How long has Ridley held this notion of who the Space Jockey really is?

[The Old One]

I require nothing sometimes.

[TC]

After first seeing Alien '79 my concept of the Space Jockey was exactly what we saw in the film. IOW rather than trying to extract him and imagining a body and legs, I thought the chair and telescope-thing were all him. I thought he was "grown" (or maybe "engineered" is the better word) along with the ship, as they were "constructed" at the same time.

I also like the mutated Guild Navigator in Lynch's Dune. I thought maybe there was something similar going on there. The Navigators gradually mutate into their roles as pilots of the ship; whereas the Space Jockeys' physicality is always as dictated by their roles as crew members - they have no other purpose in life but to serve the ship.

Hmmm... reminds me of Davey Jones crew from Pirates of the Carribean; part of the crew... part of the ship...

TC

[Local Trouble]

I wonder what a jockey-burster would look like if his body was the ship.

[Immortan Jonesy]

I wonder what a jockey-burster would look like if his body was the ship.

[Corporal Hicks]

After first seeing Alien '79 my concept of the Space Jockey was exactly what we saw in the film. IOW rather than trying to extract him and imagining a body and legs, I thought the chair and telescope-thing were all him. I thought he was "grown" (or maybe "engineered" is the better word) along with the ship, as they were "constructed" at the same time.

That's the route I actually quite like and come back to a lot. In my mind, there's other little human sized creatures that go around doing other tasks and duties on the ship, supplementing the pilot.

[The Old One]

Dune's already used the idea, so I ultimately prefer:

[Immortan Jonesy]

Solid concept and way better than what we actually have as canon, unfortunately. But I still don't rule out the idea of ​​the biomechanical pilot that is part of the machinery. The navigation device and the Jockey as one and the same. Pure symbiosis. I love it. I also dig Corporal's idea about drones or workers designed to assist the Ship & pilot when is required. Something like the androids, but with Giger's philosophy in mind.

[The Old One]

I prefer the idea of an entity being able to physically and mentally join such a structure but also retain enough individuality to part from it if required, so it is simple as possible without any direct analogue to Dune: 

[Huggs]

As much as I prefer the eternal slave angle of it being grown into the chair, it getting impregnated makes more sense if it was a suited creature that had mobility. What with that big trunk in the way and all.

Unless of course it was infected via spore.

[Immortan Jonesy]

it getting impregnated makes more sense if it was a suited creature that had mobility. What with that big trunk in the way and all.

Unless of course it was infected via spore.

I'd go along with that.

[TC]

As much as I prefer the eternal slave angle of it being grown into the chair, it getting impregnated makes more sense if it was a suited creature that had mobility. What with that big trunk in the way and all.

Unless of course it was infected via spore.

Yes. Not every victim of the face-hugger is going to have the convenient anatomy of a human head for it to wrap itself around (maybe a bit too convenient, in the movie?). So with no orifice available, it could be that the "egg" that's being inserted is more like a little maggot that can burrow its way into the host on its own. Yeah... icky.

And as Cpl Hicks and Immortan Jonesy have said, I too think there is something to mine in the parallel between drones (such as the xenos) as tools to their creators, the Space Jockeys; and robots (such as Ash) as tools to their creators, the humans.

How are the xenos tools? In the movie they have no purpose other than reproduction of their species (just like all other life we know of on Earth), but delving further down the rabbit hole of my imagination, I see them as DNA harvesters. Each one of the species they prey on gets sampled for its genetic information and the data stored for later use by their masters, the SJs. What use might that be? Who knows, maybe they are just inveterate galactic collectors...



... or is there some other agenda?

TC

[The Old One]

Plagarius Praepotens, so no orifice necessary. Far as I'm concerned the Alien XX121 itself's responsible for the extinction of the Gods, explaining the incomprehensible nature of the Derelict and Pilot appearing connected, and the area itself altering reality, simply put the XX121's Alien to life itself.

[Huggs]

The problem is that we've had media saying it's one thing or another. I think it can be both.

There was spore delivery as far back as Gibson's Alien 3. Not to mention, I never understood how an egg implanted in the esophagus winds up in the side of the chest. It would either go into the stomach or the lungs. And that would create noticeable distress. Although the stomach may work from a parasitic standpoint. The victim wakes up thirsty and starving, and unknowingly feeds the embryo by consuming large amounts of nutrition.

Resurrection of course, showed the chestburster climbing up through the esophagus. But it's resurrection, so you know, grain of salt. Spores would allow the alien tissue to pass through human biological structures, like we saw with ledward. As a method of delivery, it's superior. But I still think there's room for both direct embryo/egg implantation and spore delivery. Just like there's regular and queen facehuggers. The sneaky little b@$tards are just full of surprises. And I think possibly capable of being able to determine the method of delivery, given the particular circumstances and needs of the species.

[David Weyland]

Do you think the Hammerpede was laying something in Milburn before it was disturbed?
Maybe it's offspring would have burst out of his ass
Another off screen opportunity to explore

[SM]

Do you think the Hammerpede was laying something in Milburn before it was disturbed?
Maybe it's offspring would have burst out of his ass
Another off screen opportunity to explore

Nah.  Just eating.