 | |
| Engineers | |
| Continuity: | Aliens film series |
| Category: | Alien |
| Status: | Extinct |
| Homeworld: | LV-223 [1] |
| Stellar system: | Zeta II Reticuli System |
| Body type: | Humanoid |
| Average height: | 9-15' |
| Limbs: | 4 |
| Eyes: | 2 |
| Fingers: | 10 |
| Toes: | 10 |
| Representatives: | Space jockey |
Engineers is the name attributed to a fictional extraterrestrial race featured in the Aliens film series. They were first presented in the form of a mysterious "space jockey" in the original 1979 sci-fi/horror film Alien. Their true form and culture were expanded upon in the 2012 prequel movie Prometheus.
Description[]
The true name of this alien race is unknown. They are an ancient culture, believed to have been the genetic forerunners of the human race. They were sentient bipedal humanoids with pale skin and no hair, standing approximately eight to ten feet tall in height.
History[]
Aeons ago, the Engineers developed a biological agent, which they used to bond with their own genetic code. A sacrificial engineer came to Earth where he unleashed this agent, allowing it to fuse with his own biology. This caused the Engineer's form to break down into its base components, but the fusion of alien DNA with the bio-agent seeded the planet Earth, giving rise to the evolution of the human race.
For reasons unknown, the Engineers later designed a mutant pathogen called Chemical A0-3959X.91 – 15, which was developed to wipe out the human race that they had created. The pathogen contained micro-organisms which, when combined with human DNA, yielded numerous unexpected side-effects, some of which include enhanced physical characteristics, but ultimately resulted in death. This black liquid pathogen was also responsible for the creation of new life forms that have come to be known as Hammerpedes and Trilobites. It is possible that Chemical A0-3959X.91 – 15 may have some connection to the development of the parasitic species SCI: N-933A, Internecivus-Raptus, also known as Xenomorphs.
In the year 2093, scientists Elizabeth Shaw and Charlie Holloway discovered cave paintings depicting the Engineers on the Isle of Skye in Scotland. It was theorized that these cave paintings were at least two-thousand years old, and were similar to depictions found in other regions, all of which featured an alien being pointing to the heavens. This evidence prompted the Weyland Corporation to conduct a deep-space survey of where these Engineers may have originated. Their journey brought them to a moon, which they designated LV-223. There they found what appeared to be an Engineer military outpost.
Following a series of grisly incidents involving the human explorers, the Engineers and their mutant hammerpedes and trilobites, a member of the Engineer race took a space vessel and journeyed across the Zeta II Reticuli system. He crash-landed on a planetoid later known as Acheron (LV-426).
The cargo bay of his carrier contained a nursery, which included a bed of thousands of Xenomorph eggs. At some point in time, the jockey activated a distress beacon on his ship, sending it out across the Zeta II Reticuli System and neighboring systems. This likely took place just prior to landing on Acheron. The true nature of the beacon is itself a mystery. He may have sent it as a warning of the dangerous species aboard his ship, or he may have been attempting to lure unwary space travelers to his location so that they could be used as bio-gestation chambers for the Xenomorphs. Whatever his intent, the pilot found himself a victim of the very creatures that he was transporting.
In 2122, the commercial freighter USCSS Nostromo picked up the distress beacon and sent an away team down to the planetoid's surface to investigate it. They found the fossilized remains of the pilot, fused to the seat of his command chair. The ribs of his chest protruded outward as if something had burst its way out from the inside. The first officer, Kane, found the xenomorph nursery in the cargo hold and was attacked by an embryonic "facehugger" (the virtual larval stage of a xenomorph). Desperate to save Kane's life, the crew hurriedly brought him back aboard the Nostromo.
The derelict remained undisturbed for several decades. By the year 2159, Colony LV-426 had been established on Acheron, but it wasn't until 2179 that someone discovered the derelict and its deceased pilot. Russ Jordan, a "wildcatter" working at the colony, was sent to investigate the derelict by order of Weyland-Yutani executive Carter Burke. Based upon information he had gathered from Ellen Ripley (a member of the original landing crew), Burke knew about the Xenomorph egg chamber and deliberately put Jordan and his family at risk in the hopes of obtaining a specimen. Like Kane before him, Jordan was attacked by a facehugger and impregnated with a xenomorph seed.
Ripley and a troupe of Colonial Marines came to LV-426 and encountered an entire nest of xenomorphs. The colony was destroyed by its atmosphere processor, the nuclear reactor of which went critical and exploded after a xenomorph killed the pilot of and caused the USCM Cheyenne-class dropship Bug Stomper to crash into it.Ripley and Hicks escaped along with Bishop the Synthetic assigned to the marine team and Rebecca "Newt" Jordan, Daughter of The Russ Jordan that was originally attacked at the derelict ship.
Notes[]
- The 2005 novel Aliens: Original Sin by Michael Jan Friedman established that the Engineers' actual species name is Mala'kaks. Their scientific classification is Mundus gubernavi. [2]
- In Prometheus, there are three Engineers identified by title, Sacrifice engineer, Ghost engineer and Last engineer. The sacrifice engineer, who is the first one seen in the film, was played by Daniel James. The Ghost engineer was played by John Lebar and the Last engineer was played by Ian Whyte.
- The physical appearance of the Engineer astronaut suit, as first seen in Alien, was designed by Swiss artist H.R. Giger.
- Prior to the conceptualization of the race's culture, director Ridley Scott indicated that the space jockey seen in Alien was a bio-mech, likely part of a military operation responsible for transporting a weapon carrier craft to the planetoid known as Acheron at some point in the distant past. [3]