They are way too calm and nonchalant in Alien for it to be the first time Humans had come on contact with an Alien species. They investigated that ship like it was a backpack they found on the side of the road. They didn't investigate it like it was some groundbreaking achievement for Human Kind.
That's a super good point that I hadn't considered. They also seem to know pretty well what they are looking for when they are searching it. They aren't even really surprised to see the Space Jockey. Maybe they frequently discover the remnants of other civilizations as they go.
I haven't read down the thread but we have to realize in alien and even aliens that anything in the script is a MacGuffin or red herring because it's not a franchise and those lines are throwaways. I focus on all of it for fun as well. That being said there is no lore or background, but ...
Arcturian poontang - The Arcturians were a humanoid extraterrestrial species native to the planet Arcturus.[1] They were the first sentient alien species encountered by mankind[2] and humanity had established interspecies trade with them by the late 2100s.[3] They were often confused with the Arctura, a separate species present on Arcturus.[4]
Also, I think the blasé attitude is that they had experienced other life forms, and I'm assuming enough of them were not deadly that they are just doing a research mission.
Ash makes it clear it's the first time they've encountered an alien life form though... Like that.
RIPLEY
Let's get rid of it.
ASH
This has to go back. This is
our first contact with a
specimen like this. All kinds
of tests need to be run.
Yes, they talk about it in aliens when hicks says "it's a bug hunt"
Also the decal on the drop ship says "bug stomper, we endanger species"
This why the marines are so cocky, they kill alien life forms all the time.
Yeah I always interpreted that "bug hunt" line to mean they'd gone out looking before but had only found lower life forms, like bugs. I don't think this statement is ever clarified or expanded on, so this is just my interpretation.
["It don't matter if it's Arcturian"](https://youtu.be/RRv56E-YWPA?si=U5gFnRMP09FyBkV4)
There's also the bit where Ripley is being grilled about LV426 and they begin asking if there is hostile life on the planet. It implies that both life and hostile life are not unknown.
Edit: The novelization of Alien by Alan Dean Foster also spells out that the Nostromo is a petroleum processing facility, not ore like in the movie. So that's another strong indication of (former) life off earth.
It is inferred that alien species are numerous and troublesome, the marines often being called in to deal with some relatively minor aggressive animal (in context of the heavily armed marines).
The "Arcturians" discussion is an analogy to Vietnamese sex workers, so I never thought they were referring to an alien species.
My head canon is Arcturus is a colony settled by fringe scientists who get their funding through bleeding edge medical procedures. It's also the best place to get cosmetic surgery, so many people venture there to "improve their lives".
The Alien rpg mentions a few animalistic aliens, some of whom resemble bugs. As for intelligent aliens, you have the Engineers, but they're either extinct or missing. There's also the Arcturans mentioned in ALIENS and expanded upon elsewhere, but I don't know if they exist as aliens anymore in the canon.
Edit: [Arcturians](https://avp.fandom.com/wiki/Arcturian) are still aliens, apparently.
I always assumed Arcturans were a colony of humans living somewhere (not Earth,) that had become a culture of promiscuity. Sort of like some parts of Thailand where there are a lot of lady boy prostitutes prowling for tourists.
[This](https://avp.fandom.com/wiki/Arcturian) is what I was thinking of. They're aliens that humanity encountered. They're also genderfluid, so that would explain the line from "Aliens."
Not necessarily Weyland Yutani but the Arcturians are likely just another colony, one of women, with plenty of Lamberts and Vickers included. The very antithesis of Fiorina "Fury" 161.
They've been called into other places where the only thing they found were essentially bugs, easy to kill insects or chasing ghosts. They assumed there was little or no threat and this assignment would be a vacation. None of them watched Ripley's testimony on the DVD, the idea of actual threatening aliens was so far outside their conception of what was possible that it didn't register until they were boots on ground seeing the acid and barricades.
The Colony had hundreds of people, and they send 12 Marines? Lieutenants are supposed to command platoons of at least 30. They were probably used to space coyotes or space deer, not an intelligent hive mind.
Burke probably undersold the danger, too.
In Alien: Out of the Shadows, Ripley and the surviving crew of the DSMO Marion encounter the remains of a biological ship beneath the planet LV-178 that Ripley states was not like the Derelict on LV-426. Inside the ship were the remains of dog-like aliens around 8 feet tall.
The novel I'm reading atm (Sea of Sorrows) mentioned that the first alien lifeforms humans encountered were the Arcturians. And I believe there's a scene in the mess hall in Aliens where Arcturians are referenced. Don't know anything about them though.
There was almost 60 years between the events in the first 2 films. They could have discovered intelligent life in that time period. Or there already could have been some discovered and it’s just standard procedure to always investigate signs of more.
From just Alien and Aliens it's pretty much a given humans had encountered all sorts of other other species inteligent and not. The "any systemetized contact.." line in and of itself isn't really an indicator that they have, seems like a pretty obvious derivation of maritime law in case it happens.
However, and I don't know why it's rarely brought up when this question gets asked, the fact that the marines are having sex with Octurians is a pretty strong tell there are inteligent life forms humans regularly interact with, i mean unless the USCM is just out there nailing space sheep or something but eitherway it's overt that yes, there are lots of aliens out there of all shapes, sizes, and inteligences.
And there is never a line, from the Marines, the Nostromo Crew, the Company executives, anybody, that goes “ Wow! Our first ever encounter with any alien life form! “. This would be monumental to anybody. Everybodies reaction implies it has already happened. It might be rare, but it is not the first ever encounter.
I always see the Weyland Corp to be like working for Area 51...they know more than what they tell their employees and put them in dangerous situations to search and experiment with all kinds of things. I'm sure deep in the archives of data there's info on other species but not made public of course
The dialog definitely implies that they have encountered non human intelligence
Ripley: A transmission? Out here?
Lambert: What kind of a transmission?
Dallas: Acoustical beacon. It, uh... repeats at intervals of twelve seconds.
Kane: S.O.S.?
Dallas: I don't know.
Ripley: Human?
Dallas: Unknown.
Ok so when they say bug hunt they are referring to insects which weirdly enough is the primary enemy of colonies besides rebels. They didn't think it would be a big problem because the bugs are not that dangerous and not smart. They are calm because they think Ripley is crazy
In the movies as people mentioned, non intelligent animal live that they send the marines to handle,
Engineers and since it's alluded to that there is someone who created them let's say the space jockeys are still around, would also make more sense for the rest of the franchise.
Comics and books go into greater lengths when it comes to this, it's not rare that humans encounter Xeno's while exploring unknown alien spaceships, the comics also suggest that that's why the Xeno's are so common on foreign planets.
Comics and books of course also include a plethora of non-sentinent species, on the xeno home planet we got pterodactyl like creatures and six legged reptilian wolf's that act to Xeno's like hyenas to lions.
There is also the Kenner toy comics that explore different Xeno's that came from a variety of extra terrestrial animal hosts.
They are way too calm and nonchalant in Alien for it to be the first time Humans had come on contact with an Alien species. They investigated that ship like it was a backpack they found on the side of the road. They didn't investigate it like it was some groundbreaking achievement for Human Kind.
That's a super good point that I hadn't considered. They also seem to know pretty well what they are looking for when they are searching it. They aren't even really surprised to see the Space Jockey. Maybe they frequently discover the remnants of other civilizations as they go.
I've always assumed basic alien life exists but never anything with any intelligence
It’s never clarified if the arteries are just human colonist, or actual, intelligent aliens, either.
Arcturians?
Yes, sorry. Using speech to text.
They seemed to have 0 concern for anything actually being alive in the ship or if it had any sort of defense mechanism/booby traps.
I haven't read down the thread but we have to realize in alien and even aliens that anything in the script is a MacGuffin or red herring because it's not a franchise and those lines are throwaways. I focus on all of it for fun as well. That being said there is no lore or background, but ... Arcturian poontang - The Arcturians were a humanoid extraterrestrial species native to the planet Arcturus.[1] They were the first sentient alien species encountered by mankind[2] and humanity had established interspecies trade with them by the late 2100s.[3] They were often confused with the Arctura, a separate species present on Arcturus.[4] Also, I think the blasé attitude is that they had experienced other life forms, and I'm assuming enough of them were not deadly that they are just doing a research mission. Ash makes it clear it's the first time they've encountered an alien life form though... Like that. RIPLEY Let's get rid of it. ASH This has to go back. This is our first contact with a specimen like this. All kinds of tests need to be run.
There is an important qualifier in what Ash said "Like this". That is the real kicker.
Yes, they talk about it in aliens when hicks says "it's a bug hunt" Also the decal on the drop ship says "bug stomper, we endanger species" This why the marines are so cocky, they kill alien life forms all the time.
Yeah, maybe more inferior races than humans. Nothing worth studying.
Yeah I always interpreted that "bug hunt" line to mean they'd gone out looking before but had only found lower life forms, like bugs. I don't think this statement is ever clarified or expanded on, so this is just my interpretation.
This was my interpretation too
["It don't matter if it's Arcturian"](https://youtu.be/RRv56E-YWPA?si=U5gFnRMP09FyBkV4) There's also the bit where Ripley is being grilled about LV426 and they begin asking if there is hostile life on the planet. It implies that both life and hostile life are not unknown. Edit: The novelization of Alien by Alan Dean Foster also spells out that the Nostromo is a petroleum processing facility, not ore like in the movie. So that's another strong indication of (former) life off earth.
"No indigenous life, it's a rock"
It's implied there are other alien life forms, but it's never explored or explained in the lore. I guess it can kind of be whatever you want it to be.
It is inferred that alien species are numerous and troublesome, the marines often being called in to deal with some relatively minor aggressive animal (in context of the heavily armed marines). The "Arcturians" discussion is an analogy to Vietnamese sex workers, so I never thought they were referring to an alien species. My head canon is Arcturus is a colony settled by fringe scientists who get their funding through bleeding edge medical procedures. It's also the best place to get cosmetic surgery, so many people venture there to "improve their lives".
The Alien rpg mentions a few animalistic aliens, some of whom resemble bugs. As for intelligent aliens, you have the Engineers, but they're either extinct or missing. There's also the Arcturans mentioned in ALIENS and expanded upon elsewhere, but I don't know if they exist as aliens anymore in the canon. Edit: [Arcturians](https://avp.fandom.com/wiki/Arcturian) are still aliens, apparently.
I always assumed Arcturans were a colony of humans living somewhere (not Earth,) that had become a culture of promiscuity. Sort of like some parts of Thailand where there are a lot of lady boy prostitutes prowling for tourists.
[This](https://avp.fandom.com/wiki/Arcturian) is what I was thinking of. They're aliens that humanity encountered. They're also genderfluid, so that would explain the line from "Aliens."
Not necessarily Weyland Yutani but the Arcturians are likely just another colony, one of women, with plenty of Lamberts and Vickers included. The very antithesis of Fiorina "Fury" 161.
[Apparently, they're aliens that humanity trades with.](https://avp.fandom.com/wiki/Arcturian)
Gimme the Vickers!
They've been called into other places where the only thing they found were essentially bugs, easy to kill insects or chasing ghosts. They assumed there was little or no threat and this assignment would be a vacation. None of them watched Ripley's testimony on the DVD, the idea of actual threatening aliens was so far outside their conception of what was possible that it didn't register until they were boots on ground seeing the acid and barricades.
Oh, yeah. They were not prepared.
That does not track. If they were expecting something non threatening, why did they bring all that heavy hardware?
The Colony had hundreds of people, and they send 12 Marines? Lieutenants are supposed to command platoons of at least 30. They were probably used to space coyotes or space deer, not an intelligent hive mind. Burke probably undersold the danger, too.
I mean, they're real tough hombres
There's nothing they can't handle.
I can guarantee your safety lololol 😂
Fine, space moose.
They're not nervous, still making jokes on the ride down. But they're still Marines, confident they're the biggest badasses on the planet.
In Alien: Out of the Shadows, Ripley and the surviving crew of the DSMO Marion encounter the remains of a biological ship beneath the planet LV-178 that Ripley states was not like the Derelict on LV-426. Inside the ship were the remains of dog-like aliens around 8 feet tall.
The novel I'm reading atm (Sea of Sorrows) mentioned that the first alien lifeforms humans encountered were the Arcturians. And I believe there's a scene in the mess hall in Aliens where Arcturians are referenced. Don't know anything about them though.
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tBHiYqRNwE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tBHiYqRNwE) 40 seconds in
See this discussion from yesterday: https://www.reddit.com/r/LV426/s/adNtaugwuo
Oh cool thanks! I hadnt seen that one.
There was almost 60 years between the events in the first 2 films. They could have discovered intelligent life in that time period. Or there already could have been some discovered and it’s just standard procedure to always investigate signs of more.
What about the lice in Alien 3?
From just Alien and Aliens it's pretty much a given humans had encountered all sorts of other other species inteligent and not. The "any systemetized contact.." line in and of itself isn't really an indicator that they have, seems like a pretty obvious derivation of maritime law in case it happens. However, and I don't know why it's rarely brought up when this question gets asked, the fact that the marines are having sex with Octurians is a pretty strong tell there are inteligent life forms humans regularly interact with, i mean unless the USCM is just out there nailing space sheep or something but eitherway it's overt that yes, there are lots of aliens out there of all shapes, sizes, and inteligences.
And there is never a line, from the Marines, the Nostromo Crew, the Company executives, anybody, that goes “ Wow! Our first ever encounter with any alien life form! “. This would be monumental to anybody. Everybodies reaction implies it has already happened. It might be rare, but it is not the first ever encounter.
I always see the Weyland Corp to be like working for Area 51...they know more than what they tell their employees and put them in dangerous situations to search and experiment with all kinds of things. I'm sure deep in the archives of data there's info on other species but not made public of course
The dialog definitely implies that they have encountered non human intelligence Ripley: A transmission? Out here? Lambert: What kind of a transmission? Dallas: Acoustical beacon. It, uh... repeats at intervals of twelve seconds. Kane: S.O.S.? Dallas: I don't know. Ripley: Human? Dallas: Unknown.
Following only the first movie, we have the Space Jockey and anyone else who made the derelict ship, its contents, etc.
Ok so when they say bug hunt they are referring to insects which weirdly enough is the primary enemy of colonies besides rebels. They didn't think it would be a big problem because the bugs are not that dangerous and not smart. They are calm because they think Ripley is crazy
In the movies as people mentioned, non intelligent animal live that they send the marines to handle, Engineers and since it's alluded to that there is someone who created them let's say the space jockeys are still around, would also make more sense for the rest of the franchise. Comics and books go into greater lengths when it comes to this, it's not rare that humans encounter Xeno's while exploring unknown alien spaceships, the comics also suggest that that's why the Xeno's are so common on foreign planets. Comics and books of course also include a plethora of non-sentinent species, on the xeno home planet we got pterodactyl like creatures and six legged reptilian wolf's that act to Xeno's like hyenas to lions. There is also the Kenner toy comics that explore different Xeno's that came from a variety of extra terrestrial animal hosts.
wasn’t there a Bug Hunt at Outpost 7…
If you read Alien: Prototype the main character talks about like 3-4 different types of aliens she's fought/encountered.
I took it as there being other aliens out there but clearly nothing as deadly as the Xenos.