Deacon

Deacon
Physical Description
Height	Smaller than the Last Engineer (at birth)
Skin color	Blue
Other Information
Homeworld	LV-223

The Deacon was a Xenomorph-like creature formed following the Trilobite's impregnation of the Last Engineer.

History

The Deacon was an accidental result of the Engineers' Chemical A0-3959X.91 – 15 that was originally used as a bio weapon as well as presumably creating life. The Liquid infected Charlie Holloway, who impregnated Elizabeth Shaw with a Trilobite. This Trilobite eventually matured and impregnated an Engineer on LV-223, whereupon the Deacon developed and burst from the Engineer's chest. Sometime later, more visitors arrived on LV-223 and after a series of events, the survivors arrived at a mountain with acidic "veins" that had grown around the Prometheus life-boat. Eldon assumes that whatever was on board the life-boat became the mountain, implying it to be the Deacon.   

Characteristics

The Deacon has a blue smooth body, four fingers and a thumb and plantigrade legs. Their mouth possesses two different teeth sets, the top Jaw having teeth typical to herbivores, while its lower jaw had sharp teeth spread apart, the gum that protrudes behind the top possesses sharp teeth.

Differences from Xenomorphs

The biggest difference between Xenomorphs and the Deacon is the host they come from. As with all Xenomorphs, they gain different characteristics from their hosts. It is important to note how the birth of this creature is different from the majority of Xenomorph births - it was born with arms and legs, while most other Xenomorphs born of humanoid hosts lack legs and arms before maturing. Instead of having a second inner jaw like the Xenomorph, the Deacon had a single set of protrusible jaws more akin to those of the goblin shark, where the upper jaw can unhinge and move forwards. The deacon also lacks any bio-mechanical features, being nearly completely smooth, with exception of some ribs showing.

Unlike most Xenomorph Chestbursters encountered by humans (which push forwards out of their host's body), the Deacon used the sharp back end of its head to tear a way out of its host.

The incubation of the Deacon seems to kill its host given the size of it when it finally emerges, meaning all organs would be torn or crushed.

List of Known Victims

• Last Engineer (host)

Behind the Scenes

Deacon/Xenomorph

There is apparently some confusion over whether or not the Deacon is intended to be some kind of Xenomorph, largely brought about by the major script revisions made on Prometheus during development (originally, the Xenomorphs were to feature in the film) and as a result of the production team occasionally referring to the creature as a Protomorph or Proto-Xenomorph (terms carried over from earlier script drafts).

However, evidence suggests the Deacon is not supposed to be a Xenomorph breed, or even a progenitor to the Xenomorph race. A mural of a fully-grown Xenomorph, resembling a Drone, can be seen on the wall of the Engineer Temple on LV-223, indicating that the Xenomorphs already exist by the time of Prometheus. The film's co-writer, Damon Lindelof, has stated, "I felt that the punchline of Prometheus was going to be that there is human DNA in what we have come to know as the human Xenomorph." However, his key use of the word "was" confirms this concept was eventually dropped from the final film.

Furthermore, the Deacon is not a creature created by a Facehugger impregnating an Engineer, but rather is created by a Trilobite. In the film's original script, an Engineer did become impregnated by a Facehugger, leading to an Engineer-spawned Xenomorph, although this was later changed when 20th Century Fox pressed Ridley Scott to remove the Xenomorph from the story altogether.

Despite not being a Xenomorph, the Deacon shares undeniable similarities with the former species, including the use of a living host as a means of gestation. Both the Deacon and the Xenomorph also possess a skeletal frame, an elongated head and an inner-jaw (although the Deacon's inner jaw is notably different to that of the Xenomorph). These similarities have likely only fueled opinions that the Xenomorph and the Deacon are supposed to be related.

Name origin

The creature's production name became known as "The Deacon" because according to Prometheus director Ridley Scott its head looks like a Bishop's mitre, the Christian church Deacon's pointed hat.

Trivia

• The Deacon was originally intended to have more screen time following its birth, pursuing Shaw and David to the second Juggernaut ship and narrowly missing them as they leave the planet.
• The Deacon bears a resemblance to the larger Xenomorphs (simply referred to as "Aliens") encountered in the Game Boy version of Alien 3, being similar in size and body structure (barring the addition of a tail), and having a pointed cone-like head.

Appearances

• Prometheus
• Prometheus: Fire and Stone
• Aliens: Fire and Stone
• Prometheus: Fire and Stone - Omega

Gallery

"Newborn" Deacon

The Deacon NECA figure.

Concept art from Prometheus, showing a comparison between the original Xenomorph from Alien and the Deacon.