Uploaded May 2024 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Are Xenomorphs IMMORTAL? - Alien Romulus
Are Xenomorphs immortal. Do they have a life span. How long do they live for.
In the original Alien movie, aboard the derelict ship, the Alien eggs are implied to have been there at least as long as the Space Jockey, which was said to be “fossilised”, a process which takes at least 10,000 years. So could they have been there that long? And still be “alive”? Well, in the movie Prometheus, the Space Jockey was shown to be in fact a flight suit which would cover the Engineer flying the ship, presumably to provide the ships pilot with either some sort of life-support, or a navigation display, like how a fighter pilot’s suit provides him or her with oxygen, and a G-suit.
This depends on whether or not Prometheus is considered canon, as if the Jockey in the first Alien is an Engineer in a chair-suit, then that could significantly shorten the time the ship has been there, while if not, and the Jockey *is* fossilised, then it and the eggs would have to be at *least* 10,000 years in age.
When Kane is examining the eggs, they are blanketed by a layer of mist. This could be one of two things; either it is something the eggs produce themselves as almost a sensory extension of their own body, to detect when a host is nearby as it breaks the mist above them, like how a spider can feel the vibrations of something landing on their webs; or perhaps it is artificial, and provided by the derelict ship to keep the eggs alive, almost like how you would keep eggs in your fridge at home to prolong them.
Also, in one of the scenes added to the directors cut of Aliens, when Newt’s mother and father discover the derelict and venture inside, the eggs are still alive a further 57 years after the events of the Nostromo, as Newt’s dad is facehugged while inside.
Moving onto the fully formed Xenomorph forms, the drone in the original movie was said by the filmmakers to actually have a very short lifespan, only around one or two days, and it is said that by the end of the film when it is hiding onboard the narcissus, the creature had been looking for a place to curl up and die. The Alien suit also supposedly appears more and more brown as the film progresses, giving the Xenomorph a kind of “bruised banana” appearance to show this happening; although it is very hard, if not possible to see in the actual film, as it is lit very dimly, and the Big Chap only appears for a few seconds at a time.
Although, this is mainly said by the filmmakers, but not really told outright in the movie itself, so whether or not this is actually what’s supposed to be happening is up for debate, and then what we learn about the Xenomorphs in later movies may counteract this short-lifespan theory, as tweaks to the lifecycle have occurred as the films go on.
Xenomorphs have been shown to be able to go into a dormant state when no hosts or enemies are nearby, presumably to conserve energy, and/or to lure unsuspecting victims into their hive, so they can attack.
This has also been shown a lot with Alien Queens, as when Ripley and Newt first discover it in Aliens, it is retracted inside its exoskeleton while laying its Eggs.
And in Alien vs Predator, the Queen in that film is frozen, and being kept in a dormant state, and is thousands of years old. Whether or not this is natural for it, or from being kept frozen by the Predators isn’t certain.
When the Queen Aliens are both defeated in these two movies, they are similarly expelled into a cold void, the Queen in Aliens, into space, and in AVP, into the Antarctic sea.
If these queens have an indefinite lifespan, and are shown to survive in freezing temperatures, and without breathable oxygen, then they may enter a state of hibernation, to maybe be found once again? That would be an interesting idea for a future movie if they find either of these Xenomorphs.
Apparently, a rumour is that the Xenomorph in Alien Romulus is the Alien from the first film, and they find it. But I thought it got incinerated by the ships engines, or was it rather, “ejected” into space?
Perhaps, as the Aliens have been compared often to hive insects like Ants, Bees or Termites, the Queens could have a longer lifespan than the Drones and Warriors. For example, a Worker Bee has a lifespan of 6 to 8 weeks, while a Queen Bee can live up to 5 years.
What do you think? Let me know in the comments below. Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you next time.
This article uses material from the Xenopedia wiki at Fandom and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License.
Deep Space by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Artist: audionautix.com
Are Xenomorphs IMMORTAL? - Alien Romulus
Are Xenomorphs immortal. Do they have a life span. How long do they live for.
In the original Alien movie, aboard the derelict ship, the Alien eggs are implied to have been there at least as long as the Space Jockey, which was said to be “fossilised”, a process which takes at least 10,000 years. So could they have been there that long? And still be “alive”? Well, in the movie Prometheus, the Space Jockey was shown to be in fact a flight suit which would cover the Engineer flying the ship, presumably to provide the ships pilot with either some sort of life-support, or a navigation display, like how a fighter pilot’s suit provides him or her with oxygen, and a G-suit.
This depends on whether or not Prometheus is considered canon, as if the Jockey in the first Alien is an Engineer in a chair-suit, then that could significantly shorten the time the ship has been there, while if not, and the Jockey *is* fossilised, then it and the eggs would have to be at *least* 10,000 years in age.
When Kane is examining the eggs, they are blanketed by a layer of mist. This could be one of two things; either it is something the eggs produce themselves as almost a sensory extension of their own body, to detect when a host is nearby as it breaks the mist above them, like how a spider can feel the vibrations of something landing on their webs; or perhaps it is artificial, and provided by the derelict ship to keep the eggs alive, almost like how you would keep eggs in your fridge at home to prolong them.
Also, in one of the scenes added to the directors cut of Aliens, when Newt’s mother and father discover the derelict and venture inside, the eggs are still alive a further 57 years after the events of the Nostromo, as Newt’s dad is facehugged while inside.
Moving onto the fully formed Xenomorph forms, the drone in the original movie was said by the filmmakers to actually have a very short lifespan, only around one or two days, and it is said that by the end of the film when it is hiding onboard the narcissus, the creature had been looking for a place to curl up and die. The Alien suit also supposedly appears more and more brown as the film progresses, giving the Xenomorph a kind of “bruised banana” appearance to show this happening; although it is very hard, if not possible to see in the actual film, as it is lit very dimly, and the Big Chap only appears for a few seconds at a time.
Although, this is mainly said by the filmmakers, but not really told outright in the movie itself, so whether or not this is actually what’s supposed to be happening is up for debate, and then what we learn about the Xenomorphs in later movies may counteract this short-lifespan theory, as tweaks to the lifecycle have occurred as the films go on.
Xenomorphs have been shown to be able to go into a dormant state when no hosts or enemies are nearby, presumably to conserve energy, and/or to lure unsuspecting victims into their hive, so they can attack.
This has also been shown a lot with Alien Queens, as when Ripley and Newt first discover it in Aliens, it is retracted inside its exoskeleton while laying its Eggs.
And in Alien vs Predator, the Queen in that film is frozen, and being kept in a dormant state, and is thousands of years old. Whether or not this is natural for it, or from being kept frozen by the Predators isn’t certain.
When the Queen Aliens are both defeated in these two movies, they are similarly expelled into a cold void, the Queen in Aliens, into space, and in AVP, into the Antarctic sea.
If these queens have an indefinite lifespan, and are shown to survive in freezing temperatures, and without breathable oxygen, then they may enter a state of hibernation, to maybe be found once again? That would be an interesting idea for a future movie if they find either of these Xenomorphs.
Apparently, a rumour is that the Xenomorph in Alien Romulus is the Alien from the first film, and they find it. But I thought it got incinerated by the ships engines, or was it rather, “ejected” into space?
Perhaps, as the Aliens have been compared often to hive insects like Ants, Bees or Termites, the Queens could have a longer lifespan than the Drones and Warriors. For example, a Worker Bee has a lifespan of 6 to 8 weeks, while a Queen Bee can live up to 5 years.
What do you think? Let me know in the comments below. Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you next time.
This article uses material from the Xenopedia wiki at Fandom and is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License.
Deep Space by Audionautix is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
Artist: audionautix.com
