Skip to main content

alien franchise - What info is available about the Engineers from Prometheus?


I just saw the film Prometheus today, and as a sci-fi fan I was more than pleased. However, the story made me curious, and I would like to know more about the Engineers.


For example (possible spoiler):



Why did they create the human race and why did they want to destroy it afterwards? And is there a more complex reason for them to create the alien creatures besides using them as a weapon?




I do not know much about the Alien franchise and I've barely seen some fragments from the original films, but I do know there also some Alien comics and I was wondering if there are maybe some more things explained there.



Answer



Xenopedia has a very detailed article about the Engineers. It looks like the Alien universe isn't the most consistent, so there isn't really a consistent answer.


Within the movie universe, however, there isn't much said about them, so I'm free to speculate. It's spoilers all the way down.



I believe there are two warring factions in the engineer race. The first faction strives to create life, seeding worlds with its DNA. The other faction fights against this goal, by destroying that life.

The first engineer we see is dressed in a simple robe and drinks the black liquid in what seems like a religous ceremony. I imagine he was chosen for this duty because of his excellent DNA. Look at the guy: he's beautiful. The ship that brought him to earth is saucer-shaped and probably dropped other engineers on other parts of the planet. It's probably a transport ship carrying lots of engineers.

Contrast with the engineer seen in the second half of the movie. He appears to dress like a warrior and clearly doesn't like humans. Also, his ship is different: its purpose is to deliver the modifying, destructive black liquid.



I used to read the Alien comics and I think this idea came from them originally, but I can't remember what series. I'm certainly not smart enough to have thought it up myself.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

futurama - How much time is lost in 'Time Keeps on Slippin''

In time Keeps on Slippin' , Farnsworth creates a basketball team which he matures by abusing Chronitons. This leads to time skipping forward by random, but ever increasing amounts. How much time was skipped in this way? Answer Unfortunately, I don't think a good estimate can be made for this, for two reasons: Many of the time skips move forward by an indeterminate amount of time. At one point, the Professor mentions localized regions of space skipping forward much more than others. We then see two young boys on the street below complaining about having to pay social security, only to suddenly become senior citizens and start complaining about wanting their money. Thus, each individual could have experienced a different amount of time skippage.
Post a Comment
Read more

aliens - Interstellar Zoo story

I vaguely remember this story from my childhood: it was about an interstellar zoo that came to Earth with lots of bizarre and unusual species, and humans would file through and gape at all the crazy looking creatures from other planets. The twist came at the end when the perspective shifted to the other side of the bars and we discovered that the "creatures" were traveling through space on a kind of safari. They thought they were the visitors and we were the animals. Neither side knew that the other side thought they were the zoo creatures. Answer Got it. Zoo, by Edward D. Hoch. Published in 1958. Link to Publication History Link to PDF
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - What is the difference between Diffindo and Sectumsempra?

In the Harry Potter books, Diffindo is called the 'Severing Charm' and it’s most commonly used to cut ropes and the like. However, in the last book Hermione uses it on Ron but misses, creating a 'slash in his jeans' and his knee gets cut, causing him to 'roar in pain'. We've only seen Sectumsempra used once on screen when Harry directly uses it on Malfoy in the sixth book, but there it's mentioned that he is 'waving his wand wildly'. Wouldn't Diffindo, if used in such a fashion also cause a similar effect? Similarly, if it was able to cut Ron, it would also be able to, say, chop off an ear (George's)? In that case, how are these two spells different, except for Sectumsempra seemingly used exclusively to hurt humans? Answer While Diffindo and Sectumsempra both can be countered by other spells, Diffindo is far more easily countered. Reparo, a relatively common spell, can completely reverse its effect when used once. “He pulled the old cop...
Post a Comment
Read more

harry potter - How could Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra?

I want to be very careful about how I ask this question – I am not asking How did Voldemort die? [CLOSED] Below the text is the relevant passages from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows if anyone wants to review them (I'm sorry for the amount of text). How did Expelliarmus beat Avada Kedavra and kill Voldemort? I feel the reason Harry's Expelliarmus overpowered Voldemort's Avada Kedavra curse has to do with who was master of the Elder Wand and how the Elder Wand works. I've always had trouble understanding fully how the Elder Wand works, though. How much did the fact that Voldemort never truly won or mastered the Elder Wand factor into how Expelliarmus reacted to Avada Kedavra and caused Avada Kedavra to rebound and kill Voldemort? An answer based in book canon would be especially welcome, but any canon source really is fine. Harry heard the high voice shriek as he, too, yelled his best hope to the heavens, pointing Draco’s wand: ‘ Avada Kedavra !’ ‘ Expelliarmus !...
Post a Comment
Read more