The Xenomorphs aboard the station were artifical in origin, having been reversed-engineered by Weyland-Yutani scientists that used samples extracted from the Xenomorph that killed most of the crew of the Nostromo.
Using these genetic samples, the scientists, led by Rook, were able to use their technology to somehow "print" a version of the Xenomorph Facehuggers that functioned identically to their natural counterparts. At least one imperfect Ovomorph was created with the same technology, though the focus on producing Z-01 saw them creating more Facehuggers instead.
Life Cycle[]
The life cycle of these creatures was almost identical to the mainstream variant, albeit with the absence of the ovomorph.
The Facehuggers were the parasitoid stage of the life cycle and existed solely to find a host and implant in them what would grow to be a Chestburster. The implantation period seemed to be faster than usual, with one host being successfully impregnated in less than an hour.
The Chestbursters developed the same as normal ones, being something that will grow and eventually erupt from the chest of their host, giving them their title. After being born, the Chestburster would flee to an area where it could grow a cocoon around itself and proceed to the next stage in its life cycle.
Adult[]
The Adult Xenomorph stood at around 8ft tall, possessing a biomechanic mesoskeleton and inner jaw that could shatter skulls. They were capable of climbing walls and using their length tails to catch and carry an adult human being falling in mid-air.
Characteristics[]
The Xenomorphs possessed similar traits and attributes as the regular variant, including exceptional strength, agility, and corrosive blood that was capable of eating through multiple decks and killing an adult human easily. Their heads bore faint black stripes.
The Xenomorphs were also very observant and cunning. One specimen used Kay as bait in order to get other people to open the door for it. A group was also shown to recognize the pulse rifle weapons, likely from them being used on them before by the security team on board the space station.
The Xenomorphs were capable of producing hive resin and cocooning victims for implantation.
Behind the scenes[]
Special effects artists who worked on the Xenomorphs in Aliens were hired to create the creatures for Alien: Romulus,[4] relying heavily on practical effects such as animatronics and an actor wearing a suit.[5]
Trivia[]
Renaissance Xenomorphs are chronologically the first (in-universe) and second (production-wise) Xenomorph strain created through cloning, with the first being the Cloned Xenomorphs developed on the USM Auriga.
The inclusion of the pupal phase of the Renaissance Xenomorphs was intentional on Fede Álvarez's part as the way to explain the creatures' quick and drastic development into adulthood without potentially contradicting what was previously established in previous films along with a twist: the biomechanical features for which the Xenomorphs are famous were attributed to them absorbing energy and bits of matter from their surroundings during their cocoon stage.[6]
Chestburster's pupa in AVP: Extinction
The concept of chestburster maturation via. pupal stage actually indeed had been previously explored in Aliens versus Predator: Extinction and Aliens: Earth War. In the former case, the pupal form of the LV-742 Xenomorphs vaguely resembled a curled fern leaf with biomechanical aesthetics as it occurred while the creature stood upright. The latter on the other hand, arguably Palatine' metamorphosis in which they resided within cocoon-like pods which opened up for them to emerge in the event of Queen Mother being threatened.
.jpeg "Romulus - Trading Card (Cocoon).jpeg (490 KB)")