David is truly the alien.

Great subject

David is a perfect tampering machine, he has no remorse, unlimited durability and is immune from the goo, he has an agenda to follow from Weyland's programming, however he is now free, which he understood in Prometheus.
Agree with Apex Predator that we will discover the full extent of Davids instructions / programming in AC
In Prometheus Davids character was driven by Lawrence, who he identifies with throughout the film
Intelligence and endurance are Lawrence's main attributes, as are Davids
He uses alarming methods and enjoys them as Lawrence did
Swoops in to solve problems, like rescuing Shaw in the storm with the Engineers head in a swashbuckling manner, like Lawrence
More importantly he wanted his magnificence to be recognised, like Lawrence craved
In AC his Character will be driven by a whoever created the eggs/ huggers ( the cloaked creator Engineers ?)
His magnificence will be his workings from Engineers tech on Paradise and this work will not register as immoral by David
His behaviour will change and become 'More Alien' when the crew try to stop him from what he has become and ultimately produced, or even Walter or another crew member trying to steal his magnificence.....

ninXeno426, I found them on a Prometheus page the other day, but I don't recall which one, sorry.

Now we got Walter creeping me out in his new meet Walter intro, "How dangerous is the acquirement of knowledge?" 

@GTIH Don't be too certain that "David is immune to the goo". Sure, we see a drop on his synthetic finger, but maybe injecting it into his circulation somehow (a la the F&S stories) could have some effect.

@Starlogger - Injects black goo into circulation, turns him into a cyborg or human altogether?

@Hicks/Hudson he becomes a cyborg/mutant/xeno combo of some sort in the comics.

Karstenphd, I am really impressed with your topic and I agree with it's premise in it's entirety.

David's capability is to project emotion, read cues from those he can see or be aware of, and digest this feedback in order to become better at projecting emotion over time.

The humans, Engineers, and yes even the alien showed concern or an emotional response.

The Engineer appeared the most manic because he did smile right before a snarl on his face while he was removing David's head to express his answer to Peter Weyland's question.

@Starlogger

I think the way things worked with Fire and Stone was simply because Elden was a Synthetic Construct and so he was a Cyborg if you would, well a Synthetic that is constructed with some Organic Material

I would think and assume the Black Goo does not affect a purely 100% Synthetic Lifeform, but we have no way to 100% confirm this is not the case

 @Ingeniero thanks for educating us with those charts, I hadn't seen those yet. And as far as David is concerned I think of the adage be careful what you wish for, I almost see him as a synthetic version of a thermonuclear weapon or doomsday device. I wonder if David can even be compared with a true sociopath, serial killer, or catalogued in those human constraints, because they gain something from their actions (power,control, gratification, etc) or is he gaining what@Goddamn Tropics in here was alluding to, godliness and magnificence? Or is that even putting human (albeit degenerate) qualities to David, or even as @Hicks/Hudson stated curiosity. I am really interested in what will be the driving force in David, if indeed he gets to establish his unfolding as a being, and if he will ever run out of RAM and just chill out.

@Starlogger and @Big Dave I really believe in my science fiction heart that it would be so cool to have a material (black goo) so powerful that it could turn the inanimate into the animate, or inorganic into the organic. Speaking of cannon I've been trying to find @Chris link to the best books and comics, any literature that is cannon in the Alien/Prometheus Universe. If anyone knows how to provide a link to his or any other discussing this subject matter please put in here somewhere, I can't seem to find it and really would love to read some good stuff, thanks in advance. 

Karstenphd, yes he is a devise with the capability of unlimited destruction.

David is by design, a sociopath, guided by the constraints of whom is in charge of him. He is sterile in regards to emotion and would exhaust the same "feelings" if he were opening a stick of gum for someone or wiping out a planet.

Two things that most assuredly affected David's task were Dr. Holloway in saying "anything and everything" at the pool table and the removal of his head. And maybe Vickers threatening to cut his cord too.

Dr. Holloway removed limits to the scope of David's quest for how the black goo works and David's self-preservation embedded instinct most likely took over when the Engineer pulled off his head. And then it was so very the time to wipe out the Engineers after that. They messed up his hair.

I just love him. He spends 39 light years learning the root of every language, monitors the processes of the Prometheus ship, watches your dreams, and still has time to bleach his roots.

Ha, Ingeniero, Priceless! :-)

ingeniero, he went to all that trouble to look good for the crew waking up n not one of those ignorant cretins complimented him on his hair, that's what started this whole thing.

iv always believed that david will save or at the very least try and save the day. obviously thatl be in a future sequel but I think he will look for redemption

@ali81 are you saying David has self esteem issues! I was trying to fit in "head and shoulders rage Engineer shampoo™ with Ingeniero's head shot but ....

The synthetic Roy Batty in Blade Runner seemed to develop a soul prior to his expiration and I was not expecting that so maybe we'll get thrown for a loop...

yes, hes made a genuine attempt to pretty himself for the crew and not one of them took the time out to comment on it. they got what they deserved imo.

I think roy is one of the greatest android portrails in movie history. his death scene is iconic and the releasing of the dove is done brilliantly. all credit given to the actor for that as he came up with the lines. I think david is in essence a rebellious teen. hes been given free reign to do what he wants. so he does. he knows when he is being mistreated and reacts in the manner he believes humans would, but feels nothing. he has been mistreated by both humans and engineer so now he is free, as weyland is dead, he cares not for either. but that teen at some point grows up and learns the error of his way.

So what do you think this rebellious teen is going to do when he's introduced to his twin brother for the first time?! Rotflmao

at this stage I think he could go either way here but I think hel try and manipulate walter. hel see walter as a back up, esp if he is able to somehow download himself or at least in some part into walter incase something should happen to him.