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Xenopedia


The Neomorph (Plagiarus celerius), also known by the forces of the Union of Progressive Peoples as the Heomopf, was an endoparasitoid extraterrestrial species created by a mysterious pathogen. While the Neomorph shared some characteristics with the infamous Xenomorph, most notably its reproductive process of gestating inside a living host organism and an elongated head, it was otherwise markedly different.

Two of the creatures were first encountered by the crew of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation colony ship USCSS Covenant while they explored an uncharted planet. Examples of the Neomorph were later encountered during incidents on LV-991 and the Union of Progressive Peoples mining planet Shānmén.

Characteristics[]

Pods releasing spores through air

"Egg sacs" releasing motes.

The Neomorphs were the result of the local ecosystem on the planet to which David traveled after leaving LV-223 becoming altered by the black liquid. Specifically, the liquid caused small, black, spherical, fungus-like egg sacs to form on the ground. When disturbed, these egg sacks would release a cloud of microscopic insect-like spores (motes) into the air that would then enter a host organism through any open orifice — such as the nostrils or ear canal. Once a host was infected with the airborne contagion, the spores would enter the bloodstream and proceed to cause a Bloodburster to grow inside of them until they violently puncture the skin and claw their way out of the host's body. This process was notably similar to the Xenomorph Chestburster, although the exact point of emergence varied depending on how the host was infected. As with Xenomorphs, the appearance and characteristics of the Neomorph depend on what sort of animal it was spawned from. Unlike the Xenomorphs, were more organic in appearance and lacked biomechanical aspects.

Neomorphs

The Neomorph "Bloodburster" tearing its way out of Ledward.

When spawned from a human host, the creature was born with arms and legs and initially moved in a quadrupedal manner not unlike a Runner. As the grew however, the Neomorph adopted a bipedal stance. It's initially bulbous head upon birth became elongated and pointy. The creature had pale, white-grey skin with a somewhat translucent appearance akin to a Hammerpede. The Neomorph sported a fleshy tail tipped with spikes that could be used as a devastating slashing and battering weapon, and a large number of silvery fangs in their mouth, which appeared circular when closed. Their blood was thick and yellow in color, but notably not acidic.

Immature Neomorph

Notably, individual Neomorphs appeared to display physical variance. For instance, one of the creatures featured a pair of sharp, bony dorsal spikes on their back that assisted them in breaking out of their host, whereas the other individual encountered lacked these features. The presence of spikes in question could be developed in response of its amniotic sac ended up in a difficult-to-emerge-from location during gestation process.

Behavior[]

In terms of behavior, the Neomorph was far more feral and animalistic than a typical Xenomorph, to the point even their newborns were aggressive and would attack anyone on sight. While their intelligence not surprisingly subpar in comparison of Xenomorphs at best[3], they were nevertheless as capable when it came about stealth tactics; the Neomorph which killed Rosie snuck up on her and did nothing until she turned around, which it then regarded her for a moment before suddenly mauling her. Whether this was deliberate, or just the creature being morbidly curious was debatable.[4]

While dangerously aggressive, Neomorphs were frequently seen to attack their preys to feed indicating the need of flesh to survive. Xenomorphs by contrast, depicted doing this sparsely considering documented cases indicated the creatures consumed their kills and used up hosts in order to quickly replenish energy lost from demanding activities such as fight and chase.

Neomorph exposing its goblin shark-like protruding jaws.

Unlike a typical Xenomorph, Neomorphs lacked an extendable Inner jaw which can be used to attack. Instead, their "gums" extended out in a manner similar to the Deacon. Also, while the teeth of a Xenomorph's outer jaws were usually visible, a Neomorph's jawline almost invisible when closed.

According to David, the Engineer's black liquid mutagen was intended to create hybrid creatures like the Neomorph that would instinctively hunt down and kill all non-botanical, animal life in an ecosystem - "the meat". Notably, when one Neomorph encountered David, it apparently recognized that he was a synthetic android - and thus instead of attacking him, simply stood still and regarded him -- although a Neomorph had previously bitten off Walter's arm when he attacked it. Xenomorphs, in contrast, had been observed attacking synthetics - possibly another example of their greater intelligence compared to Neomorphs, whose behavior seems to be based more on animal instinct.

Life Cycle[]

Stage I: Neomorphic Egg Sacs[]

Main article: Neomorphic Egg Sacs

The initial stage in the Neomorphs' life cycle was the egg sack, a fungal-like growth found in clusters throughout Planet 4 as a result of their contamination with the mutagenic Chemical A0-3959X.91 – 15 pathogen.

Neomorph Life Cycle

Neomorph life cycle.

Stage II: Motes[]

If and when the Egg Sac was damaged or otherwise disturbed by a potential host, they released a cluster of spore-like motes that conglomerated into an airborne mass. The motes possessed a rudimentary hive intelligence and infected the nearest viable host organism through an orifice such as an auditory canal or nostril. The motes themselves were extremely small in appearance, no larger than a grain of sand, though they could still be vaguely visible when clustered together. They appeared to be extremely tiny parasitic insects when viewed under a microscope.[5]

Stage III: Bloodburster[]

Main article: Bloodburster

Once inside a host organism, the motes burrowed into their body, extend an ovipositor, and injected Agent A0-3959X.91 – 15 into their bloodstream.[6]The pathogen re-wrote the DNA of the host and instigated the growth of a small tumor within a vein or arterial wall, within which the larval 'Bloodburster' rapidly gestated in a matter of hours, before violently emerging and killing the host organism. If the amniotic sac was located in a difficult-to-emerge-from location, the Bloodburster could use the sharp dorsal spines and pointed head to pierce and rip through flesh and bone. They were notably hostile towards other organisms upon birth, and would attack anything deemed a threat.

Stage IV: Neophyte[]

A Bloodburster would soon grow into a juvenile Neomorph, known as a Neophyte,[7] within a matter of hours. Voracious carnivores, they grew from 1.2-1.8 metres tall,[8] and were just as aggressive and tenacious as their adult counterparts.

Stage V: Neomorph[]

Eventually, the Neophyte would reach full maturity, reaching a rough height of 2.1 metres or more. A Bloodburster's bulbous head would since have grown into a fully elongated, pointed shape and adopted a bipedal stance.

Unlike Xenos, Neomorphs had an incredibly short lifespan, and they typically died within 24 hours of their birth.[9] Fungus that interacted with the corpse of a Neomorph will be transformed into new Egg Sacs, restarting the cycle.[10]

History[]

Following David's attack on the Engineer settlement with the Chemical A0-3959X.91 – 15 pathogen, the Neomorphs were one of the hybridized parasitic organisms to arise from the mutagen contaminating the planet's ecosystem. David's laboratory in the lower levels of the Engineer temple contains specimens of each stage of the Neomorphs' life cycle; and several immature and embryonic Neomorph specimens, the failed results of his biogenetic experiments to create the perfect organism.

Two members of the Covenant's security detail, Ledward, and Hallett, were infected by the spores, Ledward through his ear and Hallett through his nose. Both men were killed when the creatures emerged from them; the infant inside Ledward ripped out of the man's back while he was being treated aboard the Covenant's dropship, while the infant Neomorph inside Hallett erupted from the man's mouth. The Neomorph spawned from Ledward attacked and heavily mauled Karine before attacking Faris, escaping when the latter accidentally destroyed the dropship in an attempt to kill it. Both Neomorphs ran off into the night, while the surviving crew members were left stranded in the wheat field.

Soon afterward, the two Neomorphs returned attacked the crew. When one of the Neomorphs leaped at Daniels, Walter tackled the creature, before having his hand bitten off. The creature then struck Walter with its tail, throwing him aside before redirecting its attention to the rest of the crew. The security officers attempted to shoot the creature dead, but this only angered it, causing it to lash out and strike Ankor with its tail, mutilating his face and killing him. It then attacked Daniels before being shot dead by Rosie. Seconds later, the second Neomorph appeared and attacked Rosie, taking her to the ground. The Neomorph nearly mauled her to death, but she was saved when David fired a flare gun into the air, scaring it off.

The second creature survived to maturity, infiltrating David's temple and killing Rosie by tearing off her head with its jaws. The Neomorph was discovered feeding on her corpse by David, who attempted to communicate with and tame it. Chris Oram arrived moments later. Against David's wishes, an enraged Oram shot the creature dead.

Darkstar[]

Following the destruction of the UPP-owned Rodina Station after a presumed outbreak, scouts managed to acquire remnants of Plagiarus praepotens cells, resulting in the formation of lab sites across the UA border and Borderline Region under the 'Darkstar Program', headed by the Ministry of Space Security. Scientists eventually managed to reconstruct the damaged chromosomes into a Neomorphic genome, successfully conjuring Neomorph specimens.[11] The UPP have since preferred producing these 'Heomopfs' over the traditional Xenomorph XX121, as their extremely short lifespan proved a viable and controllable bioweapon, albeit with the troubling catch of a Neomorph corpse producing hazardous Egg sacks.[12]

Behind the Scenes[]

64739-1-

Concept art of the Beluga-Xenomorph.

The name "Neomorph" was first accidentally revealed by actor Michael Fassbender in an interview with Mark Goodier on BBC Radio 2, broadcast on October 20, 2016.[13] Four days later, AvPGalaxy published an exclusive article revealing more about the creatures. The creature has been described by the production crew as a new, "natural" variation of the Xenomorph.[14] The Neomorph's physical appearance has been noted as being similar to the Beluga-Xenomorph from the early Prometheus script Alien: Engineers.[14] Moreover, the means by which hosts are infected through airborne contagion bears notable similarities to aspects of William Gibson's unproduced script for Alien3, in which the regular Xenomorph develops an ability to procreate via an airborne form.

Neomorph motion capture javier b

Alien: Covenant VFX, Neomorph motion capture.

The motion-capture performance for the Neomorphs was provided by Javier Botet, a Spanish actor with Marfan syndrome who is known for his roles in horror films such as Rec (2007) and Mama (2013). He also provided motion capture for Praetomorph.[15]

Trivia[]

  • Neomorphs are referred to by the Union of Progressive Peoples as 'Heomopfs'.[16]
  • The Neomorph's physiology was inspired by the Goblin Shark.[17] Its teeth are able to come forward when attacking prey, so as to do more damage by pointing directly out, allowing for better grip. The creature's mouth, when closed, appears similar to that of an anal sphincter.
    • In addition to this, its appearance seems to have been taken from the Beluga-morph from the early Prometheus concepts.
  • Upon emergence, the Neomorph greatly resembles a Runner chestburster, having limbs and moving quadrupedally. It becomes more humanoid and bipedal upon maturity.
  • According to director Ridley Scott, the Neomorph is the first generation of Alien.
    • The word Neo is a prefix from Ancient Greek, meaning "new, young".
  • The extended material of the Alien: Covenant Blu-ray, contains scenes from David's lab known as "Advent". This short video shows David mixing various parts from Neomorphs and possibly Shaw's mutated eggs, using black goo as a catalyst, in order to create his Xenomorph eggs.
  • There are notable differences between the Neomorph from the film and the NECA figure; the film version has smaller spikes on its back, longer jaw and spiky teeth, while NECA version has shorter jaw with more human teeth, visible tongue, and two long spikes on its back. That's because NECA has been provided with concept art by Colin Shulver.

Appearances[]

Gallery[]

Concept art[]

Figures[]

References[]

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