Alien (franchise): Difference between revisions

{{quote|'''Ripley:''' How do we kill it, Ash? There's gotta be a way of killing it. How? How do we do it?<br />

'''Ash:''' You can't.<br />

'''Parker:''' That's bullshit.<br />

The first film, '''''Alien''''' (1979), involves the crew of a freighter spaceship who stop to answer a [[Distress Call]] from an uncharted moon. One of the crew members ([[John Hurt]]) gets an alien organism attached to his face and goes into a coma. Days later, an alien embryo explodes from the crewman's chest and rapidly matures into a savage monster. As the alien stalks through the ship, the crew chooses to go against their company's orders and fight back. One by one, the crew members are slaughtered by the alien until only Ellen Ripley (Weaver) and the ship's cat are left. She manages to defeat the alien and goes into hypersleep to return home. Writer Dan O'Bannon based the film on a sequence from his previous film ''[[Dark Star]]'', in which a beachball-shaped alien runs amok on a spaceship and tries to push an astronaut down an elevator shaft. [[Ridley Scott]] directed.

In '''''Aliens''''' (1986), Ripley wakes up from [[Human Popsicle|hypersleep]] nearly sixty years later on reaching Earth. Her former employers, the Weyland-Yutani company, refuse to believe her claims about the alien and revoke her licenses. Not long after the colony established by the Company as cover for their investigation of the crashed ship goes silent. The company sends a unit of elite [[Space Marine|Space Marines]]s to investigate, along with Ripley, who reluctantly agrees to act as an advisoradviser. At the colony, they discover a whole nest of aliens, along with an egg-laying alien queen. In the ensuing battle, nearly all the marines are killed. Ripley, one of the Marines, a colonist girl, and half of an android escape and enter hypersleep for the return home. The film was directed by [[James Cameron]], who shifted the genre from horror to action. The film was a smash success and is considered one of the few film sequels to be as good as its predecessor. Of particular note was Ripley's ascension to one of cinema's most famous [[Action Girl|Action Girls]]s. Sigourney Weaver even got a nomination for Best Actress for her role as Ellen Ripley in ''Aliens'', one of the most shocking Oscar nominations in history, and Stan Winston won an Oscar for the design of the Alien Queen.

In '''''Alien³''''' (1992), hypersleep goes on the fritz again and Ripley's ship crash lands on a prison planet, killing all occupants except her. Even worse, it turns out that Ripley's been infected with an alien egg by a stow-away facehuggerFacehugger. Another facehuggerFacehugger slips into the colony and infects a dog, which quickly gives birth to a quadrupedal alien. Most of the prisoners die before the dog-alien is destroyed. Ripley makes a [[Heroic Sacrifice]] and kills herself just as her own alien is hatching. Directed by [[David Fincher]], this film introduced the concept of aliens having different shapes depending on their host bodies. The film was much less popular than the previous installments, provoking special anger from fans due to its [[Shoot the Shaggy Dog]] nature, and was expected to be the final episode due to the death of Ripley. This film is not merely called an "Alan Smithee film" by irate fans, but decades later is held up as one of the ''textbook'' examples of "problems behind the scenes" --: David Fincher himself is actually a masterful director, but [[Executive Meddling|the studio kept messing with his work]], and the project went through a ''revolving door'' of different screenwriters. The production was so chaotic that multiple alternate cuts of the film exist, scenes that were actually filmed but then scrapped and replaced as revisions kept occurring late into filming.

'''''Alien: Resurrection''''' (1997) has Ripley cloned back to life on a military research station that is breeding aliens in yet another attempt to turn them into weapons. The alien DNA that melded with Ripley's has given her remarkable physical abilities and a connection to other aliens. Shortly after a crew of smugglers arrives with a fresh shipment of infected humans, the aliens break out of their pens and run amok. The new Ripley leads a rag-tag group of survivors against the aliens and their half-human, half-alien hybrid queen in an effort to prevent them from reaching Earth. The plot breaks the traditions of the series by not including the original Ripley nor the Weyland-Yutani company. The screenplay was written by [[Joss Whedon]] and the film directed by French auteur [[Jean Pierre Jeunet]] in his only Hollywood excursion. The film attempted a gorier, campier, and thoroughly more bizarre style, which the [[Executive Meddling|studio fought]]. Ultimately, the film was not well received, though like all ''Alien'' films, it performed well at the box office. For those that would like to know the reason, [[Joss Whedon]] wrote it as a camp parody, while [[Jean Pierre Jeunet]] wanted horror, and for some reason, didn't throw Joss' script in a trash can.

In 2004, the Aliens got paired up with another cinematic space monster, the [[Predator]], in '''''[[Alien vs. Predator]]''''', loosely based on a [[Massive Multiplayer Crossover]] franchise of comic books, video games and novels dating back to 1993. The resulting film uses very little of the crossover source material, putting a team of modern-day scientists, soldiers, and survivalists on an expedition to the Antarctic. There, they discover an ancient, high-tech ziggurat that Predators have used since time imemorialimmemorial to hunt Aliens as a rite of passage. The team and a group of young Predators must fight the latest crop of Aliens and prevent them from escaping into the human population. Ultimately, a female mountain climber emerges as the heroine of the story, much like Ripley did in the original ''Alien''. The film was considered a rather brainless, PG-13 action flick, but performed very well. ''[[Prometheus]]'' has made the AVP series [[Canon Dis ContinuityDiscontinuity]].

''Its'' sequel, '''''Alien Vs Predator: Requiem''''' (2007) picks up right after the previous film as the Predator spaceship is taking off. From the body of a slain Predator bursts an Alien-Predator hybrid called a "Predalien.". The hybrid monster slaughters the other Predators aboard, causing the ship to crashland in the forests outside Gunnison, Colorado. With the Predators dead, the Predalien and several facehuggersFacehuggers escape into the forest and begin to impregnate the local populace. The ship's [[Distress Call|distress signal]] summons a lone Predator to Earth with the intention of killing the Predalien and erasing all evidence of the Alien presence. Once again, human and Predator fight independent battles to defeat the Aliens. In the end, the film features the appearance of Ms. Yutani, the other half of the Weyland-Yutani company. The film is either much better than AVP''Alien vs. Predator'' or much worse, depending on whom you ask.

A prequel to ''Alien'' directed by Ridley Scott, ''[[Prometheus]]'', will bewas released in May-June 2012. It is Scott's first foray back into the ''Alien'' franchise in particular and science-fiction in general since the release of ''Blade Runner''. Scott would continue the story with 2017's ''[[Alien: Covenant]]''.

** Ellen Ripley [[Took a Level Inin Badass|graduates to one]] in ''Aliens''. Although not possessing any particular combat skills, she has the guts and determination to survive. In ''Alien: Resurrection'', however, the Ripley clone has a few superpowers.

* [[Admiring the Abomination]]:

{{quote| '''Ash''': [[Ultimate Lifeform|A perfect organism]]. Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility. <br />

'''Lambert''': [[Discussed Trope|You admire it]]. <br />

'''Ash''': I admire its purity. }}

** Bishop displays this sort of behavior in ''Aliens'' when studying a Facehugger carcass, {{spoiler|implying that he'll turn bad by drawing parallels to how Ash, the ''other'' synthetic person that once came into contact with the Aliens, reacted to the creature. It's a [[Red Herring]];: Bishop remains a good guy.}}.

** In ''Alien: Resurrection'', when Dr. Gediman admires the Newborn (and to a certain extent, the normal Aliens).

* [[Air Vent Passageway]]: Both humans and aliensAliens make good use of air vents to get around without the other side noticing. The alienAlien in the first film moves around the spaceship using air vents. In the second film, Newt survives by hiding in the air vents, and the Marines make their escape through the same vents. Newt uses them for more aggressive purposes in the Dark Horse adaptation.

* [[Appropriated Title]]: Although the third, fourth, and fifth films all went under the original title, most spin-off merchandise is known under ''Alien'''s''''', which was the second movie.

* [[Artificial Human]]: Ash, Bishop and Call (a bit of franchise-wide [[Theme Naming]] which ''Prometheus'' appears to have continued with David);: possibly the [[Trope Namer]], in fact, as Bishop says he prefers being called an "artificial person" over "android" or "synthetic.". Ash from the first movie is a particularly sinister example, since he secretly protects the alien and betrays the other crew members.

* [[Artistic License Gun Safety]]: The Marines use guns in a combat setting fairly professionally in ''Aliens'', but one example of horrendous gun safety stands out: when Vasquez and Ripley are helping Bishop into a conduit, Vasquez cocks a pistol and hands it to Bishop, ''who immediately puts his finger on the trigger.''. He then hands it to Ripley, finger still on the trigger and pointed straight at her. Ripley accepts it and sets it aside, thumb grazing the trigger while it's pointing at Vasquez. Bishop may be an android and thus incapable of unintentional twitches, but casually handing a loaded firearm to an untrained civilian is something a military android should be programmed to avoid. Averted when Hicks warns Newt away from weapons (specifically a grenade) and later gives Ripley a crash course in military firearms.

** The alienAlien grows from a chestburster to a full-grown adult without apparently eating anything (or anyone) in the first film. This is explained in the original script when the crew corner the chestbuster in a supply closet filled with their food supply and lock it in while they try to find a way to deal with it. When they return, it has escaped after eating their food and is next seen fully grown.

** Similarly, in the sequel, the there are dozens of fully grown aliens (and a ''very'' fully grown queen) along with a giant organic maze in the terraforming facility, despite the fact that there are only some 150 humans to eat. Bishop mentions that the colonists also had livestock, which could serve as hosts/food for the aliensAliens.

* [[Bash Brothers|Bash Brother & Sister]] -: Drake and Vasquez, the two M56 Smart Gun users in ''Aliens''.

** Subverted in the ''Newt's Tale'' comic series. During the colonist's final stand against the xenomorphsXenomorphs, Newt's mother picks up a gun and looks at her children (intending to put them out of their misery before turning the gun on herself). She gets ready to pull the trigger... and then Newt tells her there's another way, and leads them towards a ventilation grate during the attack. Not that it helps, considering that her mother and brother get ripped apart seconds later, forcing her to flee into the duct.

* [[Beware My Stinger Tail]]: In the novelization of ''Aliens'', the aliensAliens have these, which are used to paralyze victims to be taken back to the hive for facehugger bait. Gorman gets stung during the escape in the APC after the hive raid goes pear-shaped.

* [[Big Damn Heroes]]: The moment in ''Aliens'' when Ripley drives the Armored Personnel Carrier through the wall of the xenomorphXenomorph hive to save the remaining Marines trying to escape is the biggest example of this trope in the main series.

* [[Bilingual Bonus]]: Vasquez wrote on her armor "El riesgo siempre vive!", which means "The risk always survives!". <ref>This may be a reference to a motto of a number of world-famous special-operations military units, which boils down to "Who dares, wins".</ref>

* [[Birth-Death Juxtaposition]]: In the third film, the ceremony were Hicks' and Newt's bodies are cremated occurs at the same time that the "Runner" xenomorphXenomorph erupts from Murphy's dog.

* [[Black Dude Dies First]]: {{spoiler|Averted in the first and third movies, as Parker and Dillon (respectively) are among the last to be killed. Played completely straight in the second, as Private Frost gets a flamethrower to the face as soon as the squad gets ambushed, and Sergeant Apone gets grabbed by aliensAliens in the same scene (though his ''death'' is somewhat delayed).}}.

* [[Body Horror]]: The aliens' parasitical breeding cycle turns you into a living incubator.

* [[Chekhov's Gun]]: Ripley shows that she knows how to use a Powerloaderpowerloader early on in ''[[Aliens]]'', and the scene is played for "Getting to know you" laughs. She later uses that same powerloader to fight the Alien Queen.

* [[Chekhov's Skill]]: In ''[[Aliens]]'', along with her knowing how to drive a powerloader, there's the lessons Ripley got from Hicks on how to use the Marines' weapons, which she uses to great effect during her [[Mama Bear]] rampage.

* [[Coca -Pepsi, Inc.]]: As everybody knows, Weyland-Yutani is a combination of rival motoring conglomerates British Leyland and Toyota.

* [[Cold Sleep, Cold Future]]: The world seems to get a little bit grimmer each time Ripley wakes up. In the first film, the Company is willing to risk the lives of a ship's crew to get its hands on an alienAlien. In the second film, the Company (or at least Burke) is willing to sacrifice a whole colony to breed aliensAliens. In the third film, Ripley wakes up on a planet that is inhabited solely by a prison. In the fourth film, the megacorporations have given way to an even more irresponsible military that actually goes through with alienAlien genetic testing. The comic book canon is [[Crapsack World|far worse than even this.]].

* [[Conservation of Ninjutsu]]: Occasionally (some deleted scenes in ''Aliens'', the flashback in ''Alien Versusvs. Predator'' and many times in ''Alien Versusvs. Predator: Requiem''), the Aliens abandon their stealth kill tactics for a [[Zerg Rush]], which goes about as well for them as one might expect. It actually works pretty well in the first ''Alien vs. Predator'' film... {{spoiler|until the Predator [[Self-Destruct Mechanism]] kicks in}}.

** LV-426 (Acheron in the novelisationnovelization).

** The Dark Horse comic series is one hellish place to live. The [[Mega Corp]] controls the world, all civil rights are essentially gone, the military kills civilians with impunity, and that's before the two killer alienAlien species come knocking. The Aliens overrun Earth, and more than one character wonders if we deserved it.

* [[Creator Thumbprint]]: Joss Whedon will revisit certain character types and ideas again in ''[[Firefly]]'' and ''[[Serenity]]''. Once you realize {{spoiler|Ron Perlman's character is basically Jayne}}, the rest falls into place.

* [[Creepy Child]]: Newt starts as one due to the psychological effects of her traumatic experience. Her eerie delivery of the line, "They mostly come at night. Mostly," is often quoted.

* [[Dead Star Walking]]:

* [[Death Seeker]]: Ripley, by ''Alien 3'', sums up her attitude towards the Xenomorphs as;:

{{quote| '''Ripley''': You've been in my life so long... I can't remember anything else...}}

** ''Aliens'' had a Cessation of Communications with LV426. {{spoiler|This was a result of a Weyland-Yutani action. Burke directed the colonists to the dormant Aliens, resulting in the slaughter of all humans on the planet.}}.

* [[Downer Ending]] and /[[Kill'Em All]]:

** Once the first movie was extended to feature the shuttle scene, Ridley Scott wanted the alienAlien to bite off Ripley's head and make the final log in her voice.

* [[Dramatic Space Drifting]]: {{spoiler|Kane's body}} in the first film. She drifted for a whopping fifty-seven years.

* [[Dumbass Has a Point]]: ''[[Aliens]]''. Vasquez, about Hudson's belief that the aliens are inside the perimeter.

* [[Empathy Doll Shot]]: Casey (Newt'd disembodied doll head) floating in the water after she's taken by a xenomorphXenomorph.

* [[Enemy Rising Behind]]: The abduction of Newt and the xenomorphXenomorph rising up behind Burke in Medical from ''Aliens''. In ''Alien vs. Predator'', the xenomorphXenomorph who tries to attack the sole Predator left in the pyramid.

{{quote| '''Ripley''': How many drops is this for you, Lieutenant?<br />

'''Gorman''': Thirty eight... simulated.<br />

'''Vasquez''': How many ''combat'' drops?<br />

'''Gorman''': Uh, two. Including this one. }}

* [[Epic Fail]]: In ''Aliens'', the Colonial Marines enter the atmosphere processor without realizing that the central cooling units can be pierced by conventional weaponry -... which they only discover ''after'' they're knee-deep in the hive, and Ripley points it out to them. Then, Gorman orders the Marines to give up all their ammo to one man (and are subsequently forced to use flamethrowers), and said Marine happens to be the first casualty when the xenomorphsXenomorphs attack. This in itself was brought on by the Marines not understanding that the creatures were hiding in the walls. The only reason anyone escaped is because several of the soldiers (Ripley included) disobeyed orders and/or carried backup weapons.

{{quote| '''Frost''': I sure wouldn't mind getting more of that Arcturian poontang. Remember that time?<br />

'''Spunkmeyer''': Yeah, but the one ''you'' had was a male.<br />

'''Frost''': It doesn't matter when it's Arcturian, baby! }}

** In the comic series ''Aliens: Newt's Tale'', Newt is the only one to survive the colonists' last stand at LV-426, and is forced to go into hiding and foraging by herself after watching her mother and brother get massacred by the xenomorphsXenomorphs right in front of her.

** ''Alien3Alien 3'' plays this straight then subverts it. Ripley discovers that she's the only one of the Sulaco crew still alive after their EEV crashed, and at the end, {{spoiler|Morse}} is the only survivor of the Fury 161 colony to survive -: he takes one last look around the place before being escorted out.

** In ''Alien Resurrection'', Ripley, Call, Johner and Vriess all survive, except that they're now on Earth (which is a deserted, destroyed wasteland).

* [[Everything Trying to Kill You]]: In the comics, a group of Marines is forced to go to the Aliens' homeworld to act as bait for facehuggers. One character sagely notes that, on other worlds, the Alien is a foreign creature which the locals are not used to dealing with. On its own planet, it would have struck an ecological balance with other species, and it ''might not even be the dominant predator.''. The bait plan is completely misguided because unbeknownst even to themselves, {{spoiler|all the Marines are androids}}.

* [[Explosive Decompression]]: Ripley uses this to kill the alien at the end of ''Alien Resurrection'', when it is [[Thrown Out the Airlock|blown into space]] through a hole in the ship. A tiny hole. (Originallyoriginally introduced in Dan O'Bannon's spec screenplay, ''Star Beast''.).

* [[Extremely Short Timespan]]:

** The alienAlien fully matures in a matter of hours.

{{quote| '''Vasquez:''' You always were an asshole, Gorman.}}

** Giving "birth" to a Chestburster. This is lampshaded by the iconic plea, "Kill... me!" spoken by impregnated alienAlien victims. Also, in the novelization of ''Aliens'', Ripley found Burke in the queen's nest, and left him with a primed grenade when he said that he could feel the chestbursterChestburster moving inside him.

** In ''Alien Resurrection,'', the group discovers a [[Came Back Wrong|deformed]] Ripley clone lying helplessly on a table, and she begs the more successfully-cloned Ripley to destroy her.

** It's implied in ''Alien vs. Predator: Requiem'' that the mother impregnated (in the hospital) by the predalien can ''feel the multiple bursters breaking into her womb and eating her children''.

* [[Fetal Position Rebirth]]: The adult alienAlien is in this position the very first time we see it, hanging among the chains above Brett, keeping it [[Hidden in Plain Sight]].

* [[Final Girl]]:

** Ripley is the lone survivor of ''Alien'', though she was not the strict star of the film.

* [[Five-Man Band]]:

{{quote| [[The Hero]]: Dallas<br />.

[[The Lancer]]: Ripley<br />.

[[The Smart Guy]]: Ash<br />.

[[The Big Guy]]: Parker<br />.

[[The Chick]]: Lambert .}}

{{quote| [[The Hero]]: Ripley<br />.

[[The Lancer]]: Hicks<br />.

[[The Smart Guy]]: Bishop<br />.

[[The Big Guy]]: Vasquez<br />.

[[The Chick]]: Hudson<br />.

[[Tagalong Kid]]: Newt .}}

* [[Foreshadowing]]:

** In the original film, Dallas and Lambert note that the space jockey's ribs seem to have "exploded" from inside and wonder what could have caused it.

** Ash never eats in the first film. The only thing he consumes is some milky-white fluid. He also has moments where he acts rather weird (such as when he runs in place) or doesn't fit in with the rest of the crew, such as during the dinner scene. He also prevents Parker from killing the Chestburster, though it might have to do with its alien blood which could tear through the ship.

** "Where's the rest of the crew?" is a very good question that's never brought up again, but a deleted scene from ''Alien'' shows that the titular beast has a habit of {{spoiler|turning its victims into more eggs.}}.

** In the Special Edition of ''Aliens'', the "bees and ants" conversation foreshadows the appearance of the Queen.

* [[Freeze-Frame Bonus]]:* When the camera whips back and forth when Ripley dashes into the shuttle before the ship explodes, {{spoiler|you can actually see the Alien already camouflaged against the wall}}. *** Unless you've seen the film at least once already, you probably won't be able to make it out.

* [[Gaia's Lament]]: Earth in the series. It has become an overpolluted slum.

* [[Hellish Copter]]: {{spoiler|Poor Corporal Ferro}}.

* [[Hermaphrodite]]: The titular aliensAliens themselves, at least according to H.R Giger.

** Newt, for a while, was so shell-shocked, she couldn't speak.

* [[Heroic Sacrifice]]:

** {{spoiler|Gorman and Vasquez}} in ''Aliens''.

** Arguably {{spoiler|DylanDillon}} in ''Alien³''.

** {{spoiler|Christie}} in ''Alien: Resurrection''.

* [[Heroic Suicide]]: {{spoiler|Ellen Ripley}} dies killing her Queen Chestburster in ''Alien³'', which was [[Enforced Trope|enforced]] {{spoiler|by Weaver so she wouldn't have to reprise the character again}}.

* [[Horny Devils]]: Giger designed the aliensAliens to embody the fear of rape. The face-huggersFacehuggers essentially rape their victims and impregnate them. In the first film, it's implied that an adult alien sodomizes Lambert with its tail.

** Played straight in ''Alien Resurrection'' when {{spoiler|Call tries to kill Ripley}}.

* [[Impaled with Extreme Prejudice]]: Happens a few times, what with the Aliens having bladed tails. Most notably with {{spoiler|Bishop at the end of ''Aliens''. He gets impaled from behind by the Alien Queen who hid on the dropship.}}, though he's lucky enough to be an android.

{{quote| '''Hudson''': Vasquez, you ever been mistaken for a man?<br />

'''Vasquez''': No, have you? }}

* [[Irrevocable Order]]: Ripley sets the self-destruct for the ''Nostromo'' in order to destroy the alienAlien when fairly certain that she can safely get to the escape shuttle. However, along the way, she finds that attempting to do so will put her directly into the path of the alienAlien. She tries to go back and shut down the self-destruct, but misses the "point of no return" time by scant seconds.

* [[It Can Think]]:

** "What do you mean THEY cut the power? How can they cut the power -- they're animals!"

** The alienAlien queenQueen shows that she knows full well what Ripley means when she points the business end of a flamethrower at her eggs, and her tearing herself away from her egg sac and coming after Ripley is strongly implied to be out of rage for Ripley killing the eggs.

** In the director's cut, the survivors watch as the sentry guns burn through almost all their ammo before the xenomorphsXenomorphs finally "fall back" to look for another way in. Hudson lampshades this by saying "Maybe they're demoralized...".

* [[Karma Houdini]]: The {{spoiler|only survivor}} in ''Alien3Alien 3'' is part of the gang that tried to rape Ripley. It is shown he ''did'' get a fairly thorough thrashing from Dillon as punishment.

* [[Kinetic Weapons Are Just Better]]: The M41A Pulse Rifle says hi. Ditto the [[Big FancyFreaking Gun|M56 Smart Gun]] wielded by Vasquez and Drake.

* [[Laser Guided Tykebomb]]: The alienAlien species is implied to be this, bred for the sole purpose of violence. Many thousands of eggs were preserved in the biomechanic derelict, and director Ridley Scott even said the derelict was a bomber -... it was designed to bombard planets with Alien eggs.

** Ripley in ''[[Alien (franchise)|Alien]]³''. "You've been in my life so long, I can't remember anything else."

{{quote| '''Dillon:''' You're all gonna die. The only question is how you check out. Do you want it on your feet? Or on your fuckin' knees... begging? I ain't much for begging! Nobody ever gave me nothing! So I say [[Precision F-Strike|fuck]] that thing! Let's fight it!}}

* [[Last Stand]]: Discussed in ''Aliens'' and shown in the tie-in comic ''Aliens: Newt's Tale''. The Hadley's Hope colonists hole up in a wing of the facility to try and make a last stand against the xenomorphsXenomorphs. It ends... badly.

* [[Lego Genetics]]: The Xenomorphs, as part of their bioweapon design, can assimilate useful traits from their hosts to better survive in the environment and become stronger, and it often extends to physical appearance. The first two films had human-like Xenos, and the third featured a quadruped Xeno that came from a dog (or a bovine, depending on the version). The video games, comics and toy line take it to greater lengths with flying Xenos with wings like a bird or bat, gorilla Xenos with long powerful arms, bull and rhinoceros Xenos, and in the ''[[Batman]]'' crossover comics, the Xenomorphs even had physical similarities to the various villains their DNA was combined with (with the Killer Croc Alien being a gigantic crocodile-like beast). And the most iconic type, the [[Pred Alien]], a Xenomorph born from a Predator with a shorter skull, mandibles, dreadlocks, and a stockier build than other humanoid Xenos. Interestingly, with few exceptions, the Queen Aliens and other higher castes like the Praetorian do not assimilate traits, keeping the Xenomorph line pure-blooded.

{{quote| '''Ripley''': Get away from her, you ''bitch!''}}

** In one draft of the ''Alien: Resurrection'' script, a character mentions that Weyland-Yutani was bought out by Wal-Mart. This line did not make it into the theatrical version, but was used in the Special Edition.

* [[More Dakka]]: ''Aliens'' is largely premised on the Colonial Marines attempting to bring heavy military firepower to bear on the xenomorphsXenomorphs. Due to various circumstances including incompetence, overconfident leadership, and deliberate sabotage, they fail to deliver the full extent of this promise. The best examples that get displayed in the film are the smartguns and the automated sentry guns.

* [[Never Trust a Trailer]]:

** The trailer of the first film has glimpses of Ash malfunctioning. Before [[The Reveal]], it looks as though he has a chestburster inside him. But since he's a robot, impregnating him would be impossible.

** The third film's very first trailer, promising, "On Earth, everyone will hear you scream,", suggested that the film would take place on earth.

* [[No One Gets Left Behind]]: In ''Aliens'', after the Colonial Marines learn that some of the ones left behind in the escape are still alive, Vasquez says "Then we go back in there and get them. We don't leave our people behind."

* [[No OSHA Compliance]]: Downplayed example. For some reason, the ''Nostromo'', with a crew of seven, has a lifeboat with a capacity of only three. But it at least has a lifeboat to begin with.

* [[Nothing Is Scarier]]:

** The original ''Alien'' focuses on the ever-present lurking threat of the eggs, chestburster, and adult alienAlien rather than direct confrontations. The trailer for the film highlights the strategy, showing barely any of the alienAlien and focusing on a terrifying montage of people reacting to what could be after them.

** As a more specific example from the first film, {{spoiler|Lambert's death}}. Nothing is seen of what happened, and even the aftermath is not seen clearly, we only hear it happening over the radio. It's probably the scariest death in the film. Given that the last thing we see of {{spoiler|Lambert is the tip of the alienAlien's tail moving up her leg towards her nether regions,}}, this is probably just as well.

** Despite being more focused on action, ''Aliens'' gets in on this too. The aliensAliens aren't even seen until over an hour into the film; before that, the Marines are exploring the deserted colony, waiting to encounter them at any moment.

** Later: "This is a big fucking signal... Ten meters... eight..." "That can't be, that's inside the room." ba-beep-beep "It's reading right, man!" "Then you're not reading it right!" BA-BEEP BEEP "Three meters... what the HELL?!?" <nowiki>*</nowiki>eyes go upwards to the drop ceiling*

** Before that, Hudson's face while Bishop does his high-speed version of [[Five -Finger Filet]].

* [[One-Book Author]]: An acting variant. Carrie Henn (Newt), despite winning a Saturn Award for her work, decided not to act again after being bullied due to her role in ''Aliens''.

** "Get away from her, [[This Is for Emphasis, Bitch|you BITCH!]]"

* [[Only Sane Man]]: In spite of the anger it earned her from the rest of the crew for trying to enforce it, Ripley was absolutely right about the 24 hour quarantine. {{spoiler|If everyone had listened to her, it's very possible she wouldn't have been the only survivor.}}.

* [[Percussive Maintenance]]: Drake's camera bash in ''[[Aliens]]''.

* [[Pragmatic Villainy]]: While the average xenomorphXenomorph is just a murderous wild animal, the Queen of the Xenomorph Hive seems intelligent enough to be able to reason or negotiate with. When Ripley threatedthreatened to burn down her eggs, she was ready to spare her and Newt's lives and let them go if they let the eggs be. Then negotiations fell apart when one of the eggs opened to discharge a facehugger for Ripley, and she started burning the eggs again.

* [[Prison]]: The setting for ''Alien³'' is a shut-down prison planet, where the remaining convicts adopted a monastery culture and chose to remain, becoming more like indentured janitors. Escape is impossible, because there's nowhere to escape to.

* [[Reasonable Authority Figure]]: Subverted. {{spoiler|Burke is the only authority figure to sympathize with Ripley and comes across as a fair and reasonable person... until [[The Reveal]].}}.

* [[Recycled in Space]]: ''Alien'' was originally billed as "''[[Jaws (film)|Jaws]]'' <small>IN SPACE!</small>" to producers. Some call ''Alien³'' "the first ''Alien'' <small>IN A PRISON!</small>" And in an inversion, the ''Alien Vsvs. Predator'' movies sees the Alien in Earth as opposed to <small>IN SPACE!</small>

* [[Redemption Equals Death]]:

** Junior in ''Alien³'''s special edition -: he leads the gang trying to rape Ripley, but when she tries to distract the Alien from him in the attempt to trap it in the bunker, he instead runs inside, taking it with him. It rips him apart of course, but the mission succeeds because of him.

* [[Red Shirt]]: Easy way to determine Red Shirts: Are they named Ripley? No? They're boned. Frost, Crowe, Dietrich, [[Memetic Mutation|Wierzbowski]], Apone, Drake, Spunkmeyer, Ferro, in order.

** "I may be synthetic, but I'm not stupid." -- Bishop—Bishop from the second movie.

* [[Robotic Reveal]]: In the first, second and fourth movies: Whenwhen someone starts leaking milk-colored [[Symbolic Blood]], you've got one of these.

* [[Salvage Pirates]]: In the opening to the second movie, Ripley's escape shuttle from the first movie is found by a deep-space salvage crew, who express disappointment at finding her [[Human Popsicle|alive]], as "there goes our salvage, boys"." Averted in that they resist the temptation to kill her and salvage the shuttle anyways.

* [[Screaming Woman]]: Ripley usually gets at least one moment per film to scream at something. In the original film, she screams when she discovers the xenomorphXenomorph approaching her as she's preparing to hit the airlock near the end. In the sequel, she screams as she falls into the gravity well with the Queen, and just before the Queen loses its hold on her during the airlock sequence. In the third film, she screams when the gang of inmates attempts to rape her.

* [[Sculpted Physique]]: The Alien, which is not surprising considering artist [[H. R. Giger]]'s other works. This use of the trope actually makes sense in the story since the alienAlien's black and tube-like exterior made it blend in on the spacecraft. This is so effective in the first film, that the first time we see the adult Alien, it's ''hanging in full view of the camera'', and you probably mistook it for piping!<ref>For the curious, it's the scene where one crewman goes after the cat, and he looks upwards at the chains hanging from the ceiling. See the metallic looking bundle in the bottom right? There's the cowboy!</ref>

** The engines of the ''Nostromo'' in ''Alien''.

* [[Send in the Search Team]]:

** Dallas and the crew of the ''Nostromo'' are sent to investigate a distress call from the uncharted moon.

* [[Sensor Suspense]]:

** ''Alien'': While tracking the alien through the ventilation system.

* [[Sheep in Wolf's Clothing]]: Ripley in ''Alien³'' and in ''Alien Resurrection''.

* [[Shout-Out]]:

** Also in the second film, Hudson asks "Is this going to be a stand-up fight, or another bug hunt?". This is a direct reference to the novel ''[[Starship Troopers (novel)|Starship Troopers]]'', that the actors were required to read, just like [[Real Life|real Marines]], and was ad-libbed by the actor.

** Hicks aforementioned line about keeping a shotgun "for [[Close Encounters of the Third Kind|close encounters]].".

** The 2ndsecond film contains two things that may be references to Stanley Kubrick films. The movie opens with slow, desolate shots of the 1stfirst filmsfilm's lifeboats drifting through space, accompanied by music from Aram Khachaturian's Gayene ballet suite; the same music is used for the lonely establishing shots of the ''Discovery'' in ''2001ASpaceOdyssey[[2001: A Space Odyssey]]''. Later, in the director's cut, there is a scene of people working on the colony on LV-426. In this scene, there is a low angle shot of a child riding on a Big Wheel tricycle. This could be a reference to ''[[The Shining]]''. This same tricycle was seen in the first ''[[Terminator]]'' movie, and again in ''Terminator 2''.

** In the first film, too, when Ripley says, "Ash, open the door!" after he locks her in the corridor. This line is spoken to a shipboard AI who's willing to kill off the crew for the sake of a secret mission, right at the moment that his intentions become known to the protagonist.

** The Director's Cut of ''Aliens'' has a [[Badass Boast]] speech from Hudson which mentions "phased plasma rifles.". Presumably in the 40-watt range.

{{quote| '''Ripley:''' You know, Burke, I don't know which species is worse. You don't see them fucking each other over for a goddamn percentage. }}

* [[Sole Survivor]]: Ripley in the original film, Newt in the ''Newt's Tale'' comic series, {{spoiler|Morse (from the Fury 161 prisoners}} in the third film, and Alexa in ''Alien vs. Predator''.

* [[Space Does Not Work That Way]]: The Newborn at the end of ''Alien Resurrection'' getting its entire body sucked through a dime-sized hole in the airlock window. If you were naked and subjected to the same conditions, you should be able to walk away in spite of the suction, and even if you didn't, you'd just get a dime-sized patch of frostbite on your back.

* [[Stanley Steamer Spaceship]]: Numerous examples across the entire main series and [[Crossover]] films. This includes the ''Nostromo'', the Sulaco (in the third film as the alarms are triggered), the Auriga, the Betty and even the downed Predator ship from ''Alien vs. Predator: Requiem''.

* [[Stock Subtitle]]: ''Alien: Resurrection''.

** In the first film, the alienAlien bursts out of Kane's chest in the middle of a cordial dinner.

** In the second film, {{spoiler|the alienAlien queen hides on the dropship and [[Impaled with Extreme Prejudice|impales]] Bishop with her tail}}.

* [[Symbolic Blood]]: Androids have white blood and organs. Naturally, both Ash and Bishop get torn apart so it sprays everywhere. In ''Alien'', the insides of Ash were made from milk, pasta, and glass marbles. Apparently, Lance Henriksen [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090605/trivia?tr0794428 got food poisoning] from said milky blood while shooting that scene.

* [[Take a Moment to Catch Your Death]]: In the second film, when Ripley, Newt and Bishop step off the dropship after escaping LV-426, Ripley takes a moment to thank the android for saving her and the young girl. Bishop replies that he did do good... and then he gets ripped in half by the xenomorphXenomorph queen, who hitched a ride up with them.

* [[Television Geography]]: In AVP2''Alien vs. Predator: Requiem'', virtually every shot of "Gunnison, Colorado" is wrong. Basically, the city is too big, and the mountains are too small.

** In ''Alien'', Ripley sets the ship on self-destruct and escapes in a shuttle. The Alien escapes onto the shuttle, but now it can't hide away anymore. {{spoiler|She dumps it out the shuttle's airlock, shoots it with a grappling gun when it grabs the opening, and then fries it with the engines when the gun gets caught in the door, and it tries to crawl back into the shuttle.}}.

** In ''Aliens'', the Marines and Ripley decide to nuke the colony LV-426 to make sure they wipe out all the Aliens. Averted because not only do the Aliens kill the pilot of the [[Drop Ship]], but the huge reactor blows up in a thermonuclear explosion -... making nuking the planet redundant.

** In ''Alien 3'', the inmates plot to kill the alienAlien by pouring several tons of molten lead on it. {{spoiler|It survives the lead, but not being doused with water immediately after, which pops it like a balloon.}}.

** In ''Alien: Resurrection'', they plan to blow up the ship. {{spoiler|That plan fails, so they crash it on Earth.}}.

* [[Took a Level Inin Badass]]: Ripley for one as she starts out as a simple commercial freighter officer and ends up kicking ass in ''Aliens''. Hudson also qualifies somewhat as he's a nervous wreck for most of the movie, but goes out with a bang.

* [[Traitor Shot]]: Bishop gets one that looks like this when he talks with Spunkmeyer about the facehuggerFacehugger specimens kept in the medical wing. He later proves to be a capable support character who rescues Ripley and Newt at a pivotal moment.

* [[United Space of America]]: itIt's all but explicitly stated that the US is still a superpower centuries in the future, complete with its own colonies. Also, the Colonial Marines are clearly shown as American.

* [[Villain Ball]]: In the Dark Horse comic, a Company plant (and a psychopath) kills an officer to prove to his hostages how ruthless he is, while said officer is attempting to flat-out tell him that his plan to infect the marines will not work {{spoiler|because they are all androids}}.

* [[Wall Crawl]]: ''Aliens'' and ''Alien³''.

* [[Why Isn't It Attacking?]]: Happened in ''Alien 3''. The creature gets to Ripley, who is helpless, and... hisses, and leaves. Of course, it's because {{spoiler|Ripley is hosting a queenQueen alienAlien}}.

* [[World of Snark]]: ''Alien: Resurrection'' was written by Joss Whedon. As a result, virtually every character in the movie is a [[Deadpan Snarker]].

* [[You Are in Command Now]]: Ripley in ''Alien'', Hicks in ''Aliens'', and Aaron in ''Alien 3''. In the Dark Horse comic series, at least at one point, it's ''Newt's'' turn to step up to the plate.

** [[Zombie Infectee]]: Most people who know they're incubated by an Alien Facehugger, and its effects, choose to bite the bullet or die in a [[Heroic Sacrifice]]. One memorable scene from ''Alien Resurrection'' involved an infectee bear-hugging the scientist responsible for his infection, forcing the Chestburster to go through his chest ''and'' the scientist's '''head''', [[Taking You with Me|taking his murderer with him to the afterlife]]. This was actually done in the comic, many years before, but the artists had the creature enter the researcher's chest.

[[Category:Horror Films{{PAGENAME}}]]

[[Category:Seiun AwardFilm]]

[[Category:RiffHorror Trax (Podcast)Films]]

[[Category:OneThe Hundred100 Scariest Movie Moments]]

[[Category:AlienRiff Trax]]