the deacon must be huge.

Based on what we know, HUGE. However, the diet is scarce...

Hmm, imagine a colossal xeno hunting down the protagonist, t-rex style... More terrifying than horrifying.

maybe he'll grow tentacles like his dad Cuddles. Maybe he'll always be bald like his mom Bob. Maybe he won't grow any taller, maybe he will...

Has there been much speculation on why it's called a deacon? It's an interesting name. Is it a messenger or runner of some sort? Or maybe he's going off to start a church... lol

Actually, that scene really bothered me in the movie. In my opinion the Deacon is far too big to even remotely fit into the Engineer's chest or its upper torso. Unless of course it started growing instantly and rapidy during in the process of bursting out. Anyone else noticed this?

Hal: I remember there were fade ins and outs during that scene, which suggest time lapses. So, he probabily got bigger once outside.

I think I know what you mean David. But still, I don't think it was obvious enough or came across very well. It was rushed like so many other things in the movie. Oh well, next time better, eh? ;)

hopefully...

Yep, keeping all tentacles crossed here.

i was wondering if he would get more biomechanical as he got older. like how a chest burster is flesh colored and relatively smooth and then gets all "tubey" as an adult. does he also change color... maybe like the chest burster goes pale to dark with age... maybe the deacon goes dark to pale to resemble the color of cuddles or the engineer. and lastly, will he bulk up like a jockey at all or stay thin and become very tall and gangly. and a tail... please grow some sort of tail...even if it is fairly small.

@Patient Leech: http://www.movies.com/movie-news/prometheus-glossary/8313

I think Paradise will show us more but in a more tangential manner rather than being part of a central plot. As per RS: ALiens are not scaring anymore, they have been over exposed.

Maybe, as the deacon's body undergoes the aging process, it will physically change and lose the pointy dome and maybe resemble a more humanoid side, in a terrifyingly distant way

Suppose that the black goo did mutate Holloway's sperm cells, and then goes on to inject some DNA inside Shaw to make her non-sterile by breaking down and rewriting the eggs to create new life. Rewriting an egg based on the genetics that were in the goo; rewriting it based on the sperm side of things by injecting DNA into the dead egg and morphing/rewriting it. Rewriting it towards the sperm/goo side of things. Towards the male side of things. I believe this is totally connected to the Engineers being all males, so far, in a thematic way. As well as kings inevitably dying and the line of succession. There may also be some escaping from male patriarchy themes in there behind Weyland's preference of David. And trust in him possibly being misplaced. Making him the ideal son, but also basing him on Vicker's appearance. The closest thing to a "son" he always wanted. And it may be connected to the fact the Engineers may have been engineered away from female genetics. Increasing their "maleness" by taking estrogen, and other hormones out. Traits that originally develop for both sexes, but differentiate later, altering them to develop beneath the surface (lack of genitals, lack of nipples) or be non-existant. While still having some way of maximizing testosterone and male hormones. Genetically engineering themselves to maximize "maleness" through use of modify the way the body produces testosterone and growth hormones, while taking estrogen and nipples etc. completely out of the equation (human males still have estrogen but don't depend on it as females do). Which is part of the size difference between us and the Engineers, and why they all come out as perfect subjects, who were likely used as a servant class originally. If you get what I'm saying then it'll be a little clearer to see why the Deacon will be a lot bigger than what we've seen so far. The morphing based life-cycle and even parts of the face-hugger method are, in the aliens case, male forms of reproduction within a species that is dominated the female side of things, but contains both sides. It could be a sexual dimorphism thing on top of it being birthed out of the much taller, much more male, Engineers. This thing will be incredibly enormous when full grown, possibly tentacled and chaotic, and bigger than a Queen... It's kind of about how the face-hugger, or our Trilobite-hugger, injects its DNA into the impregnated creature in a way that is distinctly male in the imagery. At the same time subtly containing female-looking parts (the facehugger mouth looks like a vagina, and the trilobites mouth having teeth consuming the male Engineer, before sticking him, is almost the start of a reversal of the male-face rape theme). Then, the trilobite uses part of the male side of the genetics... and injects its seed down the throat of the male victim. The different stages of the life cycle contain imagery from different sexual organs in them. The way the facehugger operates is almost in a male like like way even though it contains the genetics for the species as a whole. Later on we're given the impression that there is a slight differentiation in the types of aliens forming a class system, with a Queen at the head of this system. The lower classes of aliens still contain the genetics to be able to become a queen or other things eventually, but it is switched off when the queen eventually arises. The ability for other queens to be produced is suppressed in the genetics, possibly by pheromones, some other signal etc. I also believe the expression of the morphing-like life cycle seen in the first Alien is switched off when a queen/hive inevitably arises. The male form of the reproductive system, under certain conditions when a hive must be created, and the genetics has to also partially rely on the male form of reproduction that plants a seed. A seed that morphs and shapes the organic material into an embryo. When the hidden male side of the genetics is allowed to express itself the hive is more chaotic. The male side usually blended into the shape of the head and the skulls of the drones that become warriors. When it's allowed to express itself fully a more chaotic form of hive-building ensues. Thus, the female side eventually takes over and suppresses the male side. The drones/lower classes are basically sexless/the same at first, but have the genetics and capability to do the things other parts of the life cycle do trapped withing them... Suppressed by the genetics of the Queen who arises to run an ordered, safer, more logical hive that has to remain stationary, but pumps out many eggs in a safe way while being protected by the lower classes that have developed into her servants after the male genetics are long dead/suppressed. Because they only need it in the face-hugger stages, and pre-trilobite stage in Prometheus, and for starting hives under certain conditions. Here in Prometheus there are no Queens present yet to suppress/rule over the lower classes. "A king has his reign and then he dies... it's inevitable" The Deacon could get pretty big, but may also go on to preach and serve, as well as spread the genetics/message of the religious doctrine of a King. Before a Queen arises. An enormous monster we've never seen before that continues to tell us more about how the eggs actually got there... and continues its rule for a short time in parallel to the original films.

It needs to grow a tail and some tubules or at least something biomechanical cause it be looking like a dinosaurus

@Patient Leech; Ridley named it "Deacon" because of the conical head was shaped like a Deacon's hat. Simple as that really.

I can't wait to see what the deacon may look like.

For a long time (before Prometheus) I wondered what would to be the Xeno born from a SJ? I personally hope a big monster.

LOL besides the facehugger in this new cycle of life was huge too :D

yes, it was quite large and disgusting! i for one, wanted to shove a grenade in that thing's creepy mouth, or a pipe bomb.... or a stick of dynamite. >:)

haha yeah, that Bodyhugger is definitely made for Colonial Marines game. =D

How do you know the deacon is not already full grown....

no one said they did know for sure :) we are all just coming up with theories.

The Deacon alien was only there so that people could say, "Hey look, guys, an alien!" LAME! It would have been much more tasteful to just show a hole in the Engineer's chest and maybe indirectly show that the alien got on board the other Juggernaut with Shaw.

how is that more tasteful? that is the same thing they did in alien and aliens, both ideas seem the same to me.

I'm referring to the Deacon emerging and the cut to black at the end of the movie. This is different from Alien and Aliens because Shaw wouldn't actually kill the alien; the movie would only imply that it followed her. Actually, the scene was very similar to the end of AvP and it was only there as a "thanks for your money, now wait for the sequel" kind of a shot. It would have been more tasteful because it would have left the ending open to interpretation and would have created more anticipation to see what the creature looked like. As it stands, we have the Deacon alien stranded on LV-223 while Shaw is flying off elsewhere. The Deacon has no consequence on the story or the sequel.

@Svanya Maybe, but Deacons' hats differ depending on the religion they serve. The etymology of the word "Deacon", is very interesting. One can read about it [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deacon]here[/url]. Maybe the Xenos, serve as a service to a religion, they incarnate the demons from hell maybe, because the metaphorical meaning of hell and its demons and sinful people is not enough? A punishment from a higher intelligence to the unfaithful?

That would only make sense if anyone in the movie would actually call it a "Deacon". It probably only refers to the design and nothing else. On second thought, they have to call it that because other names like "Newborn" are already taken.