Template:Infobox fictional creature
The xenomorph is a member of the fictional parasitoid extraterrestrial species that is the primary antagonist of the Alien film series (comprising Alien (1979), Aliens (1986), Alien³ (1992), and Alien Resurrection (1997)) its two spinoffs (Alien vs. Predator (2004)Alien vs. Predator: Requiem (2008) and its subsidiary literature and video games. The name was first spoken by the character Lieutenant Gorman in Aliens to indicate this non-terrestrial life-form.[1] The term was also used by Ellen Ripley to identify the creature, in a deleted scene from Alien³.[2] The species Binomial name has been alternatively shown to be Linguafoeda acheronsis ("foul tongue from Acheron") in the comic books, while the Alien Quadrilogy DVD identifies it as Internecivus raptus (literally "murderous thief").
Unlike many recurring enemy alien races in science fiction, the xenomorphs are not an intelligent civilization, but predatory creatures with no higher goals than the propagation of their species and the destruction of life that could pose a threat. Like wasps or termites, xenomorphs are eusocial, with a single fertile queen and a caste of sterile warriors.
The xenomorphs' disturbing life cycle, in which the creature's offspring is violently implanted inside a living host and gestates before violently erupting from its chest, is in many ways their signature aspect. The creature's design deliberately evokes many sexual images, both male and female, to illustrate its blurring of human sexual dichotomy.
The xenomorph design is credited to Swiss surrealist and artist H. R. Giger, originating in a lithograph called Necronom IV and refined for the series' first film, Alien. In that film, the xenomorph was played by an actor in costume (7 foot 2 inch Bolaji Badejo) and make-up, a technique used in later films of the series. The queen was depicted in Aliens and Alien: Resurrection using animatronic puppets and in Alien vs. Predator using computer-generated imagery. The species' design and life cycle have been extensively added to throughout each film.
Creation and design
The script for the 1979 film Alien was initially drafted by Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusett, who had conceived it as a horror reworking of John Carpenter's comedic scifi film Dark Star, which featured a group of bored blue-collar workers in space.[3] Dan O'Bannon drafted an opening in which the crew of a mining ship are sent to investigate a mysterious message on an alien planetoid. He eventually settled on the threat being an alien creature; however, he could not conceive of an interesting way for it to get onto the ship. Inspired after waking from a dream, Shusett realised that the alien could "screw" one of the crewmembers, planting its seed in his body, and then bursting out of his chest. Both realised the idea had never been done before, and it subsequently became the core of the film.[3] "This is a movie about alien interspecies rape," said O'Bannon on the documentary Alien Evolution, "That's scary because it hits all of our buttons."[4]
Before the completion of the initial script, O'Bannon was called to France by Chilean cult director Alejandro Jodorowsky to work on a planned adaptation of Frank Herbert's classic scifi novel Dune. Also hired for the project was Swiss surrealist artist HR Giger. Giger showed O'Bannon his nightmarish, monochromatic artwork, which left O'Bannon deeply disturbed. The Dune film collapsed, but O'Bannon would remember Giger when Alien was greenlit, and suggested to director Ridley Scott that he be brought on to design the xenomorph, saying that if he were to design a monster, it would be truly original.[3]
Scott immediately saw the potential for Giger's designs, and chose Necronom IV, a painting Giger completed in 1976, as the basis for the xenomorph's design, citing its beauty and strong sexual overtones. That the creature could just as easily have been male or female also a strong factor in the decision to use it. "It could just as easily fuck you before it killed you," said line producer Ivor Powell, "[which] made it all the more disconcerting."[4] Fox were initially wary of allowing Giger onto the project, saying that his works would be too disturbing for audiences, but eventually relented. Giger initially offered to completely design the xenomorph from scratch, but Scott mandated that he base his work on Necronom IV, saying that to start over from the beginning would be too time-consuming. Giger signed on to design the adult, egg and chest-burster forms, but ultimately also designed the alien planetoid LV-426 and the Space Jockey alien vessel.[3]
Giger conceived the alien as being vaguely human but a human in full armor, protected from all outside forces. He mandated that the creature have no eyes, because he felt that it made them much more frightening if you could not tell they were looking at you.[4] He created an aesthetic for the creature that would be termed biomechanoid, a seamless fusion of the organic and the mechanic.[4] His mock-up of the xenomorph was created using parts from an old Rolls Royce car, rib bones and the vertebrae from a snake, molded with plasticine. The xenomorph's anamatronic head, which contained 900 moving parts, was designed and constructed by special effects designer Carlo Rambaldi.[3] Giger and Rimbaldi would both go on to win the 1980 Academy award for visual effects for their design of the xenomorph.[5]
Scott decided on the man-in-suit approach for creating the creature onscreen. Initially circus performers were tried, then multiple actors together in the same costume, but neither proved scary. Deciding that the creature would be scarier the closer it appeared to a human, Scott mandated that a single, very tall, very thin man be used. The casting director found 7'2", rail-thin graphic designer Bolaji Badejo in a local pub. Badejo went to tai chi and mime classes to learn how to slow down his movements.[3]
Continuing advancements made in the field of special effects technology as the series progressed has lead to numerous variations in the xenomorph design, including varying numbers of fingers, limb joints[2][6] and head design[1][7].
Characteristics
Xenomorphs are roughly humanoid with a skeletal, biomechanical, or insectoid appearance. They possess both an exoskeleton and an endoskeleton[8]. They have a segmented, prehensile tail sporting a bladed tip. This tail is immensely powerful, being able to lift great weight[9] and can be used to stab[1][9] or constrict[10] prey.
Typical adults (born from human hosts) are about 7 feet 2 inches (2.18 metres) tall[11]. They have a hard outer shell which is usually muted shades of black[10][9][7], bronze[2], or blue[1]. They have an elongated, cylindrical head but possess no visible eyes; in the original Alien film, the top of the creature's head was semi-transparent, with empty eye sockets of human appearance visible within. This element was dropped in later movies, but reused for the Predalien design, on the front portion of its skull. In Aliens, the adult creatures are lacking the smooth carapace covering their heads. In the commentary for Aliens, it was speculated that this was part of the maturation of the creatures, as they had been alive far longer than the original alien.
Xenomorphs have long, sharp claws on the tips of humanoid fingers. They have been depicted as having variously four or six-fingered hands. The first and second fingers are joined together as well as the third and fourth, also have a second thumb on the lower edge of the hand. Their mouths contain another set of jaws. This second set of jaws is located at the tip of a tongue-like proboscis inside the mouth. The alien's tongue can become rigid enough to penetrate bone or body armor with the secondary jaws at its tip. It is employed almost exclusively as a weapon to incapacitate prey, usually through head trauma.
According to critic Ximena Gollardo, the xenomorph's combination of sexually evocative physical and behavioural characteristics creates, "a nightmare vision of sex and death. It subdues and opens the male body to make it pregnant, and then explodes it in birth. In its adult form, the alien strikes its victims with a rigid phallic tongue that breaks through skin and bone. More than a phallus, however, the retractable tongue has its own set of snapping metallic teeth that connects it to the castrating vagina dentata."[12]
Physical abilities
The adult xenomorph is basically a living weapon, noted for its ferocity and deadliness in any condition. Once fully matured, they have great physical strength and agility. They are masters of stealth; a favored method of acquiring prey is to simply wait in a dormant state until an appropriate victim strays near and then drop down silently from behind[10]. The prey is generally blind to the fact that a Xenomorph is present, due to its propensity to camouflage itself within its nest walls or the surrounding artificial environment given its biomechanical appearance[10][1][2].
Adult xenomorphs are quick and agile, and can run along ceilings and walls[1][2], a skill they exhibit freely whether they are evading others, attacking, or hunting prey. They can travel in ventilation shafts, despite their size, and will use such conduits for ambush, escape, or simply as an easy way to travel between areas. Their movement tends to be silent, and they do not radiate heat as their exoskeletal temperature matches the ambient temperature[1][9]. Xenomorphs are powerful swimmers and use their tails for propulsion in a crocodilian fashion[1][6][7].
Xenomorph blood is an extremely potent acid and is capable of corroding on contact almost any substance with alarming speed. Even some of the unknown metal used by the Predators, which is almost invulnerable to any human construct has been shown to melt on contact with the blood[9]. (Though some of their metal has been proven to be "Acid Proof, such as the Dagger and Spear used in AVP, and all the weapons in AVP-R) The acidic blood is highly pressurized within the xenomorph's bodies, and any piercing or puncturing wound causes it to violently spray out in all directions, causing harm to anything alive in the vicinity[1]. The exoskeletons of the creatures themselves are impervious to their acidic blood.[6][9] In the Alien novelization by Alan Dean Foster and Dan O'Bannon, it is speculated that perhaps the acid is not blood but a fluid maintained under pressure between a double layer of skin- at least in the "facehugger stage".[13] Xenomorphs can produce a thick, strong resin, which they use to build their hives and cocoon victims. It shows amazing heat and moisture-retaining qualities[1]. They also salivate profusely. This saliva is acidic, though not the the same extent as the blood, and can be used to blind victims, much like a spitting cobra.[2][6]
How the creatures see is uncertain. In Alien³, a fisheye lens (which creates a perspective similar to that of a peephole) was used to depict the xenomorph's sight. Whether this can be considered sight or just a filmed representation of the creatures' sensory perception is unknown. However, in the novelization of the movie Alien, the creature is held mesmerized by a spinning green light for several minutes. In the video games Aliens versus Predator, Aliens versus Predator 2, and Aliens versus Predator 2: Primal Hunt the Xenomorphs can see in a regular vision spectrum and in a special vision that surrounds living enemies with a glowing blue outline believed to be Pheromones.
Intelligence
Xenomorphs appear to possess a fluctuating range of intelligence, from roughly similar to that of a typical predatory mammal, to an amount of intelligent cunning that may betray something more. Science Officer Ash described the xenomorph as "a survivor, unclouded by conscience, remorse or delusions of morality."[10] Although they do not always demonstrate human-level intelligence as a species (such as abstract reasoning, language, introspection and technological advancement), events on the LV-426 colony and the USM Auriga showed that the species excels at observational learning[1][6]. In both cases, the xenomorphs managed to learn how to manipulate the machinery of their mechanised environments at a very basic level. In the director's commentary for Aliens, James Cameron noted that the xenomorphs in Aliens had been alive for far longer than the alien in the original, and so had more time to learn how to manipulate machinery.[14] Xenomorphs have demonstrated little actual emotion, though they are not totally devoid of fear, especially for their eggs.
In the Aliens literature, it has been suggested that the creatures have a hive-mind, or a collective consciousness directed by the queen. In the Aliens comic book series, as well some novelizations (produced before the Alien³ film), it is suggested that the Queen alien communicates telepathically with its potential hosts, through terrifying dreams and religious visions, leading to the formation of cults with the xenomorph as a god-like figure.
Through cloning in the events surrounding Alien: Resurrection (noted in the novelization), it appears that the alien's hive mind includes a collective memory that passes along even at a genetic level. Through the tests conducted on Ellen Ripley it is revealed that the memory passed from Ripley onto the new generation of Xenomorphs allows them to read and understand different languages. Xenomorphs are conscious of the effects of their acidic blood, and will use it to their advantage, such as breaking out of human constructed confinement[6], or use it as a weapon[9].
Life cycle
Xenomorphs are depicted as eusocial lifeforms with a defined caste system which is ruled by a queen.[1][6][9] Their life cycle comprises several distinct stages: they begin their lives as an egg, which hatches a parasitic larval form known as a facehugger, which then attaches itself to a living host by, as its name suggests, latching onto its face. The facehugger then "impregnates" the host with an embryo known as a chestburster, which, after gestation, erupts violently from the host's chest, killing it. The chestburster then rapidly matures to an adult phase.
Queen
Queen xenomorphs are significantly larger than the warriors, approximately 4.5 m (15 ft) tall.[15] Their body structure differs also, having twin sets of arms and being built more similarly to a theropod than a humanoid. Queens have a much larger braincase than the average adults, protected by a large crest above their heads. Pregnant xenomorph queens possess an immense ovipositor on their lower torso, which is responsible for creating facehugger eggs (similar to a queen termite). The queen is able to detach from the ovipositor. When attached to her ovipositor, the queen is supported by a "biomechanical throne"[16] that consists of a lattice of struts resembling massive insect legs. Unlike insect queens, there appears to be no need for drones to fertilize a xenomorph queen's eggs.[6][9]
The various novelizations and media produced on the creature in the years since its introduction also indicate that in the absence of a Queen proper, the Aliens can make an ordinary egg hatch into a new Queen, through the introduction of the xenomorph equivalent of Royal Jelly.
Concept and design
In the initial cut of Alien, the xenomorph possessed a complete life cycle, with the still-living bodies of its victims converted into eggs. However, the scene showing this final stage was cut for reasons of pacing, leaving the ultimate origin of the eggs obscure. This allowed Aliens director James Cameron to introduce a concept he had initially conceived for a spec script called Mother,[17] a massive mother alien which laid the eggs and formed the basis for the xenomorphs' life cycle.
The design of the queen was created by Cameron in collaboration with special effects artist Stan Winston, based upon an initial painting Cameron had done at the start of the project. The Winston Studio created a test foam core queen before constructing the full hydraulic puppet which was used for most of the scenes involving the large alien. Two people were inside working the twin sets of arms and puppeteers off-screen worked her jaws and head. Although at the end of the film the queen was presented full-body fighting the power-loader, the audience never sees the legs of the queen, save those of the small-scale puppet that appears only briefly. In Aliens, Cameron used very selective camera-angles on the queen, using the 'less is more' style of photography. Subsequently the movie won an Oscar for Visual Effects.
It was only during the climax of the 2004 film Alien vs. Predator that for the first time audiences could see the queen actually running and fighting because of the computer-generated imagery techniques employed to create it. The queen's basic design was also altered to make her more "streamlined" in appearance and her over-all size was increased to 6 meters (20 ft) tall. Other changes include the removal of the "high-heel" protrusions on her legs, altering the joints so she could run faster, and making her waist thinner because there was no need for puppeteers inside her chest. The new Queen was built from scratch. The legs were made proportionally larger to the body, giving the new queen a sturdier appearance.[citation needed]
Egg
The eggs are large, ellipsoidal leathery objects about one meter high with four-lobed openings at the top. Eggs are laid by a queen. They require a hot and humid environment in which to incubate. Once laid, the egg remains dormant until the network of sensory tendrils on its underside are disturbed by a potential host. It is heavily implied that the Queen's eggs can then be carried around different locations by drones along with a cocooned potential host[1][6]. Once activated, tendrils awaken nearby eggs launching facehuggers upon potential host(s).
Design
Giger initially designed the eggs with a much more obviously vaginal appearance, complete with an "inner and outer vulva".[12] The producers complained that Catholic countries would ban the film if the allusion was too strong, so Giger doubled the lobes to four, so that, in his words, "seen from above, they would form the cross that people in Catholic countries are so fond of looking at."[12] The interior of the original egg was composed of "Nottingham lace", which is the lining of a cow's stomach. The quick shot of the facehugger erupting from the egg was done with sheep's intestine.[3] Initially the egg remained totally stationary save for the hydraulic movement of the lobes; however, by Alien: Resurrection the entire eggs were made to undulate as they opened.
Facehugger
A facehugger is the second stage in the life-cycle of a xenomorph. Its bony finger-like legs allow it to crawl rapidly and its long tail can launch it in great leaps. These particular appendages give them an appearance somewhat comparable to Chelicerata arthropods such as arachnids and horseshoe crabs.
The facehugger is a parasitoid; its only purpose is to make contact with the host's mouth for the implantation process, by gripping its long, bony finger-like legs around the victim's head and wrapping its tail around the host's neck. Upon making contact, the facehugger tightens its tail around the host's neck in order to render it unconscious through oxygen deprivation. The facehugger then inserts a proboscis down the hosts throat, supplying it with oxygen[10] whilst simultaneously implanting an embryo. Attempts to remove facehuggers generally prove fatal, as the parasite will respond by tightening it's grip. The facehugger's acid blood deters cutting it off[10]. Successful removal of the facehugger results in the host's death[1]. Over time, a facehugger's outer epidermis becomes solidified and hardened by a chitinous layer of silicon[10]. Once the alien embryo is safely implanted, the facehugger detaches and dies.
Design
Giger's original design for the facehugger was a much larger creature with eyes and a spring-loaded tail. Later, in response to comments from the filmmakers, Giger reduced the creature's size substantially.[18] Dan O'Bannon initially conceived the facehugger as somewhat resembling an octopus, possessing tentacles. However, when he received HR Giger's designs, which substituted tentacles with fingerlike digits, he thought Giger's design concept superior. Since no one was available at the time, O'Bannon decided to design the facehugger prop himself. The technical elements of the musculature and bone were added by Ron Cobb. Giger's initial design for the smaller facehugger had the fingers facing forward, but O'Bannon's redesign shifted them to the side.[18] When the foam rubber sculpture of the facehugger was produced, O'Bannon asked that it should remain unpainted, believing the rubber, which resembled human skin, was more plausible.[19].
Chestburster
After implantation, facehuggers die and the embryo's host wakes up afterwards showing no considerable outward negative symptoms. Symptoms build acutely after detachment of the facehugger, the most common being sore throat, slight nausea, increased congestion and moderate to extreme hunger.[10] In later stages where the incubation period is extended in preparation of a queen birth, symptoms will include a shortness of breath, exhaustion, and hemorrhaging (detectable through biological scanners and present in nosebleeds or other seemingly random bleeding incidents), as well as chest pains inflicted either in lack of chest space due to the chestburster's presence, or even premature attempts to escape the host.[2] The incubating embryo may take on some of the host's DNA or traits, such as bipedalism, quadrupedalism[2] or also having mandibles[7] and other body structure changes, possibly indicating the need to adapt using indigenous wildlife as a reference for what features to retain for use in that particular environment. Over the course of 1-24 hours (undeterminable in some cases, and sometimes up to a week, in the case of some queens), the embryo develops into a chestburster, at which point it emerges, violently ripping open the chest of the host.
Design
The chestburster was designed by Alien director Ridley Scott and special effects master Roger Dicken.[12] Giger had produced a model of a chestburster that resembled a plucked chicken and was far too large to fit inside a ribcage. Much to Giger's chagrin, his model reduced the production team to fits of laughter on sight.[4] Scott drafted a series of alternate designs for the chestburster based on the philosophy of working "back [from the adult] to the child" and ultimately produced "something phallic," so Dicken was given the task to design it.[4] Giger stated the finished form first resembled a dinosaur but the arms and legs were removed.
Adult
Little is known about the transformation that occurs between the chestburster and adult phases, although the xenomorph appears to moult before reaching maturity[10][2][7]. Maturity is reached in a matter of a few hours, and involves a dozenfold increase in mass, which would presumably require some form of nourishment. In the novelization of the movie Alien, Ripley comes across a food locker that had been raided, apparently by the alien to get food. Whether or not this was nourishment to grow was not specified. In the videogame, Aliens vs Predator: Extinction, the chestburster goes through a cocoon stage shortly after emerging from its host. A fully-developed xenomorph emerges from the cocoon afterwards. This portion of the Xenomorph life cycle is alluded to in Aliens versus Predator 2. The player assumes the role of the Chest Burster and is tasked with avoiding enemy contact and to find food in which to grow. The player finds a cat in a carrier at the end of the level; however the cutscene does not depict the maturation.
Alternate life-cycles
In Alien: Director's Cut, the xenomorph has a second method of reproduction, whereby it could transform humans into eggs, as shown when Ripley discovers Brett and Dallas, cocooned in a viscous liquid, with Brett almost completely enveloped by a distinctly egg-like mass. This method of reproduction allowed an alien a complete individual life-cycle, without the need for a queen.[20] The alien was described in the bonus DVD as being "ambi-sextrous". However, since this scene was cut in the final released version of the film, allowing the queen to appear in Aliens, its canonicity is uncertain. The same way of reproduction was also presented in Alien Versus Predator game for Atari Jaguar. There, while playing as Alien, player could transform humans into egg-like cocoons, similar to that shown in the scene from the movie.
In another omitted scene from the script for Alien³, these eggs were actually cocoons, inside of which a human was painfully transformed into a full-grown alien, which then emerges from the cocoon like a perversion of a butterfly. This non-canon tertiary version of reproduction bypasses queens and facehuggers entirely. However, this scene was never filmed.
In Alien³, another addition was made. That of a 'super facehugger' that could impregnate two hosts with a Queen and a warrior embryo thus explaining why both Ripley and a dog were impregnated from one facehugger. This facehugger was large and black, very different to the normal tan variety. The super facehugger was found by some of the inmates, who thought it was a type of scorpion.
In Aliens vs. predator: requiem the predalien hybrid was able to imprengnate female hosts with five embryos through her mouth.
Interspecific hybridization
'Runner'
The 'Runner', also known as the 'Dog alien', was introduced in Alien³. The creature itself shares the same basic physical conformation and instincts as the other xenomorphs shown in the previous films, although there are several subtle differences due to the host it was spawned from (a dog in the theatrical cut, an ox in the extended edition). The Runner alien in its larval form is a miniature version of the adult, unlike the larva-like human spawned chestbursters. The adult is primarily quadrupedal and is an agile climber, running on ceilings and scaling up walls at extreme speeds. Despite being less bulky and lacking the dorsal horns of the human-spawned variety, the Runner is no less lethal, as was shown when it dispatched an entire prison of inmates. It was destroyed when Ellen Ripley doused it with molten lead and activated the overhead sprinklers in the furnace of Fiorina 'Fury' 161, causing the beast to literally explode from the thermal shock.
Runners also make appearances in the video games Aliens versus Predator: Extinction, where they were said to have very high pressure circulatory systems that exploded when exposed to intense heat such as a flame thrower or laser, and Aliens vs. Predator 2, in which they are the result of a facehugger implanting a corporate mercenary.[citation needed]
'Newborn'
In Alien: Resurrection, due to significant genetic tampering in an attempt to recover DNA from the deceased Ellen Ripley and the xenomorph queen within her, the resulting cloned xenomorphs show a number of minor human traits. The cloned Queen eventually ceases to lay eggs and gives live birth to a humanoid mutant.
Physically, the human-alien Newborn is very different from its brethren, being much larger, with pale, translucent skin, a skull-shaped face with eyes and a human tongue. The Newborn fails to bond with its xenomorph mother and kills her. Instead, the Newborn sees the Ripley clone as a surrogate parent. It is ultimately killed by the Ripley clone when the creature shows itself to be aggressive to ordinary humans. The creature is jettisoned from the USM Auriga into Earth's atmosphere, after the Ripley clone burns a hole through a window with her acidic blood.
Design
Jean-Pierre Jeunet asked ADI to lean towards making the human-alien hybrid, known as the Newborn, more human than alien. An early concept was to replicate Sigourney Weaver's, although the crew felt it was too similar to Sil from the 1996 movie Species. The Newborn's eyes and nose were added to improve its expressions to make it a character, rather than "just a killing machine", and give it depth as a character. Jeunet was adamant about the Newborn having genitalia, a mix of both sexes. However, Fox was uncomfortable, and even Jeunet felt "even for a Frenchman, it's too much".[21] The genitalia were digitally removed in post-production. The Newborn animatronic required nine puppeteers and was the most complex animatronic in the film.[21]
'PredAlien'
The result of a facehugger impregnating a Predator (or in some cases, a deliberate genetic recombination by human scientists), the "PredAlien" has been featured in many Aliens versus Predator videogames, but it is not until Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem that an adult hybrid makes its first movie appearance. The "PredAliens" share many characteristics with their hosts, such as tentacle-like dreadlocks, mandibles, skin color and similar vocalizations. They are large, bulky creatures, and in most cases more powerful than regular human spawned Xenomorphs.
In Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem, the PredAlien dominates the standard Xenomorphs through violence rather than the subtle gesturing and vocalization of the Queen. By seizing a victim's face with its exterior mandibles, the PredAlien forcefully deposits up to five chestburster embryos down its victims throat and into their abdominal cavities. Throughout the film, the PredAlien leads the Xenomorphs spawned by itself and the facehuggers aboard the Predator ship in their assault on the small town of Gunnison, Colorado. Establishing a hive in the town's hospital, the Predalien and the Predator Warrior "Wolf" engage each other in single combat at the film's climax and succeed in mortally wounding each other before a tactical nuclear bomb is dropped by the United States Army incinerating them, the remaining Xenomorphs and the helpless human survivors.
Design
Though maintaining the basic design shown in the Aliens versus Predator video games, numerous artistic liberties were taken in it's film portrayal. One concept was to have the PredAlien reproduce by injecting victims with "DNA acid" through its tail. The injection would result in the victim's stomach swelling and exploding, birthing a new predalien hybrid. Another abandoned concept was to have the PredAlien inherit it's hosts tendency to skin victims.[22]
Popular culture
The Alien was voted as the #14 most memorable villain by the American Film Institute.
Some critics[23] have compared the xenomorph queen to Grendel's mother.[24]
See also
Citations
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n James Cameron (writer and director) (1986). Aliens]] (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Vincent Ward (writer) and David Fincher (director) (1992). Alien³ (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ a b c d e f g Star Beast, the Alien Quadrilogy boxset
- ^ a b c d e f Alien Evolution, in the Alien Quadrilogy box set
- ^ IMDB: Alien: Awards
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Joss Whedon (writer)and Jean-Pierre Jeunet (1997). Alien: Resurrection (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ a b c d e Shane Salerno (writer) Colin and Greg Strause (directors) (2008). Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ Jim Thomas, John Thomas (writers) and Stephen Hopkins (director) (1990). Predator 2 (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Paul W.S. Anderson (writer/director) (2005). Alien vs. Predator (DVD). 20th Century Fox.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j Cite error: The named reference
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was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0045993/bio
- ^ a b c d Alien Woman: The Making of Lt Ellen Ripley Ximena Gellardo, 2006
- ^ Foster, Alan Dean; O'Bannon, Dan, Alien, ISBN 0354044362
- ^ James Cameron, director's commentary, Aliens, Alien Quadrilogy boxset
- ^ Sideshowtoy. URL last accessed 15 February 2006.
- ^ James Cameron, Alien Evolution: Aliens
- ^ Aliens, film commentary, Alien Quadrilogy boxset
- ^ a b HR Giger, The Beast Within: The Making of Alien, Alien Quadrilogy Box-set
- ^ Dan O'Bannon, audio commentary, Alien, from the Alien Quadrilogy DVD set
- ^ From Alien Director's Cut. 1:30:20-1:32:30 - (hours:minutes:seconds)
- ^ a b Unnatural Mutation - Creature Design, Alien Quadrilogy, 2003, 20th Century Fox
- ^ Alec Gillis and Tom Woodruff Jr (2008). Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem - Inside the Monster Shop. pp. pp.128. ISBN 1845769090.
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has extra text (help) - ^ The Alien Trilogy: A New Beowulf
- ^ Alien Queen in Cameron's Aliens (1986).
References
- Alien - Released on May 25 1979 - On-line script. Retrieved 02 March 2007.
- Aliens - Released on June 18 1986 - On-line script. Retrieved 02 March 2007.
- Alien³ - Released on May 22 1992 - On-line script. Retrieved 02 March 2007.
- Alien: Resurrection - Released on November 26, 1997 - On-line script. Retrieved 02 March 2007.
- Goldman, Willie. "Sideshow Collectibles, Inc". HAIL to THE QUEEN.
{{cite web}}
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suggested) (help) - Aliens versus Predator (computer game).
- Aliens versus Predator 2 (computer game).
- Aliens Colonial Marines Technical Manual, HarperCollins 1996, ISBN 0-06-105343-0.
- Aliens: A Comic Book Adventure (computer game) [1]
External links
- H.R. Giger online - A website about the creation of the xenomorphs' body.
- Serena Dawn Spaceport - An Alien RPG
- The Alien Universe Timeline and Encyclopedia - © Scott Middlebrook
- Knightmare6.com, Aliens FAQ
- The Anchorpoint Essays