Alien

1979media franchiseclassic

Alien is a science fiction horror franchise built around the Xenomorph, an extraterrestrial creature designed by Swiss artist H.R. Giger for Ridley Scott's 1979 film. The design, the chestburster gag, and Sigourney Weaver's Ellen Ripley became core reference material for horror imagery, cosplay, and internet edits across the following decades.

alien franchise memeshorror memessci fi movie memesvillain memescharacter design memes

Overview

Alien is a science fiction horror franchise built around the Xenomorph, a biomechanical extraterrestrial designed by Swiss artist H.R. Giger for Ridley Scott's 1979 film3. The creature has an elongated eyeless skull, acid blood, and a second inner mouth on an extendable stalk, a look Giger pulled from his own 1976 painting Necronom IV2. The chestburster and facehugger stages of its life cycle turned into their own set of recurring horror visuals used well outside the films themselves.

The franchise spans four original films through 1997, two Predator crossovers, comics, novels, and a long list of games, all held together by that single creature design. Fan communities on Reddit and Fandom wikis kept the property in constant circulation between releases1.

How It Spread

The franchise crossed with the Predator property in Alien vs. Predator on August 12th, 2004, and again in Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem on December 25th, 20073. Games followed steadily: Aliens vs. Predator on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 in February 2010, Aliens Infestation on Nintendo DS in September 2011, and Aliens: Colonial Marines in February 2013, with a trailer for Alien Isolation dropping in January 20142.

Fans built out their own reference material alongside the releases. The Xenopedia wiki opened on May 26th, 2006, and a dedicated Alien Anthology Wiki launched on February 29th, 20122. A Facebook page created on November 16th, 2007 grew to over 2.9 million likes by mid-2014, and the /r/LV426 subreddit, named for the moon in the first film, opened on October 27th, 20101.

Merch carried the design into the physical world too. In November 2013, ThinkGeek began selling a Xenomorph plush with an extendable inner jaw, turning the film's inner-mouth gag into a stuffed toy2. Casual dictionary entries from the same era show how the word "alien" is still tied both to the Xenomorph and to extraterrestrials in general4.

How to Use This Meme

The Alien template on the internet typically pulls from a small set of instantly recognizable stills: the facehugger clamped onto Kane's helmet, the chestburster rearing out of a torso, or the full Xenomorph silhouette with its inner jaw extended. Edits often paste the chestburster into other franchises for shock or joke value, and Ripley reaction shots are commonly used as a stand-in for exhausted, done-with-it energy. Cosplay and fan art typically stick close to Giger's biomechanical, ribbed black surface rather than reinventing the creature.

Frequently Asked Questions

Alien

1979media franchiseclassic

Alien is a science fiction horror franchise built around the Xenomorph, an extraterrestrial creature designed by Swiss artist H.R. Giger for Ridley Scott's 1979 film. The design, the chestburster gag, and Sigourney Weaver's Ellen Ripley became core reference material for horror imagery, cosplay, and internet edits across the following decades.

alien franchise memes horror memes sci fi movie memes villain memes character design memes

Overview

Alien is a science fiction horror franchise built around the Xenomorph, a biomechanical extraterrestrial designed by Swiss artist H.R. Giger for Ridley Scott's 1979 film3. The creature has an elongated eyeless skull, acid blood, and a second inner mouth on an extendable stalk, a look Giger pulled from his own 1976 painting Necronom IV2. The chestburster and facehugger stages of its life cycle turned into their own set of recurring horror visuals used well outside the films themselves.

The franchise spans four original films through 1997, two Predator crossovers, comics, novels, and a long list of games, all held together by that single creature design. Fan communities on Reddit and Fandom wikis kept the property in constant circulation between releases1.

How It Spread

The franchise crossed with the Predator property in Alien vs. Predator on August 12th, 2004, and again in Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem on December 25th, 20073. Games followed steadily: Aliens vs. Predator on PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 in February 2010, Aliens Infestation on Nintendo DS in September 2011, and Aliens: Colonial Marines in February 2013, with a trailer for Alien Isolation dropping in January 20142.

Fans built out their own reference material alongside the releases. The Xenopedia wiki opened on May 26th, 2006, and a dedicated Alien Anthology Wiki launched on February 29th, 20122. A Facebook page created on November 16th, 2007 grew to over 2.9 million likes by mid-2014, and the /r/LV426 subreddit, named for the moon in the first film, opened on October 27th, 20101.

Merch carried the design into the physical world too. In November 2013, ThinkGeek began selling a Xenomorph plush with an extendable inner jaw, turning the film's inner-mouth gag into a stuffed toy2. Casual dictionary entries from the same era show how the word "alien" is still tied both to the Xenomorph and to extraterrestrials in general4.

How to Use This Meme

The Alien template on the internet typically pulls from a small set of instantly recognizable stills: the facehugger clamped onto Kane's helmet, the chestburster rearing out of a torso, or the full Xenomorph silhouette with its inner jaw extended. Edits often paste the chestburster into other franchises for shock or joke value, and Ripley reaction shots are commonly used as a stand-in for exhausted, done-with-it energy. Cosplay and fan art typically stick close to Giger's biomechanical, ribbed black surface rather than reinventing the creature.

Frequently Asked Questions