Alien/ Aliens

The alien, also called the xenomorph, is a fictional parasitoid extraterrestrial species that is the primary antagonist of the Alien film series. more...

Home
Action Figures
A-Team
Action Man
Alien/ Aliens
Austin Powers
Babylon 5
Batman
Battle Of The Planets
Bruce Lee
Buffy & Angel
Captain America
Collections/ Bulk Lots
Daredevil
Doctor Who
Dragon
Dragonball Z
Evangelion
Fantastic Four
Final Fantasy
Ghostbusters
GI Joe/ Action Force
Godzilla
Green Goblin
Green Lantern
Gundam
Halo
Hawkgirl
Hellboy
Hellraiser
Incredible Hulk
Incredibles
Iron Man
James Bond
Jurassic Park
Justice League of America
Kill Bill
Kubrick
Lord of the Rings
M.A.S.K.
Macross
Marvel Legends
Marx
Masters of the Universe
Matrix
McFarlane
Mego
Micronauts
Other Action Figures
Planet of the Apes
Power Rangers
Predator
Qee
Reservoir Dogs
Resident Evil
Robotech
Shrek
Six Million Dollar Man
Small Soldiers
Smurfs
Spawn
Spider-Man
Star Trek
Star Wars
Stargate
Street Fighter
Superman
Teen Titans
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles
Terminator
Thunderbirds
Thundercats
Tomb Raider
Toy Story
Transformers
Wonder Woman
Wrestling
X-Files
X-Men
Xena
Zoids
Beanies
Construction Toys & Kits
Diecast & Vehicles
Toys & Games
Wargames & Role-Playing

The creature made its debut in the 1979 film Alien, and reappeared in its sequels Aliens (1986), Alien³ (1992), and Alien Resurrection (1997). It has also appeared in the series' two spinoffs Alien vs. Predator (2004) and Alien vs. Predator: Requiem (2007), as well as the series' subsidiary literature and video games.

Unlike many recurring enemy extraterrestrial races in science fiction, the aliens are not an intelligent civilization, but predatory creatures with no higher goals than the propagation of their species and the destruction of life that could pose a threat. Like wasps or termites, aliens are eusocial, with a single fertile queen and a caste of sterile warriors.

The aliens' disturbing life cycle, in which their offspring are violently implanted inside living hosts before erupting from their chests, is in many ways their signature aspect. Their design deliberately evokes many sexual images, both male and female, to illustrate its blurring of human sexual dichotomy.

The alien design is credited to Swiss surrealist and artist H. R. Giger, originating in a lithograph called Necronom IV and refined for the series' first film, Alien. In that film, the alien was played by an actor in costume (7 foot 2 inch Bolaji Badejo) and make-up, a technique used in later films of the series. The queen was depicted in Aliens and Alien: Resurrection using animatronic puppets and in Alien vs. Predator using computer-generated imagery. The species' design and life cycle have been extensively added to throughout each film.

Name

The creature has no specific name, and has been referred to most often onscreen, and in the credits of each film, simply as the alien. It was called an alien, an organism and Kane's son in the first film. It has also been referred to as a creature, a beast, a dragon, a monster or a thing. The term xenomorph (lit. \"alien form\") was used by the character Lieutenant Gorman in Aliens and by Ellen Ripley in a deleted scene from Alien³. This term has been adopted by fans and is used on merchandising as a convenient name. The species Binomial name has been said to be Linguafoeda acheronsis (\"foul tongue from Acheron\") in some comic books, while the Alien Quadrilogy DVD suggests Internecivus raptus (literally \"murderous thief\").

Read more at Wikipedia.org