The Xenomorph (or scientifically called Internecivus raptus[1]) is a fictional extraterrestrial life-form of unknown origin from the Alien universe, created by writers Dan O'Bannon and Ronald Shusset. Its original design was created by Swiss surrealist artist H. R. Giger. The Xenomorph is the quintessential violent defiler, existing only to reproduce its kind. That is its drive, its focus, its reason for being; to parasite living hosts before it dies. In the words of Ash, the android from the Alien film, "A perfect organism. Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility. A survivor unclouded by conscience, remorse or delusions of morality."[2]
Throughout the quadrilogy, none of the characters had officially named the species. Fans of the film took the term Xenomorph as the de facto scientific name for the species. The term originated from the Aliens film in which Lt. Gorman uses it to tell the troops that they are facing animals rather than humans. The Greek word xenos means stranger or alien (in the sense of foreigner), the common name of the Xenomorph. Morphê means form, a Greek term that should not be confused with the English morph which refers to change. Gorman's line in Aliens is the only time that the word Xenomorph is used canonically, although it is also spoken by Sigourney Weaver's character, Lt. Ripley, in the special edition version of Alien³. Within the fiction of the Alien universe the Xenomorph is simply referred to as the Alien.
Characteristics
Life cycle
Socially, in ideal situations, Xenomorphs are hive-minded creatures with a defined caste system which is ruled by a queen. They reproduce as parasitoids and grow to full size very rapidly.[3] The Alien queen lays eggs that eventually release a single parasitic Facehugger when a host comes near. The Facehugger attacks the host and slides a tubular proboscis down the victim's throat, implanting an embryo within their chest. The Facehugger then dies and the embryo's host shows no outward negative symptoms for several hours.
This embryo takes on some of the host's traits (such as bipedalism or quadrupedalism), then over the course of about 24 hours develops into a parasitoid Chestburster, at which point it emerges, violently ripping open the chest of the host, killing them instantly. Within hours, the Chestburster grows to adult size. Xenomorphs are roughly humanoid with a skeletal or insectoid appearance.
A lone Xenomorph is also capable of reproducing its own kind through a form of transmutation that is not entirely understood. The creature, during the first encounter with humans, begins this process near the end of its life whereby a victim is partially broken down at the cellular level and reorganized into what is to be an egg, and placed near a still living but immobilized host.
Typical adults are about seven feet in height (two metres)[4] and have a hard outer shell, an exoskeleton which is skeletal in appearance and is usually muted shades of gray, dark green, brown and black. They have an elongated, cylindrical head but lacked visible eyes.
Behavioural and defensive attributes
The adult Xenomorph is a living weapon, noted for its ferocity and deadliness in any condition. It has strong, sharp claws and a venomous blade-like tip on the end of its prehensile tail. Its mouth contains a secondary jaw at the end of an extendable, piston-like appendage. This appendage can be rigid enough to penetrate body armor or an adult human skull, and has been illustrated to be surprisingly mobile and almost prehensile at the same time. It is often employed as a weapon. Xenomorphs, once fully matured, possess great physical strength and uncanny agility.
Despite their ferocity and savagery, Xenomorphs are, like any good predator, masters of stealth. A favored method of acquiring prey is to simply wait in a dormant stage until an appropriate host strays near and then drop down silently from behind. The prey is generally blind to the idea 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. The Xenomorphs' blood is an extremely potent acid that is very similar to liquid fluorine and is capable of dissolving on contact almost any substance with alarming speed. The creature also has the ability to spit this acid, though this seems to be a rare behavior seen only in Alien³ and Alien: Resurrection as well as various comic books and video games.
Xenomorphs can produce a thick, strong resin, previously used to build their hives and cocoon victims. The exact nature and source of this resin remains unknown, though it shows amazing heat and moisture-retaining qualities, as seen in the hot, moist atmosphere of the hive in Aliens. Adult Xenomorphs are quick and agile, and can run along ceilings and walls. They can survive in extreme temperatures, are well-adapted to swimming, and can survive in a vacuum for unknown lengths of time. Their movement tends to be silent, and they do not radiate heat as their exoskeletal temperature matches ambient temperature. They salivat profusely: ways for the creatures to helping it maintain a low body temperature. They are extremely aggressive and persistent, while being totally devoid of fear. They appear to be intelligent, especially the Queen.[5]
Xenomorphs, in all stages of their life cycles, have shown extreme vulnerabilities to fire, flamethrowers, and the cold was an inadequate precautionary measure except at the extreme. Since they can adapt to a vacuum and withstand cold climates, it is unlikely they would be driven off by chilly conditions but blasts of extremely cold air can be effective (as seen in Alien Resurrection).[6]
The Queen
Xenomorphs have an insect-like life cycle, fairly similar on those of the digger wasp. The Queen regulates the whole hive and it is possible the hive can not survive without her. There was, however, a removed scene from the Alien movie, where Ripley found Dallas cocooned and Brett being transformed into an egg suggested that any member of the species could procreate.
Queen Xenomorphs are significantly larger than the drones, approximately 15 feet (four and a half metres) tall.[7] Their body structure differs too, having twin sets of arms and being built similarly to a T-Rex than a humanoid. Queens have a much larger braincase than the average adults, protected by a large crest above their heads. It also seems that they had a basic understanding of technology too.[8]
The Queen and other Xenomorphs have the ability to communicate via ultrasound.[9] The elongated heads contain air tubes that would resonate. This theory is furthered by the nature of their resin coated hives, as sound travels better across smooth surfaces and curves. A Queen Xenomorph would readily give her life for her eggs and in turn, is protected by the drones at all costs.
Birth
No one quite knows how a Queen comes to be. When there is no queen present or eggs, many different things could happen. A Xenomorph could morph into a queen through a cocoon almost like transformation. Or a standard alien could have the capability of laying one egg in order to produce the Queen.[10]
It is likely that these special breeding eggs would be removed quickly from the Queen's chamber and stored securely in a highly protected area of the hive. At the proper time the drones would become hosts for the fledgling Queens. In the special edition of Alien³, a super Facehugger is seen, the idea being that a creature that implants a Queen into a host would be more armoured, having hooked limbs to deter removal, and be stronger than the normal Facehugger to achieve its goal at any cost.[11] After impregnating the host, the Facehugger would eventually die after a small period of time. Incubation could last days as the maturing Queen was a much more complex organism than her subjects and also as a way of spreading the hive to a new area (as the host carries the incubating Queen away from the place of impregnation the Queen would then be born farther away, thus ensuring new food and reproduction sources for the fledgling hive).[12] There were other theories as to how the Queen was created, one being that some newborn Chestbursters were fed the Queen's royal jelly, provoking a cellular response that makes it metamorphose into a matriarch.[13]
Design
The design of the Queen was created by Aliens director James Cameron in collaboration with special effects artist Stan Winston, based upon an initial painting Cameron had done at the start of the project.[14] 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.[15]
It was only during the end climax of the 2004 film Alien vs. Predator that for the first time audiences could see the Queen actually running because of the CGI techniques employed to create it. By this time, CGI technology was advanced enough to show more of the queen, including showing her running and fighting. For Alien vs. Predator, the Queen's basic design was also altered to make it more "streamlined" in appearance. One of the changes was the removal of the Alien Queen's "high heel" protrusions on her legs and altering the joints so she could run faster and making the chest thinner because there was no need for puppeteers inside.
Variations
The Xenomorph has been portrayed in noticeably different ways throughout the films. Much of this was due to the special effects, technology and techniques used to bring it to life.
Upper torso
In the original Alien film, and sequel Aliens, they are depicted as tall, slender creatures with a roughly human silhouette and a biomechanical design. Notably, the creature in the first film is far taller than those in the second. However in later films, like Alien: Resurrection and Aliens vs. Predator, they are depicted as being shorter and bulkier creatures, portrayed by either the traditional men-in-suit technique for close-ups or full form using computer-generated imagery.
Originally, the Xenomorphs’ tail was roughly the length of the creature with a small, almost surgical stinger-like barb on the end. From Alien³ onwards, however, the tail has grown in length and featured a knife-like blade at the tip. In Alien: Resurrection and Aliens vs. Predator, the tails had also supported a fin right before the blade. This was introduced in Alien: Resurrection to help the creatures swim convincingly, and was left intact in Alien vs. Predator.[16]
The original shooting script for Aliens featured a scene in which Lieutenant Gorman was "stung" by a Xenomorphs’ stinger. He was not killed, merely stunned, and the barb remained lodged in his shoulder, having torn loose from the Xenomorphs’ tail, much like a bee stinger. The novelisation also included this scene, though the movie itself does not.[17]
In Aliens, the Xenomorph is depicted as having ridges along its cranium, while in all other films the creatures has smooth cowls covering their skull, the logistic reason being that the cowl-less Xenomorphs in the sequel were easier to make and were more resistant to damage. In Alien: Resurrection and Alien vs. Predator, the head was shortened greatly to approximately half the original thirty-three inches. It was also made flat at the base, with little to no similarity to the original designs.[18]
In Alien and Alien³, the Xenomorph has six fingers, with the index and middle fingers conjoined into one digit, ring and pinkie fingers also conjoined, and thumbs on both sides. In Aliens, the Xenomorphs are shown with five fingers, missing the extra thumb. In Alien: Resurrection and Alien vs. Predator, the aliens have four fingers. There is, however, no explanation for the fluctuating number of digits.
Lower torso
In Alien and Alien³, the Xenomorphs have legs like that of a human, with a single joint at the knee and feet roughly in the same configuration as a human. Also in Alien vs. Predator, the Xenomorphs have this same humanoid leg, though it is sleeker and more skeletal in appearance, due to the use of computer visuals rather than costumes. This is notable because the Xenomorph resembles the species from which it bred. In Alien³, the Xenomorph is born from a non-human species, and therefore has a different body design, including legs more like the dog from which it was incubated. However, there was a dramatic change in Alien: Resurrection wherein the Xenomorphs which escaped from containment have bird-like legs with long bones in the foot and the toes used for walking. This is apparently a change taking advantage of the digital representation of the Xenomorphs rather than costumes, done to make them seem more menacing and predatory.[19] The different leg and foot can be clearly seen in a forward shot in which a Xenomorph closes in on the surviving characters, who are trapped by a blocked door.[20]
It is almost impossible to tell the sex of the Xenomorph; however the Xenomorph never appears to need sexual organs for reproduction, relying on the eggs alone. In Alien: Director's Cut, the Xenomorph originally had a second method of reproduction, whereby it could transform humans into eggs, as shown when Ripley discovers Captain Dallas, captain of the crew ship Nostromo, the spaceship Ripley and her crew where on in Alien, cocooned in a viscous liquid.[21]
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.
In Alien³ another addition was made: that of a "super Facehugger" that could impregnate two hosts with a Queen and regular embryo and was larger and darker compared to normal. This explains why both Ripley and a dog were impregnated from one Facehugger. The super Facehugger was found by some of the inmates, who thought it a type of jellyfish.
These offer an origin for the eggs that did not require a queen, which seems to have been superseded by the queen in Aliens. None of the other films—including deleted scenes—has continued with this method and it is mostly considered atypical for the Xenomorph life-cycle.
Debate
DNA assimilation
While the Chestburster was still in an embryonic stage, it was possible that it used the host's DNA to augment its own and acquire any useful traits that the host garnered through natural selection. This made sense from an evolutionary standpoint, since the host was adapted to its environment, taking on some of its characteristics would further adapt the newborn alien to its new environment. This would essentially make all adult Xenomorphs hybrid creatures. It was also alluded to in the first film, albeit indirectly. When Ash hears Parker's report on the size of the full-grown creature, Ash refers to it as "Kane's son."[22] Another explanation could be that since the eggs seem to be produced asexually, the embryo receives some of its chromosomes from its host to allow for biodiversity of the species.
Alien³ furthered the debate by having an alien embryo implanted into a dog. The Xenomorphs of the first two films were all implanted in humans, and thus could walk in a bipedal fashion; they also had foot-long spines on their backs for balance and as the Xenomorph in Alien³ moved on all fours it did not need these. The "dog-alien", also known to fans as a "runner alien" of Alien³, was visually very different from these, theoretically because it took on some of the DNA of its canine host. It preferred to move in a doglike manner, often running at high speed on all four legs. This new type was far more streamlined and aerodynamic in appearance.
The Xenomorphs of the fourth Alien film, Alien: Resurrection, were something of an exception, because they were far more human-like, to the point that the Alien Queen gave live birth to a "human-alien hybrid": this was because these aliens were the result of cloning experiments by the military, and were not the "true" form of the species, having been spliced with substantial amounts of human DNA. This was not as a result of the normal implantation-DNA-assimilation process.
In various comics and the Aliens vs. Predator video game series, this was taken a step further when a Xenomorph embryo was implanted into a Yautja (Predator); the result was an Alien with Predator characteristics: a "pred-alien"[23]. This hybrid stood on two legs, and had the basic body-outline of a Predator, having lost the elongated head shape. It also lacked the inner set of jaws characteristic of other Xenomorphs, but supported a set of mandibles reminiscent of those of the Predator. Its head also has the "dreadlocks" reminiscent of most Predators. This motif was also repeated at the end of the recent Alien vs. Predator film, largely based on the comic books and the video game series and written by the director of Resident Evil.
Endoskeleton
Another debate was that the Xenomorph contained an endoskeleton as well as its hardened exoskeleton. The primary fuel for this was the Xenomorph skull seen as a trophy in the movie Predator 2[24]. It could be said that an endoskeleton was necessary, because of the inability of an exoskeleton to provide support for larger creatures.
Theories
According to the computer game Aliens vs. Predator 2, Xenomorphs utilized ultrasound for relatively long-distance communication.[25] Xenomorph hives were built with smooth, rounded edges instead of rough, sharp edges because sound propagates better in such an environment. The skulls of Xenomorphs acted as sonic amplifiers for both boosting the transmission of messages and ensuring that incoming messages remain audible. This theory correlates with the Queen's massive head, since administrative duties would require greater transmission and receiving strength than normal Xenomorphs.[26] Likewise, this correlates with the theory of telepathy amongst the Xenomorphs; drones and workers need only basic telepathy organs to receive a queen's signals, while a queen needed a more powerful ability to broadcast. Likewise, in the Earth Hive trilogy of novels, particularly sensitive humans experienced strange dreams with the impression that the Queen Mother was calling to them as well; from across the galaxy.[27] However, these theories contradicted the Rogue Aliens novel, which described a portion of the Xenomorphs’ brain that contained telepathic capabilities. Also in Rogue, it was theorized that Xenomorphs that stayed further from a queen had a diminished array of telepathic lobes. These lobes were used to communicate specifically with the queen as well as others. The origins of the Xenomorphs had never been fully explained in the films, but the expanded Alien literature had stated that the Xenomorphs were bio-weapons genetically engineered by an ancient race called the "Space Jockeys". Little was known of this race except that they were purported to have had created the Xenomorphs to fight an ancient civil war. Alien eggs would be used as "bombs" on an enemy planet and then the Xenomorphs would proceed to kill the entire population as they spawned. The Xenomorphs were then genetically designed to die off, however eventually mutated and thrived even after killing their prey. There could possibly be a single member of the Space Jockey race escaped in a freighter or warship full of Xenomorph eggs, but was himself infected with a Xenomorph and killed. That could be an explanation for the large, fossilized humanoid figure seen by the crew of the Nostromo in the first film.[28]
See also
- List of variations of the Xenomorph not given in the films
- Space Jockey
- Yautja—The alien race from the film Predator
- Genestealer from the Space Hulk game
Notes
- ^ Aliens menu from DVD. Photobucket. Please note that Internecivus raptus is entirely fictional; no real species exists as this name. URL last accessed 17th February 2006. The scientific name given for the Xenomorph in the comic series is Linguafoeda acheronsis.
- ^ Quote from: Alien; Time: 1:22:31-1:22:40 (hour:minutes:seconds)
- ^ Alien - Notice the comparison when the Xenomorph appears from Kane and several scenes later (approximately one-two hours), the Xenomorph was of large size.
- ^ Anchor Point Essay - Stage three. URL last accessed 14th February 2006.
- ^ To prove that the Xenomorphs were of high intelligence, consider noting that in the film Alien the Xenomorph could manoeuvre itself throughout a maze of ventilation. Similarly in Aliens, notice how the Xenomorph could manipulate through a series of tunnels and underwater ducts.
- ^ From: Alien: Resurrection - Theatrical Release. Chapter Nine, 0:26:18-0:26:27 (hours:minutes:seconds).
- ^ Sideshowtoy. URL last accessed 15th February 2006.
- ^ Note in the film Aliens, the Queen understands that the aircraft she secretly boards will lead her to a safe place; that the forklift machine Lt. Ripley arms herself with could be seen as a danger; she also knows that if she was sent into space, she will die; when Ripley burns an egg with her flamethrower, the Queen responds by sending warriors in after her; when Ripley points her gun at the rest of the eggs, the Queen sees this as a threat and sends the warriors away in fear of her precious eggs being destroyed; she also knew how to work the elevator in escape.
- ^ Visions of Terror - Xenomorph. URL last accessed 22 February 2006.
- ^ Visions of Terror - Xenomorph. URL last accessed 22 February 2006.
- ^ Alien³ - Scenes 1-3. Theatrical release.
- ^ Notice in Alien³, the Facehugger has already impregnated the Queen into Ripley at the beginning of the film. Later in the film, the same Facehugger also implants another embryo into the dog (or ox, depending on which version). Overall, the embryo in the dog (or ox) erupts first; however, the embryo in Ripley doesn't break out of her until several days later. See also "The Chestburster" section and under "Special Rules" - This also explains the time required for the Queen to mature.
- ^ Serendawn.com Alien/Xenomorph statistics. URL last accessed 22 February 2006.
- ^ Sideshow Collectibles URL last accessed 23 February 2006.
- ^ Won an Oscar for Best Visual Effects. Full list of awards for Aliens.
- ^ Fortunecity.com URL last accessed 23 February 2006.
- ^ Geocities.com URL last accessed 23 February 2006.
- ^ Note the head length for that in Alien and the Xenomorphs in Alien: Resurrection.
- ^ From Alien: Resurrection. 0:50:32-0:55:36 - (hours:minutes:seconds).
- ^ From Alien: Resurrection. 0:43:40-0:43:54 - (hours:minutes:seconds).
- ^ From Alien. 1:30:20-1:32:30 - (hours:minutes:seconds). Please note that this scene if from Alien: Director's Cut and is not included in the theatrical release.
- ^ Quote from: Alien. Chapter 22.
- ^ Predalien Information Site.
- ^ View image of Alien skull inside the Predator's trophy case.
- ^ As well as the Aliens vs. Predator 2 computer game, this site also explains the theory of ultrasound.
- ^ Notice in Alien: Resurrection the size of the Queen's head before she gave birth to the new-born Xenomorph.
- ^ A series of book published by Steve Perry. ISBN 0553561200.
- ^ From Alien. Chapters 7-9. Theatrical release.
References
- Alien - Released on May 25, 1979 - On-line script. Retrieved 15th February 2006.
- Aliens - Released on June 18, 1986 - On-line script. Retrieved 15th February 2006.
- Alien³ - Released on May 22, 1992 - On-line script. Retrieved 15th February 2006.
- Alien: Resurrection - Released on November 26th, 1997 - On-line script. Retrieved 15th February 2006.
- Goldman, Willie (February 15). "Sideshow Collectibles, Inc". HAIL to THE QUEEN.
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(help) - Syntari (February 15). "Everything2.com". Life of the Xenomorph.
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(help) - Nathan (February 15). "PlanetAVP.com". Alien universe.
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(help) - Brian (February 16). "Visions of Terror". Visions of Terror.
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(help) - Kepler, Charon (February 17). "Geocities.com". The Xenomorph Pages.
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(help) - Internet Movie Database (February 17). "IMDb.com". Awards for Aliens.
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(help) - Unknown author (February 18). "Alien Collectors Homeworld". Xenomorph.org.
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ignored (help) - Unknown author (February 18). "Predalien". Predalien information.
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(help) - Serena Dawn (February 22). "Serenadawn.com". Alien/Xenomorph statistics.
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(help) - Aliens versus Predator (computer game).
- Aliens versus Predator 2 (computer game).
External links
- H.R. Giger online - A website about the creation of the Xenomorphs' body.
- Anchorpoint Essay - Alien information pages. Numerous information about the life-cycle of the Xenomorph.