The Origins of the Space Jockey Race

i have the following theories/ideas on the SJs -The large seat the SJ is sitting in is a telescope launcher that is designed to fire the xenomorph eggs/black ooze to anywhere in the galaxy. -the reasons for this are: the company were trying to take away the xenomorph/black ooze (fire in the Prometheus mythology), and so this was to be their punishment. -the SJs are either creators of the human race, or what is left of the creators (since themes of world building are very prominent in the alien franchise, why not race building?) that is why there are large human face statues (possibly a blue print or the original creator) -I think the SJs or engineers, are called so because they engineered the human race, and have also created something else that would turn into the xenomorph. -They are definatly the 'ancient astronaut' seen at the beginning of the new trailer. -either that or they are big smurfs in fancy suits... and Gargamel is a god.

Robots made the SJ

Well that's an interesting point. Who is The Space Jockey? Myself I prefer the name Engineer. Simple and to the point. The mystery is what makes it so interesting. My theory is that they have mastered the biological ways of creating life. Creating life throughout the universe. However, they don't view others as equals. They are like Gods. Failed Gods. Some kind of event wiped them out. I prefer the mystery. It works out better that way.

@ninjacop I remember very well Ridley said it was a suit. But the space jockey head as seen in picture 3 definitely seems to be an actual head, and not a helmet. And the humanoid/space jockey mutant seen in picture 2 seems definitely to have a human or practically human head, while his arms seems to indicate he IS wearing a SJ suit. Guess we both need a professional detail spotter to be sure:-) RS regarding time travel: my first source was the fake script, so I took the wrong logical route, at least initially. However, in the meantime, I believe RS said something - I think it was one of the interviews - when asked about some scene, I think the one with Shaw and Vickers fleeing from the crashing derelict, but it may have been somewhere else - that they are present at "our beginnings", or some phrase like that, I remember turning it over in my head and thinking how it strongly suggested time travel of some kind - if so, it may be actual Prometheus survivors and/or mutants who start all the Pleiades-related civilizations mentioned in the trailers (I hope not - way too cheesy). I believe the creature in pictures 1 and 2 is either Holloway or Weyland, either mutating into a space jockey or having mutated itno something close enough to a SJ to be able to use SJ technology. I may be totallly wrong. But it's fun to keep guessing...

Maybe the space jockeys are other humanoids summoned this temple in a similar way, only they arrived much sooner and have since been running their own experiments and creating a trap for future spacefarers. Perhaps the ampules acted as depositories of all species on Earth for us to find so to explain our ultimate origin. However, the SJs have been very busy altering the contents of these ampules so to make their contents parasitic. It could well be that the crew get infected by the parasite only to turn into grotesque versions of creatures that currently or once inhabited Earth. Maybe the SJs found the temple and wished to destroy the human race a some time ago, but lacked access to the Star Charts that would point out the location of Earth (and other planets the Engineers seeded). The SJs too may be creations of the Engineers only to wipe out the Engineers upon finding the planet or found the temple already to be long abandoned. Either way as a last minute precaution the Engineers deactivated all their technology including the Star Charts that would point out the location of all the planets seeded. It could be David who reactivates the Star Charts only for the SJs to take this information to accelerate their destruction of Earth: instead of waiting for humans to come and take the biological parasite back with them, they now can deliver it directly and possibly also deliver it to other planets seeded by the original Engineers. edit: The Space Jockeys may have a superiority complex and cannot handle the discovery that they were not the only beings to receive the gift of intelligence. Their motivation to trap the temple and destroy all other seeded creations is to ensure they are the only species remaining with the gift. As I wrote above already, they may have already wiped out the Engineers stationed at the temple and may be hell-bent on destroying their creators as well. Indeed. How would we handle it if human-kind and all life on the Earth was someone else's registered trademark?

My theory Is that SJ were dying so they restored themselfs or theirs dna on those ampules and when the ampules came to contact to another lifeform, It would rewrite the dna of the organism and then would turn the organism to a SJ or a variation of a SJ.

I agree with GhoseCove. I think Space Jockeys are the ultimate scientists of the universe. Their vast knowledge of biology and technology enabled them to seemlessly merge with machines. They spark life on planets across the universe and monitor the progress of civilizations until said civilizations are advanced enough to decypher the 'invitation'. Upon which they wipe them out and the process starts all over again. Space Jockeys do it for research. I also think they treat humans like test subjects, we're the lab rats and we're not allowed to have their technology. If we even try to take it, all hell will break loose.

Perhaps it is just me, but it seems only the last of the photos above show a true space jockey. In the first two, the body seems similar enough, but the head appears too humanoid - no sign of proboscis or altered skull shape. By the look of the legs, the humanoid is the same one who threatens Shaw in one trailer scene; apparently, someone (Holloway? David? Weyland?) is either turning into a sj or turning into one to a sufficient extent to be able to use their technology. If we could guess correctly which of the two is the case, it may help crack the sj mystery too. The first case (entirely turning into a sj) would have quite different implications than turning into a hybrid of human or android with sj. I remember Ridley once talked about how, on the Alien set, everybody felt the space jockey creature there was benevolent. Yet he has also stated that the derelict ship was a bomber. These two do not seem to mesh together. The sj there appears to have been chestburst, which is another apparent contradiction. Tough cookie to crack. It is also possible that different sjs have different ideas about other species. Imagine you were a whale: what would you think of humans? The human race contains both Captain Ahab and Greenpeace, does it not? It will also be interesting to see how the time travel bit plays itself out. The idea that life may have come to Earth from somewhere else is long-standing (the so-called panspermia theory). I've never liked it simply because it does not solve the problem, only pushes it one floor further away (life still had to start somewhere, so the same questions remain, only the setting is changed. One of the big questions in biology is whether life is ubiquitous throughout the universe (in which case it would be an inherent property of the universe itself, weird but not needing special explanation), or rare/unique. If it turns out rare (have to wait for Mars probe result or even further than that), then it becomes almost too improbable. In that case, Scott's ideas about time travel and advanced races tinkering with the past becomes very interesting, even though mind-boggling. Why aren't they all around us, if they can time travel? Why is their world (in Prometheus) either dead or dormant? In cosmology, there is now much discussion of the possibility that the big bang was preceded by a big crunch (which had been preceded by yet another big bang etc.). If this is so, then life may have been created by advanced races of the universe's previous cycle, and then somehow pushed through the big crunch and the big bang in order to leave something behind those races in the next cycle of the universe (and perhaps eventually recreate themselves, if they were so inclined). Perhaps the sjs were around before the big bang, and then pushed an ark-like thingy - such as the dead planet in Prometheus - through the big crunch and the big bang in order to seed the new universe with life, and then...either recreate themselves by altering newly evolved species, or, when the time is right, wake up...

In the pics above, only the third photo appears to show a SJ; the creature in the first two looks close enough to a sj in body shape, but its head is way too humanoid, with no sign either of proboscis or the altered skull shape; in fact, the creature in the first two photos looks like a mutated human or android (probably the same creature who threatens Shaw in one trailer scene) who is now close enough to being a SJ to be able to use their technology (leaving it open if he eventually fuly turns into a SJ, or if the creature in photo no.3 is an actual SJ). Scott mentioned time travel in relation to SJs; but, in that case, why are they not all over the place (and times)? Their planet is either dead or dormant. One possibility: in cosmology, it is currently in vogue to consider that the big bang may have been preceded by a big crunch. Perhaps the SJs were there in the universe's prevous cycle, and then, before the big crunch, created an ark-like place which they somehow pushed unscathed through the big crunch and the big bang in order to re-seed the universe with life (Ridley mentioned being fascinated by the vast improbability of life evolving in the first place), and then, when the time is ripe, either turn the newly evolved creatures into themselves, or simply...wake up.

@Wirrn You have to remember though that what we've seen as the SJ is a suit. The huge blue thing standing up/crouching we've seen in the trailers is probably the SJ in the suit. We also see the creature in the first pic walking across the map room towards David, and in comparison is huge. -When has RS mentioned time travel, don't think ive read anything about that?. but he has gone onto say that the SJ is a suit,

It's all a bit confusing for me now to make a reference to a space jockey race since Ridley said that the space jockey is really a suit, so maybe that's all we are referring to , a suit, unless something else rears its head

@ninjacop I'm well aware RS stated it's a suit. But the head in picture 3 certainly looks like an actual head, not a helmet. And the creature in pictures 1 and 2 seems to be wearing a SJ suit (look esp. at arm in picture 2), but the head looks way too humanoid, with no sign eitherof proboscis or SJ skull shape. I believe RS hinted at time travel in one of the interviews, if I recall correctly, he said that the crew are present at our beginnings. This could mean only the SJ planet, but I think he said it in relation to a specific scene, the one with Shaw and Vickers fleeing the crashing derelict, I believe. But I could be totally wrong.

@ninjacop PS I believe the creature in pictures 1 and 2 is a mutated version of either Holloway (remember the "how far are you prepared to go..." dialogue with Shaw) or Weyland (who, in all likelihood, wants to become an immortal god). Both of them would seem to have motivation to try turning themselves into SJs.

@Kast Iron I assume the SJs wait in stasis until their test subjects return home? How would we explain the humans being allowed access to the temple and the ampules? Would this be part of the test? I can't believe the SJs would allow the humans to fiddle around with the ampules if they wished to limit access to their technology. It would have to be a trap of sorts...part of the final stages of their testing or punishment for even trying to steal the technology. Maybe they would be more gracious hosts if simply had not touched their things and simply acted subservient.

@Kast Iron That´s kinda how I see the plot too. Although I think there might be a higher force above the engineers, that we haven´t seen or heard off (and maybe we never will). I see the engineer as the practical worker, not the leader.

@ninjacop I think I found something that strongly suggests the blue guy in photos 1 and 2 is a mutated Holloway. See the link below. I rest my case. http://www.tumblr.com/tagged/space-jockey

I really can´t see any resemblance between Holloway and the blue guy, they have no similar features. How exactly does this suggest anything?

The engineer/blue guy may be a different form of the tadpole/blue tail that is removed from Shaw. I mean, how do you know that instead of a xeno exploding from the chest of the SJ suit, it wasn't just the SJ itself in xeno-like form forcing itself out of a suit that had locked her/it inside?

Photo 2: Top of the SJ chair shows the helmet assembly fixed upright, in an open position. Photo 3: The helmet assembly has lowered and engaged the pilot's head, in the closed position. It's a helmet, not a head.

@MU-TH-R 182 Well, then, how do you explain the extra humanoid blue guy in pictures one and two? Full-blown Space Jockeys, helmet or not, cannot be this humanoid, if simply because this would be way too cheesy. Even Star Trek makes its aliens more removed from human form than that, so just how probable is it that the ultimate alien we've all been waiting to see since 1979 has practically human facial features. Nah, I don't buy it. As the leaked SJ latex mask definitely seems to involde a prominent proboscis, pray explain. Or do you think it was a latex model of the helmet?

@visualizer I did not say Holloway, I said a mutated Holloway partly turned into a SJ. Now maybe it's just my eyesight, but the head shape looks the same, the ears are a little different on the blue guy (more fleshy), and the nose starts bending slightly downwards - as in the beginnings of a hanging proboscis. Try to imagine Holloway's face beginning to morph into a Space Jockey (I believe the image of a latex SJ mask was leaked, don't know if you saw that), but not very far on its way with the transformation (or in its final hybrid shape, if the transformation creates a hybrid and does not eventually fully turn him into a SJ). For the record, the creature(s) seen in the pilot seat room with David DO appear to me to be genuine SJs, proboscis and all. But it will be very hard to convince me that the blue figure in photo 2 is a SJ.

Something tells me that the Blue guy isn't the SJ. I'm wagering that it's a mutated human.

@Ninjacop. Scot stated that it's a suit. But something tells me that it's just not that simple where the SJ is this blue Humanoid figure. To me this would be very disappointing, seeing that in the Alien movie, the SJ seemed to have very defined/detailed features, despite being fossilized. Look at the head in the Alien movie. that doesn't resemble a metallic like dome that we see here. It looks more organic in the first movie. Perhaps it's like a second skin that resembles what the creature actually looks like? I'd hope so.

Something is telling me that Scot isn't letting us know about the SJ features. He knows that we have this desire to know, going back to 1979. He's been pretty tight on the movie.

Perhaps they were created as soldiers to protect the engineers from outside invaders. And at some point, they became self-aware and decided to overthrow their creators. In reference and agreement with other members here, the Space Jockeys set a trap for our group of explorers. What's next is to infect them so that they can destroy their own homeworld. However, since the humans seem to find a way to steal the Gods technology, the Space Jockeys decide to make a run for Earth and seed it with deadly life. Of course, these are points that have been made, yet there are several ways to interpret and add a different take on such cool concepts.

We saw dead SJs lying on floor, there are live SJs walking around. Once we figured out this two conflict scene, then only we think about their origin.

One must consider that the derelict ship in Alien is one of many and that Prometheus may take place at another place and time. I think that the SJs are drones that are programmed to spread the seed of kings throughout the galaxy. Once they discover the location of a new race the has been "invited" to their location, they launch a drone (aka derelict) ship to continue the species.

So what the Nostromo crew thought were bones bent outwards are actually just some kind of automatic seatbelt, and SJ's are more or less humanoids in suits with funny helmets?

The Space Jockeys are an ancient race of exiled intergalactic wayfarers. Yutani records suggest that contact with the Yautja led to all out war. A series of events took place that resulted in the evacuation and destruction of the Space Jockey homeworld. It is believed that in a last ditch effort to end the Yautja conflict, the Space Jockeys used their advanced knowledge of bio-engineering to create a race of more intelligent and highly dangerous Xenomorphs. Once the modified Xenomorphs were unleashed the Space Jockeys found themselves facing a threat much more dire than the trophy hunters. The Space Jockeys managed to deter the Yautja but it would come at a high cost, the price of their homeworld. Facing extinction, the few surviving Space Jockeys took to the stars in search of a new home. They loaded the remants of their once great civilization onto their mightiest space going vessels, and set off in search of a planet rich with resources and bio-diversity capable of sustaining a fresh start. They wouldn't get very far. The Yautja, fearing that the Space Jockeys would again unleash their Xeno plague descended upon them with ferocity. Only one vessel is known to have escaped, the ship known as The Derelict.

The Space Jockeys are an ancient race of exiled intergalactic wayfarers. Yutani records suggest that contact with the Yautja led to all out war. A series of events took place that resulted in the evacuation and destruction of the Space Jockey homeworld. It is believed that in a last ditch effort to end the Yautja conflict, the Space Jockeys used their advanced knowledge of bio-engineering to create a race of more intelligent and highly dangerous Xenomorphs. Once the modified Xenomorphs were unleashed the Space Jockeys found themselves facing a threat much more dire than the trophy hunters. The Space Jockeys managed to deter the Yautja but it would come at a high cost, the price of their homeworld. Facing extinction, the few surviving Space Jockeys took to the stars in search of a new home. They loaded the remants of their once great civilization onto their mightiest space going vessels, and set off in search of a planet rich with resources and bio-diversity. They found such a planet, and began the process of bio and geo-engineering it into a suitable habitat for a fresh start. They wouldn't get very far. The Yautja, fearing that the Space Jockeys would again unleash their Xeno plague descended upon them with ferocity. Only one vessel is known to have escaped, the ship known as The Derelict.

new theory for the plot I thought I'd put out there after reading a few. The space jockeys technology clearly looks like its based on bio technology. The ships look organic and the chair grows into its occupant amongst a few uses of bio technology (not to mention several other bits of evidence in the trailers). There ships also look alot like an alien hive on the inside. Maybe under space jockey control, xenomorphs can be directed to build their hives into space jocky ships and structures. So Aliens are kind of like the SJ slave work force. Secondly maybe the space jockeys are originally evolved from a virus or bacteria (kind of x-files similar plot I know), the black ooze found in the pods in chamber with the big head. This ooze/virus infects other races and mutates them into space jockeys. A race that uses other races like that to reproduce would have no trouble with using other organic life as a kind of resource to build up their spaceships. Plus we know they are old (LV-426 space jocky was fossilised). Bacteria is one of the first forms of life. Imagine how much it could have evolved if we're talking on the cosmic scale with billions of years. So anyways I see it as something kind of like intergalatic farming for them. They leave clues on primitive worlds to wait for the population size to get advanced enough and big enough to reach a dormant SJ ship. The human crew's curiosity leads them to being infected by the SJ virus/DNA and becoming a space jockey themselves. The space jockey goes back to earth to "farm" us like a good alien farmer culling his herd. Some humans are infected to reproduce space jockeys. others are infected by aliens who make more ships under SJ control to spread to other worlds and repeat the process. Other thought that popped into my head. The space jockey suit also looks organic in nature. if the SJ use other species to reproduce and grow their technology maybe one guy gets infected and slowly turned into an organic SJ space suit, while another gets infected and turned into a just a space jockey (the blue head guy in the trailer), hence some differences seen in the clips of mutated crew members. Thoughts and opinions on this would be muchly appreciated fellow film geeks.