Why the Engineers wanted to exterminate humans.

you think this guy was THE ORIGINAL "PROMETHEUS" and that he's maybe 'helped some race, with 'fire'' that wasn't necessarily Human (on another world) and he was sentenced to be REBORN (supposedly on the primordial Earth) again and again, liver-like, for his sins? Earth as Purgatory for HIM? Nice.

my thoughts exactly... but how could we explain the cave drawings through the centuries? why did they wait that long to kill humans then? in lieu of the drawings, it might mean that they visited the humans first, took care of them. then some evil engineer wanted to stop it for some reason. i dunno.

After seeing the film it seems that the treatment of shaw by her fellow humans had something to do with engineers quick judgment.

Originally the film was to be named Paradise and the ship Magellan. Anyway you might want to check out some explanation here: http://www.prometheus-movie.com/community/forums/topic/7109

I wondered to, if those cells were meant to happen or accidental after the first engineer drunk his death. the cave paintings and other art do suggest they were at least often among us (what would explain many different old religions and mythology) but nowhere, i see anything about an engineer that wants to stop anything, where do you see that?

All the questions which were unanswered in this movies should be answered by RS in Prometheus 2...

Possible the Engineers needed time to perfect their weapons, but when the weapins turned against them- as alluded to in the movie- it gave the human race another 2000 years to evolve. The Engineer in the cryo chamber must have been in a bit of shock to see humans at his weapons base when the last thing he remembers were some less knowledgeable peoples from centuries ago.

A character in he movie specifically states that the weapons are on a ship o be sent to Earth. It's the basic idea that the entire movie focuses around that is revealed as the plot progresses.

You're not going to get but so many answers.......are we ever going to learn why Vickers and her Father are emotionally estranged? Nope....but it does go a long way in explaining why she's so emotionally remote from the rest of the characters.....along with why she's jealous of David. As far as the Engineers are concerned, it would be madness to dot every i and cross every t in explaining their motivations. To do that, would be to leave audience members with nothing left to talk about after they leave the theater.......ruminating on unwritten possibilities and implications is, after all, one of the main hallmarks of any sci-fi classic.

Obviously the engineers from the lab were purchase by something. One of the mummies had the chest explosed from inside... They should have been contamined by here weapon. WHY : It could maybe be a reason... In this lab, they discover that monsters from human+facehugger was a real danger for them too. OTHER WAY : It could be the cause! They create monster who could spawn from human to exterminate them. REASON: The cave painting was not an inviation but a explain from origins. Not paint bey the engineers, but by tribal population of first century... Maybe engineers don't like to see his pet creation become too strong, building ships.. The last engeneer from the lab really don't like to see humans on his base. (sorry for my english..)

@ Nat yes a character states that, but he can still be right or wrong.

When that engineer entered cryostasis, he and his pals were setting out to wipe the entire human race from the face of the Earth. In spite of the fact that 2000 years have passed, it was [i]yesterday[/i] from his POV. Is it really the least bit surprising that he kills the humans who just woke him up on his own ship?

He seems to anderstand what they want ... and is very angry about that. Don't you think? Yes for 2000 years ago, it was first century, humans had not building ships... But they had still evoluate,... maybe too mutch for engineers. We could have some answers in next episode ;)

But according to David "Sometimes you destroy in order to must-create"...Maybe they want to start (a new project of the genesis)...but they changed their minds for 2000 years...Maybe an Engineer loved the "humanity" and fight for their freedom (Jesus or Prometheus). Another thought is that the black goo is designed to accelerate the evolution...then maybe they wanted to change us and not destroy us. Here is an interesting interview where Ridley Scott says something about this: [url=http://www.t3.com/features/ridley-scott-reveals-prometheus-secrets-to-t3]Your text to link here...[/url]

@artyoh. The direction is correct, about Weyland and Vickers. I wouldn't focus on all the Xenomorph/bioweapon stuff too. I guess the whole Idea of the movie is mirrored in Weyland-Vickers-David triangle. All the hollywody-bloody-acid-massacre-action things are just for entertainment.

I took it like this: They mention that it may be a military outpost planet. What if they created humans(The first 15 minutes of the film) just so they can test their bio weapons on us. It makes a lot more sense throughout the film. If the engineers had spread to different planets it seems reasonable tthat they will have different governments like we do on earth now. So when they develop weapons they would want to test it on humans. Just like we test things on chimps. We consider them beneath us. at least thats how i take it

@Shambhala Well...if it would be an evoltion accelerator, then the creature borned by Shaw should be better, then she is. What we saw looks like a prehistoric creature, which means it can an "evolution reverser". Anyway, we've seen what happens when this stuff goes inside human's stomach with liquid.....it leads to our end.

This is what I think (link to my post: http://www.prometheus-movie.com/community/forums/topic/7102) - There may be two types of Engineers. One that we saw at the beginning of the movie arriving in the saucer type ship (I’m calling them the ‘Creator Engineers’) and the others that were found on the planet Prometheus flew too (the ‘Killer Engineers’ ) - I think that the Engineers were having a civil war and the Creator Engineers were losing the war. They needed “soldiers” and therefore created life on earth and left directions to the planet where the Killer Engineers were creating their weapons (black goo). The reason the directions from the images found by Shaw led to this planet, could be due to the planet being the source for the black goo, and the Creator Engineers wanted their soldiers (i.e. humans) to destroy it all. - When the sleeping engineer was awoken by David, he thought that the “soldiers” had arrived to kill/stop them and went about killing the threat. And the reason he wanted to take the ship to earth was to eliminate (or use humans to breed xenomorphs using the goo, for their own purposes) the army the Creator Engineers had created.

Interesting but... I had a crack at it too.... After seeing the Prometheus (Part One) last night and reading a few theories from my fellow story lovers, here's my attempt at a possible explanation/evolution of the tale being told. This story is about creations destroying their creators. Let dive in... In the first scene the 'Engineer' is seen to commit suicide to create life on Earth. Simple? Im not sure. I think he has been delivered to Earth by a third race (the Gods) to act as a devotee/sacrifice and give himself to create life, for his creator/God. Not a great stretch, given the ship seen in the sky during this introduction is of an aesthetically pleasing design (ovoid/egg-like/life-bearing) not the hellish 'Devil's Horned' design we see later.  Design usually speak volumes about a civilization the kind of entities therein... And in this case the Gods are represented as life-giving, well-natured, enlightened, thus curvy ships. These 'Gods' have, in Earths distance past (up to 35,000 years), pointed to a LV233 and said "come when you are ready"... an invitation to enlightenment, instruction or possible 'transcendence'. Little do they realize that by the time Earth's offspring are ready, things have gone to hell on LV233 with another of there 'children' the Engineers (a devolution if you will).  Like all spoilt children, the Engineers have revolted against their parents and have overthrown/destroyed them using what powers/technologies they have been granted or which they have developed. Perhaps the 'black goo' is a weapon evolved from the original 'Earth-seed'. They may have done this out of spite. Spite for being used as sacrifices. Spite for being overlooked. Or possibly they have simple outgrown there parents. "who wouldn't want to kills their parents" (sic). Whatever the reason, the Engineers destroy their makers and install themselves as the New Gods. They erect idols to themselves and convince themselves that they are Devine, invincible and almighty. Having destroyed their own makers, the Engineers realize that offspring/subordinate lifeforms can come back to overthrow you, they decide to destroy the humanity, whom they were in part, responsible for creating. They know the atrocities we are capable of, they know we have almost unlimited power (we have now created David). They have been watching humans grows in faulting leaps and bounds during their visitations with their masters and they do not like what they see. They also know that eventually humanity will find out what they have done and might serve interstellar justice. But, within the Engineers there are factions and it is but one faction that wishes to eradicate humanity. And thus the infighting begins, resulting in the use of the 'Earth-seed' bio-weapon technology being released by the non-warrior (human-loving) faction on the warrior faction hell bent of destroying humanity. Thus the eradication of all 'Engineers' on LV233 (except for one that made it to the sleep chamber - think Ripley in Alien). When the last surviving Engineer is woken by David and they converse in private, we know David is given enough information to know the direction of another home world, but what else? Does David reinforce what the Engineer already knows, that humanity is dangerous? Does David, in fact, want to kill his maker? Whatever is said then and later when the team is there, we know the Engineer decides to carry out his original protocol and try and destroy the humans and return and finish the job on Earth. If this entire story is about the created destroying the creator, then it is highly likely that David may well be on a hell-bent mission to wipe out all Gods that have gone before him and instigate a pure zen-robotic evolution of higher beings, without emotion, without death and seeking pure knowledge of all that has been and will be.

@artyoh Isn't that what we're doing now though? haha Nobody is answering questions. I merely discussing the movie afterward. I have a feeling that the cryostasis for 2000 years was an accident and that when the Engineer woke up he had a reaction similar to, "FUCK I OVERSLEPT," upon seeing the humans awakening him, that's why he reacted so violently. When the shit hit the fan and all the Engineers began fleeing for their lives from their weapons which had turned against them 2000 years prior there was nobody around to wake up the Engineer in Cryostasis or to set the ship on its course.