Xenomorph - overrated as a weapon?

yes expecially if you imagine them chasing butterflies to erase all the life from a planet ... but are more scary than a biobomb :p

More of a dooms day weapon really. If used on a planet colonized by an enemy nation it would serve it's purpose to destroy everyone on it. But it would make the planet uninhabitable. However there are people who think they can control anything.

Well looking at Alien 4 it was proved that you can't keep a good Alien down. Like any sentient life form they will learn to overcome and adapt. I think the company had interest in the bio side of the beast. DNA and not actually trying to tame it but to use its DNA like in Alien 4 to create the superhuman/Xeno like Ripley. Image an soldier that is capable of self-healing, acid for blood, super human speed and strength - the ultimate fighting machine or worker. Endless possibilities and applications.

This has occurred to me as well. They're dangerous, especially with their fast breeding, but far from indestructible as [b]Aliens[/b] showed. If present-day Earth were to be seeded with eggs, for example, it would be a major crisis but probably wouldn't result in the human race being wiped out. Countermeasures would quickly be developed and an organized search-and-destroy hunt for breeding sites would be launched. An intelligent species with advanced technology and global-scale organization would be able to wipe out the infestation eventually. Also, they have the Achilles heel that they can't reproduce in large numbers without killing equally large numbers of people (or large animals), which would give away the location of the breeding sites. Is there any hard evidence from the films to support the idea that the xenomorphs are an artificial species at all? They're perfectly plausible as a product of normal evolution. Caterpillar wasps on Earth reproduce in a similar way, and I think even helped inspire the original xenomorph concept. Evolution on another planet could perfectly well produce a species like that, but big enough to prey on human-sized hosts. The original Space Jockey ship could simply have gotten unlucky and picked one up, rather than intentionally transporting them.

As a smart weapon the xenomorph has a simple program. Build a nest and reproduce by killing the "enemy." The xenomorph wins when the opponent is not prepared to deal with it. If you know what you are dealing with going in it is not too hard to control. Just don't put yourself into a position to be impregnated. Use industrial robots to handle the eggs in a secure facility. Maybe overrated as a weapon but just think of the posabilities as a space explorer. Imagine a xenomorph/human hybrid like the Ripley of Alien 4. An explorer who can stand the cold and vacuum of space and the heat of direct flame.

Just because of the fact that the xeno's are "customizable" depending on the species they use as hosts for gestation makes them extremely powerful weapons. Plus their numbers are relatively controllable as they only seem able to use one host per gestation. Then add in technology and their potential to be controlled or at least exterminated once a job has been completed helps dramatically towards the use of these creatures as a weapon. I believe this would only be the tip of the iceberg with this potential as well. Were this not a fictional species I'm betting there would be all sorts of possible and potential uses.

I think as a 'shock and awe' type weapon for creating chaos in enemy camps they would work well, until the enemy realized what was happening, and killed them all. Humans have shown a remarkable ability to exterminate or severely reduce the population of most animals all over the planet, even the dangerous ones. I think dopelganger has it right though, they would be invaluable in terms of grafting their DNA with humans to creat supersoldiers.

The whole "use the aliens as weapons thing" is the weakest part of the story for me. For many reasons (some already listed), they would be a terrible weapon, making, as I've said elsewhere, the company both evil and stupid. Just what are you going to do? Drop a few eggs in enemy territory? After the first few chestburstings (if it even gets that far), the gig is up. We know from Alien you may not even get a queen so you have a few xenos running around. The word is out and the xenos are killed by simple pulse rifles. That is the good scenario, one in which you actually have some control over them. No. Weak addition to the story.

Of course, if you could sneak a few onto an enemy starship. Hmmmm....

I agree with "dallas!dallas!." It is a weak link in the story. I hope that the story-line that the xenomorph could be used to destory worlds isn't a part of Prometheus. In a situation like the 1979 Alien, they are extremely dangerous, but the idea that they could wipe out an entire planet filled with highly intelligent beings (like Earth) is very far-fetched. It is also interesting to think about this creatures in terms of evolutionary biology. They essentially kill off the means to reproduce themselves. So, in a way the xenomorph is its own worst enemy.

I'd say NO WAY! there are a few movie creatures/scenarios that still truly send a chill up my spine. Seriously, earthquakes, tornadoes, tsunamis.....I'd take em all at once before I let you lock my ass on board a spaceship with only flame units and basic tools. USCM did'nt fair very well and that was an armed and trained, undermanned platoon. Ash said it best "you have my sympathies"

Creed: [i]It is also interesting to think about this creatures in terms of evolutionary biology. They essentially kill off the means to reproduce themselves. So, in a way the xenomorph is its own worst enemy[/i]. In a "normal" environment, yes, but if the environment of the planet where they evolved includes prey species that breed equally fast -- and other predators that kill off most xenomorphs before they can reproduce -- then such a reproductive pattern could evolve and become sustainable. That planet must be one hellish place. It would be interesting to see what other kinds of things live there.

As an engineered species they would be a perfect weapon. The only thing missing is a post infestation eradication method so you can scoop up the eggs for the next invasion. Even if it didn't wipe out the indigenous sentient race, the havoc it wrought would most likely leave them easy pickings. If the host race stopped the infestation with no problem, then they just move on and all they lost was a few eggs.

When we split atoms, we weren't really sure what would happen. When the world's largest molecular collider was brought online, people said it would destroy the planet. Cloning, genetic manipulation, or even something so simple as using electricity in your home was once a terrifying idea. No one was sure how these things would pan out. But we still did it. There have been plenty of screw ups in the long history of taking chances too. But if a company or government thought there was even a slim chance of controlling whatever they unleashed onto this planet, they would take the chance if the outcome was of high enough importance.

From an evolutionary POV, the Xenomorph isn't a viable organism. It needs hosts to reproduce, which it immediately kills. In it's original incarnation (Alien) it can reproduce quickly, but has a short lifespan. So it would die out too quickly to catch more hosts. It would have a difficult time living on ot's own. However, such a creature makes an ideal weapon. Drop some eggs Oma population and come back in a few months. Both populations would have died out. Hence the original Xenomorph must have been an Engineered race. The Cameron Aliens are more viable as a species because they nest and hibernate. As a weapon, they are harder to deal with because of you now have to deploy Queen eggs strategically. In addition, once you left the Xenos to do their thing, you return to a planet full of Xeno colonies. As an Engineered weapon, you would need to have some way to extermination them with an Engineered toxin or control their queens through Engineered mind control.

Remember, it doesn't have to make sense to our way of thinking. Just because the SJs may be more advance than us, doesn't mean they think along the same lines of logic. There is more than one way to the same goal. Using the Xenomorph could be their nuke.