Skinnies

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The Skinnies are a fictional alien race created by author Robert A. Heinlein in the novel Starship Troopers. The skinnies are allied with the Arachnids against humanity and in the first chapter of the novel, the protagonist, Johnnie Rico attacks a skinny city. Skinnies are described as being essentially humanoid, but much thinner than ordinary humans and have high body temperatures which makes them stand out when viewed with infra-red "snoopers".

In the short-lived syndicated TV series Roughnecks: Starship Troopers Chronicles, the skinnies are the unwilling allies of the arachnids and when they are freed from their arachnid brain-controlling overlords, their leader Colonel T'Phai, fights alongside humans. Due to their lack of interstellar technology, the skinnies joined the Federation in the fight against the bugs. The Skinnies as portrayed in the series are methane breathers and require suits to breathe elsewhere. They also cannot be harmed by fire.

However, in the Starship Troopers miniatures game, the Skinnies are on their own side, fighting both the Arachnids and the humans. Again, in the board wargame, the Skinnies start as allies of the Arachnids but join the human side half way through the game's scenarios.

[edit] Other uses

This term was also used by American troops when referring to local Somalis during the U.S. intervention in the Somali Civil War from 1992-1993. It refers to the malnourishment of the population, and is demonstrated in the book and film Black Hawk Down.