Harvesting the Uncanny Valley...

[Ragenaut]

Hello, Cookies McSalsa here, here to ask how to effectively use the Uncanny Valley, what material would be good to reference for uncanny horror, and specifically, how to properly portray an alien race very similar to humanity, yet twisted in ways that we would find "kinda creepy".

This is for an RP I am creating, and the RPers will be playing as these Uncanny aliens. Thanks for reading, and thanks in advance for the advice and references.

 

[Morph]

Facial expressions and body language in general. Humans instinctively pick up on them, and if they don't quite seem right, they make us feel uneasy. An obvious one, for example, is when someone stares right at you but their eyes are a bit unfocused.

Another possibility is, when you're performing an action that you're expected to repeat a certain number of times, don't repeat it that many times. For example, when clapping, most people clap at least three times. If you clap twice, they're not going to be able to shake the feeling that something's been left unresolved, and that will unsettle them. Knock on a door only once. Crack only one knuckle at a time. Break an egg with several quick, weak strikes instead of one or two strong ones.

Delay breaking eye contact for a beat longer than normal.

Grasp hands, but delay before shaking them.

That's what I have off the top of my head.

 

[Conman2163]

@Morph is certainly on the right track.

The more something feels incomplete or out of place, the more the human brain will want to finish it or fix it. Since you can't very well make someone else finish clapping, they feel naturally uncomfortable. It has a lot to do with human psychology and the like. I could give you a whole psychology lesson on it, but i'll spare you my psychology 1 lesson and let you google it or go on without knowing instead.

Another great thing to look for is subtle changes in physical stature. For example, most humans walk upright, and face forwards. Perhaps these aliens slouch, shamble, and look over their shoulder constantly?

Another good thing to go for is gross incongruence in the size of their body parts. For example, you have an alien who is humanoid, but has a massive right leg and a tiny left arm. Due to the way the human brain works, it is going to look very unnatural and unnerving to the average person.


Those are just some of the things off the top of my own head.

 

[RainQueen]

If we're talking specifically the uncanny valley, then you're looking to make a reproduction of life that is so close that the replication causes it to become frightening. So if the thing, for example, is a baby (but actually an alien), I assume it would be almost entirely baby-like but have a small detail that seems off. Something that is close enough to feel real, but also different enough to cause the mind to race and second guess it. Perhaps the thing in question is attempting to put up this charade; but it wouldn't know everything that a real baby would know. So it's pretending but pretending so well that it becomes disturbing. The more realistic (but slightly off) you can make it, the creepier it would be.