Martians (HG wells)

The **Martians** (also known as "**Molluscs**" or "**Sarmaks**") are a race of aliens from the planet Mars, who tried to invade Earth when their own homeworld became overrun with Ice Warriors and later became uninhabitable. Despite their primitive appearance, their intelligence and technology far exceeded our own prior to the invasion.

The main focus of Martian anatomy is their brains. Although they do have a heart and a bulky set of lungs they lack any sort of digestive system and so they feed via blood transfusion from other beings; on Mars, these are humanoid creatures native to the planet, on Earth, human beings are used as a substitute.

Their reduced musculature system means that they don't need to sleep and in fact are constantly active.

Martians reproduce asexually by growing polyps on the side of their bodies, due to having no actual gender.

The Martians on Earth were eventually killed by earth-borne bacteria, of which their immune systems couldn't cope due to having destroyed diseases on their home world of Mars.

## Language

Little is known about the Martian language. They seem to use telepathy to communicate, and have very little spoken words. There is one exception: "Ulla" which is a form of war cry and it is uttered when the Martians are dying.

The fighting machines have been stated to hoot "Aloo!" multiple times throughout the story, however it is not clear whether it's the Martians communicating or simply the machines automatically doing so.

## Fighting-machines

The fighting machine, also known as a tripod and very rarely as a thing, is the main war machine used by the martians in their attempt to conquer Earth.

The fighting-machines are assembled in the Martian pits by handling-machinesbefore activation *and* each tripod possesses an unspecified number of tentacles, one of which can retract into the tripod when its primary weapon, the Heat-Ray, is not in use. The tentacles are also able to hold a Magnetic Acceleration Cannon. Tentacles were also used in the novel to pick up people, throw them at objects, and even rip up small trees, indicating a high degree of strength and precision.

The head is described as a "brazen" hood that holds the Martian pilot. Whether "brazen" here refers to the hood being made of a brass-like substance or its attitude is uncertain. The head can turn in any direction. The tripod as a whole appears as if it is made from a substance similar to aluminum.

The Martian tripod also is composed of a segment known as the "body", for which there are few details. The body apparently contains a jet, which can fire pressurized steam in order to dissipate black smoke. This steam is capable of breaking glass, and would surely cause a nasty burn, but is not shown in use as a weapon. There are also three legs. The novel never shows tripod legs being used to injure anyone directly, although this is a common occurrence in later works.

On the back of each tripod is what looks like a metal fishing basket, which it uses to hold humans that it captures with its tentacles.

The tripods in the original book could be destroyed by human weapons, usually artillery, although losses were usually heavier for the humans than the Martians. A number of later works assert that this is impossible.

According to one instance in the book, the machine gives off a howl that is given as "Aloo!" However, this should not be confused with "Ulla", a sound given off by the Martians themselves.

The assembly process of the fighting machines is somewhat uncertain. When the Martians first arrive at earth, they erect a device which functions like a heat ray to defend themselves. Later on, they are said to have moved in something like a large covered dish, which is probably the hood of a fighting machine, and some components of the vehicle itself not yet set up in a fully erect form.

The Narrator discusses the fighting machines emitting a luminous green smoke from joints. A mechanical system which mimics the motions of muscles, and a number of sliding bearings are also mentioned as being integral to fighting machine technology. The devices also apparently contain large quantities of some brown fluid, which is seen to leak out when one is destroyed at Weybridge. This brown substance may turn a more reddish colour, and clump up while in water, but this is uncertain, as so many details in the novel are left slightly ambiguous.

## Humans

the humans were first addressed of the situation when two humans used a modified time machine to warn the government. The humans otherwise were not very good at stopping them, as the Martians took over and were immediately killed by the atmosphere.

## Alliance of evil

they were not directly associated with the alliance, but occasionally used them as backup when attacking worlds.