Xenomorph - Are they... Gods?

I think it more likely that the xenos are just a part of the engineer's religion, perhaps as antagonists, or perhaps as terrifying creations/ weapons. I forget where I read it on the website, but someone else thought of that mural being like how we put drawings of lions or eagles on our own uniforms and symbols. We don't worship lions, this person said, but we admire them (for their strength). The xeno might even have been a "demon out of their religion/ mythology". Maybe the engineers' gods, or "angels", fought a war with them in the past or they are seen as punishers the gods could send again.

I see it more as a Brahma, Visnu, and Shiva thing. There is a monotheistic god who projects avatars to execute reality. The 1st three and Creation, Preservation, and Destruction. The engineers in Prometheus were the destroyers or the Shivites. The engineer in the beginning is a Brahman is a creator but to create he must be destoryed first. Each are only expressions of a higher power ad infinite um, if it is a movie about god the god question will remain unanswered. The xenomorphs are just weapons one possible permutation of the weapons grade terotogen (monster creator) in the tanks. It doesn't matter what the goo creates per se it just matters that it is an ass kicking machine that will punish wayward proto-human civilizations. So if Jesus was a engineer and we killed him and got the ax these guys were the ax men and the xeno morphs are the ax. My other thought is just that the captain engineer just went bat shit crazy and killed his crew and decided to take us along for the ride. Either way just like the new Star Wars movies ending with the rise of Vader I think the Elizabeth will be the pilot of the crashed ship on LV426 and so, the mother of Ripley's monsters.

I think any kind of 'spititual stroryline' will be fruitless...because there is always one more curtain to look behind,,,and reveal a 'Wizard' manipulating the events in the Prometheus universe(I know some site members object to this term) Seeing the beings/entities as 'Gods' is just our puny himan mind trying to understand the development of more advanced civilizations. To humans from the 15th century .... seeing a light bulb in use for the first time by us using a light switch... would make me seem 'Godlike' to our ancesters..but as all site members know I am closer to the worms seen in the early part of the movie.

the ampule room is not a sanctuary, but rather served as a prophecy center, oracle,and mythological link with the Orpheus head is clearly and likely for me. The big head keeps a prophetic gift, and those changing murals represents the future or past. The xenomorph crucified represents only evil, something satanic, it is a warning to them.

I think if anything, the Engineers would worship their "Purity" as Ash stated in [i]ALIEN[/i]. It's the perfect Organism. As close to imortal as you can get. I think if anything, the Engineers wanted to replicate their purity and fuse it with their own DNA in hopes of creating a higher species, one that could potentially - live forever.

Chris@; not only engineers were holding narcissists habits as you wrote, watching the disembodied head, located in the center of ampule room with kanopika vessels, gives us one perceptible idea their religion symbol, the conception of themselves as the only true image of God, but also they were plotting to destroy the human race, to the delight of many agnostics, those metaphysical answers offered by the film are rather dreadful.

Loving that idea Chris! I think there's a few things that have been broken down and fused-- i.e. hybridized in the film already. Not only things, but unused concepts, themes from the series, and ideas from the earlier drafts of Alien being combined with new ideas, concepts, and themes in a slightly familiar form. Destroying/Dethroning AVP in the process, replacing its head, and giving us something new from the broken down elements of the Alien series and the addition of new elements (the black goo, Engineers as ancient astronauts). Something that can live on and have a long-lasting effect, eventually leading the series onwards in the future; and having the capacity for many ways for this to be followed. Ridley said it himself the Alien was as good as dead, it wasn't scary anymore, it was a disneyland attraction. It too had to be destroyed, hybridized, and re-created in a similar way to live on, for the Deacon to be included in Prometheus. It's not really about the Alien losing its scariness, it was a failure to lead the series effectively and treat the themes and the monster the right way in the AVP movies and even Resurrection. Peter Weyland had this problem at the end of his reign... Vickers felt he was a fool for being on such a mission, and so should David if he's thinking logically about all the bio-weapons and proof they were "mortal after all"... To some, Prometheus may have been perceived as an odd choice to lead the series with, some felt a lack of trust and a loss in leadership because of how Prometheus chose to not answer all the questions or to not even answer the ones it does directly or clearly. It may actually be just the "small beginning" to something much larger. The small beginning to David's adventures with the Engineers/Elders. In the actual film there's a loss of leadership that goes on within the company when Weyland dies. It's all about the actual leadership, the head, and ties into how Fifield loses control. His head is morphed and misshapen, his brain loses control to the alien mutation, and the exploding head stuff could tie into this... The only way to move forward and re-create the series was to break it down to its elements and start from the very beginning (not directly before the events of Alien yet) by combining it with the new/unused elements from earlier drafts of scripts. There's a lot of combination of ideas going on, even the way the goo works is very similar. This "hybridization to create something new by breaking down old elements to their roots and recombining them with new (unseen/or unused) elements" idea could become central. The idea to re-create the original image, upgrade it, and allow it/them to live on could be a major theme in the way the series develops. "Sometimes to create one must first destroy" what came before, or you may even have to break down the Alien genetics to attempt to harness the medical benefits. Something the Weyland-Yutani corp of the future really wasn't interested in but said they were. Here Weyland wanted the immortality, he wasn't really after the bio-weapon yet... we had David experimenting with the bio-weapon as almost a side-directive... So where does the company's obsession with using the Alien genetics as a bio-weapon now come from? I believe the answer comes somehow from whatever info David provides them... They had to replace AVP as leader of the series, it had to be a new start to the series, and that's almost all that mattered for now. Ridley/Fox/Lindelof also didn't mind that their tricks hurt... Even the way Shaw is a mixture of faith and science, and David is an instrument of science who understands emotion, ties into this hybridization theme I believe. The awakened Engineer seemed bio-mechanical, but the Sacrificial engineer didn't seem to be modified in any way. Maybe they kept having mishaps while trying to harness the regenerative benefits of the Alien/Hammerpede genetics (it regrows its head); and going bio-mechanical was only a "bridge and not an end" to their own quest for immortality. Ridley may want to become immortal too, in a way, with what he plans to do with the Alien series and the legacy/example he'll leave behind for Fox to continue following up on. But he can't show that his tricks hurt sales a little bit because it's a manipulation to give us certain expectations for the sequel. Like David, the Alien series was immortal and fans would always come out to support it in some way. The simple fact that this was a new sci-fi by Ridley, loosely connected to the Alien series contributed to its success. Like David they had a certain degree of certainty that they may survive to continue on... So plans were formed way ahead of time and altered or mutated along the way... Despite all its flaws and supposed flaws the quality of the film itself helped get the sequel greenlit too (although I'll admit some of the choppy editing and rushed nature may have initially not been part of the themes.. but conveniently now ties in with where the story can go). Even the subtle manipulation during the viral/ad campaign and run up to the film can be seen as a new form of art that's tied into the themes within the movie and Weyland's/David's manipulation of the crew. Leaving us in the dark and leaderless, in a state of slight distrust now towards things they promise... Forced to find our own answers or to choose for ourselves what to believe for now.

Or we can blindly follow, waiting for the equally vague and ambiguous leaders of the franchise to drop more clues and waiting for David to open all the doors for us, giving us the answers and witnessing what he does. Treading ahead following his lead, letting him & the carbon reader do all the work-- not even attempting to ask all the right questions like most of the crew or not realizing that David/Weyland are manipulating things (in this case Ridley, Lindelof and the company). When Ridley steps down after Paradise and the next film people may actually want Lindelof to be a part of any future additions to the series because of what they both built/re-built together. Might or might not be a good idea depending on how Lindelof's evolved by that time. Right now Lindelof's taking most of the pain for their tricks. Even with Lost, the slightly disappointing ending was a collectively agreed upon thing by most of the creators of the series. That's the thing, Ridley and Lindelof are creators too and understand a thing or two about creating worlds, cultures, and the beings who inhabit their worlds. Although on the surface Prometheus may be set up to elicit a sense of a loss in leadership in long-time Alien series fans until we can uncover more answers. I'm not saying Lindelof is even responsible for Prometheus' success, he was basically just a servant to the king and may not know the full plan like how David does in the film. He made a curious statement about the king not wearing any clothes and carrying a sword at one point... he may not have had faith in Prometheus... Or faith in what Ridley wanted him to do, and the funny thing is that Ridley may have wanted him in that state of not knowing the full plan... Lindelof said it himself he basically just put Ridley's ideas down and didn't do much rewriting of the script. He was more of a servant than David lol but Ridley may have been trying to make him a protege. I mean Lindelof needs a mentor or a good team behind him to shine. Because he's honestly not a strong enough writer, it was his ideas that drove lost's popularity-- the basic concepts. Look at Cowboys and Aliens, lol, he can have serious missteps but blames it almost entirely on the team working on that movie and the way it turned out. Here not so defensive, granted it wasn't a flop, but instead he hints at things to come occasionally and seems to know some of the plan. It seems like he just took Ridley's ideas and morphed the original script. Ridley is really directing and controlling a lot of the decisions. But like David the creators don't feel physical pain because of their "tricks" or even their potential missteps. "The trick is not minding that it hurts", in other ways, because there's deception afoot and a plan to lead and move forward in mind. Emotion can give this away and allow the act to falter... Lindelof may be a bit emotional over the situation lol but ultimately Prometheus was a financial success and received a decent critical response. Allowing the newly re-created series and David's new reign to continue on and even weave back into the original series after starting on a parallel track... Like a double-helix strand that's been separated, and had its bonds to the original story broken, to later be re-combined in a new way with new elements ;)

Interesting name you chose, Feanor. Feanor, himself, shares nearly the same damned qualities as Mr. Weyland: selfish.

AVP! was a cheap offshoot to make money. It never lead the series. Alien resurrection is really dealing with a different species with different dna.

The Engineers have forever been in pursuit of the perfect being They tried with black goo version one as we see at the start of the movie, that didn't work The second batch - they got it a little wrong, but it got them their result

I don't see how they can be anything but a weapon to wipe out a species.

Mala'kak@; There is also a Prometheus and fire (black "liquid") connection, and relationship between parents and children to discuss the problems of fear to death (which has replaced the cause of corporative greed, but a finely related points), infertility, right to life and artificial intelligence.

"..The Engineers have forever been in pursuit of the perfect being.." Did opur last Engineer seem to represent a race of beings trying to pursue a perfect being? No he was more animal like that a person using test tuibes and sophisticated equipment. More apt to use his brawn rather than his brain. He obviously had access to highert ech than humans but i would be surprised if he represents the creators. There does seem to be a bio-lab at work at the behest of as yeat an unknown power. This would be in line with what Weyland Corp. would pursue. Too bad our Weyland was not the 'God' he thought he was.

In response to the thead title as portrayed in this movie the xeno are t the top of the survivial food chain. It is only time when the xeno inherets some brain power and then becomes not only a survivior but a thinking being. That spark of intellegence should come from Shaw.