Formies are an interplanetary alien race that migrated from their homeworld after a crisis 300 years ago. One portion of the population settled in the solar system of the now-abandoned Earth and settled on Earth's moon, which appeared to be the only completed uninhabited celestial body in the system.

The Formie race is highly technologically advanced, having developed highly advanced artificial intelligence, space travel, as well as climate control and terraforming technology.

Formies are actually born with their communication abilities, which negates learning how to speak over time. They do not understand the concept of different languages, which is why the moon has several different names derived from many translations from the Earth's original species. They could theoretically learn any language, though languages remain mostly the same throughout the Formie homeworld, as yet again they don't exactly have a notion for different languages, not to mention they are really only one nation at the moment.