Editing Xenomorph (section)

====Facehugger====
[[File:Alien-The Facehugger.png|thumb|A facehugger attached to Kane in ''Alien'']]
A facehugger is the second stage in the Alien's metamorphosis. It has eight long, finger-like legs, which allow it to crawl rapidly, and a long tail adapted for making great leaps. These particular appendages give it an appearance somewhat comparable to [[Chelicerata|chelicerate]] [[Arthropoda|arthropods]] such as [[arachnid]]s and [[horseshoe crab]]s.

The facehugger is a [[parasitoid]]; its only purpose is to make contact with the host's mouth for the implantation process by gripping its legs around the victim's head and wrapping its tail around the host's neck. Upon making contact, the facehugger administers a cynose-based paralytic to the host in order to render it unconscious and immobile.<ref>Aliens Colonial Marines Tech Manual</ref><ref name=WYreport/> During a successful attachment, the facehugger will insert an [[ovipositor]] down the host's throat while simultaneously implanting an embryo. The host is kept alive, and the creature breathes for the host.<ref name="A1"/> Attempts to remove facehuggers generally prove fatal to the host,<ref name="A2"/> as the parasitoid will respond by tightening its tail around the host's neck, and its acidic blood prevents it from being cut away. In addition, its grip on the host's head is strong enough to tear the host's face off if it is forcibly removed.<ref name="A1"/>

Once the Alien embryo is implanted, the facehugger will remain attached until the implant is secure, which can take anywhere from less than a minute to 16 hours. Once this happens, the parasite detaches, crawls away, and dies.<ref name=WYreport/> The victim awakens with no awareness of the implantation, believing themselves to have been asleep, and appears to have a normal, healthy bodily function.

According to ''AVPR: Science of the Xenomorph'', a behind-the-scenes documentary on ''Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem'', it is theorized that facehuggers may implant a viral agent [[Cannibalization (parts)|that "commands" the host's cells to grow the chestburster]], as opposed to an implanted embryo.<ref>''Aliens vs. Predator: Requiem'' 2-disc ultimate combat edition</ref> This is an alternate explanation to [[horizontal gene transfer]] as to how the resulting xenomorph is able to adopt the characteristics of its host.

Giger's original design for the facehugger was a much larger creature with eyes and a spring-loaded tail. Later, in response to comments from the filmmakers, Giger reduced the creature's size substantially.<ref name="dvd">HR Giger, ''The Beast Within: The Making of Alien'', Alien Quadrilogy Box-set</ref> At first, Giger assumed that the facehugger would wrap around the outside of the astronaut's helmet, but Scott decided that it would have far more impact if the facehugger was revealed once the helmet was removed. Scott and Giger realized that the facehugger should burn through the helmet's faceplate with its acid blood; subsequent redesigns of the space helmet included a far larger faceplate to allow for this.<ref>Giger 52</ref>

[[Dan O'Bannon]] initially conceived the facehugger as somewhat resembling an octopus, possessing tentacles. However, when he received [[H. R. Giger]]'s designs, which substituted finger-like digits for tentacles, he found Giger's design concept to be superior. Since no one was available at the time, O'Bannon decided to design the facehugger prop himself. The technical elements of the musculature and bone were added by [[Ron Cobb]]. Giger's initial design for the smaller facehugger had the fingers facing forward, but O'Bannon's redesign shifted the legs to the side. When the [[foam rubber]] sculpture of the facehugger was produced, O'Bannon asked that it should remain unpainted, believing the rubber, which resembled human skin, was more plausible.<ref>Dan O'Bannon, audio commentary, ''Alien'', from the ''Alien Quadrilogy'' DVD set</ref>

There has been some debate about the sexual appearance of the facehugger, some saying it unmistakably resembles female genitalia.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bundtzen |first=Lynda K. |date=1987 |title=Monstrous Mothers: Medusa, Grendel, and Now Alien |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/1212458 |journal=Film Quarterly |volume=40 |issue=3 |pages=11–17 |doi=10.2307/1212458 |jstor=1212458 |issn=0015-1386|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

In ''[[Aliens (film)|Aliens]]'', the facehuggers were redesigned by [[Stan Winston]] so that they would be capable of movement. Unlike the creatures in the first film, the creatures would take a much more active role in impregnating their victims. When Ripley throws one off her, the facehugger is now capable of scuttling across the floor and leaping at its prey, wrapping its tail around the victim's throat. The facehugger is also shown to be capable of independently surviving outside of its egg. Due to the film's budget, only two fully working facehuggers were built.

In ''Alien 3'', another addition was planned but ultimately dropped, a "super-facehugger" that would carry the embryo of the queen Alien.<ref name="A3org">Alien3: ''Adaptive Organism: Creature Design'', from the Alien Quadrilogy boxset.</ref> This super-facehugger is briefly glimpsed in the Assembly cut of ''Alien 3'' but not identified as such.<ref name="A3org" /><ref>Alien3: Assembly cut</ref> It made a brief appearance in the canonical ''Alien'' book called ''Alien: Sea of Sorrows'', set after the events of ''Alien Resurrection'', about the grandson of Ripley Clone 8, Ellen Ripley's clone.