The Regenerative Abilities of Xenomorph XX121 - Is it Indestructible?
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 มิ.ย. 2021
- What are the regenerative abilities of the Xenomorph? Can it regrow limbs? Can it "re-assemble" itself to the point of near-indestructability? This video takes a look at some of these possibilities.
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I don't mind the idea of Xenos having some form of regeneration, but Wolverine "is one blood cell still there? WHOLE NEW LOGAN!" levels of regen is just silly. Lose a limb, grow it back over time, sure, have your brains splattered all over the place, no chance.
^This pretty much.
The Novel version is terrifying but it doesn't DNA-itself back like a Werewolf.
At least in the sense of Monster Squad, the Werewolf re-healing itself from pieces made sense because supernatural magic.
It wasn't always so, as wolverine's popularity increased so did his abilities ( along with his height ) in older comics he could be killed if he suffered major wounds or even by bleeding out.
Lovecraft
Still using o bannon script
@@grandotaku2501 I don't think Wolverine's ever regenerated that way though, it was always theorized having his brain destroyed was the end of it, or decapitation, or drowning.
I feel like with how much blood he's shed there should already be an army of Logans
I think it has regenerative capabilities, but more so in the sense that “it’ll regenerate from any non-lethal wound” rather than being completely immortal.
It’s actually scarier knowing Marvel has the rights to marvel and predator currently and could utilize this regeneration trait more heavily if say wolverine or Deadpool got impregnated from a facehugger.
I think its safe to assume that. Anything that bleeds can surely be killed. But with difficulty in this case.
Seconded here Haldir56. you blow off a limb it regrows it a short while later, you blow off its tail, it regrows it, minor injury to the skull or torso it heals, but if you splatter its body all over the room, with nothing bigger then a hand left...well..its dead.
@@Odinfang I'd love to see an x-men vs aliens comic :P
were would it get the energy to regenerate, wouldn't it need a food source at least?
When it was brought up that Ridley was wanting the Xeno in Covenant to be "invincible", I admittedly rolled my eyes, shook my head and thought "senile Ridley", then chuckled when you brought up what others may have done what I did.
Slow regeneration is fine, but instant regen like, for example (Dragonball) Piccolo, Cell, or Buu is ludicrous to me. I would lose interest in the Xenos, because at that point they might as well be Superman, in terms of near impossibility of killing/destroying with their instant regeneration or reformation like the T-1000.
I agree, if the Xenomorphs were made to be able to regenerate from anything Cell or Buu, then that wouldn't only make them less interesting but it would actually make them less unique and even believable, for me anyway. The fact that they _can_ be killed, it just takes quite a bit of effort, that's infinitely more interesting to me as they need to be careful, but can take risks. And that would handily add tension to any scene, from the POV of a human *or* Alien.
James cameron may think the same
Ridley scott taking away all the magic from the creature. The xenomorph will be in the next avengers movie at this rate!
@@seanyd5698 non canon crossover
Yeah, I agree.
Ridley Scott does his own thing with the Alien when he has it. I'm going to chalk the "dismembered body will regrow itself" commentary up to his own headcanon.
Oh Ridley, never change.
He's bipolar
Based Scott
I dunno man. I think giving it the Wolverine-esque ability to regenerate from even a single drop of blood is just kinda cheap. The whole thing about Xenomorphs is that they’re strong, and fast, and vicious, and all these other things, but they’re still organisms. They’re able to be killed. It requires a lot of luck, or firepower, or intelligence, but it can be done. If we just turn around and say that anything short of a nuclear explosion wouldn’t be enough to kill them, I think that kinda takes away a lot from the triumphs of the characters throughout the movies, because at any point, their issues could start right back up again. Even if they spent hours or more trying desperately to survive this alien and operating at peak performance, working harder than they ever had to kill the creature, it doesn’t matter. Unless they literally nuked it, it would just come back in a couple minutes, ready to go.
Since alien is owned by marvel right now, I wouldn’t be surprised if a wolverine vs alien comic comes about where an alien is spawned from wolverine and has his healing factor with claws lol
While I agree with you, I still find this post reminding me of Hicks' quote:
"Nuke it from Orbit. It's the only way to be sure,"
@@_rc03 The difference is, there are hundreds and hundreds of Aliens in the colony. Not nearly enough for them to kill via the weaponry they have available. Plus, even if they were confident that they had enough powerful ammunition, it would require them to go into the Hive and shoot them all personally. With the nuke plan, they get to safely kill all the Xenomorphs, they don’t have to go down there again, and Weyland-Yutani can’t get the aliens to experiment on or whatever. If every alien can regenerate from a single cell, the same amount of force that killed hundreds of Xenomorphs in Hadley’s Hope would be required to kill even a single specimen.
@@stanstanstan2597 Not if they did what they did in Resurrection: diluting the Xenome with human DNA. Simple. They have always had these regenerative capabilities, it's just that back then audiences didn't need every little piece of lore spoon-fed to them and it was always implied since *ALIEN* that it takes this massive amount of firepower to kill one of them.
The only thing more indestructible that The Alien is my love for this channel!
soooo true. Best comment. And the extra love we would all feel if Disney didnt get the rights,to one day get maybe another (good) Alien movie cannot be described!? (sorry to put negativity in your nice comment,im just sorry how something so perfect as an Alien franchise can be destroyed. I mean,you cannot destroy these few movies we adore,but i believe Alien is gonna end up in the same way as Predator. I was honestly contemplating suicide leaving cinema after that last film,the 2018 Predator).
Peace
I haven’t seen The Predator but surely it can’t be much worse (if at all) than Alien: Resurrection. Alien passed the point of no return back in the 90’s.
@@ddc2957 OMG! I thought the same,but trust me,A.Ressurection is the the oscar-winning mega super blockbuster compared to that crap (Pred.2018)! Please,watch it one day just to see how bad a movie can get...
Love listening to his comintary.
Bruh
Nah. I believe that when the thing's head is totally blown off, that's it. And watching their heads being blown off was actually one of my fav/most satisfying parts of Aliens.
I believe that the "individual" Aliens themselves are actually a humanoid hive of microorganisms akin to eusocial waterbears that project their eusociality onto the walking hives they form and continue up into other dimensions akin to biomechanical hyperspace origami `shrug'
@@d.comptonambrose4422 uh no. They are individual silicant based life forms with a structured exoskeleton. I only believe a few individual specimens are fully regenerative. The warriors on lv 426 were different I'm stature and mold plus the head crowns were different. I think big chap, the proto morph, and the dragon are capable of extreme Cellular regeneration.
''That''s a good bug... good and dead.''
- Sergeant Barnes (USCM).
As for regenerating xenos, please don't Mary Sue our favorite menace.
To be honest, a little bit of MarySueness wouldn't hurt at this point. The alien is no longer as scary, menacing or intimidating as it was in 1979. In 1986's Aliens, our beloved menaces were butchered in large quantities and in many first person shooter videogames after that they were merely for target practice before Alien Isolation came along and restored a little bit of Alien's dignity. The upcoming Aliens: Fireteam seems to be following the first person shooter path as well.
Now that Disney's doing something new with the franchise, a little bit of reinvention, such as including the power of regeneration, wouldn't hurt.
@@Neb30925 I can see hard to kill levels of regeneration, like a wounded xeno bleeds all over critical infrastructure and systems as it flees to heal and regroup, causing more chaos and difficulty for the opposition. But making them unkillable short of disintegration would be ridiculous.
At this point, the Alien universe would benefit from quality writing more than revamping/retconning the creatures.
@@Neb30925 "The upcoming Aliens: Fireteam seems to be following the first person shooter path as well."
It's Third Person Shooter. Get the facts right or your argument has no merit.
And yes, they need to stop making xenomorphs into cannon fodder.
@@handledhandlehandlinghandler Sadly, quality writing is dead when it comes to Disney and Marvel save for very specific exceptions.
Watch, in time we will get a "Rey Skywalker Mary Sue" trying to replace Ellen Ripley.
@@privaterose5021 Thanks for pointing out that tiny inaccuracy. Yes, Fireteam is a third person shooter, not a first person shooter. But that tiny misuse of an adjective doesn't hurt the overall merit of the argument.
In the game, Alien Versus Predator: Extinction, xenomorph "warriors" can be upgraded with the ability to regenerate. They can lose half their body and will regrow their entire lower half.
I can't lie to you about your chances, but...you have my sympathies.
?
@@RottenHeretic You should maybe go watch videos on Acid Glows channel instead.
the only thing worse than Ash's sarcasm was that smug look on his face lol
I read that in his squelchy robotic voice.
@@e4unow421 What?
I actually always liked that the Marines were able to mince the xenomorphs, especially if you watched the movies in order.
The first movie does a musical number on how great the aliens are and how they are a true terror of nature.
But true to form humanity exists outside of the natural order. Even though the future technology shown is often drab and kind of uncomfortable rest assured we have spent the last few hundred years assuring our guns are more diabolical than ever. An organism deemed to be the pinnacle of evolution meeting its demise at the end of a barrel like many before it.
However it is a double play because the movie also takes advantage of the anxieties we have about guns not being enough. The marines lose to specific circumstances and guerilla tactics and... yeah. That seems to happen in the real world too.
I mean, don't get me wrong. I don't think the transition was actually that heady, I do think it was just to make the film more action oriented. But I do think they are themes brushed against that add to why the film is so effective at times.
Brilliant insights, thank you for sharing
Well, yeah, in reality certain Countries are used to lose wars even if they own greatly superior fire power
I get the feeling that Scott has lost all of his creativity and in mourning he is just 'throwing spaghetti at the wall.' He's not happy being a 'used to be,' so he has to try to revisit his past work. The paint has dried and he's just making a mess.
"Here's what Scott had to say:"
-Do you spend more on groceries or travel?
Ads have the worst timing on TH-cam, I swear
TH-cam vanced, homie 🙂
I’m comfortably watching this video on my mobile device and I reject your “TH-cam vanced” hypothesis.
get premium its worth it IMO
@@jasonjaeger5833 TH-cam Vanced is free Premium. Worth it even more 😃
This idea to me seems ludicrous.
100% agree.
I like the _"If it bleeds, we can kill it"_ like the Predator.
If the Xenomorph can't be killed, then what are the Yautja hunting???
I'm not sure that's cannon tho.
Yautja breeds xenos for a damn long time and hunted enough to know all they're weak spots plus they have weapons and armor from materials that don't melt from the acid blood ..WE on the other hand are not that developed and we get scared way more easy than the predators also we don't have visions that can reveal the alien in the dark we only have movement sensors from the smart gun and the radar but ..in a small room that is useless . I am amazed that you even asked a question this silly
@@Naxxaramus the M56 Smartgun uses infrared to track, the xenomorphs were thermally neutral / same temp as their environment making the tracking useless. check it -> avp.fandom.com/wiki/M56_Smartgun#Tracking_systems
www.barnesandnoble.com/w/aliens-colonial-marines-technical-manual-lee-brimmicombe-wood/1107219971
Was literally just thinking
"Id love a new vid from Alien Theory"
& BOOM !
Thanks y'all .
Loose a limb and regrow it. Sure. I'll take that. There are creatures in our world that can do that. But blown in to bits by automatic weapons or crushed by the scooper. Nah. All their "blood" would drain out of the bits and there is nothing left to pump around a body. Maybe if nursed back to health by the queen somehow? But we have never seen this ability on screen.
Ridley Scott was actually watching T2 when he said that.
Overpowered ability, if this was made more distinct, the Earth Wars comics would have ended terribly for humanity.
I refuse to accept this possibility. Especially when being "introduced" way too late in the game. No one can tell me that the Xeno that Hicks blew the head off with his shotgun could later have been the same one that pulled Hudson under the floor or took Newt to the hive! This mess just starts a long chain of ridiculous scenarios that destroys all we know, love & admire. The Xeno's already ARE terrifying beyond belief already as we knew them, turning them into indestructible god-like beings is utterly unnecessary to be terrified of them. And it also got me thinking; if all the Xeno's can regenerate, then why do the eggs produce just one facehugger? Why not endless ones, then? And the facehuggers, why do they die after having laid just one embryo (in some possible scenarios in Alien 3, perhaps two?)? Why is just the adults indestructible? This is not consistent. It's outright stupid, a retarded idea to try to add meaningless flavor to a creature that already was very perfect. Scott never wanted to continue with the Xeno's but was forced to with Covenant & this "idea" that they just can't be destroyed or killed is no more than a terrible idea to add to something that doesn't need any more adds. This is all lack of imagination, proper imagination. Daniels in Covenant struggles to be accepted as a great character by the majority of the fan base already as it is. Why remove her success in actually killing that Xeno in that giant crane? That just makes her even less enjoyable. You can't just add something that might seem cool on paper without considering what it means in practice for the story. Scott is a fantastic director & cinematographer but he's far less good at telling stories entirely on his own without help. He has a tendency to geek out into far too much weirdness at times if not someone hands him an already finished story. Bad & unplanned ideas impresses no one. Even less if it disrupts what we already know & love.
"Especially when being "introduced" way too late in the game." Did you even watch the video? They cut the facehugger in Alien and have to hurry down all three decks of the Nostromo to make sure it didn't eat through the hull and kill them, and by the time they'd made it back up it had regenerated completely. Literal *SECONDS* it took to re-heal. There is no known organism outside of maybe TARDIGRADES on this earth the xenomorph shares a terrestrial analogue with. This is totally in character and fits perfectly in the universe of Alien.
@@d.comptonambrose4422 I've surely seen Alien close to 100 times in my lifetime by now. That cut near the knuckle of the facehugger is so tiny, they barely cut through the skin because the acid spitting out made them jerk so they couldn't make a deeper cut, so even if any camera ever zoomed in on that same knuckle ever again it would not have shown even if it had been on a human. And guess what, no camera angle ever after that zooms in that close on that knuckle on that facehugger ever again for the rest of the movie for us to be able to tell anyway. You can very well imagine you saw it heal within seconds but the film itself does not show it, ever. And all of this is very much besides the point anyway because, from all I've heard over the years, Ridley himself never came up with the swift regenerating theory on the Xeno's anyway until he made Prometheus. The idea of them being able to regenerate did not exist in his mind when he made Alien. So, yeah, I stay firm with my belief based on facts, interviews etc etc. The idea of immediate regeneration did not exist in this franchise until Prometheus & Covenant. And I certainly call that "late in the game"! 2012 does not equal 1979.
Meh. Losing a limb is one thing, getting your dome blown off by 10mm explosive tipped caseless is another. Same thing with getting ripped in half, and striking the ground after a 500' fall.
I feel that the xenomorph could at least survive a high free fall if it can survive in space. Imo.
Yet nobody complains when Halo's Flood completely ignores the Second Law of Thermodynamics. Let Aliens have their biggatons goddammit.
This takes the alien out of scifi to straight fantasy. A mythcial unkillable beast beast creature feature.
It's now superman... Kinda boring in that aspect...
It's alien freddie cougar or jason... Pinhead without the pins...
Anyways...
Still a great video.
I mean all of them could die. Freddy died a mundane enough death, Jason died like 1000000000 times, Pinhead's whole thing is he's in hell so I don't think death can exist.
@@user-jn1wm3tb8v those are mystical/magical entities is my point, this takes the xeno out of scifi and straight into fantasy.
@@SomaSong Alien was always "Texas Chainsaw Massacre/Nightmare on Elm Street in Space" though. And even in Aliens the first time the marines meet the xenomorphs half their squad gets wiped out. And even then those were likely workers and disposable soldier castes.
Alien was inspired by Lovecraftian mythos. So an element of the supernatural is fine with me.
I always loved of the idea of Xenos could regenerative their hands and arms back togather in the comics there are so many things makes them perfect and
intelligent in the comics and novels
If the alien could regenerate from almost nothing, then Weyland-Yutani would have easily been able to recover specimens after the events of Alien 3, from the pieces of the xenomorph that was killed.
They... did...
@@d.comptonambrose4422 No, they recovered Ripley's DNA, which allowed them to eventually clone her with the alien queen embryo inside her. They didn't pick up bits of the alien that was killed and let them regenerate.
@@Spike-hl2mw There were no "bits of the alien" to "pick up" because of the *FURNACE* Also, I didn't say that, the idea that they could still get an alien from even non-alien DNA actually just reinforces the argument in favor of their indestructibility. They were indeed "able to recover specimens after the events of Alien 3" which was your argument. Also why would they go after the drone/soldier that was killed (if its remains hadn't been literally incinerated by the raging *FURNACE* ) when they had a Queen right there with which to clone from Ellen Ripley? Which they could use to make more Aliens from. Nobody is saying they are literally immortal, it is me and a few others pushing back on the incessant need to downplay and nerf the Aliens ever since the fuck awful AVP movies. This isn't rocket surgery.
I wondered for years if the Company or the Auriga team would have cloned or captured the Runner. What would they have done with it? How would they have captured it? That’s an alternate timeline I’d like to see.
So, how exactly would that work?
You cut off 5% of its body mass and it just replaces the mass magically? Or does it scale down 5%?
Let's say we contain it and cut off its tail and both arms which are tossed into an incinerator. It has no access to anything it could absorb in order to replace lost mass, yet it grows a new tail and arms.
We repeat the process 100 times.
Is the alien the same size and mass?
Or are we left with a little action figure sized alien?
Really, I mean right from the start they were pushing it. Its biologically compatible with Humans (Chimps aren’t) & can replace its cells with silicone (LMAO), then grows from seven or eight inches to seven or eight feet in a few hours (with little or no food).
The difference is a mainstream movie audience can forgive those things (scientists couldn’t). Making it regenerative from nothing is no more ridiculous but it is a whole lot less exciting. It’s just cheap, really.
If Xenos really can regenerate their entire body from one fragment then why do they need Queen and eggs, facehuggers and hosts to reproduce? They could just tear themselves apart into hundreds of pieces to make a countless drone army in virtually no time.
The alien queen took the facility for a reason and remember o bannon xenomorph final skin. Took the human knowledge, learn spacefaring and defend the hive, start diplomatic relation with weyland yutani corp.
They never learn make rocket thats why they stranded in the past.
@@RACH90810 o bannon xenomorph?
Yeah, I'm gonna agree with most of the comments below. Limited regeneration, sure. But Wolverine-style regen? Hell no. The entire canon of books, comics, and films demonstrate that they have a limited survivability. Earth would never have had been able to be "cleaned up" whatsoever if they had that level of regenerative abilities.
I think limited limb regrowth and healing for any non-fatal wounds is good to go. But if you're destroying the brain it's a no-go. etc.
I remember in AvP Extinction, a small RTS for the PS2, the xenomorph faction could regenerate health on hive webbing, and the warriors could get cut in half and still function, even regrowing limbs.
Now, I know that might not be canon, but hey, the "seed" is there.
My theory is that, due to his massive ego, Ridley Scott doesn't actually consider any of the sequels to be canon, though he makes sure not to say it out loud. Thus, he systematically ignores every bit of lore about the xenomorph established in these movies.
No he kinda has to bend the ‘rules’ a bit to get his out there since his has been messed it’s since Aliens added the whole egg laying thing and hierarchy
Also the fact Aliens killed them like butter half the time and put a lot more limitations into it.
Alien isolation kinda tried what Ripley tried with just durability and it got a bit more of a joke to a degree
It just feels ‘aliens’ is doomed to be a action series
@@silent_stalker3687 something laid the eggs in alien , the ship was full of them
@@johnjaleco5683 ‘something laid the eggs’
Alien: ‘who the fuck is laying eggs? Did we fuck a chicken; what the fuck?!’
Watch the deleted scene, novelization and original script.
Those eggs weren’t laid.
And if they were laid why is it that they don’t do what any other animal do and lay eggs fish become full sized animals?
@iowars Seconded.
What irks me about it is that the xenomorph is not the brainchild of ridley scott. He may have contributed some ideas during its development, but neither the script nor the physical design were his work. But, since he was the only one still alive and willing to return from the original film, all the credit was somehow laid on his shoulders. Scott's career began at the tail end of the age of auteurs, but i'd argue that he is not an auteur himself.
Best part of the day. Love the care and thought that goes into these videos.
Could you do more about all the Alien merchandise you have? I bet you have many books etc. most of us will never see otherwise.
Excellent content, truly a pleasure to be a subscriber ❤️
I always found it interesting that hordes of xenomorphs would die to defend, eggs the queen, the nest, etc. Would feel weird if they were immortal
What? They're not selfless and moral, they're killing machines... have you not seen 'Alien'?
@@d.comptonambrose4422 Yes I have, even without morals the statement is still true. For example the Runner that doesn't kill Ripley because she was carrying a queen.
@@toast6672 Nobody is saying they're immortal btw just that they're a LOT harder to kill and a LOT more alien than they look
Brilliant. I look forward to your videos, especially your accounts of the earth war, I could listen to them for hours.
Another really interesting discussion! Great work!
That video was awesome! I loved the Aliens clips
Great Video Alien Theory!
Let’s be honest, Scott was probably pissed as a fart when he said that! It really wouldn’t surprise me that he was blind drunk when he was doing the director’s commentary on Alien: Covenant😂
Love learning about the alien universe on your channel!
amazing as always
Excellent, as usual, a fantastic narration.
As an example, in dead space the necromorphs are tough to bring down. You have to dismember them to take them out. Yet there is a super necromorph that you cant kill with regular means, you just buy time to run when dismembering it or using stasis.
This makes the encounters with it that much more terrifying and special, if as Ridley says, all xenomorphs regenerate or had this ability it would in my mind cheapen the previous entries and make tough odds seem way beyond human means.
Not a fan, stellar video though 😊💚
Ahh the Hunter. That was a fun set of encounters on the Ishimura!
I am so upset that recently I found this channel. Man! I’m hooked! 🙏🏽
Oh yes, I see something new about the alien universe and I CLICK!
Longer Videos Pleaseeeeeeeeee!! I binge watch your content so much I ran out of it. 😢😢😢😢😢
Im glad to see everyone still has thier common sense and we can all agree how utterly asinine it would be for the xenomorph to basically be deadpool
I have always said it. It’s supposed to be stronger than what the sequels portray. The perfect organism. I hope they make it clear in future movies or shows
I agree,it’s far too easily killed in Aliens.
Good video
In Alien Ressurection there is a scene in which 2 aliens attack another one while so the acid spills out and they can escape while the doctors are distracted. Later on they send in a marine to check the container and the alien is still definately dead. I agree with Tristan McQeen's comment below: "I dunno man. I think giving it the Wolverine-esque ability to regenerate from even a single drop of blood is just kinda cheap"
Didn’t Scott said that the Xenomorph from Covenant had regenerative capacities?
Everything Scott says is bullshit, dont listen to that senile old man
Yes. But he's an old fool who thinks he's responsible for the entire Alien story. He conveniently forgot about O'Bannon and Giger. The 1st Alien masterpiece would be nothing without them.
If they just regen, in aliens, wouldn't they have just kept coming at those turrets? I am assuming they are aware of their own ability to regen.
No they would look for a better way in, which they did. Lets stop wasting time and regenerating constantly.
@@alyberop1 I hadn't watched it in years, they actually do make it past one of the turrets and start beating on one of the barricades/welded doors. I thought they just gave up, and then looked for another way. Those must have been some bad ass welds lol. There must have been 2 different sections of barricades. Damn, I am gonna have to watch the whole movie again.
I love this channel !!!
This information brings a point something I remember. There was an AVP strategy game I played once and one of the upgrades you could get for the alien faction allowed wounded Xenomorphs, while on creep, to regenerate limbs I just thought it was worth mentioning
This is a really good concept/theory. I would love to have seen them explore this element. Maybe in a future movie someone will touch on it more.
The regrowing of the hammerheads head in Prometheus is redicilous.
The growth of the Alien in Covenant and the spores are also redicilous.
Your spelling of ridiculous is redicilous. 😂
I can accept the hammerpedes regeneration because it seems to have very basic anatomy and its direct exposure to the black goo would probably boost its cell generation. Xenomorphs are far too complex for their healing to work in such a way.
Monsters/antagonists need to have weaknesses or it’s pointless
Man, you just opened another rabbit hole !!
You have a great narrative voice
I personally parse out regeneration as being base (basic wound healing), greater (regrowth of a extremity or non-vital organ), and advanced (able to reform/heal/regrow from readily lethal damage). In regards to the Xenomorphs, I peg them as easily having base regeneration, maybe greater (although that would likely be over a long period of time), but definitely not any advanced levels of regeneration. As to why, I chalk it up to the fact that trying do so something that taxing would likely require a lot of energy, and I sincerely doubt that they would have the energy to heal if they have to tend to the needs of the Queen and the Hive.
As for Ridley's comments during the commentary for Covenant, I take what he said with the greatest grain of salt possible. If he wants to perceive the species as one that is nigh-indestructible that is his prerogative, but for me it comes at the cost of undercutting the other films in the franchise by making the creature go too far into the realm of the absurd.
What is with the sudden kneejerk reactionary impulse to attempt to downplay and nerf the Xenomorph as much as humanly possible here? Leave them alone, they've been shit on enough throughout film history as it is...
I love the cadence of your voice man.
I think that some kind of regeneration can be possible. But unless they have 2 brains, I think that a head shot should stop them for good.
If they had two brains, why is only the Queen smart?
@@GENGHISKHAN-hk3qs I think that they are all smart. The queen is just smartter.
@@elnacho3174 no, they aren't smart. Smart animals don't run head first into a gun turret. And almost 1000 of them do it before they stop. Did you see the director's cut? It's then coolest seen in the movie, I really don't get why they left it out.
@@GENGHISKHAN-hk3qs Well, they are not normal animals. They count on the fact of their acidic blood, and use it as a weapon.
@@elnacho3174 true, but that doesn't mean they have two brains. They call them drones for a reason. Because they are dumb.
I really like the idea that the xenomorphs are virtually unkillable. I never considered that the ones getting blown to shit by pulse rifles and smart guns could eventually regenerate and come back. I think that's totally believable with Ash's commentary and Ridley Scotts comments and adds another layer of terror to these beasts.
AWESOME :)
I had heard Ridley Scott make a comment about them not being able to be killed and I remembered Ash's comment. I thought about the strength and ability of The Things cells to survive on the smallest levels. A roumor I had read in Fangora Magazine about The Thing being a far distant relative of the Aliens & the Aliens having regenerative powers like a Salamander or some frogs. I watched the Alien movie after the theater on VHS thinking that they were only stopping the Aliens temporarily. That it sometimes seemed they were winning because they were making crucial hits that would take many of the Aliens hours or days to recuperate from. Blowing part of the head off, taking one or more limbs off caused them to stop advancing. To either return to the hive or secret goo to form more hive like surroundings to curl up in and heal for hours or days to only then go back out on the hunt. This is why when they arrived there were not chunks, peices or whole dead Aliens laying all over the human compound beside all the acid burned holes. The healthy Aliens dragged the colonists back to the hive to make more. The injured Aliens gathered there blown off appendages or parts and perhaps ate them to sort of recycle the biomass. Or perhaps by placing that part where it belonged it could be reattached. Humans if done quickly enough in surgery have been known to have fingers and a couple of times partially torn off limbs reattached through surgery. If the Aliens had regenerative powers perhaps a partially blown off limb would end up useful again. Perhaps if they could curl up in the hive fast enough with there limb placed where it should be the connecting tissue would grow back to form the two into one again. The only ones that could not recover would be those that a grenade had blown the head or chest into such small parts the prime organs were too damaged to recover. In that case other aliens would take them back to be absorbed into the hive material to provide nutrients for the healing Aliens and host animals held in the caccoons until they gave birth. Once a host birthed an Alien the host body was absorbed by the hive caccoon to provide healing and fuel base energy for others. The hive is not just a place to sleep, a place to hold host but a living organism of it's own acting as doctor and nursing mother.
Thank you making this video and point out Xenomorph's regenerative ability is a thing.
I have no problem with them having the ability to regenerate limbs, but I draw the line at complete regeneration of fragments. It makes the xenomorph wildly overpowered, and sounds ridiculously like the liquid Terminator from Terminator 2, and just undermines the franchise as a whole across all the various mediums that have been used to expand on the Alien universe and its stories. The saying, "less is more," applies, and the Dutch Schaefer quote, "If it bleeds, we can kill it," should likewise be applied.
One great thing about the Alien series is biological realism. It's a plausible creature. We see elements of xenomorph traits in real creatures. Sure, it could regrow a lost limb (slowly). Heal moderately serious injuries and leave scars. Require nourishment and rest to build the new limb and replace lost blood. Die from critical shots or overwhelming damage.
But don't ruin the franchise with OP fantasy superpowers.
It really isn’t plausible scientifically (at all), but for the purposes of a film audience & not a biology convention, I think your point still stands. Anyway it looks like the fans have spoken - they don’t want an indestructible starbeast, & I agree with them.
The Xeno Mother had galaxy level telepathy communication in the Dark Horse comics. The fuck you mean
To add to what others have posted, the original Alien was heavily inspired by Texas Chainsaw Massacre and HP Lovecraft horror stories, not science fiction, the only sci-fi aspect of Alien is that it was set in space. It was literally described by the original creators as "Texas Chainsaw Massacre... but *IN SPACE*"
Hmmm, I like the idea of the xenomorph being able to recover from grievous injuries like bullet wounds and severe impacts rather quickly with its wounds sealing themselves essentially. The idea of vital organs being finishing them is important though, and I even find the idea of them regrowing limbs a bit rash, as some of the most memorable xenomorph individuals are recognizable for battle scars like Grid and Six. Perhaps if they were molting into a new form in the hive these traits could be resorted but Not as a part of the standard healing process.
I like the idea that they have strong regeneration and could patch themselves up if not thoroughly killed, though I dislike the idea an alien would survive being crushed like in Covenant. It makes all the more sense why they'd have hunted it with flamethrowers in the films, because as in the same case as The Thing, extreme burns and charring will completely destroy the cells and prevent them from regrowing. It also explains their fear of fire, given that they're aware it's one of their only weaknesses. I think it's a fun idea and makes you think more carefully about how hard it'd be to dispose of one other than just "shoot it with a gun". At the same time I think the alien needs some limits because it's always been presented as a real creature, allowing it to regenerate from having its whole body crushed doesn't make sense given that they still have to obey conservation of mass and energy, as shown in the first film when the burster raids the kitchen to feed and grow.
I’ve always thought “functionally immortal” in that if never killed and with enough food it just keeps getting bigger… bigger… bigger…
We know the growth cycle of a chestburster to adult form is rapid, so it would make sense they have the capacity to create new cells for healing in a manner we cant quite comprehend.
Either way......removal of the head is always a reliable way of preventing most healing factors in fiction 😁
I have no problem with the concept of the Alien being able to regenerate parts of it's body (limbs, tails - in Alien Extinction on the PlayStation 2, they could lose their entire lower half and slowly regrow it). But I can't see it being capable of recovering from a mortal wound. The scary thing about the Alien is that they're out there, just waiting for humanity to stumble across them. But the films and expanded universe work, because there is a chance for survival against a seemingly unstoppable monster. If it couldn't actually die, that would just serve to break the suspended disbelief the movies need to make them work.
Hey , huge fan of the page. Anymore news when the new TV show might be coming ?
I do remember being quite disappointed watching Aliens for the first time, as I'd seen Alien first, and the idea of it being indestructible resonated with me. I couldn't wait to see how these tough marines with all this h-tech weaponry would handle an indestructible- oh wait, never mind, they're cannon fodder now.
Don't get me wrong, Aliens is a great film, but I don't think I ever got over that initial gut reaction on my first watch, which is why the first one is still my favourite.
I like the idea of them re-growing limbs back over time if given the chance to hide and heal (or by sheding, like some insect and arachni do), and even enhanced regeneration habilites to survive bullet and explosion wounds... but being "undestructible"? and been able to crawl looking for his missing parts in order to reatach them or something like that... it sounds like to much OP... too much dragon ball Cell's "I can grow back, full power, from a single cell"... I mean... we ALL hate enemies like that... its more frustrating than fun to kill the same guy over and over and over...
This us probably the thing that has caused most of my debates in this fandom. I started with the OG alien and whenever i watched that movie i understood that thus thing is basically.... A space borne parasitic tardigrade a perfect organism primal and overwhelmingly adaptable being essentially immortal. This isn't to say you can't kill it but it takes what amounts to incineration. And thats doable just not with guns. And im okay with this but sadly most of the fandom would rather they just be sneaky and clever bugs overwhat they were originally described to be and to me that just lessens the entire creature to me.
It’s interesting you mention about the Xenomorph shedding it’s limb to escape in the novel since I feel like a xenomorphs could really benefit from this ability or at least, if they have it use it more often.
Those drones in Resurrection probably wouldn’t have had to murder their own to use their blood to escape for instance, although they might not have had that ability given the whole human hybrid DNA they and their Queen had.
i mean guess that would depend on how much blodo they thought they would need after all the organs kept the acid burning a lot longer then when its just out in the air so it could be it needed both weight and long lasting acid to burn through it
I remember reading somewhere that the one that was killed was a little too complacent, and that's why it was targeted. Plus, the other two needed a lot of acid quickly; probably best to just gut their friend and slap it's blood everywhere rather than just do a few precision cuts (that's if they can do that anyway).
Late to the party, but I'll add my 10 cents. Firstly, I really like the idea that many of the xenomorphs we see in the final attack on the operations center are in fact aliens who were shot earlier in the hive and healed up. I think that rather neatly cleans up the issue of how the numbers stay quite threatening even after the atmo processor fight and the sentry guns. I think the Marines definitely did kill a few during the processor ambush - Drake and Vasquez in particular seem to have blown at least a couple almost completely apart - but probably fewer than they thought they did. Even in real-world warfare against simple humans, hitting a target is not the same as KILLING a target, and the toughness of the aliens helps even out the explosive-tipped bullets in this regard. Same to an extent with the sentry guns - we see a couple xenos getting completely blown to bits, but probably more just pulled back as they were hit, especially once they're out of the tunnel and have more room to maneuver. Since there's an indeterminate time gap between the sentry gun sequence and the final attack, it's fair to say that at least a few had healed up from simple bullet wounds and ricochets before the last assault.
I completely agree with everybody who says that complete molecular regeneration is just too much for this particular species. Ridley Scott seems to have his own, very particular take on the aliens that is often at odds with what the wider universe has come to agree on, and while he may be the original director, that doesn't mean we have to take his every word as gospel. I think the alien in Covenant is quite dead.
TL:DR I'd agree with the idea that they can regrow limbs or survive head/torso shots depending on what parts of their anatomy are actually vital, but not total regeneration from molecules or tiny chunks.
hi alien theory. I'm Brazilian and I loved your video. I believe yes he can fully regenerate but I think the only limb he cannot regenerate is his head. Thanks dude.
I remember in AvP Extinction, a lovely ps2 strategy game that I used to play a lot back then. After getting cut in half the Aliens could regenerate their lower torso after a while. They truly are the perfect killing machines.
Two things occur to me:
First, it would probably be the most coherent explanation for the super-facehugger in the jump between 2 and 3.
Second, the caloric intake necessary to recover from that kind of bodily harm would be immense. Instead, the most we've ever seen them do was grab a mouthful of brain and move on (and even then, that was in the AvP games, so not canon, though it's consistent with screen canon), or bite their way out of the host as a chestburster (with the same sources and consideration.)
For it to regenerate that aggressively, it would need to be eating far more than we've ever seen on screen. I'm almost inclined to say there wouldn't be enough biomass on Hadley's Hope to sustain a xenomorph colony if this was true.
The only way it might not be true would be if there was some kind of serious energy generation going on inside the alien's cells. But, that would mean neither Ash nor Bishop noticed it when examining the remains. Which would justify the, "perfect organism," lines, but while Ash might keep it to himself, I doubt Bishop would have. Actually, the entire theory raises more questions about the use of facehuggers.
It's interesting, but it requires serious headcanon to justify.
I have no problem with any sci fi life form having regenerative capability as long as it makes sense. in this case I think it would be silly if a Xenomorph lost a piece of itself and could not grow it back as Xenomorph rely completely on their biology instead of technology. At the same time it would make no sense if the Xenomorph could regrow itself from small pieces OR if it could regrow pieces of itself without acquiring the materials/bio-mass to regrow it. So none of that nonsense where the limb gets chopped off and it just regrows like that. I mean if things really did work like that I should be able to grow food in my garden year after year with no fertilizer.
the way you describe the potential of the xenomorph's regenerative abilities rivals that of the creature featured in the Thing franchise and add an entirely new element to the horror of the xenomorph (which would be a great thing to focus on in a new film/game/comic)...
In fact, it would be rather interesting to see Marvel Comics (the new owners of the Alien franchise's comic and graphic novel license...which makes sense as Disney now owns the Alien franchise and Marvel is a subsidiary of Disney) utilize these un(der)used concepts in their new stories.
Marvel debut Alien comic series is already introducing entirely new concepts (which was surprising as i thought they would really drop the ball) within the Alien universe in their new Aliens comics (definitely recommend that you check them out if you haven't already). Something about this new Marvel Alien series seems fresh whilst evoking the nostalgia of my first encounter with a xenomorph in James Cameron's Aliens. I really wanted to dislike the new series (as i have always been a die-hard Darkhorse fan) but i have been delighted and surprised by where the current monthly series (now on issue #4) is taking the franchise. Hopefully Disney follows its subsidiary's lead and does something new and interesting with the franchise as well.
This franchise has the potential for regenerative abilities
I think this is one of the most brilliant videos you've done as far as exploring new concepts. I'm not sure if they can regenerate but based on what Ridley said what do you think happens to the alien That Danny "killed" in the claw?
I personally think that their regen only goes as far as regrowing missing limbs, like how a lizard regrows its tail, and repairing minor damage. As for Ridley's "it's indestructible" comment, I have to agree with the rest of the audience, he's lost his marbles...
We see a Heavy Combat Alien, human based, torn in half, and they can regenerate that damage. It makes it clear in the lore, from the aliens perspective no less, the only way to truly kill the alien, you have to ether remove the head, cause massive amount of damage to it, and we have seen them take lots of damage to the head and survive, including have around 6 to 8 holes that a 20mm round could pass through, or cause so much damage to the whole body that its pulp.
Vasquez’s handgun proves they have a vital point. A few shots to the brain put one down.
@@ddc2957 Thats not confirmed though. It could have regenerated from the damage, we saw a Warrior talk more damage than that to the head from a ballistic weapon.
What’s not confirmed? What do you consider confirmed? She shot it, it lay dead for all intents & purposes. Do you think Cameron & the writers intended it to be “unconfirmed?” By this logic you would need an autopsy on every felled Alien.
It’s an animal, not the T-1000.
@@ddc2957 Yes exactly, you would need a scene showing the alien being autopsied and the body 100% vaporized before you can confirm it died. Dont forget the Aliens regenerative adaption known as "Regenisis" it kicks in after death, its not instant, but it will bring the creature back as long as the body is not 100% destroyed.
I absolutely love Ridley's idea of the alien being indestructible. It really adds to the terror of the creature and how hopeless it all is to even try to confront it. Humans are just insects in comparison to the perfect organism. I really do think this is the original interpretation of the monster. It is a monster beyond our reason so we cannot fathom all the things it is capable of. It really makes it more frightening.
In my personal opinion, the Xenomorphs can regenerate from small arms fire and other minor injuries. But, the Xenomorphs suffer two major weaknesses
One: The brain cannot regenerate, and as such when it's blown apart, the remaining cells don't get the command to start re-growing
Two: Fire, the gift of Prometheus (pun not intended) and the original fear of the Xenomorph. Why is it afraid of fire you may ask? Because then, if the alien were to catch on fire, it's flammable oils in it's skin/membrane would not be able to regenerate faster than the fire burns. Either that or burnt cells are damaged beyond the ability to repair, and if these burnt cells were allowed to re-grow it would only result in tumor-like growths.
Wrong and wrong again. The xenomorphs do not have brains and in 'Alien 3' they literally dump _15 tons of boiling hot lead on it_ and literally all that does to it is *make it mad...*
Regrowing a lost limb and tail slowly or in the Queen's case, her ovipositor/egg sack is fine. Just don't have them come back from the dead or have a prefect clone come from a single cell. They have to have limits. Even other fictional characters with super regenerative abilities have their limits.
I doubt they are that impossible to kill. Durable? Sure. Some regenerative capabilities? Clearly. But actually impossible to kill? No chance. I think minor injuries can heal relatively quickly. But blowing up their heads should definitely do it.
strange because in another of the Alien commentaries he contradicted this.He said that the reason the creature shed it's skin and changed it's color so drastically was for it's extremely short lifespan. The skin is the most common one, that is in line with lobsters and snakes. The skin changing color was the interesting one. It was because it's skin was bruising and therefore close to it's demise. It also was desperately attempting to continue the life cycle by transforming Brett and Dallas into EGGS in some way or another. He was also smoking and thus drinking on this track for its clearly audible.. I love ol tipsy Ridley..
I think there is something to be said about what he was alluding with the open sequence of Prometheus.
Wow, that opens up a world of possibilities for a rumored Alien 5. Even if every Xenomorph on LV426 was vaporized in the blast that leaves the end of Alien Covenant open for exploration by way of encountering a fully grown specimen. The only potential problem I could see with that would be the theme of the creatures aggression being a product of a short life span. The proverbial live fast, die young theme that didn't get much talk, but was a reason for a lot of things about it's physiology, right down to the color of it's skin. Too bad this will be relogated to the forgotten these days.
The video game, Aliens vs Predator Extinction, does elaborate that it's the hive nodes created by the Drones that helps the Xenomorphs regenerate. Perhaps that could be a contributing factor in the films, in that wounded aliens could recover from normally grievous injuries overtime, but not come back from being blasted to pieces or the like; I'd say something like what upgraded Warriors in AVP Extinction are capable of in terms of surviving serious wounds like limb loss, but still dying from any further damage.
Ironically the vital spot shot isn't a high bar for killing something. You see it with animals and humans, most deaths in combat are due to blood loss and far from the movie cliche of instant death. This is why all US Military personnel receive basic medical training and mostly aimed at how to stop blood loss.
My thoughts, pulling some of those observations together.
1: Ash is mostly speculating on the Alien's regenerative powers. Ignoring the novelisation for now, when he answers "You can't (kill it)." he could mean that Ripley can't kill it, not that it can't be killed. In longer form: "You won't be able to kill it with the resources at hand."
2: Taking the novelisation into account, we definitely have some evidence of regeneration shown. How fast, and how completely an Alien can regenerate is still at question. Regrowing a limb is not out of the question, and we are certainly shown examples of the creature growing extremely quickly. So regrowing a limb over a few hours doesn't seem unlikely. We're never shown how the creature gets sustenance to fuel growth or regeneration, but presumably the "perfect organism" can eat almost anything remotely organic, like oil and plastics, as well human food supplies and any victims it doesn't cocoon.
3: Ash states that they don't know where the creature's weak points and critical organs are. While true, that doesn't mean it can't be killed by massive physical trauma. A grenade, a smart-gun pulse, or a multiple armour-piercing rounds ricocheting around inside its body might be enough, And assuming the brain is in the head - well, a headshot is a headshot.
4: The Queen Alien is capable of tearing off her egg-bearing abdomen without harm. Certainly some significant healing ability there on-screen, if not actual regeneration.
5: Scott's comments on Covenant could be personal speculation, or he isn't talking about regeneration as such. I'd take it to mean that the Alien DNA can infect the ecosystem, 'black goo' style, and restart the life cycle.
All put together: the creature can withstand exceptional trauma and heals quickly to prevent further blood loss. It can regrow extremities over a period of hours. It has an exceptional tolerance for pain so can't easily be disabled by non-fatal wounds. It's plausible that its genetic material could infect other life forms with extended exposure.
It can tolerate extremes of temperature but could eventually be burned up by sustained intense heat. A close-range shot to the head or multiple wounds which penetrate the torso can also be fatal. Massive concussion force from an explosion or impact from a large object could kill by destroying the brain or vital organs.
Something of a crackpot theory I've had for a while now was that when you blast one to bits, it 'DNAs and grows back' as a whole new Xenomorph, which leads to that idea of that seemingly endless horde. Not just that they get regenerate and get back up to come at you later, but rather that each limb can become it's own creature, provided enough of it was intact. One Xenomorph could lose both it's arms and a leg, and after a while, that becomes four Xenos total. Soon, four becomes a dozen, a dozen becomes dozens, and so on...
It's a tad bonkers even for the bonkersness that is the Xenomorph XX121, but it's kinda fun to think that when playing as a Colonial Marine or hell, even a Predator, every creature you don't mince good enough to stay dead is gonna come back as multiples of itself. Like kicking a dandelion stem... It's fun to do, but it just fills the yard with more dandelions.
This could be the reason why a predator uses a laser blaster as opposed to a laser beam against the Alien. I also believe there is no regenerative abilities when fire is used.
Specifically when incinerated by a large amount of it a la the nuke at the end of Aliens, exploding Nostromo/Narcissus engines at the end of Alien and the furnace at the end of Alien 3. Anything short of that and you're risking it coming back to kill you again.