The Wraith, as it was known by the locals, was a Xenomorph of an unknown breed that was dwelling within a derelict Engineer ship on the planet Tirgu-Mires. The creature became the subject of legend to the locals, having claimed the lives of at least twelve youths who had entered its abode and never returned. It was eventually killed by a group of Colonial Marines sent to cover-up the creature's existence.
Biography[]
The Xenomorph had been residing within a derelict Engineer ship on the planet Tirgu-Mires for an unknown period of time. Sometime after an agri-colony was set up on the planet, the creature claimed the lives of eleven youths who had entered its abode, never to return. The creature and its home became a legend on the planet, the locals dubbed it the "Wraith" and believed the crashed ship to be a cave. One youth, named Specs, wanted to prove that the legends were wrong by spending a night in the cave alone, the Wraith killed him and cocooned him to the walls of the ship.
A year later, a local boy, named Batik, claimed to have seen the creature and survived, giving a fairly accurate description of the beast to his friends. This prompted a migrant named Roark to prove himself to the locals by investigating the cave. A local girl, called Hope, ran after him and the two discovered the creature's previous victims before being snuck up on by the legendary Wraith. It chased them through the halls of the ship, clawing the girl across the back after the humans escaped through a hole in the wall.
The Wraith broke through the wall and hunted them into a chamber full of an unknown liquid which set ablaze when Roark dropped his torch, burning the Wraith. When the teenagers regrouped outside, they thought the creature was dead but were soon ambushed by the alien, who lifted one of the teens up into the air. Soon after, however, a group of Colonial Marines shot it through the head, killing it.
Characteristics[]
The Wraith was a giant slender Xenomorph with chalk-white skin that led a solitary life inside a derelict Engineer ship on the planet Tirgu-Mires. It was described by Hope as looking sickly and old, being much skinnier than most Xenomorphs, almost as if it was malnourished. As well as being skinny, its arms and legs were much longer than normal. Despite this, it was incredibly strong, being able to bust through the walls of the ship and lift up a human teenager over its head with one arm.
It was also far larger than any regular Xenomorph, being as big as a Praetorian and possibly even a Queen. It was shown as being more sluggish and slow than the typical speedy Xenomorph. The Wraith tended to move around in a hunched position, not standing fully upright. It possessed a bladed tail and a smooth domed carapace. Unlike the typical Xenomorphs, the Wraith was solitary and did not seek to reproduce, only killing its victims. Its mesoskeleton seemed extremely weak as the Colonial Marines killed it with ease, though it was quite fire-resistant.
List of Known Victims[]
- Eleven unknown youths
- Specs
- Unnamed outposter boy (possibly)
Trivia[]
- The exact origins and host of this individual Xenomorph are a mystery. The Engineer that is seen at the end of Aliens: Wraith does not have a ruptured chest like the Pilot from Alien and the fact that it is also fossilized and that the ship has become part of the landscape of Tirgu-Mires would suggest that the ship has been there for thousands or millions of years. While superficially resembling the human spawned Drones, the Wraith is shown to be much larger than even the largest seen Drones such as the Sevastopol Drone. Hope's comments on the Wraith looking "old" would seem to imply that the Xenomorph has existed for way longer than the human colonies on the planet. As also noted by Hope, there is an absence of any Ovomorphs anywhere in the ship, though presumably, the one responsible for the Facehugger that created the Wraith would have decomposed by the time the story takes place. There is also a Weyland-Yutani Corporation sign outside the "cave" entrance, suggesting that they could have been involved with the Wraith's creation.
- It shares a few similarities with the Boiler from Aliens: Colonial Marines, both are pale and sickly looking Xenomorphs who are extremely frail and are said to be old forms of the Xenomorph.
- It is unclear whether the Wraith killed the teenager that it lifted into the air, as while we don't directly see it do anything to harm him, his body appears lifeless when the Wraith is shot by the Colonial Marines. He is also not part of the crowd of teens that the Marines gun down.
Appearances[]
Gallery[]
References[]
- ↑ Ridley Scott, Laurence F. Knapp, Andrea F. Kulas. Ridley Scott: Interviews, p. 47 (2005), University Press of Mississippi.