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This article is from the Alien Movies FAQ, by Darryll Hobsonand Eelko de Vos E.W.C.deVos@TWI.TUDelft.NL with numerous contributions by others.

2. Alien (Movies: Alien)

- As the chest-burster matures, it sheds its skin (similar to a snake),
its cranium becomes elongated and it has a hard, dark (black/green) outer
shell (exo-skeleton). The mature alien has concentrated acid for "blood"
and a higher tolerance to fire. As indicated in "ALIENS" the alien
creature does not "show up" on infra-red scanners which would indicate
that it does not emit heat. One distinguishing feature of the alien is
that it has two mouths, one inside the other. According to H.R. Giger,
the inner mouth is in fact the alien's "tongue" (it is such a vicious
creature that even its tongue is dangerous). Another interesting feature
of the alien is that it does not have (what we would perceive to be)
"eyes".

"ALIENS" alien - these aliens only had 3 fingers as opposed to the 6
fingered creature in "ALIEN". Aliens in this movie had a "ribbed"
cranium unlike the smooth cranium of "ALIEN".

"ALIEN^3" alien - This alien is different than the previous ones we've
seen; it tends to move around on all fours at times and ensures that the
unborn queen alien is kept safe. There are a few speculations as to why
this alien is different; refer to section [13] frequently discussed
topics.

"ALIEN-RESURRECTION" alien - These aliens have a darker appearance. They
definately have a high form of communication which is best seen when the
three aliens talk to eachother in the cage in which they are locked up.
In this scene we also find out that aliens do have the intelligence to
sacrifice one of them to open up doors that would otherwise be kept shut.
They also are seen swimming. Their agility under water is higly evolved.
They are also portrayed as highly intelligent strategic planning
creatures: they form alien egg-filled traps for humans. They also don't
need the queen alien that much to figure out what to do like in ALIENS.
These aliens are far more smart than in the previous movie.
Also, these aliens drool a lot more watery than the previous ones.

"ALIENS" Alien Queen - little is known about her. From "ALIEN^3" we know
that a queen alien can be born in the same way as a regular alien. Some
things that we do know about the queen: she has a much larger cranium
than the usual alien and is slightly taller (approx 2-3 feet). The queen
has the ability to create and lay eggs (through the use of the extended
abdomen) and she has the ability to survive without the extended abdomen
(for an unknown amount of time).

"ALIEN-RESURRECTION" Alien Queen - This queen has the ability to
procreate with a womb instead of an abdomen. It also created a nest which
is less resin-like and more flesh-like. The womb opens up with a slit
which runs all over the 'stomache'. The alien that emerges is full-grown
and is largely human. The queen also seems to be more attached to the
womb than the one in ALIENS, and is slightly deformed. Her arms are
shorter and stick backwards from the first joint. The nest she makes also
does not need humans like in ALIENS. In this movie the facehuggers are
there to create drones for the nest, but the true birthing takes place in
the womb. The queen does not seem to be able to create eggs anymore like
in ALIENS.

"ALIEN-RESURRECTION" alien child - In the last movie we get to see that
the alien species can mix it's appearance with the appearance of humans
and vice versa. The alien queen is able to retrieve information from the
body of the Ripley-clone. It grows a womb, in which a new alien grows
which is part alien and part human. It seems most of it is human, due to
the appearance of the creature and the urge it has to see Ripley as it's
mother and not the creature that gave birth to it: the new alien queen.

For more information, consult the last document of the FAQ, a document
written by a molecular biologist called 'HiveQueen'.

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