Martian (The Teacher from Mars)

Martians are a sapient species that developed an ancient civilization on the planet Mars.

Biology
Standing about 7 ft tall (~ 2.13 m), Martians are slender bipeds, although with a noticeably enlarged chest. They have spindly arms and legs, as well as a pair of long prehensile tentacles that protrude from the back of their shoulders and reach down to their knees. Their leathery skin is dark mahogany in color. Their voices have been described as "reedy".

The Martian head is large and mostly hairless, save for a tuft of silver-white hair. The eyes, nose and conch-shaped ears are all large, possibly indicating well-developed senses, while the mouth is comparatively small. On Earth, they need to wear tinted spectacles to compensate for the sun's brightness, and "leg braces" to support their weight in Earth's gravity.

Martians are naturally telepathic, able to read the thoughts of Humans and to implant thoughts in a Human's mind without the latter's conscious knowledge.

Like Humans, Martians require sleep. They consume food salted with magnesium chloride, as opposed to sodium chloride, and the latter makes them sick if consumed.

Culture and society
Martian Prof. Mun Zeerohs has described his own species as docile, industrious and intelligent by nature. Martian currency is called dhupecs.

Generations of hiding away from the large, deadly serpentine predators of the Martian deserts has given members of this species a paralyzing fear of snakes. For cultural reasons, they can't stand to see water being spilled or otherwise wasted.

The Martian language is extremely complex and follows a rigid grammatical structure, which some Martians consider more suitable for scientific purposes, compared with Earth languages like English.

History
Martian civilization dates back to about 15,000 Martian years. The canals that crisscross the planet were built about 10,000 Martian years ago. The need to use their metal supplies to keep and repair the planet-wide canal-system, crucial to the survival of the species due to Mars' desertic climate, has prevented them from building Earth-like cities or developing space travel.

Before official first contact with Humans, Martian scientists weren't sure whether the city lights they saw on Earth were actually the sign of intelligence, as opposed to some natural phenomenon.

In 1978, Mars was colonized by Humans, with a wave of pioneers arriving in 1992, which helped to maintain and repair the canals and prevent more famine. In 2011, however, the Human colonists along with the native Martians rebelled against Earth, leading to a war of independence that ended with Mars' freedom in 2019.

By 2040, the relationship between the two worlds had become friendlier, although prejudice still existed, with both species serving side by side in the Space Patrol. After a particularly harsh series of dust storms ruined several crops, some Martians avoided poverty by taking jobs on Earth as school teachers, engineers, chemists, or artists.

Appearances

 * "The Teacher from Mars", by Otto Binder (1941)