Space Jockey Theories

[DB]

Or, maybe in just that particular section (or some of the adjacent sections, too) where Kane went.

Has there ever been any mention of what type of machinery the Jockeys could have had on the Derelict? Such as, say, something automated that might pick up an egg in the room(or elsewhere) and then place it with the others?

I think it's quite interesting that this would function as a sort of "in universe" explanation for why the Aliens of later generations and of AvP are organic looking. It also makes me wonder about just how much and what characteristics the Alien takes from its hosts.

[maledoro]

Has there ever been any mention of what type of machinery the Jockeys could have had on the Derelict? Such as, say, something automated that might pick up an egg in the room(or elsewhere) and then place it with the others?

No, but I'm sure that it would be unmanned.

[yautja99]

Some stories to the Alien comics feature the company Weyland-Yutani and the United States Colonial Marines. Originally intended as a sequel to James Cameron's Aliens, the first mini-series features the characters of Rebecca 'Newt' Jorden and Corporal Dwayne Hicks. Later series also included the further adventures of Ellen Ripley. These stories were no longer considered canonical after the Alien³ film featured the deaths of Newt and Corporal Hicks. In order to keep the stories relevant to the Alien films, Dark Horse Comics changed the names of the characters for future printings of the stories. Newt became Billie while Hicks was now known as Wilks. Other stories are completely unique to the Alien universe, and are often used to explore other aspects of the species, such as their sociology and biology.

[Pax]

I'm running an Aliens pen-and-paper RPG in my area, so I've been doing a lot of thought about the various things we see in the movies that still haven't been fully explained.  One of those things is the mysterious Pilot race.

First, after carefully examining the movie, stills from the movie, and concept art, I'm still rather at a loss trying to determine exactly what they look like.  I've seen the designs from the comics and read the descriptions in the novels, and the bipedal elephant man just doesn't do it for me.  From what I can tell, the one in the movie doesn't seem to have legs at all, just some kind of exhaust pipe which is probably just part of the chair.

I suppose it could be specifically engineered to be a pilot and only sit in that chair, like Pilot from Farscape, and therefore it wouldn't need legs, just that weird, fatty back pillow it's laying on, but that's hardly interesting.

My other idea is that they have no legs, or that they're so technologically advanced they evolved to the point where they shriveled up and fell off.  That resultant image is kinda similar to Mojo and his ilk from the X-Men comics.  Big fat dictators who completely rely on technology to do everything for them.  Could be a nice thematic element at least.

I'm trying to keep things spooky, too, though, and keep that Gigerishness firmly in mind, maybe with a hint of something dark and Lovecraftian.

Anyway, any thoughts?

-Pax

[SM]

I've always preferred Dallas' assumption that it grew right out of the chair.

[Hankerson]

Certain aspects of the Predator ship in P2 reminded me of the derelict in "Alien". I always assumed that the Predators themselves genetically engineered the "Space Jockey" specifically to pilot the ship. Maybe the derelict is a seeding ship or something associated with a seeding ship?

Even if the derelict has nothing to do with Predators, I never once thought that it was an example of the race that built the derelict. The moment I first saw the "Space Jockey" I could tell that it had been altered or designed for a specific purpose; either through surgery or genetic manipulation.

[SiL]

Certain aspects of the Predator ship in P2 reminded me of the derelict in "Alien". I always assumed that the Predators themselves genetically engineered the "Space Jockey" specifically to pilot the ship. Maybe the derelict is a seeding ship or something associated with a seeding ship?

No offense, but that's just as, if not more, retarded than the idea of Jockeys actually being Predators. Maybe they're just ... another species totally unrelated to them?

...No, that can't be it, the Predators must have something to do with it

(That last part wasn't really aimed at you, but at the general 'Predators are Jockeys/Made the Jockeys/Team up with the Jockeys crap).

I agree with SM in agreeing with Dallas. Looking at the thing, it's pretty darned clear the thing's part of the chair, and not likely to stand up and walk around like the comics suggest.

[SM]

Seem to recall them floating in the comics on occassion...

And yes, every species being all interconnected is dopey.  I don't there's any connection to the Jockeys and the Predators and the Aliens.  The Aliens just are what they are and the Jockeys and Predators seek to exploit them like the Company or the USM.

[SiL]

Yeah, the first comic ... floating Space Jockey in a space suit shooting Aliens with his Space Jockey pistols...

[Mr. Weyland]

In the first comics the space jockey as a tail, A TAIL 

[Hankerson]

They seem to have legs but the one in the film may have been altered to better suite the life of a pilot similar to the ship pilots in the "Dune" books, I like Giger's Dune artwork as well.

[SM]

I have a feeling that Giger piece isn't suppoed to represent the Jockies, but the evolved form of the Alien as detailed by O'Bannon early on during pre-production.

[Mr. Weyland]

That pic was what the studio wanted Ridley Scott to use instead of the massive Space jockey in the chair, the art was supposed to be on the wall of the Bone ship but Ridley Scott asked to use the big Space Jockey instead.

[Meathead320]

That pic was what the studio wanted Ridley Scott to use instead of the massive Space jockey in the chair, the art was supposed to be on the wall of the Bone ship but Ridley Scott asked to use the big Space Jockey instead.

I am very glad he did this too, as otherwise that hieroglyphic would just be giving away too much of the surprise.

SM,

I agree with you 100%,

I do not think that Preds, or Jockys had anything to do with each other at all. Like WY, and USM etc...

All think they are controlling the alien, while in reality it is the alien using them to help procreate itself.

The Alien is ultimately a parasite. It has a symbiotic relationship with nothing.

They may have been engineered in space by some beings who had no idea how perfect what they truly were making would become.

Later, after infecting many worlds, somewhere, they were found by some other space faring species, and that is how they spread.

Like a disease, an intergalactic face-raping STD.

[yautja99]

In the novelization of Alien by Alan Dean Foster Ash describes the Space Jockeys as a noble people and hopes that mankind will encounter them under more pleasant circumstances. It also states that they were larger, stronger and possibly more intelligent than humans.