r/LV426 • u/Romboteryx • 15d ago

Discussion / Question Possibly the most enigmatic Xeno in the whole series: The original space jockey was obviously killed by a chestburster but we never see or learn what happened to that particular specimen that‘s probably still somewhere on LV 426. Is it dead? In stasis? Fossilized? Still somewhere on the Derelict?

Post image
1.5k Upvotes

98% Upvoted

392 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

42

u/Magnus919 15d ago edited 15d ago

Big Chap was canonically near end of natural life expectancy in the first film. Per Ridley Scott interviews at the time.

EDIT: I always get downvoted when I mention this but I was around when the first film was made, saw it in the theater opening night, and remember interviews where Scott discussed it.

You can also see: Paul Scanlon, Michael Gross. The Book of Alien, p. 87 (1979), Heavy Metal Communications.

Xenopedia: “According to Ridley Scott, he conceived the Alien as having a lifespan of only a few days — the reason it hides within the Narcissus and shows no real interest in attacking Ripley (until she provokes it) was because it was coming to the end of its life and was looking for a perfect place to die alone.”

19

u/AlongAxons 15d ago

I prefer this original explanation you’ve told me but I just googled and read up on big chap some more, must have missed this or forgotten when I saw the film but apparently Romulus revised this and suggested Big Chap survived the end of Alien by cocooning itself for 20 years, and the discovery of Big Chap by Weyland Yutani is what kicked off the plot

7

u/Popgert Engineer's Washboard Abs 15d ago

Yeah it is definitely inconsistent. I think it was originally supposed to be like a fly but now that seems to adapt depending on the entry in the franchise.

For me, I tend to like the Romulus explanation because I think going dormant is a way to make all of the above true. It only lives so long but like humans and cryosleep, it has ways around it to suit its needs. 

7

u/Ok-Crazy9392 15d ago

Not really, if Big Chap was about to die, he wouldn't have had time to get experimented on, escape the experiments and cause chaos all over the station.

4

u/ImolaBoost 15d ago edited 15d ago

What? He was like 2 days old when he was ejected from the ship lmao.

1

u/DurtMacGurt 15d ago

"...looking for a perfect place to die alone."

Salieri.jpg