Xenomorph

The Xenomorphs are a species that feature in the Aliens universe.

History

Infant Xenomorph.

The Xenomorphs were a race of predatory extraterrestrial parasites whose origins were traced to that of the mysterious Engineers. This older civilization were responsible for creating a mutagenic compound that transformed creatures into various forms. Within their civilization, there were murals that depicted organisms that resembled the Xenomorphs.

David 8 later detonated the black liquid over the Engineer homeworld thus ravaging the population which he began to use as part of his experiments. He came to cultivate a number of hybrid parasitic species such as the Neomorphs with these all culminating in him attempting to breed the perfect lifeform.

In 2122, a commercial space tug called the Nostromo owned by the Company was on a return trip to Earth. During the journey, it received a signal from a desolate world and got orders to investigate. Several of the crew went to the surface to discover a vessel of extraterrestrial design whose pilot was dead. Whilst exploring the depths of the ship, Kane encountered a cargo hold of eggs and became infected by the dormant facehugger inside. Returned to the ship, he was kept in the medical bay as the crew looked for a means to save his life. It was then that the facehugger came to fall off his face on the night and it seemed Kane was unharmed. However, during dinner, the gestating Xenomorph inside of him emerged and broke through his chest where it fled. The crew then looked to find the creature only for the Xenomorph to kill them after it had matured into an adult in a short span of time. Meanwhile, Ellen Ripley came to learn that the Company had intended for the creature to be captured by any means necessary even at the expense of the crew. These orders to be enacted by the secret Synthetic who operated as the crewman Ash until he was destroyed. Afterwards, more of the crew was killed by the Xenomorph until Ripley was all that was left. Rescuing her cat, she detonated the Nostromo's engines in an effort to kill the alien organism. However, it had snuck on-board the lifeboat along with Ripley. She though managed to open the airlock and jettison the creature into space thus ending the threat posed by it. In the aftermath, Ripley went into cryo-sleep as her lifeboat headed to the closest human territory to be rescued by them.

Overview

Physiology

In appearance, the Xenomorph were parasitic generally humanoid organisms possessing a hard carapace and a tail. Their appearance varied depending on their host and the stage of their life cycle. The most common characteristic though was a hard chitinous exoskeleton that covered them. This skeletal, biomechanical appearance were usually colored in muted shades of black, gray, blue or bronze. Typically, they were bipedal in form that either adopt a more hunched stance, or remain quadrupedal when walking or sprinting. Their body heat matched the ambient temperature of the environment in which they were found and so they did not radiate heat making them indistinguishable from their surroundings through thermal imaging. Adult specimens were capable of running and crawling along ceilings, walls, and other hard surfaces. They had great physical strength having been shown to be capable of breaking through welded steel doors in numbers.

Their dull yellow blood was shown to be an extremely potential acid that was able to corrode almost any substance on contact at incredible speeds. It was seemingly pressured within the body as it often burst out at great force when the creature was wounded with this in turn wounding its attacker.

Lifecycle

The start of their lifecycle began with the laying of an egg that were large leathery ovoid shaped eggs created by a Queen. These were deposited in the ground and gestated the first stage of the creature with these being the Facehugger. These arachnid shaped organisms resided within the egg until it hatched or until another life form was in close proximity. At that point, the Facehugger moved to latch onto the face of the prey where they wrapped their long tail around the neck to force the mouth open. It then attached itself to the face where an ovipositor that dropped an egg inside into the organism. Inside, the egg slowly developed into the next stage of the Xenomorph cycle where it became a creature known as a Chestburster. These serpentine organisms drew nutrients from the host and resided beneath the ribcage. After several hours, the creature matured to the point that they broke through the chest of the host thus killing them allowing the creature to escape. It quickly then escaped to safety and to hide from any threats that could kill it. The Chestburster began to shed its skin over time as it developed into its more mature adult form.

Society

As a society, the Xenomorphs were eusocial life-forms with a caste system ruled over by a queen.

Notes

• The Alien was created by Dan O'Bannon, Ronald Shusett, Carlo Rambaldi and H. R. Giger and made their first appearance in Alien.
• The Alien Quadrilogy DVD referred to the Alien as Internecivus raptus (Latin: murderous thief).
• The film Prometheus established that the Xenomorphs were born as a result of a mutation from the Engineers mutagenic material.
• The Weyland-Yutani Report had the Alien encountered by the Nostromo being specifically designated as "Xenomorph XX121".

Alternate Versions

• In Alien vs. Predator, the Xenomorphs appeared in the setting of the crossover film setting. It was revealed that they were encountered by the Predators who were known as the Hunters. The Aliens were deemed the perfect organism to hunt leading to queens being captured where they were brought to temple facilities made by the Hunters. Such structures were made on primitive Earth when the Hunters arrived on that world and were worshipped as gods. The native humans would offer themselves as willing sacrifices where they were used to breed Aliens that were to be hunted. However, in some cases, the Xenomorphs went out of control and infected the population of entire human cities. This resulted in the Hunters triggering their self-destruct devices thus killing all the Xenomorphs in the site to prevent them from spreading to the rest of the planet. By the modern day, a lone Hunter temple was located deep beneath the Antarctic ice. Humans exploring the site came to trigger its reactor thus awakening the Xenomorph Queen inside. This in turn drew the presence of Predator Hunters whose young used the event as a rite of passage.

In other media

Video games

• In Aliens versus Predator 2, Xenomorphs appeared in the setting of the 2001 video game where they featured in the story and as a playable class in the multiplayer mode with Warrior, Runner and Praetorian as playable sub-classes.
• In Aliens vs. Predator, Xenomorphs appeared in the setting of the 2010 video game. Canisters of Royal Jelly appeared as a collectible item that unlocked a trophy. During the campaign mode, players could take control of an Alien designated as Specimen 8.
• In Alien: Isolation, a Xenomorph appeared as the primary antagonist in the game set after the events of Aliens.
• In Mortal Kombat X, the Xenomorph was introduced as a playable character in a DLC pack where it emerges from the Tarkatan Baraka.
• In Aliens: Fireteam Elite, Xenomorphs appeared in the setting of the third person coop shooter video game. In 2202, the crew of the USS Endeavor were deployed to various sites to deal with Alien infestations that had emerged at various human facilities and colonies.
• In Aliens: Dark Descent, Xenomorphs appeared in the setting of the real-time tactics video game. In 2198, an infestation of Xenomorphs came to erupt on the human colony of Lethe.

Novels

• In Alien, the Alien appeared in the 1979 novel adaptation of the film which was written by Alan Dean Foster and published by Warner Books. Ash speculated that the Xenomorphs 'saw' by way of electrical impulse, similar to a shark's lateral line.
• In Aliens, the Aliens appeared in the 1986 novel adaptation of the film which was written by Alan Dean Foster and published by Warner Books. It first introduced the concept of Xenomorph-produced 'royal jelly' with it being mentioned by Bishop.

Appearances

• Alien:
• Aliens:
• Alien 3:
• Alien: Resurrection:
• Alien versus Predator:
• Alien versus Predator: Requiem:
• Prometheus:
• Alien: Covenant:

External Link

• AvP Wiki Entry
• Wikipedia Entry

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