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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.


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