The Xenomorph is the main antagonist of the 1979 American horror film Alien and its sequels.
After receiving a distress call from a nearby planet, the cargo ship Nostromo accidentally uncovers a species of parasitic, biomechanical extraterrestrials that accidentally stow aboard the ship in the chest cavity of one of the crew members.
Appearance
The Xenomorph starts off with a Drone, a tall semi-humanoid creature with black, wet skin and a biomechanical, almost skeletal appearance. Its head is long, vaguely phallic, and eyeless. Its mouth is filled with numerous silvery teeth and a tongue-like projection tipped with a second mouth. Its long thin tail is lined with vertebrae-like bumps, giving it a shape similar to a chainsaw chain, and this tail is tipped with a long spike. In Aliens, a Xenomorph Warrior has a ridged head, as opposed to the smooth carapace of the Drone, but is otherwise virtually identical. In Alien: Resurrection, cloned Xenomorphs generally resembled normal Xenomorphs, but they possess several notable differences that make them unique. In Alien vs. Predator, a Xenomorph, nicknamed "Grid", possessed grid-like scars on its cranium due to getting caught in a constricting net fired at it by the Predator Celtic. In Prometheus, a Xenomorph-like creature known as the Deacon looks identical to its namesake, except it has a blue smooth body, four fingers, a thumb and plantigrade legs while its mouth possesses two different teeth sets, the top jaw having teeth typical to herbivores, while its lower jaw had sharp teeth spread apart, the gum that protrudes behind the top possesses sharp teeth. It is nearly completely smooth, with exception of some of its ribs showing.
The Facehugger, the first stage in the creature's life cycle, is a creature with pale skin that resembles an octopus mixed with a scorpion. It has a long tail, numerous grasping tentacles, and a vagina-shaped orifice on its underbelly.
The larval Chestburster resembles a smaller version of the adult Xenomorph with pale fleshtone skin.
Powers and Abilities
The Xenomorph possesses the following powers and abilities:
- Parasitic reproduction
- Acidic blood
- Sharp teeth
- Spiked tail
- Projectile tongue
Fate
The Xenomorph is killed after it is shot out the ship's airlock by Ellen Ripley, sending it into the vacuum of space.
Types
- Drone
- Warrior
- Queen
- Praetorian
- Deacon
- Newborn
- Predalien - a result of a Chestburster implanted inside a Predator
- Runner
- Neomorph
Trivia
- The Xenomorph was inspired by the real-life deep-sea crustacean Phronima, which attack small free-floating tunicates called salps, hollow out their bodies, and raise their young inside them.
Photo Gallery
