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Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/44928
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

Source: https://writers.stackexchange.com/a/44928
License name: CC BY-SA 3.0
License URL: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/

# I say, ignore it. Sort of.

I think you're right that the primary characteristics aren't the problem but it's all in how you flesh the race out. If your goal is humanoid aliens with human levels of communication skills and intelligence and a culture that is mutually intelligible (aliens you'd bump into in Star Trek or Supergirl or any of a thousand other works), there aren't many directions to choose from.

What you want to avoid is:

- Names that are too similar to known ones. No "Klingins" for example.
- Very specific characteristics made famous by others (unless you can really pull it off). "On the third hand."
- Groupings of stereotypical characteristics that will make people think of the race. "Huge human-like ears and incredibly greedy and stingy with money...hmmm..."

My suggestion is to show what you've got to some geeky friends and ask them if they see similarities (don't say with whom). If they do, then make some changes.

There are some things you can easily tweak before publication. But others would require a large amount of rewriting. So anything big like that, you do want to figure out before you get too far.

Most similarities people notice will come from culture and not looks. Avoid making [Planets of Hats](https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PlanetOfHats) and that eliminates a large portion of the problem.

Original score: 13