Alien Chestburster

The Alien Quadrilogy, 4 films that were made over a span of 18 years, horrified and delighted millions of movie-goers. In the lore of the films, the Aliens are life-forms with a defined system of hierarchy and are ruled by a queen. The life-cycle of an Alien is comprised of several different stages: the Egg, the Facehugger, the Chestburster and the adult Alien. One interesting thing about the Alien is that it will take on some of the hosts attributes such as quadrupedalism or the possession of mandibles.

The Chestburster is the result of the gestation from the embryonic stage of Alien development; this is the Alien baby. After the Facehugger has impregnated its host with the embryo by implanting its eggs in the host’s bronchial tubes, it will then hatches and burrow to find the aorta where it will begin to feed on white blood cells and absorbed nutrients. A few hours after that, it detaches from the aorta and swims around inside the body of the host. The swimming alien baby causes only mild discomfort until it finds the sternum and starts to chew. The chewing causes a lot of pain and blood loss and the victim will be in shock. The process can take considerably longer in the case of a queen birth. When it has finished chewing its way through the sternum, it will burst violently from the host’s chest cavity, killing him in the process, hence the name Chestburster.

As it is young, the Chestburster’s carapace has yet to harden; its hide is dull, gray and fleshy. The host determines much about the resulting Alien creature that is born. From the regular human host, you get the typical Xenomorph Drone with a black carapace. A Xenomorph Runner is produced when the host is any quadruped, it has a red carapace and will itself be a quadruped. The PredAlien results from a predator host.

The PredAlien is perhaps the most vicious as it will implant the Chestburster embryos straight into the host and usually the host is a pregnant woman. Several Chestbursters will feed on the unborn baby and then burst forth from the host’s abdomen, killing her in the process.

Because this was the most gruesome part of the Alien life-cycle it has generated quite a following of its own. It has been referred to in numerous television shows, books, magazines, and movies. It has become part of mainstream pop culture, even more so than the Alien movies themselves. One such referencing, which is rather comedic, is in the BBC Comedy Series Coupling (May 2000 - June 2004.) In one episode, a main character is pregnant and the father of the child refers to the impending birth as the “John Hurt moment.” And the scene is also referenced in the 1999 Film Dogma.

Not only has it been referenced, but there are a number of products that have been based on the Alien Chestburster. There are figurines, action figures, T-shirts, Lego pieces, and of course costumes! If you want a cute, friendly Facehugger or Chestburster there are plush toys.

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