Xenomorph XX121, commonly referred to as simply the Xenomorph, known colloquially as the Alien, and classified as XX121, is a highly aggressive endoparasitoid extraterrestrial species. The Xenomorphs are vicious predatory creatures with no higher goals than the propagation of their species and the destruction of any life that could pose a threat to them. Like wasps or bees, Xenomorphs are eusocial, with a fertile Queen breeding a host of subordinate castes. The creatures are known for their potent acidic blood and their pharyngeal jaws, although their biological life cycle, in which their offspring are implanted inside living hosts before erupting violently from their chests, is in many ways their signature aspect.

Aside from their repeated conflicts with humans, Xenomorphs have notably been associated with the Yautja, who know them as kainde amedha (“hard meat”). The Yautja revere the creatures as incredibly dangerous and thus highly worthy prey, notably employing them in initiation Hunts that serve to test young members of their society and mark their progression into adulthood

The Xenomorphs’ design is credited to Swiss surrealist and artist H. R. Giger, originating in a lithograph titled Necronom IV and refined for the series’s first film, Alien. The practical effects for the Xenomorph’s head were designed and constructed by Italian special effects designer Carlo Rambaldi. Species design and life cycle have been extensively augmented, sometimes inconsistently, throughout each film.

Unlike many other extraterrestrial races in science fiction (such as the Daleks and Cybermen in Doctor Who, or the Klingons and Borg in Star Trek), the Xenomorphs are not sapient toolmakers — they lack a technological civilization of any kind, and are instead primal, predatory creatures with no higher goal than the preservation and propagation of their own species by any means necessary, up to and including the elimination of other lifeforms that may pose a threat to their existence. Like wasps or termites, Xenomorphs are eusocial, with a single fertile queen breeding a caste of warriors, workers, or other specialist strains. The Xenomorphs’ biological life cycle involves traumatic implantation of endoparasitoid larvae inside living hosts; these “chestburster” larvae erupt from the host’s body after a short incubation period, mature into adulthood within hours, and seek out more hosts for implantation.

Characteristics

Xenomorphs are primarily solitary ambush predators, although they have been known to adopt swarm tactics when acting in larger groups. Despite their voracious ability to kill, they often seek to take their victims alive to be hosts for more Xenomorphs; victims are taken to the Hive (or simply a secluded location if no Hive exists), cocooned and/or immobilized before being impregnated with a Xenomorph embryo. However, when their target becomes a threat or is deemed unsuitable for harvest, the Xenomorph will not hesitate to quickly dispatch the chosen host.

Appearance

Notably, Xenomorphs will alter their physical appearance during development depending on the physiology of the host in which they gestate – in all likelihood, this incorporation of physical traits gleaned from the host is designed to ensure the adult creature is better suited to the environment in which it will find itself.

Outwardly, they are encased in a tough mesoskeleton, lending them a skeletal, biomechanical appearance, and are usually colored in muted shades of black, blue or bronze. The outer shell is incredibly resilient, impervious not only to the creature’s own potent acid blood, but also capable of withstanding some forms of small arms fire. Whatever organism a Xenomorph gestates within, they invariably possess distinctive, elongated, cylindrical skulls, but have no visible facial features other than their mouth. The carapace atop the head has been seen to vary, from smooth and vaguely translucent to ridged and opaque

Culture and society

Xenomorphs operate under a caste system, with groups of specialized individuals performing distinct tasks within the species. It is not clear to what degree these castes are subject to a social hierarchy, although certain Xenomorph types, notably the Praetorians and the Queens, clearly exercise some degree of control and superiority over other more common variations.

While individual Xenomorphs have been known to operate independently, owing to their tendency to reproduce rapidly and in large numbers they are more commonly encountered in groups and often likened to an infestation owing to their tendency to spread and consume all suitable host organisms in an area. As with many other eusocial organisms, Xenomorphs, particularly in larger groups, will create a central nest or Hive in which they will reside, often overseen by an Egg-laying Queen. Raiding parties will be sent out into the surrounding area to search for and capture more hosts, which will then be brought to the Hive and used to create more Xenomorphs. In larger infestations, smaller “satellite” Hives may be created, containing just a few Xenomorphs, allowing victims to be cocooned and impregnated even far away from the Queen herself.

Behind the Scenes

The script for the 1979 film Alien was initially drafted by Dan O’Bannon and Ronald Shusett. Dan O’Bannon drafted an opening in which the crew of a mining ship are sent to investigate a mysterious message on an alien planet. He eventually settled on the threat being an alien creature.

Prior to writing the script to Alien, O’Bannon had been working in France for Chilean cult director Alejandro Jodorowsky’s planned adaptation of Frank Herbert’s classic science-fiction novel Dune. Also hired for the project was Swiss surrealist artist H. R. Giger. Giger showed O’Bannon his nightmarish, monochromatic artwork, which left O’Bannon deeply disturbed.

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

A cultured Alien

O’Bannon’s original concept for the Alien was that it was a member of an advanced civilization, an idea ultimately dropped in favor of a more simplistic, animalistic take. In his initial vision, the final form of the adult Alien was in fact part of a peaceful, cultured race who first had to pass through a period of adolescence, at which stage they were consumed with ferocious violence and aggression. The creature’s incredibly complicated reproductive cycle would form the basis of a religion the species followed, involving the use of sacrificial hosts to breed more young inside ornate, ritualistic pyramids. After birth, the violent adolescent creatures would be tended to by the more docile adults, but when those adults were wiped out by an unknown event, the unborn children were left dormant for thousands or even millions of years, waiting for more hosts to arrive.[48] It would be one of these hyper-aggressive, untended adolescents that would stalk the crew of the Nostromo.

Aliens: Dead Orbit

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