From what we know in Aliens, the Xenos are unlikely to kill a target outright, instead opting to use them as hosts. Their behaviour in this regard is pretty consistent, there is some collateral damage, Frost for example, and necessary sacrifices, such as Spunkmeyer and Ferro, but otherwise the victims are incapacitated and cocooned.
So, we can assume that the Xenomorphs don't kill their prey, as one of Ripley's lines in Aliens attests, and uses them as surrogate parents for their Queen's offspring. With that in mind, what is the Runner in A3 doing? (NOTE: This post concerns the Assembly Cut).
The Runner's first victim, I would say, is accidental. The Alien startles the prisoner with spit (perhaps as a defense mechanism) and he falls into an industrial fan - fair enough
The Alien's next few victims seem a little more intentional when it comes to them being, well, dead
Next up is Clemens
And the Alien approaches Ripley, seemingly intent on harm. We can see it flexing its inner mouth.
I think we can presume that prior to this, the Alien was unaware that Ripley was carrying a Queen. The Alien recoils and vanishes into the ducts, funnily enough, with the corpse of Clemens.
Next up is Brian Glover
We don't see any wound inflicted, but considering the mess...
... I don't think he made it.
So far, 5 down, no survivors. Moving on...
There's a
lot of collateral damage in the tunnel sequence, which probably has more explosions in it than Aliens has in its entirety (
) The only clear, Xeno caused death is:
The bait, judging by his screams, is ripped to shreds.
Alien3 breaks its tradition with Golic, whose death is not shown, or even heard.
Anyway, Golic opens the toxic waste dump, he may or may not be killed, and some special effect runs out the door:
At 1.51, at the start of the tunnel trap sequence, we hear screams. We find that special effect molesting a prisoner:
The splatter on the walls and the unresponsive prisoner would suggest that the Alien has killed again. Cue the chase sequence and fish lens.
Another death. "I think I've found Vincent!":
So far, this Alien does not seem to be clued onto the fact that its Queen will require hosts.
Next up is this guy
and then Kobayashi
Next up is ... this guy
The Alien grabs him, Dillon pulls him down and to safety, but the trauma is too much:
Ripley: "Leave him, he's dead." (note: The Alien steals the body soon after).
Ripley runs into a couple of corpses, one of which can be seen hanging from the roof
The Alien chases this guy, grabs him, and he pretty much
explodes
Another death:
To cap it all off, there's Dillon, whose death cries cut off just before Morse pours the lead.
So, what's the deal? The Alien is aware that Ripley is carrying its Queen, so why no buildup of hosts or hive? The Alien seems content with shredding everyone and, in some cases, seems to eat at the bodies. This behaviour contradicts the logic established in the prior film. Giger's Alien has an excuse - there was no Queen concept for another 7 years, and the DC manages to allow Brett and Dallas to become 'successors'. Alien3, coming after Aliens, should have obeyed the logic that the previous film set up.
It used the Queen concept but allowed it's Alien to go on a killing spree, leaving no hosts for the propagation of its species.
