Aliens attack human leaders?

[gameoverman]

None of the guys were natural leaders, just bureaucratic stooges, except maybe Elgyn.

Like Apone didn't act, just stood there waiting for orders from Gorman which caused him to get owned.

[SM]

That's why the ostensible leader in each of these situations was killed/taken, nothing more.

How do you figure that?

[The Necronoir]

How do you figure that?

Dallas - His sense of responsibility as a leader determined that he overrule Ripley and go into the vents himself, in an effort to protect his crew and his ship.

Apone - His attempt to reassert authority and order in a situation that had suddenly descended into chaos meant that he was distracted and unable to offer any resistance (somewhat diminished in this instance because of the fact that multiple targets were being taken by multiple aliens at the same time). Still, if he'd only been concerned with his own safety it's difficult to imagine him having gone down so quickly and easily.

Andrews - As a leader he was standing apart from the main group, and thus lost the natural advantage of safety in numbers. As the other person moving around and making noise he was also a natural target.

Elgyn - Pretty much bad luck mixed with his innate sense of greed. You could argue that his sense of greed is what made him rise above the other members of the crew to become captain, being smugglers and all.

What I'm saying is that, in most of these instances, it's their qualities as a leader which place them at greater risk than the people around them, rather than the aliens necessarily targeting those who lead.

[SM]

If the Aliens aren't necessarily targeting them, then how are they at greater risk?

[The Necronoir]

For the reasons I just said - they either place themselves in direct danger in order to protect those under their charge, or their general conduct as a leader makes them easier targets.

If you work on the basis that everyone in these movies is at risk from the aliens (which they are) then you have to look at whether their individual conduct makes them more or less likely to be taken. Newt, for example, did things that greatly reduced the risk to herself, while each of these leaders did things which greatly increased it.

I'm just saying that I don't think the aliens sit around strategising, thinking "Yeah, lets go and find the leader so that the rest will be demoralised". That's what usually happens, but it's because of modified behaviour on the part of the human individuals, not the aliens.

[SM]

And yet Ripley - ostensibly the leader from Dallas death onwards for most of the sequels - comes out of it unscathed but for being hugged in hypersleep.

[The Necronoir]

And yet Ripley - ostensibly the leader from Dallas death onwards for most of the sequels - comes out of it unscathed but for being hugged in hypersleep.

Ripley's an interesting study in leadership actually. She's more the pillar of strength in the background than the brash hero who rushes into things headlong. More than anything else she never lets her sense of duty to override her common sense (for instance realising that any attempt to rescue Apone and the other would be futile). In that sense she consistently lives up to Ridley's idea of her being a somewhat cold bitch; a survivalist above all else.

The differences between her and the other leaders mentioned really comes out in Alien 3, where her refusal to take on that role becomes paramount. She's the voice of reason in the wilderness most times, meaning that, again, it comes down the individual human action, rather than the aliens.