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The Xenomorph
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Snafu the Great
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The Xenomorph

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"You still don't understand what you're dealing with, do you? Perfect organism. Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility...I admire its purity. A survivor... unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality."

- Ash (Ian Holm), Alien

They're known to the Yautja as Kiande Amedha (Hard Meat). Some even call them Eggplant Heads. Either way, the Xenomorph's been around for three decades and shows no sign of slowing down.

The Xenomorph is a parasitic life form with a multi-staged life cycle. The appearance of the xenomorph varies depending on it's parent host. The human phenotype is generally around 7'8 inches, and roughly 136.0 to 181.4 kg with a long muscular tail and large oblong head. The female of the species is generally twice as large, weighing ten times as much, having much greater speed, strength, and intelligence.

There is not one solid fact as to the origins of the Xenomorph species. Instead are many assumptions, which can neither be confirmed nor denied.

The most commonly accepted hypothesis is that they evolved naturally on a planet much different from our own.

Other ideas include that they were created by another race, perhaps the Yautja (Predator) as an "ultimate prey". Another idea is that they were created by a race only to known to us as simply "Space Jockeys" as a biological weapon. Xenomorphs are specifically said to not be indigenous to LV-426, a relatively small and unknown planet, where a large body of their eggs were found in the hold of a derelict Space Jockey ship. No one knows if they were using the eggs as research or as a bioweapon. Some say that billions of years ago the advanced race controlled much of the universe with the Xenomorphs, but were wiped out by them.

Xenomorphs, in all stages of their life cycles, have been said to have vulnerabilities to heat, although this was only shown in a deleted scene from the Alien Special Edition DVD; in which Ripley searches for her missing ship-mates in the bowels of what appears to be the engine/ boiler room of the Nostromo Xenomorphs are capable of adapting themselves to cold environments with little discomfort. the only Xenomorph not vulnerable to fire are the Predaliens In the game Alien vs. Predator: Extinction they secrete a layer over their body and with that layer cannot be caught on fire, though are visibly pained by extremes such as liquid nitrogen. A rapid succession of extremes in both high and low temperatures apparently causes a thermal shock effect on an Xenomorph's exoskeleton.

Xenomorphs are shown to be vulnerable to close range small fire-arms ranging from 9mm to 5.56mm and high-calibre firearms, with the explosive rounds of a M41A pulse rifle causing the creatures to detonate. High energy beam weapons, such as plasma weapons appear to be the best way to kill or destroy the Xenomorphs. They are not invulnerable to melee weapons, although such equipment is likely to be destroyed upon contact with its acidic blood, with the few notable exceptions of some.

In the game Predator: Concrete Jungle they can be paralyzed for a short period of time with sonic or pulse traps, and the predator combistick can be used to kill the aliens without cutting them

Xenomorphs appear to possess an intelligence roughly similar to that of a typical primate. Although they do not demonstrate Human-level intelligence as a species (such as abstract reasoning, language, introspection and technological advancement), their queen appears to possess considerable acumen in its social behavior and manipulation of Human technology, such as cutting the power of the LV426 colony and operating an elevator. 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, if only at the most basic level. Xenomorphs have demonstrated little actual emotion, though they are not totally devoid of fear, especially for their eggs. They have also been shown to feel pain through shrieks or screams when attacked.

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; this is very similar to the Cthulhu cult in H. P. Lovecraft's The Call of Cthulhu. This can be seen in Alien 3 where Golem is induced by supposed "telepathic" messages from the Alien in hiding. This ultimately leads him to release it and let it kill him. He called it "The Dragon", and viewed it as a god.

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. Events on the LV-426 colony and the USM Auriga showed that the species excells at observational learning.

In the rare event that a Xenomorph should find itself under attack or otherwise vulnerable, it once again displays incredible creativity and cleverness. They are quite capable of moving quickly in ventilation systems, despite their size, and will use such conduits for ambush, escape, or simply as an easy way to travel between areas. 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, or use it as a weapon. they show some military tactics as to retreat and can find ways to get round certain problems such as finding new ways to kill there prey like pushing the red button to freeze a soldier.

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. 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.

Adult Xenomorphs are quick and agile, and can run along ceilings and walls, a skill they exhibit freely whether they are evading others, attacking, or hunting prey. They can survive in extreme temperatures, are well-adapted to swimming, can respirate harsh atmospheres and can survive in vacuum for short lengths of time. Their movement tends to be silent, and they do not radiate heat as their exoskeletal temperature matches the ambient temperature. They also salivate profusely. This saliva is not acidic, though some Xenomorphs do have the ability to spit acid, which may come from their stomachs, or a special gland somewhere in their throats; this can be used to blind victims, much like a spitting cobra.

The creatures possess no visible eyes; Giger mandated this in his original design, because he felt that it made the creatures much more frightening if one could not tell they were looking at them. 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. 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. Due to the absence of clearly visible eyes, it is possible that the creature uses echolocation to see its environment, much like bats. It may be for this reason that Xenomorphs hiss almost constantly, and as depicted in the Aliens vs. Predator games, the aliens can detect their prey using pheromones.

Xenomorphs can also produce a thick, strong resin, which they use to build their hives and cocoon victims. Much like termites, they mix their viscous saliva with solids. It shows amazing heat and moisture-retaining qualities.


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Old Post Dec 31st, 2009 05:44 AM
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