Alien Movie Universe
Talk about Alien: Romulus / Alien: EarthJoin our forum! Ask your questions / Start a discussion here!
Join In

Neomorph & Xenomoprh life history traits

Alien-Covenant.com
News
Scified2017-05-27 22:31:31https://www.scified.com/articles/neomorph--xenomoprh-life-history-traits-21.jpg
Scified
Written by I.Raptus54,997 Reads11 Comments2017-05-27 22:31:31

One aspect of A:C i thoroughly enjoyed was the introduction of the Neomorph as a perfect foil to the xenomorph species.

The answer to this lies in the Life History traits of each species. 

Where the xenomorph's weakness lies, the Neomorph flourishes and visa versa. Together the two species/mutations form the perfect organism.

From an ecologist perspective there are two main types of life history traits in the animal kingdom: r-strategists and K-strategists. 

One could argue the Xenomorph is a K-strategist species. They are slow to reproduce (usually.....unless a plot device demands it), reproduce in smaller numbers with a focus on longevity and survival. They are much more developed and formidable than the Neomorph, and represent the apex predator of the 'Morph species.

The xenomorph's main weakness is their altricial offspring. This stage of their development is when they are at their most vulnerable; small, weaker and somewhat defenceless upon birthing. The juvenile chestburster prefers to escape and hide, allowing itself to develop itself into the killing machine it will become....if its not killed during this stage.

The Neomorph on the other hand are classical r-strategists. They develop rapidly with a quick life-cycle. They prefer to overrun and dominate an ecosystem through numbers rather than individual prowess.

HOWEVER, their young are precocial as we see in A:C. They are born capable, independent and ready to defend themselves violently if threatened.

When invading a new ecosystem the Neomorph can rapidly reproduce and thrive with their form of aggressive violence even upon birth. They will quickly out-compete all indigenous species and pave the way for the apex predator Xenomorph to grow; a species whose juveniles might be picked off in a new ecosystem.

So perhaps we are interpreting David's perfect creation wrong. The two species combined form a perfect invasive species, not one on their own, as they both have strength's and weaknesses. 

I appreciate A:C a great deal due to the contrasting Xeno species portrayed in the film. For what the film is, there is a great deal of subtle concepts in this film that people need to take the time to understand, you will find many riches.

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

More Alien Movie Universe News & Articles

Now that Alien: Romulus is out, discuss the film with other Alien fans in the Alien: Romulus forums here.

Visit the Alien: Earth TV Series forums to browse topics about the upcoming TV series by Noah Hawley as well! Got news for the Alien: Earth TV series? You can share that, here!

11 Comments

Xenotaris

MemberPraetorianMay-28-2017 2:01 PM

I like your article a lot and I really dig Alien Covenant, most chestbursters seem to avoid conflict. With the exception of the Bambi-Burster (ignoring the one from AVP), most chestbursters are vulnerable at that stage, including the one in Covenant. 

Timmy the ultramorph

MemberChestbursterMay-29-2017 2:59 PM

I had a question. Are the neomorphs going to be important after the prequles. do you think that they are killed of before the events of alien and if not why arnt they in any nonprequal movies?

Blackwinter-witch

MemberPraetorianMay-29-2017 4:13 PM

Copied this from a thread where I was discussing such with a friend. :)

" Those are all extremely solid, and good points!! Neomorphs in a swarm situation would be just absolutely devastating.
A thought about Neomorph reproduction: They eat, grow and 'bud' off spore pods. Each and every one of them. You want mass-saturation and absolute domination of an area, a queen won't do it.
Say each one can 'bud' a mature spore pod once every day, times say 4 days, times say, 3 Neomorphs. Now each pod can potentially infect say, reasonably, 6 people/animals.
Now there's a terrifying, powerful and 'Alien' lifecycle system. ;)

For me however, I've got a LOT of work invested in The Alien and it's Origins (NOT David and NOT the Engineers) and it's lifecycle as well as establishing Set but reasonably-flexible time-lengths regarding the stages of it's life cycle that hollywood loves messing with.
Chestburster stage, my take on it, it's not as vulnerable as people think.
Consider the sheer strength needed to force it's way out through a human body? Now it's also Fast, and I'm pretty sure those jaws it has can partially unhinge like a snake's, yet still be able to support and conduct a LOT of muscle force for a truly horrible bite radius that'd likely go through a spacesuit gauntlet with NP.
It's also possible that Chestburster can spit acid, or something different but equally nasty. "

I.Raptus

MemberPraetorianMay-30-2017 2:04 AM

Timmy the facehugger Good question. The difficulty here is that these species are engineered mutations from experimentation with the "Black Goo". Not an organic invasion of a natural environment.

However, if you adhere to the Life History Traits mentioned above you could well argue that the Neomorph's in A:C work well as an early invader of the 'Morph Genus and that eventually the Xenomorph will become the dominant species.

I would really like to see the next film utilise the Neomorphs as a swarm-like invader as Blackwinter-witch says above. If they could 'Bud' spores daily (or even upon death) you could really set up a horrifying invasion that rapidly collapses a population of colonists. This would lay the foundation for the more formidable Xenomorph to establish dominance.  

Xeno's out-compete Neomorphs. Colonists are harvested. Eggs are produced. Lone survivor in the Derelict ship escapes. crashes on LV-426.

BAM!

A L I E N    

I.Raptus

MemberPraetorianMay-30-2017 2:27 AM

Blackwinter-witch and Jerry Conaway I stand corrected on the Xeno Burster. As you both point out, it is not weak, vulnerable or defenceless at all. Thank you for pointing that out :-)   

The point I was trying to get across was that if the Xenomorph had a weakness (as small as it may be), it is this stage of it's life cycle.

The Neomorph's in A:C came out swinging. The xeno Chestburster seem to prefer to hide and grow before going on the attack. But as you pointed out, it can and will defend itself quiet capably if needed.

 

 

Falconer

MemberOvomorphMay-30-2017 2:44 AM

I imagine being attacked by a xenomorph chestbuster would be akin to an angry cat latching to your leg coupled with the whole squirrel in your pants scenario lol.   

Blackwinter-witch

MemberPraetorianMay-30-2017 2:53 AM

IRaptus

I conceded to you that the Chestburster is (as far as it goes) the most vulnerable stage of the Alien, relative to Facehugger and Big Chap. So we're good, right?.
BUT, I still think it'd be safer to cuddle a Hammerpede than annoy a chestburster, or corner one. :)

Blackwinter-witch

MemberPraetorianMay-30-2017 3:03 AM

Falconer

LOL yeah, it would be Interesting...but not half as problematic as the scenario you provided. :D

I.Raptus

MemberPraetorianMay-30-2017 3:03 AM

Blackwinter-witch Yep all good :) just acknowledging your excellent points here and on the other thread.... Im not actually sure how I ended up with two threads for this topic :-/

Sorry all!

Falconer Lol. That gives a gives a very strange and frightening mental image!!!

Jonesy

MemberFacehuggerMay-30-2017 3:20 AM

Interesting read. Thanks for sharing

Timiteh

MemberOvomorphMay-30-2017 5:09 AM

Well, Happy to see that i am not the only one to think that the Neomorph is a better genocidal weapon than the Xenomorph. Thus if David goal is the extermination of human/humanoid races, then weaponised neomorph spores are way more effective/devastating than Xenomorph eggs. Ideally Juggernaut with black goo is even more potent ! If his goal is to design a relatively sophisticated being to hunt down reasonnable number of humans which can somehow defend themselves, then Xenomorph is a better weapon.

Add A Comment
Sign In Required
Sign in using your Scified Account to access this feature!
Email
Password
Visitor Comments
Latest Images
Community Stats
This Alien Movie Universe community is part of the Scified network. Scified hosts a network of online fan-site communities containing 405,846 posts by 48,223 members (7 are online now). The Alien: Earth Series Forum is the most recently active forum. The latest Forum topic added was: New Alien: Earth plot details revealed by The Hollywood Reporter
VIPWhat are VIP?AdminModeratorSpecial TitleMember
Alien & Predator Alien & Predator Fandom
Latest Features
Alien: Romulus Spoilers Updated 2024-08-18 08:33:57
Alien: Romulus Movie Trailers Updated 2024-07-18 11:51:15
Get Tickets for Alien: Romulus! Updated 2024-07-11 12:11:21
Everything we know about Alien: Romulus Updated 2024-06-15 10:35:44
Alien Movie Universe Forums
Alien: Earth Series
Alien: Earth Series Discuss the Alien FX TV series here!
Alien: Covenant
Alien: Covenant Discuss the Prometheus Sequel, Alien: Covenant
Prometheus Fan Art
Prometheus Fan Art Artwork & Fiction From the Fans
Alien: Romulus
Alien: Romulus Discuss the new Fede Alvarez Alien movie here
Alien
Alien Discuss all things Alien here
Prometheus
Prometheus Everything About Prometheus
Alien Movies
Alien Movies Discuss the Classic Alien Films
Alien Games
Alien Games Discuss Alien games here
Alien 5 Movie
Alien 5 Movie Discuss Neill Blomkamps’s vision for Alien 5 here
Hot Forum Topics
New Forum Topics
Highest Forum Ranks Unlocked
ninXeno426
ninXeno426 » Praetorian
62% To Next Rank
Thoughts_Dreams
Thoughts_Dreams » Neomorph
87% To Next Rank
Neomorph
Neomorph » Chestburster
90% To Next Rank
damiendada
damiendada » Ovomorph
64% To Next Rank
NCC 1701
NCC 1701 » Ovomorph
42% To Next Rank
Latest Alien Fandom Activity

This website provides the latest information, news, rumors and scoops on the Alien: Romulus movie and Alien TV series for FX! Get the latest news on the Alien prequels, sequels, spin-offs and more. Alien movie, game and TV series news is provided and maintained by fans of the Alien film franchise. This site is not affiliated with 20th Century Studios, FX, Hulu, Disney or any of their respective owners.

© 2024 Scified.com
Sign in
Use your Scified Account to sign in


Log in to view your personalized notifications across Scified!

Transport To Communities
Alien Hosted Community
Cloverfield Hosted Community
Godzilla Hosted Community
Jurassic World Hosted Community
Predator Hosted Community
Aliens vs. Predator Hosted Community
Latest Activity
Forums
Search Scified
Trending Articles
Blogs & Editorials
Featured Forum Discussions
Forums & Community
Sci-Fi Movies
Help & Info