Auriga Queen (Alien Resurrection)

The Queen Alien appears in the 1997 film Alien Resurrection. It’s a result of military scientists cloning Ripley and raising the Queen. It is killed by the Newborn at the climax of the film.

Characteristics

Unlike Queens we’ve seen previously, the Auriga Queen was a genetic creation by scientists aboard the USM Auriga. Blood samples were recovered from Ripley from Fury 161 and scientists used this to eventually create a clone of Ripley, known as Ripley 8 which also cloned the Queen Chestburster that Ripley possessed on Fury 161.

As a result of her genetic code crossing over with Ripley’s, the Queen had a secondary reproductive cycle, allowing her to give birth to a human-Xenomorph hybrid – the Newborn. Imperfections in the cloning process also changed the Queen’s colour into a brownish colour instead of the usual black we’ve seen before.

Story

In 2379, United Systems Military scientists on the spacecraft USM Auriga have spent the last few years trying to re-create the Xenomorph to use as a biological weapon. They recovered blood samples taken from Ellen Ripley from Fury 161 and eventually created a clone of her which also cloned the Queen Chestburster that she had inside of her. When the clone of Ripley was fully grown, the scientists removed the Chestburster was surgically removed from her. The scientists allowed the Chestburster to grow into a mature Queen which produced eggs.

Queen

They then used the eggs to impregnate lots of civilians who had been kidnapped by the crew of the Betty.  The Queen had been kept isolated for study by Dr. Wren but she was aware that the Xenomorphs were being held in another part of the ship.  One of the Xenomorphs uses its heightened intelligence to break free from its containment and free the other aliens and the Queen. As the aliens killed the crew, the Queen established a hive.

Queen vs Newborn

On route to the Betty, Ripley 8 is taken to the hive. There, it’s realised the Queen has developed a secondary reproductive cycle from her human DNA that gives her the ability to produce something from a live birth using a womb that grew instead of an ovipositor. She gives birth to an Alien creature with human traits – the Newborn. The Newborn is unable to bond with the Queen and recognizes Ripley 8 as its mother, so it kills the Alien Queen by tearing off the upper jaw of her face with its hands.

Behind-The-Scenes

Amalgamated Dynamics didn’t really have time to further develop the Queen Alien. They borrowed the Queen’s mechanical head from Bob Burns, but added a new paint scheme to it. It was repainted with a blend of green and brown, giving it a insect-like quality.

The original 10-year-old molds from London for the arms, legs and tail were located at a replica company in Colorado but the body molds were destroyed beyond use. This didn’t prove to be an issue as the Queen’s lower torso and abdomen differed in appearance in the film due to the secondary reproductive cycle.

Trivia

• In the original script and the novelization of Alien Resurrection, it is said that the Queen’s secondary reproductive cycle was introduced as a result of Dr. Wren and his scientists altering her genetic code in an attempt to stop her laying an infinite number of Eggs. When Dr. Gediman was cocooned, he said: “We thought we could alter its reproductive system. Obviate the egg-laying cycles. But the beast doesn’t trade. It just added a second cycle.”

Merchandise

The Alien Resurrection Alien Queen figure was released by NECA in 2019.

Gallery

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