The Alien

The Alien or the Creature was the titular main-antagonist of the ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter attraction in Walt Disney World's Magic Kingdom.
==Description==
===Appearance===
The alien is approximately ten feet tall and appears to be arthropodal, albeit certain features of the animal do appear to be reptilian. It is covered in an exo-skeleton and is stated to be carnivorous and, "Ornitheus", the latter not being a true scientific classification but as it comes from, "Ornis" meaning bird this likely is meant to describe its flight abilities.
The alien appears to have eight true-limbs (similar to an arachnid) with pincers being located on all of these limbs. The alien also has six smaller, simpler appendages lining its underbelly, their purpose and nature being unknown.
The alien had wings on its back which while resembling those of a bat, are upon examination closer to those of an insect albeit modified. It also has a large articulated tail-like feature similar to the metasoma of scorpion and which ends with a large scythe-like barb.
On its head, the alien has two large yellow eyes in-addition to two combed antenna similar to those of a moth which is likely used for smell. The alien's mouth was not typical to that of an arthropod and had a single jaw attached to its skull, lined with sharp teeth.
===Background===
The alien was presumably an animal which lived in a carnivorous niche on an unidentified alien planet. This was until the alien humanoid L.C. Clench, chairman of the X-S Tech conglomerate got teleported to this planet via the X-S series 1000 teleported. This was part of a glitch in X-S' presentation with the Tomorrowland Interplanetary Convention Centre where the corporation was trying to expand their influence to the planet Earth.
As the demonstration continued, X-S scientists attempted to beam Clench off of the planet but picked up the alien instead. The creature was teleported into the centre of the auditorium in the Tomorrowland convention centre where it immediately began feeding off of the humans which were strapped down in the chamber for the presentation. When Tomorrowland Interplanetary Convention Centre employees were sent in to try and fix the machinery needed to fix the teleportation tube and save the guests, the monster proceeded to fly over to said employee and viciously kill them for food.
Eventually, the X-S scientists managed to get the teleporter back online and trapped the alien in the teleportation tube. Depending on the ride's incarnation, the alien would either have remained trapped in the tube or been vaporized by the technology.
===Development===
The attraction ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter was originally conceived to be an attraction called Nostromo which would have been based on Ridley Scott's 1979 horror film, Alien. In these plans, the alien of the attraction would have been the iconic Xenomorph from the film series.
In early drafts for Alien Encounter following it becoming an I.P., the premise behind the ride was that X-S Tech would have genetically-engineered or simply obtained the monster and wished to use it as a living weapon. The convention would have been a ploy in this script for X-S to test out the alien's destructive capabilities on the unsuspecting attendees of the Tomorrowland convention centre. By the end, it would actually release the guests before going on the massacre the employees of X-S tech in revenge.
In the January of 1995, the attraction was closed; likely due to complaints from parents for the horrifying features of the attraction or for actor Jeffrey Jones (who portrayed Clench in the attraction) having been revealed as a pedophile to the public. The ride would be replaced by Stitch's Great Escape!, an attraction themed around the film, Lilo & Stitch (2002), where the ride's alien would be replaced by Stitch from the film.
This attraction was effectively an overlay of the original attraction which simply re-skinned the horror themed elements of the original to a show where you were strapped down in a dark room with a shallow, vilified portrayal of Stitch for about 15 minutes as he burped in your face then left. Due to near unanimous contempt for the attraction from guests, the attraction would be given a soft closure in the late 2010s and an official closure in 2018 with no official revealed plans for the space.
==Appearances==
===ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter===
The alien was the main-antagonist of this attraction, being the titular alien locked in the chamber with guests. It made direct appearances in the centre of the room as an obscured but massive audio-animatronic and in some pre-recorded video elements interwoven with the attraction.
The presence of the alien was implied throughout the show however as water sprinklers and air blasters mounted in the front-row were used to simulate the creature's body fluids, surround sound was used to imply the creature's presence moving around the room, and hot air blowers with olfactory emitters were used to suggest the alien's tongue was breathing on or licking the audience members' heads.
===Rockettower Plaza===
A robot called, "Robo-Newz" used to appear at the base of the plaza, selling newspapers with a front-page article detailing the events of ExtraTERRORestrial. 
==Trivia==
*As previously stated the alien was originally inspired by the desire to integrate a xenomorph into Walt Disney World. The xenomorph came to be implemented into the Alien sequence of the (now defunct) Great Movie Ride in Disney's Hollywood Studios where it terrorized the guests.
*In Tokyo DisneySea, the Journey to the Center of the Earth attraction features a lava monster animatronic that resembles the alien. A popular urban legend suggests that they used the same molds, but the lava monster is significantly larger and bulkier then its American lookalike.
*Certain elements regarding the ecology of the creature can be implied by its physiology.
**The animal being arthropodal implies that there are high amounts of oxygen on planet due to circulatory system arthropods have being reliant on the concentration of oxygen around them. The greater the size of one, the more oxygen is likely present on their planet
**The pincers it has are likely used for predation and assisting in the manipulation of carrion for feeding.
**It is known that the animal is used to a hyper-carnivorous, flying niche.
**The barb on its tail shows it is likely more used to preying on (or defending itself from) creatures significantly larger than humans due to the functions that these tails would serve.
**The moth-like antennae show the animal is likely adept to nocturnal lifestyles or incredibly dark ecospheres. It might also imply its species is capable of communication via pheromone emission.
==Gallery==
Alien-encounter.jpg
Category:Theme park characters
Category:Villains
Category:Aliens
Category:Hunters
Category:Disney characters
Category:ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter