The Martians , also known as the Invaders , are the main antagonists from the H.G. Wells 1898 novel The War of the Worlds . Their efforts to exterminate the populace of the Earth and claim the planet for themselves drive the plot and present challenges for the novel's human characters. They are notable for their use of extraterrestrial weaponry far in advance of that of mankind at the time of the invasion.
127-448: The Martians are described as octopus -like creatures: the "body" consisting of a disembodied head nearly 4 ft (1.22 m) across, having two eyes; a V-shaped, beak-like mouth; and two branches each of eight 'almost whip-like' tentacles , grouped around the mouth, referred to as the 'hands'. They reproduce asexually , by "budding" off from a parent. Internally, the Martians consist of
254-456: A crab , similar to the 'handling-machine' of the original novel. In the sequel War of the Worlds 2: The Next Wave , the antagonists are the "squid-walkers", a cybernetic race of tripods controlled by a single entity inside their mothership. Inside the mothership, humans are kept alive and their blood is filtered, homogenised, and fed to the aliens. They are killed by infected blood injected into
381-531: A disintegration ray , for the defence of Earth. Edison and company fight the aliens in space and on Mars, eventually causing a flood that defeats the enemy and forces an end to hostilities. Serviss wrote himself into the story as a professor whom Edison consults; also appearing are scientists such as Edward Emerson Barnard , Lord Kelvin , Wilhelm Röntgen , and Silvanus P. Thompson , and heads of state such as Queen Victoria , U.S. President William McKinley , Kaiser Wilhelm II , and Emperor Mutsuhito . The book
508-428: A rabies vaccine, with hope that " life fighting life " can stop them when guns and bombs have failed. At the end of the film, the aliens curiously stand paralysed when infected. Survivors confirm that they were infected by an airborne virus. They are not given the name "Martian" in the film, but are only named "aliens" once in the film, and a few times as " demons " by a Pastor . Their machines have six legs and resemble
635-502: A theropod , or to the Xenomorph queen). The biological needs of this race are largely unknown. They somehow "ride lightning" in small transport pods during a storm to reach their buried Tripods. They require human blood ; but only as part of their xenoforming project. Throughout the film, their tripods spill blood that is presumably connected to the invaders' needs (indeed, in the script David Koepp refers to it as "lifeblood", though it
762-496: A "queer hooting" sound, but attributes it to the exhalation of air prior to fatally transfusing blood from their human victims. Some evidence of audible communication is associated with the Martian Fighting-Machine, which are described emitting siren-like "Aloo, aloo" calls, and the repeated "Ulla, ulla" call (similar to a cry of alarm or despair) that echoes throughout London after the mass death from bacterial infection of
889-595: A Martian raid 9,000 years before. During this raid, the Martians also constructed the Great Pyramids and the Great Sphynx in Egypt , the latter of which is a statue of their leader. Aina advises Edison that meeting the Martians in battle would be fruitless, and that they should instead attack the dams that channel water from the polar ice. Since most of Mars' cities are under sea level, the flood spreads rapidly, killing most of
1016-530: A brain, lungs, heart, and blood vessels ; they have no organs for digestion , and therefore sustain themselves on Earth by mechanically transfusing blood via pipettes from other animals, notably humans. The ear, a single tympanic membrane located on the back of the head, is believed "useless" in Earth's denser atmosphere. The Martians' arrival on Earth is aboard large, cylindrical spacecraft launched from some kind of immense space gun on Mars. Their chief weapon of war
1143-482: A captive, from whom they learn the Martian language. The humans reach Mars, but in spite of their superior forces they have lost half their men to the Martians' overwhelming numbers. The Martians envelop the planet in a smoke screen, and the humans retreat to the moon Deimos . During a raid on Mars for supplies, the earth men find Aina, the last of a population of human slaves whose ancestors were captured from Kashmir in
1270-410: A clutch of eggs. Females will spend all their time aerating and protecting their eggs until they are ready to hatch. During senescence, an octopus does not feed and quickly weakens. Lesions begin to form and the octopus literally degenerates. Unable to defend themselves, octopuses often fall prey to predators. This makes most octopuses effectively semelparous . The larger Pacific striped octopus (LPSO)
1397-529: A delicacy by humans in many parts of the world, especially the Mediterranean and the Asian seas. The scientific Latin term octopus was derived from Ancient Greek ὀκτώπους ( oktōpous ), a compound form of ὀκτώ ( oktō , 'eight') and πούς ( pous , 'foot'), itself a variant form of ὀκτάπους , a word used for example by Alexander of Tralles ( c. 525 – c. 605 ) for
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#17328845098501524-596: A den without having to retrace their outward route. They are not migratory. Octopuses bring captured prey to the den, where they can eat it safely. Sometimes the octopus catches more prey than it can eat, and the den is often surrounded by a midden of dead and uneaten food items. Other creatures, such as fish, crabs , molluscs and echinoderms , often share the den with the octopus, either because they have arrived as scavengers , or because they have survived capture. On rare occasions, octopuses hunt cooperatively with other species , with fish as their partners. They regulate
1651-443: A fish, and are enclosed in a cartilaginous capsule fused to the cranium. The cornea is formed from a translucent epidermal layer; the slit-shaped pupil forms a hole in the iris just behind the cornea. The lens is suspended behind the pupil; photoreceptive retinal cells cover the back of the eye. The pupil can be adjusted in size; a retinal pigment screens incident light in bright conditions. Some species differ in form from
1778-400: A hole in the shell to inject a nerve toxin . It used to be thought that the hole was drilled by the radula, but it has now been shown that minute teeth at the tip of the salivary papilla are involved, and an enzyme in the toxic saliva is used to dissolve the calcium carbonate of the shell. It takes about three hours for O. vulgaris to create a 0.6 mm (0.024 in) hole. Once the shell
1905-402: A jet of water from the mantle through the siphon into the sea. The physical principle behind this is that the force required to accelerate the water through the orifice produces a reaction that propels the octopus in the opposite direction. The direction of travel depends on the orientation of the siphon. When swimming, the head is at the front and the siphon is pointed backward but, when jetting,
2032-420: A jet of water. Octopuses have a complex nervous system and excellent sight, and are among the most intelligent and behaviourally diverse of all invertebrates . Octopuses inhabit various regions of the ocean , including coral reefs , pelagic waters, and the seabed ; some live in the intertidal zone and others at abyssal depths . Most species grow quickly, mature early, and are short-lived. In most species,
2159-515: A mantle pressure so high as to stop the heart from beating, resulting in a progressive oxygen deficit. Cirrate octopuses cannot produce jet propulsion and rely on their fins for swimming. They have neutral buoyancy and drift through the water with the fins extended. They can also contract their arms and surrounding web to make sudden moves known as "take-offs". Another form of locomotion is "pumping", which involves symmetrical contractions of muscles in their webs producing peristaltic waves . This moves
2286-525: A new spin on the invaders was in a pilot presentation made by George Pal for an unrealized War of the Worlds TV series. Though Pal's 1953 film is established as a basis for the look of the invaders and their technology (their war machines bearing no clear dissimilarities), there is no seeming intended continuation. These invaders, depicted only in production art, only differ in certain detail as they appear leaner and their cyclopean eye sporting apparently only
2413-550: A planet that exploded to form the asteroid belt ; they then settled on Mars, driving the native species into extinction before launching similar wars against the races of Mercury, Venus, the Moon, and finally Earth. (A similar concept appears in Diane Duane's A Wizard of Mars .) The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume II , also has the Martians being as foreign to the existing Martian civilization as they are to Earth, and evacuate
2540-589: A result of their exposure to bacteria . These aliens do have a language, uttered amongst themselves at some point, and there is logographic writing seen on their tripods. In Sherlock Holmes' War of the Worlds , Professor Challenger theorizes to Sherlock Holmes that the Martians came from another, wetter planet due to their seeming familiarity with the ocean while battling the Thunder Child ; their small lungs (which would have been inadequate in Mars' atmosphere); and
2667-492: A second race of Martian appear in the dominant race's cylindrical transport vessels, presumably for use as their food supply while in transit; however, they are all killed before the Martians reach Earth. These secondary Martians are bipedal, nearly 6 ft (1.83 m) tall, and have "round, erect heads, and large eyes in flinty sockets"; however, their fragile physical structure, made up of weak skeletons and muscles, would have been broken by Earth's heavier gravitational pull. It
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#17328845098502794-571: A sequel to The War of the Worlds published in the 2013 George R. R. Martin and Gardner Dozois anthology Old Mars , the Wells Martians are named the Uliri. Octopus (traditional) See § Evolution for families An octopus ( pl. : octopuses or octopodes ) is a soft-bodied, eight-limbed mollusc of the order Octopoda ( / ɒ k ˈ t ɒ p ə d ə / , ok- TOP -ə-də ). The order consists of some 300 species and
2921-488: A shelter, an example of tool use . Octopuses use camouflage when hunting and to avoid predators. To do this, they use specialised skin cells that change the appearance of the skin by adjusting its colour, opacity, or reflectivity. Chromatophores contain yellow, orange, red, brown, or black pigments; most species have three of these colours, while some have two or four. Other colour-changing cells are reflective iridophores and white leucophores. This colour-changing ability
3048-405: A similar sound to the "Ulla" Wells described. The aliens crash to Earth in cylinders , which more closely resemble a meteorite (a similar aspect was used in the 1953 film adaptation), and spread their red weed during the invasion. They feed on human blood, extracted from the human prisoners via a Handling-machine. For these reasons, a character names them " vampires ." In Sherlock Holmes's War of
3175-432: A single photoreceptor protein may use chromatic aberration to turn monochromatic vision into colour vision, though this sacrifices image quality. This would explain pupils shaped like the letter "U", the letter "W", or a dumbbell , as well as the need for colourful mating displays. Attached to the brain are two organs called statocysts (sac-like structures containing a mineralised mass and sensitive hairs), that allow
3302-410: A single color. The most notable difference is that these aliens are not stated to be Martians. In part of the series' set-up, humanity sends ships to pursue the defeated invaders. Instead of chasing them to Mars, they are tracked down to the distant Alpha Centauri . It is then revealed that these aliens are not even the main villains, but rather an underling race to a greater force that is not revealed in
3429-407: A single indisputable record of an octopus in the hadal zone ; a species of Grimpoteuthis (dumbo octopus) photographed at 6,957 m (22,825 ft). No species are known to live in fresh water. Most species are solitary when not mating, though a few are known to occur in high densities and with frequent interactions, such as signaling, mate defending and evicting individuals from dens. This
3556-497: A striking confirmation of the speculations of our terrestrial phrenologists . His broad, mis-shapen head bulged in those parts where they had placed the so-called organs of combativeness, destructiveness, etc. Also in Edison's Conquest of Mars , a number of Martians were said to have managed to return to Mars after their compatriots died out, by building another space cylinder and launching it from Bergen County , New Jersey . The blast of
3683-425: A surface, the orifice between the two structures is sealed. The infundibulum provides adhesion while the acetabulum remains free, and muscle contractions allow for attachment and detachment. Each of the eight arms senses and responds to light, allowing the octopus to control the limbs even if its head is obscured. The eyes of the octopus are large and at the top of the head. They are similar in structure to those of
3810-435: A systemic or main heart that circulates blood around the body and two branchial or gill hearts that pump it through each of the two gills. The systemic heart becomes inactive when the animal is swimming. Thus the octopus tires quickly and prefers to crawl. Octopus blood contains the copper -rich protein haemocyanin to transport oxygen. This makes the blood very viscous and it requires considerable pressure to pump it around
3937-443: A test run; using the first known fictional depiction of space suits . There the explorers uncover evidence of an extinct civilization of giants. The armada heads on, discovering a solid gold asteroid being mined by the Martians. The humans fight two space battles against the Martians, suffering heavy casualties but ultimately winning thanks to the superiority of Edison's ray gun compared to the Martians' electric weapons. The humans take
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4064-407: A tripod stand"; but these are not used as war-machines, and the extraterrestrials commanding them do not use humans as prey. Not all of the antagonistic invaders are from Mars . Because science has revealed that the red planet is devoid of intelligent life, the concept of using Martians is sometimes dropped from some adaptations as it is no longer deemed realistic. One of the earliest known to take
4191-571: A vocal speech. Around 7500 BC they visited Earth, and constructed the Pyramids of Giza and Great Sphinx of Giza as a memorial to their leader. When a plague forced them to return to Mars, they brought with them a number of humans from the Fertile Crescent (transported to Egypt ), whose descendants continued to serve as slaves to the Martians until they were wiped out in the aftermath of the Martian invasion of Earth, due to Martian fears of humans. At
4318-436: A water jet. Before it leaves the funnel, the ink passes through glands which mix it with mucus, creating a thick, dark blob which allows the animal to escape from a predator. The main pigment in the ink is melanin , which gives it its black colour. Cirrate octopuses usually lack the ink sac. Octopuses are gonochoric and have a single, posteriorly-located gonad which is associated with the coelom . The testis in males and
4445-446: Is Octopus wolfi , which is around 2.5 cm (1 in) and weighs less than 1 g (0.035 oz). The octopus is bilaterally symmetrical along its dorso-ventral (back to belly) axis; the head and foot are at one end of an elongated body and function as the anterior (front) of the animal. The head includes the mouth and brain. The foot has evolved into a set of flexible, prehensile appendages , known as "arms", that surround
4572-430: Is octopuses , that octopi is misconceived, and octopodes pedantic ; the last is nonetheless used frequently enough to be acknowledged by the descriptivist Merriam-Webster 11th Collegiate Dictionary and Webster's New World College Dictionary . The Oxford English Dictionary lists octopuses , octopi , and octopodes , in that order, reflecting frequency of use, calling octopodes rare and noting that octopi
4699-475: Is a third-declension noun. Historically, the first plural to commonly appear in English language sources, in the early 19th century, is the latinate form octopi , followed by the English form octopuses in the latter half of the same century. The Hellenic plural is roughly contemporary in usage, although it is also the rarest. Fowler's Modern English Usage states that the only acceptable plural in English
4826-403: Is a spiked, muscular tongue-like organ with multiple rows of tiny teeth. Food is broken down and is forced into the oesophagus by two lateral extensions of the esophageal side walls in addition to the radula. From there it is transferred to the gastrointestinal tract , which is mostly suspended from the roof of the mantle cavity by numerous membranes. The tract consists of a crop , where the food
4953-430: Is added to the pericardia of the branchial hearts. The octopus has two nephridia (equivalent to vertebrate kidneys) which are associated with the branchial hearts; these and their associated ducts connect the pericardial cavities with the mantle cavity. Before reaching the branchial heart, each branch of the vena cava expands to form renal appendages which are in direct contact with the thin-walled nephridium. The urine
5080-451: Is also used to communicate with or warn other octopuses. The energy cost of the complete activation of the chromatophore system is very high equally being nearly as much as all the energy used by an octopus at rest. Octopuses can create distracting patterns with waves of dark colouration across the body, a display known as the "passing cloud". Muscles in the skin change the texture of the mantle to achieve greater camouflage. In some species,
5207-500: Is an exception, as it can reproduce repeatedly over a life of around two years. Octopus reproductive organs mature due to the hormonal influence of the optic gland but result in the inactivation of their digestive glands. Unable to feed, the octopus typically dies of starvation. Experimental removal of both optic glands after spawning was found to result in the cessation of broodiness , the resumption of feeding, increased growth, and greatly extended lifespans. It has been proposed that
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5334-522: Is based on a misunderstanding. The New Oxford American Dictionary (3rd Edition, 2010) lists octopuses as the only acceptable pluralisation, and indicates that octopodes is still occasionally used, but that octopi is incorrect. The giant Pacific octopus (Enteroctopus dofleini) is often cited as the largest known octopus species. Adults usually weigh around 15 kg (33 lb), with an arm span of up to 4.3 m (14 ft). The largest specimen of this species to be scientifically documented
5461-406: Is because my aliens are not from Mars. They [the aliens] probably come from as far away as E.T , but a much darker part of the universe. " Physiologically, these creatures have greenish/grey-colored skin, and are tripodal. Each limb ends with three fingers (resembling those from Byron Haskin's 1953 film version), and they also have two small limbs, also with three fingers, on their chest (similar to
5588-421: Is described as rose-colored, rather than the film's orange). Their red weed (or creeper) is left behind as residue of their Tripod experiments. In the climactic scene of the film, a downed tripod opens a hatch that belches the liquid before one of the sickly creatures crawls forth. The death of these invaders is evident as they seemingly dehydrate upon their death; but this occurs only in the end, and thus may be
5715-623: Is established that they often claim victory before it is accomplished, do not admit to their mistakes, and with the exception of the Advocacy, those who fail are executed. Virtually nothing is known about the alien invaders in Steven Spielberg 's 2005 film adaptation of War of the Worlds . On the DVD's 'Behind the Scenes' feature, Spielberg says " The reason the word "Martian" is never said in this film
5842-411: Is first formed in the pericardial cavity, and is modified by excretion, chiefly of ammonia, and selective absorption from the renal appendages, as it is passed along the associated duct and through the nephridiopore into the mantle cavity. Octopuses (along with cuttlefish ) have the highest brain-to-body mass ratios of all invertebrates; this is greater than that of many vertebrates. Octopuses have
5969-460: Is grouped within the class Cephalopoda with squids , cuttlefish , and nautiloids . Like other cephalopods, an octopus is bilaterally symmetric with two eyes and a beaked mouth at the centre point of the eight limbs. The soft body can radically alter its shape, enabling octopuses to squeeze through small gaps. They trail their eight appendages behind them as they swim. The siphon is used both for respiration and for locomotion , by expelling
6096-450: Is likely the result of abundant food supplies combined with limited den sites. The LPSO has been described as particularly social, living in groups of up to 40 individuals. Octopuses hide in dens, which are typically crevices in rocky outcrops or other hard structures, though some species burrow into sand or mud. Octopuses are not territorial but generally remain in a home range; they may leave in search of food. They can navigate back to
6223-476: Is not confirmed on-screen until midway through the season that they originate from a world named Mor-Tax . With their beautiful planet becoming uninhabitable from a dying star, they invade Earth with plans to take it over to preserve the traits that it shares with their old world. Their society is highly collective with the only sense of division in the form of their ternary caste system: a high-ranking and seemingly infallible ruling class (itself divided between
6350-399: Is only the male, for the species exhibits sexual dimorphism . To Earthlings, they appear unpleasant. The Martian women, however, are graceful and beautiful. The residents of Ceres are at war with the Martians. However, they are only mentioned, except for a female slave who is 40 feet tall. The 'Cerenites' are this height due to the reduced gravity of their world. When Edison's men land on
6477-432: Is penetrated, the prey dies almost instantaneously, its muscles relax, and the soft tissues are easy for the octopus to remove. Crabs may also be treated in this way; tough-shelled species are more likely to be drilled, and soft-shelled crabs are torn apart. Some species have other modes of feeding. Grimpoteuthis has a reduced or non-existent radula and swallows prey whole. In the deep-sea genus Stauroteuthis , some of
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#17328845098506604-549: Is possible that these creatures are not native Martians, but similar to the Selenites described in Wells's other interplanetary work, The First Men in the Moon . Based on their physical features, the Martians might be the descendants of a species similar to human beings, that evolution has reduced to only a large brain and head and two groupings of eight tentacles (hands). They are described as sluggish under terrestrial gravity , which
6731-433: Is roughly three times stronger than that of Mars . It is reported that several Martians attempt to "stand" on their tentacles, implying that they are capable of locomotion in this manner while in Mars' lighter gravity, but not on Earth. Communication between the Martians is never made evident, but the narrator, as he sees Martians working together without audible means, concludes that they use telepathy . He makes mention of
6858-489: Is set following the abortive Martian attack depicted in Fighters from Mars , much more devastating and global than in H. G. Wells ' The War of the Worlds , though in both works the onslaught is thwarted when the aliens die from bacterial illness. Determining that the Martians will inevitably return, Earth's leaders, including U.S. President William McKinley , Queen Victoria , Kaiser Wilhelm II , and Emperor Mutsuhito , unite
6985-565: Is stated that the Martians are an extrasolar race with similarities to both the Elder Things and Great Race of Yith . Edward Guimont argued that the actual Lovecraft drew inspiration for his Cthulhu from Wells' Martians. In the Killraven comics, the "Martians" are an extrasolar race who used Mars as a staging area. The octopus-like aliens of the 1978 game Space Invaders were inspired by Wells' Martians, as game designer Tomohiro Nishikado
7112-437: Is stored; a stomach, where food is ground down; a caecum where the now sludgy food is sorted into fluids and particles and which plays an important role in absorption; the digestive gland , where liver cells break down and absorb the fluid and become "brown bodies"; and the intestine, where the accumulated waste is turned into faecal ropes by secretions and blown out of the funnel via the rectum. During osmoregulation , fluid
7239-483: Is the Heat-Ray, a directed-energy weapon capable of incinerating any organism it strikes. This is mounted on an articulated arm attached to the front of the tall tripod, called a 'fighting-machine' in Wells' novel, which travels across the landscape destroying humans and their habitat. A secondary weapon, the "black smoke", is a toxic gas released from canisters launched at a distance from bazooka -like tubes, referred to in
7366-504: Is used by the veined octopus when carrying stacked coconut shells. The octopus carries the shells underneath it with two arms, and progresses with an ungainly gait supported by its remaining arms held rigid. Octopuses are highly intelligent . Maze and problem-solving experiments have shown evidence of a memory system that can store both short- and long-term memory . Young octopuses learn nothing from their parents, as adults provide no parental care beyond tending to their eggs until
7493-454: The Wold Newton family , they are mentioned as possibly related to the kaldanes and Cthulhuoids . The Mars People from the game Metal Slug are inspired by the designs of the Martians. The novel series known as The Tripods features a race of extraterrestrials invading Earth by means of gigantic, three-legged machines compatible with Wells' description of "a great body of machinery on
7620-414: The ovary in females bulges into the gonocoel and the gametes are released here. The gonocoel is connected by the gonoduct to the mantle cavity , which it enters at the gonopore . An optic gland creates hormones that cause the octopus to mature and age and stimulate gamete production. The gland may be triggered by environmental conditions such as temperature, light and nutrition, which thus control
7747-445: The polarisation of light. Colour vision appears to vary from species to species, for example, being present in O. aegina but absent in O. vulgaris . Opsins in the skin respond to different wavelengths of light and help the animals choose a colouration that camouflages them; the chromatophores in the skin can respond to light independently of the eyes. An alternative hypothesis is that cephalopod eyes in species that only have
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#17328845098507874-517: The shared world anthology War of the Worlds: Global Dispatches , has Edgar Rice Burroughs ' inhabitants of Barsoom , Burroughs' vision of Mars, refer to Wells' Martians as "sarmaks", which name has become somewhat popular and appears in the Wold Newton universe and in articles in ERBZine , the official Burroughs fanzine . In Ian McDonald 's short story "The Queen of Night's Aria",
8001-456: The species composition of the hunting group — and the behavior of their partners — by punching them. Nearly all octopuses are predatory; bottom-dwelling octopuses eat mainly crustaceans , polychaete worms , and other molluscs such as whelks and clams ; open-ocean octopuses eat mainly prawns, fish and other cephalopods. Major items in the diet of the giant Pacific octopus include bivalve molluscs such as
8128-447: The 1953 film version. On the DVD's Behind the Scenes feature, actor Jake Busey describes the aliens as looking like "floating pool chairs". It would appear that these Martians also have a need for human blood , and tend to appear mostly at night (possibly because sunlight on Mars is weaker than that on Earth). The cause of their deaths is uncertain, but it is presumably a virus . The main character, George Herbert , injects an alien with
8255-481: The Martians and destroying their civilization. Edison and company force a peace with the surviving Martians, and return home to great celebration. There are three type of aliens in the book. The Martians in this version are not like the squid-like Martians described in H. G. Wells 's story. These Martians are more humanoid with arms, legs and an enormous head with projector-like eyes and bad looking faces. When they rise, they are 15 feet (4.6 meters) high. However this
8382-434: The Martians differ from Wells' version. Despite a lack of verbal language in the novel (with the exception of the battle cry, "Aloo"), for example, many versions give them one nevertheless. In one of the first sequels, 1898's unauthorized Edison's Conquest of Mars , a good deal of text is spent describing the Martians. In illustrations and descriptions, they are made to resemble bug-eyed, 15-foot-tall human figures, and have
8509-440: The Martians. Despite their advancement, the Martians' technology lacks the wheel, and it is implied they are ignorant of disease and decomposition. It is theorized that their advanced technology eliminated whatever indigenous diseases were present on Mars, and so they no longer remembered their effects. Ultimately, their lack of knowledge or preparation against any bacteria indigenous to Earth, causes their destruction here (though
8636-572: The Moon, they discover that the Moon was, at one point, capable of supporting life. Only a giant footprint is seen, leaving the reader (and the characters) wondering what was once there. Serviss' first attempt at fiction, the book was published serially in the New York Journal . Serviss went on to write other science fiction stories, arguably making him the first American to write science fiction professionally. An early example of what would later be called space opera , Edison's Conquest of Mars
8763-447: The Worlds , in which Sir Arthur Conan Doyle 's Sherlock Holmes , Dr. Watson , and Professor Challenger battle the aliens, it is hinted that the Martians may have accelerated their evolution using selective breeding and eugenics , and that their original body type may have resembled the form of the tripods . It is also made clear that the aliens are not Martians, but originate from a more distant planet flooded with water, which puts
8890-491: The Worlds , the Martians return to Earth in the year 2001 in an alternate, post apocalypse version of the Marvel universe. Killraven, alongside other heroes such as Spider-Man fight the Martians and their human slaves. The Martians would later have a small appearance in 2010's The Avengers volume 4. When Kang 's interference of the timestream shatters it, random events of history occur in present-day New York City , including
9017-486: The adults. In the argonaut (paper nautilus), the female secretes a fine, fluted, papery shell in which the eggs are deposited and in which she also resides while floating in mid-ocean. In this she broods the young, and it also serves as a buoyancy aid allowing her to adjust her depth. The male argonaut is minute by comparison and has no shell. Octopuses have short lifespans, and some species complete their lifecycles in only six months. The Giant Pacific octopus , one of
9144-402: The arms are covered with circular, adhesive suckers. The suckers allow the octopus to anchor itself or to manipulate objects. Each sucker is usually circular and bowl-like and has two distinct parts: an outer shallow cavity called an infundibulum and a central hollow cavity called an acetabulum , both of which are thick muscles covered in a protective chitinous cuticle. When a sucker attaches to
9271-551: The arrival of Killraven and the Martians, piloting their Tripod walking machines. They are defeated by Thor . The Martians later appeared in 2015 in All-New Invaders #11-15. The story was collected under the title " The Martians are Coming ". In the 1953 film adaptation , the Martians are short, brown creatures having three-fingered hands with suction cups at the end of long arms and a cyclopean eye divided into three sections: one red, one green, and one blue. The bottom-half of
9398-433: The blood. Respiration involves drawing water into the mantle cavity through an aperture, passing it through the gills, and expelling it through the siphon. The ingress of water is achieved by contraction of radial muscles in the mantle wall, and flapper valves shut when strong circular muscles force the water out through the siphon. Extensive connective tissue lattices support the respiratory muscles and allow them to expand
9525-517: The body is made of soft tissue allowing it to lengthen, contract, and contort itself. The octopus can squeeze through tiny gaps; even the larger species can pass through an opening close to 2.5 cm (1 in) in diameter. Lacking skeletal support, the arms work as muscular hydrostats and contain longitudinal, transverse and circular muscles around a central axial nerve. They can extend and contract, twist to left or right, bend at any place in any direction or be held rigid. The interior surfaces of
9652-415: The body slowly. In 2005, Adopus aculeatus and veined octopus ( Amphioctopus marginatus ) were found to walk on two arms, while at the same time mimicking plant matter. This form of locomotion allows these octopuses to move quickly away from a potential predator without being recognised. Some species of octopus can crawl out of the water briefly, which they may do between tide pools. "Stilt walking"
9779-418: The body. The blood vessels consist of arteries, capillaries and veins and are lined with a cellular endothelium which is quite unlike that of most other invertebrates . The blood circulates through the aorta and capillary system, to the vena cavae, after which the blood is pumped through the gills by the branchial hearts and back to the main heart. Much of the venous system is contractile, which helps circulate
9906-439: The body; octopuses' blood pressures can exceed 75 mmHg (10 kPa). In cold conditions with low oxygen levels, haemocyanin transports oxygen more efficiently than haemoglobin . The haemocyanin is dissolved in the plasma instead of being carried within blood cells and gives the blood a bluish colour. The systemic heart has muscular contractile walls and consists of a single ventricle and two atria, one for each side of
10033-520: The cockle Clinocardium nuttallii , clams and scallops and crustaceans such as crabs and spider crabs . Prey that it is likely to reject include moon snails because they are too large and limpets , rock scallops , chitons and abalone , because they are too securely fixed to the rock. Small cirrate octopuses such as those of the genera Grimpoteuthis and Opisthoteuthis typically prey on polychaetes, copepods , amphipods and isopods . A benthic (bottom-dwelling) octopus typically moves among
10160-402: The cold, ocean depths. The spoon-armed octopus ( Bathypolypus arcticus ) is found at depths of 1,000 m (3,300 ft), and Vulcanoctopus hydrothermalis lives near hydrothermal vents at 2,000 m (6,600 ft). The cirrate species are often free-swimming and live in deep-water habitats. Although several species are known to live at bathyal and abyssal depths, there is only
10287-483: The common octopus. The standard pluralised form of octopus in English is octopuses ; the Ancient Greek plural ὀκτώποδες , octopodes ( / ɒ k ˈ t ɒ p ə d iː z / ), has also been used historically. The alternative plural octopi is usually considered incorrect because it wrongly assumes that octopus is a Latin second-declension -us noun or adjective when, in either Greek or Latin, it
10414-533: The complex motor skills of octopuses are not organised in their brains via internal somatotopic maps of their bodies. The nervous system of cephalopods is the most complex of all invertebrates. The giant nerve fibers of the cephalopod mantle have been widely used for many years as experimental material in neurophysiology ; their large diameter (due to lack of myelination ) makes them relatively easy to study compared with other animals. Like other cephalopods, octopuses have camera-like eyes, and can distinguish
10541-477: The creature is never fully shown; but blueprints show three legs having each a single suction-cup toe , similar to those on their fingers; other art shows two legs. No description of the alien's internal structure is given; but they are revealed to have blood, and their anemic blood cells are viewed by scientists under a microscope. As in other versions of the story, the Martians succumb to terrestrial bacteria . The aliens appear to have no use for human beings, unlike
10668-405: The eggs to completely develop. The female aerates them and keeps them clean; if left untended, many will die. She does not feed during this time and dies soon after. Males become senescent and die a few weeks after mating. The eggs have large yolks; cleavage (division) is superficial and a germinal disc develops at the pole. During gastrulation , the margins of this grow down and surround
10795-436: The epilogue states they may have successfully invaded Venus ) by what Wells described as "putrefactive bacteria," which digests organic materials upon death. Most adaptations of H.G. Wells ' novel incorporate Martians as the invading race. A few draw upon their description from the original novel. Examples include the infamous radio adaptation , as well as musical version , and Pendragon film adaptations. Most versions of
10922-470: The fact that no construction was evident on Mars before the 1894 opposition. Their apparent struggle to move in Earth's gravity is given as a mixture of caution and embellishment in the accounts of Wells, "the known atheist and radical". Challenger further speculates that they came from another solar system in the galaxy . In the Scarlet Traces comic, it is eventually revealed that the Martians came from
11049-442: The female. He picks up a spermatophore from his spermatophoric sac with the hectocotylus, inserts it into the female's mantle cavity, and deposits it in the correct location for the species, which in the giant Pacific octopus is the opening of the oviduct. Two spermatophores are transferred in this way; these are about one metre (yard) long, and the empty ends may protrude from the female's mantle. A complex hydraulic mechanism releases
11176-424: The genre. The book features Thomas Edison as the primary character, though neither Edison nor H. G. Wells were involved in its creation (although the 2010 edition published by Apogee Books of Canada includes the credit "written in collaboration with Edison"). Set after the devastating Martian attack in the previous story, the novel depicts Edison leading a group of scientists to develop ships and weapons, including
11303-513: The launch is said to be large enough to have destroyed the remains of New York City that the Martians had left alone. In a crossover with the early Superman mythos, Lex Luthor helps the Martians, although he eventually betrays them. Scarlet Traces reverses this, with a Martian survivor helping the British prepare for a counter-invasion of Mars. In the Marvel comic book Killraven : Warrior of
11430-462: The long legs of the Tripods into motion. In Rainbow Mars , they also appear as one of the many races from inhabiting Mars; killed not by bacteria but by the higher gravity of Earth, which caused organ ruptures and internal bleeding . They are mentioned as having launched two invasions of Earth, one in the early 20th century and the second in the 1950s (to correspond with the novel and 1953 movie). In
11557-427: The majority of his subjects, and as near as I could judge must have been between 15 ft (4.57 m) and 16 ft (4.88 m) in height[...]I had also learned from [a Martian slave] that Mars was under a military government, and that the military class had absolute control of the planet. I was somewhat startled, then, in looking at the head and centre of the great military system of Mars, to find in his appearance
11684-432: The male uses a specially adapted arm to deliver a bundle of sperm directly into the female's mantle cavity, after which he becomes senescent and dies, while the female deposits fertilised eggs in a den and cares for them until they hatch, after which she also dies. Strategies to defend themselves against predators include the expulsion of ink , the use of camouflage and threat displays , the ability to jet quickly through
11811-422: The mantle can take on the spiky appearance of algae; in others, skin anatomy is limited to relatively uniform shades of one colour with limited skin texture. Octopuses that are diurnal and live in shallow water have evolved more complex skin than their nocturnal and deep-sea counterparts. A "moving rock" trick involves the octopus mimicking a rock and then inching across the open space with a speed matching that of
11938-451: The mothership's core, telepathically shutting down the Tripods. In the film H.G. Wells' The War of the Worlds , the Martians are large, bullish creatures, keeping the two large eyes and tentacles described in the book; but do not seem to possess the beak-like mouth. They meet the same fate as the originals, having caught Earthly diseases. Their fighting-machines are extremely tall, with very long silver legs and numerous appendages, and emit
12065-437: The mouth and are attached to each other near their base by a webbed structure. The arms can be described based on side and sequence position (such as L1, R1, L2, R2) and divided into four pairs. The two rear appendages are generally used to walk on the sea floor, while the other six are used to forage for food. The bulbous and hollow mantle is fused to the back of the head and is known as the visceral hump; it contains most of
12192-545: The muscle cells that control the suckers in most species have been replaced with photophores which are believed to fool prey by directing them to the mouth, making them one of the few bioluminescent octopuses. Octopuses mainly move about by relatively slow crawling with some swimming in a head-first position. Jet propulsion or backward swimming, is their fastest means of locomotion, followed by swimming and crawling. When in no hurry, they usually crawl on either solid or soft surfaces. Several arms are extended forward, some of
12319-442: The naturally short lifespan may be functional to prevent rapid overpopulation. Octopuses live in every ocean, and different species have adapted to different marine habitats . As juveniles, common octopuses inhabit shallow tide pools . The Hawaiian day octopus ( Octopus cyanea ) lives on coral reefs; argonauts drift in pelagic waters . Abdopus aculeatus mostly lives in near-shore seagrass beds. Some species are adapted to
12446-410: The novel as a "gun," which kills humans and animals alike; it is rendered harmless by Martian high-pressure steam jets and water. Mention is also made of a Martian aircraft , but it is hardly seen, except to possibly spread the deadly Black Smoke from above over a wider area. A red weed (or red creeper) is left as an indicator of their presence with floral or fungal ties to their home-world. Evidence of
12573-593: The octopus to sense the orientation of its body. They provide information on the position of the body relative to gravity and can detect angular acceleration. An autonomic response keeps the octopus's eyes oriented so that the pupil is always horizontal. Octopuses may also use the statocyst to hear sound. The common octopus can hear sounds between 400 Hz and 1000 Hz, and hears best at 600 Hz. Octopuses have an excellent somatosensory system . Their suction cups are equipped with chemoreceptors so they can taste what they touch. Octopus arms move easily because
12700-457: The original book's Martians who also used them as a blood supply. In the Asylum film H.G. Wells' War of the Worlds , also known as "Invasion", the Martians resemble a short, green, disc-like head with four long tentacles acting as legs. Their feet have mouths having the ability to spit a deadly, corrosive acid . Inside these mouths are three tongues that closely resemble the Martians' fingers on
12827-489: The planet to conquer Earth after losing a war against the forces of John Carter and Gullivar Jones . It is said that the material they use to build their machines is secreted by the creatures themselves. By the year 2009, the Martians are believed by a post-Big Brother society to have been fiction. In " To Mars and Providence " (the H. P. Lovecraft -inspired entry in War of the Worlds: Global Dispatches , written by Don Webb ), it
12954-407: The presentation. The actual War of the Worlds TV series that was made, a sequel to the 1953 film, goes into more detail with its invaders. When the show begins, there is no mention of Mars (with the exception of one episode in which characters are confusing them with the Martians of the radio broadcast ). Though some minor details are given away to indicate that their home planet was not Mars, it
13081-402: The respiratory chamber. The lamella structure of the gills allows for a high oxygen uptake, up to 65% in water at 20 °C (68 °F). Water flow over the gills correlates with locomotion, and an octopus can propel its body when it expels water out of its siphon. The thin skin of the octopus absorbs additional oxygen. When resting, around 41% of an octopus's oxygen absorption is through
13208-429: The rocks and feels through the crevices. The creature may make a jet-propelled pounce on prey and pull it toward the mouth with its arms, the suckers restraining it. Small prey may be completely trapped by the webbed structure. Octopuses usually inject crustaceans like crabs with a paralysing saliva then dismember them with their beaks. Octopuses feed on shelled molluscs either by forcing the valves apart, or by drilling
13335-430: The same jumping genes that are active in the human brain, implying an evolutionary convergence at molecular level. The nervous system is complex, only part of which is localised in its brain, which is contained in a cartilaginous capsule. Two-thirds of an octopus's neurons are in the nerve cords of its arms. This allows their arms to perform complex reflex actions without input from the brain. Unlike vertebrates,
13462-455: The same time as The War of the Worlds , the Martians were said to be involved in a war against the giant inhabitants of Ceres . The Martian leadership is described as: At the top of the steps on a magnificent golden throne, sat the Emperor himself. There are some busts of Caracalla which I have seen that are almost as ugly as the face of the Martian ruler. He was of gigantic stature, larger than
13589-406: The sensors recognise octopus skin and prevent self-attachment. Octopuses appear to have poor proprioceptive sense and must observe the arms visually to keep track of their position. The ink sac of an octopus is located under the digestive gland. A gland attached to the sac produces the ink , and the sac stores it. The sac is close enough to the funnel for the octopus to shoot out the ink with
13716-400: The skin. This decreases to 33% when it swims, as more water flows over the gills; skin oxygen uptake also increases. When it is resting after a meal, absorption through the skin can drop to 3% of its total oxygen uptake. The digestive system of the octopus begins with the buccal mass which consists of the mouth with its chitinous beak, the pharynx, radula and salivary glands. The radula
13843-479: The species and water temperature. They feed on copepods , arthropod larvae and other zooplankton , eventually settling on the ocean floor and developing directly into adults with no distinct metamorphoses that are present in other groups of mollusc larvae. Octopus species that produce larger eggs – including the southern blue-ringed , Caribbean reef , California two-spot , Eledone moschata and deep sea octopuses – instead hatch as benthic animals similar to
13970-423: The sperm from the spermatophore, and it is stored internally by the female. About forty days after mating, the female giant Pacific octopus attaches strings of small fertilised eggs (10,000 to 70,000 in total) to rocks in a crevice or under an overhang. Here she guards and cares for them for about five months (160 days) until they hatch. In colder waters, such as those off Alaska , it may take up to ten months for
14097-420: The suckers adhere to the substrate and the animal hauls itself forward with its powerful arm muscles, while other arms may push rather than pull. As progress is made, other arms move ahead to repeat these actions and the original suckers detach. During crawling, the heart rate nearly doubles, and the animal requires ten or fifteen minutes to recover from relatively minor exercise. Most octopuses swim by expelling
14224-606: The supreme leadership of a Council and their Advocacy to the lower classes), a military force in the middle, and scientists relegated to the bottom. They have the ability to "possess" human bodies through a process of cell-phase matching, which allows them to carry out their guerrilla war with Humanity undetected. They are incredibly intelligent, able to communicate in seconds over light-years of space, create effective booby traps , and even adapt seemingly normal human objects for their own purposes. However, their intelligence lends itself to their one true weakness: their hubris , as it
14351-467: The surrounding water. Edison%27s Conquest of Mars Edison's Conquest of Mars is an 1898 science fiction novel by American astronomer and writer Garrett P. Serviss . It was written as a sequel to Fighters from Mars , an unauthorized and heavily altered version of H. G. Wells 's 1897 story The War of the Worlds . It has a place in the history of science fiction for its early employment of themes and motifs that later became staples of
14478-417: The timing of reproduction and lifespan. When octopuses reproduce, the male uses a specialised arm called a hectocotylus to transfer spermatophores (packets of sperm) from the terminal organ of the reproductive tract (the cephalopod "penis") into the female's mantle cavity. The hectocotylus in benthic octopuses is usually the third right arm, which has a spoon-shaped depression and modified suckers near
14605-493: The tip. In most species, fertilisation occurs in the mantle cavity. The reproduction of octopuses has been studied in only a few species. One such species is the giant Pacific octopus , in which courtship is accompanied, especially in the male, by changes in skin texture and colour. The male may cling to the top or side of the female or position himself beside her. There is some speculation that he may first use his hectocotylus to remove any spermatophore or sperm already present in
14732-404: The two largest species of octopus, usually lives for three to five years. Octopus lifespan is limited by reproduction. For most octopuses, the last stage of their life is called senescence. It is the breakdown of cellular function without repair or replacement. For males, this typically begins after mating. Senescence may last from weeks to a few months, at most. For females, it begins when they lay
14859-494: The typical octopus body shape. Basal species, the Cirrina , have stout gelatinous bodies with webbing that reaches near the tip of their arms, and two large fins above the eyes, supported by an internal shell . Fleshy papillae or cirri are found along the bottom of the arms, and the eyes are more developed. Octopuses have a closed circulatory system , in which the blood remains inside blood vessels. Octopuses have three hearts;
14986-405: The visceral hump leads, the siphon points at the head and the arms trail behind, with the animal presenting a fusiform appearance. In an alternative method of swimming, some species flatten themselves dorso-ventrally, and swim with the arms held out sideways; this may provide lift and be faster than normal swimming. Jetting is used to escape from danger, but is physiologically inefficient, requiring
15113-427: The vital organs. The mantle cavity has muscular walls and contains the gills; it is connected to the exterior by a funnel or siphon . The mouth of an octopus, located underneath the arms, has a sharp hard beak . The skin consists of a thin outer epidermis with mucous cells and sensory cells and a connective tissue dermis consisting largely of collagen fibres and various cells allowing colour change. Most of
15240-869: The water and hide, and even deceit. All octopuses are venomous , but only the blue-ringed octopuses are known to be deadly to humans. Octopuses appear in mythology as sea monsters like the Kraken of Norway and the Akkorokamui of the Ainu , and possibly the Gorgon of ancient Greece . A battle with an octopus appears in Victor Hugo 's book Toilers of the Sea , inspiring other works such as Ian Fleming 's Octopussy . Octopuses appear in Japanese erotic art, shunga . They are eaten and considered
15367-456: The world against the common threat and plan an attack on Mars. American inventor Thomas Edison leads a group of scientists studying derelict Martian equipment; they are able to develop an anti-gravity device powered by electric repulsion as well as a disintegration ray . Using this new technology, the allies construct an armada of space ships for the attack. Edison takes some ships to the Moon on
15494-517: The yolk, forming a yolk sac, which eventually forms part of the gut. The dorsal side of the disc grows upward and forms the embryo, with a shell gland on its dorsal surface, gills, mantle and eyes. The arms and funnel develop as part of the foot on the ventral side of the disc. The arms later migrate upward, coming to form a ring around the funnel and mouth. The yolk is gradually absorbed as the embryo develops. Most young octopuses hatch as paralarvae and are planktonic for weeks to months, depending on
15621-707: The young octopuses hatch. In laboratory experiments, octopuses can readily be trained to distinguish between different shapes and patterns. They have been reported to practise observational learning , although the validity of these findings is contested. Octopuses have also been observed in what has been described as play : repeatedly releasing bottles or toys into a circular current in their aquariums and then catching them. Octopuses often break out of their aquariums and sometimes into others in search of food. Growing evidence suggests that octopuses are sentient and capable of experiencing pain . The veined octopus collects discarded coconut shells, then uses them to build
15748-673: Was a fan of the novel. Wells never gave the Martians a specific name. One of the earliest names of the race was the Mor-Taxans, from the 1980s TV show. In Larry Niven 's Rainbow Mars they are called "Softfingers", and in The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume II , the native Martians of the Barsoom books refer to them as " molluscs ", "mollusc invaders", or "leeches", while Hawley Griffin contemptuously refers to them as " afterbirths ". George Alec Effinger 's " Mars: The Home Front " in
15875-630: Was also a particularly literal " Edisonade ". The book contains some notable "firsts" in science fiction: alien abductions , spacesuits (called "air-tight suits": see Spacesuits in fiction ), aliens building the Pyramids , space battles , oxygen pills, asteroid mining and disintegrator rays . Rocket scientist Robert H. Goddard read both Edison's Conquest of Mars and Fighters from Mars and credited them with helping form his early interest in developing rockets for interplanetary exploration. Edward Guimont has argued that Edison's Conquest of Mars
16002-416: Was an animal with a live mass of 71 kg (157 lb). Much larger sizes have been claimed for the giant Pacific octopus: one specimen was recorded as 272 kg (600 lb) with an arm span of 9 m (30 ft). A carcass of the seven-arm octopus , Haliphron atlanticus , weighed 61 kg (134 lb) and was estimated to have had a live mass of 75 kg (165 lb). The smallest species
16129-408: Was an influence on author H. P. Lovecraft 's Cthulhu Mythos , particular with its use of the ancient alien tropes of massive alien-built ruins. Robert Crossley [ Wikidata ] , in his 2011 non-fiction book Imagining Mars: A Literary History on the history of Mars in fiction , commented on Edison's Conquest of Mars that "As fiction it is hackwork; as a commentary on The War of
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