One thing the Alien franchise is known for is its creatively hideous array of creatures. Alien: Earth is, of course, no exception, bringing back some famous(ly horrible) monsters from movies past while adding some new (and equally nausea-inducing) critters we’ve never seen before.
As we find out in episode 1, there are five specimens onboard the doomed Weyland-Yutani USCSS Maginot spaceship that crash lands back to Earth. So what are these aliens, and what do we know about them so far?
1. Xenomorph
If you’ve seen Alien, you already know all about this one. The franchise’s main antagonist, the Xenomorph takes various forms in its lifecycle: First hatching out of an egg to latch onto the face of a victim (Facehugger mode) and planting an egg inside them, gestating, then bursting out of their chest (Chestburster mode), and finally growing into the full-sized alien that stalked Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) and the Nostromo crew back in the 1979 movie.
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2. Ticks
We see these nasty little bloaters in in episode 1 burrowing into a dead rat in the Maginot’s onboard laboratory. It turns out to be a fairly gruesome foreshadowing of what they’re capable of later in the episode, when they tuck into the Prodigy soldiers that head of security Morrow (Babou Ceesay) ties up inside the spaceship after it crashes on Earth. They seem to go for a vein, attach themselves, and suck their victim’s blood just like an Earthly tick.
3. Flies
We don’t know too much about these ones yet from the little we’ve seen of them in the first two episodes, but a winged version of anything from the Alien universe can’t be good, can it? Let’s hope they don’t escape their containers.
4. Plant pods, aka D. Plumbicare
The hybrids find a large, ominous-looking plant pod hanging from the ceiling of the Maginot in episode 2.
“It presents as flora, but it may be fauna,” says Kirsh (Timothy Olyphant), peering at the bulbous specimen. The thing is clearly aware of its surroundings, too — after Kirsh has wandered off the petals unfurl, producing a kind of stamen on the end of a tentacle that appears to be examining Tootles (Kit Young). Ick.
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In episode 3, we get more information on this plant when Kirsh looks at a computer screen in the lab with information about the specimen.
“Science officer has given tentative taxonomic classification of D. Plumbicare due to the use of plumage to lure unsuspecting prey, a stamen to sense prey, and a pattern of ‘leaves’ which form a mouth,” reads the screen. “Though generally confined to carnivory, D. Plumbicare has been seen eating nearby flora in dire situations. Animals given to D. Plumbicare have expired in one of three ways: asphyxiation, dissolve, or exhaustion.
“Stamen also acts as a gauge of atmospheric pressure and temperature. When conditions become inhospitable or a threat to survival, D. Plumbicare closes completely. When attempting to open a closed D. Plumbicare, many kilograms of pressure were applied to no avail. Once back on Earth, further testing needed to confirm strength of leaves. A carnivorous plant, not dissimilar to the terran genus Dionaea.”
5. T. Ocellus
Vying strongly for the top spot of the “most disgusting new alien” podium is this little eight-legged nightmare, seen in episode 2 burrowing into the eyeball of the Maginot’s resident cat and re-animating the poor creature before attacking our hybrid friends.
We have a little more information about this one thanks to the flickering computer terminal in the downed spaceship lab that Kirsh plugs himself into, which happens to be helpfully open on a page all about the mini octopus.
“A smooth scolex features several ocular irises and a tentacle system that can grow or retract at will,” reads the screen. “The tentacles carry extraordinary strength and are built to climb into and dislodge the eyes of other living organisms. Once replaced in the eye socket, T. Ocellus takes over the ocular pathways to the brain, overriding the neuro-transmissions throughout the body. More study needed to gauge inherent intelligence, though the Ocellus has shown remarkable problem solving abilities at a near-human measure. A complete surprise.”
We’ll continue updating this piece as we learn more about our specimens in the coming weeks…
Alien: Earth premieres Aug. 12 at 8 p.m. ET on Hulu and FX with two episodes, then weekly on Tuesdays.
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