alien fleet to seek vengeance against humanity.
