Alien’s Xenomorphs have been described as the ‘perfect organism’, a creature whose biological makeup allows it to survive in any environment, and one that’s proved time and again to be the ultimate predator. These points have been highlighted since the Xenomorph’s introduction in 1979’s Alien, and are continuously proven true with every subsequent installment – in the films or otherwise.
The most recent Alien storylines have actually come in the form of an ongoing comic series by 20th Century Studios (a branch of Marvel Comics), which is by no means new, as Dark Horse Comics has been publishing Alien stories for years prior. But even with this fairly recent change of publisher, it’s fair to say that the Xenomorphs haven’t lost their touch. Here are 10 of the most brutal Xenomorph kills from Marvel’s Alien (so far).
10 1 Xenomorph Pulled Off An Inner Jaw Head-Shot/Rip-In-Half Combo
Alien Annual 2022 #1 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Salvador Larroca
Xenomorphs have been using their inner jaw and their brute strength to kill their prey since the beginning of Alien lore, but rarely do fans get to see a finisher-combo quite like this one. In a storyline that would flesh out the main character of Alien Vol. 1 by finally revealing his traumatic past, readers were shown exactly why Gabriel Cruz was so haunted throughout his Alien arc, and a contributing factor were kills like this one.
The kill itself is pretty straight forward: a Xenomorph grabbed one of Cruz’s fellow soldiers, head-shotted him with its inner jaw, and then ripped him in half right in front of Cruz’s eyes. It was the combination of these classic Xenomorph kill-tactics that truly made this one stand out, as well as its impact on Gabriel Cruz.
9 Xenomorph Chestburster Bursted From A Human Host’s Face
Alien Vol. 1 #3 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Salvador Larroca
It’s in the name: Chestbursters burst from a host’s chest after the gestation process is complete. However, this Xenomorph apparently didn’t get the memo. Rather than bursting from the host’s chest, this Chestburster (in name only) exploded out of the man’s skull, showering those around him with teeth and brain matter.
Not only was this Chestburster’s birth perhaps the most brutal since the very first one in 1979’s Alien, but it also was perhaps the most significant, as it wasn’t the only Chestburster in this man’s body, making its existence one of spectacular gore and canonical importance.
8 Alpha Xenomorph Burned With Its Prey Falling Through Earth’s Atmosphere
Alien Vol. 1 #6 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Salvador Larroca
The Alpha Xenomorph is a creature born not of a human host, but of a large horned cattle raised by humans on off-world colonies. Due to the Xenomorph’s biological imprint, the resulting Xenomorph born of one of these creatures was gigantic, with gnarly horns and a more animalistic mind to match. It was deadlier, fiercer, and operated on pure instinct rather than the human-like cunning that the classic Xenomorphs always exhibited. This made the final battle between Gabriel Cruz and the Alpha Xenomorph that much more intense, as they fought on the outside of a space station like two ancient warriors making their final stand.
In the end, they both flew off the station and burned up in Earth’s atmosphere. While it’s true that the Alpha Xenomorph died, it also took Cruz with it in truly spectacular fashion.
7 Xenomorphs Slaughter Members Of A Prayer Circle
Alien Vol. 1 #9 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Salvador Larroca
When a ship full of Xenomorphs crash-lands on a moon occupied by a human religious colony, some of the colonists believe these creatures to be literal demons from hell, and they try to combat the spread of the monster’s evil with prayer. Unfortunately, that doesn’t work, and a small group of Xenomorphs slaughters everyone in the prayer circle.
It’s hard enough to watch space-faring marines falling to hordes of Xenomorphs, but a church filled with generally good-hearted people just trying to practice their faith getting brutally killed by the creatures is a truly grim sight.
6 Xenomorphs Filled A Human Host With Evolved Chestbursters
Alien Vol. 1 #10 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Salvador Larroca
As it turned out, the prayer-circle people got it easy compared to what happened to another person on this moon who was taken back to a Xenomorph nest and experienced first-hand the next stage in the creature’s evolution. While an average host generally has one Chestburster growing inside of them, this human host had a horde of bug-like alien creatures vaguely resembling Xenomorphs growing throughout his body, and his entire bloated carcass exploded to reveal these chittering creatures as they scurried out of him in pursuit of more hosts.
These bug-Xenomorphs were extra scary because they were also their own ‘Facehuggers’, meaning they could lay eggs inside hosts themselves. Not only was this a brutal kill, but it also gave the already terrifying Xenomorphs a horrific upgrade.
5 Xenomorphs Mutated A Human Into A Hybridized Monster
Alien Vol. 2 #3 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Julius Ohta
Another example of a bug-hybrid, Alien Vol. 2 introduced a cross-bred creature created in a Weyland-Yutani laboratory on a world called Tobler-9 that was essentially a mosquito mixed with Xenomorph DNA. However, rather than infecting a host, these creatures mutated them with a single bite. This was shown in the third issue of volume 2, and would become one of the main focuses throughout the entire storyline, as one of the survivors of Tobler-9 (after the Xenomorphs effectively conquered the planet) was bitten, and fans got to watch her agonizing transformation into a human/Xenomorph hybrid.
While she didn’t technically die, but rather evolved into something that was teased to bring about the end of humankind (as revealed in Alien Vol. 1 #6), this mutation was arguably a fate worse than death, as she slaughtered her friends and family after her mutation was complete.
4 Queen Xenomorph Rips A Synthetic Spec-Ops Soldier In Half
Alien Vol. 2 #5 by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Julius Ohta
As the ‘Xenosquito’ is infecting the human survivor on Tobler-9, a squad of spec-ops Synthetics known as Steel Team have infiltrated Weyland-Yutani’s laboratory on behalf of humanity’s government to obtain valuable Xenomorph samples. The Steel Team was the best of the best, able to take down anything and anyone they were put up against. However, that didn’t stop this world’s Queen Xenomorph from showing them why she’s at the top of the food chain.
The Queen Xenomorph snuck up behind one of the members of Steel Team and ripped them in half like it was nothing, which was pretty impressive given the superhuman nature of the Steel Team.
3 The White Xenomorph Hybrid Proves Itself To Be The Perfect Alien Killer
Alien Vol. 3 #5 by Declan Shalvey and Andrea Broccardo
On the icy moon of LV-695, a team of scientists uncovers a strange white Facehugger that – after impregnating a human host – gives life to an all-new white Xenomorph hybrid. As readers soon learn, however, this new Xenomorph is much more than just a different color. It’s also bigger, deadlier, and incredibly aggressive towards the classic Xenomorphs. This was put on full display when a horde of Xenomorphs tried to overtake the Weyland-Yutani facility, and a lone white Xenomorph was able to fight them all, pulling off truly spectacular kills in the process.
The Xenomorphs were the victims in this instance, as a new and stronger version of its species proved too deadly to compete with.
2 The Xenomorph/White Xenomorph War On LV-695
Alien Annual 2023 #1 by Declan Shalvey and Danny Earls
The previous entry isn’t the only time Xenomorphs battled the white Xenomorph hybrids, as there was actually a war that broke out on LV-695 long before the events of Alien Vol. 3 between the classic and white Xenomorphs. As it turned out, the white Xenomorphs were a result of classic Facehuggers infecting a native LV-695 species that was more animalistic and physically imposing than humans, resulting in a deadlier subspecies of Xenomorphs.
This war had a plethora of amazing kills, both from the classic and white Xenomorphs, but it stood out as a particularly epic moment in modern Alien lore because it’s reminiscent of the war between the red and black Xenomorphs as shown in Aliens: Genocide, but with a new level of significance that applies specifically to the current Alien canon.
1 The Xenomorphs Are An Ancient Weapon Of Cosmic Cleansing
Alien Vol. 1 #6 Phillip Kennedy Johnson and Salvador Larroca
While hybrids, evolutions, and classic kills are integral aspects of the Alien mythos, the idea that the creatures aren’t just ‘space bugs’, but living weapons wielded by cosmic horrors the likes of which the human mind can barely comprehend is one of the most interesting additions to Alien lore in the franchise’s history (while also being ridiculously brutal). This issue reveals that every species advanced enough to achieve space travel encounters the Xenomorphs in one form or another (including the Engineers, who encountered the ‘Xenomorphs’ in the ‘Black Goo’ stage). This is a cosmic inevitability, as the task of the ‘Xenomorphs’ is to keep life in-check across the universe. The Engineers were destroyed by the Black Goo after they tried to ‘merge’ with it by using it to seed life on other worlds. And now, humans are on this cosmic force of darkness’ radar, as Xenomorph hybridizations (as shown in Alien Vol. 2) are destined to bring humanity to a swift and violent end, just like the Engineers.
The essence of the Xenomorph is a cosmic mystery, but its purpose is clear: cleanse the universe of life once it reaches a certain point of advancement – and it’s been doing this presumably since the dawn of time. That’s an incomprehensible kill-count, and is easily the most brutal of the 10 Xenomorph kills from Marvel’s Alien (so far).
