


Species design and life cycle have been extensively augmented, sometimes inconsistently, throughout each film. The practical effects for the Alien's head were designed and constructed by Italian special effects designer Carlo Rambaldi. Giger, originating in a lithograph titled Necronom IV and refined for the series's first film, Alien. The Aliens' design is credited to Swiss surrealist and artist H. In addition, the Alien appears in various literature and video game spin-offs from the franchises. Predator: Requiem (2007), with the skull and tail of one of the creatures respectively appearing briefly in Predator 2 (1990) and The Predator (2018), and will return in the FX television series Alien (2023). It also featured in the crossover films Alien vs. The species returns in the prequel series, first with a predecessor in Prometheus (2012) and a further evolved form in Alien: Covenant (2017). The species made its debut in the film Alien (1979) and reappeared in the sequels Aliens (1986), Alien 3 (1992), and Alien Resurrection (1997). News coverage of additions to the Alien series, like 2017’s Alien: Covenant, refers to the aliens as xenomorphs.The Alien (also known as a Xenomorph XX121 or Internecivus raptus, or simply a xenomorph) is a fictional endoparasitoid extraterrestrial species that serves as the title antagonist of the Alien film series. Instead, they’re usually just called “aliens,” “things,” “them,” or “it.” Regardless of the creators’ original intentions or the objections of some fans, the name xenomorph has shown staying power. Some fans have complained that xenomorph isn’t really the name of the species, just a fancy word for “alien.” The word xenomorph isn’t used often in relation to the species within the films. The word derives from the Greek xenos, meaning “stranger” or “foreigner,” and morph(ḗ), meaning “form.” A xenomorph, then, can be taken as an “alien-shaped thing.” The film has a passing reference to the alien species as xenomorphs. The specific name xenomorph comes from Aliens, the 1986 sequel to the 1979 Alien.

Giger, based on a piece of art from his book Necronomicon. Their appearance-like a grisly cross between a giant scorpion and a dragon with a long, oblong head and a sharp-toothed mouth within a mouth-was designed by Swiss surrealist artist H.R. The aliens in the Alien franchise are known for their ability to implant eggs in other species, which later hatch and burst out of the host’s chest, taking on characteristics of the host’s form.
