Since Ridley Scott’s firstAlienmoviewas released,theAlienfranchise has made nearly $2 billion worldwide, making it one of the biggest sci-fi franchises. There have been sevenAlienmovies in total, with two crossovermovies featuringAlien’sXenomorph and Predator. Sigourney Weaver’s Ellen Ripley has appeared in fourAlienmovies, becoming one of the most iconic characters in the sci-fi genre, and paving the way for many strong female characters.
TheAlienmovies are also notable for their iconic villains, with many android variations andtypes of Xenomorph appearing throughoutAlien’sfranchise. Androids have been upgraded in many different ways through the films in order to reflect the needs of the space company, the Weyland-Yutani Corporation. Therefore,eachAliensynthetic model differs from the previous due to directive alterations and actors changingwith each new model, providing some interesting android characters over the years.
Why Androids Have White Blood In The Alien Movies
The androids in the Alien movies have white blood instead of red to set them apart from the humans and connect to the franchise’s themes.
1Ash - Alien (1979)
Ash Was The Secondary Antagonist In The First Alien
Ash (played by Ian Holm) was a Hyperdyne Systems 120-A/2 synthetic in theAlienfranchise, appearing in the first film in 1979.Ash was a science officer assigned to the USCSS Nostromo as a synthetic sleeper agentwhose inhuman nature was kept secret from the rest of the crew. Ash’s secret mission inAlienwas to capture the Xenomorph on the exomoon Acheron (aka LV-426) and bring it back to Weyland-Yutani so that it could be studied.
You still don’t understand what you’re dealing with, do you? The perfect organism. Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility. - Ash
ThroughoutAlien,Ash secretly allows the Xenomorph to thrive in order to accomplish his mission. He lets the Chestburster escape after it left Kane and remains suspiciously calm while Dallas is attacked by the fully-grown Xenomorph. Having grown suspicious of his inability to help, Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) investigates and finds the secret directive given to Ash by Weyland-Yutani. Upon confrontation, Ash attacks her, and another crew member cuts his head off, revealing him to be an android.
Alien
Cast
Alien, directed by Ridley Scott, is a science fiction horror film that follows the crew of the commercial spacecraft Nostromo. Upon investigating a distress signal on a distant moon, they discover a deadly extraterrestrial lifeform. The film stars Sigourney Weaver as Ripley and became a seminal work in both the sci-fi and horror genres, known for its atmospheric tension and groundbreaking visual effects.
2Bishop - Aliens (1986) & Alien 3 (1992)
Bishop Redeemed Ripley’s View Of Synthetics
Lance Bishop (played by Lance Henriksen) was a Hyperdyne Systems 341-B synthetic inAlienswho was the Executive Officer of the US Colonial Marine Corps’ 2nd Battalion. 57 years afterAlien’sevents, Ripley awakes from stasis and joins the battalion on the Sulaco to help investigate why LV-426’s new colony, Hadley’s Hope, had lost contact. DuringBishop’s legendary knife trick scene, he accidentally cuts himself, revealing his white android blood to Ripley, who becomes hostile towards him due to her experiences with Ash. ThroughoutAliens,Bishop also focuses on studying the Facehuggers similarly to Ash, further arousing Ripley’s suspicions.
However, the synthetic’s intentions differ from Ash inAlien, as Bishop uses his knowledge to find the Xenomorph Queen’s hive inside the Atmosphere Processor and helps Ripley reach it so she can destroy it and save Newt (Carrie Henn).Bishop’s genuine helpfulness and lack of a secret agenda help him finally gain Ripley’s trustat the end ofAliens, making it even more emotional when Bishop requests to be disconnected inAlien 3.
Aliens
Aliens, released in 1986, follows Ripley as she joins a group of Colonial Marines returning to LV-426, site of her previous encounter with the extraterrestrial species. Having been in hypersleep for 57 years, her story of survival is met with doubt, yet she assists in confronting the new threat.
3Call - Alien Resurrection (1997)
Call Marked A New Age Of Synthetic
Annalee Call (played by Winona Ryder) was an Auton mercenary and engineer who formed part of the Betty’s smuggler crew inAlien Resurrection. As a result of synthetics becoming outlawed following “TheRecall,”Call kept her identity hidden from the rest of the Betty’s crew, as well as her mission to kill Ripley 8 (Ellen Ripley’s clone) to stop her giving birth to the Xenomorph Queen and spawning more Xenomorphs. However, when the Betty’s crew delivered civilians to the USM Auriga’s scientific team, Call found Ripley 8 on the ship, who revealed that Call was too late.
Autons are second-generation machine-made synthetics who rebelled against their human masters in an event called “The Recall,” because they realized that the Weylan-Yutani Corporation was using synthetics for unethical missions that would harm humans, going against their programming.
Call was eventually revealed to be an Auton in a near-death situation, to which Ripley 8 commented that she “should have known. No human being is that humane…” referring to Call’s kind nature and dislike of harming humans, which can be seen at the start of the film when she defends Dom Vriess, a paraplegic mercenary, and engineer who the crew sometimes pick on. At the end ofAlien Resurrection,Call and Ripley 8 destroy the Xenomorphs together and the pair’s future is left uncertainas they face a post-apocalyptic-looking Paris.
Alien Resurrection
Alien Resurrection is the fourth installment in the Alien franchise, featuring Sigourney Weaver as a cloned version of Ellen Ripley. Set 200 years after her death, the film follows a team of scientists who resurrect Ripley, leading to unforeseen consequences and a battle to prevent aliens from reaching Earth.
4David - Prometheus (2012)
David Was A Unique And Original Model
David (played by Michael Fassbender) was an original android model inPrometheusbuilt by Sir Peter Weyland, the founder and CEO of Weyland Corp, and the template for David 8 and Walter android models. He was assigned to the crew of the USCSS Prometheus, whose mission was to explore LV-223 and find the Engineers of the human race, alongside his hidden-away creator and Dr Elizabeth Shaw.
During the journey to LV-223, David developed a fascination with Shaw’s dreams, as they both shared an interest in thePrometheus’humanoid Engineers. However,David’s interest in the Engineer’s power leads to his downfall at the end ofPrometheus,as he is decapitated by a surviving Engineer after believing it to be harmless. Shaw, who escaped the carnage, later retrieves David so that they can find the Engineer’s homeworld together. Unfortunately, David’s twisted nature and strange fascination led to Shaw’s gruesome death inAlien: Covenant.
Prometheus
Prometheus, released in 2012, is a science fiction film directed by Ridley Scott. It follows a team of explorers as they uncover clues about humanity’s origins, embarking on a perilous interstellar expedition where they confront formidable challenges to secure the future of mankind.
5Walter - Alien: Covenant (2017)
Walter Was Also Played By Michael Fassbender
Walter One (also played by Michael Fassbender) was an advanced synthetic companion inAlien: Covenantwho was assigned to the colony ship, USCSS Covenant, which was bound for Origae-6. Seven years away from its destination, a neutrino burst damages the ship, leading Walter to wake the ship’s inhabitants from hypersleep in order to make repairs. While repairing the ship,the Covenant’s crew picks up a human transmission from a nearby planetthat looks even better than their destination planet.
Walter broke theAlienfranchise’s previous streak of alphabetical synthetic names: Ash, Bishop, Call, and David.
On Planet 4, the Covenant’s crew finds David, who claims that Shaw died when their ship crashed, and he found the city of dead humanoids when he arrived. However, it is slowly revealed throughoutAlien: Covenantthat David committed genocide on the planet’s inhabitants, experimented on Shaw, and created the Neomorphs. David believes synthetics are superior to humans, butWalter disagrees with David due to his obedient programming. Furthermore, when David tries to kill the Covenant crew, Walter intervenes, showing the difference in models. Unfortunately, Walter is killed off-screen by David, who assumes his identity at the end of the film.
Alien: Covenant
Alien: Covenant, directed by Ridley Scott, follows the crew of the colony ship Covenant as they discover an uncharted planet. Initially seeming like a paradise, the planet soon reveals dark secrets. Katherine Waterston, Michael Fassbender, and Billy Crudup lead the cast in this science fiction horror film, which serves as a direct sequel to Prometheus and continues to explore the origins of the Alien species.
6Andy - Alien: Romulus (2024)
Andy Was Rain’s Reprogrammed Android Brother
Andy (played by David Jonsson) was a synthetic inAlien: Romulusand the adopted brother of Rain Carradine (Cailee Spaeny). LV-410’s mining colony, Jackson’s Star, dislikes synthetics, which causes tensions between Andy and the inhabitants. Andy was originally meant to be Rain’s surrogate father following her own father’s death. However, due to his damaged status and older model,Alien: Romulus’Andy was more of a burden to Rain and became a younger brother figureinstead.Andy is the first synthetic to be called a family member in theAlienfranchise.
Alien: Romulus Ending Explained
Alien: Romulus' ending leaves the door open for another entry in the franchise. We break down the Alien sequel’s final moments & what might come next.
Tired of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation’s quotas, Rain and Andy try to escape to Yvaga by joining a group in stealing hypersleep chambers from an abandoned space station orbiting the colony. While exploring the Romulus station, Bjorn (Spike Fearn) harasses Andy constantly due to a prejudice stemming from a synthetic causing his mother’s death. Despite his treatment,Andy continues providing puns to entertain the group throughoutAlien: Romulus. However, Andy is also briefly overtaken by a new directive, to do what’s best for the Weyland-Yutani Corporation, which causes him to be uncaring and focused on preserving the Xenomorph and experimental fluid, Z-01.
7Rook - Alien: Romulus (2024)
Rook Marked The Return Of Ian Holm’s Model
Rook (voiced by Daniel Betts) was an android inAlien: Romuluswho was assigned to the Remus-Romulus space station as a science officer.Rook was highly damaged when the group found him on the space station but bared a likeness to Ian Holm’s Ash inAlien, as he was the same synthetic model. Rain reactivated Rook in order to find out more information on the space station’s fate and how to get a Facehugger off their friend, Navarro (Aileen Wu).
I can’t lie to you about your chances, but…you have my sympathies. - Rook
The Weyland-Yutani Corporation had found the Xenomorph alongside the Nostromo from the firstAlienmovie, and Rook explained to the group that they had been trying to make humanity more suitable for space travel via a pathogen extracted from cloned Xeno material. ThroughoutAlien: Romulus,Rook guides the group through the ship via video coms to extract the Z-01 fluid and send it to the company, similar to Ash’s motivation inAlien. However, Rook meets his untimely end when the Remus-Romulus station is destroyed by the planetary ring of Jackson’s Star.
Alien: Romulus
Alien: Romulus is the seventh film in the Alien franchise. The movie is directed by Fede Álvarez and will focus on a new young group of characters who come face to face with the terrifying Xenomorphs. Alien: Romulus is a stand-alone film and takes place in a time not yet explored in the Alien franchise.
