David saw the mural too, right?

[yhe1]

David saw the mural too in Prometheus, right? So why would he be so proud of "his" xenomorph when he should have that known they were sloppy seconds?

[SM]

Because the thing on the mural was a Deacon.

[yhe1]

Because the thing on the mural was a Deacon.

But the issue is that he shouldn't have known that, because he never saw the the deacon at the end of Prometheus

[SM]

He created a different creature than what was on the mural.

That he never saw a live one makes no difference.

[yhe1]

He created a different creature than what was on the mural.

That he never saw a live one makes no difference.

But from his point of view, the creature he created and the creatures on the mural should look the same. We only knew about the different jaw because we saw the ending. David had no way of knowing this.

[bb-15]

David saw the mural too in Prometheus, right? So why would he be so proud of "his" xenomorph when he should have that known they were sloppy seconds?

- Here is a link to an image that makes it more clear that the central creature in the wall sculpture is a Deacon. (Notice the point at the back of the head.)
https://kunzelman.files.wordpress.com/2012/06/0ed5u.jpg

As for what David saw; he generally knew what the Engineers had done with creatures. He saw the sculpture, and the Fifield monster. The Neomorphs were on the Paradise planet where David was for years.
- What David did that was new was change the reproduction (egg) which led to the xenomorph. 

[SM]

But from his point of view, the creature he created and the creatures on the mural should look the same.

Why?  When did he say he was trying to create a Deacon?

[yhe1]

But from his point of view, the creature he created and the creatures on the mural should look the same.

Why?  When did he say he was trying to create a Deacon?

The Deacon should be a creature that no in-universe character should know about, since everybody had left by the time it was born. If you had never known about the deacon, you would assume that the thing on the mural was a xenomorph. This is what David should assume since he never saw the movie.

[The Kurgan]

But from his point of view, the creature he created and the creatures on the mural should look the same.

Why?  When did he say he was trying to create a Deacon?

The Deacon should be a creature that no in-universe character should know about, since everybody had left by the time it was born. If you had never known about the deacon, you would assume that the thing on the mural was a xenomorph. This is what David should assume since he never saw the movie.

He saw the neomorphs on planet 4, they looked similar enough.
Also during his experiments he would have come across similar looking stuff.

I think he would come to the conclusion that the black goo often results in creatures looking that way and the mural depicted just that.

[Predator@Alien]

All creatures related to black goo have common characteristics. The engineers created the Deacon, or knew how to master it. David created an improvement of the Deacon. Many believe that the Deacon at the end of Prometheus has arrived randomly but it is false. There is only to replace the humans of the cycle by the Engineers because they have the same genome.

[SM]

But from his point of view, the creature he created and the creatures on the mural should look the same.

Why?  When did he say he was trying to create a Deacon?

The Deacon should be a creature that no in-universe character should know about, since everybody had left by the time it was born. If you had never known about the deacon, you would assume that the thing on the mural was a xenomorph. This is what David should assume since he never saw the movie.

That doesn't answer the question though.

When was it stated that David is trying to create a Deacon?

[bb-15]

All creatures related to black goo have common characteristics. The engineers created the Deacon, or knew how to master it. David created an improvement of the Deacon. Many believe that the Deacon at the end of Prometheus has arrived randomly but it is false. There is only to replace the humans of the cycle by the Engineers because they have the same genome.

Agreed. David was in the statue room getting an urn. Of course he saw the Deacon sculpture on the wall. He didn't need to know the details.
On the ceiling there was a painting of a creature which seemed to be coming out of an Engineer.
What this sculpture and painting told him is that these godlike Engineers were creators.
And they had a shrine for a creation which we know as the Deacon.
The Engineers give birth/create strange creatures which seems part of their culture/religion.

David then takes the black goo urn. He poisons Holloway with it (after being pressured by Weyland). David then sees the black goo turning Holloway into something. David also knows that Holloway had sex with Shaw who is now pregnant with a monster. Then David finds out about Fifield showing up who is now a full grown monster.

On the Paradise planet David drops hundreds of black goo bombs on the Engineer city. He sees the black goo transforming the Engineers, insects, mold spores into monster incubators. He sees one result which is the Neomorph.

From all that David, thinking that he is also a creator god like the Engineers, decides to start growing his own version of an Engineer monster.

   

[The Old One]

I'd disagree on the notion that the creature in the mural is necessarily even the Deacon,
considering the convoluted circumstances required for it to exist in the first place.

It's much more likely (retconned) as a Neomorph, in light of Covenant's revelations.

[SM]

It doesn't need to be convoluted.  It could simply be someone exposed to goo has sex with someone.  If Fifield hadn't been so cross he may have impregnated someone with a trilobite.

[The Old One]

Possibly, but that's a longer chain of events because the Trilobite requires a host- so it's two births.