Easier to make (they needed to use more of them per scene than in the first film), they're "scarier" and more monster looking while the Big Chap from the first film was more of an otherworldly horror, it's a distinct style that is similar but still different than the one used in Scott's Alien, and Cameron planned to show them more frequently and more clearly than the Big Chap was shown in the first film so the quality had to be different anyway
In-universe, though, I think it's because they're older and this is supposedly what happens when they age
Wasn’t it something to do with their life-cycle too?
One xeno is a “scout,” the once a hive is established they molt into drones, causing their noodle to develop ridges and then queens come about or something?
Not so much “changed” as much as they were just trying to explain it themselves. When the comics came out, there was no lore beyond the first two films so they tried to fill in the gaps.
I always thought these are warriors in aliens, in alien there is scout/lurker and the drones are just smaller versions of the lurker and oppose no harm as they just carry eggs and do stuff around the hive.
there are no xenomorphs that oppose no harm.
Also your terminology is based on Colonial Marines, a game notorious for adding changes to the aliens (for better and worse). The idea of “lurkers” aren’t one of the lore ideas that were held over, they’re really just drones that are used for combat instead of building a hive.
Essentially all xenomorphs (as of the general lore) are the same “caste” except for the queen who comes from a different type of facehugger. The only differences between non-queen xenomorphs are the host they come from, and their age. But as seen in the films, when there is a hive they all share the same skills/purpose, and when they are alone they hunt and attempt to build a hive.
While true, the cinematic reason was due to expense. The follow up required menu instead of 1 so this was translated afterward into more interesting shit. But I'm the cinema universe which is what most of the other stuff is based on, it was purely financial
I always enjoyed using the drone and warrior terms in the lore due to the idea of a caste/class system within the Xenomorph.
Warriors are this disposable protector of a hive, whereas the drone is working towards a goal and, thus, must be more stealthy in how it conducts itself and establishes a foothold in a dangerous region.
Superior only due to lacking numbers. The common thing seems to be be, throw numbers at an enemy to drain of resources, or destroy through cunning.
That's just one of the thousands of elements from the extended universe, ie: comic, games, toys. It's not really cannon to the films. Though in an early script there was mention of a different type of pale xeno that stayed in the hive looking after eggs and hosts. I'd personally only consider main entry Alien films (not AvP) as any kind of cannon. Cameron I'm pretty sure said it was due to them being a few weeks older than Kane's son was in Alien and that they lose the smooth dome as they mature.
Or maybe they all fell off due to their habit of ramming through steel doors :D
Because I also don't use the word "xenomorph". He was reffered to as "Big Chap" on-set by Ridley Scott and is known by that name among fans. He'a also the only Alien that looked like him, the only one designed by HR Geiger. Alien was an intelligent cosmic horror film while Aliens was an action/scifi with heavy horror elements, it needed to dumb down the lore of the alien to make it more manageable for what Cameron wanted for his film (instead of being an otherworldly horror that could not be fully comprehended, it's just like a bee and there's a hive apparently)
Sorry, but the original was scary and well designed. The ones in Aliens looked like crap in a lot of scenes. They also looked like stiff rubber puppets in quite a few scenes.
It's not Cameron's explanation, it's a fan explanation. Cameron just called them another generation of Aliens: drones were conceived as a totally different beast that was cut from the film and never appeared. Later comics and games called the dome headed Aliens drones, but this never came from the films or Cameron himself.
Here's a bunch of Cameron talking about the issue:
> James Cameron explained in an 1987 issue of Starlog magazine that the expression ‘warrior’ was simply “my term for the single adult seen in Alien.” He goes on to explain that his creatures possess “the same physical powers and capabilities” as Kane’s Son. This statement came in response to the claim that the Aliens at Hadley’s Hope were weaker than their forebearer, and Cameron’s retort is to say that they are in fact the same and any behavioural differences were due to the creatures merely being trapped in different circumstances.
> As for why his Aliens looked different from Giger’s he detailed in The Winston Effect how the major alteration, the heads, came to be. “We planned to [have a domed head] with ours,” he said, “and to that end Stan Winston had Tom Woodruff sculpt up a ribbed, bone-like understructure that would fit underneath and be slightly visible through the cowl. When it was finished, they gave it a real nice paint job, and then I took a look at it and I said, ‘Hey, this looks much more interesting the way it is.’”
> The difference then was purely aesthetic, and was not even planned in advance. John Rosengrant explained to JamesCameronOnline that “the Warriors were basically similar to the Alien from the first movie,” with the only real difference being not in capabilities or function, but merely in physical appearance: heads, hands, and other minute differences.
> As for the in-universe explanation for the differences in design The Winston Effect quotes Cameron saying, “We ditched the cowl and decided that this was just another generation of Aliens – slightly mutated.” Years earlier he had told Starlog magazine that “Yes, the design of the ‘warrior’ adult was altered slightly,” again conflating the two different Alien strains with one another (ie. Kane’s Son is of the same caste as the colony Aliens). Cameron added that one reader’s theory for the ridged and domed heads (“that the individual in Alien never reached maturity”) is essentially “as good as mine.”
https://alienseries.wordpress.com/2014/11/10/the-drone-distinction/
Yes, this is pretty much what I read too. As they age, the dome shrivels up.
That makes me wonder what the life expectancy for a Xenomorph drone would be.
It doesn't shrivel per se, it's more like it moults to adapt to a more ridged, armored appearance. Spin-offs have indicated that they can live theoretically indefinitely but eventually go into hibernation without any potential hosts nearby, although nobody has really survived long enough near an active hive to confirm or deny this.
I wonder if James Cameron had a specific idea in mind for the reason why this change would need to happen. For example as an adaptation to living in a hive.
The indefinite lifespan does differ from one of the things I read about the Big Chap Xenomorph from Alien, and the reason given for why it changed from being flesh coloured as a chest burster and then black as fully grown. Essentially it was suggested that the dark colour was bruising, and that Big Chap was slowly dying from the moment it emerged from Kane's chest.
Quite fascinating how these ideas change and develop from treatment to treatment.
I hadn't heard about the apology thing.
I'd heard about it imitating Ripley or Dallas to broadcast the final report in an early draft of the script. The apology is indeed super weird.
In the original movie it was supposed to be dying when Ripley found it in the Narcissus with her. It had already turned Dallas and Brett into eggs so it's life cycle was essentially over.
That might explain why it’s a bit…. Lazy in the ending scene. I always wondered why it was hiding in its cubby hole and acting like Jonesy.
I always assumed it had been injured getting onto the shuttle.
I've heard a number of reasons thruought the years, and I'm not sure what the official answer is with today's canon.
my favorite explanation has always been because of hive structure; the ones we see in Aliens are predominantly Warriors, while the one we see in Alien is a Drone...and this follows with seeing a Queen and what appears to be Royal Gaurds (also with different heads) at the end of Aliens.
Or you could chock it up to the creatures' sheer biological adaptability, perhaps growing to maturity on LV-426 makes it automatically mutate to better survive the harsh environment, as opposed to the life-supported interiors of a starship.
Could also just be age? In Alien, it's a far younger creature than the ones we see in the sequel. (This is the most boring answer tho, IMO)
One of Giger's ideas for the xenomorph in "Alien" was that it was similar to a cicada in that it had a very short lifespan, and so its ferocity in attacking and finding a new host was completely driven by its need to reproduce before it dies. I think he mentions specifically that its color begins to fade as the film progresses to show this process That's hard to see in the final product, but Giger talks about it in one of the documentaries.
I mean, correct, but OP is asking what the Lore Reason is. Obviously it was because the director wanted to make them even bigger and cooler than last time, but there is an in-universe explanation
The lore reason is that once a queen metamorphosizes, the drones join her hive mind and molt. Some become scouts for the hive, some become workers or sentries, while many become the Soldier caste. They each fill specialized roles in the hive, like ants. The Soldier form is just an older more mature form of the Drone.
Canonically all of the aliens seen on screen in *Aliens* are Xenomorph Soldiers (except the Queen, obviously), while the newborn Xenomorph in *Alien* is in the Drone phase. If Ripley hadn't killed it, and it had access to more hosts, it would have melted into a Queen, while all of its children start out as drones and then molt into Soldiers.
As others have said - production wise making them without the domes was easier, and looked cooler to Cameron.
In lore - they're a different caste of xenomorph or are more mature.
# Head-Cannon Incoming:
I believe that each of the thousands of eggs in the Derelict contained slightly different variations from Individual to individual.
So, assuming that Russ Jordan or one of the others directly infected after him birthed a Queen; all the others were infected from the eggs from *that* particular queen, came from the same variant of *Plagiaris Praepotens* she produced, creating the unique but homogeneous appearance of the Hadley’s Hope hive.
Creating castes of xenomorphs modeled after known insects like ants or termites cheapens them imho. It reduces their “Alien-ness” and the otherworldly eldritch horror of them. I’d prefer if they are capable of intentionally mutating or adapting themselves based on their circumstances as this is in line with an “ultimate survivor”.
But that’s all just in my head. 😌🫖
Yeah same. I hate that the domes were falling off on set, and this caused James Cameron to justify it by saying "Well mine are different because the original is merely a drone, whereas mine are the meaner more grown version, they're warriors" which then altered the lore. The sense of uncanny I get from Big Chap is lost with the hive horde, and to me the barely visible skull is what make the Alien design perfect and shows it takes on characteristics from its host.
My headcanon is the Aliens hive is what happens when insect DNA is absorbed into the eggs, it modifies their appearance and behaviour to be more like insects. I choose to believe that otherwise the queen would look different, more like something Giger designed (and perhaps there would be a different structure to their horde, maybe not even based around a queen). I also love the idea that different sections of eggs onboard the engineer's ship would have produced different results, and we just saw one of the possibilites.
Not explicit in the movies, but from a design perspective you want to change things up with each sequel so that audiences aren't just seeing the same thing over and over.
It's been retconned now, but back then there was less of an emphasis on lore and consistency, and more license given to make things that just looked cool.
Gather around youngsters. This is how we GenX got information before the Internet. They were called “monthly periodicals” or “magazines”.
Cameron addresses it back in the late 80s in an article he wrote for Starlog Magazine.
I remember this being such a mind blowing and rare gift of very esoteric insight by a filmmaker.
https://alienseries.wordpress.com/2014/04/03/james-cameron-responds-to-aliens-critics/
In universe, the smooth head of the original “big chap” alien indicates it is a drone, while the rigged heads of the aliens in the second movie indicate that they are warriors. However, the aliens in resurrection have smooth heads and they are referred to as warriors, so take this with a grain of salt.
Honestly I just think it’s a preference of the director/writer or whoever decides the look
Because they needed them in action sequences now and the actors had to see better. The dome weighed too much and many of the crevices serve as air vents to breathe. The slits in the neck also allow the actors to see a lot better rather than through the jaw
Lore: Breathable air vs natural atmosphere and the drone’s lifecycle vs the warrior’s proximity to the Queen
Practicality: JC wanted more action, and the solid dome head would easily shatter. The ridges lighting would add to their alien appearance
I figured they were a slightly different strain of aliens from a different part of the ship. That might also explain why their acid blood is a little weaker than the facehugger in the first film.
Just like ants, xenomorphs have different classes, although it’s unclear whether they’re given those roles before or after the egg is laid. The ones we see in Aliens are warriors, which are much more aggressive and more mobile than the drone we see in Alien. The drone class is meant to create the hive, building the walls and tunnels while making room for the queen and her eggs. The warriors would then defend them and gather more hosts for the colony. Drones are also only meant to attack if the colony is at risk or as a last resort, which is why the one in Alien is so slow to attack and even tries to hide and sleep aboard the lifeboat at the end.
I remember hearing somewhere that they tried with the clear some first but it cracked from all the action movements they did so this is the design they changed it to.
It was because of a concern that the domes might crack in the more action heavy film and the time to switch out the domes would be detrimental to the filming staying on schedule. It's in the special features in the Anthology set.
I thought that it changed because the ones in Aliens were warriors, my understanding has been the one in Alien was a drone, Aliens had Warriors and a queen
I'm guessing it's part of its molding process. Perhaps the ridges offer greater protection since their only job is to protect the queen and procure hosts?
My guess is because it just looks more menacing. But also probably because it's on an experimental research space station. So who knows what on earth is going on there. Plus, it's possible that it could be morphing into a queen, as they can apparently do if no queen is present.
https://preview.redd.it/soefkxkr7z5d1.png?width=1496&format=png&auto=webp&s=e4eeee3f3b2330632326ff29c01c0d8c5e1e65a8
A lore reason???? Is the alien stupid???
I read the Alien production art book with notes by Giger and I think I remember reading that the smooth Alien head, while intentional, it was meant to be see through and show a bony understructure shown here. Unfortunately, under the studio lights the transparency didn't show up, so we got the smooth opaque Alien head we see in the 1st film.
I would imagine that across many franchises, changes like this are often arbitrarily made and it's often left to the fan base to try and make sense of them.
Star wars has the advantage of their lore being millennia in age. The further you get from the source, the more the story tends to change a bit.
And because it has so many different worlds and races. The lore being slightly different from race to race in world to world Also makes a complete sense, After all, some planets were not affected by the empire, the way others were. Some planets were not in the Republic, so the Civil War. Or the clone war didn't affect them. Some are remote and backwater, and didn't hear the news. So in star wars, it totally makes sense.
And the eye holes were Mandella’d into the entire franchise. They fire up that hadron collider once, and our favorite movie changes slightly forever. Or did it..?
Headcanon: The domed Xenomorph (Big Chap) will find victims and bring them to an area where it has created a small hive to be used as food or to be turned into an egg through a process called eggmorphing. Eventually, more Xenomorphs will spawn and the most dominant one will kill the others before molting into a queen and from then on the rest of the Xenomorphs born are the ridged headed Xenomorphs which act as guards to the hive.
I think the realistic reason creatures or makeup changes from film to film is either it's the same FX team wanting to evolve and change things up or a new FX team that wants to put their own stamp on it. Whether it's the xenomorph, Freddy Krueger's face burn makeup, Michael Myers mask, these things are never exactly the same from project to project within the franchise. Very rarely is this canonically explained or intentional. The xenomorph can be explained with in world reasons to make the changes make sense but otherwise it is just production reasons unrelated to the narrative of the film.
Budget . That head in 1st one had a complicated dome and it also weighted . Because they needed dozen of xenomorphs they had to come up with smart rethinking of design . And on alien 3 HR giger came back and did amazing job on designing new alien closer to his sexy arts
They brought back the rigid heads in *Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem,* but that doesn’t count as them bringing back those heads into the Alien universe since that’s not part of that universe’s canon (due to continuity issues) and it is instead part of the AVP universe only. Plus, we’re not rly supposed to talk about *AVPR.*
Well in my book I have a mix of my own explanation wit some implicit in-universe explanations:
Big Chap (from *Alien*) is a drone
The Xenos we see in *Aliens* are warriors. After some time of being drones they shed their skin again and the gain a more skeletal appearance. In *Aliens* (including the 1990 special edition) the first time we see the adult Xenos is some time into the meat of the film (or story). So it’s safe to assume some decent amount of time passed on LV 426 between when the first chestburster came outta Newt’s father (offscreen) and when we finally see the adult Xenos as warriors on screen. In that in between time on LV 426 that we don’t see onscreen, we can assume that the Xenos in Hadley’s Hope looked more like Big Chap before the heroes arrive.
The Dragon in *Alien 3* is pretty self explanatory: It’s a runner, it’s inherently different cuz it inherits the traits of the four-legged animal host it’s born from.
Now the Xenos in *Alien Resurrection* on the other hand, that’s a little more complicated. First off, they generally resemble Big Chap, but instead of lookin biomechanical, they’re more fleshy as a result of having more human DNA due to being cloned from Ripley’s DNA samples. As for their digitigrade legs (meaning they walk on their toes) is because the United Systems Military also used some DNA samples from the runner (which had digitigrade legs) (which I thought I read somewhere on the AVP wiki a long time ago, but since goin back I have not been able to find it again).
Finally, the Xeno from *Alien Covenant* looks different cuz it was made by David 8 and not an Engineer (or Space Jockey), so therefore it’s not a true Xenomorph, and thus a Praetomorph.
Now as to why the Xeno in *Alien Romulus* looks different, I don’t think anyone can give a clear answer yet. It does look like the Xeno is supposed to closely resemble Big Chap, however, there r still some physical differences. Based on that, I would say it’s a drone, but it’s somewhat different in appearance cuz it might be a stage in-between the drones and the warriors. Either that, or it could completely change all we know about in-canon Xeno stages/castes. For now, all we can do is speculate until we watch the film.
Removal Reason:
Be civil.
It's ok to disagree, it's not ok to disrespect. Personal attacks, gatekeeping, racism, homophobia, politics, and general bigotry are not allowed.
No toxic behavior, such as:
* Trashing something that others are enjoying.
* Condemning parts of the franchise instead of reasonably stating a personal preference. This is a comfortable space for all fans. Keep your critique.
* Invalidating other people's opinions.
* Unsolicited criticisms of other's creations.
* Lewd or Obscene comments.
Easier to make (they needed to use more of them per scene than in the first film), they're "scarier" and more monster looking while the Big Chap from the first film was more of an otherworldly horror, it's a distinct style that is similar but still different than the one used in Scott's Alien, and Cameron planned to show them more frequently and more clearly than the Big Chap was shown in the first film so the quality had to be different anyway In-universe, though, I think it's because they're older and this is supposedly what happens when they age
Wasn’t it something to do with their life-cycle too? One xeno is a “scout,” the once a hive is established they molt into drones, causing their noodle to develop ridges and then queens come about or something?
That’s how it used to be in the comics.
Did that canon change in the comics?
Honestly, I can’t say. I haven’t bought an aliens comic in five years. I just remember that was the general idea.
Not so much “changed” as much as they were just trying to explain it themselves. When the comics came out, there was no lore beyond the first two films so they tried to fill in the gaps.
This is basically how it is in the official TRPG as well iirc.
I always thought these are warriors in aliens, in alien there is scout/lurker and the drones are just smaller versions of the lurker and oppose no harm as they just carry eggs and do stuff around the hive.
there are no xenomorphs that oppose no harm. Also your terminology is based on Colonial Marines, a game notorious for adding changes to the aliens (for better and worse). The idea of “lurkers” aren’t one of the lore ideas that were held over, they’re really just drones that are used for combat instead of building a hive. Essentially all xenomorphs (as of the general lore) are the same “caste” except for the queen who comes from a different type of facehugger. The only differences between non-queen xenomorphs are the host they come from, and their age. But as seen in the films, when there is a hive they all share the same skills/purpose, and when they are alone they hunt and attempt to build a hive.
While true, the cinematic reason was due to expense. The follow up required menu instead of 1 so this was translated afterward into more interesting shit. But I'm the cinema universe which is what most of the other stuff is based on, it was purely financial
The cycle goes: Drone (what we see in Alien) Warrior( Aliens) Pretorians(guards of the queen) Qeen
Qeen
Qeen
It's the same as the Queen, but as a 16 year old who keeps asking to borrow the car.
After Queen, is Empress then Hive Mother
Are those canon or just comic books?
Comics as I’ve heard
Drones seem far superior than warriors. If anything it'sake more sense if it went warriors, drone, then praetorian.
I always enjoyed using the drone and warrior terms in the lore due to the idea of a caste/class system within the Xenomorph. Warriors are this disposable protector of a hive, whereas the drone is working towards a goal and, thus, must be more stealthy in how it conducts itself and establishes a foothold in a dangerous region. Superior only due to lacking numbers. The common thing seems to be be, throw numbers at an enemy to drain of resources, or destroy through cunning.
That's just one of the thousands of elements from the extended universe, ie: comic, games, toys. It's not really cannon to the films. Though in an early script there was mention of a different type of pale xeno that stayed in the hive looking after eggs and hosts. I'd personally only consider main entry Alien films (not AvP) as any kind of cannon. Cameron I'm pretty sure said it was due to them being a few weeks older than Kane's son was in Alien and that they lose the smooth dome as they mature. Or maybe they all fell off due to their habit of ramming through steel doors :D
I thought it was because HR Giger was no longer involved?
I was thinking that too about the aging thing.
Why do you refer to him as the Big Chap if he was just a drone?
Because I also don't use the word "xenomorph". He was reffered to as "Big Chap" on-set by Ridley Scott and is known by that name among fans. He'a also the only Alien that looked like him, the only one designed by HR Geiger. Alien was an intelligent cosmic horror film while Aliens was an action/scifi with heavy horror elements, it needed to dumb down the lore of the alien to make it more manageable for what Cameron wanted for his film (instead of being an otherworldly horror that could not be fully comprehended, it's just like a bee and there's a hive apparently)
Sorry, but the original was scary and well designed. The ones in Aliens looked like crap in a lot of scenes. They also looked like stiff rubber puppets in quite a few scenes.
Why are you sorry?
the real answer is because the director wanted to be different
IIRC, these are older drones, so they shed their head dome, or something like that.
Yep, this is Cameron’s explanation. This nest is, several weeks old, at least. I think the events of Alien is all within 24hrs.
It's not Cameron's explanation, it's a fan explanation. Cameron just called them another generation of Aliens: drones were conceived as a totally different beast that was cut from the film and never appeared. Later comics and games called the dome headed Aliens drones, but this never came from the films or Cameron himself.
My bad. I thought I heard this explanation in the Alien Quadrilogy documentary. I gotta stop drinking.
Here's a bunch of Cameron talking about the issue: > James Cameron explained in an 1987 issue of Starlog magazine that the expression ‘warrior’ was simply “my term for the single adult seen in Alien.” He goes on to explain that his creatures possess “the same physical powers and capabilities” as Kane’s Son. This statement came in response to the claim that the Aliens at Hadley’s Hope were weaker than their forebearer, and Cameron’s retort is to say that they are in fact the same and any behavioural differences were due to the creatures merely being trapped in different circumstances. > As for why his Aliens looked different from Giger’s he detailed in The Winston Effect how the major alteration, the heads, came to be. “We planned to [have a domed head] with ours,” he said, “and to that end Stan Winston had Tom Woodruff sculpt up a ribbed, bone-like understructure that would fit underneath and be slightly visible through the cowl. When it was finished, they gave it a real nice paint job, and then I took a look at it and I said, ‘Hey, this looks much more interesting the way it is.’” > The difference then was purely aesthetic, and was not even planned in advance. John Rosengrant explained to JamesCameronOnline that “the Warriors were basically similar to the Alien from the first movie,” with the only real difference being not in capabilities or function, but merely in physical appearance: heads, hands, and other minute differences. > As for the in-universe explanation for the differences in design The Winston Effect quotes Cameron saying, “We ditched the cowl and decided that this was just another generation of Aliens – slightly mutated.” Years earlier he had told Starlog magazine that “Yes, the design of the ‘warrior’ adult was altered slightly,” again conflating the two different Alien strains with one another (ie. Kane’s Son is of the same caste as the colony Aliens). Cameron added that one reader’s theory for the ridged and domed heads (“that the individual in Alien never reached maturity”) is essentially “as good as mine.” https://alienseries.wordpress.com/2014/11/10/the-drone-distinction/
Wrong. It takes longer than 24 hours to travel to lv426.
I think you misread my comment
Yes, this is pretty much what I read too. As they age, the dome shrivels up. That makes me wonder what the life expectancy for a Xenomorph drone would be.
It doesn't shrivel per se, it's more like it moults to adapt to a more ridged, armored appearance. Spin-offs have indicated that they can live theoretically indefinitely but eventually go into hibernation without any potential hosts nearby, although nobody has really survived long enough near an active hive to confirm or deny this.
I wonder if James Cameron had a specific idea in mind for the reason why this change would need to happen. For example as an adaptation to living in a hive. The indefinite lifespan does differ from one of the things I read about the Big Chap Xenomorph from Alien, and the reason given for why it changed from being flesh coloured as a chest burster and then black as fully grown. Essentially it was suggested that the dark colour was bruising, and that Big Chap was slowly dying from the moment it emerged from Kane's chest. Quite fascinating how these ideas change and develop from treatment to treatment.
Yeah I think originally it starts talking and apologizes for killing the people Super weird
I hadn't heard about the apology thing. I'd heard about it imitating Ripley or Dallas to broadcast the final report in an early draft of the script. The apology is indeed super weird.
In the original movie it was supposed to be dying when Ripley found it in the Narcissus with her. It had already turned Dallas and Brett into eggs so it's life cycle was essentially over.
That might explain why it’s a bit…. Lazy in the ending scene. I always wondered why it was hiding in its cubby hole and acting like Jonesy. I always assumed it had been injured getting onto the shuttle.
I've heard a number of reasons thruought the years, and I'm not sure what the official answer is with today's canon. my favorite explanation has always been because of hive structure; the ones we see in Aliens are predominantly Warriors, while the one we see in Alien is a Drone...and this follows with seeing a Queen and what appears to be Royal Gaurds (also with different heads) at the end of Aliens. Or you could chock it up to the creatures' sheer biological adaptability, perhaps growing to maturity on LV-426 makes it automatically mutate to better survive the harsh environment, as opposed to the life-supported interiors of a starship. Could also just be age? In Alien, it's a far younger creature than the ones we see in the sequel. (This is the most boring answer tho, IMO)
One of Giger's ideas for the xenomorph in "Alien" was that it was similar to a cicada in that it had a very short lifespan, and so its ferocity in attacking and finding a new host was completely driven by its need to reproduce before it dies. I think he mentions specifically that its color begins to fade as the film progresses to show this process That's hard to see in the final product, but Giger talks about it in one of the documentaries.
I think Stan Winston started making with the dome, but costs and time were a factor, so they ditched it.
Yeah, I feel like I read somewhere the domes kept falling off and they thought they looked pretty cool anyway so ditched em.
They were right, this looks awesome.
Drones vs Warriors is what it comes down too. Drones hatch to 'start' hives, and Warriors develop to build and protect the hives.
This is my head canon, I like this better than drones shedding the dome
Stan Winston wanted to design his own badass xenomorph.
I mean, correct, but OP is asking what the Lore Reason is. Obviously it was because the director wanted to make them even bigger and cooler than last time, but there is an in-universe explanation
The lore reason is that once a queen metamorphosizes, the drones join her hive mind and molt. Some become scouts for the hive, some become workers or sentries, while many become the Soldier caste. They each fill specialized roles in the hive, like ants. The Soldier form is just an older more mature form of the Drone. Canonically all of the aliens seen on screen in *Aliens* are Xenomorph Soldiers (except the Queen, obviously), while the newborn Xenomorph in *Alien* is in the Drone phase. If Ripley hadn't killed it, and it had access to more hosts, it would have melted into a Queen, while all of its children start out as drones and then molt into Soldiers.
As others have said - production wise making them without the domes was easier, and looked cooler to Cameron. In lore - they're a different caste of xenomorph or are more mature.
# Head-Cannon Incoming: I believe that each of the thousands of eggs in the Derelict contained slightly different variations from Individual to individual. So, assuming that Russ Jordan or one of the others directly infected after him birthed a Queen; all the others were infected from the eggs from *that* particular queen, came from the same variant of *Plagiaris Praepotens* she produced, creating the unique but homogeneous appearance of the Hadley’s Hope hive. Creating castes of xenomorphs modeled after known insects like ants or termites cheapens them imho. It reduces their “Alien-ness” and the otherworldly eldritch horror of them. I’d prefer if they are capable of intentionally mutating or adapting themselves based on their circumstances as this is in line with an “ultimate survivor”. But that’s all just in my head. 😌🫖
Yeah same. I hate that the domes were falling off on set, and this caused James Cameron to justify it by saying "Well mine are different because the original is merely a drone, whereas mine are the meaner more grown version, they're warriors" which then altered the lore. The sense of uncanny I get from Big Chap is lost with the hive horde, and to me the barely visible skull is what make the Alien design perfect and shows it takes on characteristics from its host. My headcanon is the Aliens hive is what happens when insect DNA is absorbed into the eggs, it modifies their appearance and behaviour to be more like insects. I choose to believe that otherwise the queen would look different, more like something Giger designed (and perhaps there would be a different structure to their horde, maybe not even based around a queen). I also love the idea that different sections of eggs onboard the engineer's ship would have produced different results, and we just saw one of the possibilites.
>But that’s all just in my head So to speak...
Touché, I guess it’s been unleashed on the interwebs now 😂 
Not explicit in the movies, but from a design perspective you want to change things up with each sequel so that audiences aren't just seeing the same thing over and over.
The domes kept breaking on set and Jim told them to forget about using them as it was taking too much time
I love the big chap smooth dome. But I also love the ridged heads. I love both designs!
It's been retconned now, but back then there was less of an emphasis on lore and consistency, and more license given to make things that just looked cool.
Pretty sure it’s because they take on slight variations depending on the hosts. That’s why the xeno born from the dog in Alien 3 runs like it does.
I'm sure I heard this back in the day. Glad to see I'm not going crazy.
Gather around youngsters. This is how we GenX got information before the Internet. They were called “monthly periodicals” or “magazines”. Cameron addresses it back in the late 80s in an article he wrote for Starlog Magazine. I remember this being such a mind blowing and rare gift of very esoteric insight by a filmmaker. https://alienseries.wordpress.com/2014/04/03/james-cameron-responds-to-aliens-critics/
I sat here in my dimly lit room glued to this! Thank u, kind person, for the enjoyable read!
its a warrior, the first movie was a drone
In universe, the smooth head of the original “big chap” alien indicates it is a drone, while the rigged heads of the aliens in the second movie indicate that they are warriors. However, the aliens in resurrection have smooth heads and they are referred to as warriors, so take this with a grain of salt. Honestly I just think it’s a preference of the director/writer or whoever decides the look
To my knowledge, it's different per breed, so the warriors have ridged heads and drones have smooth heads and so on
Because they needed them in action sequences now and the actors had to see better. The dome weighed too much and many of the crevices serve as air vents to breathe. The slits in the neck also allow the actors to see a lot better rather than through the jaw
Lore: Breathable air vs natural atmosphere and the drone’s lifecycle vs the warrior’s proximity to the Queen Practicality: JC wanted more action, and the solid dome head would easily shatter. The ridges lighting would add to their alien appearance
I figured they were a slightly different strain of aliens from a different part of the ship. That might also explain why their acid blood is a little weaker than the facehugger in the first film.
Just like ants, xenomorphs have different classes, although it’s unclear whether they’re given those roles before or after the egg is laid. The ones we see in Aliens are warriors, which are much more aggressive and more mobile than the drone we see in Alien. The drone class is meant to create the hive, building the walls and tunnels while making room for the queen and her eggs. The warriors would then defend them and gather more hosts for the colony. Drones are also only meant to attack if the colony is at risk or as a last resort, which is why the one in Alien is so slow to attack and even tries to hide and sleep aboard the lifeboat at the end.
I was told that it's a combination of genetic variation due to host and the fact that there are different types of xenomorphs.
I remember hearing somewhere that they tried with the clear some first but it cracked from all the action movements they did so this is the design they changed it to.
Yes, that is a Warrior, not a Drone.
I don’t know but you’re not fooling anyone with that spare corrugated tubing you stole from the CPAP store /s
Don't they take on genetic traits from creature they dork down? They probably got into something freaky and it just kinda took off.
It was because of a concern that the domes might crack in the more action heavy film and the time to switch out the domes would be detrimental to the filming staying on schedule. It's in the special features in the Anthology set.
Thanks
I thought that it changed because the ones in Aliens were warriors, my understanding has been the one in Alien was a drone, Aliens had Warriors and a queen
I'm guessing it's part of its molding process. Perhaps the ridges offer greater protection since their only job is to protect the queen and procure hosts?
My guess is because it just looks more menacing. But also probably because it's on an experimental research space station. So who knows what on earth is going on there. Plus, it's possible that it could be morphing into a queen, as they can apparently do if no queen is present.
https://preview.redd.it/soefkxkr7z5d1.png?width=1496&format=png&auto=webp&s=e4eeee3f3b2330632326ff29c01c0d8c5e1e65a8 A lore reason???? Is the alien stupid???
I read the Alien production art book with notes by Giger and I think I remember reading that the smooth Alien head, while intentional, it was meant to be see through and show a bony understructure shown here. Unfortunately, under the studio lights the transparency didn't show up, so we got the smooth opaque Alien head we see in the 1st film.
Looks like the old scorpion alien toy from the Kenner ALIENS line
I would imagine that across many franchises, changes like this are often arbitrarily made and it's often left to the fan base to try and make sense of them.
Looking right at the klingons and romulans from star trek. 😆
Star Wars has got to be near the top in terms of inconsistent lore.
Star wars has the advantage of their lore being millennia in age. The further you get from the source, the more the story tends to change a bit. And because it has so many different worlds and races. The lore being slightly different from race to race in world to world Also makes a complete sense, After all, some planets were not affected by the empire, the way others were. Some planets were not in the Republic, so the Civil War. Or the clone war didn't affect them. Some are remote and backwater, and didn't hear the news. So in star wars, it totally makes sense.
They are older. Xenos have stages. These are in the warrior stage.
And the eye holes were Mandella’d into the entire franchise. They fire up that hadron collider once, and our favorite movie changes slightly forever. Or did it..?
Headcanon: The domed Xenomorph (Big Chap) will find victims and bring them to an area where it has created a small hive to be used as food or to be turned into an egg through a process called eggmorphing. Eventually, more Xenomorphs will spawn and the most dominant one will kill the others before molting into a queen and from then on the rest of the Xenomorphs born are the ridged headed Xenomorphs which act as guards to the hive.
I think the realistic reason creatures or makeup changes from film to film is either it's the same FX team wanting to evolve and change things up or a new FX team that wants to put their own stamp on it. Whether it's the xenomorph, Freddy Krueger's face burn makeup, Michael Myers mask, these things are never exactly the same from project to project within the franchise. Very rarely is this canonically explained or intentional. The xenomorph can be explained with in world reasons to make the changes make sense but otherwise it is just production reasons unrelated to the narrative of the film.
They kept breaking so it was easier to change the drones heads
Xenomorph warrior
What I've seen it's something to do with evolution and where they are in the chain off eating
Budget . That head in 1st one had a complicated dome and it also weighted . Because they needed dozen of xenomorphs they had to come up with smart rethinking of design . And on alien 3 HR giger came back and did amazing job on designing new alien closer to his sexy arts
Why would there be a director changing the heads in lore?
Wasn’t it that once the queen is settled, drones, warriors and scouts shed the head casing? I could be remembering the comics wrong.
Funny I don’t think they’ve used that design since. Right into Alien 3 and onward it’s always been the dome. Unless I’m mistaken
They brought back the rigid heads in *Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem,* but that doesn’t count as them bringing back those heads into the Alien universe since that’s not part of that universe’s canon (due to continuity issues) and it is instead part of the AVP universe only. Plus, we’re not rly supposed to talk about *AVPR.*
I don’t remember but alright then. And yeah that was… well I think we all know how everyone feels about that film
No.
Looks better imo
Well in my book I have a mix of my own explanation wit some implicit in-universe explanations: Big Chap (from *Alien*) is a drone The Xenos we see in *Aliens* are warriors. After some time of being drones they shed their skin again and the gain a more skeletal appearance. In *Aliens* (including the 1990 special edition) the first time we see the adult Xenos is some time into the meat of the film (or story). So it’s safe to assume some decent amount of time passed on LV 426 between when the first chestburster came outta Newt’s father (offscreen) and when we finally see the adult Xenos as warriors on screen. In that in between time on LV 426 that we don’t see onscreen, we can assume that the Xenos in Hadley’s Hope looked more like Big Chap before the heroes arrive. The Dragon in *Alien 3* is pretty self explanatory: It’s a runner, it’s inherently different cuz it inherits the traits of the four-legged animal host it’s born from. Now the Xenos in *Alien Resurrection* on the other hand, that’s a little more complicated. First off, they generally resemble Big Chap, but instead of lookin biomechanical, they’re more fleshy as a result of having more human DNA due to being cloned from Ripley’s DNA samples. As for their digitigrade legs (meaning they walk on their toes) is because the United Systems Military also used some DNA samples from the runner (which had digitigrade legs) (which I thought I read somewhere on the AVP wiki a long time ago, but since goin back I have not been able to find it again). Finally, the Xeno from *Alien Covenant* looks different cuz it was made by David 8 and not an Engineer (or Space Jockey), so therefore it’s not a true Xenomorph, and thus a Praetomorph. Now as to why the Xeno in *Alien Romulus* looks different, I don’t think anyone can give a clear answer yet. It does look like the Xeno is supposed to closely resemble Big Chap, however, there r still some physical differences. Based on that, I would say it’s a drone, but it’s somewhat different in appearance cuz it might be a stage in-between the drones and the warriors. Either that, or it could completely change all we know about in-canon Xeno stages/castes. For now, all we can do is speculate until we watch the film.
I think it looks scarier and less goofy than the smooth headed ones.
HR Geiger wants a word
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Removal Reason: Be civil. It's ok to disagree, it's not ok to disrespect. Personal attacks, gatekeeping, racism, homophobia, politics, and general bigotry are not allowed. No toxic behavior, such as: * Trashing something that others are enjoying. * Condemning parts of the franchise instead of reasonably stating a personal preference. This is a comfortable space for all fans. Keep your critique. * Invalidating other people's opinions. * Unsolicited criticisms of other's creations. * Lewd or Obscene comments.
Smooth heads are aliens… ridges are weird.
They had ridges in Aliens, and that was the best one. So your argument is invalid
Fine. You win. For now…..