Talk:Mars in fiction

"Martian" as a term for extraterrestrials in general

@The Proffesor: Regarding this edit, I think The term Martians typically refers to inhabitants of Mars that are similar to humans in terms of having such things as language and civilization, though it is also occasionally used to refer to extraterrestrials in general. is an adequate way of paraphrasing the source's Traditionally, the word "Martian" is used in an anthropocentric sense: In common parlance, "Martian" evokes critters analogous to humans, beings like ourselves who have language, technology, minds, civilization or whatever else we humans use to distinguish ourselves from the world-around ecology of other fauna and flora on Earth. [...] That "Martian," in popular usage, is a metonym for "alien" opens up questions [...], especially considering that the other source says In a way, the word "Martian" has become synonymous with "alien". Both sources make the point that "Martian" is used to mean "alien" more broadly. TompaDompa (talk) 16:07, 27 September 2025 (UTC)

Phrasing

In my view, the following segment is phrased in a way that is unclear, awkward and verging on grammatically incorrect:

"Apart from enlightened as in the utopian works from the turn of the century, or evil as in the works inspired by Wells, intelligent and human-like Martians began to be depicted as decadent..."

Part of the problem is that the reader doesn't know what is being referred to by the adjectives "enlightened" and "evil" until very deep into this long sentence, meaning they have to backtrack and re-read to fully understand the sentence (or at least, I had to do that). OrdinaryOtter (talk) 01:05, 1 April 2026 (UTC)

I think the preceding sentence—Life on Mars appeared frequently in fiction throughout the first half of the 1900s—makes it decently clear from the start what is being referred to, but I tweaked it a bit regardless. See what you think. TompaDompa (talk) 08:50, 1 April 2026 (UTC)

Looks better, thank you. How would you feel about changing "Life on Mars appeared frequently..." to "Martian life appeared frequently..."?

"Life on Mars" sounds like the title of a work at first glance, and "Martian life" may be a little more accurate, because it would encompass Martians that left the planet. OrdinaryOtter (talk) 18:45, 1 April 2026 (UTC)

I see your point, but I think it is outweighed by "life on Mars" being a more recognized term for the concept than "Martian life" (at least, it seems that way to me). Our article is at the title Life on Mars, after all. TompaDompa (talk) 22:21, 1 April 2026 (UTC)

The Martian

Is the 2015 film The Martian listed here (and the book it is based on)? Noticed that this page isn't linked in the See also section of the film (have now added it). Did a quick look at this page but, as with other space fiction prose articles, didn't find it (when these pages were lists it was so much easier to find entries). Thanks. Randy Kryn (talk) 01:07, 12 May 2026 (UTC)

@Randy Kryn, it's under §Robinsonades Cakelot1 ☞️ talk 08:29, 12 May 2026 (UTC)

lThanks Cakelot1, the placement makes sense. Had re-watched the film, which is why I came looking for it. Randy Kryn (talk) 09:04, 12 May 2026 (UTC)

It's also covered in the "In the new millennium" section. TompaDompa (talk) 16:24, 12 May 2026 (UTC)

TompaDompa, how about Devil Girl From Mars, 1954 film, in the "Evil" subsection about Martians? Pretty campy film but it gave fictional Martians a purpose on Earth. Trying to find it there I again realized how well-written these articles are, nice work. Randy Kryn (talk) 22:11, 12 May 2026 (UTC)

Devil Girl from Mars is mentioned in the "Evil" subsection as an example of an alien invasion film; I added it back in July 2022. TompaDompa (talk)

Thanks, missed it. Randy Kryn (talk) 23:27, 13 May 2026 (UTC)