Is the alien as strong as we make it out to be?

[Necronomicon II]

Yeah and who knows the long term effects from that, perhaps his life expectancy may have been shorter, immune issues, etc. Being crushed in hypersleep is a pretty merciful death in this universe lol

[SiL]

Lung damage from the fumes - but Ripley was ok.

[Necronomicon II]

Yeah true, was thinking the direct contact on his face. Surely blind in one eye? I've memory holed that Blomkamp concept art. 😂

[Elmazalman]

The original Alien was surprisingly powerful in the novelisation; able to peel back three-centimetres-thick ship plating when it snatched Dallas, and wrecking the contents of a food locker.

A deleted scene showed it bursting open a pipe when slamming Parker into a wall.

Physically strong - but not invulnerable.

[Eal]

The Alien, if we're to go by how it's canonically supposed to look in the 79 film, the Alien is basically a metallic-chiton killing-skeleton.

[Kimarhi]

The Aliens movie really depends on if you look at the sentry gun scenes or not. 

Sentry guns kill lots of them.  If you don't take the SE as canon, then the number really isn't all that different between the Marines killing Aliens and the Aliens killing Marines.  11 Marines vs something like 17 on screen Alien deaths.  Add a few more if you want.  The motion tracker showing floods of Aliens is pretty much the same in the hive, the same before the ops battle, and the same after the ops battle in both versions. 

I think it is important to note that they are way more lethal than any terrestrial animal (aside from bacteria and viruses) that humanity has come across.  The Aliens kill almost everybody in every movie on the humans home turf.  Even freakish occurrences like those two lions in Africa that killed a huge amount of people were still on the LIONS home turf.  If people could flick a switch and seperate themselves from the lions by a steel door in those times, there wouldn't have been an issue. 

I'm 200 lbs and with a full kit on of body armor and weapon (plus ammo) and helmet I'd wager I'd be about 245 (pretty close I just added everything up).  You take probably a female who weights probably 50 lbs less.  Then you subtract maybe five lbs of gear for future tech advantage, and you still have the Alien one handing Dietrich up the wall in Aliens. 

A human can carry a 195 lb human places.   But can't pull itself up one armed up the wall, even if it is janky looking AF.  So they still have crazy strength to snatch armored humans off the floor and web them on the wall somewhere like a kid would a small child.  Not to mention hitting steel doors hard enough to get to people on the other side. 

[SiL]

The sentry guns don't add many on screen Alien deaths. I think it only pushes it into the low to mid 20s.

The marines achieve very little in the film - although obviously mostly due to their leaders incompetence.

[Elmazalman]

The marines achieve very little in the film - although obviously mostly due to their leaders incompetence.

The lack of ammo and grenades didn't help any.

[Still Collating...]

Has there ever been an Aliens shooter where the Aliens are a threat? Like, you can kill them at range, but if they get their hands on you, you're screwed basically?

Technically Fireteam elite and AVP2 if you aren't on normal/standard

Like, on AFTE, if a Drone or Warrior gets too close and you are by yourself, you are basically screwed, SPECIALLY if you are on Intense+

It can be very fun, but on the higher difficulties, the amount of bullets that you need to take out Drones and Warriors doesn't jive with second film.

Aliens in the higher difficulties of Aliens Darks Decent are more screen accurate in terms of damage and health. You can die so extremely fast in that game, even fully upgraded and just by one Alien. Like, even on easier difficulties, you can be destroying them at a distance, but if you make a wrong turn, wrong timing, round a corner and the Alien is in you face, your marine can die in seconds!

IMO, that game respects the strength and deadliness of the Aliens.


I used to be more of a stance that the Aliens should have stronger armor, but after getting to know guns and ballistics a bit more (literally just cause of my Colonial Marine curiosity), no creature with a semblance of realism and being as lean and elegant as the Alien could withstand future gunfire of more than a few seconds. The fact that they do anything at all against armed people with Sci Fi rifles is astounding!

The Alien should be showing the deadliness of its acid blood, using cover, insane speed, shadows, vents and pipes to sneak up on people. Show them as smart as possible in planning attacks and sneaking around and I'll be happy.

[Murphy's Boot]

The Xenomorph's physical strength is mightily impressive.

Parker's death in Alien is a good case in point.

Parker was roughly 6ft 4 inches tall and I estimate he weighed approximately 240 to 250 pounds, that's using myself as a reference at 6ft 3 inches and around 280 pounds.

In terms of physicality, he was certainly not the type of guy you'd like to antagonise, however, Big Chap absolutely YEETED him across the room with relative ease and made quick work of him, pinning him against the wall and smushing his head somewhat.

I'd wager it would take about 6 of my pals to launch me across a similar sized room and god only knows how much strength would be required to turn my head into a chutney (and I warn you, my head is MASSIVE)

And yes...pretty useless out in the open providing you've got adequate firepower along with sufficient ammunition and the advantage in distance, but even then you best pray its one on one or you're evenly matched with regards to manpower.

So in essence, tough as nails.   

[Thatguy2068]

I remember that the First AvP comic it shown the Xenomorph and the Yautja being somewhat equals, with the Yautja winning but barely alive

[BenditlikeBeckum]

The Xenomorph's physical strength is mightily impressive.

Parker's death in Alien is a good case in point.

Parker was roughly 6ft 4 inches tall and I estimate he weighed approximately 240 to 250 pounds, that's using myself as a reference at 6ft 3 inches and around 280 pounds.

In terms of physicality, he was certainly not the type of guy you'd like to antagonise, however, Big Chap absolutely YEETED him across the room with relative ease and made quick work of him, pinning him against the wall and smushing his head somewhat.

I'd wager it would take about 6 of my pals to launch me across a similar sized room and god only knows how much strength would be required to turn my head into a chutney (and I warn you, my head is MASSIVE)

There is a lot of people on the forums with beef  against the Alien in Isolation  being too heavy footed. Some people went out of their way to call him "Stompy". What do you think about that?
Apparently to some people the most authentic alien would be that of AVP1 where it throws itself across the map in a single leap. Its footsteps sound like tiny clicks. Not very realistic in terms of gravity there in that game.
To me the most realistic is the one in Alien Isolation. They have the weight down right acoustically.
There was some fan 3d rendering, a segment for a short scene with JC's alien jumping on the ground and the walls. Also acoustically realistic making him sound like it was at least 180 pounds.
 

[SiL]

Considering the Aliens don't make loud stomping sounds in the films (except one or two notable instances in later movies), it is more authentic for them to not make noise when they walk. Stompy is ridiculous in that regard.

Imagine someone putting Stompy footsteps over Parker and Lambert dying. It'd be laughable.

[Still Collating...]

That part of Stompy is ridiculous. That for me is a clear instance where for the sake of game mechanics and balance, they made something that made no sense canon wise for such a stealth predator. Not to mention that no creature of any weight would make such loud sounds even if they tried. From tigers to elephants, their footsteps make almost no sounds at all. Claws on hard surfaces, yes, you'd hear something. Exactly the sounds you hear in the previous games.

[Local Trouble]

Stompy is ridiculous.

Yes.