Xenomorph

Xenomorph XX121, also known as Alien and Xenomorph, is one of the major characters from the Alien series.
== Charactah Account ==
The Xenomorph XX121, better known just as Xenomorph or the "Alien", is an extraterrestrial hive-based endoparasitoid with a multi-staged life cycle, possibly originating from the planet Xenomorph Prime.
Known to be extremely deadly and hostile, Xenomorphs require a host organism in order to reproduce. The appearance of the Xenomorph can vary depending on the host in which the embryo is implanted. The Human phenotype is generally around 7–9 feet in height and roughly 181.43 to 272.15 kilograms in weight, with a long, muscular tail and large, curved, oblong head.
The Queen of the Xenomorph is generally twice as large and possesses superior speed, strength and intelligence compared to her common offspring.
== Appearance ==
=== Comics ===
* Aliens versus Predator versus The Terminator
* Alien vs. Predator: Civilized Beasts
* Alien vs. Predator: Fire and Stone
* Alien vs. Predator: Life and Death
* Alien vs. Predator: Sand Trap
* Alien vs. Predator: Thicker Than Blood
* Alien vs. Predator: Thrill of the Hunt
* Alien vs. Predator: Whoever Wins... We Lose
* Aliens vs. Predator
* Aliens vs. Predator 2
* Aliens vs. Predator Annual
* Aliens vs. Predator Omnibus: Volume 1
* Aliens vs. Predator Omnibus: Volume 2
* Aliens vs. Predator Special Collector's Edition
* Aliens vs. Predator: Blood Time
* Aliens vs. Predator: Booty
* Aliens vs. Predator: Deadspace
* Aliens vs. Predator: Duel
* Aliens vs. Predator: Deadliest of the Species
* Aliens vs. Predator: Eternal
* Aliens vs. Predator: The Web
* Aliens vs. Predator: Three World War
* Aliens vs. Predator: War
* Aliens vs. Predator: Xenogenesis
=== Movies ===
* Alien
* Alien 3
* Alien Resurrection
* Alien vs. Predator
* Alien: Covenant
* Aliens
* Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem
* Predator 2
* Prometheus
* The Predator
=== TV Series ===
* Alien
=== Video Games ===
* Alien (2017)
* Alien Resurrection
* Alien Trilogy
* Alien vs. Predator
* Alien Vs. Predator (1994)
* Alien vs. Predator: The Last of His Clan
* Alien³
* Alien: Isolation
* Aliens
* Aliens Online
* Aliens Versus Predator
* Aliens Versus Predator 2
* Aliens Versus Predator 2: Primal Hunt
* Aliens Versus Predator: Extinction
* Aliens vs. Predator
* Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem
* Aliens: Alien 2
* Aliens: Dark Descent
* Aliens: Colonial Marines
* Aliens: Infestation
* Aliens: The Computer Game
* Astyanax
* AVP: Evolution
* Dead by Daylight
* Fortnite
* From Other Suns
* Monster Breeder
* Mortal Kombat X
* Pinball FX3
* Predator: Concrete Jungle
== Trivia ==
* The image that would eventually become the Xenomorph's design was originally featured in H. R. Giger's book Necronomicon, named after the eponymous forbidden grimoire from the stories of H. P. Lovecraft.
* The Xenomorph's method of reproduction is rather reminiscent of that employed by the Ixtl, a species featured in the novel The Voyage of the Space Beagle, which predates the Xenomorphs by almost 30 years. The first Alien film has even been accused of plagiarism regarding the book, although the producers denied any possible influence or connection.
* Another possible inspiration for the Xenomorph is the small deep-sea crustacean Phronima, which is physically similar to some Xenomorphs (particularly the Xenomorph Queen) and is also an endoparasitoid, laying its eggs inside the body of deep-sea salps and killing them from the inside, after which the crustacean continues to inhabit the salp's hollowed body.
* Within its franchise, the Xenomorph has been referred to as "Kane's son", a "creature", a "serpent", a "beast", a "dragon", a "monster", a "nasty", a "thing", a "bug", among others.
* Besides merging with the Predator franchise, the Xenomorph species has been featured in a myriad of other science-fiction, superhero and comedy franchises.
** It appeared in an episode of the cartoon comedy Animaniacs called "Space Probed".
** Xenomorphs make frequent appearances in the comic strip Brewster Rockit: Space Guy!, with the most prominent Xenomorph character being Philbert, the "son" of human engineer Cliff Clewless, who figures among the few known survivors of a facehugger implantation.
** A Xenomorph named Heinrich serves as the final boss of the Nintendo 64 game Conker's Bad Fur Day.
** Xenomorphs have been fought by several DC Comics heroes, including Batman, Superman and the Green Lanterns.
** The Xenomorph Queen has also briefly appeared in an episode of the comedy series Family Guy.
** The Tarkatan Xenomorph is a strain spawned from the Tarkata of Mortal Kombat. It is featured in Mortal Kombat X.
** A small Xenomorph appears as a dog-equivalent on Planet 51 and is shown to urinate acid.
** They appeared in the comedy show Robot Chicken.
** A singing and dancing alien bursts out of John Hurt's chest in the 1987 sci-fi comedy Spaceballs. Unlike most chestbursters, it possessed fully-developed legs and red eyes.
** Xenomorphs have also made cameos in some Star Wars material, though they are not canon.
** According to Derrick J. Wyatt, the Nemetrix from Ben 10: Omniverse can accept Xenomorph DNA.
* Additionally, the design of the Xenomorph has become so iconic that it inspired numerous others.
** The Xenos from Alone in the Dark are named and designed after them.
** In an episode of Chip 'n' Dale Rescue Rangers, the Rescue Rangers watch a science fiction movie with an alien resembling a Xenomorph.
** In the Dragon Ball Z series, the first main villain Frieza has a third form transformation that resembles a Xenomorph, particularly sharing its signature long cranium.
** Some fans have noted similarities between Xenomorphs and the Propagators found on the Ragnarok in Final Fantasy VIII. It is possible that the Xenomorphs served as the inspiration for this creature, which is territorial, carnivorous, and is found only in remote locations in space.
** In Lilo & Stitch: The Series, Experiment 627 is shown to have an extendable appendage in his mouth similar to the Xenomorphs.
** The Xenomorph's design has inspired the creation of the Metroid villain known as Ridley, which is a reference to Alien's director Ridley Scott. They also bear a resemblance to Space Pirates, the antagonist species in the Metroid game series.
** The Space Quest series of science fiction parody adventure games, feature several references and homages to the Xenomorph. In Space Quest II, a "spiny alien" resembling a Xenomorph with big red lips appears; if it catches the player, Roger Wilco, it kisses them and they later die of a chestburster. In Space Quest V, a creature similar to a facehugger is found in a garbage load and adopted by Roger. Its urine, in reference to its blood, is highly acidic. In Space Quest VI, a Xenomorph is shown in a "cameo" easter egg, sneaking into the shuttle of a parody of Ellen Ripley: Ellen Wrigley.
** The Pizza Monsters from the 1987 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series are clearly designed after the Xenomorphs; as are the Squirrelanoids from the 2012 series.
** The Reapers in the DLC pack “Aberration” of the game ARK: Survival Evolved were likely inspired by the Xenomorphs, as the player can be impregnated by a Reaper Queen, and their spawn code is literally “Xenomorph”.
* In Aliens, the Xenomorphs seem to shake their heads slightly before attacking their prey.
* The fact that they have no visible eyes was conceived by Giger 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 Alien³, a fish-eye lens represented the Runner's sight, but it is unknown if this is really how it sees or simply a filmed representation of the creatures' sensory perception.
** The idea that a Xenomorph may have eyes deep inside its skull is seemingly lent support by early models and toys of the Warrior Xenomorph, while Alien was still the only existing movie in the timeline. These showed an actual, physical, humanoid skull built under the smooth carapace, with the smooth top working like a one-way visor.
** In the 2010 Alien vs. Predator game, it is mentioned in one of the Marine audio tapes that Xenomorphs have vision. The game implies that the Xenomorph sees using its attack tongue, though this may be for gameplay purposes rather than factual information.
** In the novelization of the movie Alien, the creature is held mesmerized by a spinning green light for several minutes.
* The Xenomorph has been portrayed in noticeably different ways throughout the film series. Much of this was due to the continuing advancements made in the field of special effects, technology, and techniques used to bring it to life.
** In the original Alien film, and in the sequel Aliens, Xenomorphs are depicted as tall, slender creatures with a roughly Human biomechanical design. The chest area appears to be rib cage-like in design.
** In later films, such as Alien: Resurrection and Alien vs. Predator, they are depicted as being shorter and bulkier organisms, as well as being more quadrupedal, portrayed by either stuntmen in suits for close-ups, or computer-generated imagery for their full form.
** In Aliens, Xenomorphs are depicted as having ridges along their cranium, while in all other films they have smooth cowls covering their skulls. It was speculated in the Aliens bonus DVD that this was due to these Xenomorphs having had more time to mature, compared to the Xenomorphs in the other films. In the comics and various video games (Aliens vs. Predator: Extinction, Alien vs. Predator (SNES), Aliens vs. Predator 2), this was depicted as one of the visual differences between the Xenomorph Drone and Warrior castes.
** In Alien and Alien³, the Xenomorph has six fingers, with the index and middle fingers conjoined into one digit, ring and little fingers also conjoined, and thumbs on both sides. In Aliens, the Xenomorphs are shown with five fingers, with the second thumb missing. In Alien: Resurrection and Alien vs. Predator, the aliens have four fingers, though the middle two appear to be a fusion of two digits. No explanation is given in the films for the fluctuating number of digits, although the creature's well-known genetic plasticity probably accounts for that.
** Originally, the Xenomorph's tail was roughly the length of the rest of its body, with a small, almost surgical stinger-like barb on the end; but from Alien³ onward, the tail has extended in length and features a large, knife-like blade at the tip. In Alien: Resurrection and Alien vs. Predator, the tails have also supported a ridge of spikes right before the blade. This was introduced in Alien: Resurrection to help them swim convincingly, and was left intact in Alien vs. Predator. The tail itself is shown to be of incredible length during Alien vs Predator, measuring almost its full body length.
** The original shooting script for Aliens featured a scene in which Lieutenant Gorman was "stung" by a Xenomorph's stinger. He was not killed, merely stunned, and the barb remained lodged in his shoulder. The novelization also included this scene, though the final cut of the movie does not. This attribute is used later on in various games.
* In a cut scene in Alien (included in the Special Edition), Ripley found two of her cocooned colleagues actually being turned into Xenomorph eggs. This suggests that Xenomorphs can convert Humans into eggs when there is no Queen, although this may have been scrapped as many other features of the Xenomorphs were in later movies (such as the transparent skulls and empty eye sockets). In the book, it's described how the Drones are able to implant a fetus in up to four hosts, thereby creating enough Drones and Warriors to start a hive with.
* "On the pH scale, [the alien blood] would probably rank at a devastating negative four or lower", a previous author claimed. This is theoretically possible, despite the fact that pH is the minus logarithm of the free H-ions' concentration. To put this into perspective, water has a neutral pH of 7 and our stomach acid has a pH of 1, which would lie at the very bottom of the 1 to 14 scale. Attempts to discredit such a claim are challenged indirectly by chemists who have found that mixing antimony pentafluoride with hydrofluoric acid can produce a solution with a pH of -31. This therefore would render it 100,000 billion, billion, billion times more potent than stomach acid. It should be noted, however, that this acid is basically formed by mixing two incredibly strong acids together in the first place, which interact to become even more acidic. Though former theories have in fact stated that two potent chemicals (with perhaps some biological catalyst) may mix to create the acidic blood seen. Perhaps the strongest 'solo' acid would be the boron-based carborane with a pH of -18. Yet due to the structure of carborane, the H+ ions, which create the phenomenon known as acidity, are shared so efficiently between molecules that it would have no corrosive effects at all. Hence despite challenges it would appear even that which is known on Earth certainly leaves scope for the incredible properties of the aliens' acidic blood. It may also go without saying that different environments in other worlds could evolve "acid blood" that could also carry whatever nutrients that the Xenomorph needs.
* In the first movie, it appeared that the eggs could sense when another creature crossed into some form of mist covering their nursery area. It's a widely accepted hypothesis that this was a containment field to keep the eggs dormant (this same mist has been used as such in Aliens Vs. Predator 2 video game), put in place by a Mala'kak, a.k.a. "Space Jockey". When this mist was broken, the facehuggers appeared to be alerted, and went on the search for the host.
* In the video game Alien Vs. Predator 2, one of the alien missions requires the player to find a source of food in order for the chestburster to advance to its Drone phase. At the end of the level, a short cut-scene indicates that the chestburster consumes a house cat in a carrier. The scene does not show what happens during the change in the life cycle.
* Though maintaining the basic design shown in the Aliens vs. Predator video games, numerous artistic liberties were taken in the film portrayal of the Predalien. Or rather, would have been taken. One abandoned concept was to have the Predalien reproduce by injecting victims with "DNA acid" through its tail, causing the victim to swell and explode.
** Another is the Predalien's inherited tendency to skin victims. This was probably dropped because skinning victims isn't something that comes instinctively to Predators, but rather a learned behavior.
* In the absence of a queen, they are able to cocoon victims and transform them into Ovomorphs in a process called "Eggmorphing".
== Gallery ==
File:Xenomorph Render 01.png
File:Xenomorph Render 02.png
File:Xenomorph Render 03.png
== External Links ==
* Xenomorph at Alien Species
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Category:Alien